Reece
Wow, that was intense! I wasn’t expecting for any of what happened to go down, but I was looking out for Troy since he looked out for me with the altercation with that jerk the other day.
On my way back to o the register, Troy came in and motioned for me to go into the office with him. I didn’t know why, but when I noticed the grim look he had, I understood.
I walked inside as he entered with Tony through the other side. Tony sat down on the seat in front of Troy and I seated myself on a stool opposite the two men.
“I know I messed up today, Troy.” Tony started.
“Yeah, you did. So tell me why I shouldn’t fire you right now?” Troy asked while leaning back in his seat. He gave Tony a stern look, which made him lower his head.
“Look at me, Tony. Tell me why I shouldn’t fire you? We just had a talk about your drinking two weeks ago and you promised me that you would stay sober; yet, you’re getting into an accident in a customer’s car.”
“It really was an accident. I wasn’t drinking.”
“Stop bullshiting me, man. I can smell the whiskey on your breath. You were drinking before you came here.”
I sat there, listening to the two as Tony started speaking in Spanish. I guess he thought I wouldn’t understand him, but I understood the entire conversation.
Troy threw the pen he had in his hand down on the desk. He continued the conversation in Spanish while running his hand through his hair. He was completely frustrated, but also sympathetic as he nodded.
“I’ll do what I can, okay. But you have to promise me to stop drinking. Whatever you’re going through, drinking is not the answer. We both know that.”
“I know,”
“I can take you to an AA meeting; just say the word and we’ll go.”
“I will,”
“I’ll have to suspend you for a week, also I will be keeping a close eye on you when you come back. If you do this shit again, I’m not going to have any choice but to let you go. You understand?”
“Yes,”
“And you will be paying for the customer’s repairs. Once I talk to Mark and Vanessa regarding the cost, I’ll let you know how much will be deducted from your check.”
“Okay. Thank you, Troy for allowing me to stay.”
“Just don’t mess up again, okay. You need to take care of your family, so no more fuck-ups.”
Tony nodded as Troy told him to take the rest of the day off to sober up. I let out a huge breath as I watched Tony leaving.
“Wow,” I whispered.
Troy rubbed his temples. “I know I should let him go, but he has a wife and three kids to support. I just couldn’t do it.”
“How long has he been off of the wagon?”
Troy ran his hand through his hair again. “It’s been two weeks ago. Before that, he was sober for almost a year.”
“Damn,”
“He’s been going through a lot with his daughter. She has MS, so there’re times when she can’t even walk. I know recently he tried to get a motorized wheelchair for her, but his insurance won’t cover it.”
“That’s why you said you’ll see what you can do to help.”
He nodded. “I can do that to help ease the stress off of him and his wife.”
“That’s really nice of you,”
“I do what I can. I just want to see him get back on a positive path, that’s all. But you understood our conversation?” Troy asked.
I nodded. “I told you I understand Spanish. Just don’t tell anyone here. I want them to think I don’t.”
Troy smiled. “Trying to play people, huh?”
I shrugged. “Maybe. But I really think you’re doing a great job. You don’t find a lot of managers who are genuine towards their employees.”
“That’s one thing I try to do right here.”
I didn’t know what to say as Troy came over to me and gently took me off of the stool. He grabbed me by the waist, which had my heart pounding against my chest.
Our eyes locked when he pulled me closer to him. My lips were inches from his as he gave a sexy smile.
“How bad do you want to kiss me right now?” Troy whispered.
“Who said that I wanted to?”
“I can tell by the way you’re looking at me. The eyes doesn’t lie, Reece.”
His hands were massaging my hips as I continued to look into his eyes, thinking he was right when the door opened and Jamarcus walked in.
“Oh shit,” he mumbled as he tried to leave. We quickly pulled away from each other as Troy told him not to leave.
“Nah, I’ll come back when you two are not busy.” He replied.
“No, we’re fine. Reece was going back to work, right, Reece?”
I slowly nodded while trying to get myself together. “Yeah. I’m leaving. You two can talk in here.”
“I was actually coming to let you know that Mark and Vanessa are here. I tried calling you on the radio, but I guess you didn’t hear me.”
Troy went to his radio that was sitting on the desk; he picked it up and sighed. “It was off."
“Okay, well let’s go. They’re waiting.”
As the two went to the door, Troy wouldn’t leave the office when Jamarcus pulled him out of the office. I watched the door close as a mass of butterflies went through me. I sat down on the desk, wondering what the hell just happened.
The door from the lobby opened as Nena stuck her head in. “Are you okay? You’ve been in here for awhile now.”
I quickly came back to reality as I gave her a warm smile. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’ll be out in a sec,”
She gave me a strange look before going back to the register.
Once she closed the door, I slowly touched my waist as I thought about Troy’s hands on my body. I had to admit, it felt pretty nice.
I smiled as I got up. I shouldn’t be daydreaming at the moment. Right now, I had a job to do.