My cheeks were high. “Yes, I am. I have never been to California, so I am excited.”
“Oh, wow! That means that I’m going to have to make sure you have some fun during the week that we are there. I’ll put that on my itinerary.”
My heart dropped inside of my panties when he winked. He let me know that he was on his way out the door. He told Joy that he would introduce her to Jackie, his assistant, on Monday. The second he closed my office door, Joy rushed over to look out of the side door window. My office was in perfect view of the elevator. She stood there in silence for a moment before she spun around.
“Girl! That man wants to put his dick inside of you like a keyhole and wiggle it around like a locksmith unlocking it. His fine ass! I think you should let him do it right here on this desk, or couch, or recliner, or in that damn shower.” It sounded like they were more demands than suggestions from Joy.
My lip turned up, then I laughed. “Girl, what the hell! I am not about to play with you. Let’s get out of here. We can talk about your pay and all that stuff over wine and food at my house.”
A Short Time Later . . .
I was nervous today. Robert thought that it would be a good idea to have a meeting with the vice presidents of our differentlocations to formally introduce myself to them as the president. The last time I interacted with any of the vice presidents, I was one of them. I could only guess that was what made me nervous.
I knew of a couple others that applied for the president position because they told me themselves. They were white women. I was excited for them and truly rooted them the same as I rooted myself on. I didn’t tell them that I also applied because I learned at the beginning of my career that cheers didn’t always go both ways. There were others that I heard applied, but it was what it was.I am the president!
I received an email from one of the women that told me that they applied with congratulations and, the next week, a beautiful fruit basket. I hadn’t heard from the others. In true political fashion, because once you get to certain levels, it is about that, I planned to appoint Francis, the one who congratulated me, as the lead on a project. If she had gotten the position, she would have been great.
I stood in the mirror of my office to check my appearance. All of the vice presidents in the state were here today. That was about thirty of them. Today, I wore a three-piece, black skirt suit with a royal blue blouse and a bad ass pair of royal blue stiletto heels. All of my jewelry was gold; my makeup was light but flawless. My hair was down today in all its glorious curls.
My body turned toward the sound of a knock at my door. I smiled when the door opened after my permission. “Do I look okay?”
Joy didn’t respond until she closed the door behind her. She clasped her hands together and leaned her chin on them. “You look like the boss bitch that Mama and Daddy raised you to be. I knew that royal blue was the move when we added this meeting on your calendar.”
Oh, yes. She had also taken on being my stylist. Not that I needed one, but I always knew she wanted to be one since shewas younger. Life just happened, and she set it to the wayside for her family. She was sick with it, so I let her have it. It was also amazing to be able to take one more thing off my plate. On Sundays, we went over what I would wear for the week.
I was able to sauce the hell out of Joy’s résumé with properly worded experience to justify her ninety thousand dollars a year pay. She didn’t care what her pay was, but I did. Jackie made over one hundred and fifty thousand dollars a year as the CEO’s executive assistant. Jackie and Joy got along so amazingly to the point that she’d canceled a lunch or two with me to go with her. Robert’s and my assistant traveled with us.
I smiled, then said, “I have the best stylist. I’m not sure where I would be without her. Got me looking like I’m the CEO.”
She sucked her teeth, snickered, then quipped, “Or the CEO’s wife, but you ain’t hear that from me. Jackie just let me know that Robert will be on his way to your office in a few minutes so y’all can go to the meeting together. Hold still. Let me take a picture to send to her. She didn’t see you this morning.”
I giggled because those two were crazy. Although Joy hadn’t said it, I think she’d sold Jackie on this whole Robert and I should be together. Based on the stories that Joy told me by way of Jackie about Robert’s ex-wife, it was clear that Simone was not a liked woman. I found it interesting that the statement was made that no matter how miserable Robert was in his marriage, he never stepped out. That said a lot to me about his integrity and who he was as a person.
Before I could respond, there was another knock at the door. My heart jumped without my permission.Oh, God! It’s him.“Come in!”
I felt like I was watchingBellywhen DMX and Nas arrived at the club. Their grand entrance was everything that every girl wanted. It didn’t matter if you were bougie or hood. Sexy was sexy, and that was all that mattered. Robert had a little streetedge to him, but it wasn’t like he was a reformed dope boy or anything. He had this country ass swag about him that I loved, because I considered myself a country girl. I could tell that he would cut his own grass and all that country shit if he had to without any problems.
“Ms. Plates, you look absolutely amazing.” There was a pause. “Are you ready to go?”
I felt like there was something else that he wanted to say. He didn’t have to say it with his words, because if I read his eyes correctly, I got the message loud and clear. I peeked at Joy, who stood off to the side with pride all over her face. She got on my damn nerves sometimes.
“You look amazing yourself. I might have to borrow your tailor because they are on their game,” I complimented. I walked to my desk to grab what I needed. “I am ready when you are.”
He extended his arm toward the door. “Let’s get to it, beautiful. I’m sure they’re all waiting for us.”
I nodded, told Joy that I would see her a little later, then walked toward the office door. Robert opened the door, then stood back for me to pass. My spirit skipped when he placed his hand on the small of my back.
Robert and I were in a very peculiar place in our professional and personal relationship. We worked together like we had worked together our entire career. I loved that he was transparent with me in areas that he didn’t necessarily have to be. Another thing that I learned in life is that 100 percent transparency was unrealistic. Sometimes not because someone was intentional about not being transparent, but because often people chose what was important and not important. Non-disclosures were signed all over the place within our company, so sometimes there were certain things that legally, we just weren’t able to tell.
The communication between us was professional but flirtatious when we were alone. It would be one thing if it was one way, but it wasn’t. My flirting was a tad more subtle than Robert’s flirting, but oh, I flirted with the best of the feigned good girls. This could be dangerous territory because of sexual harassment laws. It was safe to say that neither of us felt harassed in the least.
“Y’all two have fun,” Jackie said when she stepped outside of her office. “Don’t rush back here. Robert, take her to a late lunch.”
I loved her. Jackie was in her early seventies but didn’t look a day over sixty. She was like the mama of the floor, and we didn’t play with her or about her. Robert respected her like a maternal figure in his life.
When Jackie mentioned a late lunch, Joy told us to hold on. She came out with my purse and royal blue trench coat. “Here you go. There’s no need for you to come back here before your late lunch. You don’t have any meetings for the rest of the afternoon.”
Jackie looked down on her tablet. “The same for you, Robert. Let me get your coat as well.”
