I took the elevator to the building's main floor and, when it opened, I saw Natalie talking with a salesman. It was late, but there were still two customers in the building.
“Excuse me… Nat, can you update the website? Tim says the newest imports haven’t been added. Can you also send out the monthly newsletter?” I interrupted them. Normally, I would have waited, but it had been a long day.
“Shit, I forgot. I’m sorry, Mrs. T I’ll get on it now.” She apologized, rubbing her temples. I waved her off, “Girl, do it tomorrow. It’s late,” I said, easing her worry and smiling at them before I exited the building.
Behind the wheel of my car, I started the engine but did not move. I just sat there and thought about what we had just discussed. The second encounter has just been greenlighted, andI felt uneasy about it. Not uneasy about the encounter itself, but uneasy about why I anticipated it.
I didn’t move out of the parking spot. I opened my phone and typed a message.
Me: Hey, are you busy next month from the 15th to the 18th? Tim and I have decided to go ahead with the encounters. I’m thinking we can go out of the country. I don’t have the specifics, but the date is set in stone.
I pressed send to none other than Quentin Long.
Quentin: Nah, I’m not busy, B. Just let me know what you want to do so I can pay for it.
Me: Sure.
Quentin: I’ll make sure I leave respect in the States, baby.
I laughed loudly as I put the car in reverse and left the parking lot. He’s such a cocky asshole.
As soon as I connected my phone to the Apple CarPlay, the music started playing lowly from the speakers. I chuckled at the irony of the song. It was like the universe was taunting me by playing Xscape’s ‘My Little Secret’ at a time like this. But I sang along anyway.
I took a deep breath, and I watched the lines of the road, lost in my thoughts. I had just solidified that in a month’s time, I would be in the arms of Q. And this time for an entire weekend.
I groaned and clenched my thighs in anticipation as scenes from a year ago replayed in my head on loop. My body must have been operating on pure muscle memory because I didn’t even notice I had pulled up to my home.
Silencing the engine and cutting off the lights, I stepped out of the car. I was going to count down the days until I was on an island on my knees or bent over on the beach with one leg on a chair and getting my butt eaten while sipping an ice-cold margarita. When I was with Quentin, I was B, the woman withno inhibitions. But right now, I was Breeze, the innocent wife and entrepreneur.
***
“Good morning, Mrs. Thompson. There’s a visitor for you in the lobby,” Natalie said over the intercom. I frowned. I wasn’t expecting anyone. There was nothing on the calendar for noon.
“I don’t do walk-ins, Nat. Who is it?” I questioned.
“Shareese Williams, she said that she wanted to see you specifically,” She responded.I cleared my throat and then adjusted myself in the chair. I could only hope that her popping up at my job was business, not personal.
“Uh, sure. Can you walk her up, please?” I asked before we disconnected the call, straightened the papers on my desk, and started putting them in their respective folders while I waited.
It didn’t take long for Natalie to enter with Shareese on her heels. Her smile told me she came for pleasantries, so I returned it.
“Thank you, Natalie. Good morning, Shareese. What brings you by?” I questioned as I nodded toward my receptionist, who turned to walk away.
“I was referred by my son’s aunt. When I googled your dealership and saw you and your husband on the website, I figured I’d come to the source, if that’s okay,” she said politely.
“Of course,” I motioned for her to have a seat.
“Tell me what you’re looking for,” I asked and waited for her to answer. She came up with a mile-long list of specifics. Inside, I laughed because she was just like me; none of them had anything to do with the quality of the car itself. There were just random things she would like, like a third row, heated seats, no sunroof, etc.
I took notes as she continued to ramble through her list of must-haves, then scanned the online vehicle catalog for matches and gave her five options.
Eventually, she picked one of the most expensive models of the Cadillac Escalade. I wasn’t in the business of watching how anyone spent their money, so once she assured me that was what she wanted, we started the customization process. She was throwing in all the bells and whistles without a care in the world.
Every time I asked about another feature, she said, “What do you think?” It was the worst thing to trust someone at the dealership with, but I didn’t oversell her anything and actually gave her an amazing deal that saved her almost ten thousand dollars.
She was personable, even more so outside of the office. Subconsciously, I wondered why she and Q broke up. They both seemed nice, but I knew that even if you knew a person, you didn’t know them when they were in a relationship. So just as quickly as I had the thought, I pushed it to the back of my mind.
“I just need your signature on a couple of papers, and your telephone number again,” I said as I waited for her to sign the documents that I had printed.
