"Nia." Her name softly fell from his lips and she soaked in his sweet breath like a pancake to syrup. Her eyes were low and she was watching his chest rise and fall. She couldn't look at him just yet. She was frozen in place.
With just this brazen...
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Nia loved Fridays. But not for the reason the rest of the world did.
Fridays were by far Nia's busiest workday of the week consisting of cramming in content creation, scheduling, planning, maintenance, and engagement for Mint Beauty Co. before the weekend. She loved her job, but would be damned if she had to clock in on a Saturday. She had her own personal schedule to attend to. Nia loved the challenge of conquering a Friday, squeezing in as much as she could, and pushing herself to accomplish more than she had the Friday before.
She felt at home in her cozy office, though the modern entryway wall to her left was made of glass and opposite a floor to ceiling window on her right. She hung a brightly coloured afrocentric art piece in front of her and had two large money trees on either side of it. She filled the white, geometric bookcase behind her with cute plants, candles, body butters and a few of her favourite books organized alphabetically and by cover colour in ROYGBIV order. Everything had a place, and was organized in Nia's way, though it may not look like it to an untrained eye.
Nia sat at her glass desk at 4:25 pm amongst meticulously placed post it notes, pens and pads as she put the finishing touches on the company's electronic social media calendar. This Friday, she had planned content for the next 12 weeks, found a better suited (and cheaper) social management platform and worked with a coordinator in marketing on an upcoming digital campaign's look & feel to match their Instagram feed. A new 'Friday's Best' best record.
As the sun's golden afternoon beams bounced off of the skyscraper across the street and through her window, one of Nia's bosses, Valerie, appeared in the doorway.
"Hey Nia."
"Hey Val!"
Valerie McNeil was the CEO of Mint Beauty Co.. A thin, leggy white woman in her fifties who used her divorce settlement's money to launch the company. Her greying, naturally brunette locs were recently cut into a severe mint green bob. Nia remembered when Val had said she really wanted to embody the brand months ago and wondered if this is what she meant back then.
"Almost done? It looks bad if the boss always leaves before the employee." She leaned against Nia's door frame with a pleasant expression behind chunky hot pink glasses that matched the lipstick on her petite lips.
"Yeah, don't worry about me. I'm wrapping up the socials calendar and I'll be out in less than 5."
"I saw. Great job as usual. You're amazing at what you do for us. Keep it up!"
"Aw thanks, Val! I appreciate it." Nia beamed.
"Happy Friday and enjoy your weekend."
It was a Happy Friday indeed. As she watched Val get into the elevators, Nia was all aglow with praise and ambitions met.
She locked her computer at exactly 4:30 and readied herself to meet up with her girls Jonelle, Sarina and Raven. She plucked her bare feet from the plush, faux fur rug under her desk and slipped into her metallic fuschia Hanifa Zoe mules. She stood up to smooth her matching tapered pants and cropped blazer in the same colour that draped over a white, pink and purple floral bodysuit. Nia glanced at herself in her desktop mirror and smoothed her already sleek low back bun, grabbing her Azalea Telfar purse and applying a plumping lip tint on her way to enjoy the summer's afternoon.
