In The Beginning
"He wants to work with you.” The grey haired man rolled his blue eyes at me, as if I’d done something to offend him other than be me. I guess that was enough. I couldn’t help the fact that my body was curvy in a fit way and that I was medium brown skinned with light brown eyes. It may have been the fro that had been split into two equal puffs or the casual white tee shirt, faded blue jeans, and black Air Max® sneakers on while all the other women were strutting around like they just got off the runway.
I’m flat footed and heels hurt.
“Well. Okay. Thanks, I guess?” I mean, what do you say when your immediate boss is overruled by the 30 year old big boss’s son. Who apparently wanted to work with me.
Let me explain what I do because I kinda just realized that folks probably think this is a strip club type deal and its not. Well, not anymore.
See, I’m a wrestler. Yeah, like the “fake” sport where folks get hurt at any point in time. But see, I’m not one of those female wrestlers that’s all dainty and polite. Nah. I’m the one who’d probably fight you for looking at her too hard and then laugh like you did something funny while you were bleeding. I’m not quite right in the head. I’m also a Black woman and my company wasn’t exactly known for diversity other than pale to dark white. A Black champion wasn’t in the cards and that’s what would happen if I worked with Kent. He was the boss’s son and my late-night, incognito browser crush. He was cute in a preppy way if you liked dark blond hair that was kinda wavy and blue eyes that were oceanic. Otherwise, he’s just okay. He’s the only white guy I would consider dealing with and uh….that made some folks uncomfortable.
Like my boss, Ray, or Mr. Evans as he liked us to say.
“You’re going to turn him down. There are BETTER women he can and should be paired up with. You should’ve never been called up.” Ray Evans wasn’t known for mincing his words especially in regards to me or people he believed to be lesser. This was nice actually. Normally, he told me I shouldn’t’ve been in there at all. I was pleasantly surprised.
“Well, Mr. Evans, if that’s how you feel about our employees, maybe you shouldn’t be one. Yana would have more than enough reason to sue given your feelings and your….history of dislike. I think you may need to have a, as your boss would call it, break to review your ideas about your placement in this company. Tyler Bennett, Kent’s younger sister, and my nemesis swung her copper-colored hair and widened her green eyes like she was so innocent. She wasn’t but this was entertaining to me.
“Now.”
Her tone was frigid and like he’d been touched by a whip, Ray quickly walked away, head down. I shook my head, knowing I’d have to thank her. We hated each other but this seemed protective. It was weird.
“My brother likes you. I like making you uncomfortable and this will give me opportunities to handle my business. Can’t have Tiny spoiling my fun.” She was right because working with Kent would definitely get more eyes on me for reasons that worried me. I’d have all eyes on me and I wasn’t sure I was ready for that. Whatever Kent wanted, he got and I knew that his wanting me would increase my TV time and could potentially hotshot my career. I’d always wonder, though, whether this was on my merit or his and I wasn’t sure I could handle that.
Yes, Kent was the boss’s son and next in line to run the dog and pony show. But Kent was also Ken Diamond, the most popular and good looking wrestler in the world.
