If You're Willing

by Ivy Symone

  “What’s up with that nigga?” Rock asked. He nodded in Eli’s direction.

  “Who?” Jah asked. He looked over at the table where a lot of the women had gathered and was doing a lot of yapping. “What nigga? I see two. That gay mothafucka and Eli.”

  “I’m talking about Eli. What’s up with that nigga? He always hang with girls like that?”

  “Nigga, you act like you just coming around. Yeah, nigga,” Jah said annoyed. “But when he need to, he roll with me. Why?”

  “I think that nigga fucking with me,” Rock said matter-of-factly, never taking his eyes off of Eli.

  “Fucking witchu how? Nigga, if you don’t take yo paranoid ass on from here.” Jah was beyond annoyed. He looked at the beer in Rock’s hand and shook his head. “How many of them thangs you done had, drunk mothafucka.”

  “Ain’t nobody drunk,” Rock chuckled.

  “You got to be to think a nigga like Eli fucking witchu. And fucking witchu about what?”

  “Cassie.”

  Jah looked at Rock like he was crazy. “Don’t nobody want her mean ass but you. What makes you think Eli of all people would want her? That nigga got a whole mothafuckin’ wife and four mothafuckin’ kids. And you think he want Cassie beady head ass?”

  “I don’t put shit past no nigga.” His phone began to vibrate in his pocket.

  Watching Rock retrieve his phone, Jah asked, “Is that because can’t nobody put shit past you?”

  Rock tore his eyes away from the screen of his phone and asked offended, “What’s that ‘posed to mean?”

  “You worried ‘bout Cassie but whatcho ass be doing?” It was more of a point than a question.

  “I don’t be doin’ nothing. I’m tryna see where things could go with Cass, but her ass crazy as hell,” Rock said. He stared at the picture message he just received a little longer than he needed to before placing his phone back in his pocket.

  “I know better than to believe that shit,” Jah said.

  “Well,” Rock started. He gave it some thought about the way he would put his next statement. “Melody pregnant and I know Cassie gon’ flip out when she find out.”

  “Wait. Your baby mama Melody?”

  “Yeah nigga. She pregnant. But she talking about getting an abortion cause I won’t be with her,” he stated. “I ain’t settling just yet. I got other shit to do.”

  “What other shit? Like fucking Cassie?”

  “And a couple of other broads too.”

  Jah shook his head pitying Rock. “Nigga, you sho’ do got a hard ass head. You gon’ learn one day mothafucka.”

  Rock chuckled. “Well, until then I’ma have some fun.”

  Chapter 4

  Cassie was having second thoughts. She wasn’t sure if she could fulfill the duties of an assistant. She was lazy and didn’t like being bossed around. Eli was a difficult person to deal with personally, so she knew he would be worse as her superior.

  She had been in his office for five minutes and he had yet to ask her a question. And every time he made eye contact with her, his face was just blank. She was eager though, waiting on him.

  He finally said, “You know I ain’t really trying to hire you, right?”

  Cassie rolled her eyes upward. “Damn Eli. Why not?”

  He pointed at her. “See that right there. You already fired.”

  “You ain’t even hired me,” she laughed.

  “According to Jazmin I have,” he mumbled.

  “Ain’t this an interview? Shouldn’t you be asking me questions?”

  “I don’t have shit to ask you cause like I said, I’m not trying to hire you,” he retorted. Then he thought about it. Sitting back in his chair, he asked, “I do wanna know why you lost your previous job.”

  Cassie lowered her head. Lowly, she said, “I fought my manager and threatened to go to her supervisor’s house and beat her ass too.”

  “You what?” Eli was in disbelief and amused at the same time.

  Cassie gave him a wide-eye look. “They were fucking with me. Then they wanted to give Sally Sue next to me all this praise and recognition when I was doing all the work.”

  “Was her name really Sally Sue?”

  “No. It was Mindy Lou,” Cassie said with a scowl.

  “So why didn’t you just say Mindy Lou. They’re both country.”

  “Cause she look more like a Sally Sue and I’d rather say Sally Sue.”

  Eli laughed. “You got issues.”

  She poked her lips out in a playful pout. “I know. And that’s why I’d rather work here with people that can tolerate me.”

  “No, you wanna work here cause you think being Jazmin’s friend will secure your job. You fuck up, you get fired,” he corrected.

  Cassie blinked at him.

  Eli blinked back at her.

  “So do I have the job?” she asked with caution.

  “I still don’t know yet. How about you go get me some coffee and we’ll see how good you do that.”

  She stood up and ran her clammy hands down the skirt of her dress. “How do you like it?”

  “How do I like what?” he asked looking genuinely confused.

  “Your coffee,” she said with a chuckle.

  “Oh. Black—No. Two spoons of sugar and enough cream to match the color of my skin.”

  Cassie looked at him like he was crazy. She was actually waiting on him to snicker or something to indicate he was playing, but he didn’t. He looked at her with a serious face.

  “Okay,” she said and headed out of the office. Now she had to figure out where the break-room was. She knew where Jazmin’s workspace was so that’s where she went first.

  Jazmin looked up and smiled. “Hey. You finished already?”

  “Your cousin is retarded. I don’t know if I can really work for him. You don’t need an assistant? Can I work with you?” she asked.

  Jazmin chuckled. “No. What did Eli say?”

  “He’s just crazy. Now he want me to go get him some coffee and make it match the color of his skin. What the fuck?”

  Jazmin started laughing. “Don’t pay him any mind. He don’t even drink coffee. He thinks it’s disgusting. But what he does drink is Mt. Dew. Go get him one of those and he’ll be alright.”

  “But he specifically asked for coffee though.”

  “And I’m telling you he’s messing with you. The break room is down the hall and to the left. Just make your selection. They’re free. Make sure you get the bottle and not the can.”

  “Is he always particular?”

  Jazmin nodded.

  Cassie shook her head as she walked away. She went in the direction Jazmin told her. She saw Jazmin’s father cross her path and smiled. “Hey Mr. Paul.”

  Paul did a double take. “Hey Cassie. You up here visiting with Jazz?”

  “No, I’m supposedly interviewing for a job,” she replied.

  “Oh yeah. Doing what?”

  “Eli’s assistant.”

  Paul began walking away and laughing at the same time. He called over his shoulder, “Good luck with that.”

  That was a damn shame, Cassie thought as she made her way into the break-room. She got the drink for Eli and grabbed her one too. As she exited the break-room, she almost bumped into someone who was coming in.

  “I’m sorry,” she said apologetically. She looked up into a set of pretty brown eyes that belonged to one of the sexiest men she had seen in a long time. She almost forgot that BevyCo was swarming with Italians and other mixed breeds until this very moment.

  “No, I’m sorry. I should have watched where I was going,” he said. He gave her a once over, then his face frowned with question. “You work here? I haven’t seen you before.”

  “I…uh…I’m working with Eli…I think,” she said with uncertainty.

  “Oh. So that means you’ll be working with me also,” he said. He extended his hand. “My name is Gio. Yours?”

  Cassie placed the bottle she was holding under her left arm
to shake his hand. “My name is Cassie. Nice to meet you.”

  Gio gave her another inspection and smiled. “Looking forward to working with you.”

  “Same here,” she said. She turned around wearing a big grin. Gio was fine. And he looked like he was interested in her. Rock better get with the program or he would be history.

  Thinking of how Gio looked at her, she was glad she chose her black wrap dress that fell right above her knees. She always felt sexy in it whenever she wore it. She didn’t consider herself a bad bitch but she could hang with the best of them. She didn’t have silky black hair flowing down her back, nor did she desire it. She liked wearing her own hair which she usually kept in an asymmetric layered wrap with side swoop bangs. Today, since she hadn’t gotten her hair fixed, it was pulled back into a neat bun, but the side swoop bangs remained. She made sure to slick her hair with some edge control because the last thing she needed was for Eli to clown her about her nappy edges.

  She didn’t wear makeup but she tried to keep her brows arched and her full lips glossed. A person couldn’t have big lips and not keep them moist. Her complexion was a smooth mocha brown that she inherited from Colette. What she didn’t inherit from Colette was body shape. Colette had a very shapely body; big breasts and a big ass to match. Cassie wasn’t as shapely. If she had to describe her body, it was more athletic than anything. Jazmin had teased her and said her hips were spreading, but Cassie didn’t see it. She stood at five feet and two inches, and was around a hundred and thirty pounds. She had a scoop of breasts and a nice bump of an ass. Her clothes fit like they should and shopping for clothes was never a problem.

  Still grinning from her encounter, Cassie entered Eli’s office. He looked up from his phone and frowned.

  “What the hell you cheesing about?” he asked.

  “Oh nothing,” she sighed. She placed the soda in front of him before taking a seat.

  Eli looked at the bottle then at her. “I asked for coffee. Since when did coffee turn yellow and come in a green bottle?”

  Cassie dismissed him with a wave. She wasn’t going to let him ruin her high. “Jazmin told me you don’t even drink coffee.”

  “Jazmin gon’ get your ass fired too,” Eli told her.

  “Stop being such an ass,” she said. She leaned forward wearing a giddy grin. “So you work closely with Gio?”

  Eli raised an eyebrow. “Whatchu know about Gio?”

  Ignoring his question, she asked, “What exactly do you and Gio do?”

  “Residential and commercial property management, but why you asking about Gio?”

  “I just bumped into him in the break-room,” she said. She was still grinning. “So when do you want me to start?”

  “Never. Get out my office,” Eli ordered.

  Cassie laughed. “What time do I need to be here? Is there anything I need to have for you when I walk in that door? What about Gio? He gon’ need anything?”

  Eli said, “Why you so thirsty? Rock ain’t keeping that throat wet so you looking for something new to drink? You know Gio got a wife right? He wouldn’t want your nappy headed ass no way. I see you tried to slick them edges down though.”

  Cassie grabbed her purse and got up. “Fuck you Eli.”

  “Whatever,” he mumbled.

  When she made it to the door, he said, “Eight o’ clock.”

  She turned around smiling. “I’ll be here.”

  _____

  Cassie couldn’t wait to tell Colette she could be looking for her somewhere else to go. Hopefully it wouldn’t take her long to get her finances back in order. Then it dawned on her; she didn’t even know what her salary would be. She never asked. But knowing Eli he would have said something stupid anyway.

  As soon as Cassie entered her apartment, her mother’s perfume choked her into an asthma attack, and she didn’t even have asthma.

  “God! Lady, what are you doing?” Cassie started waving the air. She hit the switch bringing her ceiling fan to life as soon as she entered the living room. She walked over to her sliding glass doors that led to her balcony and slid those open to air the space out.

  Colette appeared in the living room placing her earring in her ear. She was wearing a fitting black and white dress that stopped above her knees. Five inch stilettos were on her feet. Her face was heavily made. And her hair was laying perfect in the short cut she was wearing these days.

  “Where you off to?” Cassie asked.

  “They having a party down there at Bad Habitz,” she said.

  “On a Monday night?”

  Colette grinned. “We party every night baby.”

  “And you know you need to stop. Letty, you’re a grandmother. You need to be home watching reruns of Golden Girls or something,” Cassie scolded.

  Colette rolled her eyes. “You’re so boring. And just cause I’m a grandmama don’t mean I’m old. Shit, I’m forty-five. That’s not old. You’re the one with the old soul. Must’ve got that shit from your daddy cause you sho ain’t got it from me.”

  “Whatever,” Cassie waved off.

  “Let me use your car,” Colette said.

  “Don’t you have a car?”

  “Yeah but yours is prettier,” Colette pouted.

  Cassie didn’t answer her right away. She walked into her kitchen to retrieve something to drink.

  Colette stood at the breakfast bar and looked Cassie up and down. “That dress looks good on you. You should wear stuff like that more often.”

  Cassie turned to her with a grin. “Actually, I will be. I got a job.”

  “You did?”

  “Yep. And that means I won’t need your help anymore.”

  “Well, that’s good. But as long as I’m here I’ll still pay something on rent,” Colette said. There was a knock on the door and she went to answer it.

  “No,” Cassie said. “I mean I won’t need—”

  “Cassie, Rock is here,” Colette announced.

  Cassie waited in the kitchen until Rock came into view. That was strange. She had talked to him earlier but he never said anything about stopping by.

  “What’s up?” she asked casually.

  “Where were you earlier?” Rock asked. He walked over into the kitchen. He too looked her up and down.

  “I told you I had a job interview,” she said.

  “Naw, I’m talking about after that. Like when I got off from work. I came by here and your car wasn’t here.”

  “Well, maybe if you had told me you planned to come by I would have came straight home,” she said.

  “So where were you?”

  Cassie looked at Rock with question. “Since when have you been worried about where I’m at? Is this something new we gon’ start doing?”

  “Don’t worry ‘bout it,” he dismissed. “How did your interview go?”

  “It went good,” she said. Her smile returned.

  “Did you get the job or something?” he asked.

  “Yeah. I start tomorrow,” she beamed.

  “Where at?”

  “At BevyCo.”

  “BevyCo? Doing what?” he asked, slightly shocked.

  “Why are you saying it like it’s impossible?” She was taken aback by his reaction.

  “Jazmin must got you on up there. You working with her or something?”

  “No. Jazmin is in the finance department dealing with numbers. I can’t do nothing like that,” she answered. She side-eyed him. “And you got some damn nerves. Didn’t Jah get you a damn job up there?”

  She hesitated telling him what she would be doing because she was already aware of how he felt about Eli.

  “Whatever,” he dismissed. “Well, what is it you doing? Front desk? Mailroom? Cleaning lady?”

  Cassie’s mood soured that quick. She cut her eyes at him and pushed past him. As she made her way to her bedroom, she mumbled under her breath, “Ain’t nobody no damn cleaning lady.”

  Rock laughed. “What I say?”

  Colette was waiting in the doorway of
her bedroom looking at Rock. Once she heard Cassie’s bedroom door slam, she extended Rock’s cellphone to him.

  He quickly took it and put it in his pocket. He whispered, “I’ll hitchu up tomorrow.”

  Colette smiled and watched him head to Cassie’s room.

  Once he entered Cassie’s room, he closed the door behind him. Cassie was in her bathroom undressing. He leaned up against the frame of the bathroom door.

  “You always huffing and puffing about some shit,” he stated.

  “You think you’re funny Rock,” she said as she stepped out her dress.

  “I was just trying to figure out what it is you’re doing at BevyCo.” He took his time letting his eyes travel all over her body. She was wearing a matching pink lace bra and panties set. The pink looked good against her light brown skin. She had definition in her abs and toned biceps as if she worked out daily, but Rock knew that not to be true. She explained that it was genetics. The women on her daddy’s side were built like that for no reason.

  “Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked.

  “I can’t look at you now?”

  She tried to push him away so she could shut the door.

  “Why can’t I look at you?”

  “Cause I wanna take my bra off and slip on my night clothes,” she said.

  Rock started laughing. “You can do it in front of me.”

  “No cause I don’t feel like being picked on,” she said with a pout.

  “I won’t say anything,” he said with sincerity. “Go ahead bae. Get comfortable.”

  “Rock!” she groaned. She pretended to cry. “You’re gonna make fun of me.”

  “No, I won’t. I promise,” he said. “Here let me help you.”

  She turned to face the mirror above her vanity and watched as Rock stepped behind her to unlatch her bra. She hesitated pulling it forward. She kept her eyes on him waiting for him to say something stupid.

  Instead of saying anything, Rock held her from behind wrapping his arms around her. They held each other’s gaze in the reflection of the mirror. His hands came up to fondle her 32A breasts. He kissed her on her neck. It put her at ease a little bit. She was still waiting on his childish ass to say something about her “itty bitties”.