“I have fun,” I say, thinking about a few of my night exploits over the years.
“Not the women,” he says. “Do you do anything meaningful that brings you joy? Gives you a real smile, not that fake shit you push off on these other people,” he comments.
“I’m happy,” I say, signing a piece of paper and adding it to a folder.
“If you really were, then you wouldn’t be here,” he says slowly. “You’d be spending time with the people you care about.”
“I care about our business. Our family—you, David Jr., and Dana,” I tell him, as though he doesn’t already know. Sometimes, I feel like both my father and I remix the same conversation every time that we see each other. Same words, just arranged a little differently.
My father sighs and then stands.
“I sent your staff home, son,” my father says. “To put it in terms that you understand, there is no need for them to be in on overtime for a third week in a row,” he adds before leaving.
I continue working as though my father had never entered with his holier-than-thou attitude. As a child, I remember seeing him no more than once a week. It was Sheryl, my cook and nanny, who taught me the ropes and filled the hole that not having either one of my parents dug.
Both David Jr. and Dana—being twelve and ten years older than me—had long left the house when my mother Gladys passed. They may as well have stuck me in a closet with sunlight to grow alone.
I back my family beyond measure, but sometimes it seems as though they are all against me.
Chapter 3-Ayron
I ask the city’s new Director of Community Outreach and Development to repeat what she said. I couldn’t have heard her right.
The day had started off pleasantly enough. Norma’s home had passed inspection and was now considered habitable to live in. There was no traffic on the freeway back to the office. And Dr. Tirash was going to actually work his weekend shift, leaving me prime opportunity to enjoy my bed and a good book.
Everything had been going well until this thin woman with the sprouting weave pranced into my office with her short skirt suit. This turned the day from good to bad.
“This community center, along with several others, will be vacated within the month and demolished,” she says, with a stare in her eyes that dared for me to ask her again.
“Why now? Why so sudden?” I ask, anger filling my voice. The community center had become a home for me.
“The city is bleeding money trying to keep these places open, for people to what— abuse them? To forget about them? We have to focus on vital city services,” she huffs.
“Oh, ‘vital’, like paying you?” I snap.
She places a hand on her sliver of a hip.
“Yes. They pay me well to tie the tourniquet and try to squeeze out resources so that the city can survive. So you and your little social experiment are on a time clock,” she says, turning on her heels and exiting.
“And they say dragons don’t exist,” Ms. Agnes chimes in. “She’s a fire breather if I ever did see one.”
“She doesn’t scare me,” I let Ms. Agnes know. “She messed with the wrong girl.”
“Do you think that she may have been just a little upset that she had to stomp those expensive heels through our slum because you requested a face-to-face discussion through her supervisor?” she asks.
“The woman didn’t reply to my letter, voicemails, or emails. What was a girl to do?” I say innocently. My grandmother and I used to clean houses for some very important people with influence in the city. If she wanted a fight, I would give her one. “Please believe me when I say I will not be bullied or ignored.”
Ms. Agnes stands up and walks over to me. She places her hand on my shoulder.
“Honestly Ayron, baby girl, I think this is the push that you need to get your own place,” she says sincerely.
“I love the community center,” I gasp, trying to fight back tears.
“But you are better than this. You should have some swanky office uptown, getting paid way more to do way less.”
“This is my home. This is where I started. Where I began,” I justify.
“And do you still wear your first bra, too?” she mocks. “You of all people know that change happens whether you like it or not, and it’s not always for the worse.”
I hug my employee who at some point had become more to me.
“I’m so glad to have you,” I tell her. “I’ll start looking for some options this week.”
“Good, now let me start hiding all the good stuff. That klepto girl you work with will be here in a little bit.”
I laugh at Ms. Agnes all the way back to my office to lock up my tablet and purse.
The thud that explodes from the front halts my laughter.
The five steps from my office to the front door where Ms. Agnes lies on the floor don’t take long, but I know that I’ll remember them forever.
I immediately whip out my phone and call 9-1-1 in a panic. It is one of the most terrifying nights of my life.
***
“Monique, can you come to the hospital? I am here,” I tell her over the phone early in the morning.
“Huh, is everything okay?” she asks, sounding worried.
“Just come as soon as you can. I need someone,” I say, crying.
“Okay, girl, hang tight! I will be there soon,” she reassures me.
***
“Yes, honey, I am feeling this spot and the men that come along with it,” Monique comments as we walk through a third floor office rental space. “And the floor-to-ceiling window gives you the perfect view of who is coming and going,” she adds. “Hopefully you will be on the receiving end of all the cumming, but –"
“Nasty,” I say, popping Monique on the hand.
“I’m just saying.” She laughs. “There were some nice pieces in the lobby. One could slip right on into your office, and then slip right on into your space, without you having to be bothered with all the formalities of dating and dinner.”
“Why are you so concerned with who’s sleeping in my space?” I ask half-jokingly.
“Why am I concerned with your breathing?” she responds. “You’re my friend and I care about you. I haven’t seen you remotely happy since Lance.”
I let my eyes roll all the way around in my head before speaking to my friend.
“That was a year ago. I am over that. Over everything about him,” I reply with certainty.
“It’s almost been three years, Ayron,” Monique corrects, “and you haven’t dated anyone since.”
“I don’t need a man to make me happy.” I shrug. “Help me find a place that I can afford. That is what I need. This place is beautiful, but three times the amount that I pay at the community center.”
“Sorry to tell you, but you are going to pay a sweet price for something nice,” Monique comments. “I pay more for my shoes than you pay at the community center.”
“Well, help a sister out with this bill then.”
“That’s why I’m trying to find you a man,” she explains. “A bill man is easy to find, because cute is not a requirement. In fact, the uglier he is, the harder he’ll work for you.”
Laughter is the only response that I can give, and I plop down in the center of the floor.
“The dream was nice while it lasted,” I sigh.
“No. Get up. You can do this,” Monique commands.
I shake my head; the moment had suddenly become stone boulders that are pushing me against the floor. Everyone and everything was changing.
“Since my granny has been gone…” I start, but realize there is more emotion there than I originally thought. I swallow back an urge to cry. “I feel like I’m spinning my wheels.”
Monique sat with me.
“And now Ms. Agnes is in the hospital,” I cry. “What if she doesn’t make it?”
“Ayron, a lesser woman would have fallen apart under the pressure that you’ve faced, but you came out a diamond, shining. Y
ou can do this,” she says as she puts her arms around me.
I lose the battle with my tears and hug her back.
“She doesn’t have any family, Mo, and I provide crappy insurance,” I expel before Monique hugs me. “I want to be able to help her.”
“Can I get you to think about you for a just a minute now and again?” Monique sighs. “Agnes has lived her life and lived it well.”
“I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t care.” I sniffle.
Her fingertips swipe at my tears.
“On the bright side, this is definitely the office for you. Even without the shrink couch, this place has gotten tears to fall,” Monique jokes. “I don’t remember ever seeing you cry.”
Chapter 4-Devlin
I high-five my assistant Gloria as I head into my office.
The meeting had gone well in my eyes, regardless of what my sister’s fiancé Trevor may think. The board and leadership team agreed that my plan for expansion was sound, a viable contender with the plan put forth by my father’s golden boy.
I have never liked Trevor Harris, unlike my sister who claims to love him—so much so that she agreed to marry him. My older brother David Jr. doesn’t care either way about Trevor, as long as a lawsuit isn’t involved, but I had always seen him for the snake that he is. He’s played my family like a deck of cards, convincing my father to name him interim president, as the old man takes a less physical role in the day-to-day activities. He is smart, no doubt, but the number one spot is mine.
D.J., as we often call David Jr., enjoys being in charge of the legal department, and Dana does a hell of a job running PR and Marketing, so the obvious choice to take the throne is me.
Currently, I take care of the money, the making of it and keeping it. The lame excuse my father gave for putting Trevor in as interim leader over me was just the motivation I needed to get back on my game.
My door explodes open, followed by a furious Trevor.
“Don’t you ever interrupt my meeting again, boy.” Trevor comes through with fingers wagging. “Your daddy and your weak ass brother may allow you to be a prince in this place, but make no mistake—I run this in a way you never will.”
I scoff and allow his finger to stay there.
“I guess you thought I would flinch, but bitch ain’t in me, boss,” I snap without moving a muscle.
“We’ll see,” he replies, his face inches from mine.
“What you think you may run actually has my name on it. Family first,” I state.
“I am family, or haven’t you heard—I’m marrying your sister,” he shoots back. “And family or not, I don’t tolerate disrespect.”
“I came to you with the numbers first, but since you can’t see around your own ego or my name on the paper, you didn’t even listen.”
“I don’t have to listen because I know what is best.”
“Walk in my office unannounced again, and suffer the consequences,” I seethe.
“Who are you?” He laughs. “You are walking in shoes way too big for you, spoiled little rich boy. We all know that you don’t perform well under pressure when it really matters, right?” he says before adding more as he walks to the door. “At least your mother did.”
The composure that I was trying to keep falls away with the mention of my mother.
My body becomes a battering ram and I charge at him with the force of an angry rhino, knocking the tall man off of his feet.
I punch my fist against his face, fuming
***
The look on my father’s face as he paces the floor of my home makes me feel like I am ten years old again. I never want to disappoint my father, but it seems inevitable.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” he questions.
“He busted in my office and basically told me that he was going to take over the company,” I answer.
“Well, if your plan was to prevent that, it doesn’t look like it’s working too well,” he responds. I can hear the venom in his words. “I was worried about how you would take not being named interim president, but today you just proved that I made the right decision. You aren’t ready.”
I stand up and attempt to focus on the words coming out of his mouth.
“I’m not ready?” I repeat. “I was top of my class in undergrad and grad school getting my MBA. I started in the mail room at sixteen and I’ve studied every department in this company from the warehouse to corporate. This company is my life.”
“And that’s the problem,” my dad says, as though I am finally enlightened. “Son, I don’t want the only thing that people say about you at the end of your life to be that you were a great CEO. I want you to be a great husband, father, and human being.” He steps forward and puts his hands on my shoulders. “I worked so hard to make money that I missed out on living my life. It’s a life you still could have.”
Worry replaces the anger in his eyes.
“It’s all right. I turned out all right,” I tell him.
“No, son,” he says, looking me in the eye. “It’s not all right. The board of executives wants to fire you.”
His words are a punch to the gut.
“What about D.J. and Dana?” I ask. My siblings are a part of that board.
“D.J. is hoping to keep any ‘hostile work environment’ cases at bay, and Dana is standing by her man.”
I fall to the sofa, unable to comprehend what my father unloaded. My own family had turned against me. I knew that we were not as close as some families could be or should be, but in the end, I had always believed we stood up for each other.
“There will be a review in thirty days. Until that time, you are suspended,” he says. “I would take this time to do some soul searching, to think about your life. Actually, it’s required. The board is requesting that you attend some sort of counseling or therapy.”
“Counseling?” I repeat, as though the word is a foreign language. “We tried that when I was younger. It doesn’t work.” I stand up and pace the office.
“My work speaks for itself. What does therapy have to do with running a company? Mom had enough therapy for the whole family—it didn’t help her any.”
My father sighs.
“Those are the stipulations. If you want the review to go well and remain a part of the company, you have to do this.”
Chapter 5-Ayron
I smooth down the skirt of my purple suit and make my way through the dimly lit restaurant to the meeting Dr. Tirash set up for me. I’d asked him for some extra work at the hospital, and while he’d been sympathetic, he hadn’t had any clients to send my way.
“I might have an unusual opportunity,” he’d said. He had spoken to an old friend about an important, confidential, and lucrative contract. He would only say that it was a hands-on opportunity and to dress as executively seductive as possible for the interview.
This did not fly with me at all, and I told him how I felt.
“I know, and I am sorry, but this is the only way,” he replied. “Just think of it as something you would only have to do to get your foot in the door. Later on, you can choose to do it your way.”
I begrudgingly accepted my fate and did what was asked of me.
My borrowed stilettos click against the marble floor as I am guided to my seat.
David Masters is the President Emeritus of the company that manufactures and distributes the majority of the hair care products currently on my counter, Masters in Style Products. I only recognized him from his pictures that were published for newspaper interviews with him. Sitting with his elbows propped atop of the table with his hands folded, I feel like I am meeting with the head of a cartel and not a businessman. His peppered gray hair and slick black suit complement each other, and his stern demeanor exudes a no-nonsense attitude. I have trouble imagining that he would have difficulty getting anyone to do as he asks.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Masters,” I say, stopping and stepping my open-toe heel directly in front of him.
I place a hand on
my hip, like I remember the director doing when she came to my office last week.
He stands.
“Well,” Mr. Masters acknowledges as he stands and gives me the once over. “Dr. Tirash said that you were gorgeous, but he neglected to add breathtaking.”
I place my hand out for the stately man to shake. Instead, he places it between his hands and smiles.
“It is an honor to meet you, Mr. Masters,” I say as he releases my hand.
The hostess pulls out my chair and I take a seat in front of the stage.
“He is going to like you,” he says.
“Who is he, and why is that important?” I ask. “Dr. Tirash was very vague about what this job entails.”
“My son, Devlin, is a very smart and ambitious young man, but he is a bit too ambitious and has difficulty controlling his anger when it comes to his mother, who has passed, and our family. He had a blowup with an executive, and the board is requiring counseling—or his termination. He’s flat-out refused counseling in the past. We tried several doctors after his mother’s death and it just didn’t work out.”
“So how can I help?”
“Dr. Tirash was able to step in and act as a tennis coach. Dev never knew that he was actually working with a counselor.” He spoke slowly. “I would like for you to befriend him and teach him some anger-management skills and in thirty days present your findings of his progress to the board.”
I couldn’t believe what he was saying
“You want me to lie to him.”
“I want you to help him, by any means necessary.” He gives me a stern look. “I’m willing to pay whatever it is that you need. If Dr. Tirash recommended you, then I know that you are top-notch.”
I think about Ms. Agnes and the beautiful office that I want.
“Sounds like a deal,” I say, shaking the man’s hand. “When do I start?”
“Tonight,” he says with a smirk. “You should head to the bar and look as though you are waiting for someone. Once you see that I am seated with my son, wait a few minutes and leave.”
Entitled: A Bad Boy Romance (Bad Boys For Life Book 1) Page 2
