Swirl Page 4

  “Oh my goodness, what the hell happened to you last night!” she shrieked.

  “What didn’t happen to me last night is the better question,” I replied smugly.

  She squealed into the phone loud enough to burst my eardrum. “You fucked him didn’t you? How was it? What happened? I need every sordid detail,” she said.

  I spent the next ten minutes rehashing last night’s events. Verbally reliving the moment caused the familiar ache between my thighs to return.

  “And,” I drawled, “he invited me to a thing at his job.”

  “Wow, I’m so jealous right now,” she murmured. “What’s it for?”

  “I’m not really sure about the details. He said it was like a focus group thing. Listen, I’m pulling up at the building right now. I’ll call you as soon as I’m done,” I said.

  “All right, call me as soon as you finish,” she ordered.

  Circling the building for the fourth time, I desperately searched for a place to park. With no spaces available, I was forced to use the parking garage on the side of the building.

  I hope I can get my parking validated.

  I swerved into the first space I came to and got out of the car. Following the signs and arrows, I found the elevator and made my way upstairs. The doors opened on the second floor and I was greeted by a blast of cold air. I glanced up and down the hall, searching for the right suite. The glass door down on the end led to the place I was looking for. I pulled open the heavy door and waited for the receptionist.

  She sashayed in with orange stringy hair flowing behind her. As if the hair alone wasn’t enough, she was wearing bright blue eye shadow. “Hello,” she said, her eyes gliding over my body from head to toe. “You must be here for the case-study?”

  “Case-study? No, I’m here for the focus group. Mr. O’Neil invited me, Connor O’Neil,” I replied.

  She offered a not-so-pleasant smile and stood up to hand me a clipboard. “Of course he did. Sign in and then follow me. They’re about to get started.”

  I frowned at the woman’s lack of polite customer service.

  You’re rude and look like a clown.

  After I scrawled my signature on the paper, I followed her through a side door. Everything was white and looked very sterile. She abruptly stopped in front of an opening to a space that looked like a classroom.

  “Find an available desk and fill out the paperwork on top,” she instructed.

  I stepped into the mid-sized room and gave a tight smile to other ladies there. They offered similar smiles and shy waves. I found an open seat near the door and slid into the blue chair. Several sheets of paper were neatly stacked with a black ink pen holding them down. I grabbed the pen and got started. Most of the information they wanted was general; age, race, occupation, weight.

  Weight? Why in the hell do they need that?

  Before I had time to ponder the meaning of the odd question, a pair of men walked in wearing white lab coats.

  “Good morning, ladies. We want to thank each and every one of you for participating in this case-study,” said the man with the glasses.

  Case-study? Maybe Connor got it wrong and this wasn’t a focus group after all.

  “As you know, we are ready to start testing our new weight loss drug that will specifically target obese minority females,” announced the other man.

  What. The. Fuck.

  My hand shot up into the air like an eager first grader, ready to answer the teacher’s question.

  “Um … yes, ma’am? You have questions already?”

  “Yes,” I snapped. “What’s going on? I was told this was a focus group.”

  Both gentlemen glanced at each other and back at me. “Mr. Glasses” shuffled around a stack of papers for a moment.

  That’s right, check your list. Obviously I’m in the wrong room.

  “No, ma’am, the representative that invited you here should have explained all of this to you,” he replied nervously.

  “Whoa, wait a minute. You mean to tell me I was told to come here to test a drug for fat black people?” I growled.

  The other man in the room held up his hands in front of me as if he were warding off an impending attack. “Nobody said black people specifically. We said minorities. Our scientists believe they have found a common link that will allow us to target the different biological needs in our participants.”

  I felt my rage building as I surveyed the room again. No one else seemed as outraged as me. Clearly they knew what was going on, and I was the only one in the dark. Horrified and humiliated, I grabbed my bag and yanked open the door to leave.

  “Ma’am, if you leave now you won’t get your ten-dollar check at the end,” one of them yelled.

  Ten dollars? That’s the damn check he told me about? Ten measly dollars!

  It was a good thing I had on my running shoes, because I was in a full blown sprint as I went by the tacky receptionist and out the door. My hands trembled as I pushed the button for the elevator. I didn’t think shit could possibly get worse, but I was wrong. The elevator arrived and the doors slid open to reveal Connor standing there leaning against the rail.

  “Hey, Bri, where are you going?” he asked.

  “You are a fucking liar!” I bellowed, pointing an accusatory finger in his face. “You said this was a focus group!”

  Connor reached out and pulled me into the elevator. “I didn’t lie,” he said through clenched teeth. “I just didn’t give you all the pertinent details. You need to get your ass back in there before I lose my commission.”

  The elevator doors sprang back open, and a gentleman with a briefcase stepped in and pressed the button for the parking garage. Connor nodded a greeting and flashed him a smile. “You invited me here to take an experimental drug,” I barked. I didn’t give a rat’s ass about the man trapped in the elevator with us. “Why didn’t you tell me the fucking truth? Why invite me to dinner and allow all of the other stuff to happen? You could’ve just said, ‘Hey, come to a case study for fat people.’ You didn’t have to screw me first.”

  We made it to the bottom and the man eagerly exited the elevator. I stepped between the doors so they wouldn’t close and waited on an explanation.

  “You want the truth?” he snarled. Darkness washed over his face and startled me just a bit.

  “Fine, here it is. I saw you and thought you would be perfect for the program. I invited you to dinner because you have a cute face and I wanted to know what it would be like to fuck a black chick. And to be perfectly honest, it was a disappointing experience. I expected you to be feisty, dominant, and a lot more aggressive. Isn’t that what black women are known for? What you should be doing is thanking me for giving you an opportunity to get the physique you obviously want. You and I both know you aren’t comfortable with your body based on how shy you acted last night. So, are you happy now? Was finding out the truth to your satisfaction?”

  My mouth dropped open as I looked down at my chest to check for blood. The invisible knife was plunged deep into my heart. I wanted to punch Connor in the face and show him just how aggressive I could be. He scowled at me with a blatant look of aggravation. I took two steps back and allowed the doors to close as he mumbled something about losing out on his commission again.

  My heart pounded in my ears and despite the sticky humid air, I was shivering. It took me several attempts to steady my hands long enough to get the car unlocked and the key in the ignition. My foot hit the gas and revved the engine. Luckily, the car was still in park or I would have completely smashed into the cars parked behind me. I grabbed the steering wheel with both hands and tried to calm my nerves. After a few minutes of slow deep breaths, I managed to get out of the parking space. I paid the parking attendant and zoomed off before getting my change.

  I hadn’t felt this low in years, and I struggled to focus on the road. My vision was blurred by tears and my hands started trembling again. How could somebody have such a disregard for someone else’s feelings? I found m
yself passing the same sign for the third time before I realized I was driving in circles. If I weren’t driving right now, I would curl up into a ball and cry. Actually, I wanted to find the tallest building in the city and jump off of it. I’d opened my fortress of solitude and broadcasted every flaw and weakness I had, this was the end result. I needed to find a quiet place to help settle my nerves before I did something drastic. My little sedan lurched forward with a set destination in mind: Drip Drop Coffee Hut.

  Chapter Eight

  I sought the comfort of food and the reassuring scent of coffee beans. My mind screamed at me to go home, especially since relying on food for comfort was how I got into this situation. I swept my hands over my face and tried to erase the tears. Tears or no tears, my puffy red eyes proved I’d been crying. Since it was just after the morning rush and right before lunch, the café was nearly empty. A few people were sprinkled here and there; a couple whispering over a plate of scones, a twitchy weirdo with a laptop, and a relaxed elderly man with a newspaper.

  No one stood behind the register, and I assumed Jayce was in the back somewhere. I sat down at the far end of the bar and dropped my head. The double doors swung open, but I didn’t bother looking up to see who was coming through them.

  “Hey, Bri, what’s shaking?” asked Jayce playfully.

  Hold it together, Bri. Just hold it together, I chanted over and over.

  My eyes finally lifted to meet his and the floodgates opened. I immediately became a sobbing shaking mess. I felt a hand gently patting my arm.

  “Take a deep breath. Ssshhh, calm down. Tell me what happened,” he whispered.

  My head snapped to attention as I remembered the recent conversation we had. “You were right,” I sobbed. “I should have listened to you. He humiliated me.”

  Someone near the register cleared their throat to get Jayce’s attention. He glanced over his shoulder and shot them a dirty look. The man quickly became extremely interested in the magazine rack.

  “C’mon,” he murmured. “Let’s go in my office and talk. I’ll get Leani to handle the front.”

  I eased off of the stool and followed him through the swinging doors. He ushered me into an office where a pretty girl with long dark hair sat frowning over a stack of papers. “Leani, do you mind taking over the register for me?”

  She took one look at me and quickly exited the office. “Have a seat,” he said, motioning to the chair. He opted to lean against the desk with his arms folded. “You said ‘he’ humiliated you. Are you referring to the asshole from yesterday?”

  I couldn’t produce the right words necessary to explain the situation so I nodded. I sat down in the chair and dropped my head into the palms of my hands.

  “Do you want something to drink?” he asked.

  “Hot chocolate won’t help this situation,” I mumbled.

  Jayce moved to the side of the desk and shuffled a few things around. “No, I meant a real drink. I can make you a cranberry vodka if you want.”

  Alcohol? Hell yes.

  “Yes, please,” I replied. Alcohol wouldn’t undo the situation, but it would bring my emotions down to a tolerable non-suicidal level.

  I grabbed the glass and downed the contents, welcoming the burn in my chest. There was more vodka than cranberry, but I didn’t mind, not one little bit. The liquid courage gave me the strength to tell Jayce the truth. We didn’t know each other outside the café, but I felt like I could talk to him. I gave him the quick version of the events and waited for him to respond. He grabbed my glass, refilled it, and made a drink for himself.

  “I’m going to break his face,” he muttered.

  I chuckled at his alpha male response. “No need to break any faces. I just appreciate you taking the time to listen. Everything has been so hard for me lately. I have no job, and two useless degrees hanging on my wall at home. Speaking of home, I live with my mom since I have no money to support myself with. Right now, I’m not living, I’m just existing. I’m the knockoff version of who I thought I would be.”

  He emptied his glass and stooped down to meet my eyes. “You’re one of my favorite customers and I hate to see you upset like this. Since you don’t want me punch this asshole in the face, let me help you another way. Leani is my sister, and she’ll be leaving in the next couple of weeks for school. There’s a job waiting for you if you want it. As an added bonus you can eat and drink whatever you want.”

  “I can’t ask you to do that,” I stammered in disbelief.

  “You didn’t ask,” he said, placing his hand on my knee. “I offered, and I hope you’ll say yes. You’ve seen what a madhouse this place can be, so I could honestly use the help.”

  I wasn’t sure what the proper protocol was in a situation like this, so I did the first thing that popped into my head. My arms wrapped around Jayce in appreciation.

  “Thank you,” I whispered. His arms returned the gesture, and the hug made me feel just like I thought it would: safe.

  Chapter Nine

  I was thankful Jayce offered me a job, but I’d created more problems in a single week than I ever could have imagined. Aside from a salt and sugar mishap, I managed to set the kitchen on fire … twice. Well, technically today would make three times, as Jayce burst through the doors with an extinguisher in hand.

  “It’s okay!” I exclaimed. “I put it out this time.”

  He looked around just to be sure and placed the extinguisher on the counter. “Bri,” he said slowly.

  I’d been expecting this conversation since day one, the whole “This isn’t working out, so good luck with your next endeavor,” speech.

  “Don’t worry, I already know what you’re going to say,” I muttered. “Listen, thank you for the opportunity, I’ll just get my purse and go.”

  “Wait … what?” he stammered, stepping in front of the door. “Slow down, Bri, I’m not firing you. We just need to figure out what you’re good at. No offense, I like you, and the customers like you despite the salty coffee you served the other day, but you are a major liability.”

  If my skin was lighter, I’d be red like a tomato, but I’m sure the flushed undertones were still a dead giveaway. A hot flash surged through my body as I listened.

  “Here’s the thing. You said you have two degrees, right? Well, what are they in?” he asked. Jayce leaned against the counter and folded his arms. That seemed to be his standard pose, and I don’t know why, but I liked it. The sheer size of him was comforting to me somehow. I knew the hug we shared was a spur of the moment thing, but I found myself wishing he would put his arms around me again.

  “Earth to Bri,” he said, waving his hand in front of my face.

  “Oh, sorry,” I sputtered. “My mind went blank for second. I have a bachelor’s degree in finance and my master’s degree is in business administration.”

  “Really? Wow, I probably should have asked you that question in the beginning. This is going to work out perfectly,” he replied.

  He walked into the small office and grabbed a few pieces of paper. “Take a look at these and tell me if they mean anything to you.”

  I put my purse down and accepted the sheets of paper. My eyes gave them a quick scan before handing them back. “Yeah, one is a ledger, and the other one is supposed to be a balance sheet, but it’s wrong.”

  His eyes lit up like a Christmas tree and his lips rolled back into a smile. “I’m so glad you know what this mumbo jumbo means. Vivianne was taking care of it all, but now I need somebody else to do it.”

  Vivianne. What he should call her is Bitch.

  Vivianne, his Barbie doll girlfriend, had taken some days off so she could have her breasts enlarged. What’s a Barbie without boobs? She should have saved that money and bought etiquette classes instead. I was hoping she didn’t come back at all. In my opinion, she was actually the one responsible for my mishaps in the café. My nerves got rattled when I’m under pressure and she’d deliberately hover over me like an annoying insect.

  “Great
, I’ll be happy to take over,” I said.

  “Awesome. Listen, I have a huge favor I need to ask you. Actually, think of it as part of your new job requirements. How about dinner?”

  I narrowed my eyes and tilted my head to the side. “Dinner? You know I’m leery of any man asking me out to dinner these days.”

  Jayce tossed his head back with a laugh. “No, no it’s nothing like that. By dinner, I meant pizza and beer at my place.”

  I smiled in return and nodded. “Sure, I’m game. What time?”

  “We can actually leave now,” he said, glancing down at his watch.

  Together we finished the last minute cleaning and I headed out the door to my car. I waited patiently for him to lock the doors and lead the way to his house. It didn’t take long for us to get to get there because it was literally right around the corner from the café in a small neighborhood similar to where I lived. We pulled into the driveway and Jayce went to unlock the door.

  You could tell the house had a woman’s touch to it based on the fruity air fresheners and decorations.

  “Do you mind taking your shoes off? Vivianne has a thing about the carpet getting dirty,” he said.

  Yes I mind, mainly because I don’t want to do anything SHE wants me to do, and my socks don’t match.

  “All right,” I muttered. “But don’t laugh at my socks.”

  The instant I kicked off my shoes, Jayce zoomed in on my feet and commenced to laughing.

  “You should have known I would laugh. Not only do those socks not match, but one is neon pink and one is neon green. It looks like you have lights on your feet!” he said between chuckles.

  I glanced down and laughed too. He was right; the neon colors did make it look like my feet were shining. “Shut up,” I said, playfully punching him in the arm.