Scandalous Desires

Chapter 10

Filling out the last bit of paperwork at HR, Micah had to admit that the day seemed long. Her feet ached from breaking in these new black pumps for her first day at work. And as comfortable as these chairs looked for some reason her behind hurt too. She was looking forward to going home… until she got a message from Alex.

"The girls want to celebrate, everyone has news. Meet us at Cherry's after work!" texted Alex.

Cherry's was her favorite hang out spot in downtown Center City. She'd never turn down a chance to hang with her girls there, even if she did feel drained. Plus she felt she needed to treat herself for surviving the first day.

She checked Google maps for the distance… it was 7 minutes away! "You don't have to tell me twice!" she texted back, "I'll be there!"

Micah handed in the papers to the HR manager and quickly made her way to the main entrance of the building to wait for her Uber ride.

When Micah arrived at the restaurant she headed straight to her and her friends' favorite spot at the back. She knew they'd be there.

Micah liked everything about the place. It was a quaint, relaxed space, but still maintained a bit of edge to it. It had a vintage-meets-modern style, with exposed red brick, faux antique wood furniture mixed with modern plush booth seating, and lots of lush greenery in its front and back, outdoor seating areas. It's sort of hole in the wall feel made you forget you were in a busy city. It functioned like a cafe during the day and had a popular bar crowd at night. It was known for its signature cherry flavored virgin and alcoholic drinks, with its Manhattan cocktail being the number one claim to fame.

"Hey, Micah," said one of the bartenders.

"Julian! How's my favorite bartender?!" She waved as she stopped at the counter to greet him.

Juilan smiled. He was a tall, light-skinned man with curly black hair and hazel brown eyes that sparkled like topaz. "Things are busy, as usual." Micah looked around, and nodded every table was full.

"How's my favorite customer?" He asked.

"I'm good. Just started an awesome new job today," she smiled. He raised his hand to give her a high five.

"Awesome."

"But my feet are killing me with these new shoes ! I really need to sit down," she lifted her leg to rub her ankle.

"Go have a seat," he said. "The ladies are in their usual spot," he nudged his head towards the back of the restaurant. "Shall I make your favorite?"

"Yes please, with extra cherries!"

"Of course!" He winked.

"You're a lifesaver!" She said with an air kiss as she made her way to the back. He chuckled and shook his head.

When she got to the back she spotted them right away. They usually sat there since no one usually sat at the back, so it allowed them to talk freely.

"And here she is! Woman of the hour!" squealed Alex, drumming her hands on the wooden table as the three women saw their friend approaching.

"What up, boo!" Alex said as the girls stood up to greet her with hugs.

Micah's friends were Alexandra aka 'loose Lexi', med student. Cassandra's aka Cassie - the ocd princess and events coordinator. And Veronica aka Roni, the oldest of the crew, the laid back, no nonsense, newly established psychologist.

Micah made her rounds, as she greeted each friend. They all looked radiant in their own ways. Roni wore a soft pink cotton dress that hugged her figure, which was emphasized by the bedazzled belt she wore around her waist. She wore her hair in a goddess braid with a pony tail that came from the back and cascaded to her shoulders.

"Hey sweety," said Roni with a one armed hug. "They drained you, hunh?" She gave her an affirmative look.

"Look at you, miss PhD holder, with those psychologist skills, already picking up on Micah's problems!" said Alex to Roni with a wink.

"Y'all don't even know the half!" said Micah.

"Uh oh, Looks like we got some juice to spill today!" said Cassie to Micah. She scooted over to give her some space after hugging her as well.

"I like the new look, it's cute" said Micah, as she scooted by her. Cassie's jet black hair was braided into individual micro braids that were pulled back into a tight I-dream-of-Jeanie ponytail, with a very straight bang in the front. She wore a floral, 1960's style Ankara tunic dress, with matching jewelry and black strapped heels.

"But you guys go first. I need my drink to get here before I do or say anything else!" she said. She took a seat and carelessly removed her shoes.

"I'll go first," said Cassie, who looked really excited. She took a sip of a red drink that was in a martini glass. "I got promoted to head events coordinator, guys!" She squealed, stomping her feet on the ground with excitement. Roni and Alex reached over and high fived her. "So I get my own team of assistants and I get to choose which clients I want to do events for. And, of course, a major pay raise!"

"That's great, Cass. Congrats!" said Micah.

"That was quick too, you've been there for, what? Six months?"

"Nine months. My boss said I'm the only one who focuses the most on details and perfection," she grinned with pride.

"Looks like it does pay to be OCD!" said Alex with a laugh. The ladies chuckled.

"I am not OCD. I just like being clean, neat, and germ free," she shrugged. Roni gave her a look.

"...Says the woman who uses rubbing alcohol to dissinfect after s*x!" said Roni.

"That was just that one time!"

The table was in an uproar of laughter when the waiter came with Micah's drink. She waved at the waiter. "Your drink, madam," he said, placing it in front of her. It was a cherry lime margarita mocktail garnished with fresh cherries and a plate of more cherries on the side.

Micah immediately took a long sip of her drink and moaned with delight. It was literally the cherry on top of a sweet and sour day. She put a cherry in her mouth and pulled the stem out slowly…"this is so good, yall" she said.

The waiter watched her, distracted for a second before clearing his throat. "Good evening ladies, I'm Adam, your waiter for this evening."

"Mmmm," said Micah, "Adam, you just made my day with this drink," said Micah. Alex nudged her.

"What!? It is good!"

"Girl you sound like you are having an orgasm with that drink," she laughed.

"Jealous much?" said Micah with a playful smirk.

"Of a drink?" laughed Lexi. "Ha! That's the d word that can get the party started but not the d word that can keep it going… you know what I mean…? " The girls giggled and high fived her. Adam blushed a bit. "Right Adam?" Lexi said noticing his slight shyness.

Adam grinned at the ladies, "Well if I helped to get the party started, it was my pleasure," he said. "Is there anything else I can bring you ladies that will get that same response as hers?" He said cheekily, referring to Micah's drink-gasm, with a wink.

"Um, that depends, Adam, are we talking on the menu…" said Alex as she grazed her eyes down Adam's physique, "...or off?" Alex said with a wink back at him. The waiter seemed a bit speechless and the ladies laughed again.

"Adam, we'll let you know. We're still deciding," said Roni when the laughter died down. He gave a nod and left.

"So who else has news?" said Micah, who was more cheery and not as seemingly fatigued as before.

"I'll go," said Alex, "I made employee of the month for my first month working as a bar maid at my new job at Howards," said Alex. Micah gave her a pat on the back.

"Howards!?" said Cassie, "Isn't that like an exclusive, strip club for rich men?" She frowned.

"Yup!" said Alex, ignoring Cassie's judgie face, while taking a sip of her clear bubbly drink. "And I'm glad for it. I'm getting 100-500 dollars, per customer in tips each night from just serving drinks. Definitely helps with the med school situation," she smiled.

"That's awesome, Lex. How did you do it?" Cassie asked.

"I got the most tips, and a lot of customers told the manager how great I am," she winked with a smile.

"Lexi," said Roni with a side eyed glance, "you sure you're just serving drinks and not…just serving 'drinks'?" Roni started chimmying, making the girls laugh.

"I'm "loose Lexi," but not that loose!" she stated with feigned shock. "I've still got some dignity, trying to be a surgeon and all," she replied.

Roni looked relieved. "Congrats, hun. Just be safe. Just because they're rich doesn't mean you don't have to watch out."

"Yes, Mommy" said Alex jokingly. "But most nights there actually isn't any stripping, that's mainly on the weekends. The guys are like politicians and business men who meet up to wine, dine, and make deals" she said. "And they spend a lot of money. Appetizers alone start at $100, and it all goes up from there," she said. Roni whistled.

"I'm not mad at you honey, make that money!" said Roni.

"What about you, Roni? What's good?"

"Well I got a reply back from two of the three jobs I applied for. One is at a private practice that I really wanted to work with. Their approach to psychological counseling is really progressive. I think I'm going to take that one, but I am waiting until the end of the week to hear back from the third one," said Roni.

Cassie clapped and Alex cheered for her. "That's fantastic news, Roni!" said Micah.

"Look at us, beautiful, strong, talented women making moves! I'm proud of us, ladies. Can we cheer on that!?" said Alex. The girls clinked their glasses.

"But wait, we haven't heard Micah's yet," said Cassie.

"So I have my great and not so great," she said, "which first?"

"The great!" they all said at the same time.

"The great is that I'm working at the Daily Times as a reporter now," said with a smile. They clinked their glasses. "...With the number one female investigative journalist in the country! She is like my idol, guys, and she's really… well, she is no nonsense, but she's great!"

"Love it!" said Roni.

"But what's the not so great?" said Cassie?

"Remember I told you who I saw at the Coffee Shop this morning?" Micah said to Alex, rolling her eyes.

"Right, the son of that media mogul, Dickson," Alex said, "the one that owns the Daily Times."

"Yeah, Rick Dickson. He's such an a-hole, he was so rude to me today..." said Micah. "Ha," she said after pausing a moment, "I got his nickname… he's Rick the d**k!" The ladies laughed.

"What did he do…?" asked Cassie.

"Let's see…"

"There's a list!?" said Roni.

"First, he pretty much cursed the entire staff and threatened to fire one of them at the Coffee Shop for not moving fast enough - which wasnt mean to me, but just shows how much of an a-hole he is. Then, He let the elevator doors close on me so I couldn't get on, which made me slightly late for work…" Micah started. She recounted everything that happened but purposely left out him catching her and the whole looking deep into her eyes part.

" I can't wait for the press conference to be over on Wednesday so that I don't have to deal with him."

"Is this him?" said Alex, holding up her google search of Rick Dickson photos.

Micah popped another cherry in her mouth and nodded.

"He is so delicious looking though!" she said. "Looking like Mr. 'd**k me down' Rick...ha!" she laughed. Micah rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, cute on the outside but ugly on the inside," said Cassie. "Girl, he is trying you. Just do your best to ignore him as much as possible," she sympathized.

"Yeah, he definitely has some women issues," said Roni, "but, beyond that… I think he secretly likes you, Micah," said Roni.

"Hunh!?" The three looked at Roni as if she was crazy.

"You know they say people who become psychologist do so because they are crazy themselves…" Alex said jokingly. Roni waved a dismissive hand at Lexi.

"Yeah, I think he likes you," she repeated. "It's the classic mean boy at the playground scenerio. The little boy is mean to the girl because he wants her attention but he doesn't know how to get the positive kind so he opts for the negative attention instead ," said Roni.

"Well I don't deal with boys. I deal with mature men, who communicate. I don't have time for that!" said Micah, as her phone began to ring. It was an unknown number, so she let it go to voicemail.

"Well it's true," said Roni with a shrug.

"How much are you willing to bet?" said Lexi with a mischievous look.

"Lexi!" The three of them said. Alex was known for her love of gambling. She wasn't addicted but she was always ready for a bet or trying to start one. Las Vegas would love her if she lived there.

"Come on! Let's put Roni's PhD to the test. Is she right? I got $100 that says she's wrong. Who's in?"

"I know I'm right though," said Roni.

"So drop that Benjamin into the pot," grinned Alex.

"Ok I'm in," she said dropping two fifties on table.

"Cassie, Micah? What say you, my dears?"

"Well I really hope that Roni is wrong so I bet no," said Micah. Alex wiggled her fingers as a gesture to put in her money. "After my first paycheck comes," said Micah.

"I hope no too, but, I trust Roni's expertise. It's a yes for me, hun" said Cassie, as she dropped a Wine and Cheese card on the table. Alex made a face.

"What the heck is this!?"

"What? I barely carry cash anymore", explained Cassie. "One of my clients is a manager at Wine and Cheese. He gave me a $100 gift card as a small token of appreciation for the great engagement party I arranged for him and his fiancee,"

Alex shrugged with acceptance. "Fine."

The unknown number called on Micah's phone again but she ignored it. This time her phone showed that she had a voice message. She pressed to listen.

"Speak of the devil, y'all," she said. "Guess who just called me!?"

"So he's already blasting up your phone after work hours… ok," said Roni with a smile.

Cassie looked at Roni, "how about we use our winnings for a spa day?" They both laughed at the other two as Adam the waiter returned to take their order.