City Vibes - Complete Series (BWWM Interracial Billionaire Romance) Read Free Page B

easily. She had chased it around her mind for months and months, until finally, she had captured it and packaged it into this perfect package of a research proposal, and yet it wasn’t enough.
    “Please get out of my office.”
    Reese snatched her binder up in her arms and left the small 9th floor biology office. With the heavy door shut behind her, she leaned her back against the stone wall and sunk to the floor, heartbreak and hopelessness washing over her like the turbulent wave of a thunderstorm at sea. She rested her head in between her knees and let the binder that contained months and months of hard work slip to the floor with a thud. Hot tears streamed down her cheeks and dropped onto the linoleum floor, leaving small puddles of salty water. A lump grew in her throat as she pressed her lips shut in an attempt to keep herself as quiet as possible. Her muscles tensed as her grief turned to frustration that she could be so right and still not get the funding that she deserved. A quick look at her watch told her that she was already ten minutes late for her waitress shift at Per Se. With a gasp, she pushed herself off of the floor and flew down nine flights of stairs.
    Reese emerged from the Biology building on Waverly place and joined the swarm of New York University students. Her tears dried in cold streams on her cheek as the crisp fall wind tousled her short curls and flipped her scarf inside out. She sucked in deep breaths, as she struggled to clear her mind of the argument she had just had in order to prepare herself for what was going to be a very long Friday-night shift. As she hopped through the crowds, swerving from this place to that and jay walking every chance she got, she absorbed the dirty city air, the sharp sounds of screeching brakes, whooshing tires. The snippets of conversation here or there; meaningless words or annoying phrases that hung in her mind for a second or two, before dissolving in the acidic environment of her worrisome thoughts.
    Eventually, she made it to the subway station of west 4th street and 6th avenue. A wave of warm, diesel-infused air washed over her face and neck. Her chilled fingers slipped the scarf from around her neck and shoved it into her oversized messenger bag. In the stuffy, underground air, she could hear the dinging sound of the reader as she swiped her metro card, then the whine of the heavy gate as she pushed her body through the barriers. As she stood on the yellow line of the platform, fatigue drooping her eyes and thoughts of her catastrophic failure weighing on her mind once more, she took a step over the yellow line and stared into the dark abyss. A muffled squeaking sound cut through the relative silence as the soot-covered body of a rat scurried into view, then disappeared under a fold of track. She contemplated jumping into the tracks and patiently awaiting her death , but as the roar of the incoming subway flooded her ears, she vanquished her foolish thoughts and patiently waited to board her train.
     

Chapter 3
    Reese yanked the freezer door open and stuck her head inside of it. She had discovered the noise-canceling effect of the restaurant ice-boxes and freezers months ago, when, during a conversation with one of her colleagues, she was unable to hear any of grating words once she had stepped inside of the over-sized appliance. She placed her free-hand on her forehead, swiping the beads of sweat away. Her mouth hung slightly ajar as she sucked in buckets of cold air, hoping that that would calm her. She was currently waiting on four tables at the same time and it didn't help that one of them went through their cocktails at a rate that would make an alcoholic's head spin. On top of that, the image of Alexis' face, much too close to hers, telling her she wasn't good enough, kept coming to mind.
    “Reese!” A firm hand gripped her upper arm and pulled her out of the freezer. She turned to find the tall, lean frame of her manager, Frank, staring at her,