Page 7 of Cherry's Jubilee

“And they’re well-manicured. You don’t drive. You probably don’t cook because your hands—”

“Are too soft? I’ll have you know that I do cook, but that’s not my role at Jubilee.” And I don’t remember the last time I cooked anything, but I’d love to do it for her.

“Personal assistant?” Before I can answer, she shakes her head. “Nah. You have a bossy air about you. You don’t take orders, but you do like to give them.”

“You’re getting warmer.” I lift my glass in salute.

“So, not part of the personal staff. Which means you work at corporate. How old are you?” she asks.

“Thirty-four.”

“So, mid-management. I bet you—”Her playful expression drops and she looks behind me. “Oh, fuck,” she mutters.

I reluctantly turn to see what’s made her mood change so quickly. When I do, I know my jig is up. Ashley, her parents, and her younger sister, Amira walk toward us.

“Assholes incoming,” Cherry says just as they reach us. She doesn’t whisper the words, and I wonder if they heard.

“Cherette,” the other woman says, using the same fake smile that’s on Ashley’s face. “Get me a white wine. And one for Ashley too.” She’s clearly trying to put Cherry in her place. But I did learn her full name, and I like it. It suits her. It’s bold and unique like the woman standing in front of me.

“Please, Cherry,” Whit Turner says.

“Yes. You can’t hog Daniel. He’s our special guest.” She looks at Karen, then back at me. “Ashley is honored that you could attend thisparty. Not every boss would take the time,” Karen says, her voice extra saccharin. I look at Cherry, who is now looking at me with a look of disbelief. “And you remember Amira.” Amira smiles shyly, and unlike her sister, it’s genuine.

“Daniel?” Cherry almost whispers.

“Yes. Daniel Jubilee Junior,” Whit says. “Your grandfather drove his father for over forty years, and Ashley is his personal assistant.” Whit extends a hand to me. “I’m so happy you could make it,” he says.

I open my mouth to answer, but his wife shoves Amira in front of me. She pushes her so hard, she bumps into me. Cherry raises an eyebrow at the scene.

I take a step back, offer Amira my hand, and she takes it. I drop it almost immediately.

“Amira will be happy to show you around,” Karen says. “No need to waste your time chatting up the help, but it’s such a Jubilee thing to do. Your family’s kindness and charity work are legendary, but tonight is about Ashley. Cherette is only here to work.”

“Well, it’s not exactly charity or hard work to speak with a beautiful woman,” I say while looking at Cherry. She’s now stoic and won’t meet my gaze, but I notice that she’s also not pouring the wine as ordered.

“Kind and blind,” Ashley says. She laughs at her own joke. Her mother joins, but no one else does.

Karen then wraps her arm around me like she’s a boa constrictor. “Come along and get something to eat. You can sit with us since you’re our special guest.” She tries to pull me away, but I don’t move. I turn to look at Cherry, but she’s already moved away and is helping another guest with their drink.

Chapter 4

Cherry

If I didn’t love my sister, I’d be leaving here right now. I also don’t have my car with me and that bitch Solange is holding my phone hostage. So, I continue my job and pour drinks as more people come to the bar.

I’ve never been more embarrassed in my life, and I’m kicking myself for unloading all this bullshit on a total stranger. My mom puts up with way more bullshit from her half-brother than necessary, but I get why. I don’t agree with it, but I get it.

Mom was an affair baby, and the legitimate family has never let her live it down. She’s spent her entire life looking for acceptance, and she’ll never find it. Not with them. She forced us on her family as kids, and when we complained to her about slights and insults, she looked the other way.

I was twenty when I stood up to her and told her I wasn’t going around these people anymore. Solange backed me up, and even though Mom was upset about our decision, we wouldn’t budge. She eventually let it go, despite maintaining a relationship with her brother.

She’s the only one who ever reaches out to him. Despite that, he’s the nicest out of her half-siblings, even though his wife is a bitch. Everything was status quo with the family until last year when my maternal grandfather died.

Grandfather owned the apartment building that I live in as a rental property, and when he died, he left it to me and Solange. Maybe it was his way of making things up to us. We weren’t allowed to visit the house he lived in with his wife. He’d had to come to us if he wanted to see us, and it didn’t happen often. My mom wasn’t welcome there either when she was a kid because his wife would not permit it. Even when she died, Mom wasn’t allowed.

Uncle Whit didn’t react when the will was read, but his wife did. She threw a fit and said the building should have gone to her kids, not the bastard grandkids. She went so far as to hire a lawyer to contest the will, but Grandfather must have anticipated that because the will was ironclad, and she eventually dropped it. He also left us a substantial amount of money. It was enough for Solange and Kirby to quit their jobs and start a business.

Karen tried to appeal to my doormat of a mother. She told her she needed to get us to do the right thing by returning the building to her daughters. Mom suggested gifting Ashley and Amira the apartment would be the right thing to do.

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