“You were dead to the world.”
“Yeah, I was making the disaster momos until two. Was I really the first person to fall asleep on you?”
“You heard that? I thought you were asleep.”
“I heard that part.”
He looked at her with skeptical eyes for a few seconds, then nodded. “Yes. You fell asleep on me the first time I held you. It was the day your parents brought you home from the hospital. I was five years old. You drooled on my arm.”
A smile spread on Kamila’s face. “And now I’m the last person to fall asleep on you.” She leaned up to kiss him on the cheek, above that lovely new beard. “Thank you for being there for Dad,” she whispered into his ear. She didn’t know exactly what they were talking about, but Dad was certainly not confiding in her. At least he had Rohan. She pulled away from him and grinned with mischief. “Did you like me then as much as you do now?”
He chuckled. “I prefer you now, actually. You’re still trouble and a complete handful, but at least you sleep with your mouth closed these days. Less drooling. Good night, Kam.” He kissed her quickly on the forehead, then got up and climbed the stairs to the guest room. Kamila laughed to herself as she put her glass in the kitchen then followed him upstairs to her own bedroom.
Chapter 11
Kamila met with Anil at the Emerald office the next day to talk about the incubator project, or Aim High, as it was called. After they went through his needs, the conversation shifted to his travels, her work at the shelter, his love of art, and Emerald.
“You’re a fascinating person,” he said. “You still don’t seem the finance type, but clearly you’re passionate about your work. This office is impressive, too.”
She was in a gray pantsuit with a white silk blouse today…not her usual style at all. But it was worth it—no question she was continuing to impress Anil. “Thank you! I really love my job. It’s so rewarding. It’s nice to take the financial stuff off business owners’ plates, you know? My absolute favorite is helping start-ups. It feels so good to help people figure out how to make their dream come true.” She leaned close. “And problem solving is so much fun!”
“What kind of clients do you have at Emerald?”
“Dad’s clients are mostly doctors and other medical practitioners, but I’ve been expanding into other industries—mostly personal-care services. You know, small salons, spas, aestheticians. A lot of women-owned businesses.” She suddenly remembered that the point of this meeting was to convince Anil that she could work with Aim High permanently. “And I love to work with nonprofits.”
“Oh! I didn’t know you were focusing on women-owned businesses. Aim High isn’t only planning to help women, but we do want to focus on women-identifying and LGBTQ+ people. We hope to address some of the barriers that have held these members of the community back in their homelands. Women-run businesses are shown to better improve the health of the family and the whole community.”
Kamila smiled. She liked Anil—a lot. This incubator sounded like a fabulous initiative to help people who really needed it. Kamila discovered that she wanted to work on the project as much as she needed to work on it.
“Any chance you’d let me join the training team, too? I can teach small-business finance.”
He laughed. “We haven’t really started compiling that team yet, but I’ll keep you in mind. For now, we’ll get you started working on our opening financial statements and the articles of incorporation. Then, in a month or so, the board can vote on retaining your firm for all our financial needs going forward. How does that sound?”
“Amazing. I’m excited to get started.”
“Finance really is your passion, isn’t it? I would have thought you would be more into marketing or PR—more people-oriented business fields.”
“God no. I’m all about the numbers. There’s something so meditative about dealing with rows of figures. I love people, but sometimes they’re too much. Numbers are predictable. Although…” She smiled. “I love to let my creative-freak flag fly in my volunteer work. Like planning the puppy prom.”
He laughed. “Well, if you were serious about helping with our fundraising effort, too, I have a creative, people-y assignment for you. After seeing your famous Bollywood party, you’re the perfect person for this job. I’ll send you a meeting invite for our next fundraising meeting.”
Kamila smiled. “Yay! I’m looking forward to it!”
“Welcome to Aim High. I have a good feeling about you, Kamila Hussain.”
Kamila beamed. She had a good feeling about Anil and this project, too.
***
When she got the invite for the three p.m. Aim High meeting on Monday, Kamila’s first thought was what kind of volunteer committee met in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday? But after arriving at the downtown shared-office-space boardroom, she realized the answer to her question: a committee made up of corporate bigwigs who could leave work whenever they wanted, and underemployed social philanthropists. Unfortunately, it was blatantly obvious to everyone that Kamila didn’t fit into either of those categories.
She’d dressed professionally again—straightening her hair and pinning it up, wearing a very business-y outfit, even carrying a briefcase-type bag instead of the orange designer tote she usually took to client meetings. But the strangers sitting around the boardroom table made Rohan’s normal workday attire look like casual wear. Even Rohan himself, who was sitting near the end of the table, looked extra buttoned-up today. Had he slicked his hair back? Kamila’s blue pantsuit was brighter than everyone else’s, and she immediately regretted the teal blouse with the oversized bow at the neck. She’d thought it would be fine since Anil hadn’t seemed too conservatively dressed when he’d come to Emerald. But the look she got from the suits around the boardroom reminded her of when she’d shown up to Model UN in high school in sweatpants and a Spice Girls T-shirt. She didnotfit in here.
Also, she probably should have been on time, but there was traffic. Smiling apologetically, Kamila took the empty seat next to Rohan.
Anil was standing at the head of the table and beamed at her. “Kamila, great. You’re here. Let me introduce you. This is the Aim High board of directors: Ayesha, Derrick, Rajesh, Marlene, Shayla, Robert, and of course, you know Rohan. I’ll let them tell you their areas of expertise on their own time. Kamila’s firm is handling the start-up financial administration…and Kamila herself is a fundraising maven, so she agreed to come on board as a volunteer, too.” Rohan nodded at Kamila and poured her a glass of water.
Anil and the others started discussing their fundraising needs, which evolved into talking about the dearth of funding in rural versus urban ventures to coaching and resiliency after significant trauma so fast that Kamila would have had significant trauma if she had tried to keep up. For the second time since she walked in, she was sure she was in way over her head.
