Chapter 3
The Night Before . . .
Bet Among Friends
“I didn’t come here to get all my money taken by old niggas,” Rashad Goings, my son-in-law’s best friend, said. “Y’all got to be cheating or something. There’s no way that I came in here with ten bands and only got two left.”
My eyes shifted between him, Daylen, Declan, and Anthony Randolph, the hitting coach for the Augusta Chargers. Anthony and Declan had been close friends since Daylen was in college. Through Declan and our growing friendship, one grew with Anthony as well.
“Rashad, it’s alright to admit that your ass sucks at poker. I promise if you ask for help, we’ll teach you, young buck. We all had to learn at some point,” I taunted.
We were at my house for our monthly poker game.
This was something that we started shortly after Simonette and Daylen became an official couple.
These poker nights were the beginning of a friendship that I didn’t realize I needed.
Yeah, I had friends that were frat brothers and business related.
The friendship with Declan was different.
Daylen sucked his teeth. He, too, was on a losing streak. “No one needs to be taught how to play poker. Y’all need to be considerate of y’all grandson’s college fund.”
That pulled a hard laugh out of me. Now I knew he was blowing smoke.
“Nigga, no one needs to consider anything for my grandbaby. That lil boy is in utero, and he’s already a millionaire.
College will never be a problem for him.
What you need to be worried about is keeping your wife out of my house in the morning.
I have a housekeeper, and I eat breakfast in the office, cooked by a chef. ”
He threw his hands up. “Aye, that’s above me, man. When I leave the house in the morning for my practices, I leave her in a satisfied coma. How she gets her ass up to come to you is beyond me. You know her ass is nesting or whatever they call it.”
My jaw was tight. “Nigga, I don’t want to hear that shit. I don’t care how married my baby girl is. She’s always going to be my baby girl.”
He chuckled. “I got you. Just know that I’m giving her a year, and I’m popping my baby girl in her. Respectfully, of course.”
Declan shook his head. “See, you lil niggas do too much. Rob, you meet ya new president in the morning. How you feeling about that? It’s a Black woman, right?”
With a chuckle, I responded. “Yeah, she’s a beautiful Black woman. Jubilae Plates is her name.”
When Daylen’s and Rashad’s heads snapped in my direction, I knew it was about to be some tomfoolery. “Beautiful, Black woman! I haven’t heard you describe a woman with that adjective before. Usually, it’s she’s pretty or she’s alright,” Daylen pointed out.
Rashad said nothing as he typed away on his phone. Seconds later, he blurted, “Found her. Let’s see what Jubilae Plates is all about.”
I wanted to tell him that it was unnecessary, but more than I wanted to do that, I wanted to know more about her on a personal level.
I knew everything about her professionally.
Tomorrow was her first day, and I told Constance, our training director, that I would facilitate her first day onboarding.
Rashad stayed silent for a moment. When he started revealing what he found, my heart went out to her. I couldn’t imagine losing a spouse in that way. I detested Simone, and I still grieved our marriage after the divorce for at least a good month.
She had a grown son that was thirty, and her sister was married to Hall of Fame great Chance Scott, and their son played professional football. Based on her social media, it didn’t seem like she was in a relationship, or had been, according to Rashad.
I knew better than to come at Ms. Plates crazy.
I also knew that when I wanted something, I pursued it.
My company didn’t have a fraternization policy in place that forbade it.
The only stipulation was that if two employees were to enter a relationship, it needed to be disclosed to human resources.
The bigger point was that I was the CEO, and she was the new president, so perception would play a big part if she entertained anything with me.
I guessed I would cross that bridge if I came to it.
“So, what are you going to do with that information? It’s clear that you have some kind of interest in this woman.” Declan’s full attention was on me.
We had conversations about me being ready to get back out there.
I had been on a date or two and even gotten my dick wet, but it wasn’t too much of anything.
With my status, I had to be careful. I couldn’t move like I was a nobody, because I was very much somebody.
I was a smorgasbord of different attributes that made me the man that could dominate in the boardroom and still come out and be that laid-back.
“I’m going to have to feel her vibe out first. Yes, there is an attraction on a physical and professional level. All that’s great, but her personality might be horrible.”
They all nodded in understanding. You had to be careful out here, or you could end up with a woman like Simone. I was young and dumb then. Now at my big age, I couldn’t make those kinds of mistakes again.
Back To the Present . . .
“Ms. Plates, it’s so nice to meet you, Madam President.” I greeted her with a warm smile. She looked good in her suit, and the pop of color set the suit off.
She walked toward me with the confidence of a woman who knew exactly who she was. Her stare didn’t falter from mine. That was sexy. She extended her hand to me. “Mr. Brand, it’s an honor to meet you. Your reputation precedes you.”
Her hands were soft. Her voice was gentle, but I could tell there was a resting beast in there. Without taking my eyes off her or my hand out of hers, I spoke to Constance. “Thank you, Constance, for ensuring she got here safely. I will take it from here.”
I didn’t need extra eyes on our interaction.
Whether a romantic relationship began between us or not, our relationship as CEO and president would be one of professional intimacy.
We had to align on the vision of the company.
She would be the person to ensure that the vision was pushed down to and out to our associates.
Constance cleared her throat. “Yes, Mr. Brand. If either of you need me, please let me know. I’m a phone call away.”
The elevator door opened as soon as she touched the button. She climbed on it, pressed a button on the side of the wall, then smiled as the door closed. Constance was great at her job. She’d overhauled our company’s entire training program, which solidified her position as director.
“So, Ms. Plates, let’s get you to your office so you can put your things down. I can give you a tour and introduce you to the people you interact with daily. Did Constance give you the keys for your vehicle and show you where you park?” I asked her.
She smiled from where she walked beside me. “Yes, she did. Very nice SUV if I must say.”
I smiled. “It is. I want to make sure that you are appreciated because this can be an intense job.”
She nodded. I stopped in front of her closed office door. I placed my hand next to her nameplate that was on the left side of her door before I glanced at her. Her beautiful smile was wide.
She stared at it for a beat, then smacked away a tear that slipped. “Wow, that’s me. I really did it.”
The pride in her voice was refreshing. “Yes, you did, so take it in. Your badge unlocks your office door. If you’d like, you can program your assistant to have an unlock access as well.”
She smiled, pulled her badge down from its retractable clip on her shirt, then scanned it on the pad.
The deadbolt lock disengaged. Her eyes met mine before she pressed down the door handle to open the door.
I couldn’t resist the urge to discretely watch her ass as she walked into her office.
Mm, that thing has a nice jiggle. Her gasps pulled me out of my lustful stare.
She spun around slowly to face me. “This is my office? I’m sorry for the unprofessional reaction, but oh my God! All of this is my office?”
I tittered quietly. “Yes, all of this is your office. Please don’t apologize for your reaction.
As the president, you will spend a lot of time here and traveling.
It is important that you are comfortable in the place that you will spend a lot of time in.
” I walked over to the part of her office that housed her desk and other professional attributes.
“This is where you’ll do a majority of your business as you might have assumed. ”
I walked over to the closet that was on the right wall, then opened it. “You can place your things in here if you like. There is also a lock for this as well in your desk drawer.”
She walked over and placed her things inside of the closet. I probably should have backed up because I was all in her personal space. Once she had everything situated, her head turned to me, a smirk arose on her gorgeous face, then she asked, “What’s next?”
Her salt and pepper hair was pulled back into a low bun. Tresses hung down on the sides of her face. She smelled amazing.
“Over there is your lounge area with an eating area, couch, recliner, and television. Through the door back there is your personal bathroom. Go take a look,” I told her.
She gave me a soft smile before she sashayed that way. It was another prime opportunity to watch her ass jiggle. Yeah, I was a CEO, but I was still a man who liked fat asses. Ms. Plates had a nice ass.
“Oh, it’s a full bathroom with a shower,” she said after she stepped into the bathroom. “How much time do you really spend here? I’ll be here long enough to need to take showers?”
I laughed because her facial expression was tore the fuck up. “I’ll put it like this. When this was my office, I took showers and slept in that recliner several nights.”
She smiled wide. “Duly noted. Where to next?”