by Mary Monroe
“Good! I can concentrate on my e-mail this afternoon. Remind me to call my granny and your cousin Lola. You can call Lola yourself and tell her my whole afternoon is free if she wants to drop by with my copies of the magazine piece she interviewed me for.”
“Uh, I don’t think so,” Nicole informed Teri, rising.
“What?” Teri had her hand on her door and was about to go in.
“There are some people in the conference room waiting to see you.”
She stopped abruptly, giving Nicole an impatient look. “Oh? Well, are you going to tell me who those people are and why they need to see me?” Before Nicole could respond, Trevor and Harrison strolled into the reception area.
CHAPTER 35
“Trevor, it’s so nice to see you again. I thought you were in London,” Teri squealed. She gave Trevor a bear hug.
“It’s always nice to see you, baby,” Trevor said, planting a wet kiss on her lips, more to taunt and tease Harrison than anything. “I was out chilling with my man here and we decided to pay Victor a visit. I was disappointed when I called John and was told that Victor’s out of the office! But I didn’t want to waste up such a nice afternoon so I decided to drop by anyway and check you out. Besides, you and I need to sit down and discuss my album cover bid. I hope you don’t mind me dragging my boy Harrison along with me…”
“Uh, how thoughtful of you,” Teri mumbled. “Just let my secretary know when you’re available.” Then she glanced at Harrison. “It’s nice to see you again, too, Harrison.” Harrison just nodded and grunted. But from the eager look on his face, Teri knew that he was glad to see her, too. That was nice because she really was glad to see him. Just as she was about to speak again, she glanced at Nicole, who was waving her hand at her and blinking hard. “Yes, Nicole? What is it?”
“Teri, I couldn’t reach Young Rahim in time to cancel his meeting with you this afternoon,” Nicole said. “He and one of his people are in the conference room.”
“Well, it looks like this is going to be a very busy afternoon after all,” Teri said with a dry laugh. “That Rahim. His last CD is still so fresh some folks haven’t even heard it yet, but he wants to talk about his next project already,” she explained. “These rappers sure don’t like to stand still long enough to let the grass grow under their feet. They like to move fast.”
“That’s the key to success,” Harrison offered. “And just to let you know, I’ve been playing Young Rahim’s latest on my show every hour on the hour; it’s just that popular with my listeners.” Nicole noticed how Teri tried not to look Harrison in the face. Instead, she kept her eyes more on Trevor. “If you don’t stay on the ball, the ball will roll right past you.”
“I heard that,” Trevor added. Teri got a whiff of the alcohol and weed on his breath. Harrison stood even closer to her and as far as she could tell, he had not been drinking or smoking anything.
“Well, if you gentlemen don’t mind, I need to get into the conference room. I know Young Rahim doesn’t like to be kept waiting,” Teri said, moving toward the door. She still had on the light blue suede jacket she’d worn to work over her navy blue pantsuit.
“Don’t mind us,” Trevor said, following Teri. Harrison was right behind him.
“Uh, Nicole, can you get Sandy or one of the secretaries to cover your desk. I’d like for you to be present in case we need to take some notes,” Teri said, folding her arms.
“Sure,” Nicole said. She took Teri’s jacket from her and hung it on a hook across from her work station. “Why don’t you all go into the meeting room and I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
Teri’s legs felt like rubber as she walked toward the conference room down the hall. She didn’t like the fact that Trevor and Harrison were walking behind her. Knowing Trevor, she knew his eyes were on her butt, watching it bounce, jiggle, and wiggle as she walked. But when she glanced at the mirrored wall outside the conference room, she saw that it was Harrison’s eyes that were looking her ass up and down. Why in the hell did she wear the tightest pair of pants she owned today of all days?
It got worse once she entered the conference room. With more than a dozen chairs available, Young Rahim was sitting on top of the long, oblong-shaped table, reared back like he was in his own home, and smoking at that!
“I’m sorry but you can’t smoke in here,” Teri said firmly, fanning smoke.
“I smoke everywhere I go. Ain’t nobody never had a problem with it before,” Young Rahim said. From the glassy look in his eyes, cigarettes were not the only things he’d been smoking today.
“That’s fine. But it’s against the law and that law is strongly enforced here,” Teri said. She was no longer nervous now. With Victor out of the office she was in charge and she didn’t put up with any mess that Victor didn’t put up with. This was why she was always put in charge during Victor’s absence because he knew he could count on her.
“You heard the lady,” Harrison said.
“Let’s not have any heart attacks up in here,” Young Rahim said with a sneer, putting his cigarette out in a half-empty cup of coffee sitting next to him on the table.
“And if you don’t mind, please don’t sit on the table. You can sit in any one of these chairs if you want, but not on the table,” Teri said, hands on her hips. She saw Trevor jab Harrison in the side with his elbow.
It was not much of a meeting in the traditional sense. Young Rahim’s manager, Freddie Spivey—a pinch-faced man in his midthirties—and Trevor tried to outtalk each other. Trevor boasted excessively about his latest work. Freddie, his puckered lips looking like somebody had screwed them onto his face with a pair of pliers, gritted his teeth and gave Trevor a dismissive wave. Then he took the spotlight and boasted about Young Rahim’s latest work, reminding Trevor that Young Rahim was still fresh and young. Therefore, he had more time left to develop his career even further. “That’s life, old man,” Freddie said, patting Trevor on the shoulder.
“That’s bullshit,” Trevor said, removing Freddie’s hand from his shoulder. “Being young didn’t do much for Sisqo and Vanilla Ice, wherever they are these days…”
Knowing that his manager represented him well, Young Rahim left to go outside to smoke a cigarette. After Harrison answered a lengthy call on his cell phone, he moved closer to Teri. She stood there idling, looking at her watch, and wondering how in the hell to whip these assholes into shape. Freddie and Trevor were going at each other as if Teri had disappeared into the wall.
She cleared her throat and turned to Harrison. “I don’t know about you, but I have more important things to do than just stand around here waiting for I don’t know what.”
“I thought you had a meeting with Rahim and his man,” Harrison said, giving her a sympathetic look.
“I thought that same thing myself,” Teri replied, rolling her eyes and looking at her watch. “Could you do me a favor?”
“Anything,” Harrison replied.
“I’m going to return to my office and return a few phone calls while I’m waiting. Tell everybody I said—” Teri didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence. Nicole rushed into the room with a wild-eyed look on her face. Young Rahim was a few steps behind her.
“I don’t appreciate this motherfucker pinching my breast or any other part of my body. If he touches me again, he is going to be sorry,” Nicole yelled, looking directly at Young Rahim’s manager. Freddie couldn’t understand why Nicole was so upset. She had been around performers often enough to know what to expect by now. He decided to let his client climb his own way out of this hole, since he was the one who’d dug it
“I didn’t do a damn thing,” Young Rahim hollered with his hands up in the air and his eyes bucked.
“What’s going on here?” Teri asked, looking from Young Rahim to Nicole. “Nicole, are you all right?”
“He comes up to my desk asking if he can make a local call. While he’s on my phone, he reaches over my desk and fondles me!” Nicole shrieked, waving her arms.
“All I was doing was reaching for a pen to write down a phone number,” Young Rahim insisted.
“Did you see any pens anywhere near my fucking titties?” Nicole asked, shaking a finger in his stunned face.
“I don’t have to hang around here and get insulted by some pooh-butt secretary! Don’t you know I could buy this damn place and you in it! Wait until I see Victor again!”
“Hold on,” Teri said calmly, her face just inches away from Young Rahim’s. “Victor would tell you the same thing I am about to tell you. This is a place of business and if you can’t treat it as such, you are not welcome here. I know about all the fooling around you do in the recording studio, but you can’t do that here. Until you can treat the employees in this company with some dignity and respect, I advise you to vacate the premises before I call security. Sexual harassment has never been tolerated around here and never will be as long as I’m here.”
Young Rahim stared at Teri with his mouth hanging open. He turned to his manager, who looked totally embarrassed, and then he returned his attention to Teri. “I have never met a bitch that had enough nerve to get up in my face like that,” he said calmly.
“Well, you can’t say that anymore,” Teri told him with a firm nod. “Nicole, go call security,” she added, pointing toward the door.
CHAPTER 36
“What the hell are you talking about—sexual harassment? I have never harassed a woman for sex! I get more pussy than I can handle! What I need to be sexually harassing some dumb little secretary for? People all over the world know me! I got women from Japan to Timbuktu lined up waiting to be with me!” Young Rahim was talking so loud his voice cracked. He turned to Freddie. “You better talk to this woman!”
Freddie, with an irritated look on his face, was about to speak, but Harrison spoke first.
“Brother, can I say something?” Harrison asked in a gentle voice. He decided to position himself between Young Rahim and Teri. “A real man wouldn’t treat a woman like that.”
“And whose side are you on, dude?” Young Rahim hollered, looking Harrison up and down as if he was inspecting him.
“I’m on nobody’s side. But it wouldn’t hurt if you apologized to these sisters and do what you really came here to do,” Harrison said. He was so close to Teri she could smell his aftershave. She liked his smell. It brought back some warm memories. “Come on, man. These ladies have to work here. This kind of activity can make a person not want to be here. They have to be here, you don’t.”
“Look, I’m sorry!” Young Rahim said, glaring from Teri, to Nicole, to Harrison. Trevor stood off to the side, watching in amazement. Despite his arrogant ways, he was glad that he had enough sense to conduct himself in a more gentlemanly manner than this obnoxious rapper. Yes, he flirted with the ladies everywhere he went. But that was all he did in public. He knew where to draw the line. He did his other more intimate business behind closed doors. He had seen so many talented performers rise and then fall flat on their dumb asses. And it was all because they thought their shit didn’t stink and that they could conduct themselves any way they wanted. On one hand, he was glad they did. It made serious artists like him look even better.
“Now if you said it and meant it, I am sure that Teri and Nicole would both be more inclined to accept your apology,” Harrison advised. He was speaking in a low but firm voice.
“Shit!” Young Rahim snarled. Then he waved his hands above his head and started to laugh. “All right. I am soooo sorry I got loose up in here.” He paused and turned to Nicole. “I really didn’t mean any harm out there, but beautiful women bring out the worst in me. You know how we can get.” He grinned, looking at Harrison for confirmation. “Right, man? Tell these foxes how hard it is for us bad boys to be good boys around lovely ladies.”
“Do you still want me to call security?” Nicole asked Teri. Harrison couldn’t have been happier that Nicole spoke when she did. The last thing he wanted to make a comment on was what Young Rahim had just said. The truth was, Harrison was just as overwhelmed as this uncouth rapper. It was hard for him to stand so close to the woman he loved and not grab her.
“I don’t think that’ll be necessary now,” Teri said, looking directly at Young Rahim. “What do you think?”
“This ‘meeting’ is over and I’m out of here,” he said. He whirled around so fast he almost fell to the floor. “You folks have a blessed day.”
“Damn!” Trevor said, his eyes still on the door after Young Rahim and his manager had departed. “I hope you don’t have to deal with shit like this too often.”
“We don’t, thank you,” Teri said, turning to Harrison. “Thanks for having my back. I don’t think anybody could have handled that situation as well as you just did. I owe you.”
“You sure do,” Harrison said, pursing his lips.
“Uh, Teri, Eric called a few minutes ago,” Nicole announced. “He said he left some paperwork in your office the last time he was here and wanted to know if it’s all right for him to stop by on his way home to pick it up?”
“I don’t see why not,” Teri said with a shrug, knowing damn well that if she’d said no, Nicole would have pouted like a two-ear-old.
“I’ll call him back,” Nicole said, looking as eager as a child who had just received a new puppy. She left the room in a flash, and as soon as she made it to the hallway, she trotted back to her desk. She couldn’t dial Eric’s number fast enough. Even though nobody was close enough to hear, she practically whispered into the phone when Eric answered. “Eric, what time did you want to come by?” Her voice had never sounded this husky. For a moment, Eric thought it was a man.
“I can be there in twenty minutes,” he told her, hoping she’d still be there when he arrived. “If you have to leave, you can leave my property on your desk. It’s just a few sheets of paper in a manila folder with my name on the front.”
“I’ll be here,” Nicole assured him, speaking in her normal voice now. I’ll wait here all night if I have to, she thought to herself.
Teri was still in the conference room with Trevor and Harrison. “Would either of you like some coffee or something cold to drink?” she asked.
Harrison was about to speak, but Trevor beat him to it. “You ready to roll, man?” He started moving toward the door before Harrison could reply. “Thanks for the offer, but we’ve got a few more stops to make,” Trevor explained, looking at Teri.
As much as Teri was enjoying Harrison’s presence, she was relieved to hear that they were leaving. With Trevor in the way, the timing and location were not in her favor. What could she and Harrison talk about in front of Trevor with his self-centered self? She knew that no matter what Harrison tried to talk about, Trevor would steer the conversation back to himself.
“Sure,” Harrison mumbled. “Teri, you take care of yourself,” he said, gently tapping her on the shoulder. “I’ll see you around?” he said with a hopeful look on his face. She was glad that he had made it a question.
“…Yes,” she replied slowly, trying to prolong the bliss she was feeling at the moment. She decided that he deserved one of her biggest smiles before he left.
“What a day,” Teri said, walking up to Nicole’s desk. She had just returned from escorting Harrison and Trevor to the elevator. She glanced at a large stack of telephone messages for her on Nicole’s desk and moaned.
“I hope you don’t mind me leaving a little early today,” Nicole said with a sniff. She was straightening up her desk with both hands. It took Teri a few moments to realize that Nicole was shutting down for the day.
“Of course not. I don’t even want to think about all the hours you’ve stayed late without getting paid overtime,” Teri replied. “Do you have an appointment or something like that?”
Nicole took her time responding. She sat up straight in her chair, clasped her hands, and looked Teri in the face. “Something like that.”
“Uh-huh. Well, just be careful.” Teri turned to go into her office.
“Wh
y did you say that?”
“You know what I mean. You’re going to meet Eric, right?” Teri stopped and faced Nicole with a concerned look on her face.
“He called again and invited me to meet him for a drink. He didn’t want to come all the way back down here just to pick up his papers,” Nicole said, almost with a pout. “Look, this was his idea. If Yvette meant that much to him, why would he be inviting another woman out to have a few drinks?”
“He is a man, Nicole. That’s what they do,” Teri reminded.
CHAPTER 37
“Thank you for your advice, again. Now if you don’t mind, I need to run to the little girls’ room to freshen up my makeup,” Nicole told a subdued Teri with a smug look on her face. She then proceeded to remove her purse from a drawer. “I hope you don’t plan on working late again.”
“No, I’m going to close up shop in a little while myself. I’ve got plans, too,” Teri mouthed, forcing a smile.
Nicole gasped. “It’s about time. I wondered what you and Harrison were talking about in that conference room after I left!”
“It’s not what you think. I’m spending the evening with…my grandparents, not Harrison,” Teri admitted, looking embarrassed. She immediately felt guilty about feeling embarrassed. She loved spending time with her family. “Grandma saved some bread pudding for me.” Nicole gave her the most pitiful look she’d ever received before in her life. “Oh,” Nicole said. “Well, I hope you have a good time. With Victor being out of the office, I hope you take some time to catch your breath.”
“I will,” Teri assured her. She closed the door as soon as she got into her office. Then she sat at her desk staring at the wall in front of her for the next twenty minutes.
Teri focused on things in her office that had been present for years. Things that had never bothered her before but did now. Especially some of the large, framed color photographs on the wall facing her desk. There was one of Young Rahim standing with his legs spread slightly apart, his hand gripping his bulging crotch. Two half-naked young women were in the picture with him. The two women looked as though they wanted to kiss his feet. He had a grin on his face that made him look like a shark.
