Chapter 7
Seven
Tremaine
I could hear their laughs all the way in my office.
I'd been hearing the same tune since Mila started working here.
It was now the end of the work week, and Susanna and Mila had become the best of friends.
They spent most of the day giggling and talking.
I wouldn't be surprised if she learned nothing from all the fun the two were having.
When I first told Susanna about Mila, she gave me backlash about it.
She automatically assumed I had slept with Mila and promised her a job at the company.
Despite my best efforts to explain otherwise to Susanna, she remained unconvinced.
She wasn't thrilled to hear that I had jumped the interview process and hired Mila.
Yet I was not sure what had happened between them, but now the two were like two clacking hens in the front of the office.
All week, I'd been swamped with meetings and showings, so I hadn't been able to do a pulse check with Mila.
I was thankful for Susanna. Had it not been for her, I don't think I would've been able to juggle my workload and train Mila.
I closed my laptop and decided to end the day at the office. I walked out of my door and saw Susanna standing at the desk while talking to Mila. Whatever the conversation was, Mila was tuned in. Susanna was waving her arms in the air.
"Then he had the nerve to say, Well, I thought you liked it like that!"
Mila let out a loud laugh and then covered her mouth with her hand. Susanna laughed just as loudly.
"Like what?" I asked.
My voice caused both of them to jump.
Susanna threw her hand over her chest. "Mr. Houston, you scared me!"
Mila said nothing. She looked at me, then at her computer.
"What y'all talking about?" I asked.
Susanna shrugged her shoulders. "Ladies talk. That's it, that's all."
I smirked. "I thought you were supposed to be training, not gossiping."
Susanna fanned me off. "Please, she learned all this stuff on day two. Mila is as smart as you." She winked.
Mila's head shot up to Susanna. Her eyes were wide when she looked over at me. I could tell Susanna's response shocked Mila. However, that was Susanna's, and I banter.
"I'm positive that she is," I said with a smile.
I caught Mila's smile just in time before she turned back to her computer.
"It's been a long week, and I'm sure y'all feel it too. How about we close the office for the day?"
Susanna squealed. "I'm not protesting that! Shut down the computer, Mila, and let's get out of here before he changes his mind!"
Mila laughed at Susanna's antics as she ran to grab her stuff.
"Actually, Mila, I owe you a lunch outing if you're still up for it."
"Um, sure. I haven't eaten yet."
"Bet. Let me get my stuff, and we're going to try this again."
She nodded and went to gather her stuff.
By the time I got everything situated, Mila stood outside waiting for me.
I stared at her from behind. She had on navy blue wide-leg pants hugging her ass and thighs.
She wore a pink button-up shirt and nude heels.
She looked adorable. The man in me wanted to compliment her on how stunning she looked, but I couldn't cross that line.
Now here I was, about to eat lunch with her in hopes that I could control my hormones.
"Ready?"
She nodded.
We headed toward my car. I decided on the Mercedes SUV today because I thought I had to do a few client visits, but all were rescheduled. While opening the car door for Mila, her shoulder brushed against my side. Her sweet perfume invaded my nose.
"Sorry," she said.
"All good."
I waited 'til she sat comfortably in the car before I shut the door.
Seconds later, we were on the way to our destination.
Mila looked out of the window as we rode to the lunch destination.
She was quiet around me, unlike how she was with Susanna.
I could tell she had personality, but she only shared it with certain people, and I wasn't one of them.
I prepared to ask her how she was liking everything, but my phone rang over the car speaker.
Ari's name popped up on the screen. Mila looked from the window, then looked at the screen, and then at me.
Hesitation flushed over me because I didn't know if Ari really needed something or if she wanted to flirt. I looked at Mila.
"It's a client. Mind if I take this?"
She shrugged. "Your car, your business." She turned back to looking out the window.
I prayed Ari said nothing inappropriate. I answered the call, taking a deep breath.
"This is Trey."
Ari sucked her teeth. "Oh, you're trying to be professional now?"
"Hey, Ari. What can I help you with?"
"Where do I start?" she asked.
"Is everything good with the shop? Do you need the number for maintenance?"
I tried my hardest to divert the conversation. I could tell what type of time Ari was on. The last thing I wanted Mila to think was that I slept with my clients, with Ari being the only exception, even though I regretted it.
She sucked her teeth. "Let me guess, you're still mad from the other day? I'm sorry I lied, but I just had to have you. I love the way my body feels when you make me cum."
Mila's head quickly spun around. Her eyes shot to the screen, then to me with a disgusted look on her face. I should've known Ari would pull something like that. The embarrassment set in, and there was nothing else for me to do but hang up on Ari. By that time, Mila was back facing the window.
"Sorry about that," I apologized.
She shook her head. "You don't have to apologize. Who you sleep with doesn't concern me, whether it's a client or not. That's your business."
I took a deep breath. For the rest of the drive, Mila kept her attention on looking out the window while Ari continued to call until I blocked her.
A few minutes later, I parked the car. I looked over at Mila again just to get a vibe check on her.
There was still nothing. I got out of the car first to open the door for her. Finally, she spoke.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
I led the way to the restaurant while she trailed behind. The hostess greeted me at the stand.
"Mr. Houston, how are you doing?"
"I'm doing good. May I have a table for two?" I asked.
"Sure thing! Outside?"
I looked back at Mila. "You cool with outside?"
Instead of looking at me, she nodded.
"Outside is fine."
The hostess instructed us to follow her out to the restaurant patio. The weather was nice. The sun shone brightly, but with the calm breeze, the temperature was just right.
"Your server will be right with you."
As soon as she walked away from the table, I looked at Mila. She looked down at her menu while tapping her finger against the table. I didn't want this lunch to be awkward. I at least wanted to clear the awkwardness.
"How are you liking the job?" I asked.
Mila slowly looked up and tried to smile, but it didn't reach her eyes. "It's nice and I like it a lot. Susanna's so helpful and a great time. Thank you again for the opportunity."
"You're welcome. I'm glad you're liking it."
She looked back at her menu, showing the conversation was over, but I didn't want it to be. Before I could respond, the server arrived to take our orders.
"Ladies first," I said to Mila. "Get whatever you want."
Mila ended up ordering the house special, which consisted of three pancakes, grits, and a side of sausage links and fruit. I ended up ordering the lamb chops with eggs.
"Also, can I get a whiskey with a splash of Coke? Mila, would you like something besides water?"
She shook her head. The server walked away to place our orders with the kitchen.
"You don't drink?"
She nodded.
"I do, but I don't mix business with pleasure," she retorted.
I laughed. "Aren't we off the clock? This isn't business."
Mila scoffed and shook her head. "You're my boss, right?" she asked.
"Um... yeah," I replied, confused at what she was trying to imply.
"Then, regardless of whatever we do, it's business. Never pleasure."
"Touché."
"Plus, it seems as if you do a lot of mixing business and pleasure," she added.
I knew her comment was shade because of the phone call with Ari.
Before I could counter-argue, the server had returned with my drink.
Even though I didn't feel as if it was necessary, a part of me felt the need to explain the dynamic between Ari and me to Mila.
I could tell it left an unpleasant taste in her mouth.
I didn't want Mila out here thinking I was an ain't shit nigga .
"The conversation you heard —"
"Mr. Houston, again, you don't have to explain anything to me."
"I know I don't, but out of respect for myself and my business, I feel as if I need to."
I could give Mila either the watered-down version of what Ari and I are like or the real, gritty truth.
The more I looked at her, I couldn't force myself to tell her everything.
I didn't want her to judge me and feel some type of way about me.
It was already hard enough to crack her shell. I didn't want it to become even harder.
"Ari sells clothes. She's the owner of a boutique storefront that she happens to rent from me.
We've flirted a lot, then one day shit got crazy.
I was having a rough day, and she was there.
We fooled around once. It's nothing more.
She just keeps trying to get me to do it again and again, but I won't."
Mila stared at me. She didn't have any expression. I couldn't bring myself to tell Mila the truth. For some reason, I cared about what she thought of me.
"It was a mistake, a mistake I would never make again."
She didn't have a response. She kept her eyes strained on me.
"You're judging me, I know."
"I am because you're lying. She didn't sound like a one-and-done type of girl."
I sighed. "Aite, it was more than once, but things never went anywhere between us."
Mila sipped her water.
"My husband... ex-husband mixed business with pleasure, which ended up with me in the predicament that I'm in now," Mila countered.
"Your husband had an affair?"
She nodded. "With his intern, the pre-teen who was at the diner when he came in, showing his natural ass."
To say I was shocked was an understatement. A man destroying his family never sat well with me.
Mila chuckled, but I could tell she wasn't amused.
"She'd been in my home, around my child, and even in my face the entire time she was sleeping with my husband. Now, she done ended up pregnant with his child."
I could hear the hurt in her words. All the pain and anger made sense. Mila was broken and struggling as she tried to put herself back together.
"I'm so sorry you're having to experience this shit. No one deserves that."
She shrugged. "I've been spending months trying to remember if I did anything bad. I would have sleepless nights trying to figure out why life was beating the shit out of me, yet I still can't figure out why I was karma's public enemy number one."
My heart went out to Mila. Here she was blaming herself for a fuck nigga that didn't appreciate her for who she was.
"Don't look at it like that," I advised.
"Then how else am I supposed to?" she asked.
"Look at it as if there is something better in store for you. Shit, granted, you had to be hurt, and your life is doing a complete reset, but maybe this is where you're supposed to be instead of there. Look at this karma as good karma and not bad."
The look on Mila's face showed she was thinking about what I had just said.
I reached across the table and grabbed her hand.
I slowly stroked the top with one finger.
She kept her eyes trained on our touch. She finally looked up at me, and we locked eyes.
A strange wave of feelings came over me.
I wanted to reach out to her and hug her tightly.
I wanted to whisper in her ear and let her know everything was going to work out for her.
"Things happen for a reason, Mila. Just know I've got your back now. You're going to be alright."
Instead of her responding. She nodded, and I released her hand.
We sat in silence for a few minutes. I couldn't help but study Mila as she sat there looking everywhere but at me.
I wanted to talk to her more, but before I could spark up a conversation, the server returned with our entrees.
She placed our plates in front of us and smiled.
"Anything else I can get y'all?"
Mila looked at the server and smiled.
"May I have a mimosa?" Mila asked.