Read Online Dirty Old Men [And Other Stories] (Zane Presents) by Omar Tyree - Free Book Online Page B

walked out.
    As soon as she was out of earshot, Rocki commented, “I wonder who she’s getting all
extra
for to leave here with tonight?
Ho
!” she snapped.
    Beverly grinned at the slight and thought of David Butler Sr. again. He had done a real job on her mind without even trying hard.
    He’s only toying with me in here,
she tried to convince herself.
Nobody’s getting him tonight. He’s gonna go right back home with his wife. He’s trying to see who’s interested in him to pump up his own ego, that’s all.
    Just as he kept everyone guessing about his run for election as Birmingham’s mayor, David kept her—and no telling how many other women—guessing about an opportunity to sleep with him at the end of the night.
    So by the time Beverly had returned to the room, she had straightened out her wandering mind. And she decided that her boss could flirt inside the room all he wanted. But there was no sense in her taking him seriously; he didn’t really mean any of it.
    Nevertheless, as soon she found herself separated from Rocki and Treena again, David’s trusted assistant Robert Clay had caught up with her to ask how she was doing.
    Beverly nodded. “I’m good.”
    “Are you tired yet?” He seemed straight to the point.
    She grimaced. “Ahh…not really.” She didn’t want to sound as if she was slacking on the job, especially since they had not been asked to do much that evening. She had no time to be tired as an aspiring event coordinator. She had to expect to be up and energized at all times of the day and night. And she couldn’t expect to rest or be tired until the evening was over.
    Robert then handed her a room key to the Marriott as if it was a normal business card. “If you want to stay out, call him and let him know. And everyone doesn’t get one of those, so put it away.”
    He spoke with such authority and directness that Beverly slid the room key into her small purse immediately. “Okay,” she uttered.
    “All right then,” he mumbled to her gruffly. “Now that’s yours to use or
not
to use
alone.
And you
call
him first.”
    Robert walked away from her as calmly as he had approached. And their fast exchange sent her mind right back into a tailspin.
    Oh my God!
she told herself.
He is serious!
    With all of the anxiety that she felt, she could hardly breathe.
    Then Gregory Daniel popped back up.
    “Hey, we meet again,” he joked.
    The young man had bad timing. It was the wrong night, the wrong place, and the wrong girl.
    “Hey,” Beverly responded. And that was it. She didn’t have anything else to say to him. He was only getting in the way of her thoughts about David’s invitation.
    “So are you still buzzed a little bit?” Gregory asked her, smiling charmingly.
    Beverly failed to even fake it. The young man was beginning to irritate her and she needed to get away from him.
    “Excuse me, but I have something to do,” she told him. And she then walked off toward Treena. Her tall girlfriend had been chatting up a couple dozen people and collecting business cards for herself.
    “What have you been doing all night?” Beverly asked.
    Treena turned and frowned at her. “Are you kidding me? What have I been
doing
all night? I’ve been collecting business cards and phone numbers. This is what we’re here for. But what have
you
been doing?”
    “Not that,” Beverly leveled to her and grinned. “We have all summer to do that. I was relaxing tonight and seeing how everything works.”
    Treena shrugged. “Okay, suit yourself. But I’m not wasting time or opportunities relaxing. You can relax anytime. There were some major people in this room tonight. And you don’t really know if they’re gonna come to the next event or not.”
    Things were beginning to wind down at close to eleven o’clock on a Wednesday evening. The majority of the crowd had to work the next morning.
    Beverly countered, “I know
somebody
will be here. The next event may have more important people than this