“I was thinking. How about we have a private celebration, maybe over dinner tonight?” he asked with a suggestive brow raise. I looked him dead in his eyes as I shifted my weight from one foot to the other trying to gauge on whether not he was serious.
“No,” I finally answered as I crossed my arms and gave him an icy glare.
“Wha—no? What do you mean no? Why not?” He spoke with the disposition of a man who had rarely heard the word before, but I was all too happy to introduce him and help him get fully acquainted.
“No is a complete sentence, Cowen, but if you need a little more clarity on it, here you go. Even if I did date my coworkers, you still wouldn’t have a chance. Now, I would appreciate it if we could be professional because, you know, we are still at work.”
“I-… Is it because I’m white?” he asked with an expression on his face that I wanted to remove with a jackhammer. “Wow, Lewis… That’s pretty low. I was just trying to do you a favor… figured a girl like you could take whatever she could get.”
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one…
It took every muscle in my body working overtime to control myself enough not to smack the nonexistent lips off that motherfucker’s face. I took a step back for his safety and my freedom before I spoke again.
“What I can get? I promise you that ‘what I can get’ wouldneverbe a coked out, simple minded loser with a Vienna Sausagefor a penis. Even a ‘girl like me’ could domuchbetter,” I spat as I looked him up and down in disgust.
“Loser?!” I had to chuckle. He was madder that I called him a loser than anything else I said, even the diss to his earthworm of a dick. The thought made me laugh out loud because he was every bit of the word.
“You heard me… loser.” I twisted the knife with a smile because who the fuck did he think he was talking to?
“Listen bi-” I cut him off when I reached down, grabbed him by the balls, and squeezed like I thought they would produce fresh orange juice. Something about my opp calling me a bitch would take me there every time. His eyes bulged and filled with tears as he wheezed and struggled to speak. I made sure no one could see us behind the partition we were next to, then gave him a little twist, a thorny smile across my face. His attempt to catch me alone ended up puttinghimin the compromised position as I did my damndest to end his bloodline right then and there.
“A-A-Amaya,” he whimpered, making me laugh right in his beet red face. This was the most fun I had at work in a long time.
“You listenbitch. When a woman tells you no, she means no?—”
His life and manhood were literally spared when Jocelyn rushed up and grabbed my arm, quickly ushering me away from Cowen, who doubled over like he was seconds away from losing his cheap cake and juice.
“Amaya… please tell me that I didn’t just walk up on you playing with that man’s penis.” She said the moment we were out of earshot of anyone else. Her eyes were wide with apprehension as she looked me upside my head.
“Girl! Hell no! He came at me completely inappropriately, and I was trying to make sure his disrespectful ass couldn’t reproduce ever in life.”
“Oh, thankGod! I thought you were back there sampling some pink peen on the clock!” She quickly reached into the tote she was carrying and squirted some sanitizer in my hands.
“Thank you. He should be thanking you too, because I was about to gut his dumb ass like a catfish,” I muttered, rubbing them together vigorously, still annoyed by the whole interaction.
“Listen.” She let out an exasperated sigh. “Don’t thank me yet. Mr. Kyle wants to see you in his office.
“Did he say why?” I questioned, knowing that I probably looked like I was about to lay an egg. I was tired as hell, and my mask was slipping more with each minute I spent out of my office.
“He didn’t. He just said he needed you in the office immediately,” she said apologetically.
“Damnit!” I hissed under my breath wondering why I couldn’t seem to catch a break that day.
The two of us walked in complete silence down the busy hallway until we made it to the door of Oliver Kyle, the Kyle in Kyle, Roy & Associates. He was CEO by way of nepotism and had been in the position since his father Richard Kyle retired ten years ago. I had been there two of those years and he was okay. He let me rock for the most part, so I was fine with him until he started trying to throw his weight around. For some reason, I knew today would be one of those days.
I knocked and was granted a swift “come in”, so Jocelyn and I stepped in. Once we made it in and closed the door, he held up a finger to silence us because he was on a call. I inwardly rolled my eyes. We could have waited outside if he was busy, and I couldn’t stand inconsiderate shit like that. I tapped my foot trying to keep my attitude at bay as Jocelyn and I shot each other annoyed glances until he finally ended his long-winded call.
“Ms. Lewis, thank you for coming in.”
“No problem, anytime,” I choked out through a forced smile.
“I’ll get right to the point. We have averyhigh-profile client who saw the work you just did and requested you personally for their pending case.”
“Okay.” I nodded. “Who is it? What’s the case?”
“Chase Andrews,” he said with a pleased smile like I was supposed to thank him.
“Um..” I cleared my throat. The article I read that morning still fresh on my mind. “The DV case? YouknowI don’t take those.”
