Their Redemption

1: The Beginning

~ Seven Years Ago; August ~

Ronnie

I woke up later than I had planned. Since graduation, I haven’t really had any motivation for getting up early other than work. I enjoy sleeping in. I have to be at work in thirty minutes. It’ll take a good fifteen just to get there, and that’s if my Honda doesn’t give me any problems. We live on the outskirts of Pineville, which is on the outskirts of Charlotte. Thankfully, I took a shower last night and braided my hair. I quickly throw on a blue polo and khakis, grab my apron, and head downstairs.

“Shay, you’re running late, aren’t you? You should’ve left by now,” my mother says.

“Yeah, I overslept.”

“I knew I should’ve woken you.”

“Pam, she’s eighteen. She’s a grown woman and she knows her responsibilities. She doesn’t need you mothering her anymore,” Derek says as he cuts his eyes at me.

I remember when my mother first met Derek. She talked on the phone with her friend for hours about how he was the perfect redbone and how sexy he was. I hate the way he looks at me with his chocolate eyes. Derek disgusts me. I hate the day they got married! We were better off without him, but as a single mother with a dead baby daddy, I could see why my mother married him. I am grateful to have my little brother, Dory. Dory and Derek’s trust fund money are the only good things about the douchebag.

“Yeah well, I’ll be heading to work now,” I state. “I’ll see you later tonight.”

“What about Dorian,” mama asks.

“Ma, you already know I’m late. I don’t have time to drop Dory off at school,” I whine.

“I meant are you going to say goodbye to him,” she whispers and points at the stairs where 13-year-old Dory is sauntering down the steps, yawning.

“Morning Shay,” he smiles.

My little brother is the highlight of my life. His gentle smile always makes me happy.

“Morning Dory. Listen, I’ve got to go but I’ll see you later, okay?”

“Alright. Have a great day at work,” he yells as I run out the door.

I approach my car and sigh. Thankfully, it’s the summer and my car doesn’t need to warm up. If it was winter, then I’d be out of a job. I put my ‘99 Civic in drive and hurry off. Luckily for me, my old Betsy doesn’t fail me, but traffic is hell. Did everyone heading to Pineville decide to leave all at the same time? I arrive at work with ten minutes to spare.

“Good morning Lashay. I think this is the latest you’ve ever got here,” my boss Emily addresses after I walk through the door.

“Yeah, sorry about that. Traffic was a mess,” I reply, neglecting to tell her I overslept.

“Well, you know how it is when it’s the end of the month and payday. People love their coffee and bakery eateries.”

I join my coworker, Serena at the registers.

“I thought you were going to leave me to do the morning rush,” Serena jokingly scolds me.

I laugh and tighten my apron. People pile in to order their coffee and sweet treats. After an hour of nonstop customers, the morning rush is done. Serena joins Emily in the back to collect fresh sweets and I am left alone at the registers.

Then he walks in. He normally comes in with the morning rush, but he came in later today. Serena always takes his order. I swear he’s a tall glass of cinnamon and brown sugar. His skin is perfect and he always dresses to kill. He is so damn handsome. It’s just him, an older couple, and me in the cafe.

“Hello. Welcome to Amélie’s French Bakery & Café. What can I get for you,” I ask with a smile.

He smiles back at me and replies, “Serena usually takes my order and she knows what I normally get.”

His voice is insanely calm, deep, and incredibly sexy.

“Oh, uh… Serena is in the back,” I turn toward the kitchen. “I can go get her if you –”

“No, that won’t be necessary. Actually, I’m glad it’s just you up here.”

His words catch me off guard. He licks his lips after he says it. I can feel myself blushing.

“What can I get you,” I ask, trying to keep from smiling.

“Let me get a pecan sticky, some cinnamon raisin buns and a mocha latte.”

“Sure thing.”

I grab his sweets from the glass box and make his mocha latte. Through my peripheral, I can see that he is checking me out. I return to the register with his items and ring him up.

“That’ll be $12.73,” I tell him.

He pays with his debit card. I hand him his things.

“Thank you,” he smirks while turning to leave. “Oh wait. I would like one more thing,” he says, facing me.

“Okay. What’s that?”

“I would like to take you out on a date tomorrow evening if you’re free.”

I can feel my eyes widening and my cheeks get warm.

“Oh, umm…. uh, okay,” I say timidly.

“Great! Here’s my card. You can text me anytime. I look forward to hearing from you soon.”

He winks at me and leaves. I look at the card.

Malcolm J. Moore

Personal Financial Advisor at Wells Fargo

It has an office number on it. How am I supposed to text an office number? I flip the card over and there’s a handwritten number on the back. It’s his cell number. Serena comes from the back and grabs my shoulder, “Did Malcolm just give you his card??? Does it have his number on it?”

I flip it and she sees the handwritten number.

“Oh my god,” she shrieks. “I’ve been trying to nail him for the past two years and you’ve been working here for three months and you got his number?! How did you do it?”

“I only took his order. He asked me out and gave me his card,” I say as I shrug my shoulders.

“Girl, text him! See what he says.”

“He just left. I don’t want to seem like I want him.”

“You don’t,” Serena questions.

“Hell yeah I do! Girl he is fine as fvck!”

“Well help me get the rest of the food from the back and then text him.”

I roll my eyes as she pulls me to the kitchen. We get fresh food for lunch and bakery eats. The lunch rush quickly comes and it gets busy pretty quickly. Serena and I are almost overwhelmed. Emily comes out to help with the chaos. Business slows back down around 3 p.m. Serena has been nagging me to text Malcolm. I get off at 6:30 and I was planning to text him after getting home.

“Text him!!! Does he even know your name?”

“I dunno. He probably saw it on my name tag.”

I’m hoping he didn’t. I don’t need another person calling me by my middle name like everyone in this town does.

“How will he take you out if you don’t contact him?”

“Fine. I’ll text him now,” I say to get her off my back.

Hey. This is Veronica from Amélie’s.

…

The cutie that took my order this morning?

Idk about cute lol but yeah it’s me.

Great! I’ll lock your number in and text you when I get off.

He sends heart eyes emojis and I send the thumbs up emoji and put my phone back in my pocket.

“Sooo, what did he say?”

“Damn, you’re so nosey. He said he’d lock my number in. He also called me cute and sent some heart eyes emojis.”

“Fvck! I don’t think I stand a chance against you.”

“What are you talking about?”

“He would always look at you some type of way when he would place an order. I thought I was tripping, but it seems he’s been crushing on you for a while.”

“Don’t be silly! He’s just being polite.”

“Being polite is a smiling emoji. You don’t be polite by sending heart eyes emojis. He is flirting with you! He even winked at you when he left! I saw it. You are so lucky.”

Could he really like me? I mean obviously I checked him out when he came into the cafe but I never noticed him checking me out and today was the first time we ever interacted. Time quickly rolls by and 6:30 gets here before I realize it. I’m normally off on the weekends so I’m looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow morning. After clocking out, I head straight home. I immediately greet my mother, who is in the kitchen cooking dinner.

“Hey ma,” I yell as I run upstairs.

“So Pam is the only one in this house, huh,” Derek shouts.

I ignore him and continue up the stairs. I peek in Dory’s room before running into my own.

“Hey poopy butt,” I say.

“Hey stinky butt,” he smiles.

“You do your homework yet?”

“Doing it now. Wanna help me?”

I never turn down an opportunity to spend time with my little brother.

“What do we have tonight,” I exhale and sit on his bed beside him.

I can feel my phone vibrating in my pocket.

“Ms. Cherry gave us this stupid pre-algebra homework,” he bitches.

“Oh yikes. Algebra never was my strongest subject. I might have to bail on you.”

“It’s all good, Shay. I’ll ask dad to help me.”

“I’ll be in my room if you need me for anything else.”

I take my phone out as I walk into my room. I close my door behind me and lock it because I don’t want an unexpected visitor. There are three texts from Malcolm.

So, I was thinking maybe we could go to The Capital Grille. … Hope you’re not busy and I hope you don’t ghost me. … Sorry if I’m disturbing you. Text me when you can cutie.

It’s sweet that he kept texting me, even though he is unsure if I’m busy. I quickly text him back.

Sorry. I was driving home and I attempted to help my brother with homework. Also, Capital Grille sounds nice.

Perfect! We can meet there at six if you want.

Sounds good!

I set my phone on my nightstand and walk to my closet. If I’m going on a date, I have to look my best. I take out multiple outfits and none of them catch my eye. There’s a knock on my door.

“Shay, it’s mom and I brought you dinner.”

I open the door and she comes in with a tray and looks around my room with disappointment.

“The last time you emptied your closet on your bed, you had a date,” she says.

“I have another one tomorrow.”

She sits the tray on my desk.

“Do tell. Who is he?”

“One of the customers at the cafe. I was alone at the registers when he came in and he asked me out.”

I take out his card and hand it to her.

“Malcolm Moore. Hmm. He sounds sophisticated and he’s a personal financial advisor. He makes a decent amount of money. You’ll need a good provider in the future since you decided to not go to college. Can’t wait to find out more about him. Hopefully, he’s nothing like that last boy you brought here. Xavier was his name, wasn’t it? Anyway, eat your food while it’s still hot. I have something for you to wear tomorrow, so put your clothes back in the closet.”

She leaves, giggling. God, I hope she doesn’t bring me one of her three-piece suits to wear because she thinks he’s sophisticated. After putting my clothes away, I eat my dinner. I take a shower and throw on an old nightshirt. My phone buzzes and it’s a text from Malcolm.

Good night. Can’t wait to see you tomorrow, Veronica.

He sends more heart eyes. I send him a good night text back and quickly fall asleep. I wonder how this date will go tomorrow.