Chapter 4
Paxton Hughes
Simply exquisite. I didn’t think Yani knew that about herself. When I got the email of her inquiring a meeting with me about a project that she wanted to launch with my company, I did a little research for myself. I was a very closed off person and didn’t say yes to any and everyone.
The first thing I saw when I typed in her name was a beautiful brown skinned beauty. Yani carried the face of a Barbie doll. Her high cheek bone structure, her full flips, and those almond shaped eyes had caught my interest within seconds.
It stated that her marital status was single and that was quickly noted mentally.
However, I knew better than to believe she didn’t have someone waiting for her at home.
She confirmed that in our meeting and I couldn’t help but feel defeated.
I wanted her to have no attachments so that when I swooped in, she wouldn’t have an excuse to deny me.
“Yoooo.”
Looking up from my desk, I acknowledged my brother from another mother, Josiaha, walking through my office door. I stood to dap him up when he was in reach then returned to my seat.
“What’s good? You straight?” I questioned.
“God is good, so you know I am. What you got going on?”
“I’m looking over this new proposal from Gia. She had an idea regarding the app. She wants to add a live streaming feature. I’m not sure how to feel about that. What you think?”
“I say it’s a good idea, 50 Shades of Melanin is a place where we get to be ourselves. Why not give them the option to show themselves and allow others to chat with someone they possibly have a crush on? It’s a good way to weed out the catfishes as well.”
He had a point. So many people developed feelings for someone via text or phone calls and never once had the option to see who they were speaking with. I agreed with everything he said. More than likely, I would have to meet with Gia to thin out the details but for now, she was getting approved.
“Cool. So, I met with someone who wants a piece of the dating side. Her name is Yani Hart. She owns Buy a Heart. Its’s a —”
“Matchmaking company. Man, I know all about it and her. You know Bailey wants me married before she turns forty. She’s tried to get me to attend one of those events for quite some time now. I promised her I’d go to the next one. She said that could be my baby shower gift.”
I was pleased to know that I wouldn’t be attending Yani’s event by myself.
I didn’t know anything about her other than what google provided and what she was proposing.
Going to this event would give me genuine time to fill her out and see if she’s passionate about her own process of elimination quiz.
“I’m participating in the next one. She asked me to be a candidate to test out her questionnaires. As a matter of fact, have a look at them for yourself and give me your input.”
Flipping my computer screen around, I let him read a few of the questions. Even though your response would be your opinion, it spoke volumes about you as a person. I was anxious to see how it panned out honestly.
“Oh, she ain’t playing. I like this though. It tells a lot about a person. Regardless of how judgmental a person say they aren’t, you can’t help but judge from their responses. It’s like she’s putting you in the hotseat politely.”
“Exactly. I like her style with this. She said she’ll hit me with more information regarding the event whenever she gets everything in order.”
“This going to be interesting. I didn’t know you were looking, Pax. I could’ve set you up with someone.”
“Nigga, I’m not. However, I won’t turn down the chance to be in the presence of a beautiful woman and Yani is indeed beautiful.”
“You got that right. Let me know when she hit you so I can let Bailey know she won’t have to wait too much longer.”
Nodding, we dapped up once more and he left me to my work. Josiaha was a good dude and loved to spoil women. I just wanted him to spoil one woman. I was with Bailey on him settling down. He deserved a woman that treated him with the same respect he gave. Hopefully, Yani’s event would give him that.
There was a time where I hadn’t thought about the woman species, now there was one specific woman that occupied my thoughts. Yani had a certain aura about herself that gained her privileges above the rest.
When it came to the female gender, they operated in an independent manner.
Somewhere along the line they no longer wanted to be kept.
Society made them into men, and I couldn’t fuck with that.
I was a firm believer in women being that submissive being to their partner and allowing a man to protect and provide.
Nowadays women wanted to lead instead of being led. I hated this new independence movement.
I thumbed through the documents on my desk making a mental note to get back to Gia before she left for the day.
I wanted all my employees to know that their voices were heard and not ignored.
Any employee that pitched something worth standing behind got credit for it and the money they deserved as well.
I was making millionaire’s because I had the platform to do so.
In return, they paid me a nice percentage. It was a win-win situation.
Time got beside me as I buried myself in the piles of work that sat upon my desk.
I had gone on a long-needed vacation with my folk and didn’t take one business call, text, or email while I was there.
Returning, I knew I would have to put in overtime to catch up, but I was up for the challenge.
I never failed in life, and I damn sure wasn’t about to start now.
A round of knocks sounded off alerting me that someone was at the door. I didn’t want to be bothered for the rest of the day, but I granted them access.
“Come in.”
“I’m sorry to disturb you, Mr. Hughes, but these gifts just arrived for you. There’s also more on my desk. Whoever sent them put some real thought into it.”
My assistant, Amy, entered my office with takeout from a restaurant I wasn’t familiar with and a bouquet of flowers. She dropped them off on the coffee table and went to retrieve the rest. She quickly walked back in with an envelope, and a medium sized box.
“Was there a card or anything?” I inquired as I stood with confusion.
“No sir. I’ll be clocking out in about twenty minutes. Is there anything else you need me to help you with before I do so?”
“Nah. Thank you and enjoy your evening, Amy. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I waited until she exited my office before I gave my attention to the gifts that were dropped off.
For the life of me, I couldn’t pin this gesture on anyone.
I didn’t have any women in my life that was sitting on my shaft, and I hadn’t signed any new deals with anyone.
I was legit in turmoil behind who was sending things of such to my office.
The food smelled amazing. That was the first thing I inspected and was pleased with seeing a lobster dinner accompanied with seafood alfredo.
There was also a salad and garlic bread.
Whoever sent it, had good taste. Lobster pot pie was one of my favorite dishes.
I didn’t think anyone ate them besides myself.
I then moved on to the bouquet. I searched for a card and saw that it had been removed. The stick was still present though. Not having too much more patience, I grabbed the envelope that housed a card. I opened it up and my eyes went directly to the bottom for a name.
Yani Hart. Seeing her name brought a smile to my face that went from ear to ear. I proceeded to read the card and it was her saying thank you for returning her wallet to her yesterday. The message was short and sweet.
She said to me that she was a spoken for woman, but I couldn’t help but wonder if the man that was speaking for her was on her level. This was just a thank you, so my curiosity spooked me on what she did for someone who was a part of her personal life.
There was only one thing left to inspect and that was the medium sized box sitting on the end of the table. If I had to guess, I would say it looked like a wine and glass set. Picking it up off the table, I looked inside to see my prediction was right.
She was one hell of a woman. She had my attention when I did my homework on her, and now, she was winning me over without doing too much of anything.
Usually, I was doing the gifting, but she started off with the gestures and that drew me in to wanting to know more about her.
Going into business with her would give me the time I was seeking but I also didn’t want to overstep my boundaries.
I retreated to my desk to send over an appreciation email. I was a man that had mannerisms.
All I did was return her wallet. She was so busy on the phone with whomever that she didn’t realize she was leaving her whole identity on the counter of a sandwich shop.
The only digging I did when she left it behind was to see where to return it, but once I saw her driver’s license, I figured it was fate.
The email was sent over and I decided to go ahead and indulge in the meal. I was famished and lobster pot pie wasn’t good after it got cold. As I dove into it, she responded, and I automatically smiled. I had no clue as to what she said but just from seeing her name, I was excited.
No need to thank me, Paxton. I was in your debt. I had so much of me in that tiny wallet. If you were someone else, I’m sure I’d be broke by now. I appreciate you being a standup guy and doing what’s right. Once again, thank you, and enjoy!
My smile hadn’t dropped yet. Yani had me feeling like I was back in high school, and she was the new girl that only had conversation for me. It was weird, but I had no intention of scaling back how I was as a man all because she was in a relationship.
There was one thing I knew about people and that was the games they played. Those games required getting people’s feelings involved. The one person that we were advised not to worry about, was where their interest lied. As a man, I knew all too well on how that worked.
I treated women with the utmost respect and with genuineness. Some took it as me flirting while others looked to get that treatment from their partner. I was just an all-around gentleman, which was why I didn’t plan on changing my ways.
&
“You plan on getting up any time soon?” I knew that voice all too well. I just wanted some rest. It was a Saturday and I wanted to sleep in.
Throwing the covers off my face, I let the rays of the sun slap me in it. Blocking it out with my hand quickly after, I allowed my eyes to adjust to the brightness. My mother was a pain in the ass in the mornings. I hated how she woke up at the crack of dawn and expected everyone else to do so.
“Good morning, Ma.”
“It’s the afternoon child. Get up and act like you’re grateful to be alive. Me and your father have some things to discuss with you.”
She left me alone for the time being allowing me to get myself together. I knew I had no choice but to get up because she wasn’t going to allow me to do anything but that. I groggily carried myself into the bathroom and handled my hygiene. It woke me up enough to where I could function properly.
I threw on some joggers and a t-shirt for now. I had no plans for the day so there was no need to be fancy. I ended up in the kitchen moments later feasting on a plate from my chef.
“What’s up Pops? Why y’all in my house so early?”
“You know how your mother is son. Once she has something to say, she needs everybody to listen.”
“And I personally don’t want to hear it. I was sleeping good.”
I looked to the right and my baby sister Patience was walking through the kitchen in her pajamas and robe. She didn’t even bother getting right.
“I don’t care about nothing y’all talking about. Now, my birthday is coming up and I—”
“Ain’t no way you did that. You came across town to wake me up out my sleep to discuss a birthday that’s a few months away, Henrietta?” I questioned. My mother was dramatic as hell and Patience took after her in so many ways.
“I did. It’s my fiftieth and I want it to be right. Now, I thought about my theme. What y’all think about it being like a jazz ball?”
I could fuck with that. I was an old school fanatic, and I loved the design of the men’s tux’s back then with the tail on them. The women and their short but classy dresses or the long silk ones that hugged their bodies just right. I was down with the theme.
“Do people even listen to that kind of music still? It’s so… old.” I knew Patience wouldn’t like it. Her twenty-three-year-old brain could never process any generation before hers.
After enjoying a good laugh from the way my parents looked at her and shook their heads, I spoke up. “So, I’m supposed to pay for all this, huh?”
“Of course, my sweet boy. Here’s my guest list and then you can invite whomever you please. However, I want my guest there and placed at a table first.”
She handed over a folder and I shook my head.
My family got whatever they wanted from me.
I was the first billionaire and I made sure they were always comfortable.
I spoiled them because they showed me the most support, and my parents, well, they gave their last putting me through school. I spared no dime when it came to them.
“Yes ma’am. Is there anymore special request?”
“Make sure everyone leaves with something. I want them to know Hen knows how to throw a party.” She was excited and that was all I wanted for her.
“Can I go back to bed now? Seems like you got it all figured out.” Patience was the one thing her behind didn’t have.
“No. Get dressed so we can go meet first lady and her daughter for lunch. They’re treating and you better act like you got some sense. I don’t know why you want to sleep all day no how. Paxton you need to stop spoiling her so much.”
“If I stop spoiling her, then I’ll have to do the same to you Ma. She’s fine. I’m ’bout to get dressed and run some errands. I’ll let y’all have this. Hit me if you need me.”
I knew not to stick around for that. My mother wanted Patience to be interested in the things she was, but Patience only had two things on her mind. Spending my money and flexing for her friends. Leaving was the only option.