“To be honest, Leann, I don’t even know where to start.”
“You could start with us. Why don’t you come and work for my family’s company? I’m sure we can find a position for you.”
“Really?”
“Sure, we have plenty going on.”
“I don’t know, Leann. You’re too kind. I’m already staying with you; I don’t want to take a job from you too.”
“Girl, don’t worry about it. I’m more than happy to help you out.”
“I really appreciate it, but I think I should find work on my own.”
“Suit yourself, but just know it’s an option.”
“Thank you so much, Leann. For everything. You are so amazing.”
“Oh, don’t mention it. That’s what friends are for. Now, you want to watch a movie?”
“Okay.”
Leann got up and got the remote. She turned the TV on and began flipping through the channels. After finding nothing really good on, she pulled up her Netflix. They found a movie they both wanted to watch and put it on. Leann got up and got them some popcorn. Once the movie went off, Susan wanted to watch another, but Leann was tired and had to get up for work in the morning. She told Susan good night and reminded her that she was welcome to everything in the condo. She leaned in and kissed her on the forehead and headed for her bedroom. Before she made it out of the room she heard Susan say, “I love you, Leann.”
“I love you too, Susan.” Leann smiled to herself as she headed back for bed. The next morning Leann woke up to the smell of breakfast. She came into the kitchen to find Susan slaving away. She smiled and said, “Good morning. What’s that you have cooking there?”
“I decided to make my grandma’s homemade biscuit recipe. I found some bacon and eggs in the fridge. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Oh, no, it’s fine. I told you, you’re welcome to anything. That smells wonderful.”
“Yeah, this is how my grandma used to wake me up.”
“It’s a great way to get up. I usually just do something quick in the mornings. Especially if I’m heading to the gym before work.”
“You work out before work?”
“A few times a week. The rest of the week I work out after work.”
“Oh, wow, you’re committed. I guess that’s why you have that amazing body.”
“You have a nice figure there yourself.”
“Oh, girl, stop. With my bird legs? And I barely have any hips.”
“Girl, please. You’re fine. There are people who would kill for your figure.”
“You’re so sweet. I’m just about done with breakfast. Go ahead and sit down at the table, I’ll bring it out to you.”
“I can help.”
“No, sit down. This is the least I can do for you letting me stay here. It is really amazing. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
“I told you, don’t worry about it. I’m happy to do it.”
“Still though…but go’ on and sit down. I got this.”
“Okay.”
Leann took her seat at the table. She looked at the time to make sure she wouldn’t be late for work. It was her family’s company, but she still made sure to be at work on time. More times than not she was actually there early. She took her job very seriously. Susan brought her out a smoking hot plate of biscuits, eggs, and bacon. It looked and smelled wonderful. She also brought out the orange juice along with some syrup and butter. Leann could hardly wait to dig in. As soon as she took a bite of the biscuits she was in heaven. They were so good. She barely wanted to put syrup on them. The whole breakfast was divine. She finished rather quickly and got up to start the dishes. Susan protested, but she insisted. After finishing the dishes she went off to her morning ritual. She washed her face and brushed her teeth, unwrapped her hair and combed it into a nice, neat style, moisturized her skin, and pulled together an outfit. By the time she stepped back out of her room, briefcase in hand, she was ready to go.
Leann walked into the living room and found Susan there dressed as well. She had on a nice pencil skirt with a white blouse and some black pumps to complete the look. Leann smiled and said, “Wow, you look good, girl. Where you off to?”
“Out on the job hunt. I’m going to pound the pavement and find something.”
“Oh, okay. I’m scared of you! Remember what I said about a job at Ford Enterprises. I know you want to go your own way, but we would love to have you. One meeting with my family and I’m sure you’d be in.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, but I think I’ll see what else is out there first. I actually already setup an interview. I saw a listing online and they said I could come in.”
“Oh, that’s great. Good for you. Well, I have to go. I left a key on the island for you. Make sure you lock up before you go. You need me to drop you somewhere?”
“No, it’s okay. I’ll find my way. I want to do a bit of exploring today.”
“Okay, well good luck. I’ll see you later.”
“Thank you. Bye Leann.”
Leann gave Susan a kiss on the cheek and headed out for the office. She had a fairly pleasant day at work; mostly meetings. A lot of her family was there that day, including her younger sister Natasha and her younger cousin Stacey. They were still young, wild and free, not taking anything seriously yet. Both had graduated from college a year early and had decided to take the year to enjoy life before taking on responsibility. They weren’t too bad, just loved to have fun. Leann decided to text Susan and have her come into the office so she could meet them. She figured it would be good for them to get to know each other and hang out while she was over at Ryan’s. Susan replied that she would be there as soon as she could.
About an hour later, Susan text that she was down in the lobby. Leann told her to come on up. Susan walked into the office, visibly nervous. Leann met her at the elevators and seeing her unease, told a few jokes to try and make her feel better. Susan smiled back in gratitude. Leann took her around to meet her family members. First was her father, who seemed to take to her immediately. Her father was very charming and could make anybody feel comfortable. Leann could see Susan relaxing in his presence. Next they went down to her Aunt Tori’s office to peek their head in. In there they ran into Natasha and Stacey who were harassing her for fun. Aunt Tori shook Susan’s hand and then told Leann to get those two out of her office. They all laughed as they walked out into the hallway. Once the laughing died down Leann turned to Natasha and Stacey and said, “Hey, this is my friend Susan I was telling you about. Susan, this is my little sister Natasha and my cousin Stacey.”
Susan gave a meek wave of the hand. Natasha moved her hand and went in for a hug. Stacey stepped forward and wrapped her arms around the both of them. They rocked and laughed like they were already great friends. With her arm around Susan’s shoulders, Natasha said, welcome to our city. You are now with the best welcoming committee in all of Chicago. Stick with us and you’ll know all of the best spots and secrets around here. We are the plug.”
Stacey came on the other side and wrapped her arm around Susan. She said, “That’s right Susan, girl. It’s not happening in the Chi without our knowledge. We have all of the exclusives. We’ll have you loving the city in no time. You don’t have a job yet, do you?”
“No, I’m still looking.”
Natasha looked at her like she was crazy and said, “Girl why? You just got here. You’re rolling with us. You can worry about a job later. When the time comes just work here or one of our other businesses.”
“That’s very nice of you, but…”
Stacey cut in, “Unh unh, girl, as the empresses of this here city and one of the members on the board here we hereby decree that you will not be worrying about any job until further notice at which point we will find a space for you. You’re one of us now.”
“Really?”
“Girl, yeah. Any good friend of Leann’s is like family to us. We’re gonna put you onto everything. We can start now. I’m sure Leann will be going over to Ryan’s to be all gross and lovey dovey later, so you can just roll with us for the night. We’re gonna hit up all of the good spots.”
“But it’s Thursday night.”
Natasha shrugged and said, “Every night with us is lit! We have taken the year off and girl we are getting it in for all 365 days. Possibly more.”
Leann smiled and looked on. She had hoped that Natasha and Stacey would take Susan under their wings. She knew how they were. They loved any opportunity to show somebody new around town, so she had little doubt that they would be Susan’s enthusiastic tour guides. She just hoped they wouldn’t run her too ragged. Leann piped in, “Alright now girls. Don’t turn up too much. I know how y’all can get. Don’t have the girl out here exhausted and sick.”
Natasha rolled her eyes and said, “Girl, hush! I’m sure Susan is no amateur. She’s a big girl. We won’t do anything too bad. Well, not with her, anyway. We’ll drop her off.”
Stacey joined in, “Yeah, we’ll take good care of her. You’ll be alright, won’t you, Susan?”
“I think so. I’m not a complete square. I know how to have a good time.”
“Good, then you’re our type of girl. Now on that note, we have business to attend to. The tour starts now. We know this hot lunch spot to hit. The men in there are so fine and they have great drinks.”
Natasha jumped up and down and said, “Midday turn up!” She and Stacey began to twerk around. Leann and Susan laughed as they danced. Leann put an arm around Susan and whispered in her ear, “Look out for them, girl. They will run you ragged.” Susan whispered back, “I will. I’m excited. I think it’ll be fun.”
“Oh yeah, these two are a barrel of laughs.”
Natasha stopped and said, “Y’all talkin about us? Unh unh, Stacey, they talking about us.”
Stacey scrunched up her face and said, “It’s cool though, Susan, don’t listen to her. We are perfect angels in the lord.” Natasha and Stacey put their hands together as if in prayer. Leann pushed them and laughed. Natasha grabbed Susan’s left hand and Stacey grabbed the right, saying, “Alright sis, it’s time to go. Bye Leann. Have fun working.” Leann stuck her tongue out at them and waved as they bustled Susan to the elevator. As they stepped inside Susan smiled from ear to ear. Leann winked at her and chuckled as she made her way back to her office.
After a few more hours of phone calls and paperwork, Leann was ready to leave the office. She had to stop at home and take a quick shower and get dolled up for a romantic evening with Ryan. In spite of how long they had been together she still got butterflies every time she knew she was going to see him. She still felt like a teenage girl in love for the first time. She took extra care to look nice for him. She even got him a little present just to make him feel good. Before she left out for Ryan’s, she texted Susan to check up on her. Susan assured her that she was fine and that she was having a great time. Leann told her that she would be staying over at Ryan’s so she would see her the next day.
Leann drove over to Ryan’s house and parked in his driveway. She took one more look at herself in her rearview mirror, before getting out and walking up to the door. Ryan had given her a key a while ago, but she still rang the doorbell. Ryan came to the door with his sleeves rolled up and his top buttons undone. He was clearly in the process of cooking. The smells wafted out of the house towards her as soon as he opened the door. He greeted her with a sweet smile and an even sweeter kiss. He took her hand and led her into the house, letting the door close behind them. Leann had always been impressed with how beautifully decorated his home was. His mother had come in and done most of it for him, but he had added his own touches that made it truly endearing. Ryan led her into the living room area right off of the kitchen and let her hand go to check in the pots on the stove. Leann slipped out of her coat, put down her purse, and walked into the kitchen after him to see if she could help. When Ryan turned around from the pots his eyes lit up and went wide. Leann was standing there in a stunning, body-hugging short black number that could have replaced the stop signs on the street. The dark dress looked sensational against her tanned skin. She had completed the look with the diamond earrings and pendant Ryan had given her along with some sexy 5 inch heels and her hair clipped up in a messy bun to complete the look. Ryan’s eyes feasted on her like she was the most glorious thing they had ever seen. His mouth had actually dropped open and he was looking her up and down from head to foot.