“Won’t you please come in,” Fiona said and extended her hand graciously.
“Thank you, Fiona.” Jada stepped in. “How have you been, Fiona?”
“I’m doing wonderful,” Fiona said with a big smile as she led Jada into the living room. She wanted Jada to see how happy she was with Jackie and Travis. Fiona looked at Jada and her expression told her nothing. “Please, have a seat and make yourself comfortable.”
“Thank you.” Jada sat down and crossed her leg.
“Can I get you anything to drink?” Fiona asked.
“Nothing for me, Fiona, thank you. However, you could tell me if either Ms. Washington or Mr. Burns are available?” Jada asked.
“I’m right here,” Jackie said when she came in the room and Jada stood up to greet her. “How are you, Jada?” Jackie may have given her a polite hug, but her mind was painting the picture that Black had planted in her mind.
Definitely would have been nice.
“And how was Paris, Jada?” Jackie asked and offered her a seat. Jada sat down, and Jackie watched as she crossed her leg and placed her hands on her knee. Definitely nice.
“Paris was wonderful,” Jada said and since the explanation would have taken too long, she decided not to mention that she and Carmen had gotten arrested for murder. “Have you ever been?”
“Twice, but we were there on business, so I didn’t get a chance to do much.”
“You should go strictly for the pleasure of it. You’ll love it,” Jada said as Travis came in the room.
He leaned in to hug Jada. “How are you, Ms. West?”
“I am fine, Mr. Burns,” she said as Travis sat down next to Jackie. Fiona moved to stand by the couch beside them. “I have to say, I love that outfit,” Jada said to Jackie. “Yigal Azrouël?”
“How did you know?”
Jada giggled. “I know clothes,” she said and then she looked at Fiona. “Would you excuse us for a moment, Fiona? I need to speak privately with Ms. Washington and Mr. Burns.”
“Yes, Jada,” Fiona said and left the room. Once again, not a part of the conversation about her future. You gonna kill Jada too? Fiona asked herself and closed the door.
Now that Fiona was gone, a no longer smiling nor polite Jada asked a question.
“What happened to Simone?”
Jackie told Jada that they had made what they thought was a generous offer to compensate Simone for the income she would lose. Jada sat and listened intently, shocked by the story that she was listening to.
“What was your offer?” she asked.
“One hundred thousand dollars,” Travis said. “But she said that it wasn’t enough to compensate her for Fiona’s future earning potential.”
“And did Simone counter?”
“Simone wanted a quarter of a million dollars, and I told her that was ridiculous,” Jackie said.
“As you should,” Jada stated.
“And we said thanks, but no thanks,” Travis added.
“And we agreed to send her back,” Jackie said.
“So what happened?” a now angry Jada asked. For the life of her, she simply could not understand why Simone would do that.
“Simone told Fiona that she belonged to her, so she didn’t get a say in whether she could stay or not, so Fiona shot her,” Jackie said.
Jada blinked twice. “I beg your pardon, but did I just hear you say that Fiona shot Simone?”