Diluted Desire (2 page)

Fifteen minutes later, after their lunches had been eaten and they began to feel human again Clint talked business.  “So how did the pumpkin cupcake do today?”  He liked to keep his menu fresh, while he always had the customers’ favorites; he changed the menu based on the season and holiday.  Since it was fall and Halloween was rapidly approaching he had introduced some new cupcakes to the menu.

“They sold okay, not as good as I would like, though.  I think that I’ll set out some samples when I go back out, that should increase sales,” Summer said.

Clint agreed.  This was the type of thinking that made his business a success.  Even though it was something he would have done, but the fact that she had come up with the idea on her own, proved to Clint that she was management material. 

“How is the planning for the Halloween party?”  Every year Sugah Cakes threw a private Halloween party for their customers, it was silly and intimate with only about one hundred people.  Everybody loved it, it gave them all a chance to dress up and have fun.

“Everything is fine.  The D.J. and menu are all set, and the invitations went out last week,” Summer answered, while mentally clicking items off her list.  “There are a couple of things that I need to do, but we’re in great shape.”

“Let me know if you need me to do something,” Clint offered.  They had been having the party for the last four years and Summer coordinated it each time and always did a great job.  “So who are you going to be this year?”

Summer winked.  “I’m not going to tell you.  Wait and see.”

Every year her costume was a baked good item.  Everybody always looked forward to Summer’s unique costumes.  “Well, I’m not gonna tell you what I’m dressing up as,” Clint said.

Summer laughed.  “I can only imagine,” she said dryly.  Clint always went over the top with his costume, for the past couple Halloweens, he actually hired a professional makeup artist and the results were always phenomenal.  Summer didn’t expect anything less from him this year.

Clint turned the conversation back to business.  “How’s Linda working out?” he asked referring to a new employee.  He had let Summer interview candidates and to make the final hiring decision.

Summer hesitated before responding.  “She’s okay,” she finally said.  “I don’t know if it’s me or if I’m expecting too much.”

Clint grinned at her.  “I doubt it.  What is she doing?” he asked concerned.

“Yesterday she ignored a customer; instead she was talking on her phone.  Luckily, I ran over and helped him before he got upset and when she was hired I told her to make sure she kept the tables clean.  But today when it slowed down a bit, she didn’t get on the floor to clean the tables, I had to do it.” Summer took a deep breath before continuing, “The worst thing is that she got snippy with a customer.”

“That definitely sounds like a problem.”

“I don’t understand it.  She seemed so professional during the interview and she answered all the questions the right way.  I thought she would be great at customer service.  I just don’t understand it,” she said still bewildered by the one hundred and eighty degree turn that Linda had taken.

“You’ll find that some people are good at interviewing and they finally show their true colors after they’ve been on the job a while.”

“She’s definitely showing her ass,” Summer muttered. 

He gazed intently at her. “So what would you do?”

“Fire her.”

Clint mulled over her response, then said, “That’s an option, but why not give her one more chance.  I would like for you to sit down and tell her what she’s doing wrong and that she has thirty days to correct her performance and if she doesn’t she’s going to be dismissed.”

Summer’s eyes widened.  “I can’t do that!”

“You wanted to fire her a minute ago.”

“Yeah, but I was talking about you, I want you to do it.  I can’t do it.”

“Why?” he gently prodded.

“Because,” Summer sputtered.  “I can’t.”

“You can and you will,” Clint said firmly.  He stood up indicating the end of their lunch.  “I’ll check back with you by the end of the week to check your progress.”

“Clint!” Summer protested.

Clint waved at her.  “Bye bye, get back on the floor.”

Summer glared at him and stomped out.

Clint grinned at her.  “I’m going to make you a manager, even if you don’t want me to.”

Clint attacked the plate of ribs as soon as he and his brother, Trevor, sat in the booth.  He hadn’t eaten anything since the sub Summer had bought him…hours ago. 

He and Trevor had decided to meet up at their favorite soul food restaurant for dinner.  They hadn’t seen each other in a couple of weeks.  Growing up they had always been close and with age their bond and deepened.

“Whoa slow down man!  Keep eating that fast you’re going to make yourself sick!” Trevor said.

“I’m hungrier than a struggling gold digger, I haven’t eaten since lunch.”

“Did that fine Summer feed you?” Trevor asked slyly, and then took a bite of his fried chicken leg.

Clint chuckled.  “Yes, Summer did go out and buy me lunch but she gets reimbursed for it.”

“But she doesn’t have to, it’s not in her job description,” he reminded him.

“That’s just Summer, she’s nice like that.”

Trevor chuckled.  “Naw man, she’s not that nice to me.  She wants you.”

“Naw,” Clint protested.  “I’ve known her for years; she’s like my little sister.”

“Yeah, a little sister who would like to jump into bed with you,” Trevor said with a snicker.

A cashier headed in their direction.  “Geneva is coming over again,” Clint whispered to his brother before discreetly jutting his chin at her. 

Trevor stretched, and then peeked over his shoulder; sure enough she was sauntering toward their table.  They had been in the fast-food restaurant for only ten minutes but she had stopped by their table twice, once to re-fill their drinks and once to clear away extraneous napkins, things that they could and should be doing on their own.  But they were so used to women falling over themselves to get their attention that it no longer fazed them. 

When they were younger they took advantage of the women, using them for sex and money.  Maturity eventually won out, causing them to change their behavior and act more responsibly. 

“Do y’all need anything?” Geneva drawled, while cracking her gum.  She had unzipped her brown polyester top, exposing ginger hued globes. 

“We’re cool,” Clint answered.

“Yeah, we’re straight,” Trevor chimed in.

Geneva began picking up used moist towelettes.

“Oh, we can do that,” Clint offered, hoping that she’d leave, but she continued her cleaning duty. 

“It’s no problem.  We ain’t that busy.”

Trevor and Clint looked at the counter.  There was a long line of customers snaking around the cash register.  The cashier was taking orders and glaring at Geneva. 

“I think they need you at the register, the cashier is looking over here like you just stole her last pack of Remi hair,” Trevor said.

Geneva glanced over and rolled her eyes, immediately dismissing the cashier.  “Oh, that’s just LaTeefa throwing shade, she just mad ’cause she caught her boyfriend, Man Man, cheating on her.  She’ll be aw’ight.”  She turned to Trevor.  “So you have a girlfriend?” she asked boldly.

Trevor tried to suppress a snort of disgust, but he wasn’t quite successful and it came out as a half cough and grunt.  “Yeah, I do,” he managed to get out.

Geneva rolled her eyes.  “Well, if you ever get tired of her, you know where I am,” she said before sashaying away.

“Yeah, and you’ll be here for the next ten years doing the same job,” he muttered while watching her ass. 

“Pull those eyes back.  You know that Blaklee would kick your ass from here to Tennessee if she even thought you were looking at another chick,” Clint joked and at the mention of his girlfriend, Trevor obediently faced his brother.  Once Blaklee had thrown Trevor’s new iPhone out of a moving car after she had seen a text on it from another lady.  They both seemed to love their tempestuous relationship; they’d been going strong for three years. 

“Speaking of women, how’s your wife?” Trevor asked. 

Without hesitating, Clint said, “Trippin’.”

“About what now?” he asked exasperated.

Clint shook his head.  “Who the hell knows?  She was in some kind of mood last night.”

“What happened?”

“I had a late night at the bakery.  The company that delivers some of our products was having a problem with the delivery truck on my route.  So instead of delivery at six o’clock in the morning like they usually do, they delivered at eleven o’clock last night.  They were apologetic and everything and just to move the process along, I helped the driver unload.  So by the time I got home last night I was funky as hell, so I took a shower as soon as I got in the house, she hates it when I smell. And when I went in for a kiss this morning she practically pushed me away.”

“Damn bro if she knew what you did at work, she’d be cool.”

Clint shook his head and smiled wryly.  “She knows, when I opened the bakery she used to work with me.  But now she doesn’t want to hear about how I spend all my time baking.  Hell I don’t even bring her any cupcakes anymore; she complains that it’ll mess up her figure.”

“Now her body is bangin’,” he said with a chuckle. 

Clint glared at his brother.  “Hey watch it that’s my wife,” he said, his voice a low growl.

Trevor dropped his third chicken leg.  “Calm down, I’m just making an observation.”

“I know…I know.  I’m just frustrated.  I wish that I could see it more than once every three months,” Clint grumbled.

“What?  So it’s like that?  Well damn!” 

“Yeah, it’s like that.  She keeps saying that she’s working too hard.  And it’s true, sometimes she doesn’t get home until nine or ten o’clock.  Between business dinners, meetings and her traveling she says she’s worn out.”

“Too worn out to take care of her man?  That’s fucked up.  What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know man.  You know how I feel about marriage.”

Trevor shook his head, Clint didn’t believe in divorce, even when his first marriage was beginning to go south, he stuck with it because of his daughter Crystal.  After catching his wife in bed with his best friend the marriage folded faster than a five dollar plastic chair. 

“I know.”

“And I don’t want what happened five years ago to happen again.” He wearily ran his hand over his face.  He met his brother’s gaze, Clint’s hazel eyes dulled with pain.  “That was such a dark place for Violet and me, and it was all my fault.  I don’t ever want to repeat that…but man, she’s not acting right.”

“Have you talked to her?”

“I tried, but she either says that she’s too tired or too busy and I’m getting tired of it Trevor and I don’t know what to do.”

“Give it one more try.  Talk to her tonight, tell her your concerns,” Trevor suggested.  “I think I will,” Clint said.

Clint thought about Trevor’s suggestion and he wanted to take it one step further.  He wanted to get Violet some flowers, but since it was late, all the florist shops were closed.  He had almost given up, until he saw the jade green Publix sign and immediately pulled into the parking lot.  He got a shopping cart and filled it with a dozen red roses, strawberries, two bottles of champagne, dark chocolate for melting and some candles. 

It was nine thirty by the time he finally got home.  The silence told him that Violet wasn’t home yet.  He texted her and she immediately texted back that she was just leaving a meeting and was on her way home. 

Clint raced upstairs to the bathroom.  Violet loved to soak in the bathtub.  She had told him that after she had bought the house, she had the bathroom renovated to include a large soaking tub.  Clint turned on the water, found her favorite bath beads and tossed a few of those in.  Soon the room was filled with the scent of lavender and vanilla, a combination he detested, but his wife loved it. 

Clint checked his watch; he didn’t have much time before Violet got home.  He darted down the stairs to finish his preparations.  Just as he was placing the last item on the coffee table, he heard the garage door slam.  He hurried to meet her.  Clint greeted her with a kiss then took her coat.  Violet stood still, shocked, Clint hadn’t been this attentive in years.

“Hey Vi, have a good day?”

“Um sure,” she answered, still trying to figure out what was wrong with him.

He grabbed his wife’s hand. “Come on, I got a surprise for you.”

“What?” Violet asked, while eyeing him suspiciously. 

“Come see,” he said and Violet reluctantly let herself be led to the living room.

“Look what I got for us,” he said proudly, and then gestured toward the coffee table.

She narrowed her eyes.  “Why are you doing all this?  Are you cheating on me again?”

“What?” Clint sputtered, flabbergasted.  “I am not cheating on you.  I love you and I want to show you, that’s all.”

Violet snorted. 

Not to be discouraged, Clint kissed her softly on the lips.  “Come on babe, let’s just sit down and talk.  We haven’t done that in a long time.”

“Yeah, because you’ve been busy, you don’t—”

Clint placed two fingers over her lips.  “Let’s not argue, sit down.”  He guided her to the couch and after she sat down, he poured two glasses of champagne.  He lifted his flute to her.  “To us, to a lifetime of happiness.”  He touched his glass to Violet’s.  She barely sipped her champagne before setting her flute on the table.  She stood up.  “I really have to get some work done.”