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Since when did she think of his smile as charming? She had no idea, but he was looking like Prince ‘Fucking’ Charming at the moment. She smiled back and accepted the drink.
“Thank you,” she said while taking a sip. “This is delicious.”
“You’re welcome. Why are you standing over here all alone?”
“I don’t really know anyone except Latti, and he seems to be occupied.”
Her friend was across the room dancing with that chick she met her first day there. What was her name again? Carlotta. That was it. She thought Latti said he was done with her. She definitely would have been done with him if she had been in the woman’s place. PJ guessed old girl was a glutton for punishment. Either way, it wasn’t her business. Lattimore Aston was a grown ass man and could date whoever he wanted. The only issue she had was she was an introvert who hated introducing herself to new people. It made her feel good that Max was giving her attention, however she didn’t want him to think too much of it.
“Would you like to dance?”
“No, I can’t dance.”
“Can’t or won’t? You’ve definitely got the body for it.”
“Truthfully, you are such a good dancer that you will probably put me to shame. Plus, I don’t keep up with the latest dances. I know what they look like, but I don’t exactly know how to do them.”
Just as the words left her mouth, the DJ kicked it old school. The unmistakable sound of Juvenile’s ‘Back That Azz Up’ sounded through the speakers. It had been her jam in college, and she definitely knew that dance. Her hips moved on their own volition as the beat began. As soon as she heard “Girl…” she grabbed Max’s hand and pulled him to the dance floor.
Before she knew it, PJ was doing exactly what the song’s lyrics instructed her to do. Max fell right in step and was behind her living his best life. She was having so much fun dancing with him that she forgot all about being mad. They danced to a few more songs before they decided to catch their breath. After grabbing a couple of bottles of water from the bar, PJ decided to start a conversation with Max.
“So, Sunshine, Latti said you were the resident weatherman. Is that a hobby or do you do that for a living?”
“It’s my passion really. I’ve been the Chief Meteorologist at WYAL-TV for a little over five years.”
“That’s impressive. So have you always been a science geek?”
“That’s one way to put it. It’s true that I love science, but geek is such a negative word. I’d like to consider myself a science aficionado.”
PJ laughed at his comment.
“Oh, so you’re a connoisseur of weather?”
“There you go! So tell me, what does PJ stand for?”
Just as she was about to tell him what the initials stood for, she heard that old school jam called O.P.P. playing in the background. That’s when she decided to have a little fun by rapping her answer. She smiled as the song gave her the right segway to her fun.
“P is for Pashen. J is for Jillian. Scratch your temple. The reason why, well that’s not that simple,” she rapped along to the song, changing the lyrics to fit her needs.
She swayed her body like she was on stage, causing Max to smile. He got her and she liked that very much. Not many people vibed with her right away. It seemed Mr. Sunshine had more layers to him than she originally thought.
“Passion is such a beautiful name. Why don’t you use it?”
“Well, first my parents decided to spell it in a weird way. It is P-A-S-H-E-N. Second, imagine going through puberty with a school full of horny teen boys calling you passion and every nasty name they could think of to go with it. I had one bad incident and Latti found me huddled in the hallway crying. After I told him what happened, he came up with using my initials. He said people would take me more seriously if I went by PJ. From that moment on, I was known as PJ Harlowe. It worked so well I kept the name throughout college and into my professional career. Most times people think I am a man until they meet me.”
“I can relate to that. I thought Lattimore was talking about his male best friend moving here. I was pleasantly surprised when I found out you were the infamous PJ.”
“Infamous? Really? Just what did Latti tell you?”
“Nothing specific. He just talked about you a lot. He was looking forward to his best friend coming to live with him. You couldn’t get him to shut up about you.”
“That’s nice to know. He had been hounding me for years to come back home. I am glad I did.”
“So am I.”
“Sunshine, will you excuse me a for a minute. I need to use the ladies.”
“Of course.”
PJ felt the burning glare of Max’s eyes on her as she twirled her way up the stairs to her bathroom. After taking care of her business, PJ washed her hands, refreshed her makeup that had sweated off and primped her hair. She squirted some lavender lotion in her hands and rubbed her palms together. Once she was done, she made her way back to the party. She was excited to chat with Max again. He wasn’t so bad, after all. She needed to learn to give people a chance instead of jumping to conclusions.
As she came down the stairs, she looked for Max, this time instead of Latti. The smile that had graced her face turned into a scowl as the muscles in her stomach tightened. Was he really out there shaking his money maker with another woman? PJ took a deep breath and internally talked herself down. Girl, that’s not your man. He doesn’t owe you anything. He can dance with whoever he wants.
She knew her thoughts were right, but why wouldn’t that tightening in her chest go away? She dug deep into her corporate bag of tricks and plastered on a fake smile. Moving to the bar, she ordered a Jack n coke and began sipping on it. She really wanted to slam it, but she didn’t want to get drunk and embarrass her friend. Where was he, by the way? It appeared she was on her own because Latti was nowhere to be seen. Great.
