“Yes, that’s me,” Stacey said. “Are you buying?”
“I’d like to,” the man said, “but unfortunately, my date stood me up.”
“Your date?”
The man smiled and turned back to Macy. “I was going to take her out for a wonderful lunch, but she never showed.”
“Now, Macy, why would you do such a thing?”
Stacey’s eyes were wide and she grinned a she-devil grin behind the man’s back.
“Ah, so we have a name now,” the man said. “Macy.”
“Macy Mareta,” Stacey said.
“Well, Macy Mareta, it’s good to finally be properly introduced.”
“I have to get to work here,” Macy said.
She felt put on a stage, in front of millions of people. She felt exposed and the overwhelming personalities between the man and Stacey were too much to handle.
“And your name...?” Stacey asked as she put a hand to the man’s expensive suit jacket.
He looked at Stacey’s hand and she quickly took it away.
Wow, that was power. Macy wanted the man even more.
“I’m Derreck Hagan,” he said.
Macy watched as Stacey’s face changed. She looked flustered, and in love. She must have known the man, recognizing him from somewhere.
Great, Macy thought, they know each other.
“Derreck Hagan,” Stacey said.
The man looked at Stacey. “Please, call me Mr. Hagan.”
Then he looked at Macy and winked. “You can call me Derreck.”
A move, even as small as that, would send Stacey into a baby jealousy fit. Macy saw Stacey’s lips pucker and her eyes squint. She didn’t like being treated different, on a lesser scale like that.
“So you’re not in the business of investing in art?” Stacey asked. Her tone was sharp now, ready to chase Derreck out of the gallery.
“Not today,” Derreck said. “I came to give Macy something.”
He reached down and lifted the black bag and put it on the desk.
“What’s this?” Macy asked.
“Open it,” Derreck said. He checked his watch. “I don’t have much time. Have to make up that meeting you made me miss.”
“I didn’t make you mis...”
“And your boss is getting annoyed with me,” he added, then half smiled at Stacey with a cocky look on his face.
Macy opened the bag. She hated being put on the spot like this, especially with Stacey around.
Inside the bag she found two boxes. The first one she put on her desk, lifted the lid, and let out a gasping laugh. A surprised laugh, complemented by the gesture Derreck had given.
She looked up to him and realized just how serious he had been about meeting her.
“They should be your size,” he said.
Macy lifted one of the white shoes out of the box, amazed.
“Your other ones were ruined,” Derreck said. “Can’t have you delivering paintings with coffee stained shoes.”
“Thank you,” Macy said. “You didn’t have to do that. I could have gotten new ones...”
“Not a problem,” Derreck said. “There’s another box there too.”
Macy looked back into the bag and lifted the other box. It looked similar to the first. Macy had no idea what it could have been. Maybe a box full of socks? The idea made Macy smile.
“Open it,” Stacey called out, making her presence known.
Macy lifted the lid off the box and this time let out a cry.
“Those are for tonight,” Derreck said.
“Tonight...?”
Macy gazed down at a pair of black heels with silver lining along the shoes. They were semi pointed with a rounded back, complete with a small strap to keep her foot in place. Macy couldn’t remember the last time she tried to wear heels, or any sort of dress shoes like these. She instantly worried about her extra curves... could she balance in these things? Could anyone balance in these things?
“I can’t accept these,” Macy said. She started to push the box towards Derreck but his strong hands were at the box.
“You already did,” he said. “And tonight, you’ll meet me in front of our building at eight. Wearing these.”
“I don’t think I could wear these,” Macy said.
“Don’t think, do it.”
Derreck adjusted his suit jacket and checked his watch again. “I have to go. I’ll see you in a little while.” He looked over his shoulder at Stacey. “Stacey C., it was a pleasure. Keep painting.”
Stacey nodded.
Macy stood in complete awe, watching as Derreck walked from the gallery with a poise that made her body gush. She felt warm with a touch of wetness. When her eyes looked back to her desk, she could only stare in silence. The white shoe rest on its side, the laces untied, dangling down the small shelf that lead to Macy’s desk. The black heels were still tucked in their box, Macy almost afraid to touch them.
Stacey stepped to the desk and grabbed one of the heels. “Do you realize what these are?”
“Heels that I can’t wear. I’ll kill myself in them.”
“Not the heels, this part.” Stacey pointed to the silver trim.
“No, what is it?”
“Diamond encrusted.”
“Diamonds? Are you sure?”
“I’m sure. I wore something like this a few weeks ago for a dinner I attended. They were given to me for free to wear for the night.”
“Diamonds? Like expensive ones?”
“These heels cost more than what I’ve made all year,” Stacey said. She put the heel back in the box.
Macy was overwhelmed and confused. “What, is Derreck rich?”
“Derreck Hagan? You don’t know who he is?”
Macy shook her head.
“Well, I guess you wouldn’t. But I know the name. You get to know some investor names when your father is one.”
“He’s an investor?”
“Not just an investor. He’s the investor. He’s a billionaire, Macy, like ten times over.”
Macy’s jaw dropped. She glanced back to the door but Derreck was long gone.
“No way...”
“And that building you met him at? The one he called
our building
?”
Macy nodded.
“Yeah, he owns that building.”
“Owns...”
“Along with about fifty other buildings throughout the city.”
The information was too much to process. Macy touched the trim of the heels.
Diamonds?
For real?
“My advice,” Stacey said, “is to wear those heels. And go on that date. Who knows what he has in store for you tonight...”
Macy stood in
front of the mirror in her bathroom unsure what to do. What would happen if she didn’t show up at eight? Just because Derreck was a billionaire didn’t mean he had the power to control her. And if she didn’t show, what would he do? Better yet, Macy couldn’t figure out what he wanted from her. There were plenty of prettier women in the world to chase. Those with smaller sizes and bigger personalities. Macy liked being hidden, it was all she really knew.
The diamond encrusted black heels stood on the closed toilet, constantly catching a glance or three from Macy. It seemed wrong to have such an expensive pair of heels on a toilet but Macy didn’t care. She had forced herself to take a shower and dress, in something as nice as she could find, and now she debated on the shoes.
Directly across from the bathroom was a walk-in closet that housed all of her painting supplies. That’s where Macy thought she really wanted to be. Sitting on the uncomfortable wooden stool, listening to classical music, hiding and painting. In reality, the more she thought about Derreck Hagan and all his possibilities, the more she liked it. It was like a fantasy coming to life, the allure of
what-if?
instead of the normal routine and schedule.
Macy touched her sides and closed her eyes. She appreciated her curves, some of them given to her by genes while some given by her own accord. It was what she swore she could feel - even through the cloth of her shirts - that bothered her. Her right hand could feel the ridges and bumps of the scars that never gave her a chance to forget about what had happened. Being in the shower was the worst. She hated having to see the scars. She had tried all the creams and medical attention she could handle, because the ending result was doctors could try to remove the scars but that could potentially result in more scars. Smaller ones, ones with less mental and memory impact, but still scars.
And what did it matter? Nobody would see her body.
Unless Derreck Hagan wanted to.
What if he commanded it to her?
What if he gave her that wild, sexy look and Macy couldn’t resist?
Macy groaned and reached for the heels. She spun and stormed from the bathroom, telling herself she was as ready as she’d ever be. If the billionaire had wanted a date with her while she carried an ugly painting, stinking of coffee, wearing coffee on her white shoes, this would be an amazing upgrade.
As Macy slid her feet into the expensive shoes, she looked at her cell phone. She should have gotten his number. So she could call him and work something else out. Find out where they were going. What they were doing. To tell him she wasn’t going to wear the damn heels.
Macy prepared herself as she stood up from one of the dining room table chairs and put her arms out.
So far, so good.
She took a step, letting her feet and body figure out what the hell was going on. She took another step, then a third, moving towards the kitchen. Feeling confident, she put her hands to her sides and continued to walk.
“Not bad,” she whispered. “Look at you, Macy... you sexy...”
The toe on her left foot hit the separator between the carpeted dining room and the linoleum floor of the kitchen. She felt herself thrust forward and managed to grab the counter before tumbling to floor. She tried to step, wanting to gain her balance, but now the heels felt too awkward, like she was on ice. It took a few seconds to regain herself but Macy managed, standing confidently again. She looked down at her feet, leaning forward to see them. It just didn’t look right. Nothing looked right.
And nothing felt right.
She checked the clock on the microwave. She had about five minutes to leave or else she’d be late. Or she could just not show up.
That idea came and went as fast as the first time. Macy compromised with herself, backtracking out of the kitchen back to the dining room table. She stepped, wobbled, stepped, wobbled. When she sat, she sighed, then quickly reached down and took the heels off. She left them on the floor and stood back up, feeling much better on her own two feet. Her real feet. She found the white shoes Derreck had bought her, the ones that replaced the coffee stained shoes. Those went on with ease and those were the ones she could walk in with ease.
And they were the ones she wore.
Macy made it halfway out the door before turning and looking at the heels on the floor. Derreck really had gone through a lot of trouble to buy the heels. They did have diamonds in them. They were expensive. They certainly didn’t belong on the floor of an apartment, unseen. Unused.
Macy closed her eyes and knew what she had to do.
As she walked back into the apartment to retrieve the fancy black heels, she swore to herself she was only going to take them to give them back to Derreck.
That was the only reason.
“You’re not wearing
the heels.”
Macy saw Derreck standing outside the building, his hands in his pockets, looking impatient and busy. He stood, without pacing, but looked like a man who needed to pace. His eyes scanned her body, stopping at her feet.
“I can’t wear them,” she said. “I can’t walk in them. I can’t…”
“Sure you can. Come on, we’ll have to fix that...”
Derreck moved towards Macy with a speed she wasn’t used to from a man. His hand touched her back, feeling massive and strong. He applied pressure, guiding her to turn around. His chest was against her arm and shoulder, giving Macy a preview of the muscle that waited under his suit.
“You okay?”
“I don’t know,” Macy said, wishing she didn’t have to be so honest. In her mind, she figured if she were honest in some ways, she could hide in others. It would all balance out. “Not used to someone like you...”
“What, did you think I was going to kiss you?”
Derreck grinned. She felt even more thankful that she wasn’t wearing the heels because she would have fallen. This was too much already.
“No,” Macy said. “I don’t know. I...”
Derreck leaned down towards Macy, keeping his lips very close to her ear. He exhaled and then whispered, “Not yet, Macy. But I promise, you’ll know when I’m going to kiss you.”
As he stood back up, his hand came around to Macy’s side, touching her wide hip. His fingers curled and he turned, forcing Macy to turn too. There at the curb waited a long black limo, a driver standing at the backdoor, holding it open.