"Lavender, can I talk to you for a moment?" Tony called out to me as I was packing up my things for the day. I followed him back to his office and took a seat in one of the chairs in front of his desk
"Hey, Tony," I said, "What's up?"
"I was thinking that we should set up a business dinner with Shane," he said, "And with you and Samyra as lead on the project, it would be a good opportunity for everyone to get to know each other better."
"Sounds like a good idea," I replied, internally nervous. "I'll have Mia set it up."
Later that night, Samyra, Ralph and I drove together to meet with the rest of the group for dinner. I couldn't shake the nervousness swirling around in my stomach and that because of me, things would be awkward between Shane and I.
"So, what else has been going with you two?" Samyra asked as she drove us through the busy streets of downtown, weaving in between cars and honking at everyone in a passive rage.
"Nothing at all." I said, readjusting my black fitted dress. Samyra and Ralph gave me a knowing look.
"Don't be silly, girl. I can tell he's feeling you. I mean come on, now. Did you see the way he was looking at you this morning? It was so fucking cute."
"Mhm, that man just wanna love on you like Mario. Bitch, let him." Ralph added. I laughed. grateful for their support and their ability to make me feel more at ease about tonight. I took a deep breath, mentally preparing myself for whatever this evening had planned for me.
"I don't know, y'all." I sighed admittedly, "There's definitely chemistry."
"Shit, you better than me, 'cause I would've given in by now." Samyra chuckled. Ralph agreed.
"Anyway, how are things with you and Marcus?" I asked Samyra, trying to change the subject from Shane and I.
"Ugh, don't get me started," Samyra groaned, rolling her eyes. "Well you know he just opened his barbershop. So there's that, and he's been pressuring me to take the next step with him, but I'm just not ready yet."
"And what would that be?" I asked, genuinely curious.
"He wants us to move in together," Samyra explained, rolling her eyes. Ralph gasped excitedly. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't think I'm ready for that shit."
"I understand," I said, sympathetically. "It's important to take things at your own pace."
"Exactly," Samyra replied, nodding her head. "I got a lot on my plate already with my brothers, Sandra and Olivera up my ass 24/7. I just wish he would understand that." I let Samyra finish venting. Then, we headed in.
As we walked over to the large table in the back of the restaurant, I could see Tony and Sandra already there, chatting with each other and sipping on glasses of red wine. My heart raced as I approached the table, trying to keep my composure. We took our seats and we ordered our drinks and appetizers, and soon enough, Shane arrived.
He greeted us with a firm handshake, and I couldn't help but notice the way his eyes lingered on me for just a moment too long. We exchanged pleasantries and then took our seats, Shane sitting directly across from me. Samyra and Ralph sat beside me, Tony and Sandra sat on the other side of the table. The conversation was centered around business, and we discussed the progress of the project and the goals that we wanted to achieve.
Just before we were about to begin with our appetizers, in comes Olivera, sauntering over to our table with a smug grin on her face, clearly pleased with herself for making such an entrance. She was wearing a tight red dress that hugged her curves in all the right places and her hair was swept back in a sleek bun. My gut twisted at the sight of her, knowing all too well how the night was going to go.
