Page 36 of Game Change

Ian slides between us, and I take a step back. Makayla takes Colin’s elbow and pulls him a few inches away.

“Calm down,” Amira says. She puts her hands on my shoulders.

“Yeah, calm down, Honeybee.” Colin taunts me, and my hand aches to make contact with his cheek.

Thankfully, the hostess interrupts to tell us that our table will be ready in another ten minutes. She apologizes for the delay.

The guys and Makayla stand at the other side of the bar now, but I can feel his eyes burning a hole in my head.

“I’m going to go give him a piece of my mind,” Raven says. I don’t get to tell her not to bother before she leaves me and Amira to join them. I watch as she pulls Colin to the corner of the bar. Raven’s body is turned away, so I can’t read her lips, but the conversation doesn’t appear intense. She gets on her toes and whispers in his ear, and I get a feeling in the pit of my stomach. He nods at whatever she’s saying.

Raven would never make a move on a guy I’ve been with. Neither of my best friends would ever, but seeing another woman so close to him stirs things in me I don’t understand. It’s the same feeling I had a few minutes ago when I thought Makayla was with him. I do my best to read his lips when he responds to whatever Raven says, but I can’t. He seems calm and even points at me at some point. I resist the powerful urge to give him the middle finger. She says something else, and he shrugs. After a moment, he takes her hands, and they exchange more words. She pulls her hands from his, points in his face, and walks away.

“Looks like she told him,” Amira whispers.

“Yeah,” is all I say, but I’m unconvinced. The conversation would have been more animated if she had told him off. Raven is not one to hold back when she’s angry.

“What did you say to him?” Amira asks when Raven gets back.

I lick my dry lips as I wait to hear her answer.

“Oh, I cussed him out good. You know me. I told him he was shady as fuck for seducing you when he knew the whole time he was stealing your job, and I told him he should be ashamed of himself and that if I weren’t a lady, I’d smack the shit out of him.”

“Really?” Amira asks.

“I sure did,” Raven assures us, but I don’t believe her at all. I’ve seen her tell someone off, and this looked like the opposite of that. Raven is a sweet person unless someone pisses her off.

“And what did that liar have to say?” I ask.

“He said he had no idea; if he did, he would never have taken it.” I snort at the blatant lie. “He says there’s a reason he can’t walk away, but he’s not at liberty to say why. He says he wishes you’d believe him.”

“There’s areasonhe’s a thief?” I let out an aggrieved breath. “And I’ll believe his sorry ass when pigs fly out of mine,” I say. “I’ll tell you one thing; there’s no shortage of audacity when it comes to that”—I look around as I think of a word—“charlatan. And I don’t buy that him showing up here tonight is a coincidence either.” I don’t know how he could have known, but I’m suspicious. There’s no way I could have let it slip at the office since Raven is the one who made the reservation. She didn’t tell me where we were going until a couple of hours ago. I never email her from my work account. In fact, we only text, so there’s no way he could have hacked into my private conversations.

The hostess returns, telling us that our table is ready, and when she leads us past the group of guys, I walk by them with my head in the air.

“I can’t stand her,” I hear Colin whisper, but I decide to ignore him. Anything else would likely get me arrested, but I can feel his eyes on my back as the hostess leads us to the table.

“The fucking nerve of that guy,” I practically hiss once the hostess leaves. “You’d think he’d have the decency to leave and let us eat in peace, but he refuses. They would go somewhere else if he felt bad about what he did, but he’s so entitled. I hope he chokes.”

The waiter returns and fills our glasses with water. He then leaves bread and butter on the table.

“Oh, my Lord,” I hiss again. “They’re being seated right over there.” I point at the table a few feet away. Everyone but Colin waves at me. “I can’t believe they are still on his payroll. You see the way he wastes money? He doesn’t need that job, but I do. God, I can’t stand him.”

“But, girl, you still have your job. And a big ass raise. Let him deal with all the stress of being the boss while you collect your paycheck and stack your money. What if it is a big coincidence? What if he can’t just quit because of some weird family shit?” Raven asks. “You know how crazy those rich people can be.”

“Exactly. I know all about crazy family shit, and we’re not rich.” Amira says. “My family is fucked up,” she whispers. “I guess we are rich. Rich in dysfunction.”

“What if you’re passing up on something good with him because of your pride?”

“My pride?” I ask. “Don’t tell me you’re falling for his pack of lies, Rave.” They both open their mouths to argue, but I talk over them. “It’s not even like that. You don’t understand because you’ve always had your own business.” Raven owns a hair salon and has always been her own boss. “He just came and took something that was promised to me. Something I really wanted, and, most importantly, something I earned.”

“Because his decrepit old uncle gave it to him. I think you’re mad at the wrong person.” Raven picks up her drink and points it at the other table. “He keeps looking over here, and I know he’s not looking at me and Amira. Why don’t you just have coffee with him?”

And even if we had coffee. Then what? I can’t and won’t date the boss. It’s hard enough for a woman of color to gain respect in my field. One way to ruin that would be to start sleeping with my boss.

“Well, if he keeps looking, I’ll have no choice but to pour hot sauce into his beady little deceptive eyes,” I say instead and then sigh. “And I know Milton is the one who fucked me over. That’s why I’m making my exit plan. You have it right, Raven. I’m going to work for myself.” We all toast to that. “Anyway, forget about that. Let’s have fun.”

Chapter 18