Don't Even Go There. Brenda Hampton

blouse and silver and pink accessories. My sleek ponytail was flipped on the ends and my makeup was a work of art. I understood why Veronica seemed jealous.

      “You know how much I love clothes, but you look cute too,” I lied. The flowered skirt was not working for her and she looked like a blooming fat petunia. The hip-length sweater she wore was too tight, and if Veronica would have glanced in the mirror a little longer this morning, she would have seen what I did. Aside from that, she did have a pretty, round face, and her natural hair was full of tight curls.

      “Thanks for the compliment, Chase. I guess we’ll have to wait for Liz to get here. She already called and said she’d be about thirty minutes to an hour late. I got an early start, so traffic wasn’t a problem for me.”

      “Well, it was for me.” I nudged my head toward Claudette’s cubicle. “Did she call in yet?”

      “No, not yet. I’m sure she’ll be showing up soon. She hasn’t missed one day of work.”

      As Veronica spoke, I got a closer look at her. I noticed a small bruise close by her eye, and squinted before questioning her. “What’s that underneath your eye?”

      Instead of saying anything, she walked over to her cubicle and pulled out a compact mirror from her purse. She touched the bruise with her finger, then pulled out a tube of foundation to dab the spot underneath her eye. “Stupid me,” she said. “I bumped into my door yesterday and hit my eye. I didn’t know it had gotten that bad and I tried to cover it up.”

      I knew what Veronica said was a lie, and this wasn’t the first time I’d noticed a bruise on her face. I couldn’t help but confront her about my suspicions. “Veronica, you don’t have to lie to me, all right? I suspect that your boyfriend has something to do with those bruises that I keep seeing on you. You really need to leave him alone, especially if he’s putting his hands on you. If there is anything that I can do to help, let me know.”

      Veronica’s eyes had already started to water. I reached out to give her a hug, and gave her a Kleenex that was on her desk. She dabbed her eyes. “We get into it all the time over stupid stuff. I try to keep my mouth shut, but he always calling me names and saying things that hurt my feelings. I do fight his butt back, but there’s no doubt that he always gets the best of me.”

      I shook my head with disgust. I had seen and heard about that kind of foolishness too many times. Veronica didn’t even realize how she was keeping herself in a situation that could easily turn tragic. She had a cute little girl, too, and I wondered what she was going through at home. Her situation kind of reminded me of mine when I was little. My parents argued all the time and I would sit in my room, crying my butt off. My hands covered my ears to drown out the noise, but it was never enough. I was so glad when my mother left him, and it led to us having a peaceful home. My mother never brought any charges against him, but later in life she told me she regretted that she hadn’t. She encouraged me never to put up with an abusive, cheating, or lazy man, and her encouragement was enough for me to know when I was in the wrong kind of relationship. I put my thoughts to the back of my head, and got back to my conversation with Veronica.

      “Why don’t you just leave him alone, Veronica? There are other men out there, and plenty of men who won’t put their hands on you.”

      “I know. But we’ve been together for six years and it ain’t all that bad. We have our good times, too, and I know when enough is enough. I’ll be okay.”

      There wasn’t any thing left to be said. I could talk until I was blue in the face, but Veronica had to wake up in her own time. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be too late for her.

      I returned to my cubicle, and before I sat down, Claudette came from around the corner with a bright smile on her face. She was always so bubbly, and that kind of fakeness really worked my nerves.

      “Good morning,” she said, rushing to take off her coat. “It’s cold as Alaska out there, isn’t it?”

      Veronica and I both went over to Claudette’s cubicle. Of course, we had to do the morning check, compare what we were wearing. Claudette had on a gray pantsuit too, but to me, the suit looked cheap. She wore a canary yellow shirt underneath and threw in a hint of red to make herself look colorful. Her style in no way worked for me, but I guessed it worked for her, or so she thought. She checked out me and Veronica, and we already knew what was coming next.

      “Don’t y’all look cute today,” she squealed. “Is Liz here yet? I want to take an early lunch and I hope she doesn’t mind. I made an appointment to go look at some flowers for my wedding and no other day or time was available.”

      “I’m sure she wouldn’t mind,” I said. “Just let her know.”

      “Let me know what?” Liz said, coming around the corner with a cup of Starbucks Frappuccino in her hand. Now, none of us could come close to the class Liz had. That still didn’t stop her from checking me out, and she knew that I too had a style and sexiness about me that couldn’t be duplicated. She was a Saks Fifth Avenue kind of woman. I think she may have even had a stylist help her get ready in the morning, because her attire was always so perfect and coordinated with the most exquisite accessories. She was definitely a woman I looked up to and all of us respected her to the fullest.

      Claudette followed Liz into her office that was to the left of my cubicle. “I wanted to ask if I could take an early lunch. I’m supposed to meet with a lady who’s going to help me pick out flowers for my wedding and I’m running out of time.”

      “I don’t see that being a problem,” Liz said, dropping back to her seat. “Just make sure that you get those invoices out to our customers today.”

      “I’ll get started on the rest of them this morning. I mailed out some yesterday, but will make sure the rest are prepared and mailed today. Veronica is doublechecking my data entry, and after she unloads her batch, I’ll be able to get those out too.”

      “Sounds good,” Liz said. “Chase, will you start getting our invitations together for the Christmas party? I have many executives from the refrigeration company I want to invite, and I’ll need to put together some personal invites as well. Come sit in here this morning so we can get started.”

      I sat in Liz’s perfumed office with her for at least two hours, putting together the itinerary for the Christmas party that was three weeks away. Liz asked if I would be bringing anyone with me, and I told her that I wasn’t planning to. I was a very private person, and unlike everyone else, I didn’t care to bring boyfriends to the workplace and flaunt them. We continued to go over specifics for the party, and when there was a light knock on Liz’s door, I turned to see who it was. It was Claudette, and I was surprised to see Korey standing next to her, holding her hand.

      “I just wanted to let you know that I’m leaving,” she said to Liz. The expression on Korey’s face was frozen, and he finally blinked his eyes, looking in another direction.

      Liz, of course, invited them into her office.

      “How are you, Korey?” she asked. “Congratulations on the engagement. You have Claudette so excited.”

      “Yeah.” He smiled. “We’re both pretty excited.”

      I couldn’t tell, especially after all the crap he’d said to me. Claudette looked at me. “Honey, this is Chase Jenkins. She’s Liz’s secretary and I don’t think you met her before. She’s only been here for five months, but we love her to death.”

      I smiled from the bullshit Claudette had said, and stood to extend my hand. “Hi, Korey. Nice meeting you.”

      He gripped my hand. “You too,” he quickly said, then waved his hand in the air. “See you later, Liz. Good seeing you again, but we need to get going so we don’t be late.”

      Liz said good-bye and they left. She was all smiles. “They make such a cute couple,” she said. “Remind me so much of my husband and me when we were engaged. I truly hope everything works out for them.”

      I wanted to choke. I hoped there