Rachael
“I just checked my messages and Layla will be a bit late,” I announced to Alonzo and Chico. My fiancé and future brother-in-law each sat in the leather chairs directly across from my desk. “I really think you guys will like my new assistant.”
“Baby Girl, as long as you like her, we like her,” said Chico.
Alonzo stood up and walked around my desk to stand behind my chair. “Rachael, I’m sure we’ll like her. I just hope she will be on top of things in time for our honeymoon. If she’s as great as you say she is, I’m sure she and Chico will have no problem handling things for a month or two.”
“Two months?!?” cried Chico as he stood up. “If you two are gonna be gone that long, y’all better come back with a niece or nephew in the oven.”
“Ya know that’s right, bruh!” said Alonzo as he and his brother exchanged daps over my head.
“Alonzo, I don’t think we can take off for two months,” I pointed out as I looked up at my husband-to-be. “The wedding is right around the corner. I can’t bring Layla up to speed in time for us to be gone that long.”
“You’re right, Baby,” agreed Alonzo as he winked at Chico. “We can postpone the wedding.”
“Oh, no, Alonzo!” I exclaimed. Shaking my head, I said, “I don’t want to postpone anything!”
Alonzo chuckled before he kissed my cheek as he rubbed my shoulders. “Baby, I was just teasing. Besides I’m positive that Layla will be more than ready to be on top of things in time for us to leave on our honeymoon. And if she needs any help, Chico is here.”
“Yeah,” said Chico. “But that won’t happen until she gets here.”
I stood and walked over to my picture window to look down at the parking lot. A silver Chrysler Sebring pulling into the lot caught my attention.
“Alonzo, do you think your family will be upset about us missing the family reunion in San Antonio this year?”
Alonzo joined me at the window. As he slipped his arms around my waist, he said, “I talked to my Uncle Tito and they said that the family sends their congratulations and well wishes.”
Moments later, our receptionist, Lisa, buzzed us on the intercom. “Ms. Wallace? Ms. Michaels is here,”
“Thanks, Lisa. Please send her in,” I replied.
Hesitantly, Layla entered my office. “Good morning, Ms. Wallace.”
I walked over to the door and extended my hand to greet my new personal assistant. “Morning, Layla. And please call me Rachael.”
“Besides, after the wedding, she’ll be Mrs. Banks,” announced Alonzo proudly.
As I walked back to my desk, I said, “Layla, allow me to introduce part owner of Forté Inc. and my fiancé, Alonzo Banks.”
Alonzo walked over to greet Layla. Shaking his hand, Layla said, “Nice to meet you, Mr. Banks.”
“If I can call you Layla, you can call me Alonzo,” said Alonzo.
“Alonzo it is,” said Layla with a smile.
Chico popped up out of his chair and joined us in greeting Layla. “I’m Charles Banks, Jr., but everyone calls me Chico.”
“Nice to meet you,” said Layla as Chico shook her hand.
“Now that you’ve met the owners, you’ll know when the big boys are in the room,” Alonzo joked. We all chuckled at the comment.
“If you two will excuse us,” I said as I opened my office door. “I need to get Layla acquainted with how I run things around here.”
“Yes, ma’am!” said Alonzo and Chico in unison. They both gave me a mock salute gesture before they left my office.
Turning to Layla, I said, “I have to warn you. They’re usually that silly.”
“That’s fine,” said Layla. “I couldn’t stand to work somewhere where no one had a sense of humor.”
“Trust me. We’ve got plenty of that!” I said with a giggle. “Well, I pretty much showed you around during your second interview. Do you have any questions before I make you do some real work?”
“I probably shouldn’t ask, especially since it’s personal, but…” Layla began.
I looked at my new assistant with curiosity. “What is it, Layla? You’ll find that you can come to me for anything so ask away.”
Nodding toward the closed door, Layla asked, “How did he propose?”
“Oh, girl!” I said as I walked over to my leather sofa. After I sat down, I motioned Layla to join me. “It was beautiful. Alonzo, Chico, and Meeka were all in on it.”
“Meeka?” asked Layla.
“That’s TaMeeka James, Chico’s girlfriend and my best friend. You’ll meet her sooner or later because if she’s not visiting Chico, she and I are going out to lunch,” I explained. “Anyway, back to the story. Chico, Alonzo and I were supposed to go up to Chicago to listen to a jazz band that wanted Forté to do their PR. Well, Meeka called me to tell us that Chico was sick with the flu and that we should go without him. I should’ve known something was up when Alonzo didn’t seem too concerned about his brother’s health. Alonzo and I drove up to Chi-town as planned. While Alonzo took me on a mini tour of downtown Chicago, we stopped in front of Buckingham Fountain.”
“Isn’t that in London?” asked Layla.
“You’re thinking of Buckingham Palace,” I corrected. “Buckingham Fountain is the fountain you see in the opening credits of Married… With Children.”
“Oh!” exclaimed Layla. “Oooo, I bet that was romantic!”
“Yes, it was,” I said reminiscing. “He did the whole getting down on one knee proposal. I barely waited for him to finish before I screamed yes!”
Smiling, Layla asked, “So when’s the wedding?”
“This Christmas Eve. We wanted to do it around the holidays and as soon as possible,” I said. “Plus Alonzo figured that we could shut down Forté for a week and take a yearly vacation on our anniversary. That way everyone gets some time off.”
“That’s nice.” Layla said. “Are you hoping for a White Christmas?”
“Honestly, that has me a bit concerned,” I said as I stood and walked back to my picture window. I looked down from my seventh floor office onto the traffic below. “I’m afraid that if it snows, we’ll get stuck here for our honeymoon.”
“Would that be so bad?” asked Layla as she joined me at the window. “Just imagine you and your new husband curled up in front of a roaring fire as the snow blankets the city.”
Layla’s description reminded me of another snowy night. A night that I shared a candlelit dinner and dance with my first love, Aaron Jones. As the memory almost brought tears to my eyes, I ran my fingers across the hearts on the charm bracelet that Aaron had given me. “Let’s just pray that the snow falls after our plane is safely out of St. Louis,” I stated. “You can keep the snow for your own romantic evening with your special someone.” Layla blushed at my comment. “I assume you already have someone in mind.”
“Actually, when I caught that flat this morning, a nice young gentleman helped me change my tire,” said Layla. “I’m having dinner with him tonight to repay him for his chivalry.”
My curiosity was piqued. “And what is the name of this knight in shining armor?”
“Nicolas Hayes,” replied Layla.
With a puzzled look, I stated, “That name sounds familiar.” I walked over to my desk and sat in front of my computer. Pulling up my address book on Outlook, I scrolled through the “H” section. No Nicolas Hayes. I called Alonzo’s extension and put him on speakerphone. “Baby, do you know someone named Nicolas Hayes?”
“Yeah, that’s Chico’s boy,” said Alonzo. “Why?”
“No reason.” I cut off the speakerphone before Alonzo had a chance to interrogate me. “I never knew his last name but I’ve seen Mr. Hayes here at the office. Isn’t he tall, dark and handsome?”
Once again, Layla blushed. “Actually, that describes him perfectly.”
“I think you may be seeing Mr. Hayes a lot, Layla,” I said with a sly grin. “Chico and Nick are college buddies and the best of friends. In fact, if memory serves me correctly, they always play basketball on Friday afternoons with Alonzo and Jay. Those boys have got some nice abs and legs on them!” I nibbled on my thumbnail as the vision of the guys running up and down the court danced in my head. Shaking my head to get the thought out of my mind, I continued, “Luckily for Alonzo and Chico, they’re already spoken for.”
“Nicolas doesn’t have a girlfriend?” Layla asked with interest.
“Not that I’ve seen,” I replied. “The only special lady that I know of is his daughter, Kya.”
“Nicolas mentioned her,” said Layla. “She’ll be joining us for dinner tonight.”
“Really?” I said in surprise. “But this is your first date and he’s involving his daughter?”
“Yeah, and that’s cool with me because I love kids,” stated Layla.
“I see.” As I tapped my pen on my desktop, I pictured Layla and Nicolas together. “I truly hope you enjoy your date. But in order for you to get to tonight, you have to finish today’s work. So let’s get to it.”