On Her Blacklist

It’s been ten days since Isabella filed for a divorce from her husband, Gerald, and only six hours since her flight to New York City landed after her short vacation with her daughter, Isla in Costa Rica.

Her friends had chattered a Mercedes van just to come to pick her up from the airport before driving her back to her parents' flat somewhere out of town.

At first, Isabella had been alarmed by the expensive welcome her friends threw her, but after they all told her several times that she deserved more love than what she was receiving, she accepted the red rose bouquet she was given and drank the champagne they poured in her glass while on transit.

With Bella back in the city, she was ready to face her problems head-on, except that Gerald wasn’t going to let her have some peace, especially after he kept losing several advertisement deals.

Later that evening, after trying to reach her and failing for the umpteenth time, he had no choice but to go to one of her best friend’s places, the worst choice he made.

Venita was in her flat dancing to some rock music by ‘The Beatles’ blasting through her speakers and drinking alcohol from a plastic party cup when the consistent sound of her doorbell reached her ears.

She stopped dancing and grunted before picking up the remote to turn off the music. A few seconds later, she opened her front door without checking the identity of the person first.

As soon as she saw Gerald standing in front of her with the worst possible disguise ever, she rolled he eyes and attempted to shut the door on him, but he held it back with his strong arms.

“Venita, please,” he begged.

Venita released the door and spared him a glance before drinking from her cup. “What are you MF doing here?” she didn’t care about using a bad word on him. As far as she was concerned, he deserved every bit of her insults and even worse.

“I’ve been trying to reach Bella through calls, and she is not at home either. Do you by any chance know where she is?” Gerald inquired as his gaze stayed on her face. He looked like his whole life depended on her answer.

Venita eyed him warily. “You’ve been scarce as well. No one seems to know anything about you except through the blogs with a special page dedicated to you and your whore mistress.” She had to top her degrading insult with a wicked smile.

“This is not funny.” The light in Gerald's eyes dimmed, but Venita didn’t seem to care. If he didn’t like her words, then he shouldn’t come looking for her next time.

“Who said it’s funny?” The smile on Venita’s face disappeared instantly as she faced him squarely. Did she look like she could stand him? “Given how you cheated on my best friend, I should be kicking your ass right now. Now run along before I change my mind!”

Having made her point clear, she grabbed her door and was going to close it, but Gerald seemed to be unwilling for that to happen. He held unto it through gritted teeth.

“Do you think I can tolerate you speaking to me like I’m some man without self-respect?” He sounded pissed.

Venita found his statement ridiculous and laughed in his face. “You already lost your reputation when you cheated on Bella, do you think you still have any more left?” With that, she threw the remaining content of her cup on his face, forcing him to let go of her door.

“Ah! B*tch!” Gerald cried out as his hands flew to his eyes. The feeling of alcohol in the eyes was not necessarily a good one. It was painful.

Venita scoffed. “I’ve been dreaming of doing this for so long!” she said before slamming the door in his face.

***

The next morning, Isabella dressed for work and appeared at her company bearing gifts.

“Is Mr. Cooper in?” she inquired as she walked past Miriam for her own office.

Immediately, Miriam followed her. “He called to inform me that he had a meeting and would be running ten minutes late.”

“Okay.” Isabella put her handbag and the gift bag on her table before walking over to the coat hanger to clip her coat.

“How was your vacation?” Miriam asked her gaze moving from the gift bag on the table to her face. She wondered what was in it and whom it was for.

“Fine, thank you,” Bella answered without sparing her a glance. After turning on her computer, she picked up the gift bag and walked out, leaving the other woman with unanswered questions.

Since Richard was not in yet, Isabella directly pushed open the door to his office and walked in. She went straight to his table and put the bag down before leaving. That was a ‘thank you’ gift for the vacation he sponsored.

By the time Bella returned to her office, Miriam was gone. So, she sat down behind her desk and got ready for the day.

Half an hour later, Richard Cooper finally made it to work. As soon as he walked in, Miriam rushed up to take his bag and hold the door to his office open for him.

“Is Isabella in?” Richard asked while taking off his coat and putting it on the hanger.

“Yes. She is meeting with a client right now,” Miriam answered as she put away his workbag before going to stand in front of his table. There, her eyes fell on the gift bag she had seen Isabella bring to work that morning. ‘It was for him?’ she thought to herself.

Right then, Richard saw the bag and grabbed it. “Who brought this?” he asked, lifting his gaze.

“I think it’s Isabella. I saw her with the bag earlier when she asked about you…” Miriam answered.

Learning that the gift was from Bella, Richard put it away. “Clear my schedule for 12:30 pm to 2:00 pm. I will be having lunch outside,” he instructed.

Miriam noted that down on her pad and left when he didn’t need her anymore.

At the same time, someone arrived at the company’s lobby. It was Gerald. He was putting on a black nosemask that only exposed his eyes which were hidden beneath the dark sunshades.

He approached the front desk and took off his sunshades. “I would like to see Isabella Smith.”

“I’m sorry, do you have an appointment?” the receptionist inquired.

“I’m her husband,” Gerald declared arrogantly. “Do I still need an appointment to see her?”

The receptionist recognized him, but she was more surprised at his outburst than his recent fame, so she said to him, “Give me a minute” before bending to type something into the computer in front of her.

In less than a minute, she straightened her back and faced him with a professional frown. “I’m sorry, but you are not allowed to see Ms. Smith. She blacklisted you on her visitor’s list two weeks ago.”