Читать книгу Delilah - Shelia M. Goss - Страница 15

Delilah pouted and complained, but Samson wouldn’t budge. “You can still call off the wedding,” Delilah said.

“That’s never going to happen, so you might as well let me go.”

She did something she said she would never do in front of a man. She cried. Samson reached out to her. She pushed his arm away. “Don’t touch me.”

“Delilah, fine. It’s almost eight o’clock, and I have things to do.”

“I can see myself out.”

“You can’t stay here. When I leave, you leave.”

“So you’re kicking me out?” Delilah yelled.

“Calm down. Nobody’s kicking you out.”

Wiping her eyes, Delilah got out of the bed and put on her clothes. Samson avoided looking at her. Delilah should have felt some type of shame, but she didn’t. She never made Samson do anything he didn’t want to do.

“I’m going only because I have something to do myself,” Delilah said.

“Be careful,” Samson said as he walked her to the door.

She was disappointed he didn’t at least give her a hug. She dialed her best friend’s number as soon as she was seated behind the wheel of her car. “Keisha, let’s meet for lunch. My treat.”

At one that afternoon, Delilah met Keisha at a local eatery. The crowd had thinned since the lunch rush hour passed. “Girl, I love that hair color on you,” Delilah said as she sat across from Keisha.

“Platinum blond. You should try it.” Keisha ran her fingers through the end of her hair.

Delilah loved changing her hairstyle, and having a best friend who was a hair stylist worked in her favor, but she would leave the platinum blond to Keisha.

“I ordered your favorites,” Keisha said.

“Good, because I haven’t eaten anything since yesterday.”

Delilah listened as Keisha gossiped about the patrons at her salon, but the news didn’t compare to what Delilah had going on in her life. The waiter brought over their food. Delilah explained her dilemma. “Samson wanted it as much as I did, so I don’t know why he keeps tripping with me.”

“You’re going to burn in hell for messing with that preacher,” Keisha said. She dipped her French fries in ketchup.

“Did you not hear a word I said? He wants me too, but he doesn’t want to disappoint his parents.”

“Delilah, I don’t know what planet you’re on, but the preacher is just using you. He’s getting sex from you, but he’s still marrying his virtuous woman. Move on. Save yourself from heartache, but most importantly, save your soul.”

Delilah’s cell phone rang. “That’s probably him now.” Delilah retrieved her phone from her purse with a huge grin on her face. “Hello.”

“Are you making any progress?” William asked.

Delilah rolled her eyes. “Just give me some time.”

“Time is money. I need that land to build my shopping center, so I need to see some results. He still won’t take my calls.”

“I’m working on it. I have a trump card I haven’t played yet. He’ll do whatever I want when I play it.”

“Well, what are you waiting on? Give me the results I want or you’ll be jobless.”

William disconnected the call without waiting on Delilah’s response. “Are you okay?” Keisha asked.

“Yeah,” Delilah responded, as she slipped her cell phone back in her purse. “Just my boss getting on my nerves.”

“You need to find you another job.”

“Where else am I going to work and make twenty dollars an hour in this city? Plus, I’m getting a bonus for this special assignment,” Delilah said. Delilah, feeling distress, had shared with Keisha details of her special assignment.

“You can find something. I can get you a job on the riverboat with me. Girl, with my tips, I easily pull in a thousand dollars every week.”

“I know nothing about a crap table or blackjack.”

“You don’t have to. There’s a training class you go through.”

“Well, if this doesn’t work out, I’ll think about it.”

“You have options,” Keisha said.

“If Samson marries that woman, I don’t know what I’ll do.”

Keisha stopped eating. “Do I need to slap some sense into you? You’re delusional if you think he’s going to drop Ms. Prim and Proper for an ex-hooker.”

“I was an exotic dancer. Big difference.” Delilah looked around the room to make sure no one was listening. “Besides, you don’t have to tell the world my business.”

“I just want you to see how ridiculous all this looks. You slept with him. The sex was good. Now move on.”

“You just don’t understand. I’m a better person because of Samson.”

“I’ve seen him on TV and yes, he’s sexy, but he’s not the only man in Shreveport.”

To Delilah, he might as well have been because Samson was the only man she wanted, and she’d stop at nothing to get him.