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35. Desiree

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Desiree had spent the whole day at home eating noodles and staring at the ceiling. She wasn't returning to work yet despite Lucas' apology. She needed to give him more space to think about why it had been so easy for him to think she'd put Bobo up to calling her his mom. It was all so silly. She knew she should at least be mad at him but she wasn't. The accusation had definitely stung and showed her a lot about Lucas. He was scared for whatever reason and he had bigger trust issues than she'd imagined. He could have easily corrected his kid but he made sure to take it out on her.

He wasn't her friend, he was her boss and that was that. He had reminded her of that when he hauled those accusations her way. She would go back to work but she'd keep her distance and avoid trouble. Desiree called Sandra to ask if she was home but she wasn't picking, so she entered the bathroom to freshen up and went to her wardrobe. She was going to visit Sandra and if she wasn't home, she'd go to her brothers'. Desiree drove out of the house and rolled down the window as she sped off.

She knocked when she arrived at Sandra's place and heard footsteps coming towards the door. Her mouth hung wide open when she saw Jamal standing in front of her wearing nothing but his boxers.

"Desiree."

She covered her eyes. "Can you go get dressed? Where's Sandra?"

"She's around."

"Babe, who's that?" Sandra asked walking towards the door.

"Babe? You guys are dating now? I can't believe you hid this from me, Sandra."

Sandra shrugged and pulled her in while Jamal left to get dressed.

"I'm sorry, Dee. It just sort of happened."

"Just sort of happened, wonderful! I called you before coming but you weren't picking."

"We were in the middle of something," she said mischievously. "Sit."

"You guys are disgusting." Sandra laughed. "I guess you don't mind that's he's your coworker anymore."

"I suppose. How are you?"

"Fine. Took a break from work because my boss thought I was trying to steal his baby."

"What?"

"Silly, right?"

"Where did he get the idea?"

"His son called me mom."

"Oh."

"Yes, he apologized already so it's all good."

"You're going to let it go that easily?"

"Yea, I mean I get where he's coming from so no qualms. It just hurts that he doesn't trust me despite what we have going on."

"You guys are still..."

"Yea."

Jamal joined them in the living room now dressed in a shirt and short. He took the sofa beside Desiree. "How's the nanny job?"

"Good...for now."

"Should we tell her?" Jamal asked Sandra.

"No, I wanted it to be a surprise. You just ruined it."

"How was I to know?"

Desiree interrupted, "What's going on?"

"Don't be mad." Sandra continued when she nodded. "There was a meeting at work, things are changing so the bosses came in, I'm talking about the top dogs."

"Okay?"

"They asked about you and they want you back."

"Did you tell them why I quitted?"

"Mr. John said you resigned."

"The bastard made me resign when he didn't take the matter seriously."

"Yes, but this is a chance to speak your truth. You can tell everyone the real reason you left then take back the job if it's offered."

"Dee, for real the department hasn't been the same since you left. We need you," Jamal said.

"Are you guys psyching me? I didn't know I was so impactful."

"No one does it like you do and that's a fact."

"I need time to think about it."

"Sure. You're meant to get the invite soon. Have you checked your mail recently?"

"No." Desiree got her phone and opened her mail. There it was sitting in her inbox, there was an invitation from her former firm asking her to come in for some re-evaluation. "It's here."

"Just think about it. You can call me when you feel comfortable to come and I'll set everything up."

"When are the bosses leaving? The top dogs like you said."

"They came to reassess for two weeks so by next week they should be gone."

"I want to come in when they're around."

"You have to do it soon then."

"Tomorrow is Monday so I'll call to let you know if I'll come in or not."

Jamal hugged her. "We need you, boss."

"Okay, let's get you something to eat. Jamal makes the meanest spaghetti."

"No, I don't."

"Yea, you do and it's your turn to cook anyway."

"Please don't break each other's hearts. I don't want to choose," Desiree pleaded as she looked at them being so adorable and loving.

Jamal laughed and stood and Sandra kicked him in the ass as he walked to the kitchen. Desiree laughed as she remembered how attractive she found his ass.

"Why are you laughing?"

"I used to crush over that ass you just kicked."

"Really? That's weird, you're an ass lover?"

"Tragic, I know."

"I never notice men's ass, it's something I never really think of."

"Too bad, you should see my boss' ass. It's just perfect."

"Then you've had sex with him."

"Not yet."

"What do you mean not yet?"

"We do other things."

"Your self-control game must be on steroids."

Desiree let out a loud laugh. "Get out."

Jamal walked in. "What are you both talking about?"

"Nothing," Sandra and Desiree said together.

"You guys do this every time."

Sandra climbed on Jamal's laps to appease him and they started kissing and fondling each other.

"Just don't let the food burn," Desiree said as she got her phone to fiddle.


Desiree sent a message to Lucas that she was resuming on Tuesday. She didn't have to add that she was going to her former job for a meeting that day, it wasn't like she was going to get her job back. When she arrived at the office building, she called Sandra to let her know she was around. Sandra told her they were waiting for her. Desiree buttoned her blazer and took the elevator to the top floor. The only feeling she felt as she rode the elevator was impatience, she wanted to be done and get back to Bobo by the following day.

Sandra was waiting for her as she got off the elevator and they hugged briefly before they walked to the conference room she'd held so many meetings in the past. The office looked the same and the workers were still warm and open to her as they waved and smiled when she walked past their desks.

Desiree entered the conference room and greeted everyone. Her old boss, Mr. John grimaced when she shook his hand and he whispered into her ears as he hugged her. He said she should turn down the role if she was ever offered. Desiree wasn't surprised, if everyone had missed her input he wouldn't be one of them. They sat and the middle age man sitting at the head cleared his throat.

"Desiree, this is Mr. Bankole," Sandra started and introduced the rest at the table.

Desiree shook her head and wore a straight face. She hated being back at the office but she was going to pretend and hear them out. Mr. Bankole was obviously one of the top dogs Sandra talked about. During her employment, she'd reported straight to Mr. John who reported to someone higher. She hadn't need to know who her boss's bosses were, but clearly they knew a lot about her.

Mr. Bankole opened a folder and wore his reading glasses. "We noticed some issues in this particular branch and when I investigated, I found out someone important was gone."

"Sir, like I said before it has nothing to do with her absence," Mr. John quickly said.

"That isn't what the data analysis is showing me. Why did you resign? Did you ask for a promotion and got declined?"

"Sir, she stated the reason in the resignation letter I showed you," Mr. John inputted yet again.

"I want to hear straight from the horse's mouth."

Desiree looked at Mr. John and he shook his head before she could begin, she ignored him and spoke. "I was sexually harassed by a top client and when I reported the incident to my boss, he didn't care. He only wanted me to get the deal signed however I could."

Mr. John cleared his throat but Desiree didn't spare him a glace.

"Take it from me when I say it's hard living in a man's world, absolutely nothing favors the woman. I've learnt to work twice as hard, be demurer, talk less, impress more, because people wouldn't give me a chance based on only my performance unlike my male counterparts. I chose this firm to work with because I thought it was different. I mean look at this table...the ratio of man to woman is almost equal so imagine my shock when my boss couldn't care less that I was assaulted by a client. I thought this place was my safe place but it clearly wasn't."

"That's all I needed to hear. I thought we had a deeper issue than this but be rest assured, I'll take care of it all."

Desiree stopped herself from shrugging. Honestly, she could care less. The thought of working again with Mr. John after the way he handled her situation made her disgusted. She wanted to be far away from the abuse enabler as fast as possible. She left the room after she was told to expect a feedback and Sandra followed her to the car park.