Page 101 of Business Casual

“Yes!” Her enthusiastic response got a laugh from the rest of us. “I think Imani and Daniel would hit it off! Stop looking at me like that!” She swatted at Mr. Franklin’s arm. “I’ve been watching her throughout the night and I feel like it would be a good match. I was telling her as much when I caught her and Alex whispering in the corner.”

I could feel Josephine’s eyes burning a hole in the back of my scull.

Fiddling with my fingers, I placed my hands in my lap. “Oh, I don’t think so, ma’am.”

“Leave her be, sweetheart,” Mr. Franklin lovingly reprimanded her.

She pursed her lips and reached for her champagne. “Yeah, Alex didn’t think it was a good idea either.”

“I’m sure he didn’t,” Josephine muttered under her breath. Her words floated just under the heavy percussion beat.

“I’m sure Daniel is a fine man, Mrs. Franklin,” I told her with a wink. “But I should leave now in order to get home by eleven.” I turned my focus to Mr. Franklin as I stood. “Thank you so much for including me. It’s been a great time. I appreciate the invite and getting to know each of you better.”

“You’re very welcome, Imani.” He rose to his feet. “I’m so glad you were able to make it. It’s been a pleasure.” He shook my hand. “I’ll see you on Tuesday.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I’ll walk with you,” Josephine offered. “I need to visit the ladies’ room.”

I smiled hoping to mask the internal screaming I was doing. The terse vibes of a sober Josephine already put me on edge. But the vibes of an alcohol-fueled Josephine felt like a disaster. But I couldn’t let Mr. Franklin see that, so I smiled.

We walked together out of the ballroom. Squeezing between bodies of dancing, networking, and fun-having people, I kept my head down. Before we went our separate ways, she grabbed my arm.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Leaving.”

“Cute. That’s not what I mean, and you know it.”

I exhaled loudly. “I don’t know what you mean.”

Grabbing my elbow, Josephine shuffled me down the hall. I didn’t want to make a scene, so I allowed myself to be guided to a little nook toward the other side of the hotel.

“Do you know Christina Walls?” she asked, her voice low.

“No.” I yanked my arm from her grasp and put my hand on my hip. “Who is that?”

“I see the way you look at him. It’ll be you if you’re not careful.”

My eyebrows flew up and my stomach plummeted. “What?”

The look of disdain pulled at her refined features. “I had higher hopes for you.”

Rolling my eyes, I just didn’t have the energy to pretend anymore. “You’ve been giving me a hard time since I started, and I want to know why.”

“Hard time? I’ve been looking out for you,” she corrected me with a frown. “I’ve been disappointed, but I haven’t given you a hard time.”

“Disappointed?” I recoiled, lip curling in disgust. “Is that what you told Mr. Franklin? Because honestly, you don’t know me to be disappointed in me.”

“I know enough to know that you’re setting us back. And I’ve been warning you about how things look.”

I shook my head. “You’ve been insinuating things.”

“Things that are true.” She scoffed. “For the last two months I’ve seen you and Alex have more ‘meetings’ than anyone else this year. It wasn’t difficult to put two and two together.”

“We’ve been working on his project!”

“You have been working more than his project!”

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