"OK babe...Of course...I can't wait to see you either!" I rolled my eyes and continued to eat my lunch. Kevin was on his phone with Kendra and it made me feel sick. I pushed my chicken salad to the side and got up to leave. "OK babe...bye!" He kissed the phone and hung up. I looked ahead dryly and walked out of the cafeteria.
This had been the worst 2 weeks of my life but I could only blame myself. Kendra came around on her lunch hour almost everyday to be with Kevin and they were like a lovey-dovey teenage couple. I think I nearly vomited at one point and Marzia laughed at me. She didn't like Kendra much as she tried to make everything about her the night I left. Marzia made sure to tell me everything the next morning.
"She's so full of herself! Everytime we brought up a different topic, she made it about her! And she took multiple selfies all night. Without Kevin! I think she thinks she's a FREAKIN' Kardashian, but without the figure and broke as fuck!" I rolled my eyes and gave a snort. She seemed the type. "And get this, right? She tried to cuss you out and have a pity party for herself when Monty looked at her and said,'My God slut, shut yo hoe mouth!' and she left in a huff! ...Kevin went after her though...Sorry." She gave me a sympathetic look. I had told her everything and had another long cry about it.
"Don't be, it's my fault. He's wants to be with someone who wants to be with him...even if she is a gold digging whore." Marzia laughed and I had to chuckle.
"He'll come around, chick. You'll see!" Marzia was sweet, but naive.
It's been 2 weeks since he spoke or looked at me and I tried to ignore it. But it didn't help that she was at my work almost everyday and that I cried almost every night because my Facebook was flooded with nothing but him and her. I sighed and got on with my work when I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was Diana from training and a new guy standing beside her.
He was tall, olive skinned with chocolate brown hair and equally as dark eyes. He was muscular and was dressed in a fitted suit that hugged all the right places. He was very good looking but not someone I'd be interested in right now because...you know...heart break.
"Hey Bree! I'd like you to meet Jason Hernandez. Jason, this is Briana Mancuso." I shook his hand, noticing how gently he held mine but the shake was firm. "He's just transferred from corporate and requested that he get some one to one training for personal. Think you can handle it?"
"Sure, pull up a chair, Jason!" I smiled at him and cleared some space on my desk. He got a spare office chair from an abandoned desk and sat beside me, nervous.
"Relax, personal is a gift. We'll go over application forms and claims. Nice and easy." I smiled warmly at him and he seemed to relax physically. "Are you OK?"
"Yeah, I'm just not used to all this. Everyone is corporate is just...mean so I get nervous around new people." He smiled shyly at me and blushed. "Especially a woman as beautiful as yourself." He said quietly and winked at me.
"You'll do just fine. And thank you." I winked back at him and took my hand away. He looked happier and sat up, looking at my screen as I took him through the basics. I got to know Jason more as the day went on. He went to Harvard and graduated with Business Honours. His Mom and Dad moved from Mexico and settled in New York. He had 2 brothers and sisters and was the eldest. He loved gaming but was very active playing soccer, football and basket ball. He was very charitable and very funny. His smile was so cute when he felt shy but when he laughed his face just looked happier.
"Miss Mancuso?" Jason whispered to me. It was now 4:30pm and we hadn't long to go.
"I've told you to call me, Bree." I said in a sing song voice as I was looking over a claim.
"Sorry, Bree? Why is that guy, uhm, staring at us?" I looked up from my paper work and seen Kevin glaring at Jason. He must have felt me looking at him because he turned to me. I gave him a sour look at raised an eye brow. "Back off." I mouthed at him and gestured for him to turn away. His glare softened when it came to me but it was a glare nonetheless. He turned his chair and continued on with his work. I sighed and continued with the training.
"Don't worry about him. He's...someone to avoid." I said with a slight sour tone and looked at Jason and he seemed panicked. "It's nothing like that, Jason! He's a complicated guy is all!" I tried to reassure him with a kind voice and a smile.
"Really? Seems to me like he likes you. A lot." Jason gave a meek smile. My face dropped and my throat felt dry.
"He has a girlfriend. He doesn't like me like that." I croaked and cleared my throat. Jason looked at me surprised.
"Oh...I'm so sorry. I didn't know!" He took my hand into both of his and held them. I looked down in shock. He knew how I felt straight away and didn't question it. I felt my eyes well up and I quickly blinked the on coming tears away as best I could. He handed me a handkerchief and I felt so grateful. Suddenly a fake eyelash stack fell out of the handkerchief and I looked at him. His face blanched and he stared at me. Panic and fear took over his face and I could hear his breathing starting to quicken. I squeezed his hand tighter and looked him dead in the eye.
"We're not corporate." I said in a hushed voice. "We're more accepting here, Jason. But if you don't want anyone to know anything, my lips are locked tighter than a bank vault." I stared at him intently, making sure he understood me. Tears welled in his eyes and he nodded. I gave him back his handkerchief discreetly. He smiled, grateful that I didn't say anything. "Come over to my place after work. We finish in 30 minutes anyways. My housemate will definitely want to meet you." I smiled warmly at him and he did the same.
"People in corporate are fucking assholes!" I said angrily, already on my second glass of wine.
"You have no idea! I felt like I couldn't be my real self!" Jason was on his third and Marzia was on her second. "I'm a gay man in the 21st century that does drag and I couldn't tell anyone because of those...culos!" He was pissed and needed to vent.
Jason moved to personal because of homophobic abuse from the assholes in corporate. They would beat on him outside of work but made sure not to hit his face. He was sent hate mail and his apartment was trashed repeatedly to the point where he had to move. He was harassed day in, day out and was sent off on sick leave due to stress. He then applied to be transferred to personal. He still felt like he had to hide himself but Marzia and I were quick to dash his thoughts like that.
"You don't have to worry about anyone being like that in personal." Marzia said. "Our mail guy, Shawn, is so out there and nobody says a damn thing to him. We love him. And you know Diana the trainer? She and her fiancée Lauren invited everyone to their wedding. Hell our head HR officer is trans gender! There is no way that you will be abused in our office." Marzia reaffirmed with Jason. She's a human rights activist and has quite the standing in the LGBT Community. He smiled and took her hand.
"It has been a looooong time since I've felt this welcome. You girls are amazing!" He smiled at the both of us broadly. I raised my glass smiling almost as wide.
"To Jason, the new guy! He can be whoever the Hell he wants to be and we love him for it!" We clinked our glasses together and drank.
"So, Jason. What's your drag name?" Marzia asked excitedly.
"Barbie BeeBee. I was going to go with Bareback but that promotes unsafe sex and that is a no no puta!" He became very sassy when he drank but I felt like maybe Barbie came out to play when he did.
"Are you public?" I asked.
"I used to be on YouTube, doing make up tutorials, but took everything down after...corporate." He shrugged and drank again.
"We're going to take you to Carousel and introduce you to the Queens of Queens. They'll be so happy to have a new daughter, especially after all the shit you've been through." I said to him and he hugged us both.
"You girls have made me so happy! Thank you so much!" He smiled and touched up our glasses.
He was so happy, just by having 2 people accept him for who he is. There was no trace of the Jason I met earlier and I felt like I could change the world by that feeling.
Maybe I could concentrate on making others happy, instead of pitying myself. Jason and others like him are totally worth it.
