His finger went up in the air when his daughter’s head snapped in his direction. “Simonette, don’t say a word. Yes, she calls me Robbie. Pressie, if that’s what you want them to call you, then that is what they will call you.”
Her face contorted. “Why do you call her Pressie, Daddy?” She turned to me, then asked, “Is your middle name Presley or something?”
Robert leaned forward on the table. “Baby, would you like to tell her why that’s your nickname? I could tell her if you like.”
I finished the pineapple in my mouth. I lifted my arm to look at my wristwatch. “Robert, we need to get going before we’re late for our meeting.”
Simonette stood from the table. In a soft voice, she mumbled, “Yuck, that means it’s nasty. I should have never asked.”
She laughed. “Let’s go, love. Simonette, leave this stuff where it is. The housekeeper is coming today. She will take care of it. Better yet, let’s go. You’re leaving with us.”
They went back and forth about him kicking her out of his house. It was the cutest thing. He was such a girl dad. We all left the house together. “What are you doing?” Robert asked when I walked toward my SUV.
I looked between my SUV and him. His question confused me. “I’m getting in so I can get to the office.”
He walked over to me, put his hand on the small of my back, then kissed my temple. “No. We’re riding in together today. Let’s go.”
He didn’t give me the opportunity to say anything before he gently pushed me toward his SUV. Simonette giggled as she got into her Jeep and told us goodbye. She reminded me that I was invited to the baby shower, then she was on her way. I climbed into the passenger seat of Robert’s SUV and got comfortable. It wasn’t too often that I got to be a passenger princess, so I would enjoy this.
Time To Disclose . . .
Robert and I sat next to each other in a conference room on the human resources and legal floor, across from all the important people that needed to be in the know of our relationship status. We’d just disclosed it to them, and basedon their reaction, none of them saw it coming. They seemed surprised, which was interesting.
“Okay, well, I’m not sure what I expected this meeting to be about, but that was not it,” Conner, the president of our HR department said. “You both know that we have no policy against fraternization. While that is fair and true, a romantic relationship between our new CEO and president could be perceived adversely.”
Robert nodded his head. “Okay, that’s understandable. However, that changes nothing and will change nothing about our relationship status. I trust you all with the aesthetics of it all. Our personal relationship will not hinder our professional one. We are both seasoned professionals who know how to compartmentalize what is important.”
Robert led the discussion on our behalf. I loved to watch my man boss up. When we had meetings and he let others know that he was not to be played with, he got all the holes on those nights.
Jessica, who was a part of our legal counsel team, cleared her throat. “Well, the worst case scenario, we have the second applicant that would have been chosen for president if we need to pull them.”
I sat up in my seat with a tight face. Before I could speak, Robert held a finger up. When we locked eyes, his eyes were warm for a millisecond before they turned hard.
His eyes shifted to Jessica. “Explain to me under what circumstance would anyone need to step into the role of president when we have an overly competent, willing, and able president. At no time during this discussion did either of us give a notice of resignation. Let’s not overly complicate this as if there are no other companies with executives at the highest level married. Let me know exactly what the problem is.”
“Mr. Brand, we are not saying that it will be a problem. What I am saying is that the perception may be different from those other situations. We need to be prepared for that,” she said.
I cleared my throat. “Jessica, what difference of perception that could possibly come up between our situation and the others is the fact that Mr. Brand and I are Black. Is that the difference that you don’t want to blatantly speak on?”
They all shifted uncomfortably in their seats. Conner leaned on the conference table with his forearms. “Yes, that is the difference. Let’s not cookie cut this. Mr. Brand, you areMediGenix’sfirst African American CEO. You then selected the first African American woman to succeed you in your seat as president. I will admit that when you came up with that new hiring process, I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea. Now, with this new development, it was a blessing in disguise.
“Once the relationship does go public, we can firmly and unequivocally refute any allegations of discriminatory practices because you wanted to hire a romantic partner. We just want you to know that, unfortunately, there will be backlash because you two are Black. Let’s just say what it is.”
Robert smiled. “I appreciate you, Conner, for having the nuts to be honest. Again, what I will say to that is that is what you all get paid for. At the annual gala, which is coming up, Jubilae and I will be there, not only as the leaders of this company, but as a romantic couple.”
He pushed his seat back, then stood up. His hand outstretched in my direction, and I took it, then stood. That was the end of this meeting. We walked out of the office hand in hand.
He pressed the elevator button, and it opened immediately. Once we were on, he used his badge to grant access to our floor. After the doors closed, his arms wrapped around me. “How do you feel?”
I closed the short distance and kissed his lips. “I feel okay. Robert, you know that if I have to, I will step?—”
“Don’t go there, Pressie. You stepping down is not an option unless you want to step down because you don’t want to be the president any longer. If those white fuckas can be fucking up and down in their companies, then we can be in love in ours,” he confidently said.
My head bucked back a little. “Oh, we’re going to be in love in this company? That’s new to me.”
He kissed my lips. “Oh, really? Well, here’s some breaking news. The CEO ofMediGenixis in love with his president. What do you think about that news?”
My heart felt like it stopped for a second. I had to remind myself to breathe.He just told me that he loves me.I wasn’t sure why that surprised me. It wasn’t like we were some lovestruck teenagers who were unsure of what we wanted. We both made it very clear that we were both looking for our new forevers. That discussion happened the first night that we had sex.
