2
You still can’t get anyone to pick up?” Kandi asked from the driver’s seat of thecar.
“Nope, I’ve been calling Syn for the last hour and no one is answering.Dammit!”
“Girl, I feel your pain. That identity theft stuff is no joke. Now you gotta call and canceleverything.”
“I’m not worried about identity theft,” Mandisa answered. “I only ever carry my ID, a single credit card, and a few bills when I go out. I keep them in my bra or pocket. I left my keys at the store. The only thing in my purse was my last tube of Sweet Sadie’s Butterscotch Lip Luster and facepowder.”
“So, you’re sitting over there mad about some cosmetics? All of which you can pick back up when you go to work at one of the five stores you own?” Kandi’s questions were laden withsuspicion.
“Uh, obviously you haven’t looked at the inventory report, Ms. Executive Manger. If you had, you’d know we’re out of Butterscotch Lip Luster and won’t have any more until the shipment arrives next week. I love thatgloss.”
“More likely you loved getting next to that sexy-ass man you were sitting next to with the pretty eyes and broad shoulders.” Kandi’s smirk was fully visible, making her regret that Kandi could read Mandisa sowell.
Mandisa sighed loudly.No need in lying. Shame the devil, tell the truth. “Fine doesn’t even cover it, girl. Everything about him was sexy. And the way his lipsfelt—”
“Wait, you kissed him!” Kandi’s outburst made Mandisasqueal.
“Girl, didn’t yousee?”
Kandi shook her head furiously. “No. I was too busy walking and texting with Sarah about our lush of a friend Anna. When I spotted you and called your name, you two were just eye-fucking eachother.”
Mandisa’s insides began to sizzle again with the thought of Slade’s lips. A few kisses and some great conversation, and he’d found a way inside herhead.
“I couldn’t help it.” Mandisa’s voice sounded strange to her own ears. Light and bubbly, filled with hopeful excitement. She sounded like a smitten schoolgirl. She could wholeheartedly admit that without the least bit ofshame.
“He was sitting there looking pretty and smelling like sex and my favorite flavor of ice cream all mixed together, and I just had to lean in and get a taste. Wouldn’tyou?”
Kandi continued laughing. “I sure as hell wouldhave.”
“Well, his number is in that purse, so if I can’t find it, I’ll never be able to find Mr. Sexy again.” Mandisa huffed and let the back of her skull sink into theheadrest.
“Chile, you know like I know, you’d better stop chatting with me and keep trying to get someone at Syn on the phone. You can’t give up on finding that level ofsexy.”
Mandisa dialed Syn again. Kandi was right. She couldn’t give up on that kind of sexy withouttrying.
* * *
Mandisa sipped from the plastic coffee cup like it contained life’s elixir. She was dragging this morning. Between the late night and the early-morning sick calls from two employees at her Pitkin Avenue store, she’d had to cut her sleep short to arrive early enough foropening.
She grudgingly set about her tasks. She and the lone employee who hadn’t eaten the funky-looking food from the new takeout spot around the corner, prepped the store for the expected busyday.
It was Saturday. The store was located on the same block as a beauty salon, an African hair-braiding shop, and a nail salon. Sweet Sadie’s supplied wholesale items to the owners of those stores and retail products to the patrons. If you lived in Brooklyn, or any ’hood for that matter, Saturdays meant one thing—getting your hair and nails slayed for the weekend and buying the necessary products and tools to keep you looking good until your next visit to thesalon.
She was currently helping a woman search for a product she saw on MyTV. Thank God for the DIY gurus that vlogged their tips on beauty and style and the followers like this woman who came to Sweet Sadie’s to find their praisedrecs.
Usually Mandisa would be thrilled to listen to whatever the new craze was. It was one of the ways she kept her stores and products relevant, keeping ahead of the beauty trends by meeting the needs of her patrons. But today this woman’s indecisiveness was just getting on Mandisa’s lastnerve.
Annoyed as she was, Mandisa continued to smile politely, trying to ignore the dull pain the customer’s incessant questions kept inflicting. When her employee was free, Mandisa turned the customer over to her and headed to the back for a brief break. She mentally chastised herself as she walked into the storage room. She might’ve been annoyed by the sick calls and having to come in early, but her sour mood had more to do with Slade’s lost number than having to cover the store, and she knewit.
“Slade.” The sound of it just slid down her tongue so smoothly. A little sweet mixed with a whole lot of spice. “No sense dwelling on it. That purse, along with his card, has gone tohell.”
She looked at her watch and noted they had three more hours until the store closed. She could do this. She had no other choice. When you were the boss, you couldn’t opt out, even when you wanted to. Those were therules.
* * *
Slade stared at the folded piece of paper in his hand. He’d found it last night in Mandisa’s forgotten bag. He’d looked inside hoping to find some form of identification he could use to contact her. No such luck. Instead, there was a lip-gloss, a compact, and a single piece of notepaper with a telephonenumber.
