Don't Knock It. Till You Try It Read online

  Copyright © 2012 By Candace Mumford and A.N.C. Media Publishing

  This book is purely a work of fiction and the names,characters,places and incidents contained within this body of work are not related to or portraying anyone living or dead. Any similarities are purely coincidental.

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  Don't knock it...

  till you try it.

  "Yasmin, do you think he has a girlfriend ?" Leanne asked me curiously. Looking towards our new regional trainer Patrick Quinn. I couldn't help but look at Leanne and laugh." Please get it together. You're drooling...in public in case you didn't know." I said trying to control my laughter. " Leanne did it ever occur to you maybe, just maybe he doesn't want to date co-workers? It's not always about you boo." I said gently.

  Leanne by far was one of my best friends at work. You know what I mean. The co-worker friend you tell everything to at work but it doesn't cross over to home ? Unless of course there was a social work event after hours. A real cool ass white lady but one thing about her was she loved her some damn men.

  Leanne also thought every man loved her!

  Now don't get me wrong. I myself have seen with my own two brown eyes, many of our male co-workers vie for her attention. But come on Leanne? Every man you meet is not looking at your ass! Patrick Quinn is fine. I can certainly see why the women in the office are breaking their necks trying to be noticed, Yasmin thought to herself glancing over at him. He'd actually been part of the company almost a year. Patrick's hair was cut really close...hmm do white guys call it a fade like the brothas do? That's what I'd call his haircut. About 6'2 with a nice muscular body. Yasmin saw him smiling as he was talking to someone. That smile is what's killer if I do say so myself.

  " Maybe he's gay? He is always dressed really nice and always smells good. That could be a sign he's gay. I'm going to ask around. I've dropped some major hints and this guy is acting like he's blind or something!" Leanne said looking in the mirror she had sitting on her desk and running her hands through her blond hair.

  There was no getting to Leanne... so why bother? Honestly I could care less." OK Leanne, We actually have a team meeting with Mr. Wonderful in less than ten minutes. We need to get to the conference room." I said grabbing a notepad and a few pen. " Will you be around for lunch today?" I asked.

  " Actually Tom from the third floor is taking me out to lunch today. Do you want me to bring you something back?" Leanne asked finishing her primping before we walked to the elevator.

  " No thanks, I'll grab something. Tom from the third floor?" I asked looking at her from the corner of my eyes. " Hell yes! Tom's parents have an awesome beach house. I mean... he's no looker, but he loves to take me out to dinner and a girl does have to eat!" Leanne said laughing.

  When Yasmin and Leanne entered the conference room everyone was gathered around talking with Patrick Quinn. Patrick seemed to have everyone enraptured with some story about Bungee jumping in Australia. Umm,Whatever. They can have that mess. Yasmin thought to herself grabbing a seat and getting herself prepared to take notes. All-Tek was one of the top software firms in the United States and Yasmin loved her job. Helping develop new customer service software and assisting large businesses to create and find the perfect products was great. Especially if the process included software Yasmin's team had a hand in creating.

  Everyone calmed down to listen to the information the director of operations was giving. All-Tek had just acquired a huge contract at one of the huge hospital chains. The hospital would be soon converting over and using an electronic time card system that had been developed by All-Tek.

  After an hour and a half of information overload, Yasmin's mind began to drift off until she heard her name being called." Excuse me?" Yasmin asked embarrassed at having been caught not paying full attention.

  " I was just saying Ms. Reynolds that you've been officially been promoted to the training team. Your hard work and dedication to All-Tek and it's products has been recognized. This is a promotion that's well deserved and overdue. You will be accompanying Mr. Quinn to Miami to help assist with the two week long training for the hospital staff. Is that a problem for you Ms. Reynolds?" David Jones the Director of Operations asked her pointedly in front of everyone.

  " Absolutely not Mr. Jones .Thank you for the opportunity." Yasmin said attempting to pull herself together. Yasmin could feel Leanne nudging her in excitement underneath the table. I can't believe I was promoted to the training team! This is huge and I damn near missed it still thinking about getting away from Jarrod's ass!

  Fifteen minutes later Mr. Jones concluded the meeting. Everyone in the room was abuzz with the news about the new contract because this meant bonuses for basically everyone in the room. Many in the room also stopped by to congratulate Yasmin on her promotion. Lord knows I need this promotion with all I'm dealing with Yasmin thought to herself. " Excuse me Ms. Reynolds, could you please come here for a moment."

  " Of course," I said " I'll talk to you after lunch." I whispered to Leanne. Grabbing my notebook and pen I walked to the front of the room where Mr. Quinn and Mr. Jones stood talking.

  " Well young lady I certainly hope you're prepared for this adventure. It's a huge step in your career!" Mr. Jones said enthusiastically.

  " I'm really honored to have been chosen. Though surprised I must say." I said honestly.

  " Well young lady your hard work and dedication to this company were pointed out and made all the more clear by Mr. Quinn here. So welcome to the training team Ms. Reynolds. I'll leave you two to iron out the details of your trip. You need to be ready to leave in three days." Mr Jones said exiting the conference room.

  " Well I think a thank you is in order Mr. Quinn. I can't help but ask why you recommended me? A lot of people in this room wanted that open position." Yasmin said.

  " First of all please call me Patrick. Is it OK if I address you by your first name ?"

  " Of course." Yasmin smiled shyly.

  " When I joined the training department and looked over all the employees that had been an integral part of the training team for the last two years, your name kept coming up. I'm really surprised you hadn't been offered this position before now. Were you not interested? If you don't mind my asking."

  Yasmin shook her head ," Honestly Patrick I've put in for that position twice already and it was given to someone else both times. I'd actually given up the idea. I wasn't going to apply for it again figuring it just wasn't for me. Thank you so much for recognizing the hard work I've been putting in." Yasmin said.

  "Anytime . I mean I'm fairly new here and between you and I, sometimes I think it takes new people on the scene to bring certain things to light. I noticed it was the same persons recommendations being hired in those positions. More than likely it was the buddy club going on. If you know what I mean?"Patrick said shaking his head.

  " Yasmin this trip is short notice and we'll be gone two weeks. Will you be ready to go in three days?" Patrick asked.

  " Of course! I have no one to answer to but myself. As a matter of fact, I'm headed to lunch now. I'll take care of a few personal things then. Other than that, all I need to do is pack. I'm really excited. Thanks again for the recommendation Patrick." Yasmin said on her way out of the conference room.

  Patrick watched Yasmin as she exited the
conference room. I wonder if she even realizes how damn sexy she is? Patrick found it hard to take his eyes off her round ass. She couldn't have been anymore than 5'4 though her heels gave her a few added inches, flawless caramel bronze complexion and shoulder length hair. Beautiful full sexy lips but her voice is what drew him in. It was kind of deep,husky yet very feminine. Damn! I want her to start looking at me instead of her thirsty ass damn friend. Patrick frowned thinking about how overly obvious Leanne Conner was in her advances towards him in the office. The woman had no class. Patrick grabbed his things and walked towards his office.

  The End of Nothing.

  Yasmin pulled into the parking lot of her apartment complex and looked towards her apartment. Thank you Jesus. Yasmin said aloud looking towards the sky. You know just what I need and when I need it. Yasmin grabbed the dinner she'd picked up on the way home and headed inside.

  Just as she'd expected Jarrod was sitting on the couch watching T.V. " Hello" Yasmin said walking into the kitchen to grab some ice and a glass.

  "Whassup. You didn't bring me anything to eat ?" Jarrod asked with an attitude.

  " Excuse me? Jarrod how many times do I have to tell you this. We are not in a relationship anymore. The minute you decided to sleep with another woman we were through." Yasmin replied with just as much attitude.

  " Oh please. Go somewhere with that shit Yasmin. I made a mistake. I said I was sorry. I don't know why you're making more of it than it was."Jarrod yelled.

  " Jarrod I'm not going to keep going over the same shit over and over. We're done. All I'm doing is riding out this lease that's in both of our names. Then I'm done and out of here. I spoke to the Manager today and let her know I'll be out of town for the next two weeks. Which will take me through the end of the month and you're on your own." Yasmin said to Jarrod as they stared each other down.

  " I know I've played these back and forth games with you before but I'm done. I've had enough." Yasmin said walking into her bedroom and locking the door.

  Asshole. I'm not going to even tell him about my promotion. It's none of his business. All Jarrod will try to do is make me feel sorry for him. Hell it was bad enough I was basically carrying us financially anyways but to have the nerve to cheat ? This work trip will definitely be just what I need to start over in every aspect of the word.

  Miami Bound

  In the three days since her promotion was announced everything flew by in a whirlwind for Yasmin. She'd managed to tie up all the loose ends at the apartment complex with Jarrod and had her name removed from the lease. Yasmin had already began the moving process prior to the promotion. Her new apartment complex had let her move in two weeks early...of course she'd had to pay for it but it was money well spent . Yasmin took a lot of the boxes over there so she could basically walk into her new place the minute she got off the plane. Setting up things such as her electric and cable had only been a matter of phone time.

  The flight from Chicago to Miami had been fun. Patrick was a trip! Nothing like he came across at work .They laughed and talked damn near the entire flight until they'd both fallen asleep.

  All-Tek paid for one rental car for the next two weeks they were in Miami. So once they'd landed and picked up the car Patrick drove them straight to the hotel. They had a long day ahead of them tomorrow.

  " I know you're probably tired. If you want to sit down I'll get us checked in and get our room keys." Patrick said.

  " Thank you that would be great." I said walking toward the chair in the lobby. After about fifteen minutes she started to wonder what was taking so long and approached the counter.

  " Is something wrong?"

  " Yes there is something wrong. They messed up on our room reservations." Patrick said angrily looking at the hotel clerk.

  " I'm so sorry Mr. Quinn. I do see the company you work for had these reservations made a month ago. I have no idea what happened but the one room is have all we have. There's a scrap-booking conference being held and we're booked!" The clerk said nervously.

  " Scrap-booking ? What the hell is that ?" Patrick asked." Look let me discuss this with my co-worker." Patrick said taking Yasmin's hand and leading her to the side.

  " Look ,it's after work hours so you'll have to excuse my language. They fucked up." Patrick said.

  I almost burst out laughing! I quickly covered my mouth." Well what's going on?"

  " They gave our other room away. Whoever they gave it to is already there. I told them to put they ass out but they wont do it. So all we have is one room. This is where the company has an account so if we leave and go to another hotel I doubt they'll reimburse us." Patrick said .

  " Off top, I'm letting you know I'm not paying out of pocket to stay somewhere else for the next two weeks. I've dealt with this before and they do not want to pay you back. Hotels in this area are expensive and this one is near the hospital we need to be at the next two weeks. I say we just bunk together and make the most of it. Run up the room service and the whole nine yards!" Patrick said starting to laugh.

  " Seriously though. I don't want you to be uncomfortable around me. I'm pretty sure this convention isn't lasting for the entire two weeks we'll be here. What do you think?" Patrick said.

  " Well damn. I'm not trying to spend any money out of pocket either. I just spent a ton moving into my new place. Mind you, I haven't spent one night in it because I'm here." Yasmin smoothed her ponytail thinking quickly.

  " Look are you married or anything. A girlfriend ? I could room with you until something comes open but if you have a woman that is unacceptable regardless of this situation." Yasmin said looking him dead in his eyes to detect any hint of a lie.

  " I promise you. I'm completely single." Patrick said holding his hands out to her to show he didn't have on any wedding ring.

  " Umm hmm. Go get the keys Patrick. I'm tired. I'd like to lay down." Yasmin said walking back to the chair.

  It was another twenty minutes before they walked into the lush suite they did manage to get.

  " You're going to love me Yasmin." Patrick said walking into the room. " Why is that ?"

  " Come on now. After all the bullshit downstairs ? You better believe I got us hooked up with everything in here. Right down to the free mini bar, pay per view movies , and dinners!" Patrick said laughing.

  "I'm thrifty like that in case you didn't know."

  " Sounds good to me. What are you getting into tonight ? Is is Friday night in Miami after all." Yasmin asked lugging her suitcase to a corner and opening it to rummage around for something to relax in.

  " The only thing I'm getting into tonight is a plate of food,this cable T.V. and later this bed." Patrick said looking at Yasmin on her knees bent over her suitcase. Jesus Christ he thought. How the hell am I supposed to spend even one night next to a beautiful woman I've had my eyes on for the last six months? "You're testing me big guy." Patrick said his eyes raised to heaven.

  " Excuse me?"

  "Huh?"

  " You said something."

  " Oh I'm sorry I was thinking aloud" Patrick said sheepishly.

  " Well it looks like we have the same plan for the evening. Should we order dinner now?

  They'd both chosen to order steak dinners along with a bottle of wine. Patrick insisted on cashing in on the freebies the hotel had agreed on.

  " Look Patrick since we're roommates for at least the weekend. I just want to say please feel free to get comfortable. I mean I'm not saying I want you walking around here naked or anything but we are sharing the room so feel free to be yourself. I'm not a prude or anything." Yasmin said,not honestly knowing if she was putting that out there for his benefit...or hers.

  " I'm glad you said something, because when I'm at home, I wont lie. I'm naked as the day I was born." Patrick said smiling wickedly.

  Oh my God,Yasmin thought hurrying into the bathroom with her things.

  Thirty minutes later Yasmin was showered and relaxing in a pair of shorts and a tank top. Her shorts were a bit shorter
than she would have liked them to be in front a man she really didn't know,what could she do though? I didn't anticipate having to share my room! There was a knock at the door so Yasmin walked to the front to get the door. The suite was set up like a small apartment which was nice.

  Yasmin tipped room service and and set everything up on the dinette table. Everything looked and smelled so good. I'm starving Yasmin thought walking back to the bedroom to let Patrick know their dinner was ready.

  Yasmin knocked and opened the door to find Patrick naked as a jay bird! " Oh, I'm sorry !" Yasmin said quickly closing the door." Umm dinner is ready." she called through the door. What in the hell ? I did not know they were making white dudes like that! Yasmin thought holding in a laugh as she walked back to the table.

  A few minutes later Patrick joined Yasmin at the table in a white wife-beater t shirt and black sweat pants.

  " Damn this looks good. I didn't realize just how hungry I was." Patrick opened up the wine and poured them each a glass before sitting down. " Hands please." Patrick said holding both of his hands out to Yasmin from across the small table. Yasmin looked at him oddly and slid her hands into his. Yasmin was pleasantly surprised when Patrick blessed the table.

  When he was done Patrick raised his head to find Yasmin staring at him deep in thought." What's wrong ? You don't say grace ?" Patrick asked digging into his food.

  " I do."

  " Oh you're just surprised I do!" Patrick said laughing and taking a sip of his wine.

  " No comment." Yasmin said laughing and taking a sip of her wine as well.

  " Well since we are in such close confines...we may as well get to know each other Patrick. Tell me about yourself." Yasmin asked.

  Patrick couldn't help but laugh." How about this,tell me what you want to know. Anytime someone asks you to " tell me about yourself" they already have 101 question already lined up in their mind they really want to ask you...at least I do!"