Chapter 2

 

Trevor

 

 

“You’re not going to believe this,” Trevor said to his longtime friend Reid. Reid had stopped by his office on the way to work to shoot the breeze as he regularly did.

“Must be good whatever it is. You have a smile on your face.”

“Yeah, because I still can’t believe I agreed to something so incredibly absurd. Wow! What was I thinking?” A grin escaped as he shook his head in disbelief.

“Are you going to let me in on what you’re talking about?”

Trevor stood up tall in a pair of black slacks and a burgundy sweater, paced the floor for a moment, then said, “Follow me for a moment. Let’s say some woman found you on social media, contacted you, then you met her at a coffee bar.”

Reid chuckled. “Am I to surmise you met someone online because I thought you’d had enough of women blowing you up with DMs?”

“This was different. The woman contacted me online, and I almost didn’t go to meet this lady, but something pushed me to go, anyway. So check it…I get there, she’s already waiting—a black woman—and she’s married so right away, I know she’s not there to holla at me. I’m thinking maybe she actually has some legitimate business she wants to discuss since that’s what she said when she initially contacted me. I’m hopeful that she does. You know business for me is extremely slow in January, so anything at this point will do.”

“Right.”

“Okay, so I’m optimistic, but my optimism slowly fades when she says, and I quote: my friend would just love you.”

“Nooo,” Reid said, chuckling. “Are you serious?”

“Man, I was ready to go, was about to get out of there when she tells me she does have a business proposition for me. That’s when she informs me that her husband is the owner of EBN.”

“Whoa. She’s married to Billie ‘Big-Mouth’ Dorsey?”

Trevor grinned. “Big mouth?”

“Yeah. That’s what they call him. The man can talk you into a coma, so I heard, but he’s about his paper, though. EBN is big-time in Charlotte. If you get your feet in the door there—”

“I’m getting to that. So this woman, her name is Priscilla by the way, proceeds to tell me how I can get my feet in the door with EBN and that’s by asking her shy girlfriend, Elsie, out on a date.”

“What!” Reid said. He couldn’t believe what he’d just heard.

“Yeah, man. She said her husband was looking for a few consultants and one of the positions is mine but only if I ask her friend out on a date. And get this—she’s guaranteed me that her friend will say no.”

Reid looked puzzled. “Then what’s the point of asking her out?”

“She said she wanted to prove her friend wrong. She said Elsie claims the reason she doesn’t date is because she has yet to meet the man of her dreams.”

“Let me guess, you must be that man.”

“Now, you’re following me. Priscilla had a notebook with a checklist of physical characteristics that were ‘must haves’ for her friend and she said I was the guy who matched all of her friends wants. And since I’m the guy, I’m supposed to ask her friend out, the friend is supposed to turn me down and then Priscilla will have proof that her friend is afraid to talk to men. Follow me?”

“That comes across a little immature if you ask me.”

“Agreed.”

“Because if Priscilla knows her best friend is shy, why would she arrange for some guy—no offense—to ask her friend out and not just any guy, but pretty-boy Myerson.”

Trevor chuckled. His friends called him pretty-boy Myerson because whenever they’d go out, all the women would flock to Trevor before giving any other guy the time of day. He had that effect on women.

“What are you going to do, man?”

Trevor shrugged. “I’m considering going through with it. I don’t want to, but I may never get a chance to work with EBN if I don’t.”

“I agree. You definitely don’t want to miss that opportunity, but dang. This is wild. Do you know anything about the friend? What’s her name again? Elsie?”

“Yeah. Elsie.”

“Sounds like an old lady’s name. What about a picture? Have you seen what this girl looks like at least? She could be an ugly duckling for all you know.”

“Seriously, Reid?”

“Yeah. You don’t want to be asking no ugly chick out on a date even if you did know well in advance that she’d decline your offer.”

Trevor sat down in his seat. “You should never call any woman ugly no matter how unattractive you think she is. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Remember that.”

“You remember that while you’re asking the loch ness monster out on a date.” Reid erupted in laughter, throwing his head back and all.

Trevor grinned a little. “Priscilla showed me a picture of Elsie. She is attractive,” he said. While looks were important to him when it came to dating, what did it matter what Elsie looked like? He wasn’t going to date her. Besides, shy women were more of a turnoff to him than ones who were unattractive.

“I’m just messin’ with you, man. Look, if her girlfriend says she’ll turn you down, then she probably will and you’ll have a new gig free and clear. I say go for it.”

Trevor nodded, his mind inundated with back-and-forth thoughts. Should he or shouldn’t he? He still wasn’t sure about it yet. “How’s business for you?” he asked Reid. Reid worked for a wealth management firm down the street.

“Pretty stankin’ good right now, man. My commissions are through the roof. I’ve never been better.”

Trevor glanced at his computer, waiting for an email response from a client.

“Other than dodging chicks, everything cool with you?” Reid asked.

“Yeah. I just closed on the new place.”

“Congratulations, man. So, you’re actually moving out of Uptown.”

“I have to. I’m looking for a simpler lifestyle, and I’ve found it in the form of a three bedroom flat.”

“What side of town?”

“Elizabeth, right on North Laurel Avenue.”

“Off of Randolph Road…nice area. I don’t know how simple that’s going to be for you, though. Leaving that nice high-rise where you have a doorman and cleaning service for a house where you have to cut your own grass and keep up maintenance sounds like more work to me.”

“I’m looking forward to the challenge,” Trevor said.

“Sure you are.” Reid stood up and stretched. “Let me get out of here. Hey, keep me up-to-date with loch ness.”

Trevor could only shake his head.

“When is the date?”

“I told you, it’s not a date. Basically, the plan is to be at Baconville this Saturday. Priscilla is going to convince Elsie to come out to breakfast and I’m supposed to figure out a way to ask her out. I’m not sure how it’s going to go down yet, but her friend assures me she’ll say no.”

“I’ma throw a wrench in here. What if Elsie doesn’t say no? I mean really, who says no to pretty boy Myerson?”

Trevor chuckled. “Well, I’m counting on her to say no. When I took myself off the market, I had no intention of coming back a year later and especially not with a blind date situation.”

“You’re still holding fast to this celibacy thing, huh?”

“I’m not calling it celibacy. It’s a leave of absence from women.”

“In other words, torture.”

“Nah. The alone time has given me more time to figure out what I want.”

“If you say so. Anyway, when you do meet Elsie, call me. I can’t wait to find out how this goes.”

“Yeah. I can’t wait to get it over with.”

“Alright, later man.”

“Yep.” Trevor returned to checking his emails. He thought about what Reid had said. What if Elsie agreed to a date? He couldn’t have that. For one, he didn’t have time to date. The year he’d taken a leave of absence from women had given him time to reflect and focus on himself. To make goals and meet those goals. And he swore off love after Rachel left him for another man a few days before they were to tie the knot.

Rachel…

They’d dated for a year and for the last six months out of that year, she practically begged him to marry her. Then, one day after he swore he’d never do such a thing, he asked for her hand in marriage – the worst mistake of his life. He still hadn’t brought himself to tell his parents that the wedding was off. Although they’d never met Rachel, they knew of the engagement and his mother had spoken with her several times over the phone. Now, what was he supposed to do? Tell them it was over? He didn’t want to go down that path with his parents. They’d want to know what happened and when they found out, wouldn’t that make him look bad? His woman leaving him for someone else she deemed better? That was a blow to any man’s ego whether they wanted to admit it or not. It certainly had taken a toll on his. And so that’s why he chose the single life – to focus on himself. His career. His new house. Just when he thought he was in the midst of getting his mind right, Priscilla was rocking his foundation with her experiment.