“That’s nice of you to say, Sunshine. I’m sure since we’re neighbors, we’ll have plenty of chances to chat again.”
“Why leave it up to chance? If you give me your number, I will make it definite.”
“Are you flirting with me?”
“Am I that bad at it? I would think you would know. Just so there are no doubts let me say this. I’m feeling you, PJ. I want to get to know you better, so please give me your number so we can do that.”
“I don’t know. You are still a stranger. I don’t usually give out my number to people I don’t know.”
“Are we really strangers? I know your real name, Pashen.”
That made her smile. He was enjoying the flirt thing they had going on, but his driver would be arriving any moment. He didn’t have time to play around like he wanted to.
“Don’t make me beg, woman. It’s not good for my ego.”
“Oh, but it’s great for mine.”
“Fine, the beautiful PJ Harlowe, may I please have your number, so I can call you and arrange a date?”
“I’ll think about it. Ask me the next time you see me. I might be in the giving mood, then.”
Max shook his head and laughed at the woman. She was a spitfire and just what he needed in his life. He walked off toward the elevator with a wide grin on his face. PJ was a challenge. One he was going to enjoy conquering. It had been a long time since he was interested in a woman like this. It felt good to want her the way that he did. He had a feeling she wanted him too. He just had to find a way to turn her maybe into a yes.
For the rest of the evening at work Max found his thoughts drifting to the beautiful plus size vixen who was fast making a case to capture his heart. He had been called in due to a tropical storm that was developing in the Atlantic. As Chief Meteorologist, he was responsible for making sure everyone was prepared in case the storm developed into a hurricane.
“Max, so glad you could make it in. We need you on this tropical storm developing off the coast of The Bahamas. It looks like it may pick up speed and become a problem.”
“Don’t worry, Mr. Michaels. I am all over this. Give me a second to grab some hot chocolate and I’ll take care of things.”
Max rushed into the break room and made his drink before sliding over to his desk and logging into his systems. Sure enough the storm that was spinning around in the Caribbean was beginning to pick up strength. He got to work monitoring the storm hoping it would not develop into a hurricane. However, it was his job to get ahead of things and predict if it would or not. The people in his viewing area counted on him to get accurate forecasts up to the minute. Even though it didn’t appear so by his dancing spiel, he took his job very seriously. It was his responsibility to make sure the citizens of Charlotte and surrounding areas would be prepared for any dangerous weather that may occur. He did not want any casualties to happen during a storm, so he made sure to be at the top of his game.
As he was watching the pattern of the storm, he noticed the national weather service had predicted that path of the storm would come right through Charlotte, on its way north up to Virginia and then back out to sea. If it did indeed grow into a hurricane, he needed to be ready. He brushed up on the latest evacuation routes, should it come to that. He had to get an accurate listing of shelters in the area. He had one from the last storm, but things in the city change at the drop of a dime. Picking up his landline, he dialed the number of his contact in the mayor’s office.
“Trenton Coley here.”
“Trent, this is Max Shine over at WYAL.”
“Well, hey Max. What can I do you for?”
“I was calling to first inform you about a storm brewing off the coast off The Bahamas. Right now it is just a tropical storm, but I have a feeling it will get much stronger very soon. We need to be prepared. Second, I need to get an updated list of active shelters in the area.”
“Thanks for the update, man. I’ll be sure to alert the mayor. In the meantime, I will send that list of shelters on over via email. Is it still the same, [emailprotected]?”
“That’s exactly right. Thanks, man. How’s the wife and family?”
“Oh, everyone is fine. We’re expecting another baby in the spring. Hoping for that elusive boy.”
“Oh yeah? Congratulations. This one will be a boy, for sure.”
“Thanks Max. Let me go relay this information to the team. That email you needed should be in your inbox now. You take care and let me know if you need anything else.”
“Thanks a lot, Trent and stay safe.”
After ending the call, Max made sure that every member on his staff and the news producers had the updated information about the shelters so they could update the website as soon as possible. People needed to know where to go in case of an emergency and their station prided themselves on being a resource for the community. It was going to be a long couple of days.