Seeing that they were hard at work, I decided to leave them alone. Otherwise, I’d get to playing too much, and would have them off task.
I know that some people were staunchly against hiring friends and family, but that wasn’t my ministry. Although selective about the people on my team, I preferred employingmypeople over anybody else.
Tarin and Renny had been two of my full-time employees for about two years now, and I loved how they handled my physical books, and shipping, even when I wasn’t always physically present to oversee things.
They had both dropped out of college, and had come to me for part-time jobs. At the time, I was still in California while they were in Houston, and I started them off with small shipments of my paperbacks. It took them a few weeks to get the swing of things, and then they ran full speed ahead, often coming with new, innovative ways to move my books. Ultimately, they’d singlehandedly tripled my paperback profit, telling me that they were assets to my small independent publishing company. On the flipside, I was able to give them a laid-back job that paid well. So, we were all winning.
Of course, now, they weren’t my only employees, as I was now a hybrid author, being both independent and traditionally published. This meant that I had books in stores all over the country, and my online store was constantly selling out.
“Why the fuck am I out of breath?” I huffed, as I climbed the stairs to the second level of the house, where the primary living space was located.
As I reached the top of the stairs, I realized that Harlem and his assistant, Jinny, were already there, talking.
“Yes, the company is about to send over merch for promo,” Jinny reported. “But there’s literally no room in this house, Harlem. I honestly think that Summer needs to move her operations to a warehouse or commercial store front. Because with limited space, we have to prioritize, and your brand is what pays the bills.”
Hearing that, the back of my neck grew hot, as I stomped across the floor, making my presence known.
“Oh, not you speaking out of turn,” I scoffed, because ole Jinny had me fucked up. She’d been working with Harlem for a just a full month, and apparently didn’t know what she’d just stepped into.
Jinny was black, in her mid-thirties, medium built, and very average looking. The type to get lost in a crowd. She came highly recommended, but apparently, she hadn’t taken the time to do any homework on me, which wasn’t surprising. Something told me that she was extremely male centered and struggled to see value in women, including herself.
“Oh, Summer, I wasn’t trying to be offensive,” Jinny claimed. “I’m just talking about the logistics of things. He needs all his promo accessible. Meanwhile, you could just have your friends move your operations.”
“Oh, okay. So, move my business around? That’s your resolution?” I questioned, as I casually sat on the couch, next to Harlem. While Jinny sat across from us.
Sensing that things were about to take a left, Harlem cleared his throat. “Jinny, I know that since I’ve been back in the city, I’ve had you all over the place, so we never really took the time to get you familiar with us. So, that’s no fault of yourown. But you should know that Summer isn’t some athlete’s girlfriend, who has a little side company to keep herself busy. She’s a full-time author, publisher, and screenwriter. And that was well established, before I entered the draft this year. This is actually her home thatshepurchased. In cash. When I was just a sophomore in college. She’s literally a self-made multimillionaire. And this house was initially her book shipping headquarters, until we just moved back to the city. Thankfully, we were able to move some things around to provide some livable space for us. But we’re aware that ultimately, we’ll need a bigger space, which is why we’re actively looking for another house. In the meanwhile…you’d want to stay on her good side, and to never become dismissive when it comes to her businesses. Frankly, she can take up all the space in here. And your job is to work with what I give you, or decide if this job is even for you.”
Jinny’s pale skin reddened. “Oh, my gosh. Summer, I sincerely apologize. I’m obviously lost in the sauce and made the wrong assumptions. Honestly, with this house being so expensive, I just naturally assumed that it was something that Harlem recently purchased, after signing his contract.”
Hearing that, I understood why she’d made the assumption, although the onus was still on her, because at the very least, Google was right at her fingertips. Nonetheless, she'd clearly placed us in a box, thinking that we’d just upgraded our lives when Harlem signed with Houston.
“And that’s why I said that you were speaking out of turn,” I scoffed, refusing to let up on the hoe. Primarily, because she needed to understand who was running shit, and quick. I wasn’t about to engage in a tug-of-war in my own damn home.
And Harlem…we’d bumped heads enough for him to now understand hownotto come at me. Because I’d checked him more than a few times.
Yeah, yeah, I already know. I once said that I didn’t have any interest in rekindling anything with Harlem. At the time, I’d meant it, but shit happens.
Definitely, being away in an unfamiliar place had its influences. I was away from everyone I knew, and Harlem was…familiar. So, we would regularly keep in touch. Check on each other. Still, for the first and only year of college for me, I wanted no parts of a relationship. Instead, I was out being the social butterfly that I am. And having my way with a few west coast niggas.
In L.A., I made so many literary connections that it was actually astonishing. What was already a low six figure intake, was multiplied by five. I was also heavily reinvesting in myself with huge advertising. Then after networking, I crossed paths with some TV executives, taking things up a few notches. All while Harlem was struggling to find his footing in the college arena.
Back in high school, everybody swore that he’d be of the one and done variety. However, that ultimately wasn’t the case for Harlem. It actually wasn’t until his junior year did he begin to make waves, and then closed out his senior year as a NCAA champion. Therefore, I was touching real money, while Harlem was still considered somewhat of a scrub on the court.
When it came to us, I didn’t start dating Harlem again, until his senior year in college. By then, I’d dropped out of school, but was still living in L.A.
Initially, I screwed him out of sheer curiosity, wondering if his sex game had improved. Wildly, he fucked like a completelydifferent being, intriguing the hell out of me. So, we organically went from casually fucking to being in a relationship.
With Harlem being in school, and playing basketball, we had a healthy amount of space, while I chased several bags. It wasn’t until recently that I realized that Harlem didn’t too much care for the boss bitch Summer. He instead loved the pretty, sexy, good pussy having Summer…and he just settled for the boss part to have the rest of me.
Too many times, I had to remind him that him getting drafted into the league wasn’t going to stop my career. He had it bad saying that after he was drafted, then I wouldn’t have to do this or that. I would always then promptly let him know that my career wasn’t contingent upon some man swooping in to save me. I loved writing, and just like he was destined to play ball, I was destined to craft stories, and I would not stand for anybody trying to force me to choose.
It was quite asinine for him to believe that I’d walk away from a hugely profitable career, just to let him take care of me. I knew that there had been times where we ate at places or traveled somewhere that he couldn’t afford, and perhaps he told himself that he’d be the one footing all the bills, eventually. However, I had no plans of ever dimming my light for him to do so.
And now, he was officially in the league, and I was holding my breath, waiting to see if this new fame and stardom would change him or the dynamics in our relationship.
“Hey, good morning, all,” Sassy cheerfully spoke, as she sauntered into the room.
Smirking, I watched my short, high yellow, petite personal assistant approach me with my favorite breakfast from Chick-fil-A; chicken minis, hash brown, and lemonade.
