Jarrick Exum, Author“The Guardian of Couture” Inaugural Sneak Preview
Eleven in the morning hit like an after-school alarm as Emilia came to my office and said, “Two-hour lunch. You, me, Francis, the assistants you met today. Moreno’s Bistro. Don’t worry, it’s part of your internship. All interns are paid to eat lavish.”
I knew it wasn’t polite to say no to paid-for meals, especially when my stomach was craving for something more than fruit. So I followed the Briton assistant as we joined the others for a three-minute trek to the restaurant in question. Once we arrived (apparently, the owners of the restaurant knew of the magazine), we were sitting down in a private dining room of the restaurant as I grabbed a menu that boasted no prices. Knowing better than to refuse or go hungry, I settled for a bruschetta-themed pasta dish and a side salad.
“So, Alcide,” Gianna said after the blonde and perky waitress took everyone’s orders. “Feeling the pressure yet? You can tell that this is far from what you’re used to.”
“It’s fast-paced and full of high energy, but I’m understanding the lay of the land,” I replied, pausing to take a sip of iced tea. “Plus, staying on my feet at a job like waiting tables at Bennigan’s or busing tables at Zum-Zum gave me practice.”
“So we’ve heard,” Derrick said. “And what of your family?”
That made the air drop ten degrees at the mention of the people who had me exiled. Might as well, I said to myself. Out loud, “Well, my family isn’t the type of being used to the idea of working at a fashion magazine. They expected me to go to Liberty University or at least stay local and marry the church pastor’s daughter, who had the personality of cold spaghetti.”
“But surely you might’ve wanted some sort of reconciliation,” Mariah suggested.
I shook my head no. “My father was a proud and overly masculine man, just like my older brother Tyler. The latter was a jock with the typical asshole vibes yet is also a state trooper for the Lone-Star State and one of the teen-designated pastors,” I said. “Paige, meanwhile, could light up a room and make everyone feel more at ease. She was also as demure and deferring as my mother. They were fitted for each other. Then you have me, the middle child with dark humor like his late grandparents- both sets- and was never taken seriously. I was actually glad for being exiled because the expectations set before me changed more than Tyler changed his underpants.
“When they told me that I couldn’t return to Texas under the penalty of being shot down, I knew that they meant every word. Tyler and his buddies were good with guns and never missed a shot. They called me up every time that there was something going on back home and I was barred from attending. I was even barred from missing Paige’s graduation from middle school while I was a freshman in college. ‘Just stay where you are if you value your life,’ Tyler had slurred the day before. ‘Don’t make me regret not shooting you at the Greyhound bus station.’ So, I stayed away and either celebrated in silence when there were happy moments back home or mourned in silence when someone passed away. And even if I don’t get a job at Couture, I know that going back to Texas was, and still is, out of the question,” I finished.
You’ll never forget the first time! ” The Guardian of Couture” is hitting the runways, available EXCLUSIVELY on Wattpad! Don’t miss it!
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