Chapter 1 #2
My head slanted. “Simone, did you compromise when you opened your legs, mouth, and ass to a man that was not me? I’m confused with what you expect of me here.
You signed that prenup thinking you had me in the bag, but that zipper wasn’t as secure as you thought it was.
What you get is what you agreed to, ma’am. ”
“Robert!” A loud, obnoxious voice sounded off behind me.
There was no urgency for me to turn around.
Seconds later, a very upset Lanette faced me with a baby carrier cradled in the cuff of her arm.
“You are a dirty muthafucka for treating my mother like this. All these years, she held you down when you were absent. You didn’t deserve her. ”
I stared at Simone whose expression told me that this outburst from Lanette was not planned. She touched her daughter’s arm. “Lanette, let’s just go inside.”
“No, Mother! He is a fuck ass nigga. You were good to him!” The volume of her voice was bothersome.
I clasped my hands together in front of me.
“Lanette, I really am not interested in talking grown folks’ business in front of a child, but since you insist on being disrespectful about things your mother has not made you privy to, let me ask you this.
Was she holding you down when you all went on those trips and she was with her boo, Kevin? ”
Her face fell. Oh, she was silent now. She was so much like her fucking mother until it was a shame. “Well, if you ask me, you deserved to get cheated on. You were never around, and your treatment of her was questionable.”
I laughed. “Simone, I’ve always admired that you taught our daughters to present themselves as these uppity females in your light, but your ass is from a little country ass town outside in Alabama” My eyes cut back over to Lanette. “My treatment of her was questionable. Get the fuck out of here.”
“Robert, just because you insist on keeping in touch with your country hood roots does not mean that I have to follow your lead. See, that was one of the problems within our marriage. You could lead everyone over there at your precious MediGenix, but you lacked that same leadership at home. What kind of president of a Fortune 5 company speaks in the vernacular that you do and think it’s alright? ” Oh, Simone was mad now.
I tittered. “Simone, it’s called versatility and authenticity.
I’m that nigga from Macon, Georgia, that got it out of the mud, working with my father on a fucking cotton field like a fucking slave to make sure my mama was taken care of.
So, I guess I got it out the fuckin’ cotton.
I busted my ass in school to get that free ride to go to college to make my mama and daddy proud.
I will never forget where I come from. I’m proud that I can navigate between the boardroom and those country ass streets.
Now, what needs to happen is you and Kevin’s daughter need to get the fuck out of my damn face. ”
Simone’s eyes bucked. I guess she hadn’t let her precious daughter know that I wasn’t her father. This was what happened when people ran their mouths too damn much.
Lanette’s head snapped in her mother’s direction. “What? What is he talking about, Mother?”
When that single tear fell from Simone’s eye, I felt no sympathy. “I’ll let you two deal with that. Simone, I wish you well on your future endeavors of which I hope include employment.”
She and Lanette could kiss my ass. Simone was lucky to get a settlement period with the proof of adultery.
I could have left her with nothing, but I didn’t.
She had a paid for home, car, and a trust that would pay the taxes on the home for five years.
The trust could only be used for the taxes on the house and nothing else unless she sold the home, then she would get the payout from the trust.
Simone had a degree and a network. She could use both to find gainful employment. If that became too challenging, then I hoped she had Kevin to lean on. I was no longer a part of her network.
Present Day . . .
Why did I smell bacon and I lived alone? That could only mean that my lovely daughter was here to annoy my soul. I loved my baby girl, Simonette, God knew I did. I just wanted her to know that I didn’t need her to come over and cook breakfast for me. She had a husband to cook for.
I took my time to get ready for my day. Today was a big day for me and my company MediGenix.
I felt confident to call it my company since I was named the chief executive officer (CEO) almost a year ago.
This was the opportunity that I waited for in that pipeline when I was amid my divorce from Simone.
I wanted my divorce finalized before I went through the hiring process.
It took me another forty minutes to get dressed and downstairs. Simonette sat at my dining room table with a plate of pancakes, eggs, bacon, and sausage. “Good morning, Daddy. I made you some breakfast.”
“Sim, where is Daylen? Shouldn’t you be at home making him breakfast? I have an assistant to get me breakfast and a chef to cook it at the office,” I told her. I said all of that, but I would still eat the food that she cooked.
She finished the mouthful of food before she responded. “I did cook for Daylen before he went to practice this morning. The baby wanted to hear his grandpap’s voice. Grandpap? I think I like that.”
My face tightened. She had been shopping names since she found out that she and Daylen were expecting, but she had yet to land on one.
I didn’t care either way what he called me, as long as he called me.
“Baby girl, you know that I don’t care about what my grandson calls me. What do you have planned for your day?”
“I’m going into the lab for a few hours, then Rissa and I are going shopping for the baby’s room. I’m so excited.” She did a cute little shimmy in her seat.
She was officially nesting based on what my son-in-law said. He said at this point, he just gave her the black card and let her have her way. “I thought the baby’s room was done already?”
“Oh, that one is, but this is for the other one downstairs. If there is a room downstairs, I won’t have to go all the way upstairs for things. I’ll have stuff downstairs too,” she said with a smile.
Her expression was so fulfilled. This was all I ever wanted for my baby girl, .
. . to truly be happy about who she was and who she was with.
Daylen was the perfect man for Simonette.
He brought her out of her shell and appreciated all her corky attributes that a lot of people made fun of.
He protected my daughter and would go to anyone’s ass when it came to her.
Last season, he was suspended from a game for punching a player on the opposing team because he made a derogatory statement about her. He caved that boy’s eye socket in.
“Most people just get a bassinet and put essentials under it. You don’t have to have a whole room.” I sat down across from her to eat my breakfast.
She giggled. “I’m going to have a bassinet, Daddy. What do you think I’ll use in the living room?”
My stare was blank. “Having money looks good on you. Now stop bringing your little ass over here and cooking breakfast.”
She chortled. “I don’t have money, my husband does. He just happens to be very generous with his wife.”
Daylen Verse was in fact generous. He married my baby girl without a prenup, which his lawyer and agent advised against. Simonette offered to sign one, but he refused.
I wasn’t worried at all. You could call me bias, but if anything happened negatively within their marriage, it would be Daylen’s fucking fault.
“Are you excited about selecting a president today?” Her smile was bright with her question.
It’d been a long time coming, and I was ready to hand over the presidential reins. “I am very excited. This has been the longest process. By the end of today, MediGenix will have a new president. By five o’clock tomorrow, the world will know who that person is.”
Time To Select the Prez . . .
“Today is the day that you select a president for MediGenix Pharmaceutical Company. Mr. Brand, this has been a long and tedious process. When you came to us about the new application process you wanted to implement, I have to admit that I thought you were crazy,” Deborah said with a giggle.
Deborah was the president of the headhunter’s agency that I instructed our human resource department to contract to find me the perfect president.
I wanted a completely non-biased process, so I created my own, then had it altered as needed and cleared by legal.
It was unprecedented and innovative, which was the point.
My father raised me to be a trendsetter, and that was what led my way as I navigated through the pharmaceutical landscape to the success that I achieved.
I chuckled. “It was important that I make this process as non-bias as I could. Your company is number one in the country for your precise matches when it comes to matching talent to organizations. We used you to scout me, and you did an excellent job, if I do say so myself.”
There were chuckles all around the room.
In the sea of ten faces, there were only three of color.
That was myself, my assistant, and the vice president of Platinum Touch Staffing Firm.
Diversity in companies, or what companies called diversity, was always comical to me.
A lot of companies prided themselves on diversity but did not talk about how it was not shown at the executive level.
I was the first Black CEO of a company that was well over two hundred years old.
History was made with me, and I would continue to break the ceiling for my people to come behind me.
Deborah smiled. “I think we did an excellent job. In your short time here, you have already broken records. You have proven yourself to be the leader that this company needed. Now, it’s time to get the next leader.
It’s been months of screenings, interviews, and eliminations.
You trusted us to oversee all of those parts of the process on our own. Thank you for your trust.
“After the interviews, we sent over the transcripts as well as our detailed evaluations of said interviews, their DiSC personality models, and résumés of the five finalists for the position. You’ve had a little over two weeks to decide. Tell us your thoughts.”
I was not pulled into the application process until the interview phase.
When I was given all the data on the candidates, there was information that was redacted.
I asked that any information that showed the candidate’s ethnicity, gender, age, or any other discriminatory item be removed from the file that was given to me.
The candidates were identified as numbers.
The agency went deep when it came to screening these candidates.
They checked off all the boxes from character interviews, background checks, community ties, etc.
“First, I want to thank everyone in this room for their diligence during this process. I know that I was nitpicking, but I wanted this to be as perfect as the vision that I have for the company. I am happy that we agreed to promote from within. That helps put my mind at ease when it comes to the candidate understanding the culture of the company. From the résumés, Deborah, your team picked the best of the best. If you want to talk about stress, try picking from the best of the best.” I chuckled.
Jaunita, the vice president, smiled. “It’s our job to find the best. Once we find them, then we find the ones who are better than them.”
That was the mentality that I loved. I chuckled. “Now I know exactly who to blame for my headaches these past couple weeks. After reviewing all of the files with a fine-tooth comb, the best pick for the new president of MediGenix Pharmaceutical Company is candidate number three.”
Deborah’s and Juanita’s heads snapped at each other. Their smiles were wide. There were both members of our company’s human resources department and Platinum Touch’s recruiting team in the room. They all knew the identities of all the candidates. I was the only one who didn’t.
Jaunita leaned forward, then placed her forearms on the conference table.
“Mr. Brand, you continue to amaze everyone. When you were named the CEO, you made a promise to make this company known for breaking barriers. Sir, once again in your curated application process, you have done it again. Allow us to introduce you to your new president.”
Deborah picked up the remote that controlled the projector and turned it on. A few seconds later, a headshot popped up on the screen. “I introduce you to Jubilae Plates.”
Damn! A beautiful African American woman was on the screen. I never thought in a million years that I would pick a Black person, much less a woman. An African American CEO and president. The standard of excellence had been set. It looked like so had the standard of beauty.