Page 20 of The Aries Alliance (BLP Signs of Love #14)

Game On

Scarlett and I didn’t get together in person after our rendezvous but messaged each other over the next week. Although most of our messages clarified our strategy, I found ways to throw in flirty banter and hints of how much I enjoyed the nonwork side of her.

Scarlett always kept her messages short and to the point. Her guarded mannerisms kept me focused and on our alliance. I may have thought I was in control when I arrived at the cottage, but Scarlett was setting the pace of our relationship.

At random times during the workday, my mind wandered to how and what she was doing and how I could get back between her sweet legs as soon as possible.

The Thursday morning after our cottage affair, I texted her, as I always did, while I got ready for the day.

Me:

Good morning, Scar.

I grinned at the nickname I gave Scarlett when we chatted on the burner. Surprisingly, she responded quickly.

Scarlett:

Hello, Warrick.

I thought about what I wanted to text her as I recovered from an explicit dream last night where I took her from behind.

I was already wearing my fresh-pressed gray, pinstripe suit, navy bow tie, and glasses.

I gave myself a once-over to make sure the collar of my starched shirt covered Scarlett’s scratches on my neck.

Since I could move quicker by calling than texting, I called Scarlett on the burner. She picked up on the first ring.

“Hello, Mr. Redmond. Are you ready for the day?”

Her chipper voice made me smile.

“Yes. I’m requesting the pleasure of your presence in my office today to address your behavior.”

“What behavior?”

Scarlett’s voice turned frigid.

“Your pretty round ass has been occupying my dreams without permission.”

Scarlett laughed.

“Are you getting kind of mushy on me?”

I laughed as I moisturized my hands with an Avon product Mommy swore would keep my hands from wrinkling prematurely.

“Never,” I teased, covering my face with lotion. “But I have been thinking of you.”

“Have you now?”

I imagined her blushing. Ever since we had sex, she’d been softer when I mentioned our intimate time.

“Do you ever think of me?” I asked.

“You know I do.”

“What do you think about?”

“About how much I’ve been cumming to our video every night, wondering when we’re going to make a part two.”

I dropped the brush that was in my hand, shocked at Scarlett’s directness.

“You okay?” she asked, water running in the background.

I picked up the brush and placed it on the counter.

“Uh, yes.”

“Maybe we can add my media proposition to our lunchtime agenda.”

“So you’ll come?”

“Yes, I’ll cum and cum some more.”

Did she just say what I thought she said?

“I need to go. See you soon, War.”

“Bye, Scar.” I smiled despite myself.

Around 11:30, I paced in my office, checking myself out in the mirror I kept in my desk drawer. Although I would see Scarlett soon, I couldn’t resist sending her a message via social media.

Me:

Thinking of you.

Scarlett:

Aw…I didn’t know you were so sentimental.

Me:

Just horny.

Scarlett:

Since you’re restless, send me a dick pic. I need one for my WARrior collection. *wink emoji

I paused, wondering if Scarlett was kidding.

Me:

I gave you everything you need with that video.

Scarlett:

Not everything. *pouty face emoji*

My watch alarm dinged, alerting me to a new email. I opened it since it was from the university president.

Warrick, I have an urgent matter to speak with you about in my office. Skip Fields

I checked my work watch. I’d have to leave in a couple of minutes, not to be late.

Me:

I hate to do this, but I need to meet with the president right now. Rain check on that video?

Scarlett:

Of course. Business first. *winking smiley face emoji*

I closed my app and leaned back in my chair, my legs wide. Scarlett delighted me and, surprisingly, helped me relieve stress in a job that often had me feeling as if I was the sellout she first thought I was. Our plan had to work. I couldn’t lose what we had.

I rose and walked to the stairwell, noting how few Black and Brown faces I saw on the way.

When I met someone, whether a student or a staff member, they didn’t even look me in the eyes, something my granddad taught me to do when I met another person of color.

We might not know each other by name, but we knew each other by experience.

Was it possible that parts of me really had sold out for the system?

Had I been so anxious to fit into EFU’s toxic culture that I lost parts of me that centered people?

Why did the leaders who oppressed Black and Brown bodies trust me so much and give me a seat at tables where no other Black man sat? Was I too good of an actor?

I was still pondering these questions when I climbed the four flights of stairs toward the president’s office and conference room.

It was pristine and museum-like, showcasing our university’s most notable alumni.

For the first time, I noticed that the only pictures of Black people were of athletes.

We had award-winning Black engineers and laureates, yet none of them were displayed in the area.

After my conversations with Scarlett, I paid attention to little things like that.

It was as if she switched on a social awareness switch in my brain and removed blinders from my eyes.

No wonder the powers that be couldn’t stand her.

If she shared insights like this with oppressed people, they might push against the system and ask a lot of questions people didn’t want to answer.

In that moment, I made up my mind to be more deliberate about uplifting people who didn’t have access to the rooms I was invited into. The mission had begun. I wasn’t going to let Scarlett or my mother down.

I skimmed the overly sterile reception area outside the president’s suite, until the receptionist, who sat behind a semi-circular desk, lifted her eyes. Her plastic smile creeped me out.

“President Fields will see you now.” The tall woman’s shrill voice cut through the air, making me wonder how people weren’t annoyed listening to her all day.

I followed her into the main conference room. She stood at the door with her hands linked over her stomach like a dutiful servant.

“That’s all, Becky.” President Fields shooed her away with his lean fingers.

Becky bowed slightly and closed the door behind her.

The president, who I called Skip, remained seated as I entered the room and walked toward him.

“Warrick, my main man. Thanks for meeting us on such short notice. Elbert and I have a couple of things we need to go over with you.” He pointed to the short, stocky man to his immediate left.

I eyed the chair across from Elbert Bryson, the president’s chief of staff, and moved toward it. My curiosity was piqued even more, since I expected more people to be in the meeting.

“How may I serve you today?” I asked the question in my best code-switching voice.

Skip’s eyes lit up before he rubbed his hands together like he was up to no good.

“It’s the Athletic department. As you may or may not know, my cousin, Will, is the assistant athletic director.” He paused as if he wanted me to say something.

I was well aware of Will’s presence and relationship with Skip since I was forced to push him through the system as a last-minute hire.

Everything in me wanted to respond, “Yes, he’s there because of nepotism,” but I knew better than to show my hand like that.

Instead of speaking, I placed my hands on the table and kept a neutral face, nodding for him to continue.

“Well . . .” His eyes darted to Elbert, whose quick squirm and downturned eyes I didn’t miss. “He’s gotten himself into a little trouble that we need to ‘fix.’” He used air quotes to emphasize his point.

I reached into my leather bag and pulled out a notepad and pen, taking extra time to uncap the pen as I processed Skip’s word.

“Fix how?”

“He hugged a couple of women athletes. It was a misunderstanding, of course.” His eyes shot around the room and then back to me for validation.

“Of course,” Elbert echoed.

I sighed despite myself. What kind of bull was he about to ask me to do?

“What Skip is saying is that we need it to go away.”

Whoa. Elbert’s nervous chuckle turned my stomach.

I clasped my hands on the shiny oak table and kept my lips tight until I had the correct words to say.

“This isn’t a human resources issue. You should contact the Title Nine office since the incident with Will involves possible abuse of students.”

“How is workplace miscommunication abuse?” Skip stared at me like his words made sense.

“EFU’s first priority should be to protect its students. More than one has come forward, so the complaints need to move to the compliance office. I’m happy to facilitate that conversation.”

“Don’t you have a law degree?” Skip’s nostrils flared.

“I do, but as I said, Title Nine isn’t my jurisdiction. Those rules are in place to protect all of us.” I made a wide circle with my finger, indicating I referred to the three of us.

Skip huffed and flicked his wrist.

“Rules, smules. You’re the one who can get this job done. What do they call you?” Skip turned to Elbert and snapped at him repeatedly.

“The Enforcer,” Elbert said in a flat tone, his eyes never leaving mine.

I gulped, hating that nickname. I’d always been a rules guy, but to hear that come from the mouths of people who didn’t care about equity confirmed that I had crossed a line in my job.

No wonder I had such a horrible reputation among Black people at EFU.

I really was their enemy. Before I could process that more, the president continued.

“Do what you can so it doesn’t get out of hand. I trust you.” He showed me all of his canines, turning my stomach again.

I wrote down a couple of notes, then lowered my pen to the table. I was ready to leave.

“Is that all?”

“No . . .” he said.

I raised my eyebrows and observed the men as they looked at each other.

“Since you’re the only one familiar with Black issues on our executive team, I want to ask you for a personal favor.”

How many favors did this man expect me to do?

“What’s that, sir?” I bit the inside of my cheek as I focused on the large black mole on Skip’s chin.

“There’s a woman, a Dr. Scarlett Kane.” He looked down at the piece of paper before him. “Yes, Scarlett Kane.”

“What about her?”

The pitch of my voice rose.

“She keeps coming up on our radar, questioning legal counsel, compliance, and people in charge about how we do business. She’s quite the pest.”

“There’s no law against questioning processes,” I said, my voice cool and calm again.

The president laughed diabolically. I knew his biases well.

When he made up his mind about who was right and who was wrong, there was no changing his mind.

More often than not, he always sided with white people and labeled their off-putting behavior as having a bad day, while he called people of color attitudinal, insubordinate, and angry.

“Of course not. It’s just that we do things a certain way here. We can’t have folks spreading false information and planting negative seeds in the minds of those who love Ember Falls University.”

He gave me the fakest of smiles.

“Women should, what is it, Elbert?” Skip snapped and pointed at me. “Stay in their place.”

Elbert shook his head violently.

“No, no, no, sir, you can’t say that out loud.”

President Fields covered his mouth with his hands like a little schoolgirl saying a curse word.

“Oopsy. Warrick knows what I mean. You’ll clean it up for me, won’t you?”

I expected the old coot to call me boy any second.

“Yes, I’ll look into it.”

“No, Mr. Redmond. Do more than look into it. Do something about it. We can’t have wayward behavior at EFU, can we?” Skip pressed and tapped his index finger onto his paper like he was putting out a cigarette.

I didn’t answer that question but wanted to learn more about what he wanted from me.

“What exactly do you expect to happen?”

Skip waved his hands in the air like he was flustered.

“I don’t know. That’s what we pay you for.”

Scarlett really was scaring folks, down to the president of the university. Did she know how powerful she was?

“For any action to be taken against someone like Dr. Kane, we need evidence to build a case. HR is about patterns of behavior, so I need a list of people who have repeatedly witnessed Dr. Kane’s problematic behaviors. Could you give me that?”

“We have people on the inside monitoring her. We’ll have records and emails, even recorded conversations.” Skip answered with a smug look on his round face.

These snakes weren’t playing. They would do anything to push back against our company’s rules of civility.

“Who’s recording her?” I asked the question before I could think.

“Don’t worry about that. But our source is reliable. Soon enough, that pest will be out of our hair.”

Every word against Scarlett punched me in the gut. Her blows had become my blows. I gathered myself as best I could and spoke rapidly.

“Dr. Kane has tenure, so it won’t be easy to push her aside.”

“That’s not a problem. My friends at the State House are working on ways to get rid of tenured professors anyway. We just have to be strategic. If that doesn’t work, we’ll make it so uncomfortable that she quits. It’s a military tactic I’m surprised higher ed hasn’t used before.”

“You’re talking about creating a hostile work environment? That’s illegal.”

“Is it though?”

Both men laughed as if what they said was actually funny. Because they were so corrupt, I concluded that nothing I said about ethics would be received well.

Stay cool.

“Okay. Give me what you have, and I’ll start building a case.”

“I knew you were one of the good ones, Enforcer.” Skip grinned at me like I laid a golden egg.

I offered up my signature fake work smile and jotted down more notes to temper my anger at being pulled into this inner circle. The silver lining was that I knew what their strategy was now.

After the meeting and for the rest of the day, I tried to keep going, but the blatant attack against Scarlett didn’t sit well with me.

I couldn’t continue with business as usual, as her face and body kept popping up in my mind.

She wasn’t just somebody off the street.

She was my equity accomplice, someone who cared hard for others and who deserved to be celebrated openly for her social justice gifts.

She finally put a face to the mountain of complaints piled high on my desk.

I needed to connect with Scarlett as soon as possible. We would have to move quicker than I thought to expose EFU.