Chapter 2
Chapter Two
“You know, if I didn’t know any better, Kiyan Ward, I’d say it sounds like you’re rushing me off of the phone,” my mother said causing me to laugh.
“I’m not, Mama. I told you that I was heading into a meeting when you called.”
“I know, but where’s Mel? She can handle the reigns while I talk to you.”
“She’s here, but it’s not her job to handle the reigns, Ma, it’s mine.”
“Fine then, I’ll let you go, but don’t forget the list,” she reminded me, referring to the ridiculously long grocery list that she’d sent me the night before.
I was hosting Christmas at my house this year, and it was already a nightmare.
My mother called me in the early hours of the morning and late at night adding more things to my already long to-do list. In past years I was able to get out of hosting because I lived in a condo that wasn’t nearly big enough for my family, but escaping it was impossible this year.
I purchased a home over the summer, so she made it clear when they came down for the closing and when I went home for Thanksgiving that I’d be hosting.
There was no room for argument either. Her words were final, and she’d already begun planning.
“I won’t, Mama,” I said just as an alert came through on my phone.
I pulled it back and saw that it was a motion sensor from my property.
I didn’t bother to check it right away because I hired some contractors to come by and put the Christmas decorations up at my house.
Janet, the housekeeper, was there to oversee things for me in my absence, so there was nothing for me to worry about at the moment.
“Hey, Ki, we’re ready.” Melonie, my assistant, stuck her head out of the conference room and said.
My brows dipped. “Mel…”
Her smile stretched wider. “Some habits are hard to break.”
Mel was my first cousin and executive assistant.
When I accepted the position as Chairman of the Board for Atlyn City University and told my family I was moving, she hurried to pack her things and came along with me.
I was glad that she did because she was like the little sister that I never had and my best friend.
I was the youngest of three, my older brother and sister being twins and twelve years older than me.
My parents weren’t trying to have another child and with my mother being in her mid-forties at the time, they didn’t think they would, but she popped up pregnant with me at the same time my aunt Trish got pregnant with Mel, and we’d been inseparable since.
“Seriously, we’re ready and I have a hair appointment, so chop chop Dr. Ward.”
“Aight, I’m coming,” I chuckled. “Ma, I have to go. I’ll call you when I’m on the way home.”
“Okay, and let them know you won’t be working when I get in town,” she added. “I need to fatten you up.”
I laughed as I ran my hand across my waves. “Ma…”
“You haven’t been eating, Kiyan. I can see your cheekbones.” She continued to fuss. “I keep telling you that you need a woman in that house to cook for you.”
“I have to go, Ma,” I replied, ignoring what she was saying because if I let her go on about me getting married, she’d never stop talking.
“Alright, baby, call me when you get off.”
“I will. I love you.”
“I love you so much more. Give your cousin my love.”
I let her know I’d do that too before hanging up the call and heading inside the conference room for my meeting.
I took my seat at the head of the glass table, setting my coffee cup down and taking the iPad from Melonie.
She’d already had all of my notes pulled up and ready for me to get the meeting started.
“Auntie?” She asked lowly with a smile as I got comfortable in my seat.
“You know it,” I mumbled then cleared my throat. “Good afternoon,” I glanced around the table. “Let’s keep today efficient. We finalize the preliminary budget this week, which means number needs to make sense. Let’s begin,” I nodded toward Mel.
She tapped around on the keys of her laptop, bringing the agenda on the screen for everyone to see.
Finance was up first, so Dr. Bolder began. “Sir, overall costs are projected to rise about twelve percent next year. Mainly utilities, insurance increases, and tech upkeep. Enrollment is steady, but we have some concerning drop-off effecting mid-year retention.”
I frowned slightly hearing that. “Define concerning numbers.”
He clicked to move to the next slide. “A four percent dip in returning sophomores.”
“Four percent isn’t a dip. It’s a warning. What’s causing it?”
“Student support resources, primarily.” The Dean of Student Affairs, Dr. Flynn, answered for him. “Counseling is overbooked. Housing is strained, and the tutoring center is understaffed.”
I nodded. “Noted. Add that to priority considerations.”
Mel immediately began to jot it down.
“Now—departmental requests,” I sat back in my chair.
Dr. Van Vleet, Dean of Nursing, was the first to speak up. “Our clinical simulation labs are outdated. We’re due for an accreditation review next spring. I’m afraid if we don’t upgrade our equipment, we’re at risk of probation.”
It seemed like every eye in the room turned in my direction. They all knew how seriously I took accreditation.
“Cost?”
“Six hundred forty thousand for full upgrades,” Dr. Van Vleet answered. “We can phase it, but we’ll risk partial compliance.”
“Accreditation is nonnegotiable,” I replied. “Finance—find me the money. Reallocate from nonessential operational expenditures.”
Dr. Bolder shifted. “We can try, but that means cutting—”
I held up a hand to stop him. “I said find it. Not argue with me about it.”
“Y-yes sir,” he stammered and wrote down some notes.
I moved onto hearing from the Dean of Business, Dr. Howell, who was asking for more funding because they’d exceeded their budget by eighteen percent due to faculty turnover.
“Unexpected or unmanaged turnover?”
“Sir, with all due respect—”
“That’s not an answer,” I said evenly. “If you want more funding, you have to justify it with performance and planning. Not excuses.”
He looked defeated but mumbled a low ‘yes sir’ before taking his own notes so I moved on to hearing the other departments.
Mel leaned over to let me know the donor packet that I’d requested was ready for me to review, but I let her know I’d do it later.
My attention was on the text that I’d gotten from Janet about a car parked at the bottom of my driveway.
Going to the app for my security system, I pulled the camera feed up and selected the camera that gave me the best view.
The windows on the car were fogged, so I couldn’t see who was inside, but I did notice that it was running.
I watched it for a minute then texted her back to let her know to stay inside until I got home.
The car could have been idle while the driver handled something, but they could also have other motives.
I didn’t want to chance anything happening to her while she was there working for me.
I took one final look at the car before closing out of the app and focusing back on my meeting.
The Dean of Arts was asking for studio funding, updated equipment, and restoration for the recital room.
I asked for the amount and had to bite back my immediate response when he asked for three hundred thousand dollars.
When I asked what measurable return he could show with hat investment, he started to stutter and fall over his words claiming that creativity and expression weren’t as measurable as other things.
“So no numbers?” My brows lifted then I chuckled lowly. “Bring me a revised proposal with outcomes. I need to see enrollment boosts, performance metrics, donor attraction—something quantifiable. I don’t approve spending based off vibes.”
A few people laughed, but I didn’t. I leaned forward, folding my arms on the table in front of me.
“We’re not running a passion project here, we’re running a university. If you want money, you have to show me impact. All of you.” My eyes scanned the table as I spoke. “Student success. Growth. Efficiency. Those are the metrics we live and die by.”
I was done with my spiel, so I nodded for Melonie to finish up. While she did, I checked my camera to see that the car was still parked there and my brows furrowed even more.
What the fuck are they doing.
Once we wrapped the meeting up, I thanked everyone for their time and began to collect all of my things.
I needed to get to my house to see what was going on and who was parked outside.
It hadn’t started to snow, but it was definitely freezing temperatures, and too cold for someone to be in their car.
“Where are you in a hurry to?” Melonie caught up to me and asked.
“I need to handle something at the house.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, I just had some contractors by earlier. I need to look at their work before the daylight goes away,” I lied.
I didn’t need her calling my mother to tell her anything to get her worked up. She’d lose sleep if I told her an unknown car was parked outside of my house for an unknown amount of time.
“Oh, okay, well, I have to get to my hair appointment, but I’m cooking after, so I’ll bring you a plate if the weather isn’t too bad.”
“You know I’m capable of cooking for myself, right?” I chuckled, stopping at her car first when we made it outside. “I don’t need Mama or you to worry about me eating.”
“I’m aware.” She grinned, putting her ridiculously large purse in her car after I opened the door for her. “But you need something other than Hot Pockets and cold cuts, cousin.”
I laughed and waited for her to get in the car. “I got it under control, lil’ homie. Trust me.”
“I don’t know what kind if boy math that is, but I distinctly remember being two weeks older than you, lil’ homie.”
“Then why am I the one paying for your hair?”
“Because you work me like a Hebrew slave, duh,” she answered and we laughed.
“I pay you more than enough too,” I replied. “Enough to not have to give you extra money to get your hair done.”
“Christmas bonuses are a thing, Kiyan.” She smiled and playfully rolled her eyes. “Anyway, I’ll check in with you once I’m home.”
“Aight,” I nodded. “Drive safe.”
After closing her door, I made the short walk to my car.
Once I was inside, I waited a minute for it to warm up then I took off to head home.
On the way I went over different scenarios of what my approach would be.
On one hand, it could be a peaceful approach where I asked them to leave and they did without confrontation, but it could be the opposite, so by the time I pulled up, I’d made up my mind that I was going to take my gun with me.
I was a peaceful dude and had no desire to hurt anyone, but I was always going to protect myself first.
After securing my gun on my hip, I covered it with my coat then climbed out of my car. I slowly made my way to the door, giving the car a onceover as I did. The windows were still fogged, and it was still running. When I made it to the driver’s door, I knocked on the window.
I waited a few seconds before someone started to wiped the fog and I saw a pair of deep brown eyes peek through. Seconds later, the window came down and she said, “Hi.”
That one simple word and all the warmth in her voice was enough to melt every icicle that hangs from the trees and flake of snow on the ground.
It rendered me speechless for a second. I didn’t know who I expected to find behind the fogged window, but it definitely wasn’t the brown skinned beauty that was staring back at me.
“Hello.” She waved her hand, jarring me from my thoughts. “Can I help you?”
“Uh, yeah, actually,” I ran my hand across my fade and glanced down the road for no reason other than I needed to look at something other than her beautiful face for a second. “What are you doing out here? It’s freezing and only supposed to get colder as night falls.”
“Yeah, I know.” She smiled, but something about it seemed forced. It didn’t meet her red, puffy eyes, nor did it shine as brightly as I thought it could. “We’re just waiting on someone to come meet us.”
She was lying.
Not only had I been watching her on my camera, but I could also just sense it. In her smile. In her voice. In her eyes. It was apparent.
And we’re?
I leaned down a little and saw a little girl in the back leaning on a duffle bag, busying herself with an iPad. There were actually quite a few bags on the seat signifying that they were moving or traveling.
“Are you lost?” I asked. “Do you need directions?”
“Oh, no,” she chuckled. “I’m born and raised in AC, so I know my way around pretty good.”
“About how long will you be out here?”
“Not long. They should be here any moment now.”
I eyed her skeptically before nodding. “Aight, well, this is private property. I live right up this driveway…” I pointed.
“Oh, I’ll move.” She quickly went to put her car in gear, but I stopped her.
“Naw, I’m not telling you to move, love. I’m just telling you in case you…” I paused briefly to glance at baby girl who was still distracted by her tablet, “or lil’ mama need something like the bathroom, or a warm place to wait.”
“Oh, no,” she shook her head. “We’ll be fine.”
For some reason I wasn’t buying her story. It was freezing and there was no reason for her to be on the side of the road waiting for a ride, especially with a child, but I had to take her word for it. I just reiterated that they were welcome to come up to my place if needed before I left.