Satin Skylines

Chapter Three - Two Fishermen

Chapter III -

      Jonas Davenport set down the New York Times paper onto his desk in front of Josephine Knight.
    "I do not appreciate being made a fool, nonetheless a fool on the front page." He said, quietly but sternly. He gestured for her to sit in the chair across from his desk, and so she sat. She immediately regretted it because she felt the plastic of it poke her in all the wrong places.
    "Sir, I understand entirely..." She began to say, but was cut off.
    "No, you do not understand. Not in the slightest. You do not understand how upsetting it is to find out that your right hand man and best friend from birth is planning to undermine you and your business. You do not understand how irritating it is to have your hired men botch his murder at your party and have you finish the job. You do not know how infuriating it was to try to cover this all up and the struggle I had to go through to make the reporters and police look the other way." Davenport said while looking through a collection of wine bottles, "And worst of all, you do not understand how annoying it is to have a pretty woman sit in your office chair and try to say that she understands what is like to be a man like me." He turned around after selecting a red wine bottle that was labeled 'Badia a Passignano.' Josephine gulped and bit her lip for a moment.
    "This has all been very frustrating. And a man like me can no longer be frustrated, I need my employees to know what they are doing in order to prevent me being frustrated." He said calmly as he set the wine bottle onto his desk next to two exquisite looking glasses. Josephine straightened up to begin speaking again, this time careful not to say that she understood anything.
    "Look, Mr. Davenport, Evelyn knows better to shoot a man mid-party, let alone in the middle of the dancefloor. And unlike that scum of a man Gilmore, my girl knows a thing or two about respect. You can count of her to respect a man like you, being our boss and all." Josephine said as Davenport opened a bottle of wine.
    "You do not have to persuade me Miss Knight. That was not the purpose of this meeting." He poured a slender glass for both himself and Josephine. She stiffened uncomfortably in the smooth, faux lounge chair. Her ass was far too large for this chair, and Mr. Davenport's tone had made him sound more sinful and powerful than ever.
    "I invited you to relay my message clearly to Miss Holman. I have a large shipment coming in from the north, and I am planning for some big moves when it comes in. Jacob Gilmore was a hiccup, and all hiccups must be quenched." Jonas said as he poured both himself and Josephine a glass of wine, "Now I trust that Evelyn Holman can do the job. That is not my concern at the moment. My concern is that I have no room for any more hiccups, and she needs to know that. Because I like her, and I like you. You are both pretty women. So if something were to happen... it truly would be tragic." He continued as he sat down in his office chair. Scare tactics do not usually work on Josephine, but threats on her friends stirred anger. She was smart enough to know that Davenport was not bluffing, but Evelyn would take the threat personally and fear of Davenport would consume her. Josephine knew that if Evelyn heard any of that stuff it would affect her work.
    "It would be in your best interest to let her know this, seeing as she could not be here with us tonight for this meeting." Josephine nodded as Mr. Davenport said this, because he did not know that Evelyn was out on her other manager's job, killing some grand ball jewelry thief. But she knew very well that telling Evelyn about the true nature of this meeting was the last thing she should do, so she stood up and smoothed out all the ruffles in her skirt. She then proceeded to chug the remnants of the fine wine in her glass, and set it down on his desk.
    "I will let her know what you have told me. But you will not have to worry Mr. Davenport, sir, I swear it." Josephine said as she grabbed her clutch purse from the very uncomfortable office chair.
    "I have heard it all before, sweetheart.  But I do hope it true this time." He said while turning his chair around to face the view of the city. "It looks like it is getting dark now, Miss Knight. You best be on your way." He continued to sip on his glass of wine and looked at the sight that was New York City. The city had a glaze of purple over it from the night, so they yellow street lamps accented all of the people walking through the streets.
    "Yes, quite so sir. I shall leave you to it then." Josephine said quietly, and went to go grab her jacket. But before she could put it on, she felt a movement behind her and Davenport's voice in her ear.
    "Here, sweetheart, let me help you." His cool breath promptly sent goosebumps down the side of her neck as he helped her shrug on her coat. Josephine felt her knees start to grow weak as Davenport raised his hand and lightly brushed it down her jaw line, while the other wrapped around her waist loosely. Just like the man himself, his hands were icy and formidable - but that somehow comforted Josephine in a way she could not describe.
    " I do hope to have you back soon so we can discuss more... business." His grip started to tighten and Josephine had never felt such unbearable tension before with a man. She felt like turning herself around to latch onto him when she was stopped by the metal click of a door. Davenport's arms dropped from Josephine's waist, to her dismay. It was the little blonde boy, Willie, who stood in the doorway of the office.
    "Uh... Sorry to interrupt Mr. Davenport, Sir, but Gideon Black is here to speak with you." The young boy's voice faltered under the strain of nerves. Mr. Davenport nodded solemnly and looked at his watch.
    "He is considerably early. Bulls do not function on gangster time very well, do they now, Willie? Well, Miss Knight was just leaving so let Mr. White know I will be available in a moment. Okay?" Davenport's voice softened when he spoke to Willie, in a way that Josephine never heard him speak like before. The boy nodded in submission, and scurried off into the hallway.
    "Gideon White?" Josephine muttered, "You have business with the chief of police? Here?" She understood that the mob often worked with the police force, but what she did not understand was why Gideon White was invited to Davenport's personal home - where most crime was planned and arranged. And nonetheless, he was invited at the same time as she was.
    "Isn't there a saying or something saying not to shit where you eat?" She said, baffled. Davenport chuckled as he sat back down in his office chair. Unexpectedly, Josephine felt herself wanting to close the distance that had grown between her and the mob king.
        "He is barely a cop, sweetheart. Gideon White is a scam con artist who should not be trusted with a backyard hose. He thinks he is here because he is important to my operations and that he can potentially gain enough of my trust to destroy me. Or so he thinks." Davenport said, conveying how serious he took the matter by kicking his feet up on his desk and lighting his cigar.
    "Truly, he is here so I can keep an eye on him. Sure, the minimal amount of information he occasionally provides is always nice, but it is like when your cat brings you a dead rat. When the time is right, I will properly use my pet Gideon White." Davenport said, and then took a long drag from his corona. Josephine was unsure why he was telling her all of this. Men like Jonas Davenport did not disclose information with people unless he saw value in telling them that. She fidgeted in her spot.
    "Well I really should get going then. I am sure I can find the door on my own." She said the last part in hopes that he secretly might walk her out like a gentleman, but Jonas stayed sitting in his chair. He did not dare rise because he did not know if he was capable of restraining himself from such a beautiful woman. She turned on the edge of her heel, facing the door.
    "Have a nice night, sweetheart. We shall be keeping in touch." Mr. Davenport said as he dismounted his feet from the desk. As Josephine walked out of the office door, she thought about how she wished he meant touch literally.