At the Heir's Request

Chapter 3

Shanique Munroe

If it's one thing these men are going to have, it's the audacity.

I shook my head as I read the garbage Derek, my ex chose to text me.

"Mi ova UWI. Come check me." It reads.

I rolled my eyes so hard and quickly archived the chat. If crawsis was a person it would be Derek. That boy put me through hell for a good two years and has been trying to wiggle his way back into my life over the past year to continue to stress me out.

I have always prided myself on being a smart person, with my head screwed on tight. However, all of that changed the night I met Derek at UWI Carnival.

The moment I exchanged numbers with that boy, my clown button was activated. There was nothing under the sun that Derek never expose me to; cheating, drama with the girls he cheated with, having a girl trying to expose him for having an STD combined with him getting her friend pregnant.

Thankfully the STD one was a lie. The second I opened those test results and saw the negative results, I was out of Derek's life for good. Mek him gwaan go be a daddy to his child as I never agreed to be anybody's stepmother.

Funny enough, he refuses to accept that I am no longer his. I have been staying to myself and focusing on getting that first-class honors ever since the breakup. I can't afford to be a yam head and dunce on top of it. I had to pick a struggle.

However, this man is very persistent and delusional. I can guarantee that I get a text from him at least once per month in which he is either begging for forgiveness, asking me to link up, or threatening "any man weh think dem can get fi him pussy"

The way that Derek texts me, anybody would think I am entertaining him, But as I mentioned before, he is so delusional. Ignoring him is all I can do because him nuh rest.

He was your typical uptown fuck boy and I know I should have avoided him.

Derek was everything I was warned about, light skin, popular, have money, and hype with a small dick. The first time I saw his penis I wanted to cry but somehow he reeled me into his trap with the head. He is super talented with his tongue and I guess that made up for the rest of his shortcomings, literally.

However, it was never worth the humiliation at the end of the day, because how do you have a shrimp and cheat? Embarrassing us out in public like that.

Shaking my head, I placed my phone down on my workstation. It was Friday and my first official week at my internship with LUX Marketing Hub, a close-knit boutique Digital Marketing Agency based in Barbican, Kingston. It was spearheaded by an all-women team of strategists, graphic artists, and a selection of marketing babes.

The office setup is uber feminine with hues of greens, pinks, and nudes. The first thing you would notice when you enter the space though is the extra-large mirror that we are encouraged to stand in front of each morning to recite positive affirmations to ourselves. Colleen, the Director of the Hub calls it the Affirmation Mirror; however, I call it pretentious.

Don't get me wrong; I am all for women's empowerment and girl power, but Colleen gave me Mean Girls vibe when I first met her. It seemed that all her compliments were backhanded and she spoke in fluent sarcasm.

If it isn't obvious, I'm not a big fan of her.

Her partner Riley, however, is the coolest person I have met in a long time. She was the one who conducted my interview, and it didn't feel like an interview for the 45 minutes we sat down chatting for.

She is a dog mom, her 180-pound pit-bull Princess is the office pet and she is the most adorable thing walking around in pink sparkly collars and bows.

She is the vision behind The Hub as we refer to the agency. She has been a Digital Marketer for the past ten years working with brands abroad such as; Essence Magazine, Forever 21, and even worked for a year at Facebook as a Product Development Analyst.

She came back to Jamaica two years ago and joined forces with Colleen who was a socialite and had links to all the major accounts locally. Over the past two years, they have worked with over 200 brands providing Digital Marketing and PR services, spanning over 150 million dollars in budget. With this in mind, Riley had offered me a paid internship versus just having me do free labour as was outlined by my professor. Now I wasn't earning any lump sum, but I was thankful that at the end of the month I will be $50,000 richer than I was at the start.

During my preliminary discussion with Riley, she made me aware that she will not be restricting me to any set niche. What we agreed on, however, is that I will be interning with each department for six weeks at a time, ensuring that I leave the internship well rounded and employable. Given that they actually let me leave at the end of my internship. I was banking on impressing them enough to be offered a job.

I am not looking forward to job hunting next year at all.

Currently, I am working with the Account Managers. They deal directly with the clients and liaise with the other team members regarding deliverables and deadlines. So far everyone has been pretty chill and friendly, and I have been having fun sitting in some of the meetings as the things that come out of the client's mouth at times can be so shockingly hilarious.

I have been feeling out everyone's vibe this past week and can't say I have anyone here that I have clicked with so far, but there is this Account Manager Kierra who has been making an extra effort to make me feel included.

Speaking of Kierra, here she is approaching my desk.

"Hey, Shan, what's up?" She asked all chirpy. I don't blame her though, it's 3 pm on a Friday, the entire office is in a good mood.

"Hey, Kierra! I am just adding the final touches to this document that Antonia asked me to compile for her." I responded. This Antonia girl was the most enthusiastic on the team to hear that I was interning here. She has been giving me nonstop tasks to do ever since we wrapped up the morning meeting on Monday.

"Oh, okay. Do you have anything planned this evening? The team usually has some activities planned on Fridays." She said, taking the empty seat beside me.

I didn't have any plans other than heading home to binge-watch a series on Netflix. Should I tell her that though? I am not big on socializing with these people outside of work, but it would come off some type of way if I don't participate in company activities.

"No, I am free. What are you guys doing?" I asked, thinking we probably gonna do some after-work yoga. They seem like the type to do stuff like that.

"Oh, we're going for drinks by Ribbiz. It should be fun." She said all bubbly. Drinks? As in Alcohol? Why would she think I would get drunk with a bunch of people I just met?

"Oh, Ribbiz? That's a little out of my way. I live in Papine so I can't stay for that. Wouldn't have any way to get home after." I told her instead. I was not getting my butt stuck in Barbican at night, knowing how dangerous the area that I live in can be.

"Girl Papine? What are you doing there?" She screeched. She reminds me of Hilary Banks from Fresh Prince, from the designer bags and shoes down to the obvious light-skin privilege that she is basking in. Only a little less ditzy.

"I attend UTech, so I live in Papine because it's convenient and cheap. Why? Is there something wrong with Papine?" I asked her, trying to see what her response is going to be.

"Oh no! I forgot that you are a student for a second there." She laughed nervously. "So, drinks? I promise I will secure a ride for you to get home."