Stubborn

Chapter Twenty Two

Going back into the office was bittersweet. After meeting with Ms. Brenda, Melanie simply wanted to go home. She didn't want to do anymore business, but it was what paid her bills. She bit down on her bottom lip before putting her key into her office door and opened it. Seeing two boxes on her desk, Melanie frowned slightly. She had already received her mail earlier from the job, and wasn't expecting anything else for at least two days. She walked over to her desk and sat down in the comfortable chair. Seeing the word "Christian Louboutins" on the box, Melanie erupted into laughter. She opened the top box and saw a pair of sparkly silver pumps. Melanie couldn't contain her laughter for disbelief at this point. She moved that box out of the way and opened the second one to see a pair of black pumps.

"This boy..." She smirked as she picked up her office phone and began dialing Shawn's number. He answered fairly quickly.

"Yes ma'am?" Shawn asked.

"How do you know it's me?"

"Because Corey never calls me from the office. We all know you like for everyone to know you have a position."

Melanie laughed and sat her feet up on her desk. "I'm glad you noticed that."

"So, why the call?"

"Because I think you're the one I should call for these Louboutins being on my desk?"

"Nah."

Melanie's face froze when he bluntly told her that. She couldn't think of anyone else that would have bought her more than $2,000 worth of shoes.

"Really?" Melanie asked with uneasiness in her voice.

"I'm kidding Melanie. You can breathe. I won't bust you about the men in your life."

Melanie didn't think much of the comment. At the moment, she wasn't sleeping with anyone - not even Shawn. She was attempting to make sure that their relationship didn't push any boundaries. She knew that mixing business with pleasure wasn't the best decision. Melanie didn't want anything to mess up their business or the friendship that they had built. She was pretty aware of the chemistry that the two of them shared, but she was also aware that maybe it was simply best that they remained friends.

"Whatever," Melanie laughed as she brushed the comment off.

"So, I need to ask you out on a date."

"You do?"

"Yeah. You like basketball?"

"Hell no," Melanie quickly answered.

She could hear Shawn's laughter through the phone. "Okay, can you pretend to like it?"

"Whyyyy?" Melanie whined.

"You're sitting courtside and you'll be on TV."

Melanie didn't see the purpose of her having to pay attention to a game that she really didn't care about. She bit down on her bottom lip before answering, "Is this for press?"

"No. You're not doing press. If anyone asks you what team you're going for, don't even answer it."

Melanie laughed, because she wouldn't even be able to answer that. She didn't know what game they were going to. "Am I supposed to wear one of these shoes?"

"Uh, duh. Be ready by like...5:45."

"That's early..."

"Bye, Melanie," Shawn spoke with much amusement in his voice. Melanie said her goodbye and they were both back to work.

Melanie immediately got out of her seat and began heading to Corey's office. She needed him to babysit Julian. At this point, she refused to have her son around Jermaine. Yes, it was backwards how she was working. She'd allowed this man to jump into his son's life, and just as she expected it – she was having doubts. She didn't want to, but it came with the territory. With everything that could happen in life, Melanie's main focus would always be her son. His safety came before her own, and if she had any suspicion about anyone – they wouldn't be around her son, period.