Chapter 2
I
t didn't take much for Reyna to realize there wasn't going to be a chance for her to get what she wanted out of the situation. Michael had already made it clear he wasn't ready for much more in their relationship, and Reyna knew deep down that she was beyond fed up with fighting for her relationship all by herself. She had never understood how she could have a boyfriend, yet feel so alone. She was finally realizing it was because even though he was a decent boyfriend, he wasn't willing to give her anything more than thatâbut she wanted so much more.
Reyna and Sereeta were friends, and they'd known each other half their lives. Sereeta told Reyna, every time the conversation called for it, that she needed to leave Michael alone. Sereeta felt strong about a man's role, and as far as she was concerned, Michael's $55,000 income wasn't enough to fulfill his obligations. So she didn't know why Reyna was sweating him to begin with.
Reyna respected Sereeta's point of view, but she couldn't keep herself from feeling those same strong feelings she'd felt for Michael since their junior year of high school. It was going to take more than words to convince Reyna that she and Michael weren't meant to be together forever, even if those words were coming from Michael himself. The way Reyna saw it, they hadn't come this far just to go their separate ways after all these years. Although she didn't have any desire to wait for the day, she told herself Michael would eventually come to his senses. In the meantime, though, she had been stuck feeling dumb and dumber. For some reason, hearing him say it this time really hit home for her.
“I'm just not ready. Why can't you just accept that?” he said.
The look on his face was disgust mixed with frustration. Reyna looked him dead in the eye and as it registered, it made her body freeze.
Why
can't
you accept that?
she asked herself again.
You were able to accept your sister's death. You were able to accept that you had to do a whole extra year of medical school because of some administrative errors at the school. You were able to accept Michael's apology for asking you that one time to move out after living together for two years (she had won and stayed with him at home). And you were able to accept nothing less than a six-figure salary from your first employer out of medical school. But yet you can't accept that this man isn't ready?
After talking to herself for a few moments, even Reyna had to admit something was wrong with this picture.
How she could stand here and let Michael once again make her feel less than worthy of his love and commitment was beyond her understanding. She was well aware that love was a powerful thing, but she didn't understand how it could numb all your senses at times. She was dressed in a multicolored tunic top with some dark blue leggings and black knee boots. Her hair was combed back under a baseball cap, and she had on no makeup or earrings. She had been at his condo for the weekend, and she had just planned to make a quick run to Wal-Mart and grab some things. The conversation had gotten so deep so suddenly. It had started just because Reyna had asked if he wanted her to buy a hamper with a separator in it. When he'd asked why, she'd told him so they could have their dirty clothes divided, and Michael had begun to express that that wasn't necessary because she could take her dirty clothes with her back to her place. Confused, Reyna had asked what was wrong, and it had led to an argument Reyna wasn't expecting. The beautiful, sunny Saturday morning had turned into a gloomy day when Michael began saying hurtful things.
This wasn't the first time he'd mentioned not being ready for something, but Reyna had always accepted it. Marriage and children and living together were one thing, but not ready for a dual hamper? Reyna just couldn't understand what this man's issue was. The embarrassment and anger had hit her just about instantly. Reyna looked him right in his eyes and turned to walk awayâno response, just an exit. She couldn't afford to respond because she knew, just like he did, that her words meant nothing. She had allowed her words to lose all their value over the past few years because she had said a lot of stuff she didn't mean, and her actions had contradicted a lot of things she had said she would or wouldn't do. She knew at this point that only her actions could speak for her.
Reyna tried to ignore how silly and angry she felt about Michael's inability to compromise for her happiness. She was ashamed to admit to him or to herself that she still wasn't sure she could accept that he wasn't ready.
Once she got to her car and sat down, she picked up her cell phone to call her sister Nelcida, but as she was dialing the number, an incoming call from Sereeta came through. Filled with all the emotions from her discussion with Michael, Reyna really didn't want to speak with Sereeta at this moment. She wasn't in the mood for any smart comments that would only cause her to yell at Sereeta for having the nerve to tell somebody how to handle their relationship. Sereeta was the type of friend who never looked in the mirror before she spoke; she was quick to tell someone how they should be, but she never looked at her own reflection. Reyna knew if she told Sereeta what had happened, chances were Sereeta would tell her how she needed to leave him alone and that she was a dummy to be waiting around any longer for him to “get serious” or proposeâyet Sereeta was single and had been for years. Though Reyna knew she was crossing the borderline to foolishness for her patience with Michael, she really didn't need Sereeta-funky-butt's words of wisdom right now. By the time Reyna finished thinking all that through, the phone had stopped ringing.
Reyna pressed the button to clear her missed-call message and began to dial her sister's number. As she pressed the sixth digit of Nelcida's number, Sereeta's number appeared on her screen again.
“What!?” Reyna said aloud in frustration. She answered on the third ring.
“Hello,” Reyna answered with her obvious attitude hanging out.
“Dag, a sister gotta hunt you down,” Sereeta said with a snicker.
“Knock it off,” Reyna said. “My phone was in my purse.”
“You are the worst with answering your phone, but anywayâ”
“Yeah, anyway,” Reyna interrupted. “What's up?”
“I got the job!” Sereeta shouted.
“Oh, wow. Congratulations!”
Despite the tears she was fighting back, distracting her thoughts, Reyna was genuinely happy for Sereeta.
“Thanks,” Sereeta said. “My starting salary will be seventy-eight thousand with benefits, and you'll never guess who I'm assisting.”
“Who?” Reyna said, trying to sound excited to cover up her impatience.
“The Flash.”
“Who?” Reyna said.
“Corey Cox, the NBA player they call the Flash.”
“Oh, I kind of know Corey Cox, but I didn't know about no Flash.”
“That's what they call himâI guess because he's fast or something. He just started playing with the Knicks a month ago.”
“Well, that's good. When do you start?”
“Next week, but I met the entire team last night at this ESPN party.”
“How was that?”
“It was really cool. Corey is so fine, and so are a couple of his teammates. I felt like I was in heaven.”
“Uh-oh. No mixing business with pleasure; you do know that much, I hope.”
Sereeta just laughed. From the sound of her giggle, Reyna could tell that Sereeta already had some rule breaking in mind. If Reyna didn't have her own problems on her mind, she would've pulled it out of her friend, but Sereeta's drama was the least of her concerns right now.
Chapter 3
“N
aomi, you have been working here for some time now. I expected that you would get the hang of things by now.”
Naomi could hear her boss's comment over and over in her head. She was devastated that she was still not on point at her job after four months already. Even though it was a simple mishandling of a message, it didn't take much to irritate Naomi's boss, Tiffany. Tiffany had been working in the music business for over ten years, and she had a reputation for taking no nonsense. Every executive assistant who had the honor to work for her was well aware that there would be more pain than pleasure. However, the benefits and experience from working for someone like her were well worth the pain.
Although Naomi had a college education and had learned a lot in her life, it was apparent she wasn't that worldly. She was a naturally inquisitive but shy person, and the intimidation from this position had caused her to be humble and even more shy since her very first day. She hadn't made that many friends at the company yet. She seemed to be overlooked a lot by most of the staff. It seemed as if people in the office just stepped over her to get to her bossâlike she was just a voice to be heard before connecting staff with Tiffany on a phone call. Naomi hadn't become comfortable enough yet to show Tiffany all her talents and smarts because she was too afraid to come out of her shell. She knew her boss didn't give two craps about any of her insecuritiesâshe had to get it together.
There was only one coworker who knew the real Naomi, and that was Kevin. Kevin worked in business and legal affairs, and he was a nice guy. He was Spanish with a lot of spunk and personality, and he had introduced himself to Naomi on her first day and extended his help if she needed anything. Kevin was five-nine and medium built with black hair he usually wore slicked back in a Brad Pitt kind of style. If everyone didn't know he had a girlfriend, they would have assumed he was gay, and some people still thought that he was even after meeting his girlfriend. Naomi didn't know too many gay people back home, but she had instantly fallen in love with Kevin. He not only amused the hell out of her, he made her feel comfortable. She only wished he worked next to her to make the day that much easier. He had accompanied her to lunch on most daysâinitially it had been just to help make her a bit more comfortable as the new girl, but eventually they had formed a little friendship. Kevin had been working for the record label for four years. He swore to Naomi that any day could be his last because he was ready to find a new job, but it was obvious that he, like several of the other employees, was a label whore.
Naomi was still beating herself up over her fumble with Tiffany, but she stopped to call Kevin.
“I just got in trouble with Tiffany.”
“What happened?” he asked with a chuckle.
“Hollywood called, and I told him she was in a meeting.”
“Was she in a meeting?”
“Yes, but she said I should have told her he was on the phone because she was waiting on his call.”
“Did she tell you she was waiting on his call before she went into the meeting?” he asked.
“No! So how was I supposed to know that?”
Kevin laughed. “You'll catch on. Certain people are too important to be too busy for.”
“I see. Well, I wish I could figure out who is on that list and fast. This isn't the first time she was upset because I mishandled a VIP, not knowing they were a VIP.”
“The list changes constantly. You just have to fine-tune your senses for it.”
“OK,” Naomi said with a hint of sarcasm.
“Let me go. I have to run this order sheet down to the art department.”
“OK, talk to you later.”
Naomi hung up and instantly opened a document on her computer. She began to type the letters VIP across the top. She then began to list all the names she remembered to be pretty damn importantâthose were the people she had found herself getting in trouble with over the past few monthsâand the list started with Hollywood. She continued to add the artists who Tiffany stopped everything for, and she also added the bosses at the record label and a couple attorneys and other executives. Naomi knew some of the names probably didn't belong on the listâand there were many names missingâbut she figured she would use this list as a temporary point of reference. Whether it would help her a little or a lot, it was worth the try because Naomi wasn't trying to lose this job.
Naomi was wearing a pair of faded blue jeansâone of her favorite pairsâand a sweatshirt with FORDHAM printed on it. Naomi hadn't attended Fordham, but it was a promotional shirt she had received when she was in high school. Her hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail, and her glasses were sitting close to the end of her nose. She had four pictures hanging in her cubicle and no other decor aside from her office supplies. Her pictures were framed in oakâthere was a photo of her with her boyfriend, Charles, from back home; a photo of her parents; one of her dog who had passed a few months before she had moved from Texas; and one of her college graduation. Her cubicle was a reflection of her personality and style: pretty simple and laid-back. Back home Naomi had never been the center of attention, and moving to New York alone was the most excitement she had experienced in her life so far.
It hadn't been easy to just uproot her whole life and move to this new city all alone. Despite the serious nature of the decision, it hadn't taken long for her to accept the offer. Naomi had been trying to get a job for months in whatever field she could, but she wanted more than anything to work in the music business. She took an extra year to finish her bachelor's degree in liberal artsâand a “no set goals” minor. When she'd finished school and those school loans were fast approaching, she had applied to every posted paid position she could find. Initially, she had wanted a job making big bucks; she'd thought that, with a degree, her sky was the limit. She had spent four years and thousands upon thousands of dollars on this degree, and she assumed she would have no problem getting a job upon graduating. That reality had begun to fade as the months went by and there were very few callbacks and only two interviews, neither of which had led to a job offer.
Almost seven months had passed since her last interview, and she had sent out dozens more ré-sumés, when she'd finally gotten a call for an interview in New York. Moving to New York definitely had pros and cons, but she knew it was worth pursuing. After a long journey, she had finally ended up sitting at her very own desk at a company, and she felt like she had graduated all over again. All her friends and enemies back home were so envious she would be working at a record label in New York City. She had come too far to have to start all over againâso she was willing to try anything to show Tiffany she could handle her job, fit in at the company, and be a hit in New York.