Raymond walked into Michael’s office and to his annoyance, Joe was there also. Ignoring Joe completely, he took the other available seat. “I came as soon as you called,” he said to Michael, “What's going on?”

Michael waited until Raymond was seated and said, “The last shipment was distributed smoothly with no obstacles. Therefore, we are going to have more coming in these few weeks.”

Joe leaned forward in his chair and said, “I take it you want us to handle the upcoming transactions?”

“Yes,” Michael said, “The buyer from last time told me that he was extremely pleased with the dealing and requested to deal only with you two from now on.”

Raymond frowned and curtly said, “I can handle it on my own. I don’t need a partner.”

Joe chuckled and threw in Raymond’s words from before, “That’s for Michael to decide isn’t it?”

Raymond turned and looked sharply at him. He wanted to smash the grin off of Joe’s face. Controlling his temper, he smiled devishly, “I’m glad that you’ve been paying attention to what I’ve said. You’re learning fast.” He thought that this will rile Joe but it didn’t. In fact, Joe’s face seemed to light up with humor.

Joe smiled at Raymond then, “I don’t care what you say about me. I know that you’ve been in a foul mood lately. I understand. It’s not easy getting rejected by a woman.”

Raymond glared at Joe, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” But he did know. His heart tightened knowing that Charmaine had confided to Joe about their short discussion.

Michael sat forward and said, “Enough,” that one word grabbed their attention. “Stop the bickering. Making money is more important. As I mentioned, that buyer only wants the two of you for his next shipment. So whether you guys like it or not, you’re stuck with each other until we have established a steady relationship with him. Is that clear?” Raymond and Joe turned towards each other, no words spoken. However, their eyes revealed the shared loathing of each other. Michael darted his eyes between the two and loudly repeated, “Is that clear?”

Joe relaxed and looked at Michael, “I have no problems with it.”

Michael lifted an eye in inquiry at Raymond, “Well do you have a problem?”

Raymond turned to look at Michael. His feelings for Joe was evident on his face. In a low voice, he stated, “No problem.”

Michael clapped his hands together and stood up from his chair, “Great. Now if you guys will excuse me, I have a conference call now.”

Raymond left Michael's office with Joe following behind. Outside Michael's office, Joe stopped and called out to Raymond. “There’s something we need to talk about,” he said.

Raymond turned around to face him fully and snarled, “I can’t think of anything that we need to discuss.”

Joe smiled confidently, “Yes there is. It’s about Charmaine.”

Raymond stood still, staring coldly at Joe, “Talk. I’m listening.”

Joe took a step towards him and stopped when he was a foot away. With his features carved like stone, Joe warned, “Stay away from my girlfriend.”

Raymond clenched his hands and in a soft voice sneered, “What if I don’t? What are you going to do about it?”

Looking at Raymond with all the hate burning in his eyes, Joe declared, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” and left.

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Charmaine removed the whistling kettle from the stove and placed it on top of a thick padded coaster. She took out some tea leaves from a tin box and dropped it into a clear pitcher. With ease, she poured the boiling water into the same pitcher. “You cover the top with a lid and let the leaves brew for a minute or two. Then add the lemon wedges and a dash of fresh orange juice.”

Tavia looked at Charmaine, “You could have just told me that over the phone instead of demonstrating.”

Laughing, Charmaine replaced the pitcher onto the counter, “It’s more fun when I show it to you. Besides, I know you have nothing to do now.”

“I do too,” Tavia exclaimed. She pouted her lips and sat down at a nearby table, “I had to cancel a date with Ron because when you called me you said it was urgent. I should have known it was a lie!”

Charmaine sat down next to Tavia and said, “You could have told me that you had a prior engagement.”

Tavia rolled her eyes, “You didn’t give me a chance to. You hung up so quickly I couldn’t get a word in.”

Charmaine got up and walked to the counter and retrieved two cups of coffee. Placing one in front of Tavia she said musically, “Here, don’t be mad.”

Taking the cup Tavia brought it t her lips. She searched Charmaine’s face over the rim of the cup, “You’ve been acting strange lately. What’s going on?”

Charmaine smiled, “I’m in a good mood.”

“Joe?” Tavia asked, “Is that the reason?”

Staring dreamily into space, Charmaine said, “I never thought I would find someone like Joe.”

Tavia playfully glared at her, “I’m jealous now.”

“What for? You have Ron.”

Tavia smiled sweetly at the mention of his name. “Yeah Ron has been great to me.” She looked at Charmaine and hesitantly asked, “What about him? Do you still think of him?”

Charmaine’s face clouded over knowing that Tavia was referring to Raymond. In a dispassionate voice, she said, “No, because in my heart he is dead.” After saying those words, Charmaine felt a lump in .