No Strings Attached

Contents

Chapter 1

Adrian Gibson

Chapter Two

Valencia Hunter

Chapter 3

Tamara Glover

Chapter 4

Take me to Church

Chapter 5

New Kid on the Block

Chapter Six

A Minute to Adjust

Chapter Seven

It’s a Girl Thing

Chapter Eight

What Now?

Chapter Nine

New Attitude

Chapter Ten

Is he for real??

Chapter Eleven

The Marcus Factor

Chapter 12

Let’s Work It Out

Chapter 13

Reality Check!

Chapter 14

Storm of the Century

Chapter 15

The Ultimatum

Chapter 16

Girl Trip

Chapter 17

Merry Christmas

Chapter 18

Time for a Change

Chapter 19

Tears of Joy

Chapter 1

Adrian Gibson

‘What am I going to wear?’ Adrian thought as she stood in the middle of her walk-in closet staring at her clothes, hoping the perfect outfit would miraculously jump out into her arms.

When she first accepted Greg’s offer to dinner she was hesitant, to say the least; however, as time grew near she began to panic, searching for the perfect outfit and accessories. No matter how bad of an idea she felt the date was she still wanted to be stunning. She grabbed her phone and tried calling Tamara, her best friend and the person responsible for getting her into this mess, hoping to get the final words of encouragement she needed to stop her from backing out. Unfortunately, there was no answer.

She flopped down on the bed trying to come up with a good excuse to give Greg for why she had to cancel on him. After pondering the idea for a minute she thought about calling her cousin Vee, which she dreaded since Vee was never very helpful with dating advice. Vee was very confident in the men category; sometimes she was a little too confident for Adrian’s taste. She knew Vee would only downplay the situation; which was the last thing she needed at this point. As she sat on her bed weighing the pros and cons about calling Vee, she noticed that the time was quickly ticking away. She thought to herself, ‘desperate things call for desperate measures’ as she grabbed her phone and quickly dialed the number.

As the phone rang in her ear she anticipated Vee’s words in her head, Girl just throw on some skin tight jeans, a tight fitting shirt, exposing as much cleavage as possible, and some bad ass heels; make sure you have some polish on them toes and lotion on them heels and ankles, and make sure your lip gloss is poppin. Men are easy to please. The more she thought about it the more she realized that making the call was a bad idea but she felt as if she had no other option since Tamara had abandoned her in her time of need. She breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the voice mail pick up

"This is Vee I know you hate you missed me but I’m busy as usual. Leave your name and number and I might call you later."

Not having to deal with Vee’s nonchalant attitude was not the only thing that kept her from wanting to make the call; she also knew that she would have to deal with the twenty one questions about Greg, Vee would ask since she had not had the chance to tell her about him or their date. Adrian was not a heavy dater because she seemed to always attract the wrong type of guys. They were either too arrogant, materialistic, broke or childish. The one real relationship she had ended a year ago with her on again off again boyfriend, Don, once he accepted a job in Chicago. Their relationship was already on rocky grounds being only fifteen miles apart, so, his moving to another state only sealed the deal.

Ok girl, you’re on your own. It’s just a stupid date, don’t trip just get dressed and get it over with, she gave herself a little pep talk returning to the closet and deciding to go with the advice she knew she would have received from Vee. She pulled out a pair of black Baby Phat skinny jeans that she’d purchased from an online sale and a black v-neck blouse that showed just enough cleavage to turn heads but not enough to have any unintended pop outs. She didn’t want him to think he was getting anything at the end of the date but she wanted to make him wish he was. To accessorize she had a pair of black Steve Madden heels, the silver belt she’d picked up from her favorite little boutique in Uptown Park that she’d been dying to wear and her diamond earrings and necklace set that she’d gotten from her parents as a graduation gift from college which, added the perfect amount of bling without going overboard.

Now feeling satisfied with her outfit she turned her attention to her hair. She stood staring at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Although she had gone to The Braid Experts three weeks ago and got free-style braids, she had to make sure her roots were still fresh looking and she added a little sheen for that extra shine. Her hair was an easy fix and since she does not wear make-up, outside of lip gloss and eyeliner, she applied her facial treatment and hopped into the shower. The ladies at work always complimented her on her flawless skin, telling her that they wished they could get away without wearing make-up. Until working around them, she thought nothing of her lack of need for make-up, but now she had a better appreciation of her dark smooth complexion.

After showering and dressing she did her last minute preparations in the mirror until she was interrupted by the phone ringing, it was Greg at the access gate of her apartment. She buzzed him in then grabbed her purse, quickly sprayed on her sweet pea body spray and headed out the door. She preferred meeting him outside instead of letting him come inside of her apartment; which was still a lot more than her normal first date practice which was to meet her dates at the restaurant in case she did not want to see them again. The last thing she needed was some weird-o knowing where she lived. Greg was a little different because she met him at Tamara’s apartment. She’d been around him a few times at different events hosted by Tamara and LJ. He worked with LJ at FedEx three years ago before he decided to open his own package delivery company. According to Tamara, his company was doing pretty good, affording him the ability to work for himself full-time and even hiring an additional driver. Although the fact of him owning his own company had no impact on her decision to go out with him, it was definitely nice on his resume.

When she first met Greg she thought he was physically attractive but not her type. He seemed a bit too arrogant for her; she even labeled him as an ‘image is everything’ type of guy, which meant that he was one of those guys who was conceited and only interested in materialistic women, who were impressed by his appearances and what he seemed to have in his wallet. She on the other hand was more interested in what he had in his head and in his heart. Although she enjoyed dressing nicely and keeping herself up, she was not obsessed with it and she was definitely not the type of woman that was going to place him on a pedestal because he had his own company and dressed fly. Because of her attitude she knew that once he saw that she was a woman that did not mind voicing her opinion and was not so easily impressed, he was going to lose interest early. She could not understand why guys flocked to those types of women and then get mad when they turn out to be shallow, gold diggers who are only with them for their money or they end up sleeping with one of their homeboys because he seemed to have a little more money or clout. Then to top it off, these same men want to accuse every woman of being the same way instead of owning up to the fact that maybe it is just their poor taste in women that needs to be fine tuned.

As she waited for him to pull up she thought back on the day he asked her out and how skeptical she was because of his flashy jewelry, blackberry, cell phone and PDA. I mean seriously who does this guy think he is? Does he really need all of those gadgets? I need to go over there and tell him ok buddy we see you." she remembered joking to Tamara. She had only been around him a few times before he asked her out, which caught her by surprise since he seemed to have never paid her any attention. Each time she saw him he was either on his phone or laughing and talking about how many skills he had either on the basketball court, football field, dominos, cards, you name it. She could only imagine that in the absence of mixed company he bragged on other skills as well. He wore two diamond earrings, a diamond studded Rolex, and his clothes always looked brand new and fresh out of the cleaners.

I will admit that he is nice looking but he would look so much better if he weren’t so arrogant, she remembered telling Tamara.

Until three weeks ago at Tamara’s fish fry she never said more than hello to him. She was wearing a navy blue velour Capri pant suit and her favorite baby blue pumas. Her hair was pulled up into a ponytail since she had just gone to get her hair braided the day before. It was so tight that the only thing she could do with it was to leave it in the ponytail the stylist put it in. She knew she would be helping in the kitchen and there would be no new guys there to impress, so she put no effort in getting all dressed up for the gathering. She was in the kitchen helping Tamara get things cleaned up when Greg walked in to get a beer out of the fridge. Tamara jokingly said to him you know since you’re in this kitchen I’m going to have to put you to work.

He looked over at Adrian, who was busy washing dishes, and replied, wearing a sly grin, I have no problem with that, where do you want me to start? With the dishes? He placed his beer on the counter and walked over to the sink where she was standing and asked her You need any help with those?

She looked at him, noticing the flirtatious look on his face, and replied I got it, thanks. Besides, that is between y’all so don’t come over here putting me in it. As a matter of fact… hey Tamara what I think you need is your floor mopped any way, she replied and then walked over to the mop and handed it to him with a wink in a sassy manner, humorously following up to his flirtatious act.

He laughed, Oh so you got jokes too I see.

LJ walked into the kitchen right in the middle of the fun and interrupted, Say man you holding up the game while you’re in here entertaining the ladies. Greg wasted no time putting down the mop and heading out the door.

Sorry ladies, that’s my cue, he said as he exited. Man, sometimes the ladies need a little entertainment; besides, I got tired of sitting out there looking at a bunch of ugly dudes, she heard him explaining to LJ as they walked away.

Oh yeah, don’t let me leave this, he doubled back to get his beer, Oh, and I’m serious about giving you a hand later he told Adrian with a hard stare as he made his exit.

Oooh, looks like Greg got his eyes on somebody, Tamara joked after the men cleared the room.

You what? Whatever….You need to quit trying to start mess because Greg is no more interested in me than I am in him, Adrian quickly responded shooting down all possibilities of the two of them ever hooking up.

I don’t know about that, he seems pretty flirty if you ask me and what’s wrong with Greg, he’s cute, got a nice build and owns his own business. Girl you better stop acting crazy and jump on that, Tamara advised.

All of those things packed on top of being conceited make for a combo that I am not the least bit interested in entertaining. I mean really, a guy like that comes with too much drama and no telling how many women, Adrian was trying to convince Tamara not to even pursue the issue, but it fell on deaf ears.

Greg is a lot different than what he appears to be, trust me, I’ve known him for over three years; he is practically LJ’s best friend. If he was no good I would not even entertain the subject, Tamara was trying to sound sincere but Adrian already knew what she was up to. After the game was over, everyone went home leaving Greg and Adrian as the last remaining houseguest.

Greg walked into the living room where the two women were talking. Okay Tamara where are those dishes you wanted me to handle? He asked jokingly looking at Adrian. He took a seat on the love seat across from them and Adrian tried hard not to acknowledge him because she did not want Tamara to get the wrong idea. Little did she know it was too late for that, So Greg, what have you been up to lately? Tamara asked him trying to get some small talk started. Nothing but work, he responded to her then directed his attention to Adrian who was thumbing through an Essence magazine that was lying on the table seems like no time to play he finished. I hear you… I wonder what’s taking LJ so long to come in from the porch; I thought everybody was gone home, I’ll be right back she said all in one breath as she got up and hurried to join LJ on the porch intentionally leaving them alone.

Adrian knew what she was doing and there was nothing she could do to stop her, so she continued to focus on her magazine hoping he’d get the hint.

So, what are you reading over there Mrs. Adrian, Greg spoke breaking the silence. She should have known that he was not the kind of guy to give up easily. Well, actually, it’s Ms. Adrian and I am reading a magazine she responded without looking up from the article. Oh excuse me Ms. Adrian; must be really interesting. Maybe I should check it out when you’re done with it, he got up and moved over to the couch next to her attempting to see what could be more interesting than him.

Greg was very confident and accustom to women throwing themselves at him so he had no problems with openly flirting with women. Adrian however, was different, from the first time he saw her, he thought she was very attractive; however, he could tell that she was not going to be an easy catch so he made sure to step up his game a little more whenever he knew she would be around. LJ also gave him the heads up that Adrian was going to be a challenge for him and he was going to have to come correct to get with her. Not to mention she was Tamara’s best friend and he respected her a lot, so he did not want Greg treating her like any of his other women.

He grabbed the remote from the table; If I turned on the television, would it interrupt your reading? he asked still trying to make his presence known.

Go right ahead she responded, still pretending to be occupied by an article about what is the best way to shop on a budget. He turned on the television just in time to see the ending of a comedy special. Adrian could not help but to turn her attention to the television because the comedian was hilarious. They watched the last 5 minutes of the show in laughter. After the show went off, Greg told her that he had gone to see that comedian at the Comedy Club and he was even funnier in person. This sparked a conversation about different comedians, which lead to them discussing hot spots around town that they’ve patronized. They realized that they pretty much moved in the same circles, enjoying the same venues. He asked her if she had ever gone to a little jazz spot downtown called the Velvet Room, when she told him no he insisted that she allowed him to take her there one evening no strings attached he promised after sensing her resistance. She thought about it for a second; sitting, talking to him made her realize that he wasn’t as bad as she thought, the place sounded nice and besides he said no strings attached. So she agreed.

Adrian reached the end of the steps just in time to see Greg’s truck pull up. He parked his freshly detailed midnight blue Escalade in the parking space in front of her and got out to greet her.

Well hello there, he greeted with a sexy grin, You look beautiful he added.

Thank you, you look nice as well, she spoke in a soft tone trying hard not to blush or show her true feelings which were; ‘damn he is fine.’ "Why didn’t I remember him looking this good at Tamara’s fish fry", she thought. He was wearing a blue striped button down Sean John shirt with a white collar and white cuffs, a pair of dark blue slacks with a nice pair of dark colored casual shoes, no flashy earrings and no chain. He walked over and gave her a hug as a gentle greeting and escorted her to the passenger side. After seeing his outfit she felt like she had underestimated the evening and wished she had put on a dress or dressed a little less casual. As she took her seat in the truck she took in a deep breath and thought to herself, ‘damn he smells good to’. She quietly reminded herself that this was just a onetime thing and it would not go any further than that, once he realizes the type of woman she is. After closing her door he made his way back to the driver side while she took the time to admire the inside of his truck. At no surprise to her it was fully loaded with all the bells and whistles. At that moment she decided to let go and live a little instead of being on guard and skeptical. She decided that she was going to live in the moment and take the evening for what it was, two people going out and having a good time together just as he said the night he asked her out, ‘no strings attached.’

Tonight you are in for a good time, he assured her as they entered onto the highway. That’s exactly what I need, she replied. As he drove they made small talk about the weather, the latest blockbusters and music. By the time they pulled up to the valet attendant of the jazz café, which was tucked away on the outskirts of the Downtown district, they’d discovered similar interests in music, movies and he was impressed to learn that she enjoyed a good basketball game every now and then.

They were greeted in the foyer by the hostess. The young lady, dressed in a cute little knee length black evening dress, escorted them to their seats, walking them through a short hallway decorated with pictures of great jazz players who played in the café over the many years. The place was very nice and cozy on the inside with wood flooring at the entrance and dark velvet colored carpet in the dining area, which was dimly lit. The walls were faux finished with a dark colored stone mixture, with deep reds, dark brown and black. The hardwood tables were spaced enough apart so the guests at each table had their privacy. The wait staff was dressed in black long sleeve, buttoned down dress shirts and black slacks. They were all polite and soft spoken. On the small stage was a live band that played with ease and perfection as if they were just an illusion and there was a CD player stashed away in the back, which played the actual sounds they were hearing. She was immediately sucked in by the ambiance and was very impressed to see that this was the type of place he would recommend, instead of a noisy overcrowded restaurant where they had to wait 45 minutes to be seated, only to yell over dinner in order to hear each other speak. She’d had her share of men taking her to places like that on the first date. Whenever she went on those types of first dates she concluded from the start that the men had no interest in really getting to know her because it was too noisy to have a good conversation. This place, on the other hand, pulled her into her own little fantasy world, "Now this is what I call a nice evening" she thought. She looked across the table at her date and began to admire his good looks even more. In the back of her mind she thought, "GOD please step in and give me a sign soon because he is starting to seem like the real deal and this was certainly not the plan."

What would you like to drink? the tall slender waiter asked in a mellow tone interrupting her daydream. Oh, I am sorry, I would like a glass of Pinot Noir, thanks she responded quickly hoping no one had noticed that she had slipped away into her own little dream world.

Is everything ok? Greg asked once he ordered his Crown Royal and the waiter disappeared to get their drinks, You looked as if you were someplace else. I hope I’m not boring you already.

No everything is fine; I am just enjoying the ambiance. I can’t believe I’ve never been here before; I work a couple of blocks over and never even knew this place existed, she responded.

You work downtown? Where? If you don’t mind me asking, he inquired.

No I don’t mind. I work for Clarke, Engelson & Associates, which is an investment firm, as a HR Generalist she replied. She had no problem with letting him know that she had a career. She was glad he interrupted her fantasy because she needed to stay focused and not allow herself to get caught up, at least not until she had time to figure him out. She felt no need to ask him about his profession since she spent at least two hours on the phone with Tamara checking his background in relative to career and past and present relationships. The only thing Tamara felt the need to warn her about was the fact that he enjoyed talking about his company and sometime he would get carried away "so be careful or you’ll be on that subject all night" she recalled Tamara’s voice in her head and she was not going to help lead him there.

HR Generalist huh, hey I may need your expertise in about another year or so, if everything goes according to plans, of course, he responded.

Oh really, why is that? she asked fully aware that he was referring to his company.

I just may be in need of your field of knowledge if I can accomplish some of the goals I have set for myself, but I rather not get into that right now because I have been known to talk too much about work, so tonight I am trying to cut back. However, I don’t mine hearing you talk about your work or anything else you have to talk about. He could have not responded more perfectly she thought, He must be on his best behavior tonight.

Impressed by his response she decided to let down her guard a little more. As the night grew older and the more time she spent with him she began to conclude that maybe she had him all wrong. The waiter returned with their drinks and took down their orders, she ordered grilled shrimp and salad and he ordered a steak. They laughed and talked about life, worst dates, past experiences and places they would like to travel. Time slipped away from them as they talked and soaked in the sounds of the band while watching the couples slow dance on the hardwood dance floor.

Well, I guess we better get out of here if we are going to make that movie, he said as he checked his watch for the time. She checked her cell phone for the time and agreed. Since they were having such a good time together they both agreed to catch a late movie after dinner, just to stretch the evening out a little longer. She was happy when he suggested the movies towards the end of dinner and did not hesitate to agree and to sweeten the deal he allowed her to pick the movie, so she was getting double the pleasure; a date with a very handsome man who was treating her good and the movie of her choice. They were out of the building and into the truck in no time. On their way to the movies he made a quick stop at a convenience store; after the alcohol for dinner they both needed a bottle of water. He went inside to make the purchase after ensuring she was ok with waiting in the truck until he returned. While he was gone she noticed a vibrating sound coming from his console. Her curiosity got the best of her so she peeped in and saw that he had left his cell phone in the truck. She couldn’t help but to turn it over to see that he had ten missed calls. This is ridiculous she thought as she quickly returned the phone and closed the console; this dude has been playing me all along with his smooth demeanor and relaxing evenings. She resisted the urge to check his calls since she already went further than she should especially since he was not her man, and she did not want to violate his privacy. Besides, seeing ten missed calls was all she needed to know. "He left out the part about his women" she thought to herself, thinking back on all his compliments at dinner, claiming she was the first ‘real woman’ he had been out with who was not only beautiful but intelligent. He even went so far as to call her the total package and admitted that he had to step his game up when it came to her.

As they drove off she could not help but ask, I have been hearing a vibrating noise in here while you were in the store. I thought it was my cell phone at first but it wasn’t, trying to sound confused. She wanted to see if he would check his phone in front of her and if he did what type of reaction he would have.

Oh, yeah he says retrieving his phone from the console, I almost forgot I left it in here. I know if I would have brought it to dinner I would have felt obligated to answer it. He opened his phone and scrolled through the numbers. Work… see I knew it. People think owning a business is easy, but it is not. You are on call 24/7.

What kind of business do you own? She felt compelled to ask already knowing the answer.

It’s a package handling company. It is still pretty small; I only have one driver right now which makes it hard on me. I think it’s time to hire another one he responded.

So is that why you may need my field of expertise, because you want to hire some new employees, she asked.

He replied, That’s right, you know you HR people know employment law and once I start hiring people I need to know how to handle them properly. But we’ve had a great evening so let’s not ruin it with talking about work.

She thought to her self "he wants me to believe that work is calling him this late in the evening". She checked the time was it 10:30pm. Once they made it to the parking lot of the theater he apologized to her for interrupting their date, but he had to return the call to his driver to make sure everything was alright. She smiled and told him to go ahead and that she understood, but deep down inside she knew that all ten calls were not work related, after all, how many times can one driver call him. Once he ended his call he explained that his driver had gotten a flat tire heading back to the shop and needed Greg to help him out. By the time Greg returned the call the tire was fixed and the driver had paid for it with his own money. Greg promised to repay him in the morning.

She believed him but still held a few suspicions about the other calls; however, she decided not to let it ruin the rest of her evening and again she reminded herself that he was not her man, and it was only natural that he had a life before meeting her.

Inside the movies he was the perfect gentleman. He offered to get snacks, drinks and he even went so far as to escort her to the ladies room during the movies. When she told him she was cold he offered to run out to the truck and grab his jacket, instead she chose to snuggle in close to him, giving him the cue to put his arm around her.

After the movie he returned her home a little after midnight and walked her to the door to make sure she got in safely. He waited patiently as she fumbled around in her purse searching for her keys; she took her time wanting to stay in his presence a little longer. Once she found them she unlocked the door then turned to him to say good-bye.

As she turned to him she noticed his eyes were fixed on her and he told her I really had a great time with you tonight and I would really like for us to go out again. He moved in a little closer to her and she could feel her heart beating faster and faster.

I would really like that she replied in a soft, sexy tone, biting her bottom lip while taking in the smell of his cologne, she felt her body slowly heating up. She began to panic because it had been a while since she was in this predicament and she was enjoying him more than she was supposed to. Since she gave no resistance he slowly pressed her against the door and leaned in to her neck and whispered you smell just as beautiful as you look. She felt her body shiver from the sexy baritone whisper. Then she felt his soft lips kiss gently on her neck, he then looked her in her eyes before softly kissing her lips. So soft he said, then he stopped and starred at her for a moment, I better go. She gained her composer just enough to whisper, thanks again for the lovely evening, but yes you should leave now, she then quickly turned and opened her apartment door and walked inside. She knew he had to leave before she did something that she knew she would regret later.

She was cooling off in the shower before he was out of the parking lot. After the shower she crashed into her bed without even putting on her pajamas. She laid there for a minute rethinking the evening and how sexy he was, God, I need this one to be real, she spoke out loud. Then she shoved one pillow between her legs, pulled another pillow under her head and hugged a third pillow real tight until she drifted to sleep replaying his goodnight kiss in her mind over and over again.

Chapter Two

Valencia Hunter

Vee walked through the hall of the large office building trying to anticipate the interviewer’s questions. She felt relieved to have a cousin who was a HR professional and was able to help her prepare for the line of questioning she was expecting to receive. Since she had a BS in Marketing and has worked in a professional environment for the last four years, which was the first job she took after graduating college, she knew how to handle herself.

"I’ve got to get this job so I can have my own office and wear some of those new bad ass suits I got just hanging in my closet, she thought. Vee was a shop-a-holic who prided herself on her expensive wardrobe, designer bags and shoes. She felt her current job was nice, but it did not allow her to be flashy enough. She didn’t feel right wearing all of her nice clothes to work, out dressing senior management as an Executive Administrative Supervisor. She’d been working in corporate America long enough to know that the women in her office were vicious and they would let personal feelings of jealousy cause them to pull out the knives and aim them right at her back. She remembered one of the new assistants who came to work in her high priced suits and driving her Lexis Coupe. The women were all so jealous that each day they thought of reasons to hate the girl. They ran to the boss about any and everything, no matter how petty, until one day the girl could not take it anymore and decided to quit. She remembered hearing the ladies talking about her, trying to figure out where she got the money to drive a Lexis and shop at the Galleria, who does she think she is", they asked one another. Vee knew the girl had come from a wealthy family and was working to build her own career without depending on her parents. She did not feel the need to explain anything to them, knowing they were too busy being vindictive to care.

This position, on the other hand, offered her an office, a chance to have her own parking space and the title of Junior Marketing Associate. Part of her duties in her current position was to host meetings for her boss and sometimes give presentations. On those days she would pull out one of her nice suits and dress to impress. Her boss, who was the president of the Houston Region, knew her of career plans and wanted to help her gain exposure by having her present at some of his meetings. He was always very supportive of her and told her he saw lots of potential in her. However, he knew that her interest was not in commercial real estate, as was her current employer, so he promised to help her anyway he could towards what she really wanted, a career in marketing. It was at one of those meetings that she was approached by one of the Marketing execs from another firm telling her about this position. He told her that he knew the owner of a fast growing marketing firm and that they could use an ambitious young mind like hers and they could offer her better room to grow and higher pay than her current employer. Being approached made her feel good about the opportunity, and the fact he mentioned he knew the owner and would put in a good word for her made it even better. She felt really good about the interview even though he assured her that she would have to land the job herself, despite his referral.

She began to get nervous as she approached the lobby of the office suite. She heard voices coming through the door before she entered and she felt anxiety creeping into her gut. She opened the large cherry wood door that lead into the suite and quickly scanned the room; inside were three women and a man. All were dressed in what appeared to be interview clothing. She held her head up in order to gain the look of self-confidence, even though she was really nervous. The two black women, who were in conversation with one another as she entered, immediately stopped talking when they laid eyes on her; they looked older, more mature and were dressed very professionally. She told herself to pay them no attention and stay focused. She checked out the younger looking white girl sitting there in a pair of slacks and a nice shirt that appeared to come from Express; from her looks she appeared to be fresh out of college or maybe even still attending college. She concluded the girl was younger due to her lack of experience in the work force, shown by her semi casual attire. The black gentleman waiting appeared to be very professional with his JoS A. Bank suit and leather briefcase. She thought to herself "okay, may the best candidate win."

The receptionist was a bubbly, heavy set, Hispanic girl with long wavy hair pulled back into a ponytail. She was well dressed and spoke with a slight accent.

Yes ma’am, may I help you? she asked as Vee made her way to her desk Yes, I am Valencia Hunter here to see Mr. Davenport; I have a one o’clock interview with him, she replied with the most professional and polite voice she had.

Yes ma’am, have a seat and I will notify him. Thank you the young lady responded. She turned to take her seat and thought to herself, if I sit by the two women I will feel uncomfortable because I can sense their negative vibe from here. The man had his brief case in the chair next to him leaving no room there, so she decided her safest bet will be to sit next to the young girl.

At that moment, thoughts of Adrian ran through her mind, she remembered getting into long conversations with her regarding her actions towards other women, especially dark skinned black women. Adrian told her that she seemed uncomfortable around women of her own race more than anything. Her defense to the argument was that her behavior was based on the fact that they never made her feel comfortable to be around them. It started in junior high, where initially she had friends of all types and shades. When she entered the 7th grade boys began to show her a lot more attention than before. She made minimum changes over that summer