Chapter 9 No.9

My name is Blake Johnson. I'm a city girl through and through. I spend most of my time on public transportation. The hectic traffic has deterred my interest in buying a car. I work six days a week, and Sunday is my only relaxing day. I spend my Sundays trying new recipes. My friends can always come to my home and get themselves a hot good home cook meal. You can say I'm hard-working because I have full-time and part-time jobs. My friends say I'm prim, innocent, and a homebody. Though a city girl, I don't particularly like nightclub life. I ran into too many weirdos.

So far the most part, I stay to myself. I've put a hold on my desire to experience life and love for an extended period.

I'm the only child of my father but the youngest of her mother's four children. I have been alone for most of my late teens and young adult life. After my father left my mother and remarried, I lived with my father and stepmother for a short time. Once my stepmother begins to have children for my father. I was mistreated. I did all the housework, cooking, and cleaning. So the day I graduated from high school, I moved out on my own with only a part-time job and have been on my own ever since.

My ultimate goal was to open a restaurant and catering business one day. First, I worked as a short-hand cook, then some years later, I got promoted to assistant Chef. Unfortunately, the job didn't pay enough for me to take care of myself and save money to open my own business.

I had been denied every imaginable bank loan you could think of. But today, I felt hopeful because this bank was recommended to me by a wealthy friend, and her family deals with this bank all the time. I was sitting in the bank waiting to talk to customer service. I sat there deep in thought, thinking about everything I would do with the money once I got this loan. That's when I heard quietness. The man behind the desk had finally stopped tapping on his calculator and started talking to her.

"Ms. Blake Johnson, I'm sorry, but we must deny you a loan."

"Sir, why am I being denied this loan?" Blake asked with her temples throbbing out of anguish at hearing those words.

"Ms. Blake Johnson, you don't have good enough credit, and your score needs to be above 700 to be considered for a loan. And your income is too low to support your venture. I'm sorry, but you're a risk we are unwilling to take."

I heard all the undertones of discrimination, which wasn't the first time. After that, I heard them over and over again. The rejection hurt, and I knew there was more to it than her credit score and income. For example, my girlfriend Sandy, whose father owns my restaurant, doesn't even have credit! And Sandy only has a part-time job, yet I was granted a $10,000 loan two weeks ago.

But despite all the odds against me, I refuse to give up on my dreams. I knew it was just a matter of time before something good would come my way. In the meantime, I worked hard as a Chef Assistant, and at home, I spent most of my free time preparing and perfecting her cooking skills. Then one day, a man appeared and scrambled my mind, hormones, and life.

What will I do when I meet a man desperate for help, who makes me

a proposition I can't refuse?

I didn't seem equipped to handle relationships like other women. Sometimes I thought something was missing because I was now in my late twenties and dated here and there. But could never connect or find a guy that suited me. So I found that if I embraced my singleness, I became content over the years. It kept me from dealing with my emotions and other people's feelings, needs, and desires. I didn't have the time for nor felt ready to settle for just anybody. I was focused on her career goals. Blake didn't think about the things most women considered at her age. I didn't dream of the big white wedding, the house in the burbs, the kids, or the dogs. Right now, I couldn't picture that life for myself, no matter how hard I tried.

Work made sense to me; owning my own business made sense, or it did until Chandler Jordan went and changed everything.

None of it made sense to me, and now here I am, trying to make what I was about to embark on make sense to her friend.

"Julie, can you cover the rest of my kitchen shift tonight?"

"Don't tell me you are going to your other part-time job tonight."

"No, I'm not going to my other part-time job, but I have some important business to take care of, and I don't know how long it will take."

"It's important business, this time of night. It's almost 10 pm. But wait! Don't tell me you are finally going on a date with someone." Julie says excitedly for her friend.

"No! I said it was business."

"What kind of business, or do you mean get busy." Julie snickered.

"Can you get your mind out of the gutter?"

"Then tell me, what business."

Blake begins talking in a low tone. "Julie, I've made my mind up about that proposition I told you about last week."

"Uhmm, give me a many to think about what you, Oh! That proposition! You're not going to marry that man, are you?!" Julie asked, yelling out, as everyone in the kitchen stopped what they were doing and looked at the two of them.

I partially smiled at my crew in the restaurant kitchen. "Could everyone please get back to work?"

The shuffling and clanking of pots and pans proceeded as usual. "Julie? Thanks a lot for putting my business out in the streets. I hope you noticed I'm not getting any younger and haven't even dated once. Besides, I'm attracted to him, to my surprise."

"I'm just shocked, that's all! Completely shocked! Just two days ago, you said no, then yesterday, you said no! And now, tonight, you'll tell him you'll marry him?"

"Alright, alright! Julie, you made your point loud and clear." I shove Julie by the shoulder, pushing me into the office room and closing the door so they can talk more privately.

But it wasn't as if I hadn't considered every angle of my decision. I told myself it was merely helping a dear friend in need. And maybe, it could develop into a real relationship.

Julie glared at her with a bewildered expression. "What? Is he a dear friend now? No, what he is, is a man! You told me he's tall, good-looking, and fine. But he's still a man!" Julie reasoned aloud, though softly, since they were only tucked away in the small office behind the kitchen.

I knew I didn't want the rest of the staff to overhear their private conversation. I didn't want my excellent idea, so to speak, to be exposed to the eyes of the whole world. It was enough that Julie knew and was giving me crazy looks and a hard time about it, even though Julie herself does some flipped-out things that you would never catch me ever doing.

And if my dear friend of many years didn't understand, I knew no one else would. I knew it was a sad way to begin my romantic life with someone for the first time in a semi-strange way. "Don't look at me like that, Julie. People do strange things in my book all the time."

"Like what?" Julie asked.

"Like they meet guys at clubs, strangers, and they sleep with them on the same night of meeting the man. Some people know people way less time than I've known Chandler Jordan, and they've slept together already several times. Some live with their marriage mate and mistress under the same roof." Blake wanted to know what the difference was. "I know the difference. I'm going to be his wife."

Smothering a half smile, Julie said, "Okay, you made your point. Am I just worried, okay? You've always been the mature one and made some pretty smart decisions in your life and mind. So I guess I'll have to keep believing in you. Right?" I said, smiling affectionately at Blake.

"Since I'm on the night shift, you'll get to meet him." Julie got excited.

"I said only to meet him, okay?"

"He's coming here tonight?!" Julie repeatedly asked.

"Yes, I asked him to stop by after work to talk about it. I haven't told him my decision yet."

The two ladies exited the office as the staff wrapped things up in the kitchen. "Blake?" A coworker called her.

"Yes, Lakeisha,"

"There's a real fine gentleman," I said, grinning like a fool and licking her lips.

I found myself floundering at work like a ship that'd come loose from its anchor, not to mention I was embroiled in a thing with Chandler Jordan and a man I barely knew.

How did I let that happen? But I had no other choice when I thought about it and what he offered me. I had tried every other method and way to stand up on my own feet and be independent, but now that I found another way to accomplish my goals legally, I will take it. I will only be committed to paper for a limited time. After that, there will be no more thinking about it. I'm going to do it; I have to. But how did I meet this man? Who is this handsome man about to turn my life around?