Friday: 5:30 pm
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The week crawled on slower than a snail...but TGIF!
It is now thirty minutes since COB, and thirty minutes since the kick-off of Nat's party/after-work jam.
"Happy birthday, goodie!" Tasha, one of the Accountants, practically screams as she enters the Sales office.
Natalie beams and runs to hug her friend as they jump and scream like giddy high-school girls.
I smile as I video.
Everyone else is busy doing one thing or the other.
Camille is busy slicing the cake she'd gotten earlier today since when we went to Pricesmart on Monday it was too early to buy it.
Speaking of Pricesmart...
I will away an image of that man whose beautiful face seems to haunt my dreams lately.
I feel guilty. I don't know why: it's not like I'm attracted to him or anything.
Lie.
Plus, I have a very handsome and caring boyfriend who would have a fit if he knew I was even thinking about another man.
Who seh yuh fool fool?
Everyone else is occupied.
Jerome is busy setting up the music, which soon blares through the small boom-box.
The sweet sound of Dexta Dap's 'Breaking News' fills the room. The clean version of course. After all, we are still in office so we have to keep things PG13.
I find myself humming along to the tune.
Shane is at the make-shift bar, organizing the liquor, while Moya sits on the desk watching him.
If you ask me, something is definitely going on between them.
If not, Moya sure wouldn't seem to mind if it does.
I take my eyes off them and look to the other corner of the small room.
Natalie's office chair was designed to look like a throne and she looks stunning as ever sitting on it; her Burger King crown bobbing as she speaks animatedly to Tasha and Sherice.
The music is right, the decor looks pretty, and the overall vibe is soothing.
The place has a buzz.
"So, yuh naah drink nutt'n my yute?" Shane asks, propping his ass on the edge of my desk.
I look up from where I sit trimming the videos I'd taken to post on Snap.
His bright hazel eyes meet mine and his smile draws my attention to his cherry lips. Now I know why Moya has been acting a fool swooning over this redskin boy.
I shake my head and avert my eyes before he catches me staring. "No sah, not today. I drove today," I say. Speaking of drinking, I really do feel thirsty. "Do you have any light beer?"
He smiles again and once again I'm drawn to his lips.
No man, Manda! Wah do yuh gyal?
Shane is very handsome. It was obvious to the blind man. But I'd never regarded him as more than a co-worker before tonight. So why was my mind running wild all of a sudden?
"Manda?" Shane's voice lures me out of the dark well that is my mind.
"Yeah?"
He looks at me with worried eyes. "Yuh good, dawg? Mi a call yuh fi 'bout fifty hours and yuh not even hear. Siddung a stare out a space..."
Really? It feels like two seconds.
"Sorry, what were you saying, beb?" I say feeling embarrassed.
"Lemon or Sorrel?" he says holding up two beers.
I didn't even notice when he got up.
My eyes linger for a minute watching as the water from the melted ice trickle down his veiny hands and taper off at his elbows.
Yuh serious, mumma? Yuh nuh have a man!?
Your girl needs some serious T. L.C...
"Lawd a mercy..." I mumble under my breath.
"What?" Shane says as he pulls the cap from the beer.
I shake my head, snapping out of it. "Oh, nutt'n man. Not you."
"If yuh seh suh," he says, his voice teasingly playful.
Is he flirting? Impossible.
He hands me the opened beer and I raise a brow. "I chose the sorrel for you since you can't seem to make up your mind." He regains his previous spot at the edge of my desk. He studies me some more before saying, "Yuh know yah move shaky, dawg. Yuh sure yuh good?"
Am I?
"Like gold," is my firm response. I use a million-dollar smile to seal the win.
I take off my jacket and drape it over the back of my chair before taking a long sip of my beer.
I internally wince as the cold water from the bottle drips onto my skin and rolls down my cleavage.
I swear to God I see Shane's eyes follow.
From where he's sitting, he has a bird's eye view of my breasts...
I suddenly feel self-conscious under his gaze and shuffle in my seat.
My face must have given it away that I'd caught on, as he immediately turns his head and clears his throat.
Can you believe I'm sitting here admiring the back of this man's head?
I like his haircut. It is faded at the sides and the top is s-curled. Under the light, it glistens and I can tell he drowns it in hairspray. He smells good. He looks good and I especially love how the veins in his forearm jump as he brings the Magnum bottle to his lips.
Veins.
Can you imagine those in his—
If yuh nuh stop with the foolishness...
'Mi Belly' by Ishawna comes on and I almost choke on my beer.
I stand abruptly and struggle to hold in the cough that stings my throat.
Shane takes the half-emptied bottle from my hand and looks at me through wide eyes. His lips part in confusion which does nothing to help the situation.
Crawses beer! Usually, that same beer bottle would've been empty by now but I've been...well...distracted.
By this time, everyone's eyes are on me and I feel my cheeks go aflame. I turn away from watchful eyes but not before Sherice is by my side.
"Yuh good, hun?" her soft voice comes, as she lightly pats my back.
After another second, I regain composure. I smile, but my throat feels parched and my eyes burn. I laugh nervously. "Yes, please. Thanks."
Her smile is tender but her eyes hold her laughter. She turns to Shane. "No, Shane, yuh mean to tell me seh the girl over here a dead and yuh sit down a watch her?" She swats his shoulder. "Not even try knock her back?"
I giggle but I really want to disappear. If embarrassment was a person...
Shane finally laughs as if his nerves are now calm. "Yow, to how mi not even know wah gwaan a while ago." He chuckles. "The B just deh here so a stare outta space fi di hundredth time since evening, then all of a sudden she a flatter pon di desk!"
Flatter? Yuh extra Eeh?
I was not 'flattering'...maybe a tad.
"Yuh too awful man. You could have helped the girl!"
"You can stay deh...make smaddy start flatter front a yuh and see wah yuh can do...feel deh..." he grasps Sherice's hand and places it on his firm chest. "Feel mi heart. It a beat yuh fuck. Dead mi nearly dead to how mi frighten."
The laugh that escapes my lips is guttural.
Affi tek bad things mek joke!
He smiles at me and it lightens the mood. "See it, Manda a laugh. She knows I would never watch her get hurt and do nothing. Right, mi bad charge?"
I blush.
Why do I suddenly feel so hot?