I Do

“I don’t know, Lucas. I don’t know what to tell you. I guess it was just a cocktail of factors, really. Now, as I said before, I am really busy right now….”

“What about all the time we spent together?” Lucas asked cutting her short.

“That was the problem, Lucas. The time we spent together…. You did not seem like you wanted anything else apart from the fun.”

“But baby, I think we could reconcile our relationship. We had such a good thing going.”

Josie smiled at the waitress as she refilled her cup and mouthed a ‘thank you’.

“Lucas, I am not looking to be in a relationship with someone who just wants to have fun. There is more to life than just having fun. At some point, you have to realize that and I cannot be the person who helps you come to that realization.”

“Baby, please…” Lucas started and Josie let out an exhausted sigh.

“Don’t call me that. We are way past that part of our relationship. Right now, I am just a woman trying to find her way in the corporate world and you are her ex-boyfriend.”

“Are you saying that there is nothing you can do to reconcile this situation?” Lucas pressed. “We were good together. Great even.”

Josie took a long deep breath.

“We might have been great together, Lucas, but as I said before, you never wanted to make an honest woman out of me and honestly, between you and constantly being looked over by my superiors at Rank Media, I think I had to cut off the cancers in my life. You and Rank Media will always see me as the loyal woman who will always be there despite the disrespect and constant favoritism…” She brushed off a tear that was threatening to roll down her cheek. “I am not going to stand for that nonsense anymore. Not in the corporate world and definitely not with you.”

“Please Josie….” Lucas started but she was not going to give him any more time to say whatever it was that he needed to say.

“You know what, Lucas, I need to figure out how to get back into America’s workforce. So bye.”

She hung up and rubbed her temple as she took a series of low deep breaths to calm herself down. Talking with Lucas had always taken so much out of her. She did not know that she needed to get out of that relationship until much later. Until the damage had been done. Until she could not take anymore. She was surprised that she had actually stuck it out for so long. It was almost impossible to believe that she had allowed herself to be another black woman who was a victim of the indecisive nature of a man. A victim to a situation that should not have existed in the first place. Her heart raced as she felt her inner voice blaming herself. Blaming herself for allowing the once proud person to become just another statistic.

She was still rubbing her temple when the waitress walked back to her table.

“Are you feeling okay?” she asked. “Should I maybe call someone?”

Josie forced a smile and shook her head.

“No, I’m fine. Thank you,” she said politely.

The waitress looked unconvinced.

“Seriously, I’m fine. It’s just… life.”

The waitress smiled at her.

“Don’t I know it,” she said before she walked away leaving Josie alone. She reached for her coffee and took a long sip before she put the cup down. It was then that she realized that even though she had been trying hard to control herself as she spoke to Lucas, it had still wreaked havoc on her emotions. She clenched a tight fist and took another sip before she went back to her job search. What she did not know was that there had been someone who had been listening to her the whole time…

                                                            *****

After a series of unsuccessful interviews, Ethan needed to get out of the office. He needed a place to think about his next step, his next move as the head of his company. He found himself driving to one of his coffee franchises. He did that every time he needed a decent cup of coffee and at the same time, he kept a close check on the pulse of his business.

When he got to Cup O’Joe, he noticed the curly hair pulled in a bun and he just knew who it was. It was the same woman he had interviewed just moments earlier.

“What are the odds that we are both here?” he wondered as he took a seat in the booth in front of her own. He pressed his finger to his lips when one of the waitresses noticed him. The last thing he needed was for the woman to think he was stalking her, especially after such an interview.

“The usual,” he said in a low voice and the waitress walked away.

He sat there and looked at her in the window’s reflection. It was the only way to see her face without actually turning around to look at her. And as he sat there, he realized that he had misjudged her. From what he was able to gather, she had quit her job because she was being overlooked. He had seen such things happen in the workplace and he knew that her being overlooked was very much a possibility. After having his double espresso, he drove back to the office and asked for the dossier on Josie Johnson.

“Well, Rank Media,” he thought as he pulled up the company profile. It only took him a few minutes before the dossier was brought to him to realize what creative differences had made Josie leave Rank Media. She was perhaps the longest-serving member of the team who had remained a junior worker for so long. He could not help but wonder why people would not have chosen to keep her. For her to be at the company for so long was a testament to how patient she was. That was definitely a quality he could do with as CEO. And then there was the fact that he had heard her talking with her ex. The way she had calmly talked to someone who clearly disappointed her while keeping her cool was impressive. Usually, people made such a public spectacle of their personal lives but not her.

He leaned back in his chair as he called the number on Josie’s resume. She answered on the second ring.

“Hello?”

“Hello, Miss Johnson. This is Ethan Beckett.”

“Oh…Hi. Hello… Hi.”

A smile played on Ethan’s lips. Her stammer was cute, to say the least.

“Hi. I am calling about the job you just interviewed for. The job is yours if you want it.”

“Wait…what?”

“I said, the job is yours if you want it. You may drop by the office so that human resources can do what they need to.”

“Wow… I don’t know what to say, sir. This is amazing. Thank you, sir. I promise I will not let you down.”

“That is my expectation,” he said in a relaxed tone. “Welcome on board, Josephine Johnson.”

“Thank you very much, sir.”

When he hung up, Ethan felt a sudden relief wash over him like a wave. Maybe Noah was right after all. He could run his company with help and potentially good help too.

                                                            *****

When Josie spoke to Dani again, her mood had changed. She sounded chipper and Dani just knew that her roommate had something up her sleeve.

“What happened?” Dani asked.

“Change of plans. We are going out for dinner tonight,” Josie said excitedly.

“What? Why?”

“We are celebrating. I just signed my new employment contract as Ethan Beckett’s new assistant.”

“But I thought you said the interview didn’t go so well,” Dani pointed out and Josie shrugged.

“I don’t know what to say. It went really badly. But an hour ago, Ethan Beckett called me and told me that he thought he did not give me a fair chance… or something like that. Long story short, I got a job!”

“Congratulations! I knew that it was all going to work out for you.”

“So, dinner tonight? My treat?” Josie asked again.

“I feel like I should be the one taking you for dinner,” Dani said and Josie laughed.

“Well, it doesn’t matter what we do as long as we have dinner tonight. Maybe have some dessert as well?”

“It’s a date,” Dani happily obliged.