4. Talitha #2
“Well, this director ain’t,” I clarified. “I don’t do workplace relationships. Hell this,” I pointed to him. “Is as close as it’ll ever get. We’re gearing up to working on this lavish idea of mine.”
“Ummhmm.” He eyed me suspiciously. “You be careful with that one. He’s smooth as butter. Talk you right up out ya’ drawers.”
“See… Just when I was going to agree to hang out with you tonight, your mouth has ruined it.” Pointing at the door, I ordered, “Get out.”
Rossi laughed and stood from the chair. Tucking an imaginary piece of hair behind his ear ,he swore, “I’ll be to pick you up around seven.” Roaming his eyes up and down my body he added, “Dress your age.”
“Out, Rossi.” I giggled.
Grabbing my phone out of my desk, I pulled up the Life360 app and tracked Gema’s location.
Ain’t no way they thought I was sending her away without knowing where she was at all times.
With the location showing them at Betty Jo house, I was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.
Now that my heart was returning to a steady pace, I busied myself with work.
Law had messaged me to let me know he would call when his driver was out front.
Apparently not only had he spoken with the guy Poppa referred him to, but he was able to secure a meeting with him for later today.
I was excited for the meeting, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous as shit.
This was a big deal. I wanted nothing more than for it to come to fruition and the way Law and Poppa talked, it would.
With this being my idea, it left me wondering what my future looked like at the youth center.
Would this involve me taking on an even heavier workload?
Not that I minded because I was fully capable, however, with Gema in the equation, I had to figure out how much time I would be spending away from her.
Law asked me to be patient and have faith in him and I guess until he gave me a reason to feel differently, I would grant him that.
* * *
At three o’clock on the dot, I was ushered out of the building and into the waiting blacked-out SUV that sat parallel on the curb in front of the youth center.
When Rossi called to inform me that my ride was outside, I wasn’t expecting Law’s personal driver to be standing by the entrance waiting on me.
The entire time we had been in the truck, Law had been on the phone conducting business while I sat there trying to figure out exactly what he did outside of owning the youth center. I mean apparently whatever it was it kept him busy seeing as every time he ended one call, another one came through.
I tried to keep my eyes off him but it was hard, especially with the way the tailored royal blue suit hugged his frame. The first two buttons on his white shirt were undone, leaving his chocolate chest on display along with gold rope chain secured around his neck.
During one of his calls, he pulled the phone down from his ear and asked if I had eaten lunch yet. After confirming that I hadn’t, he had “Baker” call someone to make a reservation for three.
I was under the impression that we would be going to wherever this person of Poppa’s was. Sadly, I was wrong. The truck rolled to a stop in front of STK Steakhouse and before I could ask questions, Baker was pulling the door open.
“Right this way, Ms. Howard,” he said while holding his hand out.
Grabbing ahold of his outstretched hand, I let him assist me out of the truck.
When Law stepped out of the truck, the wind drafted causing a woody, citrusy scent to waft across my nose.
Placing his hand at the small of my back, he lightly pushed me forward all the while still on his call.
“Reservation for Harvey,” he uttered to the hostess who checked the computer for our names before grabbing three menus and telling us to follow her.
The minute I stepped forward to follow her, Law’s hand was back at the small of my back. It wasn’t until we reached the table did he remove it.
Pulling a chair out, he nodded his head for me to take a seat before rounding the table to sit across from me. Not wanting to seem like I was eaves dropping on his conversation, I picked up the menu and scoured it.
I was supposed to stop and grab lunch after I left my doctor’s appointment, but it ran a little longer than expected so I figured I would just send Rossi out to grab me something.
In the midst of work, my hunger pains subsided so naturally I forgot to do so.
Had Law not mentioned lunch, I probably wouldn’t have eaten anything until I got home for the day.
“You have to excuse me. I wasn’t trying to be rude. I had a few things scheduled for the day before getting this meeting,” he apologized as soon as he ended the call. Placing the phone down on the table, he slid out of his coat and draped it over the back of the chair next to him.
Bringing the menu down from my face, I asked the question that had been on my mind since I was picked up. “I thought we were having a meeting?”
“We are. I’ve been so busy today I hadn’t had the chance to eat lunch and clearly you haven’t either. So, we’re going to do it here.”
“I understand.” I nodded. “Thanks for that. I’ve just had a busy day and it slipped my mind.”
“Likewise. Before our third party arrives, I wanted to bring you abreast. The guy we’re getting ready to meet is William Pellegrin, he oversees the accreditation.
He’s going to give us a list of things that we need to do before we can even begin the application process.
According to a few people I’ve spoken with already, we can expect the first application to be denied. ”
“Denied!” I gasped.
“Unfortunately, yes. It’s a tedious process which is why Poppa sent me directly to him. I wanted to set the expectations first. Denied doesn’t mean that it won’t happen. It just means we have to work harder at impressing the accreditation board.”
“What all do we have to do?”
“Finding a location is at the top of the list. I want to get that squared away before we even submit the application.”
Rubbing my temples in a circular motion, I fluttered my eyes until they closed. “In other words, be prepared to be stressed out like I said.”
I thought the purpose of this meeting was to ease the tension I was feeling. The damn meeting hadn’t even started yet and my anxiety was back. This time instead of it being geared toward Gema, it was on this whole application process.
Tonight, I would definitely be taking Rossi up on his offer to go out. I needed a drink or four if I was going to have to deal with stuff like this along the way.