“Excuse me, Cardi. Your meeting with the partners is in like… three minutes. West Boardroom.”
Jackie slowed down and turned toward Calvin. “West? Damn, how many people are going to be in this meeting?” West Boardroom, on the seventeenth floor, was the largest one in the building, usually reserved for major news.
Calvin shrugged. “No clue. I tried to fish for a hint from the other assistants, but it seems like the partners are keeping it mum.”
Jackie slipped on her jacket and heels. She didn’t have a good feeling about this. “I fucking hate surprises.”
“Girl, me too,” agreed Calvin.
Jackie gave him a wide-eyed look. “Excuse me?”
Calvin straightened his tie and handed Jackie her iPad. “Sorry, Ms. Miles.”
Jackie smirked. “Thanks. And while I’m gone, can you try and do something about my email and calendar?”
“Finally!” Calvin smiled. “I’m on it.”
JACKIE POWERED DOWN THE HALLS OFELITE, RUNNING RIGHTinto Donny DiMaggio. If Antonio was her arch-nemesis, then Donny was her frenemy. They kept it cordial for the most part, but if push came to shove, Donny would sell her out in a minute. Donny was a greedy bastard.
“Donny, you know what this meeting is about? Since your nose stays brown,” Jackie asked as they walked down the hallway toward the elevators.
“Believe it or not, Miles, I don’t know every fucking thing going on here. Folks are being secretive.”
They stepped onto the elevator, and Jackie pressed the button for the seventeenth floor. “I don’t have a good feeling, Donny.”
Donny sighed. “I hate to admit when you’re right, but shit, neither do I.”
As they exited the elevator, Jackie nodded toward her colleagues that were filing into the large, glass-encased boardroom. Nearly every seat was filled, except two. Elite’s founding partner, Patrick Fortson, sat at the front along with the other founders. Jackie tried to guess who the extra seats were for, but she was stumped.
Patrick whistled to get everyone’s attention. “Hey, you all. Sorry for putting this meeting on your books without much detail. I’m not a man of mystery, but I’d rather tell you this in-person rather than by email.” He took a deep breath and rubbed his hands. “Elite Management is going in a new direction. We will be merging with another firm.”
The entire boardroom began to rumble. Jackie looked down at her nails, not worried in the least about keeping her job. She was consistently a top earner at the firm. She attracted some of the hottest athletes across all sports, especially the big three. Plus, given the optics surrounding diversity right now, it wouldn’t be cute to let her go.
Patrick held up a hand. “Now hold on. No one said anything about layoffs. If anything, this expands our reach. We’ll be able to restructure and diversify our rosters. Ah yes, here comes the rest of the team now.”
Jackie laughed under her breath, imagining the bland, generic team the other firm had sent to collaborate. When she swiveled her chair to see who was coming through the door, she nearly fell through the floor. Standing there was a tall, dark, and impeccably dressed irritation of a man.
Antonio Steele.
“Son of a—” Jackie whispered, then bit the inside of her jaw to keep from cursing. Of all the boardrooms in the world, he had to be in hers.
Antonio scanned the room, nodding hello to her colleagues. When his eyes got to Jackie, his mouth opened slightly, and his eyes scanned her face. Jackie followed his gaze; he was clearly looking at her lips. Lips that he knew intimately—albeit briefly—from a lifetime ago. Like a petulant child, Jackie folded her arms over her chest and tucked her lips in.
She watched Antonio take a seat next to Patrick, directly across from Jackie. The other agents trailing behind him were, just as she thought, a bunch of bland, generic dudes. Antonio gave her a smile from across the table, and she rolled her eyes. In response, he smirked and shook his head.
“Well,” began Patrick, “if it isn’t obvious by now: Elite is merging with Athletics Management Worldwide. Together, we will be managing some of sports’ greatest talents. On the AMW side, we have Antonio Steele here as a representative. He’s going to assess where we can expand our reach. Antonio? Want to say a few words?”
Antonio nodded. “Thanks Patrick. AMW is super excited to be joining forces with Elite. Two powerhouse sports management teams.” His eyes landed back on Jackie, whose scowl just made him smile bigger. Clearly, hewasa sadist.
“I assure you, AMW isn’t here to take over,” he continued. “The founding partners don’t want to overhaul how you all do things. We want this to be a harmonious merger. I have a good feeling that we are going to make magic together.”
With those last words, Antonio’s gaze—still on Jackie—intensified. She moved uncomfortably in her seat.
The rest of the meeting was less eventful. There was a full inquiry into the roster of athletes AMW represented and those on their radar, cross-referenced with Elite’s list. Each time Jackie looked up from her tablet, Antonio was staring at her. She hoped that no one else noticed. She didn’t have the patience to field questions from people who assumed that all Black people knew each other. Once the meeting ended, Jackie couldn’t book it to her office fast enough.
“Shit! Shit!” she yelled as she walked around her office. Her heart was beating as fast as Sha’Carri Richardson running the 100m race. She sat herself on the edge of her desk and took a few deep breaths to try to steady herself. After the baked bean incident at her cookout, she’d thought that would be last she’d see of Antonio Steele.
“Jacqueline?”
