Superficial (DE)

Thirty-three.

Cerise rounded Derrick's office desk, dragging her manicured finger tips across the smooth surface as she walked, one foot at a time, her Jimmy Choo pumps making a muffled thud with each step across the coarse carpet. She picked up a small frame to the left of his computer monitor— a photo of him and his wife.

Cerise let out a small chuckle to herself as she stared at the picture, thoroughly amused. Though she could care less anymore, it was funny seeing how much a man loves his wife after he cheats on her. Throughout the whole three years Cerise had known Derrick and was dealing with him, he'd never kept a photo of her in his office or anywhere for that matter. Cerise would've never known his wife was even white had they not run into one another in the restaurant that night.

It was the morning of negotiations. Though Cerise was walking into her meeting with the prosecutor and the judge with a game plan for her case, she still wanted to try and work a deal off the record because this time she actually had something of value.

She'd gotten up early and gotten ready to impress before heading to the city's DA's office to pay Derrick a quick visit. Cerise finessed her way into his locked office by charming the custodian with a smile where she'd wait with only one thing on her mind— getting her way.

No sooner after she gotten into his office, Derrick followed. Cerise immediately perked up hearing the keys in the door as he fumbled with the lock before pushing the door open with his foot and flicking the light on. He paused in the doorway upon noticing Cerise seated on the edge of his desk with a cunning look on her face.

"Good morning," She smiled making the corners of Derrick mouth immediately turn down in a slight frown.

Unbeknownst to Cerise, her little charm no longer had any effect on Derrick. After they ran into one another in the restaurant that one night, seeing Cerise with Brandon severely hurt his ego. And contrary to the picture Cerise tried to paint of her dinner with Brandon just being a 'client meeting', Derrick wasn't buying it. He knew for a fact Cerise was screwing Brandon and now Derrick was out for her on a personal level.

Derrick didn't like the fact that Cerise had finally moved on, that he could no longer control her, that she no longer succumbed to his manipulation or apologies— that she was no longer his.

And if he couldn't have her, nobody could.

Derrick closed the door behind himself, locking the bottom lock as he turned to her with an unamused expression. "What?" He asked coldly.

He knew she needed something, she always needed something, she was a user, that's what she did— she batted her lashes and looked at you with those eyes and smiled and she got her way every time.

"I have something I want you to look at," She said, opening her work bag and taking out the ledger, tossing it to him.

Derrick set his brief case down beside his size tens, catching it. She watched quietly as he read through it, waiting until he flipped to the second page. Just as she knew he would, his brows rose in dismay as he quickly looked up at her. "Do you know what this is?" He asked, a chill laced in his tone as he held it up.

Cerise pushed off the desk, crossing the office before plucking the journal back out of his hand. "Yes," She answered simply, returning back to the desk.

After having no luck at the evidence locker yesterday, Cerise stayed up all night doing her own digging, as much as her authoritative clearance would allow. She'd gotten lost down a rabbit hole about this Sergio Dockson person until four in the morning— a descendent of Irish immigrants and a major distributor for the New York and Philly areas. While looking over his mugshot, something caught her attention — the small three leaf clover tattooed below his left eye.