Page 13 of The Billionaire's Special Relationship

She staggered backwards when she saw all that damage.

CHAPTER EIGHT

As Stuart, with Chris behind him, began hurrying across the street, he was certain that the driver of that SUV either didn’t see that little car at all, or saw it completely and plowed into it anyway. But either way, it was the SUV driver’s fault.

By the time he and Chris made it up to the crash, Tabby was already out of her vehicle and surveying her damage. But their attention was distracted by the SUV driver, who jumped out with so much attitude and fire that those who didn’t witness the crash would have assumed she was the real victim.

But Tabby had a different reaction to that driver. Because as soon as she saw that it was that same white girl that she caught in bed with Darius three weeks ago, she was certain that crash was no accident. She would bet every dime she made that day that that girl did that shit on purpose.

But when Stuart turned his attention away from the SUV driver and back to the driver of the car, he had his own reaction. It was the eyes. He remembered those huge, glassy, vivid eyes that had every emotion imaginable inside of them. But where on earth had he seen them before?

And that was when it hit him! It was the last time he was in Larkin, two years ago, and he and his friends wereat Argyles. She was that waitress Jennifer treated so shabbily that he felt compelled to apologize to her and give her a large tip. He didn’t necessarily remember how she looked. Beyond those eyes, he didn’t remember any of her features specifically. But what he did remember was that feeling that he was in the presence of somebody very special that she invoked in him. She was that girl. He remembered her.

And just like back in that restaurant when Jennifer tore into her over simply doing her job, she had that same look of bewilderment now. She seemed so out of her element that he could just feel her discombobulation. Even as she stood there in her nice shorts and tucked-in jersey, and in her red-and-white sandals, she looked like a kid who hadn’t long ago learned how to drive and was amazed that such a serious wreck could happen to her. It was as if she was just trying to mind her own business while the rest of the world kept bothering her, and running rings around her to the point of boxing her in, making it impossible for her to move, or live, or even breathe. The only name he could think for it was innocence.

Not the virgin kind of innocence, but the ways of the world kind of innocence. She wore her heart in her eyes.

But Chris leaned against him and whispered. “Another person of color,” he said. “Better watch out. There’s bound to be violence when one of them is involved.”

Stuart leaned away from him with a shocked looked on his face. “Really? The color of her skinis all it takes for violence to break out? Are you serious? Because you sound like a fool. You do realize that, right?”

It was obvious that Chris didn’t realize any such thing. He looked at Stuart as if he was the fool. As if surely he should have thought like he thought. But even when Stuart was a kid in Larkin, he thought no such way. He had plenty of friends of all colors. And he loved it. That was why he shook his head at the ignorance of an educated accountant. It was people like Chris who gave even more credence to the belief that leaving Larkin thirty years ago was the best move he’d ever made. He had no time for senseless hate. None.

Stuart quickly forgot about Chris and returned his attention to the young waitress. And the large white girl that had jumped from behind the wheel of that SUV, and the large black girl that had jumped from the passenger seat. They both surveyed the damage too, and then both of those big girls began hurrying over to Tabby.

One of them, the white girl, was thumping her hand around in the air as she walked. “That’s that hoe!” she was saying as loud as she could. “That’s that motherfucking hoe!”

But Tabby was equally upset. “Why did you run into me? What’s wrong with you? You could have killed me!”

“Then I would have killed you, bitch,” the white girl shot back. “Don’t nobody care about your ass. Talking about what’s wrong with me. You’re what’s wrongwith me, bitch! That’s what’s wrong with me. You! So kiss my big, fat white ass!”

Her black partner laughed, as did those that had congregated around the scene of the crash. But Stuart wasn’t laughing at all. He was staring at Tabby. He could see that she was genuinely confused.

“But why did you run into me like that though? You saw me parked here. You had to have seen me parked here. Why did you do it?”

“Your ass know why I did it. Stop playing dumb.”

“You sure she’s playing?” the black girl said with a laugh, and those standing around laughed too.

Tabby was accustomed to people denigrating her as if her feelings meant nothing at all, so she ignored them. “Why did you purposely run into my car like that? That’s all I wanna know.”

They could hear police sirens in the distance as the white girl pointed her meaty finger in Tabby’s face. “You better leave my man alone. You wanna know what’s going on? That’s what’s going on, bitch. And that’s all I got to say to your ass.”

Stuart wasn’t surprised that the young waitress would have a boyfriend, but he was surprised that she would have a boyfriend that found the other girl attractive. That girl and the waitress were polar opposites. At least from what he saw.

And Tabby was frowning by the mere suggestion of it. “Are you talking about Darius?”

“Girl bye with the bullshit. You know I’m talking about Darius.”

Tabby looked as though the very thought of that man disgusted her. “I don’t want no Darius. We broke up the day I caught him in bed with you. You must be on dope if you think I want that lying cheater.”

“Then why he’s been blowing up your phone for the past three weeks if you don’t want him?” That bigger girl pulled out her phone, waving it around, as if she had receipts. “You denying he called you?”

“He called me plenty times. But I didn’t answer not one time.” Tabby frowned. “I don’t want him.”

“He said you want him though. He said you won’t leave him alone.”

“That is so not true!”