Page 18 of Business Casual

“I think you owe Imani an apology,” Tre added.

After a few seconds, Bryce shook his head. “Well damn.” Lifting his hand to flag down the bartender, he waited until she came over to speak again. “Their tab is on me,” he informed her. “The whole thing. And another round of whatever they’re drinking.”

I sat back in my chair, a satisfied grin on my face.

“You don’t have to look so smug,” Bryce complained jokingly.

“You see why you have to sit back and shut the fuck up sometimes?” Tre wondered. “Because now look… we over here looking incompetent as a unit.”

My head tilted back as I laughed loudly. “Not as a unit!”

“Yeah, as a unit,” he reiterated. “Because while Bryce was being loud and wrong, you basically just told me I wasted my money on my car.”

Bryce stretched his arms out in front of him to get our attention before turning to Tre. “So technically, and correct me if I’m wrong, I lost the argument to Imani, but I won the argument with you?”

Tre shook his head. “This is what I’m talking about, man. You can’t ever leave well enough alone.”

Keisha and I cackled.

The four of us spent an hour arguing, laughing, joking, and just enjoying each other’s company.

“Okay well, I think it’s official,” Keisha announced, putting down her almost empty daiquiri glass. “I’m not going to be able to drive. Fortunately, we have a ride on the way.”

“Lamont?” I guessed.

She nodded as she pulled out her phone. “And I hate to break up the party, but it is a school night and I’m going to have to sleep this off.”

I was disappointed, but she was right.

Even though it wasn’t even eleven o’clock yet, it was late for a work night.

“Yeah, you’re right,” I agreed, glancing over at Tre. “I have a pretty early morning tomorrow, too. I have a nine o’clock meeting.”

“With me,” he reminded me with a smile.

I tilted my head to the side. “At the stroke of midnight, you’ll go from Tre to Mr. Franklin.”

His gaze fell to my mouth. “And you go from Imani to Ms. Jones.”

“And instead of having a personal conversation, we’ll have to stick to work related topics.”

“Maybe on lunch breaks we can discuss the functionality of fuel efficiency versus speed and performance.”

I licked my lips. “Or maybe we can explore other topics.”

“Oooooookay,” Keisha said loudly, stretching the word out. “I’m going to give you two some privacy. Lamont should be pulling up any minute so I’m going to the bathroom.”

“And since Keisha insists on being married, I’m about to see what’s up with the women on the dance floor,” Bryce announced comically. He wagged his finger between me and Tre. “Because I’m not sitting around watching this.”

Our two friends cackled as they left us alone.

“Would you like another daiquiri or are you ready to switch to water?” Tre asked me as the bartender approached us. “No judgement either way.”

“Water,” I answered, gesturing for him to take the seat Keisha vacated. “You really only had one drink all night? I’m impressed. Because these daiquiris are delicious.”

“I’ve had them before and I know how good they are, but I drove tonight, and I don’t trust leaving my new car in this parking lot overnight.”

“Oh, that’s true.”

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