Tiago Cartel: Dahlias Story

What Do You Want?

Diego stepped on the platform that led to his black and gray marble business table with comfy spinning chairs surrounding it. When he took his seat every man around the table ended their conversations and gave him their undivided attention.

"The building on 2nd and 5th street belongs to someone else now." Diego said breaking the respected silence. Everyone's faces frowned in confusion. Everyone had the same thoughts. How could Diego let something so valuable go? Everyone knew it wouldn't damage him completely because he had a lot of other properties, but that property right there was perfect.

"Nobody goes near it, nobody touches it." Diego continued. Fago, one of Diego's most respected clients shook his head and opened his binder.

"Any questions?" Diego asked as he noticed everyone's body language.

"That building is one of the many high profit buildings you own Mr. Santiago. I'm not questioning your judgement, but anyone with two eyes and a brain could see that this is a major loss." Danny said. Danny is also a highly respected client of Diego's. He came to him a couple years ago and wanted to talk business. When it came to real a state, or any kind of business involving a building and a solid business plan, everyone knew Diego was the one to come to. Not many people seen his face and if they did, they didn't know his name. Diego was great at hiding himself.

Mariana listed from afar. She knew exactly why he said that building wasn't to be touched. She knew once he seen how sweet and beautiful that woman was he'd soften up. She just hoped it wouldn't cloud his judgement. Letting go of that building meant letting go of a lot more that she was sure he'd never let go of.

As the meeting came to an end and everyone exited the room Mariana stayed back for a second.

"You know I'd never-" Mariana started.

"Not right now." Diego said cutting her off.

Diego sat on the couch across from Mrs. Laraines chair that she usually sits in. Mrs. Laraine was Diego's therapist, except he hadn't been in a while so he knew she would be very surprised to see him. He came right after the meeting he had because he knew her office was empty between 8am and 1pm, she called it her rest period. A period where she'd get herself together before listening to other problems and giving insight. The door opened and he turned to her.

Laraine wore a pink v-collard shirt with light mom jeans. She had on pink and white Nike Dunks and carried a big white Teflar bag. Diego admired how her bags always matched her outfits. He noticed her ring on her right ring finger and raised his eyebrow.

"Someone finally snatched you up?" Diego asked with a smile.

Laraine wasn't alarmed by Diego's sudden presence. She was very pleased to see him, she knew he only was seen when he wanted to be. She loved Diego and he knew it. Their relationship with eachother was anything but rocky, she had his back and he had hers too. Diego trusted her with his emotions, his feelings, and his masculinity.

"Took you a while to come around and noticed." Laraine replied. He got up and embraced her with a hug.

"Whatchu doing here Santiago?" She asked sarcastically with a smile.

"I met a woman." Diego answered. Laraine turned around quickly with a big smile on her face.

"A what!" She yelled with excitement. Diego smiled.

"Stop all that." Diego replied. She smiled and sat down in her chair.

"Wait, let me get my notebook." She replied she melts a separate notebook just for Diego. She made sure it was somewhere nobody would be able to find it and also put a different name on it.

"Tell me." She said excitedly.

"I broke into her house." Diego started.

"You did what?" Laraine replied. Her smile dropped.

"Not violently. She said she wanted to see me. So I gave her what she wanted it." Diego replied.

"You didn't think there was a better way to do that?"

"There was, but I wanted her to know that she wasn't in charge. How she responds to everything it's like she thinks she's invincible so I wanted to show her that she wasn't."

Laraine let him talk as she listened intently with her right leg crossed over her left leg.

"So I went to her house, all I heard was humming so I went towards it. She bumped into me with her towel on and started to freak out."

"Well, yeah. You're a stranger." Laraine mumbled.

"She started to hit me and I pinned her up but her towel started to fall so I let her go so she could fix it. She started telling me about how she wasn't selling the building."

"What building? 2nd and 5th?" Laraine asked. Diego nodded.

"Then she went on saying how she went through a lot and I really couldn't tell you what she said if I wanted to. She had the room smelling like shea butter, coconut oil, and coco butter. The way she looked, how she stood, her skin was soft, her eyes were beautiful. I couldn't stay there, I wanted to touch her so bad. Not in a sexual way, but I wanted to rub her body. Make her feel my presence, make her feel safe. So the meeting I had this morning, I told everyone the building is sold and not to go near it." Diego finished. He took a deep breath. Laraine was surprised that Diego let the building go so easily.

"Well, she must've smelled really good." Laraine joked. Diego didn't laugh. He seen him giving up the building so quickly as a sign of weakness. Laraine was highly aware of this but something like this coming from him was so unusual. She'd never seen him be soft for a woman. She'd hear about his stories about some of the women but she knew this one was different. She cleared her throat.

"What do you want to do?" Laraine asked.

"As far as what?" Diego replied.

"You know what. You've encountered a woman that makes you feel weak without even knowing her fully. Just her presence and her scent cripples you. What do you want to do?"

Diego paused and took a deep breath.

"Goodafternoon Frankie. I decided to cook something last night and made enough for me and you today." Dahlia said entering the building.

Something about Dahlias presence lit up the whole building even though it looked bad on the inside. Frankie didn't react much to anything because that's the way he was. All that needed to be said was said already, but Dahlia seemed to sweet to ignore. She meant well so he tried his best.

"That's fine Ms. Dahlia." Frankie replied. Dahlia was okay with that response and got right back to work. She figure today would be the last day of scraping. She looked at the desk in the middle of the 'Welcome Room' she called it and turned her head to the side. She was debating rather she wanted to keep it or build a new one around it.

She got the broom and started to sweep up the scrappings on her side and a little on Frankie's side. Frankie was smart enough to scrape his into a bag. Before she could get back to her side, she seen a figure come through the first set of bulletproof doors and make its way in and immediately knew it was the man from last night. His scent, the way his hands felt, she couldn't escape it. It made her nervous.

"Ms. Beulah" Diego said, greeting Dahlia by her last name. It didn't shock her because he knew where she lived. She could only imagine what else he knew. She didn't want to admit it but she found out she was playing with fire quickly.

"How can I help you." Dahlia responded still moving around. She was nervous. He made her that way for some reason, but she wanted to hide it for obvious reasons.

Dahlia noticed Diego took a double look at Frankie and stared. She turned to Frankie and didn't bother trying to read his body language or reaction. They just stared for a second. She cleared her throat getting Diego's attention. Dahlia didn't like whatever was going on, she couldn't tell if Diego was trying to intimidate Frankie or if they had some past run ins. Whatever it was, she didn't want Frankie to feel uncomfortable in a place where he was more than welcomed.

"What do you want?" Dahlia asked.