Full Figured 14, page 1
Full Figured 14:
Carl Weber Presents
La Jill Hunt
and Latoya Chandler
www.urbanbooks.net
All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
No Strings Attached
Chapter One - Brooke
Chapter Two - Brittany
Chapter Three - Brooke
Chapter Four - Brittany
Chapter Five - Brooke
Chapter Six - Brittany
Chapter Seven - Brooke
Chapter Eight - Brittany
Chapter Nine - Brooke
Chapter Ten - Brittany
Chapter Eleven - Brooke
Chapter Twelve - Brittany
Chapter Thirteen - Brooke
Chapter Fourteen - Brittany
Chapter Fifteen - Brooke
Chapter Sixteen - Brittany
Epilogue - Brooke
Illusions of Love
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Urban Books, LLC
300 Farmingdale Road, NY-Route 109
Farmingdale, NY 11735
No Strings Attached Copyright © 2019 La Jill Hunt Illusions of Love Copyright © 2019 Latoya Chandler
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior consent of the Publisher, except brief quotes used in reviews.
ISBN: 978-1-6228-6207-8
eISBN 13: 978-1-62286-209-2
eISBN 10: 1-62286-209-0
This is a work of fiction. Any references or similarities to actual events, real people, living or dead, or to real locales are intended to give the novel a sense of reality. Any similarity in other names, characters, places, and incidents is entirely coincidental.
Distributed by Kensington Publishing Corp.
Submit Orders to:
Customer Service
400 Hahn Road
Westminster, MD 21157-4627
Phone: 1-800-733-3000
Fax: 1-800-659-2436
No Strings Attached
by
La Jill Hunt
Chapter One
Brooke
“Well, look who decided to grace us with her presence today.”
I looked over at Helen Tolbert, the administrative assistant for my department, and gave her a smirk. “Well, I would be here more often if you’d quit sending me away for weeks at a time.”
“Hey, I can’t help it if you’re the best corporate trainer in the entire company.” She grinned at me. “And you are wearing that blouse, girl. Let me have it when you’re done with it. Besides. you never wear the same thing twice.”
I looked down at the belted yellow pantsuit I was wearing and smiled. “Now, what in the world would you do with this top, Miss Helen? It’s about three sizes too big for you, and you know it. And I do wear a lot of things more than twice, ma’am.”
The reality was that the shirt was probably more like five sizes too large for her, especially since it was a size twenty and Miss Helen had to be no bigger than a size four. But I appreciated the compliment. I prided myself on staying trendy. Just because I was a big girl didn’t mean I couldn’t be fashionable and fly. Some plus-sized women wouldn’t dare wear the bright yellow ensemble I was rocking. Not me. I had taken one look at the overpriced suit and had known it would be a head turner, and I had instantly had to have it.
“Brooke, I keep telling you you’d be perfect for my nephew. He’s smart, handsome, and he’s a doctor. You’re his type,” Miss Helen told me for what had to be the hundredth time. Every time she saw me, she had to say something about her nephew.
“Thanks, Miss Helen, but I’m good,” I told her.
“You have a new man in your life?” Her eyes widened, and her head tilted slightly.
“I’m not saying all that,” I said. “But I’m not interested in dating.”
“You’ve been saying that for years, young lady. You’re too good looking and successful to be walking around here without a ring on your finger.” Miss Helen shook her head.
She was a slightly older woman who put me in the mind of Louise on the old TV sitcom The Jeffersons. I really liked her, and not just because she handled the department travel arrangements and always looked out for me, making sure I always flew business class and stayed in the nicest hotels. She also made sure I got the inside scoop on the office happenings and all the gossip, which I appreciated.
I’d worked for Worldwide Holdings, a Fortune 500 company that owned several rental car companies, since graduating from college six years ago. In addition to providing me a moderate salary, a nice yearly bonus, and great benefits, they’d paid for both of my master’s degrees, all of which I enjoyed. I even enjoyed all the traveling that I was required to do. But because I was out of my home office so much, I was sometimes blindsided by decisions that affected me, though I had not been consulted about them. Being buddy-buddy with Miss Helen sometimes prevented that from happening.
“Miss Helen, you’ve seen my schedule. Do you think I have time to date anyone? I’m gone three to six weeks at a time, what amounts to several months of the year,” I said. “I’m sure your nephew is really nice, but I won’t even get the chance to find out for myself, because I will be gone all the time.”
“You’d make a perfect couple, Brooke. Trust me.”
I wanted to ask Miss Helen why, if her nephew was so great, he was still single after all this time, but I didn’t want to run the risk of starting that conversation. Besides, I knew there was probably a pile of intercompany mail piled on my desk for me to handle, along with the other endless tasks I had to take care of on the day I returned to the office.
“I’ll talk to you later, Miss Helen,” I said and then waved before I walked away from her desk and down the hallway. I opened the door to my small office, and just as I had suspected, I was welcomed by a pile of folders and mail on top of my desk. I placed my messenger bag on one of the small chairs that faced my desk, and immediately reached for the gallon jug of water under my desk and filled my aromatherapy diffuser. I always felt the need to air out and Zen my work space as part of my morning routine.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
“Good morning,” said a male voice.
I turned around to see Brandon, my boss, standing in my doorway.
“Good morning to you.”
“What’s good, Brooke?” he asked as he strolled inside. “I see you ’bout to Badu-ify it up in here.” He shook his head at me as I put drops of essential oils in the water and turned the tiny machine on.
“Badu-ify? Is that even a word?” I laughed. “Don’t hate because I’m trying to ignite positive vibes in here.”
“Your positivity is enough to brighten any room.” Brandon smiled. “You’re looking good.”
I stood back and stared at him. He was looking well put together, as usual, in his perfectly fitting slacks and crisp white shirt with the collar open. I didn’t even have to look down at his shoes, which I already knew were stylish and expensive, the only kind he wore. His handsome face was clean shaven, and his haircut fresh. His deep-set eyes were damn near as perfect as his smooth reddish-brown skin and white teeth. He was good looking, and he knew it, but not in an arrogant way. He was an all-around nice guy that everyone liked, including me . . . most of the time. But we had a history, and he had a tendency to try to use that to his advantage.
“What do you want, Brandon?” I asked, my bullshit meter suddenly alerting me.
“What? I can’t give you a compliment?” he asked innocently.
“You can. But what do you want?” I repeated.
Brandon turned around and closed the door, letting me know that whatever he was about to tell me was going to make me either super happy or super pissed, both of which would cause a reaction that he didn’t want the rest of the office to hear. He pulled the empty chair closer to my desk and sat down.
“Oh, I know this is about to be some BS.” I shook my head and waited for him to speak.
“Okay, Brooke. Check it,” he said. “I know you just got back, but—”
“No. Hell no. Absolutely not, Brandon,” I told him before he could even finish his sentence.
“Wait. Just listen for a sec.”
“No, I’m not listening. Come on, Brandon. I’m not scheduled to go anywhere else for a month. You promised me if I took this last training class, I was good for a minute. Now here you go,” I snapped.
“I know, I know. But this isn’t even for a full training. It’s just a week in Denver,” he explained.
“Denver? Oh, hell no. Send someone else, because I’m not going,” I told him.
“Brooke, come on. I don’t have anyone else to send.”
“Send Holly’s ass. She never has to carry her ass anywhere. She stays here and does what? She damn sure doesn’t train, because I have to do the in-house classes here too, for some odd reason,” I said, referring to my young blond coworker, whose only job responsibilities seemed to be putting up colorful bulletin boards in the office, planning potlucks for staff birthdays, and making sure everyone pulled a name for the Christmas gift exchange every year.
“Come on, Brooke,” Brandon pleaded.
“Come on what? Why can’t she go?” I asked. “If it’s not for a full training, then you go, Brandon. You’ve done it plenty of times to do a short run.”
“I can’t go this time.”
“And why not?” I peered at him.
His eyes went from mine down to the humming diffuser, then back up to meet mine. “Brooke, I need you in Denver. I’ll have Helen book your flight for tomorrow.”
“Oh, now you are really tripping. Today is Wednesday, and today is my first day back in the office. And you think I’m leaving tomorrow? You are really tripping, Brandon.” I sucked my teeth at him. Anyone else in my position might be a little hesitant to talk to their boss in the manner in which I was speaking, but I’d known Brandon since before we’d both become employees at Worldwide.
“I gave you Monday and Tuesday off. I always give you a couple of days off when you come back after a full training assignment, Brooke, and you know I wouldn’t be asking you to do this if I didn’t have to,” Brandon said. “I tell you what. Let’s compromise. You can leave Saturday night and be ready to go on Monday. It is just a basic cross-training between billing and claims and is mainly for managers.”
“If it’s management training, then why the hell aren’t you handling it?”
“Because I have something important to do next week and can’t leave.”
“Listen, I don’t care what chick you got plans with. You gonna either have to take her with you or find someone else to go, because . . .”
“It’s not a chick.”
“Then why the hell can’t you go?”
Brandon inhaled. He lowered his voice when he said, “I have to be here for the board meeting.”
My eyes narrowed. “For what? Why would you need to meet with them?”
Again, Brandon’s eyes dropped, confirming that there was something he wasn’t telling me. But I was determined to find out whatever he had going on.
“Brandon,” I said with a warning tone.
“Okay, but you can’t say anything,” he said.
“About what?” I waited for his answer.
“I’m being considered for an associate vice president spot.”
“What AVP spot? There isn’t an AVP spot available.” I knew this to be true, because checking the company job vacancies web page was something I did religiously. Not only did this give me a heads-up about areas to which I may be sent to train new hires, but it also enabled me to see if there was another job that piqued my interest, not that I was looking for one. Besides, if there was a position available and Brandon was interviewing for it, Miss Helen would tell me, and she hadn’t mentioned anything at all for quite some time. Oddly enough, she hadn’t even mentioned the possibility that I would be going to Denver, so she probably didn’t know about that either.
“It’s not available, because it’s being created, and I’ve already been approached to fill it,” Brandon told me.
I pulled my chair out from under the desk and sat in it. I mentally spoke to myself as if I was speaking to one of my students. I told myself to think before speaking and to make sure I asked the right questions, to get all the answers I needed. Brandon was smart and educated, and he was well respected by everyone in the company, from the regional director to the janitor. He also knew how to play the corporate game very well. But he was fair, and he was a great manager, even to me. The fact that he was to be promoted came as no surprise to me. The fact that he was to be appointed a vice president was what was shocking.
“What position is this exactly?” I asked.
“AVP of diversity and inclusion. In light of recent events, the company is trying to identify measures to ensure we are meeting the needs of all members of society when it comes to—”
“They’re trying to fix the racist and sexist bullshit now that we’ve been put on blast on social media. Call it what it is, Brandon. Both you and I know what the deal is. Certain locations were denying black and Latino customers the opportunity to rent certain cars. Plain and simple, they were profiling, and although it’s not illegal, it’s bad business, period,” I said matter-of-factly.
“Well, that’s another way of putting it.” He shrugged.
“So, they’re bringing in you, the token black man, to save face.” I shrugged.
“Hold up. Don’t act like I’m not deserving of this opportunity. I bust my ass around here the same way you do, and you know it,” he said.
“You’re right, and I’m sorry. This is actually a good look for you, Brandon. Congrats.” I paused for a moment to think. “But the real question is, Once you’re promoted, who gets your job?” I asked, suddenly realizing this meant that I would finally be getting the chance I’d been waiting for.
Brandon’s eyes met mine, and he gave me a half smile, instead of the grin I was expecting. “All right, so . . .”
“You’re kidding, right?” I threw my hands up in frustration.
“You know yours was the first name I said,” he told me.
“And?”
“It’s kinda like this. If you’re promoted to management, then that means—”
“That means that y’all won’t have anyone to send all around the damn country, doing everyone else’s job. That’s what that means.” I sat back and fought back tears of anger, which were now threatening to fall.
“You know you’re the best corporate trainer we have, Brooke. That goes without saying.”
“Which is why I deserve this,” I snapped.
“You do, but right now, we have too many upcoming . . .”
“The crazy part is that one of the main reasons you’re even being promoted is that I help make you look good. You promised me that once you got a regional position, you were going to make sure I got your spot. And now here you are, telling me this bullshit.” I shook my head in disbelief.
“Brooke, I know you’re pissed right now, but I promise I’m gonna make this right. I just need for you to go to Denver and let me get through this process.” Brandon sounded sincere, but I was too angry to accept what he was saying.
“Man, you just told me that they wouldn’t even consider me. Why should I continue bending over backward for something that ain’t gonna happen?” I asked. “Basically, what you’re saying is I’m overqualified for the job I’ve been bending over backward to get. Ain’t that some shit?”
“That’s not what I’m saying at all.” Brandon stood up and leaned across my desk, nearly knocked over my diffuser as he put his hands on my shoulders. He stared at me intensely and said, “I promised you when I got this job that I had your back, and I meant that. We go back a long time, even before working here, and you know when it’s all said and done, we’re friends. You’re right. You’ve gone above and beyond and helped me get this department to be the best. I told you what they said when I mentioned you, but now we know where their head is. Now we just have to make them see otherwise. If I don’t know nothing else, I know how to play this game and win.”
The sincerity in his eyes and the wisdom of what he was saying caused me to relax in my seat. Brandon had always kept it real with me, and I really didn’t have a reason not to trust him. I inhaled the scent of rosemary and sandalwood from my diffuser and closed my eyes, then opened them. “I’m taking the rest of the week off. As a matter of fact, I’m leaving the office as soon as I finish my report and clear my desk. Oh, and this is comp time and doesn’t come out of my vacation bank. I have something to do Friday and Saturday night, just so you know.”
“My girl.” Brandon smiled at me. “And I got you on all of that, and I’ll make sure you fly out Sunday morning.”
“You’d better,” I told him.
“So, what you got going for this weekend?” He raised an eyebrow and sat back down in the chair, then put his hands behind his head.
“None of your business,” I said. My cell phone, which was lying on my desk, began ringing, and the picture of my best friend appeared on the screen. I answered the call. “Hey, Em.”
