recognize / b.simmons

49

amari sits at her desk, responding to an email from Nike for a partnership ad with some athletes. of course, amari co-signs on it and forwards the email to her supervisor.

"have you seen the reebok ad?" vanessa asks, suddenly at amaris side, phone in hand. amari cranes her neck and looks up at her.

"no? it's out?"

"yes! look," she holds the phone in front of amaris eyes and presses play. the ad was with cardi b in the nail salon, and camille, vanessa, and amari came up with the idea a few months ago, but it was finally published today.

amaris smile grows as she watches their idea come to life. cardi was the perfect person to use for this idea. "i love that," amari says once it's over.

"right? we're about to be cashed out," vanessa says, pocketing her phone and leaning against amaris desk. amari chuckles and spins around in her chair once. every time they do an ad like this, they get a significant raise. amaris partnerships with nike and jordan are the reason she makes as much money as she does, since the companies are both worth a fortune.

amari thinks about the raise they're gonna get and smirks at vanessa. "big racks."

"big ass, look back-"

"pose!" they both say at the same time and vanessa gets up, laughing on the way back to. amari gets back on her computer and gets back to work.

a few moments later, the secretary, jada, a young, black college student, comes up into the office and makes her way to amari, a gift for amari in hand; it was delivered a few minutes ago.

jada walks over to amari and sets the small edible arrangement on her desk. "this is for you," she says, a smile on her face. "and here's the note; it fell off." she says, her smile getting bigger. jada didn't mean to be nosy, but it fell off with the text facing up. she couldn't not read it.

amari quirks and eyebrow at jada as she glances at the snack and then takes the note from her. "thanks, sweetie," amari says.

"no problem," jada takes off, leaving amari alone with food. she flips the note over and immediately rolls her eyes, a smile on her face.

I miss you 'berry' much. Hope you enjoy it :).
Ben. ♥

"so corny," she mutters to herself, putting the note in her drawer. she unwraps the miniature edible arrangement and eats one of the chocolate covered strawberries. if he was trying to get back in her good graces, it might actually end up working.

after she eats two more pieces of fruit, she grabs her work phone and dials bens number and puts the phone up to her ear. he answers on the second ring and says, "hello?"

"you're so cheesy, dude," she says. he laughs and rubs the back of his neck.

"so you liked it?"

"it was aight," she teases. she liked it, a lot. it's cute and definitely something he'd do, and she appreciates the effort he's putting in.

he sucks his teeth and rolls his eyes. "anyway. but how long is your lunch?"

"an hour... why?"

"because i'm taking you out," he states like it's the most obvious thing in the world. amari heaves a heavy sigh and leans back in her chair.

"ben- you told me to make an effort, and i am," he interrupts. amari sighs and bites the inside of her cheek. he had a point, but she afraid that she'd go and end up caving and taking him back just because she's nowhere near over him. she was already staring to cave at the fact that he sent her this edible arrangement.