“Don’t tell me what to do with my own wife.”
Neal pulled at Damita’s arm. “Let’s go!”
Damita stood her ground. “Neal, I said I’m not leaving with you. Now, stop it!”
The bouncer grabbed Neal’s arm and he snatched away. The bouncer then grabbed Neal and pushed him, forcibly, toward the door and threw him out. “Don’t come back in here!”
Wendy could see the fear in Damita’s eyes. “Don’t worry. We’ll make sure you’re safe. You can stay with me if you’d like.”
“That’s okay. I left late last night and went to Carmella’s. I would love a ride, though. I don’t want to get you involved in all this craziness. Maybe we should wait a while.”
“Damita, you should have told me what was going on between you and Neal. You can’t keep all this stuff to yourself. If you had told me, I could have helped out; even if it was only to cover for you at work.”
“I was so ashamed and embarrassed.”
“That’s what men like him count on. He’s the one that should be ashamed, not you.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Damita was happy she had let Wendy in on her secret. She was right. She was a great help until Damita learned she had enlisted Tina’s aid with a project they were working on together.
“Wendy, can I talk to you for a second?”
Damita stood in the doorway of Wendy’s office.
“Sure, come on in.”
Damita closed the door.
“You know I appreciate all the help you’ve given me during this craziness with Neal and the Kushner deal, but I can’t work with Tina and I definitely don’t want her hands anywhere near the Kushner deal. I can’t trust her.”
Wendy looked confused. “Damita, weren’t you the one that told me we girls should learn how to work together?”
“I did and I meant it until I found out she was sleeping with my husband.”
“No fucking way. Are you serious?”
“Yes, I am. The messed-up thing about it is I feel more betrayed by her than I do by him. Is that crazy or what?”
“No, it’s not crazy, especially given the way things have been going between you and Neal. I still can’t believe she would do that.”
“That’s the same way I felt when I found out. All of this; Neal, Tina, it’s made me question my instincts. There was a time when I thought Neal was the best thing that ever happened to me. When I came back, after I got married, my whole life felt like nothing but secrets. That’s when I realized that I had no right to judge Tina. Now, I’m back to questioning myself again. I did my best to keep an open mind about her and then I find out she’s sleeping with my husband. I would have thought that, given the fact that I treated her with kindness and respect, would have been enough for her to say hands off, but no. She fucked him anyway. I’m not really angry with her. I don’t trust her. After all, if she would screw my husband, how can I trust her with one of my accounts?”
“Point duly noted. I’ll make sure she gets nowhere near Kushner or any other account of yours.”
“Thanks, Wendy!”
They were still talking in Wendy’s office, when Mr. Underhill came by.
He had his usual stern look, but there seemed to be a hint of a smile. “Meeting in the large conference room,” he said.
“What time?” Damita asked.
“Come in right now. . .both of you.”
Wendy and Damita exchanged looks, wondering what was going on. By the time they got to the conference room, the voices were filtering out into the hall.
“Come on in, Damita,” Mr. Underhill said.
Damita walked in apprehensively. She had been through so much for the last couple of months she no longer enjoyed surprises.
“The lady of the hour is now here. Oh, wait a minute. I hope I didn’t speak out of turn. Is ‘lady’ now one of those words that is no longer considered politically correct?”
Everyone looked around to gauge whether or not the boss was joking and if they should laugh. The general consensus was they should all laugh.
“I’ve called you all here today because we got some great news, not only for the firm, but specifically for Damita Whitmore. One of the most sought after companies on every investment banking firm’s list has decided to give us their business. Damita, Kushner was so impressed with your work that they said hands down, this firm was the only choice they could make. So, you know what that means.
“Everyone I would like to introduce our newest Vice President, Ms. Damita Whitmore.”
Just as Damita was about to say a few words, the sound of someone’s loud clapping got everyone’s attention. It was Neal and he was clearly high as a kite.