Sasha: The Awakening (The Wallflower Series Book 2) Read Free

Teagan looked behind her but was only greeted by empty space. Dmitri was gone.
    Laughing nervously, Teagan replied, “Oh, nothing! You ready for drinks, girl? Man, do we have some partying to do!” She whooped with joy.
    As was their custom, Sasha merely rolled her eyes. Teagan was and would always be a party girl.
     
     
     
     

Chapter Two
    Two years later
    “Sasha Harmon, Director of Internal Communications. How may I help you?”
    “Sasha!”
    Her eyes widened in surprise at the voice on the other end of the phone. “Teagan? Why are you calling me on my business line?”
    “Oh, well I wanted to surprise you. Plus, your assistant sounds hot! But, anyways, I’m back in town and I really wanted to hang out with you tonight. It’s Friday. Let’s party!”
    Sasha rolled her eyes at Teagan’s presumptuousness. “Always ready for a party, huh? Shame. Aren’t we getting a bit too old for this?”
    “Never.”
    Sasha spoke with her friend for a few more minutes before making concrete plans to meet and eventually hanging up. It was shocking to say the least how their lives had turned out so different from what they had planned following graduation. Instead of Sasha finding her way from the city, Teagan had been the one to take root in a foreign place. She now lived in New York while Sasha had found a place working in the Human Resources department of a tech company’s headquarters in Boston. She loved that she not only got the opportunity to assist with communication between individuals from different parts of the world but also was still close to home.
    If she had chosen to leave years ago, Sasha now understood it would have been for the wrong reasons. The grass could seem greener on the other side but, sometimes, it was best to remain tenacious in making the best of what you are given. And she had.
    A knock on her door removed her from her thoughts.  Her assistant, Justin McMillan walked in with his usual long gait. Not long behind him was Lola Winters, the Executive Marketing Manager. Lola had been a close confidant since Sasha had first begun working at the tech company as one of their youngest directors in company history. A fellow African-American woman battling the glass ceiling, Lola and Sasha had immediately bonded over their shared struggle and grown to know each other as more than co-workers but friends as well.
    Justin, in a similar vein, had become more than just her assistant; his endearingly shy nature had made her see a bit of herself in him. She soon found, however, that his initial shyness hid a humorous and outgoing personality when they were together in a casual setting, His complex nature was something Sasha found interesting and, having been one of the first individuals willing to open up to her, both Lola and Justin became close friends in a short time.
    Taking the seats in front of her desk, Sasha knew before they even began what was on their minds.
    “So…how did it go?” Lola’s suggestive tone didn’t get by Sasha and so, she merely rolled her eyes and shook her head.
    “Nothing happened. The date went pretty well but…I don’t think I will see him again.”
    Justin sat in silence watching the two women interact. Lola’s mouth had literally dropped in shock at Sasha’s confession. She sputtered for a few seconds before reacting in annoyance at another failure.
    “You know, you are just impossible to set up. Carter is the sexiest black man I have ever seen, excluding Idris Elba and I just don’t see how you can pass that package of deliciousness up.”
    Sasha shared a humorous glance with Justin, both of them smirking at Lola’s description of the man. She only shrugged. “Well, I just don’t feel any sparks. But, by the way you speak of him, maybe you should try dating him. You two may hit it off.”
    Lola harrumphed. “Believe me, I would jump on that in a heartbeat if he was at all into a dominant woman. In all my relationships, I am the one in control and if a man