Beneath The Surface Read Online Free PDF

held out his hand. The two old friends shook hands. But Black knew that their friendship required more of him.

Chapter Six
     
    With Angelo taken care of, Black had Victor drive him to Cuisine. They went inside, and Black went straight to the bar and got a bottle of Rémy. He sat down at his table and poured himself a drink. With the club closed and all of the staff gone home for the night, the only ones there were Black and Victor. “ You goin’ home, Black?” Victor asked.
    “No. You go on and get outta here.”
    “Everything all right?”
    “Yeah.” Black said and poured himself another shot of Rémy. “I’m waitin’ on a lady.”
    After Victor left, Black remembered the first time he saw Carmen’s picture on the cover of a magazine. When he looked up, Carmen was coming through the door.
    “Hello Mike,” Carmen said and walked toward the table. As she got closer, she could see the half-empty bottle on the table in front of him. “So do you always sit here getting drunk alone in the dark?”
    “No. I was waiting for you.”
    “How’d you know I was coming?” Carmen stood in front of him. She had changed from the Teri Jon dress, and was wearing black jeans and pumps and an ivory blouse, but she still had the pearls around her neck.
    “I didn’t. I just hoped you would.”
    “I see you still drink Rémy.”
    “And you still drink Bacardi on the rocks?”
    “Still.”
    “Can I get you one?”
    “Sure,” Carmen said, and Black stood up and went to the bar. “And turn on some lights, please. I wanna see the place.”
    When Black got to the bar, he flipped on some lights so Carmen could see. While he poured her a drink, Carmen looked around. “Very nice, Mr. Black; I’m impressed.”
    “I’m glad you like it,” Black said, and met Carmen in the middle of the dance floor with her drink.
    “Thank you,” Carmen said and took a sip of her drink. She looked him up and down. Suddenly, she was eighteen again, and desperately in love with the man that stood in front of her. “I always wondered how I’d feel if I ever saw you again.”
    “How do you feel, Carmen?” Black questioned and stepped closer to her.
    Carmen looked up into his eyes. “Part of me wants to slap the shit outta you for what you did to me.”
    “I guess I deserve it,” Black said, stepping even closer to Carmen. Close enough that she could slap him if she really wanted to.
    “You do deserve it,” Carmen said, dropping her head. She took a deep breath. “I was devastated when you left me, Mike. You broke my heart. There were times when I felt so bad, I wanted to just die and be done with it.”
    Black didn’t say anything.
    What could he say?
    “But then at the same time, I knew in my heart that I should be thanking you. Because if you hadn’t dumped me, I would never have gotten serious about my career, ’cause all I wanted to do was be with you. And the only future I had in mind, back then, was having a bunch of your babies.”
    “If that’s the case, I’m glad I was able to help.” Black extended his hand toward his table. Carmen walked past him and he inhaled her perfume. He held the chair for her as Carmen sat down.
    “You really did. My work, focusing on my career, it’s what saved me, kept me sane. I was so in love with you, and everything about you. And what used to fuck me up was that I felt like you loved me, too, and I couldn’t understand why we weren’t together.”
    Black reached out for Carmen’s hands. “All I can say, Carmen, is that I’m sorry I hurt you.” He held her hands tightly. “But please, believe me; it hurt me to do it.”
    Carmen looked up and smiled a little. “Really?”
    “Really, Carmen; I never wanted to hurt you.” He started to admit that he was in love with her, and that’s why it hurt so much, but that was way too much information for this conversation. “I did what I thought was right at the time.”
    “And that is the only reason that I couldn’t hate you. Because