Late Nights (2 page)

Unlike Rachelle, she needed more than a sizzling attraction between them to make her forget about everything else going on around her.

Ultimately, the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with had to be caring, dependable and loving, considerate, and able to take care of himself. She didn’t mind helping her boyfriend out every once in a while, but she wasn’t about to give him money for no reason at all.

Getting into her Lexus, Sasha dug her favorite Bruno Mars CD out of the console and slipped it into the CD player before starting her car and pulling out of her driveway. She stopped at a red light a few blocks from her house and thought back to how she started working for Comforts Sleep Company, and Sterling Hamilton.

She had been employed by the Hamilton’s family owned business for over three years, but on a part-time basis because, for a short period, she had big dreams of becoming a famous actress.

She hoped her career would take off and she would eventually land a role in a big Hollywood film. She had only worked there for two weeks before quitting to find work on a movie or television show.

She had booked a couple of small parts in plays and on television, and everything seemed like it was going fantastic. Then a few years later she woke up and it hit her like a ton of bricks.

The acting thing was a little exciting, but it truly wasn’t for her because the callbacks were the hardest part. She would rather be told no instantly at the audition instead of being called back and then not landing the part. She wanted to do more, and decided to enroll in college and do something different.

So, she’d gotten out of bed and got on her laptop, then searched online for college classes to take. With the money she had left over from her Uncle Raymond’s life insurance policy, it would be more than enough to support her through whatever classes she took.

At first, she’d been extremely apprehensive about going back to college after being out of school for so many years. She wasn’t sure if she would fit in with the younger students, but she didn’t let that deter her from signing up and getting the ball rolling. Within six weeks, she was sitting in a classroom and taking notes from her professor.

After graduating, she had immediately gone to work at the family business with Rachelle. One thing was for sure, she wouldn’t be able to keep living in the same place with her paycheck from
Luxury
. She needed another income because she wasn’t about to get a roommate.

One day while at lunch, Sasha was looking through the want-ads for a part-time job and she noticed her old job was hiring an Employee Relations Specialist. So, she took a longer lunch and applied for the job the same day.

What could it hurt to see how far she might get in the interview process?

Sasha knew her mother raised her with something those other applicants lacked: the Williams women’s fierce determination. She didn’t know how to give up without giving it everything she had in her. Not quite two weeks later, she’d finally gotten a call from the company asking her to come in for an interview. She could barely contain her excitement long enough to give the woman a coherent answer.

The sound of a horn blowing jarred Sasha to the present. She pulled away from the green light. She would never forget how she felt sitting there with the other applicants, three female and one male. They all pretended they weren’t sizing each other up and making judgments on each other’s appearances.

Her nerves had been on edge as she watched applicant after applicant getting called into the conference room for the job she wanted. She would bet none of the other candidates needed the job or money as badly as her. The pay quoted in the newspaper ad would help her keep her apartment without having to get a roommate.

She also remembered specifically how she had made up her mind back then to not mention the job interview to anyone, especially Rachelle. Her older sister believed if something was meant to be then it would happen for you. If not, you should accept it and move on to something else.

Don’t let the small things worry you for no reason.

Why let it get you down when it wasn’t meant to be, anyway?

So, if she hadn’t gotten hired for the job at Comforts Sleep Company, Rachelle wouldn’t know how much she needed a second income. In the end everything turned out perfectly because she got the job.

Making a left turn, Sasha continued driving towards work when something suddenly crossed her mind that hadn’t in a
very
long time. She still wasn’t sure what made the interviewer hire her instead of the tall brunette. She had been her biggest competition during the last round of interviews.

She knew the past was the past, but every once in the while the thought did cross her mind that she was the one working at Comforts Sleep Company. Working with Sterling was the best job she could ever ask for; she truly didn’t want to be anywhere else.

The long hours didn’t bother her at all, and interacting with the employees was a lot more fulfilling than she thought it would be. She didn’t mind gathering information from them to put towards resolving problems between them and upper management.

The more she learned and the more she saw Sterling, the more she enjoyed being in his company, and listening to his accent wasn’t bad either. Honestly, the idea of doing this job for several more years didn’t sound too bad.

Sure, there were those rare occasions with certain men at Comforts Sleep Company who didn’t want to take her advice about stopping their demeaning comments about their female co-workers. However, once she reported them to Sterling at their weekly meetings, they came back with totally different attitudes and were a lot more respectful.

Sometimes men at the other factories would holler and whistle at her as she walked past them when she went there for visits. Yet, she learned very quickly how to ignore the guys who had no class. She shoved their unwanted comments to the back of her mind and went on with her day.

Working for CSC gave her the chance to prove to Rachelle that she could be a responsible person and hold a job for more than six months. Sasha tried to keep her mind off her handsome boss, but as usual Sterling found a way to sneak back into her head. When was she going to finally admit to herself that she saw him as more than her boss, and she was dying for him to notice her as a woman instead of his brilliant employee?

Chapter Two

Sterling Hamilton was a very good-looking man with his classically handsome features. His black hair was cut short, making his clear blue eyes more extraordinary. When he smiled, his perfectly white teeth brightened up the room and made her forget where she was for a minute. She found it
impossible
not to have feelings for him. Over the past few months he had melted her defenses away without even knowing it.

Despite the fact, Sasha knew nothing was ever going to happen between her and Sterling. Secretly a small part of her was pleased he wasn’t involved with anyone at the moment. She wasn’t too naïve to comprehend a successful and powerful man like him wouldn’t date a woman like her, one still trying to make her mark in the world.

Sure, Sterling might flirt with her every once in a while, but never
to the point that she would take any of it seriously. He was more attracted to women in his social circle, and she couldn’t blame him.

However, if he ever considered changing his no dating employees rule at CSC, she would be the first person standing in line to get a shot at him. Some days she would get so caught up staring at his tight ass as he sauntered around in his tailored dress slacks that she was sure he could feel her eyes burning a hole through the back of him.

Almost thirty minutes after leaving home, Sasha pulled into the semi-empty parking lot of her job. It was almost time for the night crew to get off from cleaning the place, restocking the shelves, and fixing the display beds on the showroom floor. Hiring the night staff had been one of Sterling’s ideas as soon as he came on as the new manager and so far it was working out pretty well. It gave the place a more professional look, so it wouldn’t be done while customers were trying to shop.

Turning off her car, Sasha grabbed her briefcase and purse from the passenger seat, and as she was about to get out of the car her cell phone rang.

She quickly dug through her purse and checked the Caller ID. Sasha frowned at the phone number displayed on the blue screen. Of course, now
this
sister would want to talk to her when she already at work and about to go inside.

Flipping the phone open, Sasha put it up to her ear. “I tried calling you earlier,” she said. “Why didn’t you pick up then instead of calling me now when I’m at work? You know how much I hate being late.”

“What do you think I was doing at six o’clock in the morning? I’m not scheduled to work at
Luxury
until eleven o’clock,” Genise complained. “I was asleep and I shouldn’t get yelled at from you because of it. Why don’t you call at the hour a normal person would?”

Rolling her eyes, Sasha swallowed down her initial comment, knowing Genise would only hang up on her. She didn’t want to push her sister into starting her day off on the wrong foot, so she would be the mature one.

“Sorry. I will remember not to call you so early next time. I’ve been trying to get a hold of Rachelle and Akisha. Have you talked to either one of them?” Sasha knew it was a slim chance that Genise had spoken to Rachelle, but maybe Akisha would be a different story.

“No, I haven’t heard from Big Sis. You know how Rachelle is since she married Cash. They’re probably spending most of their time in their cabin and not worrying about the outside world.

“Actually, I’m very happy for her. I think it was
way
past time she finally got a life,” Genise admitted. “I swear I thought Rachelle was going to become one of those women who started collecting stray cats. Thank God she met Cash and he swept her off her feet.”

“Okay, what about Akisha?” Sasha cut in. Maybe she was the only one of her sisters who missed having Rachelle around.

“Nope, I think the last time I talked to her something was going on at work. You know how she can be. Sometimes Akisha wants to do the sisterly thing with us and then she doesn’t. What’s up anyway? Is there something wrong? Is that the reason you wanted to talk to us this morning?”

Sasha didn’t want to get into all of her personal problems in the parking lot. No, she would invite the girls over for dinner tonight and get everything out in the open over a good bottle of wine.

“Can you come over for dinner tonight? I want to discuss some things about
Luxury
with you and Akisha. Tonight is the only night that I have free for the rest of the week.”

The long pause on the other end of the phone didn’t go over her head. Genise
hated
discussing business outside of
Luxury
and everyone knew it, but this was important and had to be done. They needed to draw people to their hotel.

Yes, Rachelle might be in charge of running
Luxury
, but she, Genise, and Akisha had all invested some of their money into the inn and they wanted it to be profitable just as much as she did.

Last night she had a new idea about adding a small gift shop to
Luxury
, so when out of town visitors stayed there they could buy t-shirts, hats, or other small gifts to take back home with them.

“I’m not sure I can make it,” Genise hedged.

Enough is enough
.

“If you don’t show up tonight to give your opinion about the new designs and additions I want to discuss, don’t bother coming to work for a while,” Sasha said. “The hotel is supposed to be a family-owned business and if you don’t want to contribute why should you keep getting a paycheck for work you aren’t even doing?”

It was about time she or one of the other sisters put their foot down when it came to Genise’s inability to grow up. Anytime they wanted her opinion she always avoided giving it, then continuously complained about anything and everything after the ideas were completed.

Her sister cursed in her ear. “You can’t threaten me like this and you know it. Stop it.”

“I bet Akisha and Rachelle would agree with me on this. So, the choice is yours. I would show up if I were you,” she warned her little sister. She was done playing these games and Genise needed to know she meant business.

“Sasha, are you sure it has to be tonight?” Genise whined. “I already had plans to do something else. Come on, I know you really don’t need me to be there. I’ve been working at my second job a lot this week.

“Noah needed help getting everything together for his grand opening in a couple of weeks. Since he finally decided to give me a night off, I was going to hang out with some friends I haven’t seen in a while.”

Why did I ever think I could count on Genise for anything important?

Genise didn’t possess a responsible bone in her body and never would. Blowing off important things was all her baby sister knew how to do ever since they were kids. Her sister’s main priorities included attending parties and going shopping. She wasn’t
ever
going to change…at least not in this lifetime.

“Go ahead and hang out with your friends. Forget about calling Akisha, too, I’ll do it during my break at work. At least, I hope that I’ll able to count on one of my sisters to do the mature thing and show up tonight for dinner.”

“Sasha, I’m─”

Sasha disconnected the phone in disgust before her sibling tried to redeem herself with another sorry excuse. Currently, she had too much going on to get swept up into any nonsense with her sister. How much more had to happen before she got it into her thick skull about Genise? Genise didn’t have the skills to step up when it came to anything important.

She loved bragging about everything she had going on in her life, but Genise seldom wanted to do any extra work to take it to the next level. Sasha wanted to be more disappointed with her, but she couldn’t. Her sister’s personality hadn’t changed all that much since they were children.