Celibate Girl (1)

Nicki pulled her coat closed as the cold New York air nipped at her skin. She was on her way to Manhattan to work. She got into her car and started it before reversing out of the parking lot of her apartment building. She was a marketing consultant for a huge firm. Being one of the youngest to ever be employed by the company, she was always being tested by her boss. She didn't mind it though. It gave her more responsibility and structure which she loved.

As she approached the building, she saw her boss getting out of his car. She pulled into the parking garage and grabbed her briefcase and purse. She locked her car door and walked toward the building right behind her boss. He had on a black suite and shoes with gold cuff links and a blue tie. He noticed her coming right behind him so he waited on her to catch up. When she finally made it to him, she greeted him with a simple good morning.

"Good morning to you too, Onika. Ready to start the day?" 

"Yes sir" she replied with a quick smile gracing her face. 

"It's quite early for you to be here, isn't it?  We don't start for another hour" he said as a matter of factly. This was a normal thing for Onika. She often would show up to work early ever since she got the job a month ago. Out of all the times she had came to work before the crack of dawn, this was the first time he had ran into her. 

They both took the elevator all the way up to the 20th floor in silence. Nicki was thinking about her upcoming day with her nieces. Every weekend she would spend quality time with them. She would take them to the park, the fair, for ice cream or they would normally spend the night and watch movies in her apartment. The later, is what she thought would do for this weekend. The weather was going to be bad this whole week, with snow falling. 

On the other hand, Drake was thinking about his mother visiting. She lived in Canada and he hadn't seen much of her throughout his entire life. He was seven when she had sent him to New York to be with his father who own multiple businesses. She figured that it would be better for him to be raised by his father instead of her. 

The door to the elevator dinged open and they both stepped out. Nicki immediately went to put her lunch in the company's kitchen before going to her desk and starting work.

It was nearing twelve o' clock, lunch time.  Nicki finished up her paperwork for the new ad campaign her boss had given her earlier that morning. All she had to do was make calls and schedule meetings for the rest of the day but that could wait until after she took a much needed break. She signed off on her computer and gathered the necessary files for her boss before making her way to his office. 

Drake was on the phone when she made it to his office. She waited by his door patiently for him to finish his call. He hadn't even noticed her standing there because he was busy barking orders to whomever was on the other line.

After awhile, she figured that she would just leave them on his desk. He was facing the big window behind his desk that luminated his office space. She quickly sat the files on his desk and left to go towards the kitchen.

Nicki heated her beeferoni up in the microwave and grabbed her snapple from the fridge. Once her food was heated, she made her way back to her desk and ate quietly. A knock at her door disturbed her from finishing her food.

"Come in" she called before taking a sip of her snapple. Drake appeared in the doorway seconds later. This surprised her. It was usually his office attendant, Fiona, with more work for her to do from him.

"Hey, sorry about showing up unannounced but I wanted to see if you maybe want to have lunch with me. Oh, and thanks for the files. You're a very quick worker." He complimented and gave a warming smile. Nicki gave him a loving smile back.

"Thank you and no thanks. I already have my lunch right here. See" she said holding up her container of beeferoni and her snapple. He looked at it then smiled back.

"Very well. I'll let you get back to your lunch and go grab mine. Maybe some other time" He left her office and caught the elevator. 

Nicki shook her head wandering what was that all about. She pushed the thoughts in the back of her head and continued eating.

An hour later, she was finished with her lunch break and back at it with her work. She made several calls to consumers and schedule a meeting with the other consultants in her office so they could discuss and brainstorm ideas for their next project. She also contacted the finance department and made sure that they were on top of things for the launch of their product. 

Before long, the day had ended. It was almost five o'clock in the evening when Fiona brought more paperwork for her to do from Drake. 

"I'm not gonna get out of here anytime soon" she said more to herself as she looked them over. She didn't mind though because for one it was Friday and she had nothing else to do and secondly, she preferred keeping herself as busy as possible. She don't go to clubs nor is she dating. It had been like this for as long as she could remember.

"I think he is smitten with you, Nicki" Fiona said smiling. Nicki looked up at her quizzically. 

"What are you talking about, Fiona?" She asked puzzled.

"The boss, Drake, he's smitten with you. Haven't you noticed?" Nicki scrunched up her face surprised by her comment. 

"No"

"Well it's quite obvious" she said still smiling at her. Fiona had been working for the company way before Nicki had. 

"Even if he is, it won't change anything. I'm not looking for anyone right now. Plus he's my boss!" 

"Suite yourself. He's a fine catch. I would totally go out with him if I wasn't married and had kids" she winked before turning to leave. "See you on Monday!" Nicki shook her head before getting back to her work.

Two hours later, she was finished. She packed up her stuff and and cleared off her desk. Everyone had since been long gone home and it was just her, the clean-up crew and Drake of course. Nicki had called her brother to let him know that she would be picking up the girls in a few. They were spending tonight and tomorrow with her.

She hoisted her purse over her shoulder before picking up her briefcase and the files on her desk. She had taken off her heels earlier and now had on her flats that she often carried around just for times like these.

Taking everything in her hand, she made her way to Drake's office to hand him the paperwork he needed. She knocked on his door before coming in. He was still working at his desk. He looked up from his work and smiled at her.

"I have the files you needed" she said handing it to him. He took it and glanced over it quickly.

"Thank you" he said. Nicki nodded and made her way out. "Onika" he called making her do a complete turn around. 

"Yes"

"I hope I didn't ruin your weekend plans. Did I?"

She shook her head no. "Not at all. I didn't have anything to do anyways. It's no problem." He raised his eyebrow at her. 

"No boyfriend or husband to go home too?" He asked. Again she shook her head no. What was he getting at?

"You mean to tell me that a beautiful woman such as yourself hasn't been tied down already?"

"No. I'm not looking for anyone yet and besides most men can't adhere to my demands" 

"Demands?"

"Yes"

"What type of demands? If you don't mind me asking?" She took a deep breath before responding. If he was doing what she think he was doing, then she needed to let him know so she wouldn't be leading him in the dark.

"I believe in being celibate before marriage and most guys I talk to cant handle that." 

He leaned back in his office chair and began to rub his finger on his bottom lip thinking. He never thought that she would say that. It was true that he found her attractive and very smart but he didn't know much about her and this was a shocking revelation. 

"Wow!" was all he said. She shyly bit her bottom lip out of nervousness. 

"Yup. That's normally the reaction I get" she informed heading out the door. She pushed the button to call for the elevator and waited. 

Back in the office, Drake sat still stunned at her revelation. He never thought of that because he was always the kind of guy who liked to please his women, physically, in every way. Sex was something he was accustomed too. He had so many questions for her but felt embarrassed to ask them. He hoped that he hadn't offended her by his initial reaction. He shook his his and immediately got back to finishing up his work.

At home Nicki was making the popcorn for Kellise and Imani. She had picked them up right after work. The girls were happy to be with their aunt for the weekend. They loved spending time with her because she would spoil them and Nicki loved spending time with them. 

"Girls do you want extra butter on your popcorn?" They both screamed yes from the living room. Nicki poured more butter on the popcorn and grabbed the rest of the snacks that they had picked up from the grocery store on the way to her apartment. She sat down and handed them each a bowl before pressing play on the remote. 

"Thank you aunty"

"Yeah, thanks aunty"

"You're welcome girls" 

The movie started and they watched while snacking. Nicki was interrupted when her cell phone buzzed indicating that someone was calling her. She excused herself and went into the kitchen to answer it. It was a number that she didn't recognize.

She picked it up and answered, "Hello." 

The voice took awhile to answer her back. "Hi Onika it's me, Drake" She scrunched up her face confused. He never called her like this before. "I'm sorry. Am I catching you at a bad time?" He asked.

"Umm...no, not really"

"Oh good. Listen I'm sorry if I had offended you in any way. I guess my inquistive ways got the best of me"

"It's fine. I kind of expected it. Sometimes people aren't interested in that sort of thing but it's the way I chose to live so I can't blame others if they are not the same" she shrugged while watching the girls who were engrossed in their movie. Drake was silent once again. 

"What if I told you that I was willing to try?" He asked hesitantly. Nicki's jaw dropped. No one had ever told her that. Try. She went silent. A lot of things ran through her mind all at once.

"You are willing to try being celibate for...me?"

"Yes. Is that a problem?" 

"You're my boss" she replied. She didn't mean to be rude but clearly it would be awkward. Besides, don't the company have a rule to uphold.

"I'm aware of that, Onika. And I know what you're thinking but we can make an exception this one time. I mean I am the boss so no one will harass you and you won't get fired." She took a moment to think about what he just said.

"I don't know"

"Come on. I just want take you out this one time and if you don't want to go again you don't have to. Just give me a chance, please"

"I don't know what to say"

"Say yes"

She bit her bottom lip and thought about it. What could she lose? It was just one date, right? 

"Yes" she said finally.

"Great. I'll pick you up in a about an hour" 

"I can't"

"Why not?" He asked.

"I'm spending quality time with my nieces and they're sleeping over. How about Sunday evening?" She bargained.

"That's fine. I'll see you then"

"Ok" she said before they each said their goodbyes and hung up.

Nicki stood in her kitchen smiling more than she had anticipated. This was her first date in years. A sudden wave of nervousness coursed through her but she pushed it to the back of her mind and joined her nieces again. Sunday.