I understood Karina in a way that made it easy to appreciate her. It also made it easy to forgive her. I’d all but gotten over being ghosted after high school. If it meant I would get to have her in the next part of my life, I could deal with not having her in the years leading up to now.
I placed Karina’s note on the kitchen counter in my suite and opened the fridge. My mouth was still tingling from themouthwash I had just used, but I was ready for a different taste. More than that, my stomach was growling like we’d been up for hours, and it wasn’t even 10:00 a.m. yet.
My new assistant had stocked the fridge before we made it, and although there were a few items in there, I didn’t want any of them enough to cook them. It didn’t take long for me to close the fridge and call downstairs for room service. The hotel we were staying at had plenty of options, but I settled on a burger and fries.
I jumped in the shower and threw on some basketball shorts while I waited for my food. It was about twenty minutes before they knocked on the door and rolled my tray in. My stomach was touching my back at that point, so I inhaled my food before it could even cool.
My phone rang in the distance. I was so caught up in my burger that I didn’t even know where it was. I followed the rings and found it on the nightstand near my bed. It rang again before I could make it over.
“Yo.”
“Wake yo’ sleeping beauty ass up.” Ray’s annoying ass voice vibrated in my ear, and I almost hung up on him.
I was disappointed when the voice that came through wasn’t Karina’s. Her note let me know where she was, but I was still hoping she would call. I didn’t want to interrupt what she was doing, so I was using all my restraint not to call her.
“Man, what the fuck do you want? Why are you calling me instead of enjoying your free time? We only got a couple of hours before we have to head to this meeting.”
“I know how much time we got. I manage your calendar better than you do.”
“If you managed the calendar so well, you would know you have no business calling me since my entire morning is blocked off.”
“I thought we could maybe go down a little before everybody gets here. Since we both know they’re gone to be on bullshit, we may as well get ahead of the fallout.”
“You know what? You’re probably right. Let me throw something on, and I will meet you down in the lobby.”
“Word.”
Ray and I disconnected the call, and I got up to get dressed. He was right. We were walking into this meeting knowing that we would more than likely walk away from this deal without signing. That should not have been a big deal, but with that amount of money on the table, there would always be fallout. Ray’s job was to minimize that, and if he wanted me to come down to strategize with him, I didn’t have a problem with that.
I was sittingdown for the meeting that would decide the fate of K&K Solutions and the billion-dollar deal that was on the table. This meeting would tell me everything I needed to know about whether this company respected me and what I stood for, or if they still wanted to get their hands on our weapons by cutting corners and disregarding human life. The weapons we made were built to cause mass destruction, and in the wrong hands, they could do more harm than good.
I knew things weren’t going to go my way before I even walked through the door, but I remained optimistic. After what happened in Paris, I was sure we might be able to turn the situation around. I had given them an ultimatum, and I told them they had two days to come back with something better. They’d failed, and I was prepared to walk away, taking my products with me.
Everything started off cool. They were pleased with the opening statements, and so was I. However, when it was time to ask whether they had made any modifications to their proposal, we were at a standstill yet again.
“Mr. Sheffield, you are still thinking like an NCO. I need you to start thinking like a CEO.”
We were at another round table with about fifteen suits looking at me, awaiting my response. The man talking to me was older and white. His tone had a smugness to it that told me he thought he was better than me. He believed he had a right to what I’d built from the ground up.
“You know what? It’s a good thing that I’m thinking like an NCO because NCOs keep people alive. Now, I told you human life is more important than the bottom line. Are you willing to negotiate?”
“No. Our team needs autonomous firing capabilities, and we need them fast.”
“Then you need a different company. We are not compatible.”
The sounds of disapproval could be heard around the room, but none of them were coming from my people. After the first board meeting and the firing of Bill and his sidekick, they all understood my expectations for K&K. Anyone who couldn’t get with the vision I saw in my head was free to go. That same sentiment applied to anyone wishing to work with us.
“Mr. Sheffield, do you understand that you will lose this contract? And we are not being pompous when we say this is the biggest contract that your company has ever seen. This is the biggest contract that your company will probably ever see.”
I let out a low chuckle. I had to compose myself before I could even form words. If I said what I was thinking I would be no better than them. I wouldn’t match his disrespect with disrespect because that’s what he wanted. His goal was to offendme and possibly bully me into signing. I wanted him to know that he had failed at both.
“Let’s be clear. We are at this table because you want something from us, not the other way around. I didn’t seek you out, asking for anything.”
He sat up in his chair and straightened his tie. I could tell he, too, was working to compose himself. It was a good idea for him to choose his next words carefully.
“We are at this table because we thought you had the foresight to make K&K Solutions the next big thing, but it is clear by how you have handled yourself here today that assumption was incorrect.”
“Hold up. Don’t put limitations on what I built. You don’t know how innovative I am or how hard my team works. You don’t know what goes into what we produce. How can you say that this may be the biggest contract we will ever see? I don’t have limitations. I don’t see them in my life, and I refuse to let you put any on me. I’m fine with losing this contract as long as I get to keep my conscience.” I got up from the seat and pushed away from the table.
