The Black Woman #Wattys2016

The middle.

One year and a day before.

Alani
        I learned two things today. One, my potential new boss was 100% racist and two, my feet felt like they were about to burst in these heels that I for whatever reason chose to wear on the hottest day in history. My walk out of Mr. McCann's office was one of the most awkwardest moments of my life. The secretary that had given me advice earlier didn't even look my way as I was walking out of the building. Sneaky bitch. I bet she already knew what was going to happen before I went in there simply because of my skin color. It was alright though, I was determined to get the job I wanted regardless. Whether I was working for him or not, big things are going to come my way.

When I got back to my car, I was met with a yellow boot on one of my tires and a parking ticket on my windshield. "Ain't this bout a-" I was cut off by the police officer coming up behind me and tapping on my shoulder. I snapped my head around and looked him dead in the eyes. Oh great. I thought to myself. He took out a pen and pad, I guess he was trying to be intimidating but failed miserably.

"Ma'am is this your car?" He stepped up to it and motioned to the boot on my tire. I simply nodded and chewed on my lip to refrain from saying something sarcastic. Does he think I would be standing here pissed if it wasn't my car to begin with? People these days.

"Yes, this is my car officer." I scoffed and snatched the ticket from off of my windshield. "Why did I get a ticket? The meter said I could park here for thirty minutes, I was barely in there for ten. I shouldn't be receiving this ticket." He chuckled. "You're parked more than a foot away from the sidewalk." He stepped down in the gap between my car and the sidewalk and continued. "You see, I wouldn't be able to do this if you were parked a foot away from it."

I rolled my eyes and threw my hands in the air. "You know what, fine! With the day I'm having so far I don't even care anymore. Fine me, give me a ticket, I don't care! Just take that thing off my tire so I can go home, please and thank you." He stepped back up on the sidewalk and nodded. "Sure thing, after you pay your ticket off. Your car is going to be towed."

"That's straight bull. You can't row my car for being far away from the sidewalk. Is it bothering you? Is it in the road where it could potentially harm other people while driving? No? Didn't think so. Look, sir, all I want to do is go home and-"

"She's with me." A voice from behind me said. We both turned around to see a blonde boy whose arms were covered in tattoos and he wore a plain white shirt with black skinny jeans. He had Nike slides on his feet too so I knew he wasn't going to work or anywhere else important.  "Do I know you?" I asked with a frown. I really didn't have time for this.

"Oh, honey." He smiled brightly and pulled me by my waist to his side. "She loves to play these games with me when she's upset, officer. I'll take it from here. Just please take the thing off of her tires." The police officer was hesitant at first but he eventually walked to my car and took it off. "Mr. McCann, please tell your wife that she can't park this close to the road. If a car were to swerve over just a tad bit, that would be the end of her bumper."

McCann. Oh fuck me.

I let out a heavy sigh. Of course, his dad was Mr. McCann. It was all coming back to me now. The office, the finally portrait on the wall, everything. The boy laughed and grabbed my waist a little too hard. "Will do, sir. We'll have a long discussion when we get home."

It took about five minutes for the officer to take the boot off of my car and be on his way. As soon as he was down the road good enough, I snatched out of the boy's grip and went to open my door but was stopped by him putting his hand on the door and slamming it back shut. "Where do you think you're going, gorgeous? I just saved you from a ticket and having your car towed. I think I deserve a reward."

"I'm not that kind of girl, sir. Sorry." I shrugged and reached for the handle again but he was too quick. He grabbed my waist and spun me around to face him. "You think that's all I want from you?" I hesitantly nodded. "Well, I don't. That's the thing about you damn women. You think all men want your bodies. I just wanted to take you out or something since it looked like you were having a bad day but since you want to be a bitch-"

"Bitch?!" I shouted. "Who do you think you are to be calling me a bitch? You don't know me!" He backed away from me slowly and shrugged. "I just call 'em how I see them and you, my friend, are a bitch. Good day." He turned on his heels and walked to the door of his father's firm. "For the record," I started and he turned his head a little to indicate that he was listening to me. "You couldn't take me out even if you tried." 
                                  ~~~~~
"You have a pretty name, Alani." Jason said from across the table. He had taken me to this fast food place where I had no idea what they were serving or how the food even tasted because my family from back home rarely ate out. We all learned how to cook at a very young age and eating out wasn't one of the things we did on a daily basis.

"Thank you..my mother named me after my great grandmother. She rescued many of the girls back home from being on the streets and getting into trouble. She opened her home to so many women.." I trailed off and looked up to see him smiling at me. From the time we've shared so far I learned many things about Jason. He was an artist, but not just any artist, he was interested in painting only in black and white. He claimed that he didn't have any hobbies but I knew that was a lite. Everybody has something that they love to do. Finally, he was an addict that had no plans on running his father's multi-billion dollar company when he grew old. I never told him about what happened earlier in his father's office.

"So you moved here from the Virgin Islands? Why? Do you know how beautiful and peaceful it is over there? I would kill to be somewhere peaceful." He chewed down on a chicken biscuit and softly smiled at me as he chewed. "I haven't had one of these in forever. They're so delicious. You should try it, boo." He held it up to my lips and watched closely.

"Boo? And no thank you. I'm perfectly fine with my hashbrowns,Jason." His jaw clenched and he pulled away the biscuit. "If you were mine, you would have eaten it. You need to eat more so you can be healthy. You have all these curves and don't know how to work them." He growled and mumbled something to himself. What just happened? He was just fine not even ten seconds ago and now he's angry for no reason.

"What's wrong with you? All I said was that I was fine with my hashbrowns. I honestly am." I pleaded, trying to lighten the mood a bit but he wasn't having it. He silently ate his food and ignored me until he was halfway done with his biscuit. Then, he looked up at me and pushed it over to my side of the table. "Eat. I need to make sure you're okay at least until you get home to get some food. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and I want you to have my food."

"Jason, I-" He grabbed my hand and held it tightly in his. "You need to eat. I'm not going to tell you again, Alani." I sighed and gave in. I took a bite of the biscuit and watched him smile to himself in satisfaction. Glad one of us was happy. I won't lie though, the chicken biscuit was spectacular.

After breakfast, he walked me to my car and opened the door for me. "I would like to take you out again, Alani. You're very beautiful and I want to get to know you better, shawty." I got in my car and shut the door. He knocked on my window and motioned for me to roll it down, which I without a thought did so. "If I say yes will you stop being so pushy?"

He grinned. "Yes." He reached for my iPhone in my lap and used my thumb to unlock it. After a lot of tapping, he handed me my phone back with a smile. "I typed in my number and texted myself from your phone so I have yours too. Enjoy the rest of your day, Alani."

I watched him walk to his car and eventually drive off after he saw me start the car up and pretend to look over my shoulder as if I was about to back up and leave. I put the car back in park and sat in the seat rethinking my life's choices. Although, two questions kept clouding my mind.

Why was Jason McCann so fascinated with me and what even was his problem?
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And there we go. The long awaited chapter 😌 I hope you guys liked it!