Meeting Ms. Jackson

By Jala Summers

Darian Oliver, home from college for summer break, never expected to do more than earn enough money from his temporary summer gig to help fund his senior year of college.

But when he takes a position as a server with a catering company, he finds himself serving up more than cheese cubes after stumbling upon Ms. Jackson, the most fascinating woman he's ever met.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Summers Publishing
• Release date: Dec 31, 2015
• ISBN: 9781524281922

Book preview

Synopsis

Darian Oliver, home from college for summer break, never expected to do more than earn enough money from his temporary summer gig to help fund his senior year of college.

But when he takes a position as a server with a catering company, he finds himself serving up more than cheese cubes after stumbling upon Ms. Jackson, the most fascinating woman he's ever met.

Chapter One

Darian

MEETING MS. JACKSON that night was the only upside  to dressing up in that idiotic tuxedo get up; like the hired help that I'd become. Ms. Jackson stood out in the crowd as I held out the silver tray of hors d'oeuvres for the guests in the crowded banquet hall. The room was filled with finely dressed men and women who'd gathered for a formal company party in the swanky Renaissance Hotel. But when she walked in the room, they may as well have all disappeared.

It was the summer before my senior year at Xavier University of Louisiana, and I was in need of some major cash.  My father had been laid off of his job two months before. And that meant he could no longer help pay for the portion of my tuition that my partial academic scholarship didn’t cover. It wasn't long before I realized that if I wanted to graduate, it was going to be up to me to earn the extra money necessary to make that happen.

Hence, the only reason that I would have signed up for that job in the first place. It paid well.  Much better than any other gig that I could've booked over the two and a half month vacation that I was back in my hometown in Dallas. According to my calculations, I’d make nearly half of what I’d need for my last year of college. I knew that I'd have to figure out later how to find the other half.  But that would be a problem for later.

And it was a problem that was nowhere on my radar when I saw the petite woman in the fitted royal blue, strapless dress walk through the double doors of the banquet hall. She moved with confident strides, her hips swaying with each step, commanding the room the moment she swept through the doors. Her reddish brown hair was pulled back, bringing attention to her high cheekbones and long neck, features which only added to her regal flair. Her honey colored complexion seemed to glow under the banquet room's lighting, as if a spotlight had been directed on her.  But Ms. Jackson didn't need a spotlight to draw the attention of all of the guests as they milled about, engaged in their small talk. Heads turned as she breezed past each group. Appreciative, longing  stares came from the men in the room,  while a few of the women gave admiring, albeit envious, once-overs.  But she seemed oblivious to them all. Or, she was so accustomed to the attention that it no longer affected her.

I watched as she stopped in front of a portly woman dressed in a charcoal gray pantsuit and greeted her with a hug.  As guests approached me, reaching for samplings of the hors d'oeuvres from the tray I held in front of me, I gave them weak smiles—-just enough so that it looked as if I cared—-and would turn my eyes away, searching the room until I'd spotted her again.  She seemed to float across the room,  from person to person, easily engaging in conversation.

She gave a polite pat to a young woman's shoulder and turned toward where I stood next to my coworker, Robert. She moved in our direction, glancing quickly at Robert before her eyes drifted to mine. Her chestnut-colored eyes lingered, before slowly trailing down, taking in the rest of me. She directed her gaze back up to meet my eyes again. Traces of a smile played on her full, red-stained lips, when she finally reached us. The sweet fragrance she wore drifted my way before she did, adding to what seemed like her innately seductive allure.

Good evening, she said, nodding her head slightly toward Robert before locking her gaze with mine again. She reached out to pluck a cheese cube from my tray, her eyes never leaving mine as she bit slowly into it. With a wink, she said, Thank you, in her deep, sultry voice and turned to head toward the platform located at the front of the hall.  I watched as she took a seat in one of the stage’s chairs next to a man and another woman. The event’s host, the pantsuit-wearing woman from earlier, approached the podium and spoke over the microphone, urging all of the guests to be seated as they prepared for the night’s speakers.

The host’s nasally, high-pitched voice echoed through the room. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to introduce you to our first guest, Sylvia Jackson, sales expert extraordinaire and personal development speaker.

I watched as the woman smiled at the host and moved confidently up to the microphone, her high heels clicking on the wooden floor beneath her with each step. Sylvia Jackson. Finally, I had a name to attach to the sultry woman in the fitted blue evening gown.

I moved to the rear of the hall where I and the other servers were tasked with setting up the tables in preparation for the dinner that had been arranged for the event’s participants. But my mind wasn’t on proper place settings because I’d found it nearly impossible to pull