“I was just telling this woman that we cannot let her in that room. It is against our policy and since I have already turned numerous others away this morning, we could get sued if we bent over backwards for her.”
Joyce was right. But he wished she wasn’t, because Ronny wanted to open the doors and give this woman the keys to his kingdom. That’s how he felt inwardly, but he shrugged and said, “Joyce has a point. Since she’s already turned away others, we can’t let you into the conference.”
“Will you at least take my business plan?” She handed it to him.
Ronny opened it to the first page. He saw the Mrs. next to her name then looked at her ring finger. A gold band did indeed grace that finger.
“Will you at least look over it? If you think my idea is solid, then give me a chance. That’s all I ask.”
Her name was on the paper so he said, “Nia Brooks, is it?”
“Yes.”
“Why were you late?”
She hesitated a moment too long.
Ronny handed the business plan to Joyce as if he couldn’t be bothered with it, and then walked back into the conference without saying another word to Nia.
***
Nia arrived at work two hours late. She tried to put her head down and get to work so she could forget about the rude and arrogant man who refused to take her business plan. It was crazy how life worked. Arrogant men like Ronald Thomas got all the breaks while humble and God fearing men like her late husband couldn’t seem to catch a break.
Nia put her hand over her mouth as if that could stop the thoughts in her head. “I didn’t mean it, Lord,” she whispered. “The people of God are always winning. I don’t need that man’s money. I have You and You own the cattle on a thousand hills.”
“Who are you over there talking to?” Donna, the woman in the cubicle next to hers asked as she stood and looked over at Nia.
Nia swung around in her chair. “I was talking to myself... well, actually, I was praying.”
“My mama used to pray all the time, too, then she got cancer.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Nia said politely. “But that doesn’t change who God is. He is able to heal, and to deliver us out of whatever problem we deal with.”
“Yeah, yeah, and the tooth fairy hooked me up when my tooth came out last week too.” Donna waved Nia off as she sat back down.
Nia’s mom had been a praying woman also. She’d taught Nia that God loves His children and that He delights in doing good for His children. When her mom had gotten sick, she made sure that Nia understood that her illness didn’t take away from God’s greatness. As it says in the book of Job, ‘Though He slay me, yet I will trust Him’.
As Nia was driving home later that afternoon, the temp agency called to inform her that her assignment would be ending at the end of the week. Then when she came into her apartment complex and saw her things on the curb, she knew that this was yet again another moment when she was going to have to trust her God even though she didn’t understand what, why or how.
She pulled up to the curb, told Jarod to stay in the car and got out. Drake was coming down the stairs with a box in his hands. Nia started screaming at him, “What are you doing? Why is my stuff out on the curb?”
“I told you that I needed the rent money by two o’clock. You got to go.” He handed her the box.
She put the box down. “Where am I supposed to go? I don’t have enough money to pay for another apartment.”
“You don’t have enough money to pay for this apartment either. I’m sorry, but I can’t run a business on charity,” he said as he walked away from her.
Nia grabbed hold of his shirt. “Don’t do this, Drake. I can’t live on the streets with my son. Please.”
“What’s going on here?”
At the commanding voice, Nia let go of Drake’s shirt and swung around to see the gorgeous face of Ronald Elijah Thomas, the Richie-rich guy who rudely dismissed her without listening to a word she had to say. “This is all I need today. Did you come here to chastise me about being late on my rent now, too?”
Ronny lifted a hand. “Hold on, I’m not here to chastise anyone, I just want to know why you’re causing a scene in front of my apartment building?”
Nia exploded, “I should have known that you would own this apartment complex. Only someone as heartless as you would throw a woman and her child out in the cold.”
Ronny turned to Drake. “What’s she talking about?”
Drake pointed to the furniture that had been set on the curb. “Mrs. Brooks has been evicted for non-payment of her rent.”
As Drake said those words Jarod got out of the car and ran into his mother’s arms. “Mommy, my pirate ship is outside.”
Nia hadn’t noticed the box that her son had been playing in this morning. But now she saw that it was filled with clothes and pushed up next to the couch one of her church members had given her. She reached down and lifted him into her arms. “You went into my son’s room? Have you no shame?”
“I’m just doing my job,” Drake said.
Ronny was looking around, trying to find the pirate ship the boy had spoken of. He finally said to Drake, “I don’t see his ship. Where did you put it?”
Drake shrugged. “I don’t remember seeing a pirate ship. Not sure what he’s talking about.”
Jarod pointed toward the box. “You put those clothes in my ship. I can’t find treasure with those clothes in my ship.”
Grinning at the boy, Ronny said, “I used to have a ship like that. My mom used to help me find all kinds of treasure.”
“Really?” Jarod’s eyes widened as this awe struck expression crossed his face. Then he turned to his mom. “Can he come with us on the pirate ship?”
“We can’t go on the ship right now, hon. Mommy has to find a place to put all of these things first.”
“Do you have any place to go?” Ronny asked.
“What do you care? You rich people think life is so easy for everyone. You couldn’t care less about people like me.” Nia put Jarod down as she told him, “Help Mommy put some of this stuff in the car.”
“Okay,” Jarod said cheerfully, as he bent down and picked up a Ninja Turtle DVD. Nia picked up a lamp and the DVD player. She opened the trunk of her car. They put their belongings in the trunk and then went back for more.
Ronny’s eyebrow went up at the insult. “You don’t know the first thing about me, lady.”
“I’ve seen enough to tell me everything I need to know.” She looked him up and down, stepped toward him, pointer finger extended. “You come over here wearing a suit that most of the residents in this complex would have to work a month, maybe two months to be able to purchase. And then if they did purchase it they wouldn’t be able to eat or pay their rent.”
“And your point is?” Ronny didn’t step back as she advanced. He stood his ground and stared her down.
“My point is that you don’t know what it’s like to need a few extra days to come up with the rent or to not know how you’re going to put food on the table after you’ve paid the rent.” Her chest was heaving as she finished her statement. She shook her head and turned away from him, waving a hand in the air as if she figured she’d just been wasting her breath talking to him.
Ronny pulled Drake aside and asked, “What’s her story?”
Drake said, “I know it doesn’t seem like it right now, but Nia is a real nice Christian lady. She’s had some rough patches since her husband died. I’ve tried to work with her as best I could. But she’s been working temp assignments lately and I guess she’s not making enough money to afford all of her rent.”
“Has she paid anything?”
Drake nodded, “She pays as much as she can, but she has been short a couple hundred dollars the last two months.”
“Why did you put her stuff out on the curb?”
“You didn’t hire me to run a charity, so, I figured it was time that I took care of this problem. I’m sorry that it took me
so long to come to the right decision. I’m sure you would have handled the matter promptly.”
Looking like an angry bear protecting a defenseless cub, Ronnie growled, “Put her things back in the apartment.”
“Excuse me?” Drake looked as if he thought he was hearing things.
“You heard me. I’m making enough money off of this complex. I can certainly afford to help this woman and her son. Just make it happen.” Ronny turned and walked back to his car.
Drake then ran over to Nia and took the clothes out of her hand as she was about to put them in her trunk. “Stop, you don’t have to move.”
“Just leave us alone. God will make a way. I don’t have to stand here and beg you and that mean boss of yours.”
“Listen to me, Nia. God must have already made a way for you, because Mr. Thomas told me to put all your things back in the apartment. He said you can stay.”
“B-but I don’t have the rent.”
“It’s all right. Just go on in the apartment and I’ll get help getting your things back in there.”
Nia grabbed hold of Jarod’s hand and headed toward her apartment. But before going in, she realized that she should have said something to Mr. Thomas, but by the time she turned around, he was backing out of the parking lot. She wanted to run after the car to thank him for his kindness. Just this morning she had thought Ronald Thomas to be an arrogant, self-centered, mean spirited millionaire who didn’t care about anyone but himself, but now he was looking more like a knight in shining armor. And she was grateful that he had rode in on his white horse via a white Mercedes and saved the day for her.
Chapter 3
“Do you still have that business plan I handed you yesterday?” Ronny asked his assistant the moment she entered his office.
“I just threw it in the trash. I didn’t think you were interested.”
“What gave you that idea?”
Joyce stood in front of his desk with an armful of files. “It seemed as if you were more concerned with the time she arrived, than with the information in her business plan. Remember, you don’t like late people.”
He had been a bit obnoxious, Ronny could admit that to himself. But a man in his position has to set standards if he wanted to find the best qualified people to work with. That didn’t stop him from feeling like the worst kind of idiot for treating Nia so callously, especially since she was obviously struggling and probably could use a hand up. Nia could easily have been one of his sisters. Renee had been in a downward spiral when she applied for a job at her now husband, Jay’s company. What if Jay had simply dismissed Renee like he’d done with this Nia Brooks person? His parents had raised him better than that. So, he was determined to spend the first few minutes of his morning looking over her business plan. If it held any merit, then he would move heaven and earth to help Nia Brooks with her business so that she could provide a better life for her son.
“Here it is.” Joyce ran back into the room carrying the binder. She handed it to Ronny and then stood in front of his desk.
“That will be all, Joyce.”
“I thought you might want to go over your schedule before getting involved with anything else.”
Ronny shook his head as he lifted Nia’s binder. “I can’t do anything but review this business plan. When I’m finished, then I can tackle the next thing.”
“You’re the boss,” Joyce said as she turned and walked out of his office.
“Yes, I am,” Ron said to himself as the door to his office closed and he opened the binder. The first thing he noticed was that the business plan was professionally done and it had all the right elements. Ron normally didn’t give much credence to the mission statements in business plans. They were usually just words on top of words which meant nothing. But Nia Brooks’ mission statement gave him pause.
‘To bring back the pleasure of enjoying an after dinner dessert or snack in a healthful, fulfilling and more sustainable way.’
Since his beloved step-mother was in the process of selling her bakery because she didn’t want to encourage the eating of sugar and more sugar, especially after she had been both diagnosed and healed of diabetes, Ron was intrigued by the proposal. His interest was further sparked when he noted that Mrs. Nia Brooks’ snacks and desserts were healthy because they included no or very little sugar.
If this idea of Mrs. Brooks worked, maybe she could partner with Mama-Carmella and then his dad could make use of those plans he had of expanding the business. His family had been on his case lately about not spending enough time with them, so as he continued to read the business plan, the wheels were turning on how he could invest in the business and also do something for his family. Because even though being a success in business was very important to him, family would always be just as important. To this day, Ron was willing to drop whatever he was doing if anyone in his family needed him.
Last Christmas had been one of those times; the word had gone out to all of his sisters and brothers that Mama-Carmella was sick. Ron had been in the middle of a closing on a high rise apartment complex, but he left everything in the hands of his trusty assistant and headed to Raleigh. Things had turned out all right. The family had been a nervous wreck, but Mama-Carmella had everything under control and now she was living a much healthier life. She claimed all credit went to God for that, but Ron figured that the changes she’d made in her lifestyle should receive more of the credit.
That was the only problem he had with Christians. They always wanted God to get all the glory. They seemed oblivious of the fact that bragging rights could take a man or woman a long way in the business world. But hey, if that’s what made his step-mother happy, he wasn’t going to rain on her parade.
Ron buzzed Joyce back to his office.
Immediately, Joyce opened his door and said, “You wanted to see me?”
Ron handed her the business plan he’d just read through. “This looks good to me. But I have a few questions.”
Joyce opened her electronic tablet and started taking notes.
“In the company description area, Mrs. Brooks states that her company would be different from other healthy snacks companies because she also plans to add classes that would enable the consumer to make some of these products themselves. I’d like you to tell me if this has been done before and if so, where... how much do they charge and how are the classes set up.”
“Got it. You’ve had a few calls this morning. Bridgett Mills and Yvette Daily. They both asked me to let you know that they were available for dinner tonight.”
“Thanks Joyce.”
“Will there be anything else, sir?”
“That’s all for now.” Restless, Ron stood up and went to the window behind his desk. As he stood there looking down at the men and women as they walked the streets below, an uneasy feeling crept up his spine. Lately, he was having trouble deciding what to do about the women in his life. Bridgett had been exciting and mind blowing when they first started dating, but then she started pressuring him to get serious. The same thing happened with Yvette, and now he didn’t feel like going out with either woman.
Times, they were a changing, because Ronny used to be the life of the party where the ladies were concerned. But he just wasn’t having as much fun as he’d previously had with his indulgences. The more time Ronny spent away from the dating the scene, the more he realized that he’d only been dating all those women to prove something to himself. Years of struggling to earn a living, had caused him to feel unworthy of any woman’s time. How could he ask someone out on a date, when he hadn’t even had enough money to foot the bill for popcorn and a movie.
These days Ronny could pay for a lot more than popcorn, but at this point in his life, he’d rather be making deals than spending one more night on the town with a woman he had no future with. But as he turned from the window to work on the next deal on his desk, Ronny’s mind drifted back to yesterday and the feisty woman he’d met who seemed to think he was born with a silver spoon in his mou
th. Boy did she have him pegged wrong. Ronny smiled as he contemplated their next meeting.
***
“Eat your dinner, Jarod.”
“But I don’t like spinach.”
When Nia was a child she didn’t like spinach either. But she’d since learned how good spinach was for the body and gave it another try. Sautéing those leafy greens with garlic, olive oil and a little bit of sea salt was like yum-yum to the tummy. “Spinach is so good for you, Jarod. Why don’t you give it a try?”
“No spinach. Want pizza.” Jarod started pounding on the table and chanting, “Pizza, pizza, pizza.”
She didn’t even have rent money, where on earth did her son think she was going to get money for a pizza from? Maybe she should just get out her magic wand and scare up a few tickets to Disney World while she was at it. Heck, why didn’t she just wave that wand and have all of the Disney theme parks relocate to their back yard? That way, she wouldn’t have to worry about pesky hotel fees and gassing up her car to get them all the way to Florida.
She stood up and put her head in the refrigerator, partly to cool herself off and partly to find her son something else to eat. It wasn’t his fault that they had no money, so she needed to get out of her bad mood and help him out. “How about some yogurt or an apple,” she said as she scrounged around the half empty refrigerator. They might not have much, but Nia was determined that her son would eat healthy so that he wouldn’t have to worry about health problems later on in life.
“Apple,” Jarod agreed cheerfully.
Nia cut up the apple and made sure to take the seeds out because her son wouldn’t take a bite of an apple that still had the seeds in it. Nia smiled as she remembered that his father had been the same way. At times, Jarod reminded her so much of Johnny that she felt as if she was raising a mini-me version of Johnny Brooks. She was just thankful to God that this smaller version of Johnny had no traces of the illness that shortened his father’s life.
His Love Walk Page 2
