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“Morning,” Countee said as he walked into the room.
We both replied.
“I have a few things to go over with you bef…”
Laila walked into the room, and Countee paused. More accurately, he froze. He watched her like he’d never seen her before. He didn’t move or speak until she had taken her seat at the table.
“I’m sorry. I had to run to the restroom,” she announced oblivious to Countee staring at her.
She was a strikingly beautiful woman in her soft pink pants suit with a black lace camisole. She continued to wear her hair in soft, loose curls that rested beyond the middle of her back.
Samuel and I looked at each other and smirked. Countee’s reaction to Laila was hard to miss.
Countee cleared his throat and continued.
“Um…things like I was saying that I want to go over with you. My team is combing through the footage of the surveillance cameras near the bar where Leathen said he went before the attack. They haven’t found anything yet, but they haven’t finished with all the footage. I’ve decided to put someone on all of the senior associates. We need to see what they are getting into after hours and who they are speaking with.”
He continued to run down his case while I listened and made mental notes. It seemed as if he had everything covered. I felt secure with Laila at my office, and I was secure in my home with the new security system that Samuel insisted they install.
“Laila, can you stay behind and debrief me on what you’ve experienced while at the firm?”
“Sure,” Laila shrugged.
“Averie and I will be in my office when you are finished,” Samuel announced.
I followed him to his office. He closed the door behind him and motioned for me to take a seat next to him on the couch.
“What did you need to speak to me about?”
“I would like to take you away for a few days. There is a place we could get that is private and in a tropical location.”
“El, you know I can’t leave right now,” I stood to my feet and started pacing.
“When was the last time you were on vacation, Averie? I don’t mean a day here or a day there, but I mean a real phones off, computers closed, off the grid vacation?”
“I’ve never been on that type of vacation because I haven’t gotten to that point where I can relax like that. You earn that type of vacation.”
“You have earned it.”
“How El?” I threw my hands in the air. “How have I earned it! I’m nowhere near where I want to be financially or professionally. With all this stuff going on right now, you know I can’t leave! Why would you be so selfish as to ask me to leave right in the middle of a storm? I could lose my firm behind this bullshit, but you say let’s take a break? Your firm is on solid footing mine is not!”
“It’s selfish for me to want to take you away from the craziness for a few days? That’s your definition of selfish?”
“Yes!” I yelled. “You’re at a point in your life and your career where you can do whatever you want! You have a team of people that could run this place without you. I stepped away from my firm for a second and my employees tried to run it into the ground.”
“I’m sorry for trying to help you relax just a little.”
“Relax? By leaving! If I were a man would you…”
“Here you go with that bull again,” he stood from the couch and walked behind his desk.
“So, it’s bull when I ask a simple question about gender?”
“No, it’s bull when you always revert to it during a disagreement especially with me,” He stabbed his finger into his chest. “It’s bull because you know damn well that the way I treat you has nothing to do with your gender and everything to do with how I feel about you. But you know what? Fine, Averie. I don’t want to take your crying, victimized, grudge-holding ass nowhere. Stay here and be miserable. And before something falls out of that slick ass mouth of yours, that you can’t take back, get out of my office,” he pointed to the door.
Did he just dismiss me?
“Did you just…”
