Chapter 2

Trecia Wilson

It was yet another holiday, and I was spending it in the carryout line at Lenny’s. The sad part is it never failed when I said I wanted to have take-out.

“Take out,” the waitress yelled. “How many?”

Goddamn.

Does it matter if it’s take out, how many people I’m ordering for? No, it does not, and I swear, I want to rip that elf’s hat off her nappy head and wring her neck for being so damn loud. It’s violent, but stupid people make me violent. Why are you yelling for the whole restaurant to know I’m here by myself on Christmas day?

Why?

“It’s just me,” I say in a low voice, through clenched teeth.

She must have taken the hint because she nodded and asked me what I want. I quickly tell her. After explaining, I want the chocolate milkshake, I take my receipt and sit down. Then, I can blend in with the other people waiting to be seated. At least until they bring my food.

About fifteen minutes of waiting, two large men come inside the restaurant. Despite their regular clothes, they had on large, yellow boots like they were clowns or something. My eyes must have lingered on them because a rough chuckle cut through the air like a knife.

I looked up at the smiling man, but I quickly notice the ring on his left hand. It’s an automatic for every single woman. Look at that third finger from the thumb to see if this could be the one. Well, in my case, I’m looking to give me an excuse as to why I am not available.

However, this guy must be faithful because he elbows his partner who turns his eyes on me and I deadpan.

Holy hell.

The first guy was hot with a nice chocolate coating that made him a Blair Underwood candidate, but this other guy was equally hot with the muscle-bound Zac Efron look but much taller. They were both hot, but the black one was married. The white guy was looking at me with a scowl on his face. Then he shook his head at his friend and that, oddly enough, crushed my whole soul.

The man shook his head like he was disgusted with the thought of me. I mean, I knew I was a bit on the hefty side. Well, my size twenty, I wore damn well, thank him very much. I didn’t look sloppy, and I was always well groomed. Eyebrows were arched, hairs were plucked but today my hair was probably in the damn ponytail and not out. The crochet locs were my new favorite hairstyle. My hair could grow but sometimes I would forget to have it down around my face and thus, I kept it in a ponytail. My lipstick was intact, it was a golden tint that matched my bronze coloring. The red in my hair only accentuated my earth tone colors. I looked fine, but his dismissal hurt.

I’m not even sure why because if he had made a move, I would have shut his ass down. I didn’t date anymore. Not after Chester and his stupid ass harem, he had going on. What were the damn odds I was recruited to be a part of a harem under the guise of great sex and a man who was the most attentive to my needs than any man I’d ever met? Well, he wasn’t just interested in me, but Julie, Hazel and Sara Ann.

Imagine my surprise when I was invited to dinner where everything was explained to me over a nice seafood dinner that Hazel had cooked specifically for me. I barely cracked the lobster tail before I was grabbing the claw ready to cut one of those bitches if they tried to stop me from leaving.

After that bullshit, I was done. No dating and definitely no online dating. Something in me had shut down and according to my mother, thirty-five was too early to close my vagina. She on the other hand had created several online profiles for me and herself, to meet guys. She was twenty years older than me and her pussy was open for business. Now that had to be some sort of holiday card.

Mom getting busy more than her daughter.

I rolled my eyes and turned toward the busy restaurant and fixated on a little girl trying to use a fork to put corn in her mouth. It was an epic fail as she was surrounded by kernels of corn on the floor, her clothes and somehow in her hair. Her father smiled and tried to take the fork, but the girl wouldn’t budge. She wanted to learn how to use that fork, just like everyone else. That little girl would be a fighter and I could relate.

“Ah, you’re here,” a round waitress with two hefty bags of food in each hand came toward the tall men. “Is it just the two of you?”

“Yeah, Nancy,” the guy who shook his head replied with a gruff voice. “It’s just us.”

“Okay,” she nodded. “It’ll be two trips.”

“That’s fine. We just want to thank you for your generosity,” he said with a smile.

Damn.

He was a gorgeous man.

Zac Efron had nothing on him. Those eyes were on the Nancy lady and I swear the older woman swooned.

“Oh Hazard, it’s no problem.” She blushed. “Anything for you boys. Y’all saved us.”

I had no idea what she was talking about, but I was mesmerized just like she was as they took the mountain of bags outside and came back in three more times. That was a lot of damn food and where was it going? I didn’t know Lenny’s catered food. Well, not that I had any events to have them catered, but still. That was a lot of food.

“Thanks again, Nancy,” the hot guy bent down to give her a hug.

As round as she was, he completely engulfed her, and all I saw was her pudgy arms at his sides. Then the black guy followed suit but landed a kiss right on the red-face lady’s cheek. She nearly passed out from the hotness in the restaurant and so did everyone else who was at the front.

Once they left, a few women, even with men, were fanning themselves. The men were scowling, but I had a notion they might get lucky on Christmas day and not because of Santa Claus.

I wasn’t fanning myself, but I did have a vibrator that sat upright on my nightstand that ran out of juice earlier, so it was recharging. I hope it was ready because my fantasy just took on another shape. A hot, bulky guy with yellow, big ass, rubber boots.

***

Despite the Christmas holiday, my new assignment started on December twenty-sixth. This time it was not at a corporate office with disgruntled employees. My job as a mediator could virtually be anywhere, but I was completely shocked when the assignment included a government office. Usually, the government kept their dirty laundry to themselves. They did not want outside mediators to handle their inside work. When I confirmed with Scott, my manager at the Mediate Network, that it was in fact, the Municipal Services building in Queens, he confirmed with a similar shock.

Once I arrived there in my smart suit, heels clacking on the black tile and moving toward the office, printed on my assignment sheet, I came up short. A bunch of cubicles fill the place and there did not seem to be a main office. As I turn around to focus on something or someone to get my attention, I noticed a woman who looked friendly enough to approach.

“Hi,” I wave at the woman. “Hello.”

“Yes,” she answers but keeps typing. “What can I do for you?”

“I’m looking for,” I say while pulling the paper away from my face since it was hard to see if it was too close. “Room three-oh-four. I’m looking for Joseph Whitley.”

The woman looks up with her eyebrows push together but she stops typing. She reaches for a file and flips it open before she says, “Are you the mediator?”

“Yes, Trecia Wilson,” I share.

“Yeah, you’re supposed to be at this address.” She holds out a paper. “We’re just the people that pay you.”

Taking the paper, she extended toward me, I look over the address that’s located in the Bronx. The south Bronx, to be exact and I try to think what’s over there. Nothing is registering, so I look over the paper again and come up with a blank. It must have been a government contractor, which made more sense. Even so, I found it odd.

“Okay, thanks.” I say but pull out my phone to text the updated information to Scott.

Back down the rabbit’s hole, to find out where I’m spending my next six weeks.