BWWM Interracial Romance 1: Professional Relations Read Online Free PDF Page B

that you’re not an easy target. Stand up to him. Once he sees that you’re not going to take his shit, he’ll back down and find someone else to pick on.”
    Regina considered the advice. “But if I stand up to him right now he’ll just double down.”
    Abigail nodded. “You better be prepared for fall out, of course. Do it carefully. I know you can stay professional or I wouldn’t recommend it. You keep putting out your best work and if he does complain to someone higher up, they’ll smack him down for you.”
    Regina took a bite of her macaroni and cheese, trying to think of how she could put the advice to work.
    They shifted the conversation to more pleasant topics and Regina found out that Abigail and her long-time boyfriend were considering getting engaged. “Daniel wants to have babies, and while I told him we could do that without getting married, he keeps insisting that he wants our children to have a stable home to grow up in, and that the only way he can guarantee that for his offspring is to marry me.”
    Regina laughed, thinking that Daniel was in for a difficult task if he thought he would convince her sister to marry him. Abigail had been opposed to marriage for as long as they’d formed opinions about the matter—while Abby had never been against the idea of having a family, she had seen their mother compromise and give in to their father on so many occasions that the institution of marriage itself had never appealed to her.
    They split the check as they always did, after Abigail argued that as the older sister she should be responsible for the meal.
    Regina hugged her sister as they parted ways, thinking of her advice. If she stood up to Bradley, she knew that she would be putting herself in a position of vulnerability. But she also knew that she had to establish boundaries with him—that he would keep bullying her if she didn’t. As she left the café and made her way across town to the salon Regina wondered what it was about Bradley that irritated her so much. Thinking of him brought the image of the man to mind; she thought with only a little bit of embarrassment that he was actually very good-looking. His creamy-pale skin was appealing, and his bright eyes and reddish hair had a subtle exoticism that Regina couldn’t deny finding attractive.
    Regina sat in the salon chair while the stylist went to work, continuing to think of her conundrum. She considered the possibility of taking another approach to the issue of her frustrating coworker; not knuckling under precisely, but being slightly deferential to him, reinforcing his sense of seniority over her. Regina knew that it would probably work in the short term, but over time, it would just create more trouble. She would eventually have to stick up to him—it would be better for her to get it out of the way as quickly as possible, to assert her position and establish her boundaries. Her support groups, which she had attended all during the divorce as a way to get some advice without hounding her sister, had always stressed that establishing boundaries was important.
    Regina left the salon feeling like a new woman. She had seen herself in the mirror and knew that her hair was beautiful. It was always a relief to go to the salon; even when she had been getting her hair done to her ex-husband’s demanding specifications, she had always enjoyed the satisfaction she’d felt at seeing the accomplished style. Regina decided that she would follow her sister’s advice. She would take the first opportunity that presented itself to confront Bradley and let him know that she was not going to tolerate any more of his bullying.
    The rest of the weekend passed uneventfully. Regina felt a little guilty at the fact that, in spite of her divorce being finalized, she had never entertained much of a real interest in “getting back out there,” as Abigail said. Another relationship was the farthest thing from Regina’s mind right now. She wanted peace and