Chapter 5
Dinner with the pest
It took a week to get the contracts settled and then another week to train our teams. Between the new hires we settled on and the contracted men from Raymond’s service, we had more than enough personnel to get the job done.
The relief I felt was akin to seventeen orgasms!
All that was left was the final in-person meeting with the studio, then we would be off to the races.
Natalie and Raymond attended the meeting at the studio with me.
I needed Natalie because I knew she would pay close attention to all details, and it made sense for Raymond to be there, since he would effectively be my second-in-command for the initial contract.
As a final amendment, we’d agreed that for all intents and purposes, Raymond would be an employee, since he was planning on phasing out his company at some point.
It would just make things easier for me down the line not to have to dissolve the official partnership or contend with new owners.
“Jericha, it’s so good to see you again!” Von greeted us just outside the conference room. “All those video calls are so impersonal.”
“Von, great to see you as well.” I shook her hand.
“And this must be Natalie. Your face matches your voice,” Von said before turning to Raymond, who stood at my other side. “And Mr. Statton?”
“It's a pleasure to meet you.” He greeted her friendly.
“Wonderful! Let’s head inside. I know we’re all eager to get things settled.”
Inside the conference room was a long table. On one side sat five members of the studio team, three empty seats for us on the other. Von joined the side with the other studio members.
“Everyone, this is Jericha Brown, her assistant Natalie, and her partner, Raymond Statton,” Von made the introductions.
The first man, an older gentleman, stood. He was shorter than me, and from my vantage point, I could see the bald patch forming at the top of his head.
“Hello, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Mr. Watson.” He held out his hand—not to me, but to Raymond! “Happy to be working with your firm.”
“Actually,” I placed my hand in his and shook it with a firm grasp, “I’m the owner. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Oh, my apologies.” He nervously glanced at our connected hands as if I was hurting him. “I shouldn’t have assumed.”
“That’s quite alright.” I smiled politely. “I understand there are few women in this space, but I’m happy to be working together and look forward to a blossoming partnership.”
I let his hand go and looked at the others. One woman, who wore a blue suit, nodded approvingly. She clearly appreciated my skillful correction of Mr. Watson’s behavior.
“Shall we get started?” I suggested. With masterful skill crafted through many years of proving men wrong, I ran the meeting.
Every detail of our partnership was laid out, including scheduling, team changes, inventory needs, and even uniform requirements for team members.
Raymond remained quiet, Natalie took detailed notes, and by the end of it, Mr. Watson had no questions.
The meeting ended later than I expected, so I sent Natalie home.
There was more to do at the office, but there was no need for her to waste another night babysitting me.
I parted ways with Raymond in the parking lot, and headed to the office.
On the way, I stopped at a gas station and got myself a treat—those little pink donuts.
When I arrived at my office, Raymond was standing by the door. He leaned against the wall and waved at me.
“It's about time you got here,” he teased as I approached the door.
“What are you doing here?” I tried not to sound as annoyed as I felt.
He looked at me like I had lost my mind. “Am I wrong, or did you say there was more work to do? I’m clocking in, boss!”
“Work for me.” I frowned as I unlocked the door. “There’s nothing for you to work on here.”
“Wait, I’m supposed to be your second-in-command, right?” Raymond stood at attention. “I take my role seriously! So, here I am, reporting for duty!”
“Are you trying to take over my job?” I narrowed my eyes at him. Why the hell was he trying to be cute? “Is this a ploy to get me to let my guard down?”
“Seriously?” His shoulders slumped as he followed me inside. “This is because of what Mr. Watson did, isn’t it? I’m being punished for another man’s ignorance.”
“Oh, you mean mistaking you for the owner of my business?” I stopped walking and turned to him. “No, couldn’t possibly be because of that. Didn’t bother me at all!”
“That was real convincing.” He chuckled and rubbed his beard. “Well, you know I’m not here to take over, so relax. One foolish man isn’t changing my mind.”
“I’m perfectly relaxed.” I held up the donuts. “I have these! The cure to all my problems in cute packaging!”
“Did you have to trip a man to get them?” He pointed at the donuts. “I hope they don’t have to file an insurance claim like I did.”
“You did not!”
“How else do you expect me to recover from the knee injury?”
“Well, now you’re just being dramatic.” I sighed. “Are you really going to hang around here?”
“Of course. Besides, you might need saving again.”
“Saving?”
“You have stalkers, woman!” He waved his hand as if we were surrounded by the aforementioned offenders.
“Shut up.” I rolled my eyes and marched into my office.
Yeah, I tried to work. Computer on, files open, contracts ready for mark-up. For about thirty minutes, I pretended to be productive while Raymond sat across from me, feet on the edge of my desk, fingers tapping on his phone.
“Is this what you call being helpful?” I reached across the desk and knocked his feet down.
“This is what I call waiting for directives.” He smiled.
“I already told you, I have nothing for you to do here.”
“Right, and it doesn’t look like you’re getting much done either.” He pointed at the paper in front of me. “You’ve been looking at the same page for at least ten minutes now.”
“It’s hard to work when someone’s sitting across from you playing on their phone while propping their dirty shoes on your desk. Do you know how many germs are on those things?” I pointed to his shoes.
He inhaled deeply, a scrutinizing expression on his face, brows pushed in tightly, lips twisted. “What I’m hearing is that you need to get away from the office.”
“I’m not sure how the hell you took that from what I just said.” I folded my hands in front of me. “What I need is to be left alone so I can focus.”
“You’re hungry. Let’s go.”
“Are you just ignoring the words coming out of my mouth? It’s like I’m talking to myself. What the hell do you mean, let’s go?”
“We need dinner. I know I do.” He stood and stretched. “Those little finger fruit things they gave us at the meeting weren’t nearly enough to satisfy me. I’m a big, strong guy. I need food.”
“You’re a big, strong pain in my ass,” I fussed as I rubbed the tension forming at my temples.
“You know, ever since we finalized that contract, you don’t sweet talk me anymore.”
“Sweet talk?” I cackled. “You do need to eat, because clearly, you lose your mind when you’re hungry. I’ve never done that!”
“Are you saying those little donuts were enough for you?” Raymond shifted the focus. “I need dinner. You do too. Let’s go.”
“You’re not going to drop this, are you?”
“No, I’m not.” He stood and moved to the door to open it for me. “Grab your bag, woman. Let’s hit it!”
I sighed, looked at my computer monitor, which had already gone to sleep from lack of usage, and gave up on getting anything done. Instead of continuing to fight him on the topic, I grabbed my bag, locked the computer, and headed for the door.
“You better have something good in mind,” I fussed. “Don’t you dare ask me to make a plan when this was your idea.”
“Yes, ma’am!” He saluted me as I passed him.
When we made it outside, Raymond marched to his car as I locked up. He held open the passenger side door and waited for me. I promptly walked right by him and headed to my car.
“Seriously?”
“I am more than capable of driving my own car.” I frowned. “Lead the way, and try not to drive so recklessly. I’d like to make it home in one piece tonight.”
I drove closely behind him as he led me fifteen minutes away from the office. He must have taken my comment about his driving to heart, because the man drove five miles under the speed limit the entire way. If I had known where he was going, I would have left him in the dust.
“You’re insufferable,” I said as he opened my door for me. I stepped out of the car, shaking my head at him. “Did you forget where your gas pedal was? Why were you moving like a damn snail?”
“I only did what you asked.” He held back his laughter. “Safe driving only, remember?”
“You’re petty.” I wagged my finger in his face as he shut the door. “I see now. You’re just here to drive me crazy.”
“Correction, I’m here to drive you crazy and have dinner. I hope you like Italian!” Raymond sidestepped me and headed into the restaurant.
The food was great; the service was fast, and an hour later, I sat in front of an empty plate. The creamy Tuscan salmon had melted in my mouth. It was so good, I was considering ordering a second serving to go.
While we were out, I tried to keep our conversation focused on business, but over the past weeks, Raymond had been trying to learn as much as he could about me, as if Rose hadn’t provided enough information in that creepy ass folder of hers.
“What are you doing?” I asked after he’d asked me about my childhood.
“Attempting conversation.” He sipped his water. “Why are you so resistant to that?”
“You’re being nosy. We work together. Why would you need to know about my childhood?”
“I don’t need to know anything, Jericha,” he corrected my wording. “I want to know. We’re going to spend a lot of time together in the foreseeable future. Should we spend none of that time learning more about each other? Ask me anything. I’m an open book.”
I waved off his suggestion. “No, thank you.”
“This is a control thing for you, isn’t it?” His brow rose as he examined my expression.
“I’m not sure what you’re talking about,” I said.
“From the moment we met, you’ve been trying to take control of the situation.” He spoke as if he was solving a case.
“How could you say that?” I crossed my arms over my chest. “I was nothing but polite when I proposed we work together.”
“You know that’s not what I’m talking about.” He nodded. “The gas station. You nearly bit my head off for not letting you have your way. And then you tripped me!”
“You falling had nothing to do with me. Clearly, you’re a klutz.”
“I’m sure they still have the security footage.” He pointed at the cars parked outside. “We can go ask them to run it back.”
“What’s your point, Mr. Statton?” I asked.
“Mr. Statton?” he laughed. “You’re not going to make any of this easy for me.”
“Things will be easy if you remember boundaries.” I raised a brow as the server returned to set the check on the table between us. Right in the center. I looked at it and then at Raymond, who chuckled.
“So this is the one thing you don’t want control over?” He grabbed the check and then pulled his wallet from his pocket. “Interesting.”
“You invited me here,” I reminded him. “Why should I pay? If not for you, I would be in my office working.”
“Something you should be thanking me for. You work too much,” he fussed. “Natalie is a competent assistant, and yet you send her home while you do menial paperwork.”
“I want to make sure it’s done right.”
“Are you saying you don’t trust her to do it?”
“Are those the words that came out of my mouth?” I removed the napkin from my lap. “I trust her. I—”
“You like to be in control.” He finished my sentence for me. Incorrectly, might I add.
“Is this about earlier today?” I asked. “Look, I’m not going to just stand aside and let someone take ownership of my stuff.”
“And there it is!” He handed the check back to the server, who’d at some point returned.
“What? Are you reconsidering working with me now?” I lowered my voice.
“No, not at all.” Raymond leaned onto his elbows. “I’m not the kind of man who backs down from a challenge.”
“A challenge?”
“Yes.” He smirked. “You need to release some steam. You look tense.”
“Please don’t tell me you’re trying to push up on me now.” I leaned away from him. “I only had water, remember? There will be no shenanigans to blame on liquor later.”
“Actually, I figured we could do some sparring.” He raised a brow. “But interesting that your mind went to sex when I said the word ‘release’.”
“Shut up.” I drank the last of my water.
“I will if you join me in the gym.”