Her expression was so fulfilled. This was all I ever wanted for my baby girl, . . . to truly be happy about who she was and who she was with. Daylen was the perfect man for Simonette. He brought her out of her shell and appreciated all her corky attributes that a lot of people made fun of. He protected my daughter and would go to anyone’s ass when it came to her. Last season, he was suspended from a game for punching a playeron the opposing team because he made a derogatory statement about her. He caved that boy’s eye socket in.
“Most people just get a bassinet and put essentials under it. You don’t have to have a whole room.” I sat down across from her to eat my breakfast.
She giggled. “I’m going to have a bassinet, Daddy. What do you think I’ll use in the living room?”
My stare was blank. “Having money looks good on you. Now stop bringing your little ass over here and cooking breakfast.”
She chortled. “I don’t have money, my husband does. He just happens to be very generous with his wife.”
Daylen Verse was in fact generous. He married my baby girl without a prenup, which his lawyer and agent advised against. Simonette offered to sign one, but he refused. I wasn’t worried at all. You could call me bias, but if anything happened negatively within their marriage, it would be Daylen’s fucking fault.
“Are you excited about selecting a president today?” Her smile was bright with her question.
It’d been a long time coming, and I was ready to hand over the presidential reins. “I am very excited. This has been the longest process. By the end of today,MediGenixwill have a new president. By five o’clock tomorrow, the world will know who that person is.”
Time To Select the Prez . . .
“Today is the day that you select a president forMediGenix Pharmaceutical Company. Mr. Brand, this has been a long and tedious process. When you came to us about the new application process you wanted to implement, I have to admit that I thought you were crazy,” Deborah said with a giggle.
Deborah was the president of the headhunter’s agency that I instructed our human resource department to contract to find me the perfect president. I wanted a completely non-biased process, so I created my own, then had it altered as needed and cleared by legal. It was unprecedented and innovative, which was the point. My father raised me to be a trendsetter, and that was what led my way as I navigated through the pharmaceutical landscape to the success that I achieved.
I chuckled. “It was important that I make this process as non-bias as I could. Your company is number one in the country for your precise matches when it comes to matching talent to organizations. We used you to scout me, and you did an excellent job, if I do say so myself.”
There were chuckles all around the room. In the sea of ten faces, there were only three of color. That was myself, my assistant, and the vice president ofPlatinum Touch Staffing Firm. Diversity in companies, or what companies called diversity, was always comical to me. A lot of companies prided themselves on diversity but did not talk about how it was not shown at the executive level. I was the first Black CEO of a company that was well over two hundred years old. History was made with me, and I would continue to break the ceiling for my people to come behind me.
Deborah smiled. “I think we did an excellent job. In your short time here, you have already broken records. You have proven yourself to be the leader that this company needed. Now, it’s time to get the next leader. It’s been months of screenings, interviews, and eliminations. You trusted us to oversee all of those parts of the process on our own. Thank you for your trust.
“After the interviews, we sent over the transcripts as well as our detailed evaluations of said interviews, their DiSC personality models, and résumés of the five finalists for theposition. You’ve had a little over two weeks to decide. Tell us your thoughts.”
I was not pulled into the application process until the interview phase. When I was given all the data on the candidates, there was information that was redacted. I asked that any information that showed the candidate’s ethnicity, gender, age, or any other discriminatory item be removed from the file that was given to me. The candidates were identified as numbers. The agency went deep when it came to screening these candidates. They checked off all the boxes from character interviews, background checks, community ties, etc.
“First, I want to thank everyone in this room for their diligence during this process. I know that I was nitpicking, but I wanted this to be as perfect as the vision that I have for the company. I am happy that we agreed to promote from within. That helps put my mind at ease when it comes to the candidate understanding the culture of the company. From the résumés, Deborah, your team picked the best of the best. If you want to talk about stress, try picking from the best of the best.” I chuckled.
Jaunita, the vice president, smiled. “It’s our job to find the best. Once we find them, then we find the ones who are better than them.”
That was the mentality that I loved. I chuckled. “Now I know exactly who to blame for my headaches these past couple weeks. After reviewing all of the files with a fine-tooth comb, the best pick for the new president ofMediGenix Pharmaceutical Companyis candidate number three.”
Deborah’s and Juanita’s heads snapped at each other. Their smiles were wide. There were both members of our company’s human resources department andPlatinum Touch’srecruiting team in the room. They all knew the identities of all the candidates. I was the only one who didn’t.
Jaunita leaned forward, then placed her forearms on the conference table. “Mr. Brand, you continue to amaze everyone. When you were named the CEO, you made a promise to make this company known for breaking barriers. Sir, once again in your curated application process, you have done it again. Allow us to introduce you to your new president.”
Deborah picked up the remote that controlled the projector and turned it on. A few seconds later, a headshot popped up on the screen. “I introduce you to Jubilae Plates.”
Damn!A beautiful African American woman was on the screen. I never thought in a million years that I would pick a Black person, much less a woman. An African American CEO and president. The standard of excellence had been set. It looked like so had the standard of beauty.
Midnight Came Early. . .
“Julius, I told you that I’m going to get a new job. This is just not going to work,” I whined as I pulled my skirt down to walk to his office bathroom to clean myself up.
It was a little after one in the afternoon, and I was in my boss’s office, bent over his desk, getting the best dick of my entire life. This was not good, and I knew everyone knew thatwe were fucking during these daily meetings that we had on his calendar.
Before I could get myself together in the bathroom, arms wrapped around my waist, and lips were on my neck. “Why are you fussing? You think I give a damn about what these people think. All they need to care about is the fact that I bring in millions a year in new accounts, hence why I am the president of wealth management here. Besides, I can fuck on my wife wherever I want to.”
I giggled when he tickled my stomach. My husband, Julius Plates, was the most arrogant, handsome, and sexiest man that I had ever met. I met him when I was a psychology major at Spelman College, and he was a Morehouse man. It was love at first sight for me. He claimed it was for him, too, but I think it was more lust than anything. Lust or love, it didn’t matter, because at twenty-three, we were married.
Most people went to college to get a degree. I went to find my husband.A Different Worldhad me convinced that college was where you went to meet your forever, more specifically an HBCU. I did graduate with my degree, but all things took a back seat to my family when our son, Julius Junior, was born.
I took pride in being a stay-at-home spouse and mother. My mother, Julie, groomed me and my older sister, Joy, to be homemakers. My father, Charles, showed us how we should expect a man to treat us. My parents had the perfect love. All I wanted in life was that, and I would figure everything else out as I went along.
