One good reason, p.6
One Good Reason, page 6
“You got me and Mrs. Jessie. She said she didn’t mind if you called her. She’s gonna be checking in with you anyway. Ya’ know, to make sure you taking your medicine on schedule. Speaking of schedule, she wrote down the time and names of the things you gotta take. I already told Betty Jo to look out for it.”
Frowning her face up Gema sucked her teeth. “Betty Jo ain’t gotta look out for nothing. I know what to take.”
“Ummhmm. Sure, you do.” Placing the purse down beside her, I laid on the couch and stretched out.
“You done sent me off to these strange people. What you gon’ do while I’m gone?”
Clutching my chest, I laughed, “Gema, that’s your daughter, not a stranger. And I gotta work.”
“Ain’t you should’ve been gone?”
“I’m the director which means I come and go as I please. Besides, I’ve got a doctor’s appointment at noon. I’m going in after I’m done.”
“You alright? What you need to see the doctor ‘bout?”
“Routine checkup.”
The ringing of the doorbell had Gema sucking her teeth so hard. “Lord, that girl gon’ live a long time. We was just talking ‘bout her.”
“I’on think that’s how it works.” I giggled and got up from the couch.
Unlatching the hook on the door, I unlocked it presenting my mama who stood on the porch with a scowl on her face. “Hello to you too mother.” I called to her back as she brushed pass me and into my house.
Ignoring me she rounded the couch and stood over my granny. “Mama you ‘bout ready to go?”
“I reckon.” Gema shrugged.
“Well come on. Joe Lee wanna stop and grab something to eat before getting back on the road. We tryna beat the rain.”
“Help her out to the car and I’ll get her bags.”
“Ummhmm,” she muttered.
My eyes rolled instantly. Heffa wouldn’t know a thing about being pleasant if it popped her in the mouth. Grabbing Gema’s luggage and pocketbook, I walked out of the house behind them. My mama’s husband spoke to Gema as soon as she walked out the door. Me on the other hand, his ass knew not to say shit to me. This lil’ visit would go from sugar to shit in a matter of seconds.
Gema knew it and so did I. That’s why she called my name and told me to hurry up and put her bags in the trunk. The way I felt ‘bout Joe Lee, Gema felt the same. Hell, even Papa Joe couldn’t stand his ass, and it wasn’t for nothing. Joe Lee was foul and everybody including my mama knew it, but she chose to keep his trifling ass around.
Crouching down by the back door, I fastened Gema seat belt and whispered in her ear. “One wrong move, you call me. If I don’t answer call, Mrs. Jessie. She knows how to get in touch with me.”
Instead of responding, Gema nodded her head. “I’m serious Bertha Mae. If at any point you feel uncomfortable, I will come get you. I don’t mind. I’m only letting you go without me cause I gotta work and I know the rest of ‘em will be around. If he says anything to you”
Gema patted me on the hand and shook her head, letting me know to drop it. She knew I was getting ready to go off on a tangent. Hell, the way my heart was pounding in my chest, I was about ready to call this whole thing off. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust my mama. Well, I didn’t in a sense. But it was another thing to send my granny two hours away for a whole week. Especially knowing she would be under the same roof as my mama trifling ass husband.
Instead of arguing with her, I pecked her on the cheek and stood up. “I’ll call you later on today. Make sure you answer the phone.”
“I will. Love you, Tali.”
“Love you more, Gema.”
Stepping back, I closed her door and wrapped my arms around my body. My anxiety was peaking and the longer I stood there, the more my eyes filled with tears.
I was having that feeling like something bad was going to happen and I just couldn’t put your finger on it. Yeah, that’s what I was feeling in this moment. I didn’t want to be combative and tell my mama she couldn’t go; I mean after all, I did abruptly uproot her from her life and her home so, it wouldn’t be fair of me to do that. But God so help me, if Gema came back to me with a single hair missing from her head, I was gon’ beat the shit out of my mama and her husband.
I stood in the same spot and watched Joe Lee pull the car out of my driveway. The whole time I stood there, I prayed to God for him to watch over my granny and bring her home safe and unharmed. Now that I’d prayed about it, I had to let it go and give it to God. But Lord, I promise that was a hard task to do. I took a few more minutes to get myself together before spinning and heading back toward the house so I could get ready for my appointment.
“You okay?” Rossi asked the minute he stepped through my office door. When I made it in for the day, he was away from his desk, so he didn’t see me. Now that he had returned, it would take an act of congress to get his ass out of my office. And normally I would dismiss him but today I welcomed the distractions.
“I’ve been better,” I sighed.
“She’s gone?”
Rolling my head to ease the tension I nodded. “Yep.”
“Everything is going to be okay Tali.”
“I know Rossi. This is the first time we’ve been apart and I’m just… Having reservations,” I revealed.
“That’s natural. If that evil witch does anything to my Gema, we gon’ be suited and booted,” he sassed, making me laugh.
Rossi knew all about my disdain for my mama and exactly how close I was to Gema. I didn’t let anyone I didn’t know on a personal level meet my Gema but one day she and I were out having brunch and Rossi just so happened to be in the same spot. I introduced the two of them and he had been smitten ever since.
“I can always count on you to make me feel better.”
Kicking his leg out dramatically, he sat down in one of my chairs. “Since you don’t have Gema to look after, what you say about us hanging out tonight?”
“Rossi,” I groaned. “I gotta get up early in the morning. Me and Law are supposed have a business meeting.”
Raising his eyebrow in interest, Rossi tucked his hand under his chin. “When did you start referring to him as Law?”
“When he said Mr. Harvey was too formal.” I shrugged. “Not a big deal.”
“You do know the last director was his girlfriend, right?” Rossi questioned.
“Well, this director ain’t,” I clarified. “I don’t do workplace relationships. Hell this,” I pointed to him. “Is as close as it’ll ever get. We’re gearing up to working on this lavish idea of mine.”
“Ummhmm.” He eyed me suspiciously. “You be careful with that one. He’s smooth as butter. Talk you right up out ya’ drawers.”
“See… Just when I was going to agree to hang out with you tonight, your mouth has ruined it.” Pointing at the door, I ordered, “Get out.”
Rossi laughed and stood from the chair. Tucking an imaginary piece of hair behind his ear ,he swore, “I’ll be to pick you up around seven.” Roaming his eyes up and down my body he added, “Dress your age.”
“Out, Rossi.” I giggled.
Grabbing my phone out of my desk, I pulled up the Life360 app and tracked Gema’s location. Ain’t no way they thought I was sending her away without knowing where she was at all times. With the location showing them at Betty Jo house, I was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. Now that my heart was returning to a steady pace, I busied myself with work.
Law had messaged me to let me know he would call when his driver was out front. Apparently not only had he spoken with the guy Poppa referred him to, but he was able to secure a meeting with him for later today. I was excited for the meeting, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous as shit. This was a big deal. I wanted nothing more than for it to come to fruition and the way Law and Poppa talked, it would. With this being my idea, it left me wondering what my future looked like at the youth center. Would this involve me taking on an even heavier workload? Not that I minded because I was fully capable, however, with Gema in the equation, I had to figure out how much time I would be spending away from her. Law asked me to be patient and have faith in him and I guess until he gave me a reason to feel differently, I would grant him that.
At three o’clock on the dot, I was ushered out of the building and into the waiting blacked-out SUV that sat parallel on the curb in front of the youth center. When Rossi called to inform me that my ride was outside, I wasn’t expecting Law’s personal driver to be standing by the entrance waiting on me.
The entire time we had been in the truck, Law had been on the phone conducting business while I sat there trying to figure out exactly what he did outside of owning the youth center. I mean apparently whatever it was it kept him busy seeing as every time he ended one call, another one came through.
I tried to keep my eyes off him but it was hard, especially with the way the tailored royal blue suit hugged his frame. The first two buttons on his white shirt were undone, leaving his chocolate chest on display along with gold rope chain secured around his neck.
During one of his calls, he pulled the phone down from his ear and asked if I had eaten lunch yet. After confirming that I hadn’t, he had “Baker” call someone to make a reservation for three. I was under the impression that we would be going to wherever this person of Poppa’s was. Sadly, I was wrong. The truck rolled to a stop in front of STK Steakhouse and before I could ask questions, Baker was pulling the door open.
“Right this way, Ms. Howard,” he said while holding his hand out. Grabbing ahold of his outstretched hand, I let him assist me out of the truck. When Law stepped out of the truck, the wind drafted causing a woody, citrusy scent to waft across my nose. Placing his hand at the small of my back, he lightly pushed me forward all the while still on his call.
“Reservation for Harvey,” he uttered to the hostess who checked the computer for our names before grabbing three menus and telling us to follow her.
The minute I stepped forward to follow her, Law’s hand was back at the small of my back. It wasn’t until we reached the table did he remove it. Pulling a chair out, he nodded his head for me to take a seat before rounding the table to sit across from me. Not wanting to seem like I was eaves dropping on his conversation, I picked up the menu and scoured it.
I was supposed to stop and grab lunch after I left my doctor’s appointment, but it ran a little longer than expected so I figured I would just send Rossi out to grab me something. In the midst of work, my hunger pains subsided so naturally I forgot to do so. Had Law not mentioned lunch, I probably wouldn’t have eaten anything until I got home for the day.
“You have to excuse me. I wasn’t trying to be rude. I had a few things scheduled for the day before getting this meeting,” he apologized as soon as he ended the call. Placing the phone down on the table, he slid out of his coat and draped it over the back of the chair next to him.
Bringing the menu down from my face, I asked the question that had been on my mind since I was picked up. “I thought we were having a meeting?”
“We are. I’ve been so busy today I hadn’t had the chance to eat lunch and clearly you haven’t either. So, we’re going to do it here.”
“I understand.” I nodded. “Thanks for that. I’ve just had a busy day and it slipped my mind.”
“Likewise. Before our third party arrives, I wanted to bring you abreast. The guy we’re getting ready to meet is William Pellegrin, he oversees the accreditation. He’s going to give us a list of things that we need to do before we can even begin the application process. According to a few people I’ve spoken with already, we can expect the first application to be denied.”
“Denied!” I gasped.
“Unfortunately, yes. It’s a tedious process which is why Poppa sent me directly to him. I wanted to set the expectations first. Denied doesn’t mean that it won’t happen. It just means we have to work harder at impressing the accreditation board.”
“What all do we have to do?”
“Finding a location is at the top of the list. I want to get that squared away before we even submit the application.”
Rubbing my temples in a circular motion, I fluttered my eyes until they closed. “In other words, be prepared to be stressed out like I said.”
I thought the purpose of this meeting was to ease the tension I was feeling. The damn meeting hadn’t even started yet and my anxiety was back. This time instead of it being geared toward Gema, it was on this whole application process. Tonight, I would definitely be taking Rossi up on his offer to go out. I needed a drink or four if I was going to have to deal with stuff like this along the way.
CHAPTER 5
Lawton
The pained expression on her face was laughable. However, I knew this wasn’t a laughable moment. It was clear Talitha wasn’t used to these type of things. I, on the other hand, had dealt with it plenty of times before in the past. Me being the type of businessman I was, I hardly ever heard no but this was a quest that I didn’t know too many people in.
Granted, Poppa had leant me his connect but this man didn’t know me therefore I had a feeling I couldn’t pay my way through this process.
“Nothing to stress about. No, it won’t be easy, but we got this.”
Talitha stopped massaging her temples and slanted her eyes. “I’m not so sure anymore. I hardly know anything about residential real estate and now you’re saying we have to find a school. How is that not stressful?”
“Lucky for you, I’ve purchased several commercial properties. I’ll get with an agent and have them pull a few spaces. I’ll even let you tag along with me to view them. The main thing I want you to focus on is the application.”
“I can do that.” She breathed.
“Well then, the rest should be pretty easy.” Picking the menu back up I asked, “Anything on here catching your attention?”
“A few things. I’m ready to order if you are.”
“We can order,” I confirmed. Waving the server over, Talitha and I placed our order. After having done so, we talked more about what I had found out from my trusted sources about the application process.
William had given his confirmation with Baker who let me know he would be running a few minutes behind being that he was leaving work. I planned to have Talitha good and relaxed by the time he showed up. I needed her mind to be at ease so she could listen to everything he had to say. Even if I was expecting to be denied the first go around, if we could prevent it, I was more than okay with that.
“Mr. Harvey, I understand this will be your school but the way this works, both of you have to attend the class. You because it’s your business, her because well...” he trailed off, prompting me to speak up.
“Because it’s her vision. I’m just here to make it come true.”
William was trying to sell me on two virtual seminars that was mandatory for me to attend before I could even apply. I ran a multimillion-dollar tech firm, the last thing I had time for was a damn all-day seminar.
“Would it be best if I came to your office, and we did it there?” Talitha intervened.
“Regardless of the location, I would have to get my schedule pushed around to make it happen. I don’t know how happy my assistant will be about that.”
“Mr. Pellegrin, are the seminars live?” she queried.
“They are.” He nodded. “Mr. Harvey, you’re a busy man. The way Patton spoke, it seemed like time was of the essence. The next class in two days and if you want to put an application in without having to wait six months to a year, you must attend those seminars.”
“Shit. What other choice do I have?”
“You could wait it out.”
“Send me over the link and we will take it from there.”
“Great. I’ll see to it that you get your email. In the meantime, I’m going to give you these.” Reaching into his briefcase, he pulled out a manilla envelope, placed it on the table, and slid it over to me. “If it gets out that I gave you these, I will deny it to the death of me. I owe Patton a huge favor and this is me paying up. I think what the two of you are trying to do is admirable and believe me, I’m only here to help. If either of you have any questions outside of that,” he tipped his head toward the envelope, “Reach out directly to me and we can take it from there.”
“Thank you so much, Mr. Pellegrin.”
“Pleasures all mine, Ms. Howard. I’ll be looking forward to your application.” With that, William bid us farewell before getting up to leave.
“It looks like we got our work cut out for us.” Bringing her glass of champagne to her lips, Talitha took a sip.
“Looks to be that way.” I couldn’t say exactly what I had going on but in two days, I was supposed to be shooting up to the Heights to check in with Preme. Now that shit wasn’t looking possible. The nigga was gon’ be in his feelings cause I had been hounding his ass to carve out some time, now I was going to push it up. “Ready to go?”
Downing the last of her glass, Talitha checked the time on her watch and nodded. “I’ve gotta get home so I can meet Rossi.”
“You gotta watch out for Rossi. He will have you coming in at seven in the morning.” I chuckled, remembering all the nights where him and Dahlia hit the town. The two of them together were like a disaster waiting to happen. Rossi didn’t do anything small; he was always extra and over the top. I had no reason to believe he wouldn’t be the same way with Talitha.
“You know, it’s funny you say that.”
“What you mean?” I quizzed.
“He said the same thing about you.”
“Care to elaborate?”
“Not at all.” She giggled and left me standing at the table wondering exactly what Rossi had said about me.
Shedding the tie, I pulled my shirt out of my slacks and unbuttoned it.
“You don’t want to go to the room?” Mia asked as she kneeled before me.
