Redemption (Iris Series) (12 page)

Ayanna, a bit surprised by his comment, said, “No, Catherine is great.  You did the right thing in choosing her.  It’s just time to move on and try something new.”

He looked at her for a beat, then said, “Well, I can’t say we’re not gonna miss you something fierce, little lady.”

Ayanna internally rolled her eyes at his remark.  He was an okay manager if not a little flirty, but definitely antiquated when it came to his endearments with the women working for him.  Ayanna may have been an outrageous flirt with men in social settings, but she was the consummate professional in the work realm.

“I’ll miss you guys, too.  I left my uniform in the locker room by the washers.”  Then she put out her hand to shake his.

Instead of shaking her hand, Robert stood up and walked around the desk.  When he stopped in front of her, he reached his arms around her and hugged her, pressing his entire front to hers.  She was a little shocked and stood stiffly. 

She pried her way out of his arms and stepped back.  “O-kay.  I gotta get going, Robert.  Thanks for everything.”  She turned, but felt his hand on her arm.

“You know, Ayanna.  I’ve always thought you were a great girl.  You have so much going for you.”

Aww, fuck.  Where was he going with this?

He stepped around her to close the office door, but she side stepped him and stopped the door from shutting.  He looked at her with a look she recognized and her defenses immediately went up.

“Listen, Robert.  I’ve gotta go.  We’ve had a good relationship for the last couple of years.  Let’s not mess that up, okay?”

“I have a proposition for you,” he said, his voice low, his eyes taking on a sheen of lust.

“I’m not interested, thanks.”  She turned to leave again and he held her back by the arm.

“Just hear me out.”

She looked down at his hand and said in a controlled voice.  “You need to remove your hand from my arm. 
Now
.”

“How would you like to be head chef?  Because we can definitely arrange that.”  His voice was filled with promise.
             

Yeah, and she knew exactly what he wanted in return.

“Thanks, but no thanks.  And I’m not going to say it again, Robert.”  She began to raise her voice.  “Take your hand off my arm.”  When he didn’t, but stepped forward, she jerked her arm out from his grasp and started for the door.

“Wait!”  He gripped her arm harder this time.  That was going to leave a mark, she thought.  “Let’s talk this through, sweetie.”  One hand had her arm in a vice and his other hand reached up to the back of her neck, pulling her roughly toward him.

She didn’t wait a second longer, and pulled her hand back only to bring it forward again to wack him hard in the nose.  Blood spurt everywhere.

“Ahh, you fucking bitch!”  He was momentarily startled and grabbed his nose.  Then his face contorted in fury and he grabbed so hard for her tank top, that it not only pulled off her shoulder, but the elastic strap dug brutally into her neck, and the stretched neckline ended up below her bra cups.

Ayanna was so shocked, she didn’t even think.  She just screamed, “Get off me, you fucking asshole!” then kneed him as hard as she could in his balls.  She was breathing so heavily, she didn’t even hear the feet running toward the office.

“Ahh…” he screamed, falling over and writhing in pain on the floor, “I’m gonna fucking kill you!” he spewed.

She leaned down to his face, trying to catch her breath and calm herself, but it was no use.  The adrenaline was pumping. 

“What was that?!  You’re gonna fucking
kill me, is that what you said?!  You’ve got to be the stupidest man this side of the Mississippi.”  She stuck her finger in his face and screamed, “You better pray I don’t press charges, you dickwad, because then I would own you
and
your precious restaurant.  Then where would you be, you stupid asshole?!”

“
Ayanna?!
”

She turned abruptly to see Jonathan at the door to the office, as well as Harry the bartender, and Catherine.  She was sure she looked crazed, but she couldn’t seem to stop her racing heart.

Jonathan rushed over to her, running his hands up and down her arms, then holding her face and moving it side to side, apparently looking for injuries.  He helped to straighten her tank top, his eyes looking wild as they lasered into hers.  When he saw the blood, he growled. 

“Where are you hurt?” he rushed out.  “There’s blood
—”

“It’s his.  It’s his.”  She leaned down putting her hands on her legs and gulped huge breaths.

“Sit down.”  He pulled over the chair in front of the desk and pushed her gently into it, putting her head between her legs.  Then he turned to the crumpled man on the floor.

Without saying a word, he slammed his fist into Robert’s face.  Ayanna looked up just as Jonathan said, “We should’ve let her finish beating the shit out of you, asswipe. 
Fuck,
” Jon swore, working through his own adrenaline.  He ran his hand through his hair.

“Yan, are you okay?” Harry asked.  “I’ve called the cops.  They’re on the way.”

Catherine was at her side, stroking her neck.  “You’ve got a mark here.  Did he put his hands around your neck?” she asked incredulously.

“You called the cops?” Ayanna groaned.

“Of course!” Harry exclaimed.  “This needs to be reported.”

“The restaurant,” she paused.  “Guys, this isn’t gonna be good for you guys.”

“Don’t worry about that.  Did he choke you?” Catherine asked again, inspecting her neck.

“No, just pulled on my tank top and the elastic scraped there.”

“God, Yan.  I’m so glad we were still here,” Catherine said, as she looked over at the man who was her employer.  “Robert, how could you do this?” she asked in a furious whisper.

Robert was semi-conscious in the corner, still moaning in pain and now immobile since Jonathan had taken his belt off and secured Robert’s hands behind his back.

Ayanna almost laughed.  “I don’t think that’s necessary, Jon—”

He glared at her.  “I do.  This asshole just assaulted you.  Let him be uncomfortable.”

He walked back over to her and kneeled down to examine her again, his hands holding her face.  She could feel them shaking as if he was trying to maintain control.  “I would ask what the fuck just happened, but I think I can put two and two together,” he said in a steady voice, even though he looked like he was about to lose it.

“Well, you
are the mathematician, champ,” she said, her voice shaky.  The adrenaline
rush now over, she was beginning to crash leaving her feeling woozy.

“Natalie told me he’s been saying inappropriate things to her for the last couple of months,” Catherine said, referring to one of the waitresses.  “She only confided in me a couple of days ago.”

“I don’t think she’s the only one,” Harry interjected.

Both Catherine and Ayanna looked at him. 

He shrugged.  “I hear the girls talking sometimes.  I was actually coming back to check on you,” he said to Ayanna.  “I saw you walk back here, and when your friend knocked on the glass and said he was looking for you, I thought it would be good if we both headed back.  We started running just about the time you called him a fucking asshole,” he smirked.

She smiled wearily.  “Thanks, Harry.”  She turned to Jon who had let go of her face, but was still hovering close, looking at her neck and arms which were red.  “And thank
you,
” she whispered to Jon.

Catherine had gotten up and gone to the hallway to leave them alone. 

“What are you thanking me for?  You were doing just fine without my help.  Maybe
you
should be teaching that self-defense class on Monday.”  He still looked like he was about to lose it.  She couldn’t describe how good it felt to have him there with her, and when she saw him at the door moments earlier it was like watching her champion charge in on a white horse.

“Thanks for rushing in just the same.”

“You didn’t answer either of my texts, and I wasn’t sure if I was in a dead zone.  I figured since I found a parking spot in front, I’d knock just to make sure you knew I was here.”  He looked up at Harry who was talking to Catherine in the hall outside the door.  “I must’ve looked trustworthy because he let me in.”

Ayanna chuckled and suddenly felt exhausted.  “More likely he thought you were hot.  Harry’s very gay.”

Jon blinked then smirked.  “Well, I suppose there’s that, too.”  Then he rested his forehead on hers.  “I can’t tell you how happy I am that you didn’t take the subway tonight.”

She smiled.  “Ditto.”

There was a small commotion near the doorway and Ayanna realized that the cavalry had arrived.

She sighed.  Oh, well.  Let the games begin.

……

By the time Ayanna and Jonathan pulled into the apartment complex garage, it was well past 2:30am
.
It would have been even later
had
Ayanna not opt
ed
out of going to the emergency room.

Ayanna had slept during the short drive and when they pulled into the spot, Jonathan reached over and touched her face, waking her.

“Hey.  Wake up, babe.”

There was that endearment again.  It made her feel warm inside.

“Hey,” she said back, groggily.

“Do you think you can make it inside?” he whispered.

“Yeah, I’m good.”

He told her to wait until he walked around the car to help her out. He then grabbed her satchel and kept his arm around her as they walked to the elevator quietly.

“You okay?”

“I’m great.  You should see the other guy,” she quipped in a tired voice. 

He chuckled.

“I can’t wait to go to bed.  I’m so fuckin’ tired.  I feel like I’ve been hit by a Mack truck,” she mumbled.

“We’re almost there.” 

They entered the elevator and silently rode it to the 5th floor.  When they got to her door, he took her keys and let them into her apartment.

“I’m okay.  I’ve got it from here.  I promise.”

“Shut up and let me just make sure you get to your room, okay?”

She sighed and they walked into the bedroom.
             

If Ayanna wasn’t dead on her feet, she’d probably be focusing on the fact that the man of her dreams was standing next to her bed at the moment.

“Do you need to use the bathroom, or anything?”

“Yeah.  Then I’m just gonna strip and drop into bed.  No need to stay for that, JBG,” she smiled tiredly.  “You’ve done enough.  Thanks for everything, but I’m good.  Now go home and get some sleep.”  She sat on the bed and took off her sandals.

Just then she was overcome with a fit of giggles.  “This may be the first time a guy has put me to bed for the purpose of sleeping
.
”  She ended her giggles with a long sigh then looked up at Jon who was looking strangely at her.

“Alright champ.  Time to go.  I’ve got an early day tomorrow.”

He cleared his throat.  “Actually, you don’t.  I texted Ryann, even though I know she won’t see it until the morning, and I gave her a heads up on what happened.  I asked her to call Janie to see if she could come over in the afternoon so you can get some more shut eye.”

Ayanna didn’t know if she should be pissed or not.  Before she could decide how she felt about his meddling, he said, “And before you get pissed, I thought it was the right thing to do, so deal with it.  You need to sleep and recover a little.  And when you talk to Janie, you’re gonna need all of your wits about you, so…that’s that.”

“You know, I’ve been taking care of myself for a very long time, and as much as you may think I need you to take control of things, I don’t.”

“Really?  You think Janie showing up seven hours from now after a man mauled you tonight would be helpful?” he glared.  “I asked that she come over closer to 1ish.  You said she didn’t have any catering gigs this weekend, so…I’m sure Ryann or Janie will call and confirm the time.”

She sighed.  “What if she already had plans?  What—?”

“Are we seriously going to argue about this right now?  It’s 2:30 in the
fahcking morning, Yan.”  She could tell he was getting upset because the Boston was coming out in his pronunciation.

He was right.  Why was she arguing?  He had done it out of concern for her and she was being bitchy.

She sighed again.  “Sorry.  Thank you for thinking of it.  It will be nice to sleep.  I’m just not used to someone taking control of my shit,” she mumbled.

“Yeah, well.  You need to give up a little of that control once in a while, let someone else take care of things,” he said with intensity.

She looked up and there was that inscrutable look again.  She was very aware of the fact that they were in her bedroom, and what she wanted most was to ask him to stay.

“Alright.  Well, like I said I can take it from here, champ.  Unless you plan on watching me strip.”  She raised an eyebrow at him.