A Little More Than Convenient

|Trent Remington|
“I’m sorry, Tara, but I can’t make the tux shopping today...Because, Mr. Bening’s having a meeting with me today. Something about cutbacks and promotions. No, I don’t think he’s gonna fire me. Seriously, Tar, we need to reschedule. Yeah, I know. Bye.”
I shook my head and hung up the phone. People should not get married. It’s driving my sister, Tara, completely insane. Honestly, I don’t see why they haven’t gotten married yet, really. Tara and Mark, her fiance, already have a son, my nephew, Joel. He’s three years old, and they’re just now getting married. My mom almost had an aneurysm when she found out that Tar was pregnant out of wedlock. She’s a bit of a...um, focused Methodist Christian. We live in Arkansas after all, in Jonesboro, which has a population of 55,515. I love it here. It’s got all the charm of the country, but all the hustle and bustle of the city. It’s great!
This Saturday morning in October, I was going to work, but not to work. I was going to visit my boss, William Bening. He was the president of Liberty Bank, Jonesboro branch. I was basically the assistant vice president, but I didn’t really have a title. If you were to say that I was one step down from being the vice president, you’d have it in a nutshell. Our vice president, Dale Hill, was leaving soon, and moving on to be president at Conway, so we’d need a new VP soon. I wanted that title more than anything, because I want to be president. It’s been my dream since I left college three years ago.
I attended college at the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) in Conway, but I moved back to be closer to my family. I have a brother and a sister. My sister is Tara, and my brother is Tristan. He’s single, too, hopping from one woman to the next. He is three years younger than me, therefore, still in college. He’s attending Arkansas State University (ASU) right here in Jonesboro.
After I hung up with Tara, I hopped into the shower and brushed my teeth. I chose to wear a black suit from Joseph A. Banks. I can’t afford Armani, of course. I may work in a bank, but it’s still doesn’t pay enough to buy that. I also slipped on black argyle socks and black loafers. My silver watch wasn’t a Rolex, but it was from Zale’s. Tara got it for me. Please don’t think that I’m goth or alternative or punk. See, my job requires neutral colors, so that we look more professional. Personally, I prefer dark blues and dark greens. And jeans. You can’t not like jeans. That’s part of the reason Friday’s my favorite day of the workweek.
I walked out of my apartment to my car. I’m on the first floor, so I don’t have to take stairs or an elevator. I drive a tan Suburban. And...it hates me.
***
The bank wasn’t very busy that day, which wasn’t odd considering it was Saturday. The bank’s only open from eight until noon on Saturday’s. I waved hello the receptionist, Mandy, who reads In Touch Weekly, chomps gum endlessly, and files her nails so much, that I expect her nails to be tiny nubs one day.
“Is Mr. Bening busy?” I asked, “He asked me to see him today.”
“Nope,” she replied, “he’s in his office right now. I’ll page him and tell him you’re coming up.”
“Thanks, Mandy,” I thanked her.
She popped a bubble, nodded, and reached for the phone.
At the elevator, I pushed the button for the third floor. Going into Terrance’s (the customer service representative’s) office, was a really beautiful girl, dressed in all shades of brown. I smiled and she smiled back, and that was the conclusion of it. I took a deep breath and prayed that I wasn’t going to be fired. The reason I was going to see Mr. Bening was about promotions and cutbacks. I prayed I wasn’t a cutback.
“Hello, Mr. Bening,” I said, shaking his hand.
“Mr. Remington,” he replied, nodding to the seat in front of his desk.
I sat down obediently.
He folded his hands and began to speak, “Trent, as you know, the company is both doing cutbacks, and promotions. We’re going to need a replacement for you-”
My heart sank.
“-Because I’d really like to give you the VP job. The only problem is that I don’t know if you’re a family man. You’re still single, no children, and I don’t know if you have the people friendly attitude that we’re looking for. But, you are a great worker, and a very smart man.”
“Thank you, Mr. Bening. I hope that you further consider me, and I sincerely hope that I can convince you that I am a people person.” I stood up and shook his hand once more.
He nodded again, as I walked out.
“Yes!” I said a little loudly.
Walking toward the elevator, I was suddenly bumped into and then, my shirt was wet. With coffee. I looked up. It was the girl from earlier, wearing all the brown. But now, she had a spilled cup of Starbucks in her hand. She had beautiful brown eyes and brown curls.
“Oh my God!” she exclaimed, “I am so sorry! You have no idea how sorry I am!” I almost chuckled. “It’s fine. I have other suits, besides I think you’ve had a worse day than I have.”
She nodded. “I have. But still, I’m very sorry.”
I shook my head. “Nonsense, it just clothes, they’ll wash, and if they don’t, I’ll buy new ones.”
She laughed. “You’re too nice. I’m Carmen, by the way,” she said, shaking my hand.
“Trent,” I replied, “and you act like you haven’t had the best day.”
She shook her head no. “I seriously haven’t. You don’t look too happy yourself.”
I shrugged. “It’s a case of good news equals bad news. Everything has a clause these days.”
“That’s true,” she agreed.
Compulsively, I said, “How would you feel about discussing our problems today. At Applebee’s? Say, noon-ish.”
She smiled. “Sure, as long as I’m out by two.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m going dress shopping with my sister. She’s getting married and-”
“My sister’s getting married, too,” I replied, “December 14.”
She gasped. “Mine’s getting married December 15.”
“Whoa,” I replied, “that’s really freaky.”
“Yeah,” she replied. Her phone beeped. “Ugh, it’s my mother. I better go, but I’ll see you at twelve. At Applebee’s.”
I nodded. “I’m looking forward to it.”
She walked away. She had a great ass. Usually, I’m not one to notice those things, but she definitely had a great one. My suit was ruined, but hey, I could get another one. Best of all, my mother would approve of her. She liked girls who apologized, even if they were clumsy. Who knows what would happened. I’d only just met her. But I had a feeling that Carmen, oh, crap, what’s her last name? Never mind. I had a feeling that Carmen had come into my life for a reason. Boy, was I ever right...