CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
William’s bodyguard opened the back passenger door and William got out, assisted Joy out, and then they made their way into the lobby of Skeffington PR.
It felt crazy to Joy to be walking alongside the namesake of that humungous building as if it was no big deal at all.
But that was how William made her feel whenever she was around him: as if she belonged right where she was.
She didn’t. Nobody was going to tell her she belonged in his world from where she sat right now.
But one day, after she worked her way up that ladder, she would belong better than they belonged!
All she needed was that chance. William was giving her that chance and she was taking it.
But what about that other thing?
That was what was bothering Joy all morning.
They hadn’t even mentioned it. How was that going to affect her job there?
And even more importantly, how was she ever going to get over the feelings she was developing for William that she couldn’t tamp down?
And after he shared his story about his precious little girl with her it only made her love him more.
Love him? Did she love him? She glanced over at him.
He was buttoning his suit coat and then placing his hand on her lower back as they entered the lobby of his building as if he was proud to have her by his side.
And it were moments like that that made her believe that yes, she could actually fall in love with him. That it wasn’t impossible.
“After you leave personnel, go to the thirty-fifth floor to Bobby Latham’s office and he’ll get someone to show you around.”
“Yes sir.”
“But keep it strictly business with him. You’re here to do a job, not pal-around with my chief-of-staff.”
Joy wondered if that man ever listened to himself. What did he think they were doing naked in his bed earlier that morning? But who was she to call out hypocrisy? “Yes sir,” she said.
And that was when she saw Cory standing behind the reception desk. “Cory!” she cried out as she forgot about William and hurried over to the young man that shared his sandwich with her, five weeks ago, while she was waiting for William.
Although others in the lobby were glancing at her as if she was some hood rat who didn’t know how to behave in polite society, William wasn’t thinking about them.
His eyes were riveted on Joy. Because he still didn’t know what to make of her.
He knew how she made his body feel. From the time he saw her in that restaurant, he wanted her sexually even though she wasn’t his type nor anywhere near the more-matured type of woman he preferred.
But despite that, she still turned him on.
That was never in doubt. And when he made love to her, it only made him want her more. That wasn’t in doubt either.
But why did his heart feel so warm and so happy whenever he looked at her? Why did he want to hold her every time he was near her, as if he wanted to protect her and defend her and love her.
Love her? Did he really want to love her?
Was that even possible? Just look at her, he thought, as she was joyfully telling Cory about how she got a job and he was hugging her and happy for her and they were acting like two teenagers in high school.
And this was the person he wanted to love and protect?
Every woman he bothered with were all major leaguers, either as socialites or corporation-owners or blue-blooded ladies of leisure from amongst the richest families in America.
That was how he rolled. But this happy-go-lucky waitress with the prettiest smile and the sweetest disposition he’d ever seen was supposed to be the one? Her?
It seemed every kind of crazy to him. But he was the one standing in the middle of his lobby staring at her.
He was the one placing his hands in his pockets unable to stop from smiling inwardly as he watched her.
And the way he asked her what was Katie’s name still touched him deeply.
Not one of the other females he bothered with ever so much as brought it up after it happened.
They knew it happened, but they didn’t want to ruffle his feathers.
As if saying his child’s name would ruffle him.
Joynetta knew better. She didn’t give a damn about ruffling his feathers.
She gave a damn about him! Which was why he loved that girl.
There I go again, he thought. How could he possibly love somebody he just met just over a month ago? He couldn’t and nobody was going to tell him he could. But that was how it felt. It felt like love. There was no doubt about that either.
“William, come here please,” Joy said as she waved him over to the reception desk.
But at the desk, Cory’s eyes grew larger. “Joy, that’s Mr. Skeffington,” he said under his breath as he was tugging on her suit coat. “You can’t bother that man, he’ll fire me!”
But Joy didn’t even hear him as William came up to them. “This is the Cory I told you about,” she said to William. “Cory, this is Mr. Skeffington.”
Cory’s heart was hammering and his voice was quivering. “Good morning, Mr. Skeffington.”
“Good morning, Cory,” William said as he extended his hand. “I’ve heard very good things about you.”
Cory was shocked. “You have, sir?”
Joy grinned. “Shake his hand, Cory, before it falls off.”
Cory looked down and saw that William had extended his hand. His heart dropped. “Oh, I am so sorry, sir,” he said as he began shaking his hand furiously.
Then Joy grinned again. “Don’t shake it off,” she said, and Cory apologized again as he stopped shaking William’s hand with his youthful vigor.
William smiled. The young man looked to be not that much older than Joy. And most attractive too. Which would have normally given William some pause the way Bobby’s interest in Joy gave to him. But Cory was obviously gay. He felt he had nothing to worry about in that department.
But Joy called William over, not just for him to say hello, but for a more pointed, serious reason.
She remembered what Cory told her when they were talking five weeks ago.
She decided to go there. “Cory told me that he’s been working here for the past five years.
His dream is to get accepted into that executive program they have here at Skeffington. What was it called again, Cory?”
Cory didn’t believe she went there either, but a part of him was glad she did. “It’s called JEP: Junior Executive Program.”
William looked at Cory. “Have you applied for admittance, young man?”
“Oh yes sir. Six times,” Cory said. “The new classes began every six months and I’ve been applying for every single class for the past three years.”
“And he always gets rejected,” said Joy.
“Did they give you a reason?” William asked him.
Joy and Cory knew the reason, but Cory wasn’t about to tell it to Mr. Skeffington of all people. “Only that I’m not what they’re looking for each time.”
“Which makes you wonder what they’re looking for,” Joy said and she and Cory glanced at each other.
William didn’t understand their glance. But he understood a good young man worthy of a chance when he saw one. Especially in light of the fact that he helped Joy when she needed somebody to at least treat her with a modicum of respect.
William looked over by the security desk and saw one of the program administrators. “Mike?”
Mike looked over and then hurried over to the boss. “Yes sir, Mr. Skeffington?”
“I want this young man, Cory . . .”
“Parker, sir.”
“I want Cory Parker admitted into JEP forthwith.”
Cory held onto Joy’s sleeve, trying not to burst at the seams with his happiness over what he was hearing.
But Joy saw how Mike was looking at Cory as if he didn’t like even the suggestion.
“And I want him enrolled with pay.”
Mike was astonished. “With pay, sir? But, sir, that’s only reserved for our five-star recruits.”
“He’s worked for me for five years. That makes him five-star in my book. And since my book is the only book that counts, get it done.”
Mike realized he had crossed a line. “Yes sir,” he said apologetically. Then he looked at Cory. “Perhaps on your lunch break--”
“Do it now,” said William. “Call one of the secretaries upstairs to man this reception desk until you can get somebody in here permanently.”
Joy’s eyes went big. Perhaps she could be the new receptionist? But Gramps always told her to wait and see. Her big mouth might cause her to lose a bigger blessing.
“Yes sir,” Mike said to William. “Come with me, please,” he said to Cory and Cory happily grabbed his phone and backpack, hugged Joy, shook William’s hand vigorously while thanking him, and then he and Mike left.
But Joy looked concerned.
“What is it?” William asked her.
“That Mike guy is gonna make sure Cory fails.”
William frowned. “Why on earth would you think that, Joynetta?”
“He doesn’t believe a black man should be in that program. None of them believe it.”
“That’s utter nonsense. It’s my program.”
“I’ll bet you there’s never been a black admitted in your program.”
William frowned again. “Why would you say that?”
“Look around, William. Your company doesn’t hire black people.
I mean you have Cory and you have that chief of staff Bobby, but I’ll bet my skirt suit that they’re all you have.
When I sat in this lobby waiting for you, I was looking around.
I never once saw one black face except for Cory and for Bobby when he walked in with you.
That’s it. They don’t hire black people here. ”
William knew that Bobby had a black secretary, but could she be correct?
“Come with me,” he said and they hurried over to Human Relations. Everybody stood to their feet when William walked in. But William, with Joy behind him, went into the Personnel Director’s office.
He stood up too as if he was as shocked as the others in his office to see the big boss in their orbit. William didn’t deal with personnel issues at all. “Mr. Skeffington, good morning!” the director said.
“I want you to pull up hiring stats for me.”
“Absolutely sir,” the director said as he sat back down and went into his desk computer. “What specifically do you need, sir?”
“How many African Americans have we hired over the last three years?” William knew Bobby and Cory both worked here longer than that.
The director pulled up the stat. Then he looked at William. “None, sir.”
Joy already knew that. But William was surprised. “None?”
“No sir.”
Now William was frowning. “How many have we hired since the formation of this corporation?”
“I’ll get that for you as well, sir.”
Joy looked at William. “You don’t interview people for jobs?”
“Only for my executive secretary, chief of staff, and private secretary,” William said to her. “I leave everything else to Personnel.”
“So you hired Bobby?”
William nodded. “Yes.”
“That explains it then,” said Joy.
“It explains what?”
“Why he’s on the executive level. You gave him a shot.”
When the numbers came up, the director of personnel cleared his throat as if he was surprised himself. He looked at William. “We’ve hired six African-Americans in the entire time that this company has existed, sir.”
William was floored.
“What positions?” Joy asked.
The director looked at her as if she was an alien from a hostile land.
“You heard her,” William said. “What positions?”
He then looked at the list. “Chief of Staff.”
“Keep going.”
“A receptionist.”
“Go on.”
“And the other four work in housekeeping. Three janitors and one maid.”
Joy shook her head. “That’s a crying shame,” she said out loud and didn’t care when William gave her a disapproving look. “It’s a shame,” she said again. “This can’t be an accident. And this is Chicago too? Somebody has to be systematically shutting us out. I don’t know who, but somebody is.”
“I agree with you,” William said. “Now will you let me handle it?”
Joy felt as if she had been put back in her place. She forgot she wasn’t dealing with the man that had sobbed in her arms, but with the boss. “Yes sir,” she said a little embarrassed.
But William was worried that she’d get the same treatment if she was handed over to anybody but himself. “This is Joynetta Johnson,” he said to his personnel director. “Hire her as the Assistant to the Chairman of the Board.”
Joy was impressed with the title, but she tried not to show it.
“I’m not familiar with that position nor pay scale, sir,” the director said.
“It’s a new position. Pay scale commensurate with a senior staffer. Signing bonus included.”
Joy could hardly believe it. She was going to get a signing bonus and make senior staffer money? She didn’t know how much either would be, but she knew it would be far more money than her waitress salary, including tips! She was shocked.
So was the personnel director. He even glanced at Joy. What special sauce did she have between those legs was his first thought. “Yes sir,” he said. “Will she be on probation first, sir, with probationary salary?”
William thought about it. Then he nodded. “Yes,” he said. That would be only fair, he thought. “Thirty days,” he added, which was two months short of their usual probationary period.
“Yes, sir.”
Then he looked at Joy. “He’ll take it from here.”
“Yes sir,” Joy said She was doing all she could not to throw her arms around William in great gratitude. But she held her peace.
William was still too upset with his organization to be thrilled about anything. But he didn’t take it out on the director of personnel. He just did the paperwork. His CEO had to answer to him for this major kafuffle.
William glanced at Joy and left.
Joy watched him leave. He was pissed she could tell. But she was glad he wasn’t pissed with her for pointing out what anybody bothering to look could see.
“Have a seat, Miss Johnson,” the director said happily. “I’ll personally take care of you.”
“Thank you,” Joy said as she sat down. She didn’t even know her salary yet. But she felt like a million bucks all the same.