Troy
May, 2018
“What the hell are you doing?! Can’t you see that the windshield wiper fell off the customer’s car?!”
I stared at the guy who was supposedly monitoring the tunnel, as he sighed. “Well, if you didn’t put five cars back to back, then I could had been watching this car more carefully.”
“So, it’s my fault? Blame it on the person who is actually doing his damn job. Just find the damn wiper.” I said and walked off. I don’t have time to argue with anyone today, especially someone who is not capable of doing his damn job.
It was packed at Suds as we have encountered gorgeous weather for the first time in a week. I knew it was going to be busy, that’s why I prepared myself to have a long and stressful day.
I walked into the lobby as customers waited impatiently for their vehicles. All I could do was shake my head as Jamarcus, the assistant manager, did his best to ring up the people standing in his line.
“Why are you ringing up customers? Where the hell is Sabrina?!”
“I don’t know. Nena said she needed help, so I’m helping her.”
I looked up to the heavens, wondering why Sabrina keep doing this. She always walking away from the register when it gets busy. Hell, she even does it on a slow day. She figured she could get away with it, mainly because no one has ever said anything to her. That, and other reasons.
“It’s your fault.”
“Why is it my fault?”
Jamarcus raised his brow and I sighed. Ever since I’d known Jamarcus, he has always been blunt. I like that about him; but today is not the day for it.
“Do I really need to say why Sabrina gets away with shit? If I do, then the customers will have a field day with that bit of news.”
“Shut up.”
“You created the monster, so you figure out a way to fix it, manager.” He said and laughed.
I slowly inched out my middle finger at him, which made him laugh even louder. Nena glanced over at the two of us and gave a displeased look before talking to a customer.
“I’ll go find her,” I mumbled. I walked off towards the exit, when I felt someone pulling me towards the men’s restroom.
“What the fuck?”
The person pulled me to her as I realized it was Sabrina. She slammed the door as she gave me a quick kiss.
“What the hell are you doing? It’s busy and you’re playing around.”
“Like you care? You never have before,” she said and tried to kiss my neck.
I slowly moved away from her and sighed. “Listen, you know I’d love to be alone with you, but right now is not the time. It’s busy as hell and Mark might be stopping by in a bit to check on the place.”
Sabrina pouted. “Aren’t you and Mark good friends? Hell, he married Vanessa, who used to work at Suds, so I don’t think he would care that we’re dating.”
After Enrique passed the family business down to his children, Mark, Sebastian, and Carmen the three were assigned various locations to continue managing. Recently, the twins, Sebastian and Carmen sold their stores to Mark, making him full owner of all the stores in the city. He and his wife Vanessa, who used to be a cashier at the Harrison location, are now controlling every location, and are even expanding the boutiques to other cities, including Beaumont and Dallas.
When Enrique was the owner, he had a strict policy that prohibited employees from dating each other. Although the rule was enforced while they were on the clock, that didn’t stop anyone from dating, or sleeping, with each other. Little did anyone know, Enrique was also dating an employee; that’s why when Mark took over, he lifted the dating ban so everyone could date, just as long as it doesn’t affect our jobs.
If Mark saw me and Sabrina in the restroom together during a work shift, that might be frowned upon.
“We’re sort of friends, but trust me, he wouldn’t like it if he saw this during business hours.”
“Why are you so nervous? You’ve never been this nervous.”
“Listen, Sabrina, I really like you, but honestly, are we really dating? I mean, fucking doesn’t qualify as dating. We have to at least go out on a date or two.”
Sabrina stared at me and I sighed. I knew I shouldn’t had brought this up now, but it was going to happen sooner or later. I’m not going to lie, Sabrina is sexy as hell. I first noticed that when she came in to apply for the cashier position two months ago. With the way she was looking at me that day, I knew something was going to happen between us. After the constant flirting with each other, we finally ended up sleeping together after a night out. We have been sleeping with each other ever since, but now, I think she wants more, and honestly, that’s something I can’t do.
I told Sabrina from the jump that all I wanted was sex, not a relationship. I thought she understood, but she’s been giving me signals indicating otherwise. That’s why I have to stop this before it gets out of control.
Sabrina folded her arms across her chest while giving me an angry look. “We have went out,”
“With co-workers; it was never just us two alone.”
“So, what are you saying? That you want whatever we’re doing to stop?”
“Technically, no, but I think you want more from me than what I can give you. If you’re looking for a relationship, I’m sorry, but I’m not the man to give that to you. I told you from the start that all I wanted was a fuck buddy.”
Sabrina still looked confused as I took a deep breath. Loud pounding was coming from the door as I took another deep breath.
“How long are you going to be in there? I have to take a shit!”
I rolled my eyes and sighed. Fucking customers.
“Be out in a minute!” I yelled as I stared at Sabrina.
“Can we talk about this later,”
She shrugged. “We don’t need to talk at all. You made yourself perfectly clear.”
“I thought we had an understanding,”
“I thought I could change your mind. Silly of me to think that,”
I stared at her as she opened the door and walked straight past the customer back to the counter. I forgot the real reason why I been looking for her as I hurried out of the restroom. The customer did a double take at me as I went down the hall.
“What the hell?” the customer asked as I went back to the lobby. When I approached the counter, I glanced at Sabrina, who was grabbing her purse. Jamarcus and Nena were both staring at her as she took off her shirt, revealing a white tank, and walked away from the counter.
“What are you doing?! You’re shift is not over!” I exclaimed. Several customers turned to look at what was unfolding as she walked past me.
“What does it look like?! I’m quitting!”
“Don’t do this, Sabrina!”
“Do what?! You just told me you only wanted to fuck me; you got what you wanted, so you don’t need me to be here.”
“Oh shit,” Jamarcus said as he stopped ringing up a customer to stare at us.
I tried to grab Sabrina’s arm so we could go inside my office, but she slapped my hand away.
“You will be hearing from my lawyer, muthfucka, so don’t push me even further.”
“Lawyer? What the…?”
Before I could go after her, I looked to the door and noticed Mark standing by it, giving me a seriously unhappy look. I looked back at Jamarcus, who casually shrugged.
“I told you your dick was going to get you into trouble one day.”
Several customers snickered, which made me want to punch Jamarcus.
“Just take over right now. I have to do damage control.” I said as I went over to Mark. He was talking to Sabrina, as he let her leave. She gave me an evil glance before pushing the door open and walking out.
“Let’s go,” Mark said as he went outside. I followed him as we went towards his car. I could feel the stares of several of my employees as they wondered what I’d done this time. This wasn’t the first time this had happened with an employee, but it was the first time that the employee actually made a scene in front of customers. That part I didn’t like.
We got into Mark’s Yukon as he slammed his door. I closed mine as he stared at me.
“What the hell are you doing, Troy?! I know the employee dating ban has been lifted, but we all agreed that it if anyone did, it wouldn’t affect your jobs.”
“And it hasn’t, until now.”
Mark shook his head. “I’m not trying to judge you man, but everyone knew this was going to happen with you. You like to play around with women’s minds. Hell, you were doing that even when my dad was still the owner.”
“Mark, not everyone can find the love of their lives like you did with Vanessa.”
“What does that have to do with you being an ass towards women? Even if you don’t want anything serious, you can still treat a woman with some respect.”
“Like you have before you met Vanessa? You were doing the same shit I’m doing.”
Mark shook his head. “You will never change, Troy. Now, you’ve lost an employee because of it; which I know is not the first time that an employee has quit. I told Sabrina I’ll talk to her on Monday and see if we can work out something. Maybe she can transfer to another location.”
“I didn’t want her to quit. She did that on her own.”
“Do you blame her? You fuck her and basically told her you’re done with her. What else is she supposed to think?”
“How much did you hear?”
“I heard enough. But seriously, Troy, you need to get your act together. I don’t know how much longer I can clean up your mess. You seriously have to take responsibility for your actions.”
I sighed while staring out the side window. I noticed Pamela, the salesperson, was shaking her head at me. Turning to look straight ahead through the windshield, I knew Mark was right, but right now, I didn’t want to change my ways. I like how my life was going; I can’t help it if women fall for me.
“I have been.”
“Have you? You became worse after what happened between you and Deena.”
“Do you really have to bring that up?”
“I’m just saying. And don’t think I don’t know what you did to Edward and how you got this position. I just never had the heart to tell my dad.”
I continued to stare out the windshield as Mark told me he’s leaving. I slowly got out of his SUV as he started the ignition.
“Don’t think I won’t bring this up during our meeting next week.”
I rolled my eyes as I walked away from Mark’s vehicle. I went back towards the entrance when Pamela stopped me. She has been with this company for over twenty years, so she have seen and heard pretty much everything that went down with this company.
“Whatever you’re going to say, I don’t want to hear it,” I said to her.
“Oh, I wasn’t going to say anything. Just know you’ll get what you deserve one day,”
“What does that suppose to mean?”
“You know what I mean. You’re going to meet someone that is going to do exactly what you’re doing to these girls, Troy. Someone is going to stomp on your heart, and you’re not going to know what the hell to do about it.”
I stared at Pamela, knowing she was dead wrong, as I walked back inside. I know for a fact that won’t happen to me. I won’t let that happen.
I ignored the people who were staring at me as I went inside the office. As I sat down and stared at the yellow walls, my conscience started to kick in with regard to what both Mark and Pamela said. I was never like this; in fact, I did care about women’s feelings. I’d always said I would never treat a woman with disrespect; but the conversation I had with my dad as a teenager keep replaying in my head. To this day, I think my dad wasn’t happy with being married to one woman; that’s why he told me to date as many women as possible, but that wasn’t really my heart’s desire. Instead, I wanted to build a life with one woman, have kids, and grow old together. I wanted to have a foundation with someone, but I haven’t found that with anyone yet. I thought I did with Deena, but it just didn’t work between us. The relationship ended way before we could ever try and repair the damage that was made.
Now, I have to wonder how I ended up this way. How did I become so selfish and uncaring towards others? Maybe it was my track record with being in love. I’ve been let down in that area so many times that I just forgot how to care about emotions or feelings. Based on my experiences, I probably forgot how to love and be in love with someone.
Hopefully I can have that feeling again someday; but right now, that’s something that I don’t want to think about.