Raymond and Ron walked into the office where Michael was waiting for them. Seeing the two, Michael indicated with his hands for them to have a seat. “How is everything going?”

Ron extended the binder he was holding, “The profits for this month exceeded last month’s. There were a couple of slow days but things are picking up again.”

Michael nodded with approval and lay the binder aside. He turned to Raymond, “What about the clubs? Any new faces trying to deal in our territory?”

Raymond shook his head, “Apart from the usual drunks, everything has been running smoothly. Our supplies are going fast and we may need to re-stock more often.”

“That’s what I want to hear,” Michael said. After a pause, he said, “There’s something I need to discuss with you two. Joe is going to assist in the next shipment.” He saw the look of disgust on their faces and went on, “I know you guys don’t always meet eye to eye.”

Ron blurted, “That’s a nice way of putting it. The fact is that we absolutely loathe the guy.”

Michael sat forward in his chair, “I know but for the sake of business, let’s put our personal differences to the side and concentrate on working together to bring in the fast money.”

Ron, who was always the impatient one and tends to speak his mind, heatedly said, “The guy is an arrogant jerk. He’s been out to get Raymond for the past year. He even tried to run...”

“Why?” Raymond cut in before Ron could say any more. “Ron and I have been handling that end with no problems and for so long. You don’t trust us anymore?”

Michael met Raymond’s eyes and firmly said, “I trust you guys more than anyone else. As you know, Joe has been trying to take over everything. I want to stop him but I need to buy some time. Giving in to this request will keep him content for a period until I can think of a plan to bring him down for good.”

“I see,” Ron exclaimed, the anger draining from him. “I just hope the guy will play fair this time.”

Raymond looked at Michael and said, “I’m willing to cooperate with him but make sure he doesn’t cross the line. We’re all after one goal here – and that is to make money. It proves futile if we attack each other.”

Michael smiled, “I agree with you and I will definitely have a talk with him about that. In the meantime, have you two got dates for the charity ball?”

Ron laughed, “No, but I’m certain Raymond wouldn’t mind loaning me one of his many girlfriends for the night. Right buddy?”

Raymond smiled mischievously, “What makes you think that I even have a girlfriend?”

“You must be kidding me?!” Ron hollered with incredulity. “Every time I see you at the club, you’re always with a different girl. If we were to gather all your girlfriends together, the club wouldn’t be large enough to hold them.”

Staring off into a corner, Raymond said quietly, “Those women are just for me to kill some time with. They mean nothing to me.” In his mind, he thought, the only woman that will ever mean anything to me is Charmaine and she’s no longer with me.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Joe swerved his car and stopped at the curb right in front of Charmaine. He quickly jumped out of his car and approached her. “I’ve made reservations at the India House for dinner. How does that sound?” Joe asked as he opened the passenger door for her.

Charmaine smiled as she got into the car, “It sounds delicious. I’m starving.”

Joe returned to the driver’s seat and pulled the car out of the curb. With one hand on the steering wheel, he used his free hand to retrieve a small box from the glove compartment. “This is for you.” Charmaine took the exquisite box from his hand and stared at it. When she made no move to unwrap the box, he said, “Open it. I had it made especially for you.”

Charmaine untied the little pink ribbon and lifted the lid. Inside the box was a pink velvet heart shaped jewelry box. Taking it out she hesitated an instant before opening it. When she finally opened it and looked inside her breath caught. With care, she took the necklace out and dangled it between her fingers to admire the silver heart pendant with a cluster of diamond in its center. “This is beautiful,” she breathed then replaced it back into the box. “But I can’t accept it. It’s too expensive.”

Joe glanced at her briefly and then turned back to the road in front of him, “Look at the back and read the inscription.”

Charmaine lifted the necklace and read the inscription: Joe Loves Charmaine forever. Dazed, she turned to look at him, “Joe, I…”

Joe took her hand in his, “The necklace is yours and I refuse to take it back. I’m not asking for you to make any promises nor does this necklace represent any obligations to me. I just want you to be reminded that I’ll always love you.”

Touched by his devotion, Charmaine gently squeezed his hand, “Thank you. I’ll wear it right now.” When she had the necklace fastened behind her neck she turned to him, “How does it look?”

Joe smiled and looked in her direction, “As beautiful as the person who is wearing it.”

Charmaine leaned towards him and placed a soft kiss on his cheek, which surprised him. In an affectionate voice, she said, “Thank you. I promise I will never take it off.”