“Mr. Sheffield, we want to work with the type of businessman you have proven yourself to be.”
General Collins stood to shake my hand before I walked out, and I stopped in my tracks to return the gesture. I didn’t know him while I was actually serving, but everything I’d learned since he became the face of the Army told me he was a man worthy of my respect. He was black and didn’t look much older than me, so I admired how hard he had to work to get to where he was today.
“Thank you, sir. I really appreciate you seeing my vision and turning it into a presentation like this. I wasn’t sure if anybody would ever understand what I was trying to do with K&K Solutions, but I should have known that it would always be men in uniform who understood me.”
“Of course, civilians may not understand the need to safeguard soldiers’ lives, so it’s imperative we remind them. Yes, every soldier signed on that dotted line and took an oath to layour lives on the line for this country, but we are never going in with the expectation that the man standing next to us may not make it home. That is never something men like us want to see happen. So, no, they may not understand, but as long as we get it, we can keep those service members safe.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“No, thank you, Mr. Sheffield, for standing up for what is right and not letting anything change your mind.”
“It was never a question.”
I walked away from that meeting with a reminder that following my conscience would always take me to the right destination. That destination may not be the one I envisioned at the beginning, but it will be a place where I can save lives and make a difference. It was just a simple reminder to never go against what I feel to make a quick buck.
I was strong on my principles, but I would be lying if I said I never doubted myself. I’d learned that doubting yourself is just another cost of doing business, but as long as I was still willing to bet on myself, I would always have a chance.
The ride back to the airport was quick. Jana and I hopped on a flight and flew right back to Austin. I wanted to be in my own bed tonight, but more than anything, I wanted to figure out how to get close to Karina again. The next time I would see her face consumed my thoughts for the entire flight back home.
Chapter
Twenty-Five
Karina
“Don’t be mad, but I created you a personal social media account last night.”
“You did what?”
I shot sharp eyes in Rayla’s direction. We were sitting at our favorite brunch spot in Vegas, The Henry, a beautiful little place. Their mimosas were always strong enough to make us forget about the type of week we’d had.
Right now, though, they were failing to keep my mind off the fact that Rayla had just told me she had made me social media accounts without my knowledge. I should not have been as surprised as I was. Rayla was known to take matters into her own hands if she felt I was too hesitant to step out on faith or sleeping on my own potential.
“You heard me.”
Rayla sipped her drink and looked me dead in the eye. She was serious. She had really gone behind my back and done this. On top of that betrayal, she wasn’t even backing down from it.
“I heard you, but I have a hard time believing you did something like that,” I lied.
This was exactly the type of thing she would do, and we both knew it. Rayla was the type of girl who had no problem pulling the trigger on her dreams, so it was hard for her to understand people, like me, who needed more time to work things out in their heads. Whereas Rayla was always crystal clear and ready to jump after what she wanted, I was always slow to act.
“Yes, I did. I made them, and I linked the article you wrote on Kareem’s company in the bio. I also made several posts on LuxRay and tagged you in them last night.”
Rayla pulled out her phone, navigated to social media, and then handed it to me. The number of followers I’d gained in less than twenty-four hours was mind-boggling. I didn’t know whether to fuss at her or hug her.
“You see that, don’t you? You’re already blowing up. Now is the time to capitalize on this. You know we are planning for your launch soon, so we need to keep this momentum going. I want you to start thinking about your future, not about remaining anonymous like you always do, Karina. It’s time for you to show the world who you really are.”
“I have already built the launch plan, and since creating social media pages was a part of that plan, I guess you just saved me a step in my process.”
I admitted I intended to set up my new social media pages, but I had not gotten around to it. It was in the plan. I was going to do it, but that didn’t mean I had to be happy about it. The fact that Rayla had gone ahead and done it without talking to me, though, was the type of friend I needed because she knew I would never pull the trigger on my own.
“Thanks for always being so supportive of my dream. I know that starting this magazine will technically make us competitors, but I will never compete with you in anything. I owe my entirecareer to you. You have taught me everything that I know, and I appreciate everything you have done for me.”
“Karina, girl, please. You are my best friend. As a matter of fact, you are my only friend. I don’t have many people I talk to every day, and not one other soul I would ever be willing to pour into the way I have poured into you. I am so proud of everything you are today, and I cannot wait to see what you do in the next phase of your life.”
“I know you’re not that much older than me, but I really look up to you, Ray. I swear to God, it is like you are light years ahead of everybody we started with. You were a college senior when we met. I was a freshman you literally took me under your wing, and I have been there ever since.”
“That’s what we are supposed to do as black and brown girls. Honey, it is hard for us to come up in this world, so it is our duty to reach down and help somebody else. You should already be thinking about who you’ll help next. While you are building yourself, build somebody else too, because that is the only way we are going to make it in this society. It’s not built for us. We have to make it look the way we want it to look, and if we don’t, we are doing the women next to us and behind us a disservice.”
