A Lesson Learned

By Brenda Brown

This intriguing story has drama, police, suspense, sizzling romance, and many suspicious behaviors. This is a story about a woman named Shannon who did not follow her instincts and found herself in a serious humiliating position. The signs were there but they were clouded because of her feelings for a man. Previously, she had overcame a weight issue, low self-esteem, and a bad relationship with a man who was not supportive, was unfaithful and could not be trusted; because of this relationship she secluded herself from dating until she met Benson.

Benson, a handsome, alluring man who swept her off her feet with emotions and sensations she never experienced before. Her feelings were strong for him but she questioned her instincts. A man who literally made women weak just to be in his presence and made women second guess their instincts about him. The signs were there, but the desire to trust him made Shannon have self doubts about what she was seeing and how she should respond to this man. Find out what terrible situation Shannon found herself in..... **Sometimes not following your instincts can be like falling in a web and waiting on the spider.**

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 14, 2009
• ISBN: 9781462844807

Brenda Brown

Brenda Brown lives in Columbus Ohio with her husband, Willie Brown. She has twin grown sons, Lamont and Lamar Brown. She graduated from Franklin University with a degree in Business Administration. She is an avid reader and has recently pursued her love for writing. She is busy working on the sequel to A Lesson Learned, revenge at its finest!

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

IT WAS A beautiful summer day and Shannon was preparing to go shopping at the new mall that opened in her hometown of Columbus, Ohio. She had been planning to go shopping for months but her job at the hospital kept her busy and by the time she got off work, she was too tired to do anything. She was always trying to find time to take care of personal activities, such as spending more time with family and friends, banking, grocery shopping, house cleaning, and playing catch up on the washing that needed to be done. Today, Shannon was shopping for a new outfit to wear on a very special date.

Shannon Morgan was thirty-seven years old but looked much younger. She was five foot eight inches tall, one hundred and fifty pounds, with dark brown eyes, medium brown complexion with soft dimples on both cheeks, and dark brown shoulder length hair.

Shannon had always struggled with her weight so being at her present weight of one hundred and fifty pounds was a monumental undertaking for her, she worked hard at it and it took her years to accomplish this goal. She vowed she would never again allow her weight to balloon out of control. Two years ago she weighed two hundred and twenty-five pounds, but that was now an old chapter of her life. Shannon’s life changed considerably when she lost weight, she had more energy, her self-esteem improved and she felt more confident in her abilities at work and in her personal life. Part of changing her life included getting out of an unhealthy relationship. She was in a relationship with a man who didn’t respect her and took advantage of her kindness. He was not supportive, was unfaithful and could not be trusted. Getting out of that relationship was the best thing she could have done for herself and she has never looked back or regretted it. Now Shannon’s life was finally on track, she was accomplishing many of her goals and was happier than she had been in a long time. Since the breakup Shannon has thrown herself into her work and has avoided dating and serious associations with the opposite sex. Shannon was determined to be discerning about future relationships, however, she was concerned that she was getting older and there were times when she was lonely and would have appreciated having someone in her life that loved her and cared about her well being.

Shannon had recently been promoted to Quality Assurance/Corporate Compliance Coordinator at a major hospital and with this promotion came more responsibility and mandatory attendance at the weekly management meetings. This promotion was long deserved being that Shannon had worked at this hospital for twenty years. She had a degree in Business Management and had not advanced much due to hitting glass ceilings, but with a change in management at the hospital new opportunities opened up. This new position increased her salary to forty-nine thousand dollars a year a big step from the thirty-two thousand dollars she had been making prior to her promotion; she lived comfortably being middle class. The increase in salary allowed her to achieve some of her financial goals, which were to buy a condominium and a decent car.

At one of the management meetings, she was now required to attend; she was introduced to a very handsome, professional, clean cut, black man, named Benson Miller. He was hired as the new Director of Respiratory Therapy. Shannon admired him from the minute she was introduced to him by her friend and work associate, Sara, a nurse at the hospital. Benson was forty years old, soft-spoken, assertive, articulate, confident, he was always on time for the meetings and represented his department well.

Four weeks had passed since Benson and Shannon were introduced at the management meeting and they had hardly spoken with the exception of quick greetings and stolen glances during the meetings. Occasionally when their paths crossed in the hallways at work they smiled as they passed each other without saying a word. It took Shannon totally by surprise when Benson approached her after this Friday management meeting and asked her out to dinner on Saturday. Although she hadn’t dated for at least six months she said yes. After saying yes, she became a nervous wreak wondering what she would talk about on the date, what she would wear, and if she would be able to get an appointment at the hair salon before her date on Saturday. After returning to her office from the meeting she immediately called the hair salon and was fortunate to get an appointment for seven thirty that evening due to a last minute cancellation. Shannon decided to use some of her comp time and leave work early since nothing else was pressing for the day.

Finally taking the time to go to the mall Friday after leaving work was two-fold, as Shannon hadn’t been to this particular mall since it opened and she was excited to find out what it offered and she wanted to purchase a new outfit for her special date on Saturday night. She hadn’t decided if she would dress conservative or semi-dressy. When she was heavier she always dressed conservative, but since she had lost the weight her friends kept telling her she should loosen up and dress a little sexier. Shannon knew she would probably buy something black since she was partial to this color and it looked good with so many other colors but most of all because it always seems to have a slimming effect.

CHAPTER TWO

SHANNON WAS ENJOYING this nice sunny day in June as she drove to the new mall listening to the Temptations sing the oldie but goodie ‘My Girl’ on the radio. The sun roof was down in her shiny black, S-Type, Jaguar that she purchased six months ago; this was something she treated herself to since she lived fairly simply and never really indulged herself. Shannon saw this car while taking her sister, Renee, to pick up her newly purchased maroon Mitsubishi Galant. Shannon had not planned to buy a car this soon but this car caught her eye, she didn’t even know what kind of a car it was when she saw it, but the unusual look of it grabbed her attention. Something about the rich black color, the big unusual lights, the center grill, the plush interior with caramel colored leather seats, and the Jaguar emblem on the front hood just stood out from the other cars and Shannon just had to have it. The same salesman Renee used when she purchased her car was more than happy to sell Shannon the Jaguar.

During Shannon’s drive to the mall she was thinking about what she should buy to wear on her date. She decided a black mid-calf straight skirt, black high heels and a nice sexy silk blouse would be a simple yet attractive outfit to wear on her date. Shannon contemplated a shorter black skirt, but she knew that would be a bit much for her and she wanted to be comfortable on her date.

Once at the mall, she noticed Lord and Taylor was having a sale; Shannon loved bargains and was glad she decided to stop in this store. She found a black mid-calf skirt with a split up the back; as Shannon inspected the skirt closer she noticed it was a dressy black skirt with a gold zipper that could be adjusted as to how high the split in the back of the skirt should be. Shannon had a pair of black stacked-heeled shoes at home, but they were very conservative and she wore them almost everyday at work. Shannon decided she would stop by the shoe department and was pleased again to find a nice pair of black high heeled shoes with a thin metal gold strip down the back of the heel. She thought about how perfectly her black leather purse with the gold chain would coordinate with these shoes and the black skirt with