The road to this point in our lives wasn’t a cakewalk. When my father decided to retire and allow me to claim the CEO position, he hated that I took on a few less-than-reputable clients. But at the end of the day, power respects power, and I wasn’t building a legacy just for show. My father and I bumped heads over my decision to take on a few whispered mafia bosses, and almost came to blows. I decided to step away from their business in Miami to salvage my relationship with my father. Still, our short ventures with them had already launched us into another stratosphere before the separation, and I was connected with a few new clients in Central and North Florida. What pops didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.
“We made it through the growing pains. Now look at us, managing over ten billion in assets, a Forbes feature last quarter, and a waiting list of clients trying to get in.”
“Amen to that,” my mother raised her glass, and we followed suit, clinking glasses before sipping our champagne.
As I swallowed the champagne my eyes caught the woman again. Her menacing gaze was still locked on me. I took one step in her direction, ready to ask why her fine ass was looking like she wanted to shoot a nigga, then I heard my name.
“Yaseer,” Gina, my personal assistant, called out as she waddled in my direction. Her husband, Zay, was right on her trail, his hand placed on her lower back to support her pregnant body. She was finally starting to show and barely had a bump to carry around, but Zay acted like she was going to break at any minute.
Zay was my best friend. We met in grad school and after getting to know each other, I quickly realized that he would be a great addition to our team. My company had a strict no fraternization policy, but these two slick motha fuckas kept their shit under wraps until she was pregnant. Wasn’t much I could say after that because she was a phenomenal assistant, and Zay was my VP of client relations, so he wasn’t going anywhere either. So I had to ease up on the company policy, limiting it to only prohibiting relationships between supervisors and their direct reports. Now they were married, I was the best man at their quaint wedding and would be the godfather to their child.
“Wassup? Y’all good?” I quizzed.
“I’m not feeling too well, so I’m going to head up to our room. Your speech was amazing and this is the best company party we’ve ever put together,” she chirped.
“And that’s mostly due to you. I expressed my vision and you made it come to life,” I noted.
“I do what I can,” she grinned.
“Thank you for not pulling Gina until after this event,” I dapped Zay up, walking with them towards the door.
“Pull me?” Gina snapped, stopping us midway.
“Yeah, he came into my room this morning and expressed some concerns about you working long hours. I promised him to cut you loose after this event.”
“Cut me loose?” She sputtered, her eyes blinking rapidly as they narrowed in on her husband.
Zay gently rubbed her back. “Relax, early maternity leave. You will still have your job.”
“That’s if she even wants to come back,” I interjected.
“Oh, I’m coming back after my maternity leave, and I’m not going out this early,” Gina affirmed. “I am fine, Zay. Yes, I was exhausted yesterday, but I can still work, and I plan to work until our planned date for maternity leave.”
“I hope you come back after the baby but I’m not holding my breath. You know that’s what happened to my last assistant. She left me as soon as she popped out her first jit. And she was with me for five years. You only been with me for two. Whatever y’all decide after discussing the shit in private, let me know. I thought Zay was coming to me because you were scared to or some shit. I didn’t know you were in the dark about it.”
Gina rolled her eyes. “Let me get his ass to bed. We clearly have some things to discuss in private. I might be pregnant but that doesn’t mean I can’t do my job. If you want to hire an assistant for when you come to do business in Miami, then we can discuss that when we get back to Tampa.”
“Well, I’ll let you two figure that out and get back to me,” I quickly removed myself from their quarrel.
We laughed and I hugged them both before they walked through the exit. I smiled watching them, they had a love that mirrored my parents, and Gina was such an amazing, nurturing assistant that I knew she wouldn’t be back. That baby was going to have her ass hollin’ a whole other tune, and my next assistant either had to be postmenopausal or male. I couldn’t keep losing my assistants like this.
I turned around to get back to the party and came face to face with the disgruntled woman who had been staring me down all night.
“You could see me from all the way on the stage, so I know your ass got good vision. So you must just be dumb as hell,maybe a little slow. But naw, your speech says you have a brain inside that milk dud ass head. So why the hell would you be saying that Quincy Bentley is garbage? I don’t play about my motha fuckin’ kids, and he is going through enough.”
POW!
Her hand went across my face, and security swarmed us before I could wrap my mind around what the fuck she was talking about.
“Now you know how it feels to be publicly humiliated!”
I quickly raised my hand, halting my security in their steps before they could yoke her ass up. She raised her other hand to hit me, but I grabbed it midair. Before the assault, I was consumed by her words, but now with her slender wrist in the palm of my hand, I examined her face. With the way she was yapping and swinging her hands, you’d expect a bitch my height and weight talking that big shit to me. Her eyes didn’t even meet mine, and I had to look down to make eye contact with her. Usually, I would’ve hurled a veiled threat that I’d make good on later, but I swallowed my words when we connected piercing gazes. For a brief moment, I admired her dark brown face. Fucking perfection.
Realizing that she had my attention, she rolled her neck and talked more shit. I smiled because for the first time in a long time, I had nothing to say. I was confused about who her son, Quincy, was, and when or how I had disrespected him. My anger subsided the more I admired her face. Her full, glossy lips were slightly parted, looking like the perfect slice of sin. I traced them with my eyes for a moment, and then my intrusive thoughts got the best of me. My free hand lifted, allowing my thumb to trace the shape of her lips. Her skin, smooth and rich like the finest mahogany, carried a glow that made me forget how to breathe for a second. Those lashes were long and curled just enough to notice, but not dramatic enough to make you think she wasabout to fly away. We were close enough that I could smell whatever expensive perfume she was wearing, and I wouldn’t expect anything else from her fine ass.
Then suddenly, this maniac sank her teeth into my thumb, forcing me to release my grip on her and cradle the throbbing digit.
WAP!
