Secrets In The City

12.2: Non-Negotiable

THE holidays is a stressful time period for everyone. Mostly for those who work in retail. Brena, is starting to consider the idea of quitting her UPS store job. During this time of the year, their customer patronage increases because people are in desperate need to get their presents sent to their loved ones and their online orders are being bombarded with excess deliveries.

Brena is days away from turning 23 years old. She thought 21 was a confusing age but this one is a close second. It means she's close to 25 and that's close to 30. Unfortunately, it's also the two year anniversary of her mother's death. Lately, her emotions have been loopy and she has yet to call Henry back to fix a date for their meeting. Before Brena closes her eyes at night, the question remained the same.

What did she leave behind for me? She thought. The whole thing is starting to stress her out and the anxiety was cramping her mental state of mind and her mood.

For the first time since she's been working here, Brena was scheduled to close up shop. She couldn't take the bus by the time she clocked out because of how late it was. With Lillian still held up at work, public transportation is her last option. Lillian has been occupying herself with work. Her parents are arriving the day after New Year's and Brena is certain that work is giving Lillian the distraction she needs to calm her nerves.

By the time Brena was done receiving and processing packages for courier shipments, the clock strikes midnight. It was officially New Year's Eve.

"And that's last of it." Brena let out a sigh of relief. "Aigh, girl I'm out. Happy New Year in advance I'll see you next year." She said to Anita, her coworker.

After she stacked up the files, she placed them carefully on top of her desk. Anita's eyes were focused on the computer screen in front of her, inputting the data from today's work into the system. Her fingers were still on the keyboard but she moved her lips to the side, lifting up her head to respond.

"Okay, I'll let Ray know. Happy New Year babes, goodnight."

Brena picked up her bag and exited the store. Walking to the car, she heard her phone ringing. She pulled it out of her pocket to see who was calling. When she saw the caller ID, her eyes widened.

It was Desmond.

Brena smirked without knowing but quickly wiped it off.

"Why the hell am I smiling?" She muttered, irritatingly.

Desmond hasn't called Brena since he popped up at her house unannounced. It's been a week and he's just now giving her a call. Brena could have easily asked Lillian to give her his number but she's not sure what kind of game Desmond is playing. With curiosity firing her up, Brena declined the call angrily, swiping it to the right before getting into the car.

She connected bee USB cord and began playing pretty little fears by 6lack ft J.Cole.

As she drove, she was so deep in her thoughts that she almost missed the turn on her block. After a couple of minutes of driving around in search for a parking spot, she found one a block away from her house. She hopped out of the car and started her brief walk home. Brena's neighborhood was always safe but lately, there have been reports of assaults going on and she was not willing to become a statistic so, she clutched on tightly to her pepper spray.