Chapter 53

"Maggie. What are you doing here?" Pearl asked as she opened the door, pulling her towel around her tighter.

"I'm here in a personal capacity. Can I come in?" Maggie asked.

Pearl motioned her in and excused herself to throw on some clothes.

"What can I do for you?" Pearl asked, also offering Maggie a drink.

"No thank you. I won't keep you long. I'm sorry to intrude on you like this. This is about David." Maggie looked directly at Pearl, not mincing words.

"David's father is taking over the company completely. He told me the night after we offered you the new position. It's not a merger, it's a full take over." Pearl remained quiet. She didn't want Maggie to know she knew any of this.

"And there's more." Maggie continued. "He is dying and wants to give David the entire company, with one condition. And that condition, is you."

Pearl already knew. She remembered how Thomas Powers looked at her when he said it. The gleam in his eyes. The nauseating curl in his smile. She knew there was more to it. And she still hasn't figured it out yet. "What do you mean?" Pearl played dumb.

"The condition is that David gets nothing unless you are married. Not only will he lose this company, but most likely his job as well. I don't know exactly what Thomas' intentions are with this but I can assure you, it isn't face value with him. He's not doing a fatherly favor for David." Pearl couldn't agree more.

"And I'm here tonight, when I was told not to say a word about this to you, because as a woman, especially a black woman, I had to learn fast about what men in this business are all about. And I'm advising you to stay the hell away from this entire situation. It screams corruption and drama to me. You're going to get hurt, and there isn't a win here. It seems nice on the surface but it's always deeper than it appears." Maggie was there to look out for her. She sighed and felt relief. "Thank you for taking the risk to tell me all of this. I appreciate you so much. I've been careful. David is the seemingly perfect man, but something is holding me back. And I'm trusting my intuition now more than I ever have."

"Good" Maggie said. "I don't think I need to ask you to please keep this confidential, because I'm sure you already know it needs to be. Good luck." She said and shook her hand before she left.

Maggie was right. This whole thing was too much for her. She was in over her head. She came from nothing. Had nothing. She was sheltered most of her adult life by a controlling husband. She needed to protect herself. And she was trying. She fell asleep thinking about New York and a new life.