“Alright everyone, listen up! Tomorrow is the fourth of July. I know you all have parties to attend, meat to grill and drinks to mix. So… how about you all log off your computers, grab your shit and have fun! Go home yall!”
Shouts of joy greeted Mykia Abrams short speech. You would think that she was addressing a group of rambunctious teenagers rather than the fifteen employees of her small magazine. In less time than it would take to make a decent pot of coffee, most of them were gone.
“Kia, aren’t you leaving too?” her assistant Noel inquired. “I know you are not going to stay here all day. It’s a holiday, mami. Time to party.”
“I promise I will only be here until about 5 or 6. I have some last minute things to finish up before heading out. Besides, most of my friends won’t be able to meet me at happy hour until then anyway. None of them have bosses as nice as me.”
Shrugging his bag on his shoulder, he looked at her like a mother hen. “Ok Kia. Just make sure that you have some fun. And you promised that you would try to make it to the club to my act. Please try sweetie. You know the kids love you.”
Giving him air kisses, she promised Noel she would try. After working for an hour, Mykia had a hankering for something sweet and decided to walk to the gift shop. Feeling satisfied that she was about to feed her craving for sugar with a frozen fruit bar and root beer, Mykia headed back to her office. She was so engrossed in the fruity treat; she wasn’t watching where she was going until it was too late. Mykia collided with the security guard, Toni.
Reaching out to steady the woman, Mykia started, “Oh Toni, I’m so sorry. Are you ok?”
“Yeah. I’m fine. You were all into your popsicle.”
Mykia laughed and took an appreciative lick. “Yeah, gotta have my sugar and such.”
Toni didn’t say anything to that; instead she just stared at Mykia.
Not taking notice to the silence, Mykia kept talking. “So you have any plans for the fourth? I’m supposed to be going to a show my best friend is in. It should be interesting to say the least. I know I better get me some good barbeque too. I gave up pork, but I still want a burger from the grill.” Mykia finally took a breath and realized that Toni had fallen silent. “Look at me just running off at the mouth. I need to get back to work so I can get out of here and enjoy my holiday. You have a wonderful safe fourth ok? Oh. Don’t forget that I still need you.”
Toni sucked in her breath and shakily said, “Need me?”
“Yeah. Remember I asked you for an interview for character reference?”
“Ooh yeah. Sorry. My mind is gone. I remember.”
Mykia started sucking on the fruit bar to keep it from dripping. “Well anytime you want to stop by, I’ll be waiting for you.”
They said their goodbyes and Mykia walked off. When Mykia got back to her desk, she had several messages waiting in her email. One was from her internet writing buddy, Brooklyn. Knowing that it was another erotic piece, she settled in to enjoy the tale. As she read, thoughts of Toni kept popping in her head. Normally, Mykia didn’t get for the boi types but something about Toni intrigued her. Standing only 5’7”, she was a little on the short side, and hid her body under baggy slacks and button up shirts. Her hair was cut into a small fro that showed off her “good hair”. As Mykia read the story, she inserted herself and Toni as the characters. Mykia had to quit reading when she got to the part where Toni’s character had her character knees damn near to her ears. Shaking her head to clear the thoughts, Mykia sent Brooklyn an instant message letting her know what she caused. Brooklyn’s response was a bunch of laughing smileys.
ATLBrooklyn: Glad to see you see you are enjoying yourself.
KiaKat: 2 bad I’m here by myself. Kitty is drooooolin!
ATLBrooklyn: TMI! So thoughts of Toni?
KiaKat: Hell yeah. Saw her in the hall. Lookin all suave and shit. I was cool til I read this damn story this is all of your fault.
ATLBrooklyn: LOL Will call you in a few. Gotta run to the boss for a minute.
Just then, Mykia heard a noise in the outer office. Picking up the autographed Craig Biggio baseball bat from behind her door, she slowly walked to her door. She was in position to swing like a major leaguer when Toni popped her head through the door.
Seeing that Mykia was in attack mode, Toni threw up her hands in surrender. “Whoa! It’s just me!”