Naughty and Nice

by Sarah J. Brooks

  I’m done meeting with that person; you still wanna do dinner? We can grab a pizza or something on our way over.

  My screen hadn’t even gone black before my mother replied.

  OMG, how did it go? Yes! Come over, I want you to meet Mark!

  “I told her we would grab a pizza on the way over,” I said to Dean as he drove out of the parking lot. “I know this great little place along the way.”

  “Sounds perfect.”

  My mom still lived in the house where I grew up. I loved going to visit her just because it reminded me of growing up—when I wasn’t an adult and didn’t have to worry about all this adult crap. But today, after stopping at the same pizza place I’d been going to since I was 12, as we pulled into the double driveway of the two-story house that hadn’t changed a bit since I moved out—I felt a new feeling—like a successful grown up or something close to it.

  I had this amazing boyfriend; I had an investor in my business, and I was on my way to meet my mom’s new boyfriend. I climbed the steps and knocked before entering the house without waiting for my mom to answer it.

  “Hello!” I called, looking around. I didn’t see anyone around until my mom’s head peeked out from the corner of the kitchen.

  “How did it go?” She rushed over to me and tried to take the pizza box. I didn’t let go of it; after all, I didn’t want her to drop it.

  “I got my first investor.” I sounded calm when I said it like it wasn’t a big deal. Trust me, I was still going crazy inside.

  My mom’s jaw dropped. “You did?” she squealed.

  “Yup.” I stepped past her and hurried into the kitchen to put the box down. “We’re going to get together next week and talk about things a little more to make sure we’re both on the same page.”

  “Oh, my God, that’s amazing! I’m so proud of you.” As I put the box down on the counter, I felt my mom’s arms wrap around my body from behind me. She let go of me after a couple seconds.

  I turned to see the man sitting at the table.

  He looked about my mom’s age, with gray hair and wrinkles around his eyes. He wore a pair of dirty jeans and a black T-shirt.

  I stepped towards him. “You must be Mark.”

  “And you must be Rebecca.”

  I held my hand out to him as I closed the distance between us, and he stood. “It’s nice to meet you,” I said as we shook.

  “It’s nice to finally meet you. Your mom was telling me about what you were doing before you came over here. That sounds amazing, and congrats on getting an investor.”

  “Thanks.”

  After Dean and Mark had shaken hands, I helped my mom grab us all a couple slices of pizza and beer, and we all sat down at the table.

  I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until I took a bit of the pizza and let out a soft moan as the grease dripped down onto my chin.

  I don’t even remember if I ate today or not.

  I had felt sick most of the day and hadn’t wanted to risk eating, because if I puked, it was going to be hella hard to come back from that.

  “So,” my mom looked at me as I took another huge bite of pizza and swallowed. “When can we buy your hot chocolate?”

  I snorted. I honestly had no clue when we would actually begin selling but really wanted to get everything out as soon as I could. I glanced at Dean.

  “Do you have any idea?” I mean, he knew about businesses, right?

  Dean bit his lip. “I know it will probably be at least six months. Depending on how hard you work, and as much as I hate saying this, you might want to quit your job.”

  My jaw dropped. “What?”

  “Trust me, I don’t like saying it. I really like having you around, and you’re a wonderful worker, but the fact is, you could spend all that time working on your own product. It would make the most sense.”

  Was I getting fired? I bit my lip. I knew he made sense, but I wasn’t sure I could live off what I had in my bank account. “I could lower my hours, I guess …” I mulled it over. The idea of having more time to work on my hot chocolate. It would be a good idea.

  Dean touched my knee under the table. “We’ll talk to Melina about it; I’m sure the three of us can come up with something perfect.”

  My heart skipped a beat as I realized just how lucky I was. Yes, I had an awesome boyfriend, but it wasn’t just that. I had awesome friends, awesome family, and I was building my dream.

  *

  I wasn’t surprised Becca got the investment, but I wasn’t willing to show just how excited I was about it; otherwise, she might think I hadn’t had faith in her.

  “Mark seems nice,” I said as we made our way into her apartment.

  “He does. And he seems to make my mom really happy, which is what really matters, I guess.”

  “You don’t sound impressed.”

  “No, it’s not that it’s just … my mom has never dated. It will take me a little bit of getting used to.” She shrugged, tossing her purse onto the counter and kicking her shoes off. I slipped out of my shoes and followed her into the living room.

  “So, it’s going to be a little bit challenging over the next couple of months.” I dropped down on the couch beside her and reached out to take her hand. “But you know I’ll be there the entire time.”

  “Thanks, babe.” Becca rested her head on my shoulder, letting out a deep breath as she closed her eyes. I stared down at her. It had only been one day of being a new business owner, and she already looked like she was going to need to sleep for a couple of weeks. Today was a hard one on her, I thought, remembering my first time.

  “You’re doing really good with everything.” Okay, that didn’t come out right. “I mean, I know how hard it is when you first start out. I remember how scary it was to go to my first investor, and I remember feeling dead tired after it; of course, my first investor turned me down.” I chuckled thinking about how devastated I had been. “But it gets easier,” I promised her.

  She looked up at me, pulling away. “Thank you.”

  “I mean it; it will get easier on you. Next time you have to meet with investors, you will know what to expect, and that will help. Then, over time, you’ll be more confident. Opening up the shop will be hard, but you’ll figure it out—we will. And, over time, you’ll learn how to make everything easier on you. You’ll pick up tricks that will make everything easier. And, by the way, I think you did a really good job on your presentation.”

  She stared at me blankly. “I screwed up like eight times.”

  “I counted six,” I admitted.

  I know you’re not really supposed to tell people when they screw up, but why lie to her about it? I could help her, and if I just told her she was fine, then she would know I was lying. The look on her face told me it wasn’t what she wanted to hear.

  “Great, I bet she noticed them all.”

  “So what? I’m sure she still screws up.” I shrugged. “I know I do.”

  “You do?” I could tell by the look on her face that she didn’t believe me.

  “Of course, I do!” I laughed. “Trust me, I’m nowhere near perfect. I screw up all the time. I’m sure Melina would be happy to tell you all about it!” And I already knew all the stories she would want to tell. “But uh, let’s avoid that, alright?” I laughed softly. “The point is, I’m proud of you … and it will get easier.”

  Ten months later

  I hadn’t believed Dean when he told me it would get easier, but he was honestly right.

  Don’t get me wrong, it was still hard. But I was learning fast, and I jumped head first into the deep end of the pool and was learning to tread water.

  It was my second month with an open shop. Dean had managed to get a friend’s help, and we’d found somewhere right on the strip that was renting. Of course, it wasn’t the center of the strip, but it was still considered on the strip, and that was what mattered. Of course, I’d taken Katie’s advice, and we were selling online as well.

  “Hi.” I beamed a
s the bell above our door rang, and someone came in. “Is there anything I can help you with or are you just browsing?”

  “Actually, we’re staying at a hotel just down the street.” My heart skipped a beat. Turns out Dean had a bunch of connections, some of which were in the hotel world. I’d managed to get a couple of them to give me a shot. I had a total of four hotels featuring my products, and was even thinking about reaching out to some of the major casinos that had hotels attached to them. “They said the hot chocolates in our room were from a local place. Is this it?”

  “Sure is!” I approached the couple who had just entered my shop. They looked like they might be in their 60s, both with gray hair but very fit. The man wasn’t paying much attention, but the woman looked thrilled.

  “Oh great! I had a cup today and just thought it would be perfect to take back to my daughter.”

  “Did you try the peaches and cream?” I asked, my eyes sparkling. “It’s our top seller; I always make sure to give the hotels lots of samples.” The woman’s eyes widened giving me an answer before she spoke. “Come on, I’ve got some samples of it out.” I led the way to the left where I kept my samples. That had been Dean’s idea, and it sure did bring in a lot of sales.

  It didn’t take long to help the couple out, and by the time they left, I had an extra $73 added to my business bank account.

  Of course, I still had an investor helping out, and she had been more helpful than just her money! I honestly didn’t know what I would have done without all this help, and I knew that. Of course, no one else was willing to admit it.

  I glanced at the clock, and my heart skipped a beat. Almost closing time. As much as I loved my job, it was nice every day when I got off.

  I made my way through the store and tidied everything up; come 6:00, I was ready to leave and had my work bag packed up. I made my way outside. The sun hadn’t begun to set yet, but with the casino open late now, I was closing early and heading over there to help out with anything they needed assistance with—Lord knows, Dean and Melina helped me on their days off.

  “I brought dinner!” I gave them each a grin as I entered Dean’s office to see them both sitting there with sour looks on their face. “What’s wrong?”

  “Natalie quit.” Melina sounded sad. “She’s … she’s decided to be a stay at home mom.”

  My jaw dropped. It had been a while since I’d seen Natalie, but I hadn’t realized she had a baby on the way. “Oh my goodness! We should throw her a baby shower!”

  I dropped a bag filled with burgers and fries on Dean’s desk before pulling one out for myself. I unwrapped it, my stomach grumbling. I took a huge bite as Dean and Melina reached for their own burger.

  Dean let out a sound of pleasure as he took a bite of his.

  “So,” I said through a mouthful of food, “did you still want that gift basket?” Dean was going to be having some special promotion at the casino, and they were doing a couple giveaways; he’d asked if I wanted to put a gift basket together for it. I think part of it was that he was hoping to get a discount or free item for the prizes—after all, he was a good businessman, but I think it was more than that. I think he wanted to help me out.

  “Do you still want to do it?”

  I nodded. “I have a couple options for you to pick from, or you can have them all.” I shrugged. I’d been bored and put together a few. If he didn’t want them, I would see if someone else did. The more marketing I could do, the better, that’s what I was beginning to learn, at least.

  Dean’s eyes sparkled as he stared at me. I couldn’t believe it had almost been a year since we met. It had been a hell of a crazy year, between having someone hold a gun to my head and having some woman try to steal Dean from me, but we were working through things together, and that was all that mattered to me. I was still in therapy, even though my therapist had long ago said I didn’t need to be, but I found it helpful. It kept me on track.

  As I finished my burger, I reached for a handful of fries and stuffed them in my mouth before wiping my hands on my jeans. “Alright, so what do you need help with?”

  Even though I was running my own business, I was still working part-time at the casino, more so to help than anything else, which meant I was getting paid for it, although I wasn’t normally out on the floor anymore.

  Melina stood. “I’ll leave you two to the rest of the work; I want to be on the floor in case anyone needs anything.” She turned to me. “See you later.”

  “See you!” I called as she left the room, closing the door behind her. Dean grinned widely.

  “I’m so glad it’s just the two of us.”

  I smiled. “Same.”

  We didn’t get much time alone anymore. Between my mom always wanting to see us, and Katie and her boyfriend hanging around at the apartment to help with the new flavors. I leaned over his desk and placed a quick kiss on his cheek. “So, how was your day, babe?”

  “It wasn’t bad.” Dean let out a deep breath. “How was your day?”

  “Long, but the shop is doing well. It’s actually doing really well.” I smiled. “And it’s all thanks to you.”

  “I helped a little. You’re the one doing all the hard work.” He smirked, pulling me off the chair and into his arms, his lips touching mine gently.

  My fingers tangled in his hair, pulling him closer to me. I prayed no one would come bother us. His hands traced over the curves of my body, and I nipped his lower lip playfully before pulling away.

  “Come on, let’s get this work done so we can get home.”

  THE END

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  Cassie

  “Can you believe this beach, Cassie?” Emma asked me. We were stretched out on lounge chairs on the sweetest white sand beach I’d ever seen. The ocean before us, all of the usual noises of a luxurious resort were all set against the backdrop of constant, rushing waves. I looked around at the activities on the beach: in the water there were paddle boarders attacking the waves and even a few surfers who were trying to catch the swell. Out of the water, almost everyone on the beach was a mirror of Emma and me, laying on lounge chairs with cocktails all around.

  “I can’t believe we’re actually here,” I sighed, closing my eyes and laying back. We had just gotten in to Belize that morning, and we’d spent most of the day traveling to the small, private island that contained Legacy, an ultra-luxurious resort known for its properties around the world. Emma and I had saved our money for over a year to be able to afford it, and, finally, here we were. The timing couldn’t have been better. Not only was it absolutely frigid in New York City, but I’d also just finally landed a position with International Travel, Inc. with their journalism department. Their magazine, Destination, was the hottest travel magazine around right now. It was my job to travel to various hotels around the world and report not only on their tourism aspects, but also on other elements: were the hotels and resorts ecologically responsible, did they sustain the local economy or bleed it dry, that sort of thing. It was my dream job, and one I’d been working for since I’d graduated from college four years earlier. My first internship had been in their solicitations department when I was a senior in college. Now, at age twenty-five, I had finally landed the job I anticipated to be my career for the rest of my life.

  The sun beat down on my body and warmed me completely through. The smell of suntan lotion was thick in the air. I had just finished rubbing some SPF 8 into my skin, starting with my feet and ending with my stomach, exposed between the two halves of my black bikini,
when a shadow blocked the sun on my legs.

  “Excuse me, ladies, can I get you a beverage?”

  I cracked one eye open and shielded my eyes from the sun. A Belizean man in white pants and a t-shirt with the resort’s logo over the right breast pocket stood at the feet of our lounge chairs.

  “What do you say, Emma, should we get this vacation started?”

  “I don’t see why we would wait any longer,” she said with a grin. We ordered two pina coladas and, while we waited, we went into the ocean for a bit. When our drinks arrived, Emma signed for them, and we clinked glasses.

  “I can’t believe you’re going to be doing this for your job,” Emma said. “And me, sitting in my cubicle like a complete chump.”

  “It’s not going to be like this,” I said. “For one, you won’t be with me. It’s going to be all work and no play most of the time.” Emma shot me a look that said she didn’t believe me for a second, and I protested. “Seriously! I’m going to be doing interviews, not laying at the beach.”

  “I’m sure you’ll find a few moments to maybe pretend you’re on vacation,” she said dryly.

  I laughed. “Okay, okay, maybe I’ll find some time to squeeze in a few minutes at, you know, ever major beach in the world. And, maybe a few cocktails too. But I won’t enjoy a second of it, just for you, I promise. I’ll text you regular selfies of how miserable I am.”

  “You know, you should try to interview the owner of Legacy while we’re here. It would be pretty impressive to your boss if you used your own vacation to snag an interview with the owner of your resort.”

  “That’s not a bad idea,” I said. “But, it’s doubtful that the owner is even here. Usually my schedule will be set around when they’re in town, which takes at least a few weeks to coordinate. Especially someone as prominent as the owner of Legacy; I don’t even know who the guy is. But, the Legacy chain is worldwide. He’s probably off in Egypt this week or something.”

  “True,” Emma said. “Guess this week we’ll just have to drink and lay out until we pass out from sheer happiness.”