Reece
The date with Troy was absolutely perfect! The man exceeded my expectations with the locations and even him opening up a bit more about himself. Now I can understand how he was as a person, because he does have some fucked up tendencies. It even gave me a chance to open myself up more about being in relationships and just being myself. That’s something I haven’t shown to people because I never wanted to. I don’t know if it was the right thing for me to do, especially since I barely know Troy, but I feel comfortable around him. I actually see something more with him.
I walked into Suds with a smile on my face. Today was Troy’s day off, so I wouldn’t be seeing him, which was kind of disappointing, but we agreed to go out for dinner later, so I still was going to see him. I couldn’t believe I was actually happy. But I knew it would be short lived, especially because of what was involved.
I went to the office and found Vanessa sitting at the desk. She gave me a weird grin which made me a bit uneasy. By the time I had got home from the date with Troy, Vanessa and Mark were already asleep and they were both gone when I woke up, so I was kind of surprised to see her.
“What are you doing here? It is Sunday.” I slowly asked .
“Mark and I are going to church, but I just wanted to stop by before we did.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t get a chance to talk to you since you came in late last night. I guess you had a good time with Troy.”
I smiled. “I did. It made me see a different side of Troy.”
“Humph,” Vanessa scowled.
“What is your problem with him? Yes, he was an asshole to women, but after being around him and talking to him, I sort of understood why he was. Doesn’t make things right though, but I have a better understanding of him and his behavior.”
“Are you listening to yourself? So his behavior is okay because you suddenly know him now?”
“I didn’t say it was.”
“How well do you know him, Reeccee?”
I rolled my eyes. “Not like that, Nessa. We haven’t slept together yet.”
“Yet. Wow.” Vanessa said and shook her head.
“I was joking the time when I asked if something happened between you and Troy, but I’m really starting to wonder if something did.”
Vanessa stared at me as I folded my arms across my chest. “Did something happen between you and Troy?”
“Why would you think that when I was seeing Mark?”
“You two did briefly break up.”
Vanessa sighed. “No, nothing did; he did try to flirt with me when he visited the Harrison store during the time Mark and I were on a break. He saw I wasn’t interested, so he moved on. And yes, Mark knows about it, but he knew I could handle myself.”
“And he still talked to him?”
“That’s how Mark is; besides, Mark did some similar stuff, so he wasn’t too pissed about it, especially since we were broken up at the time. Anyway, with Troy, he pretty much will sweet talk any woman to get what he wants. He’s probably just trying a different approach with you because you’re not as gullible as the other women.”
“Maybe this time is different.”
“Reeccee, I can’t tell you what to do, but just be careful. I know how you are with men and relationships; you don’t handle them too well, but the way you’re talking about him, it’s like you really like him. What if he hurts you first? You probably wouldn’t know how to handle it.”
“Who’s to say that will happen? People can change, Vanessa.”
“That’s true, but you also need to think about the agreement we made about the Dallas store. You do remember that, right?”
I sighed. “No, I haven’t forgotten about it.”
“I chose you to do this because I thought you could handle it.”
“You chose me because I needed a job.”
“That too, but I thought you needed a challenge. I didn’t think that you would start falling for Troy.”
“I’m not falling for Troy!”
“Could have fooled me. That’s why I want you and Troy to go to Dallas tonight.”
I stared at her as she gave a wicked smile. “What?”
“Mark and I were supposed to meet with the contractors tomorrow to look over the building, but unfortunately, we can’t. Mark has meetings with various vendors from the restaurant coming on Tuesday and I have some things I need to take care of at the other locations. That, and Vivica still is not doing well after the surgery, so I promised my dad I’ll be close by to help out. And we weren’t taking Samantha on a long car ride. We can’t do it.”
“And Victor couldn’t handle the vendors?” I asked.
“Mark would rather do it. Victor is going through a lot right now with his family, that’s why Mark has been at the restaurant a lot.”
I sighed. “Sorry to hear that. I hope everything is okay.”
Vanessa nodded. “Hope so too. Since you’re going to be a part of the Dallas store, I convinced Mark for you to go and to take Troy with you. In fact, Mark should be talking to him now about it.”
“And how would Mark explain to Troy my reason for being there? Besides, I have a cashier interview scheduled for tomorrow.”
“I’ll take care of that. I’ll interview her. You just need to go with Troy. It’s just for two days, but I felt you need to see your future store.”
I leaned against the wall and pouted. “Fine, I’ll go.”
“Thank you,”
“I’m still wondering if you should consider Troy to be the owner? I still feel a bit weird about taking ownership when I don’t know anything about the business. Although I have been learning different areas of the business, it’s still going to take some time for me to fully understand everything.”
“Which is understandable, but I think you’ll be great at it. You’re doing well as the office manager, which I have to admit, Troy is really smitten with you about that. He has been giving a lot of compliments to Mark about you.”
I smiled. “He has,”
Vanessa nodded. “Yeah, but you need to keep your eyes on the prize. If you still want this, you have to stay focused and not let him distract you.”
I nodded. “You’re right.”
“Not only that, but your parents called my dad. They asked about you, so I was hoping this will be a chance for you to talk to them.”
I sighed. I knew there was more to the story than what Vanessa was letting on. “Seriously, Vanessa.”
“You don’t have to spend the day with them, maybe have dinner with them, that’s all.”
“You know it’ll be disastrous.”
“Maybe it won’t be.”
I sighed. “Did you tell your dad that I’ll be in town?”
“I may have mentioned it to him that you’ll going instead of me to see the contractors.”
“Vanessa!”
“He might not even mentioned that you’ll be in town.”
“Knowing your dad, he did. No shade.”
“Seriously,”
“Yes, your dad kind of gossips a lot; but mine does too.”
“Just visit your parents. It won’t hurt that much.”
I let out an exasperated breath and walked to the door to the registers. “Just for that, I’m clocking out early today.”
“That you won’t be doing since you’re the only one here.”
I sneered while she laughed. “Well, my job here is done. I’ll see you later. And I guess I can hear about your date too.”
I smiled. “You’ll be surprised.”
Vanessa smiled. “I’m sure that I will. Have a great day at work, Reece.”
I smiled as I went to the registers. As I opened, a thought came to me about going to Dallas with Troy. It’ll be an interesting trip, especially since the two of us would be alone. Not only that, but I didn’t want to see my parents.
I prayed that things would go well in Dallas.