Discovering Happiness (Book 2)

Chapter 48-Ebony

When I walked into the lobby of Restaurant Inc,  a gorgeous  curvy chocolate skinned woman was standing by the security desk. Grayson handed her back her ID and gestured for her to sit at the cluster of comfortable chairs in the middle.

I checked my phone, I still had 30 minutes before everyone was supposed to be here. I headed over to the woman unsure of her name. I decided to not look up pictures or social media stalking. They passed the background check and their references were good.

"Hi, I'm Ebony." I said extending my hand. She smiled, almost as if she was relieved it was me. She stood and shook my hand.

"I'm Raven Lewis, it's nice to meet you!" She responded. She was a bit shorter than me with my stilettos. She was wearing a floral fitted dress shirt tucked into a fitted pink skirt with a pair of strappy white heels. I loved the bright pops of color she had on and the muted almost natural makeup she wore. She wore her hair straight and down her back to her waist. Absolute perfection in my opinion and I'm not even into women.

"You look amazing by the way. Loving the colors they compliment you beautifully!" I told her. Her smile brightened and some of that nervous tension I was feeling between us melted away.

"Oh my goodness. Thank you. I wasn't sure the vibe here. But when I saw you come in I was relieved. I've seen a lot of the same ole type of muted outfits and I didn't want to stick out like a sore thumb." She said in a hushed tone. We giggled together getting a curious look from Grayson. He smirked when our eyes met and I knew for a fact Kyle told him to keep an eye on me.

"Come on. Let's get some breakfast while we wait for the other two." I told her looking at my watch. We had 30 minutes before we were officially supposed to meet in the lobby. She nodded and we headed to the elevators.

Over the next 25 minutes we talked about literally everything, I knew we would get along great and a part of me wanted to just send the other two candidates home. But I couldn't play favorites, I promise myself I'd give each woman a fair shot.

Raven was a local, even though she went to Georgia State University for school, she received a BA in communications. She moved back to the area 6 months ago to be closer to her mother who was sick with cancer. She had a pretty successful career as a plus sized model in Atlanta and used it to cover college fees. But now with her mother's bill racking up she needs a more steady income.

"Plus sized modeling isn't big here in Charlotte. So when I saw this opening I jumped for the opportunity. I've worked as personal assistants for a few fashion designers and a couple photographers in the last six years when in between contracts so I was grateful my experience with that plus my degree would give me a chance." She said after I asked her what made her apply here.

"Well your references spoke highly of you. Plus I need someone who doesn't need me to hold their hand especially since for the first six months I'll be in Europe and I need someone who can take initiative and get the job done here while I'm gone." I told her. She nodded soaking up everything I told her. I glanced at my watch. 30 minutes had passed and we needed to go back downstairs.

When we got to the lobby there was no one else there. I told Raven to take a seat while I went to talk to Grayson.

"Are any of my other potential assistants here?" I asked him.

"No ma'am." He responded. I nodded. If they weren't here in the next 10 minutes I would be forced to give this job to Raven. Which, I wouldn't be too sad about.

I headed back over to her. "We'll give it ten minutes. By that time the architect will be almost here. I will need you to work closely with him while I'm away, so it will be imperative that y'all can get along." I said sitting next to her. She nodded and we eased into a nice conversation until I saw Troy Richard's in his tall and silver fox glory walking in. Raven glanced over at where I was looking and it didn't escape my notice the flash of recognition in her eyes as well as the was her thighs pressed together. Interesting.