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they had never had such a personal conversation. In fact Steve suddenly realized that he knew next to nothing about the woman who stood before him.
    With slow deliberation Steve allowed his eyes to run over his assistant, and it was almost as though he were seeing her for the first time.
    He knew from her resume she was a couple of years older than him; that she was a widow with one child. That was about as much as he knew about her. Steve suspected that if asked, Ms. Ellis could probably relay more facts about his life than he had ever thought about.
    The woman standing before him had always reminded him of a schoolteacher. She was always neat and tidy with never even a single hair out of place. She was around five feet six, and... Steve’s thoughts came to a halt as he tried to find the word that would best describe her physique. The only word that sprang to his mind was that she was plump . Why he was taking such a sudden interest in her was something he would have to think about at a later stage.
    “Take a seat, Ms. Ellis,” once she had complied with his request, Steve continued with the question he really wanted answered. “So you don’t like, Hope?”
    “I don’t dislike her I just don’t think that you both belong together.”
    “Why do you say that?”
    “Do you want my honest answer, Mr. Blackman?”
    As her question hung in the air, Steve realized that in all the time he had known this woman he had never had cause to question her integrity. Before he could think better of it, his mind made a parallel between the two women who knew him best. First there was Hope the woman he had nearly married, who had betrayed him. Then there was Ms. Ellis, his assistant who was sitting before him, and he knew she was about to tell him exactly what he didn’t really want to hear. The irony of his thoughts caused a slight smile to lift the corners of his lips.
    “Right now I would accept nothing less, Ms. Ellis.” Bracing himself, Steve got ready for a few home truths.
    “Forgive me for stating the obvious, we all know that Ms. Richards is a beautiful woman, just as you are a beautiful man... what I mean is... well,”
    “I’m beautiful am I?” Steve asked unable to stop himself. He knew she was embarrassed and not even her brown skin could hide that fact. She was blushing and Steve didn’t know if it was due to the fact that she had called him beautiful, or because he had called her on it. “I’m sorry, I was only teasing you, please go on with what you were about to say.”
    Without meeting his eyes, she continued, “What I’m trying to say is that sometimes we can get caught up in things... and people because of their aesthetic appeal...”
    Steve cut her off before she could go any further, somewhat shocked that she thought him so superficial that he was only with Hope because of the way she looked. “Is that what you think of me, that I only chose Hope because of the way she looks?”
    “Didn’t you?”
    Steve could tell that she was waiting for his denial so she could pounce. “I guess in a way you’re right. At first it was the way she looked that attracted me, but that wasn’t why I stayed with her.” Steve could see she didn’t fully buy his answer so her follow-up question didn’t surprise him.
    “Why did you stay with her?”
    “Because I love her of course.”
    “You say that as though love is always enough.”
    “What do you mean by that?”
    “I mean that maybe it’s time for you to let go of the illusion you live under where that woman is concerned. I’ve seen you both together, so I’m going to ask you another question; does she love you the way you love her?”
    Steve knew she had her answer when he could no longer hold her gaze. With a nod of her head, Ms. Ellis stood and left him to his thoughts.
     

Chapter 6
    Six weeks later
    The club was packed. Gyrating bodies pressed against each other as the throb of the baseline fused the clubbers together.
    Destiny stood off to one