Promoted

c h a p t e r f i f t e e n

"Ms. Jackson. Jenny. You're late." Carson says the moment I enter the mall's food court.

"And a good afternoon to you as well, Carson. Also, I'm not late, you're just early. In fact, that brings me to my first point; most women take a while to get ready, we can't just put on pants and a shirt, fluff up our hair and be done. Beauty takes time, so don't expect me to be early."

"So... expect you to be late?"

"No, I'm saying that if the meeting is at 3 o'clock, I'll be there at 3 o'clock, not 2:50. Okay?"

"Alright. What next?"

"Well I don't know; we'll have to see how experienced you are. I need to purchase some things, which is why I brought you here. You're good with... three to four hours, right?"

"Three to four hours?!"

"Yes, Carson. Shopping takes time. Patience plays a decent roll in a relationship."

"But we're only going to be 'together' for three days. How patient will I need to be?"

"You'd be surprised. Let's go."

Unconvinced, Carson follows me into the multitude of stores at our local mall. Store after store, Carson begins to drag his feet more and more until he finally gives in.

"Jenny, we've been to thirteen stores and you only have three bags. Is this normal?"

"Oh yeah. The vast majority of shopping is trying things on."

"But it's been three hours."

"Only?" I tilt my head questioningly. "Huh, we're moving pretty fast." I say, and Carson glares at me.

"Can we eat something? At least?"

"Sure, food court or somewhere else?"

"At this point, I don't care." He grumbles, trudging his way to the food court without me. Unfortunately, I get caught up in a jewelry store, and by the time I catch up with Carson, he's already swarmed by females.

"Omg, are you really Carson O'Connell?!"

"Vanessa, Gwen is gonna freak when she sees this!"

"Carson, can I get a picture of you?"

"Carson marry me!"

"Honey, I'm right here...?" And so on.

"Uh, Carson, are you okay?" I ask, pushing through the crowd. Immediately, all eyes turn to glare at me.

"Who are you?"

"We were here first."

"Get lost."

"What are you, like, forty? Gold digger."

"She's actually pretty-"

"Babe!"

"Actually, this is Jenny, my girlfriend, so leave her alone." Carson says, guiding me through the mass of bodies with his hand on my back. Blushing, I try to ignore the tingles in my back and focus on the gasps of shock and despair coming from the mass of females. Regaining my composure, I smirk and look up at Carson. "You're getting better at this."

"I try." He removes his hand, along with the warmth that it brought.
Exhausted, we order some foot longs from Subway and sip on our drinks quietly.

"So," *sip* "Have you made you decision yet, Jenny?"

"Decision... Oh! No, not yet. It's kind of hard. I mean, getting paid to travel or co-owning a pretty large business. Both sound amazing, but are also pretty stressful and may keep me away from my kids. I'm still thinking. Although... I've started thinking about starting my own business." I murmur the last part, stirring the ice around in my drink.