Page 47 of Verse Two
Sixteen
Dy
“You good, Doll?”
As I stared straight ahead, I sighed.
“Yes. Why?”
“’Cause you haven’t knocked yet.”
“Oh.” I inhaled deeply. When I exhaled, the breath was shaky. “I don’t need to knock, because I have a key. I’m just . . . nervous, I guess.”
Brick grasped my hand, then leaned down to kiss my lips softly. I felt some of the tension in my body relax immediately.
“No need to be nervous, ’cause I’m here, and I got you. This shit is a formality, and it’s one small inconvenience in our otherwise good ass day. Let’s handle this so I can get back to spoilin’ you.”
That made me smile. Tucking my bottom lip between my teeth, I shuffled through the key ring in my free hand until I came to the one I needed and unlocked the door. As soon as I opened it, I heard Maria’s annoying ass voice yelling my name.
“Dylan, is that you? Where the hell have you been? It’s almost noon.”
Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. It would have been so easy for me to tell Mariaexactlyhow I felt about her, since I was seconds away from quitting. She had been on my last nerves for years, and honestly, a good cursing out was owed to her. I wasn’t going to do it, though. Knowing that this would likely be the last time I had to even look at her was enough for me to take the high road.
Opening my purse, I pulled out the envelope that was addressed to my soon-to-be former boss. Extending it toward her, I said, “Maria, I’m resigning. Effective immediately.”
Her eyes widened for a millisecond before they narrowed so much that I could barely see her pupils. She silently glared at me through the slits in her eyes for a while, likely expecting me to retract my statement because of her attempt to intimidate me.
That was her mistake, though. Maria thought that because I frequently bit my tongue or backed down whenever she got aggressive that I was afraid of her.
I was from the southside of Terry, Chaney, so fear didn’t even register where she was concerned. I had merely been trying my best to hold onto what I thought was a great job, but now that I was over it, she could kiss my ass.
“Excuse me?” She glanced down at the envelope but made no move to retrieve it.
Maintaining eye contact with her, I replied, “I said, I quit. I wanted to tell you in person, and this letter is already in your email inbox, if you don’t want to take this one.”
She laughed arrogantly. “Okay, then. Quit. But please know that your days in this industry are done. As soon as I let everyone who’s anyone know what a terrible assistant you’ve been all these years, not even a D-list celebrity will want to touch you.”
“Aye—” Brick began, but I placed a hand on his chest and shook my head.
“It’s okay,” I said to him softly.
She laughed again. “Who is this? Your bodyguard?”
I smirked. Ignoring her question, I addressed her previous statement.
“Good luck with that, boo. I think you’ll find that most of the people you run to badmouth me to are the same ones who only tolerate youbecauseof me. Either way, I’m sure I’ll be fine, because I’ll no longer be working for your annoying ass. Bye, Maria.”
I turned and headed down the steps to the car that was waiting for us. Brick opened the back seat door and helped me in before sliding in beside me. He kissed me on the cheek as I tucked the resignation letter back into my purse. As soon as I was back in the States, I was going to mail it to her office.
“How you feel?” Brick asked as I rested my back against his chest with closed eyes. I let out a long sigh.
“Relieved. I’m so glad I did that.”
Opening my eyes, I looked up into Brick’s handsome face. He kissed my lips. “I’m glad you did too.”
“Thanks for coming with me.”
He chuckled. “That was a given, baby. Now, the day is ours. What you wanna do wit’ it?”
