Page 59 of Business Casual

He sat behind his desk, leaning back in his chair. “Did you have any questions afterward that we should discuss?”

We talked for fifteen minutes, but it felt like something was off. Our energy wasn’t like it had been since we’d met. It didn’t seem to flow naturally. It wasn’t awkward, but it was a little stiff.

“Those are good points,” he commented, jotting down the suggestions I gave.

“Thank you.” I waited for him to look back up at me and when he did, I tried to read his face.

“Is there anything else?”

I hesitated. “No. I guess not.”

“Okay well I need to get some work done so I’ll—”

“His best friend and my best friend are married,” I blurted out.

He clasped his hands in front of him. “Ol’ boy from Capital City Bank?”

“Yeah. Avery.”

There was a knock on the door before I could say more.

Holding my gaze, Tre called out, “Come in.”

“Mr. Franklin,” Josephine apologized as she walked in. “Mr. Franklin is on line one. He wants an update on the meeting. This is the second time he’s called.”

“Okay, thank you,” he told her. He shifted his gaze to me. “If you’ll excuse me…”

I nodded and stood. “Of course.”

I followed Josephine out of the office as he picked up the phone receiver and greeted his father.

“Have a good rest of your day,” I told Josephine as I continued my trek to the elevator.

“You do the same, Ms. Jones,” she replied.

I glanced at her curiously.I cannot get a solid read on this lady.

I was in my head, so I didn’t notice anything wrong at first. But I slowed down as I spotted the flat tires. “What the fuck is this?” I breathed in disbelief. I bent down to get a clearer look at the gash in the rubber. “Oh my God.”

It wasn’t a nail. Two of the tires were slashed.

“Ain’t no fucking way.” I stood up and took a few steps back and almost tripped over the curb. “Fuck!”

With shaky hands, I pulled out my cell phone and started to call my godfather. But I couldn’t bring myself to call just yet. Tears pricked my eyes as anger bubbled up inside me.

How could this happen? How could this—

The image of Katrina storming out of the conference room stopped me in my tracks.

She doesn’t know this car.

I dialed Avery’s number anyway. Fortunately for him, he didn’t answer. I composed myself enough to not yell as I left my voice message.

“I just came out of the building to find out my tires were slashed,” I started, my eyes sweeping the cars around me. “No other cars seem to have been messed up, so this was deliberate. I know it was her. I know it was. I don’t have the proof, but I know it was her. And therefore, it was you. I’ve never had any issues with my vehicles being damaged until you started bringing Katrina’s young, dumb ass around. So, this is on you. This is on you! You know what cars mean to my family and minutes after you were in my face at the club, mine is vandalized and then after you were in my face at this meeting, my godfather’s tires are slashed. I told you to keep her in check and she crossed the line again. The common denominator is you. So, if you see me, don’t speak. Don’t say shit else to me.”

I ended the voicemail and then immediately blocked his number. As I glanced at the tires again, I felt like throwing my phone against the pavement because just blocking him didn’t feel like enough. I started to open my mouth to scream, but then snapped it shut. I had to remind myself that I still needed to be a professional. I couldn’t lose it in front of the workplace. Instead, I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to calm down.

“Imani?” His deep voice penetrated the rage I felt and forced my eyes open. “Everything okay?”

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