Page 2 of Leave It to Us
“You finally catch a charge for that temper of yours?” he asked, and then chuckled.
“You’re not funny.” But he was cute. Dangerously cute with his tall self—Tami loved a tall man, especially in contrast to her five-foot-two-inch stature.
But Gabriel had so much more than just his height going for him. His beautiful pecan complexion was perfectly accented by black, wavy hair, which he kept cut low; a thin mustache; and full eyebrows that secretly made her jealous. He had an athletic build and soulful eyes, and he was quick to laugh—at his own corny jokes. Still, he was fun to be around most times, and on a few occasions, those fun times had turned into sexy times. But they were just friends, because that was all Tami had room for in her jumbled mind.
“Yeah, I am, and that’s why you love me,” he continued, stopping at the door when she did.
She straightened the strap of her purse on her shoulder and then propped a hand on her hip before staring up at him. He wasn’t lying—she did love him. In a best-friend, buddy-with-benefits sort of way. “Anyway,” she said with a grin that couldn’t help spreading, since he was looking at her with his own goofy smile, “I have to meet with this lawyer about my grandmother’s will. Hopefully, it won’t take too long, because I have a Zoom interview scheduled for later this afternoon.”
“Still looking for another job, huh?” he asked, and leaned his shoulder against the door. “I told you I can put in a good word for you with my supervisor. You don’t even need experience. Just have to pass a background check and drug test. You know the drill.”
He shrugged and she inwardly groaned. She didn’t know who would lose their shit faster, her mother or Yvonne, if she announced she was going to be a rent-a-cop in the apartment building where she lived. Mama would go on and on about wasting the business administration degree it had taken her six years to obtain, and Yvonne would run down how financially irresponsible it would be for an almost-thirty-year-old woman to take a job that barely paid minimum wage.
“Thanks, but no thanks. I’ve got a little stashed away—and remember that contest I told you about? The one where some ad agency was asking for jingle lyrics?” His forehead scrunched as if he were trying to recall, so she just waved her hand and continued. “Itwas about five or six months ago. Anyway, I won! Wait ...” She paused, and this time she was the one to frown. “I thought I told you about this. Guess I didn’t. So anyway, I won, and they sent me a twenty-five-hundred-dollar check.”
“Really? That’s what’s up! Look at you, following your dreams,” he said before tweaking her nose. “Annnnnd making money.”
She smirked, even though she knew his comment was meant to ease her ire at her family’s lack of belief in her ability to make a stable living in the music industry. “One twenty-five-hundred-dollar check isn’t exactly fantastic money,” she said. “Considering I now have to pay my eleven-hundred-dollar-a-month rent on my own.”
“But it’s a start,” he told her. “A damn good start.”
A shrug was all she could muster at Gabriel’s positive words. He meant well, and she appreciated him for being her biggest cheerleader. She was just in a mood. This meeting with her sisters and this lawyer had kept her anxiety on one hundred all through the night and that morning.
And now she was on her way to what was sure to be another sister showdown. That’s what she called it whenever she had to be in the same room with her two older sisters—a showdown to see who would get angry enough to walk out first. It was usually Lana, because she had no backbone and/or time in her busy bougie-ass life to be bothered with her family.
“Okay, well, until you make it big-time in music—which I’m positive you will—my sister manages the Starbucks in the credit union building downtown. I can call her to see if she needs some help.”
“Nah, I can barely remember how to order the simple hot chocolate I get when I go in there. I’d never get anybody’s order right.” Which meant she’d end up either getting fired or quitting before they fired her, because she was known for doing that too.
Plus, she didn’t want Gabriel getting her a job, especially not through his sister. What if his family started thinking of her as the hot mess her own family did? Not that it mattered, since she and Gabrielweren’t in a real romantic relationship, but that didn’t stop the thoughts from jacking up her anxiety.
“True, true,” he said with a nod. “Which is why I always make the coffee-and-hot-chocolate run for us.”
Gabriel did a lot of things for her. He was a good guy and a great friend. Which was precisely why the last thing she wanted was to be indebted to him for finding her a job. That thought immediately brought forth a question: Whatdidshe want from Gabriel?
“Look, thanks. I really appreciate all your help. But I’ve got a feeling about this interview this afternoon. I think things are about to start looking up for me.”
His smile spread. “That’s my girl—always optimistic. So, you wanna catch a movie or something tonight? I get off at six.”
Like he had to tell her what time he got off work. He’d been on the day shift, ten to six, for the past year and a half that she’d lived there. It was how they’d met and started this friends-with-benefits situation they had going on.
“Ah, I don’t know. Might have to ... um ... do some studying in case I get this job.” Did that sound like a brush-off? She hoped not, because she never wanted to hurt Gabriel’s feelings. And she did like being with him. She just didn’t feel like it tonight. The one thing she did agree with her family about was that she needed to find a steady-paying job and keep it while she still tried to pursue a career writing and producing music. That meant she had to focus on figuring out what would be a good—even if temporary—job for her. She couldn’t do that while watching some comedy with Gabriel—because those were his favorite—or, a better probability, having sex with him.
“Hey, I really gotta go. I’ll text you later if things change.”
And then she pushed through the door, barely acknowledging his reply: “Okay, drive carefully.”
She would drive carefully, but she’d also drive fast, because she really didn’t want to give Yvonne any ammunition to come at her. Not again.
Chapter 2
LANA
37K in 37 days. No extensions.
Thirty-seven. Thousand. Dollars.
Lana cleared her phone of the screenshot she’d taken on her husband’s device and texted to herself that morning. She’d made sure to delete the text to herself and screenshot from Isaac’s phone before dropping it back onto the bed, where he’d left it. He’d come in from his workout at their building’s gym at eleven forty-five. A time he should’ve been in his office at Sable Systems, the computer-engineering firm where he’d worked for the last ten years.
