Boss

by Tracy Brown

  “I’ve been telling Mike and Alan here about the plans we have to take Stuart Mitchell even higher. We have a lot of growth opportunities on the table. If we take advantage of the right ones, the results could be staggering.”

  Troy nodded. “I like to think of myself as a numbers guy, but Dru makes me look like an amateur. Since he came on board, Stuart Mitchell has already profited. He delivers.” He shook his head. “But I’m sure he don’t need me to sing his praises. Dru does a good enough job of that all by himself.”

  The men all laughed, aware that there was some truth in Troy’s joke. Dru smiled at his friend.

  “Troy’s dad is about to run for city council. I think Troy should follow in his footsteps. He could make it all the way to the White House.” Dru chuckled.

  Troy laughed hard at that. “Too many skeletons in my closet. I’m not a Boy Scout like Barack.”

  Crystal raised an eyebrow.

  Dru laughed. He looked at Crystal. “I’m sorry. How rude of me, Crystal. We should introduce you to these guys.”

  Troy agreed. “This is the person you all need to get familiar with. Crystal Scott is editor in chief at Hipster magazine. She’s spent the past couple of days showing me why the magazine is leading the competition in newsstand sales, subscriptions, and in ad sales. If anybody is responsible for the profits investors like you have been enjoying, it’s Crys.”

  She smiled, flattered. “Thank you, Troy.” Looking at the investors, she turned on the charm. “The best is yet to come. My team and I have some great ideas for how we can advance the brand. I think you’ll be pleased.”

  The investors peppered her with questions about her experience as editor in chief. She answered them and asked a few questions of her own about their investment portfolios and their level of risk. She confessed that she was an amateur investor herself and was interested in learning more. Mike and Alan ate that up and their conversation was effortless.

  Crystal was in her element. In her role at the magazine, she attended parties like this on the regular. She caught herself enjoying herself more than usual this time, though. As she chatted with the company’s investors and her new bosses, she felt more confident and comfortable in her own skin than she ever had before. She wasn’t sure if it was the music, the drinks she’d enjoyed earlier, or Troy’s company that had her feeling this way. At the moment, it didn’t matter. She felt alive.

  Troy stared at her as she spoke. The moment there was a lull in the conversation, he pounced. “I’m gonna steal her away.” He took her by the hand. “Dance with me.” He smiled, his eyes sparkling in the light.

  She followed him to the dance floor and two-stepped with him. He was playful and light on his feet. The Roots were on fire and the dance floor was crowded. His hands encircled her waist as he spun her around. She thought she felt his palm sweep across her ass as she turned, but she wasn’t sure. Then he was facing her and she was pressed close against him, their faces merely inches apart. He grinned.

  “I like you.”

  She could feel his hand tightly gripping the small of her back. She could also feel the girth of his woody. “I can tell.”

  He smiled, encouraged by the fact that she wasn’t pulling away.

  “Let’s get out of here,” he suggested. His voice was a husky baritone as his eyes bore into hers. He had a room key in his pocket that he was praying she would want to use.

  She smiled at him. The offer was tempting. Troy was handsome, his body was right, and he had charm and power. Crystal found everything about him attractive. But he was her boss. And, even bigger than that, he was the type of guy who expected her to fall into his arms the way that all the other women had. She wasn’t about to play into his hands.

  “No,” she whispered softly. “That wouldn’t be a good idea.”

  He stared at her for several silent moments before his lips spread into a playful grin.

  “But you want to. Right?”

  She watched the way his eyes danced as he spoke. This was a game to him. A game that he was accustomed to winning. She smiled back at him.

  “I want a lot of things,” she answered.

  “Troy,” a voice called. Even with the party in full swing around them, the voice cut through the noise. There was a hint of alarm in its tone.

  They both turned in the direction of the voice, and Troy’s eyes widened at the sight of his fiancée. Vanessa Nolan stepped toward them in a curve-hugging electric blue dress that revealed a flawless figure. She was gorgeous.

  Despite her beauty, Vanessa’s expression was unnerving. She looked at Crystal icily, then turned her attention to Troy.

  “Who is this?” she asked, nodding in Crystal’s direction.

  Troy let go of Crystal then and instinctively took a step back. Crystal smiled at Vanessa, despite the fact that she looked pissed.

  “Vanessa, this is Crystal Scott. She’s the editor in chief at Hipster magazine.” He cleared his throat. “We’re working together now. So I brought her here to meet some of our investors.”

  Vanessa’s eyes narrowed suspiciously, but she said nothing.

  Crystal extended her hand and waited for the woman to take it. Reluctantly, Vanessa shook it.

  “Troy has told me a lot about you,” Crystal lied. “Congratulations on your engagement.”

  Vanessa seemed to relax then. “Thank you.”

  “Dru didn’t tell me you were coming.” Troy seemed genuinely confused by her presence there.

  “He didn’t invite me.” Vanessa gestured toward the bar. “I came with my mother. Your dad told her there was a party here tonight. And you know she loves a party.”

  Troy and Crystal looked in the direction of the bar and had no problem locating her. Roxy Nolan stood with a drink in one hand and some man’s tie in the other. She seemed to be telling a story, demonstratively, evidenced by the small crowd gathered around her. Roxy appeared to be reveling in the attention, laughing giddily at her own tale. She spotted her daughter with Troy and a mystery woman and headed in their direction. Her audience seemed disappointed as they watched her go.

  Troy smiled at his future mother-in-law as she headed in their direction. “I thought your parents were flying to L.A. tomorrow.”

  “They are,” Vanessa said. “But not until the afternoon. Daddy is meeting with your uncle in the morning. Then I’m taking them to Teterboro.”

  Roxy was at their side in moments. Crystal thought she looked even more beautiful than she did in all the magazines she had seen her in while growing up. She had thought Roxy Nolan was the most gorgeous woman alive. Seeing her now, well into her sixties, not much had changed.

  “Troy! We were wondering where you were.” Roxy planted a big kiss on Troy’s cheek and linked her arm through his. She turned her attention to Crystal, flashing her beauty queen smile. “Hello,” she sang.

  Troy chuckled a bit. “Crys, this is the infamous Roxy Nolan, Vanessa’s mother.” He looked a bit embarrassed at the moment. “Roxy, this is Crystal Scott, editor in chief at Hipster.”

  Roxy looked impressed. “Wow. Pretty and smart, huh?”

  Crystal smiled. “Mrs. Nolan, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve followed your career for years.”

  Roxy beamed. “How sweet. You can call me Roxy, darling. Everybody does.”

  Crystal was smiling so hard her cheeks hurt. “Actually, Roxy, I was just speaking to my creative director, Oscar Beane, about featuring you in Hipster next year. We prepare our issues months in advance. So we would need to get started soon. But we’d love to have you come in and do an interview and a fashion spread.” She noticed the questioning look on Troy’s face and hoped that he had no objection to the idea. She couldn’t see why he would.

  Roxy waved her hand modestly. But Crystal could see the delight she was trying her best to cover up. “Oh, please. I’m just an old lady now, out here trying to hold on to my husband. You should feature Vanessa by herself,” she said, nudging her daughter forward subtly. “She’s got a new
swimwear line.”

  Crystal feigned interest. “That’s great. Maybe a mother-daughter spread then.”

  Roxy smiled. She loved that idea. “Yes! Vanessa and I can model her swimwear.”

  Crystal smiled graciously. But the last thing she wanted to see was Roxy Nolan’s old ass in swimwear.

  Vanessa was practically leaping with joy. “Mom, this is gonna be so much fun!” Vanessa looked at Crystal. “Thank you. We’ve been trying to convince Fox to let us do a feature in one of his magazines. But he said he doesn’t have…” Her eyes wandered skyward as if she expected to find the words floating there. She looked at her mother for help. “What did he call it?”

  “Creative control.” Roxy adjusted the strap on her dress.

  Vanessa nodded. “Yeah. So, thank you.” She smiled, her gorgeous dimples on display.

  Roxy looked Crystal over from head to toe, silently sizing her up. She made a mental note to look into the background of this Crystal Scott. “How soon can we get started?”

  Crystal shrugged. “I leave that sort of thing to Oscar. I know he’ll be excited to work with both of you. I want you to meet him.” She fished around in her bag and produced a business card. She handed it to Roxy. She reached back inside her bag and retrieved one for Vanessa, too.

  Troy stepped forward as Vanessa reached for the business card. It seemed like he wanted to intercept it, but Vanessa was too fast. She snapped it up before he could reach for it.

  “Wow,” he said, watching Vanessa tuck the card into her bag. “Yeah, Crys has a lot of good ideas.”

  Crystal looked at him and smirked. His tone of voice said that he didn’t like the idea one bit. She decided that it was probably time to go.

  “Listen, Troy,” she said. “Thank you for inviting me tonight. It was great to meet the investors and to talk about the magazine’s future. I’m going to head home and get ready for a full day tomorrow.” She smiled at both ladies. “It was wonderful to meet you both. I look forward to featuring you in Hipster!”

  Roxy showered Crystal with air-kisses. She closed her eyes behind the older woman’s back.

  “Lovely meeting you, dear! Let’s do lunch soon!” Roxy sang.

  Vanessa was far less dramatic. “Nice to meet you, Crystal,” she said simply.

  Crystal nodded. She looked at Troy and saw the look of disappointment on his face. She wondered again what was really going on in his personal life. It was clear that his pretty fiancée didn’t have his full attention. Crystal told herself that it wasn’t her business. She plastered on a smile, bid them all good night, and headed toward the infamous elevator. She had a lot to ponder on the way back to Brooklyn.

  CHANGING FACES

  Crystal stepped off the curb at the corner of Forty-ninth Street and hailed a taxi to take her the few blocks downtown to Hipster’s offices. She had just finished an interview with Tamron Hall on Today, where she talked about the Obama legacy and how the votes of black women were more important than ever. She was feeling full of black girl magic as a cab pulled up to the curb beside her and she climbed inside.

  “Forty-second and Sixth,” she instructed the driver. Normally, she would have walked those few city blocks. But today her towering Charlotte Olympia heels made that impossible. She was smart enough to know that not all shoes are made for walking. Some are meant for sitting pretty on a morning talk show and hopping into a taxi afterward.

  On the way, she scrolled through her iPhone and reviewed text messages and e-mails she had gotten while she was working. Her eyes widened at one in particular.

  HI, CRYSTAL. THIS IS VANESSA NOLAN.

  IT WAS NICE MEETING YOU YESTERDAY.

  I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO BEING FEATURED IN THE MAGAZINE.

  Crystal smiled. She saved Vanessa’s number in her phone and then dialed her back. She answered quickly.

  “Hi, Crystal.”

  “Vanessa, hey. I got your text message. Thanks for following up so soon.”

  “No problem,” Vanessa said. She sounded much friendlier than she had been the night before. “I’m really excited about doing the shoot.”

  Crystal pulled a twenty out of her purse and handed it to the driver. “Keep the change,” she told him as she climbed out and rushed inside the building. “Vanessa, why don’t you come up to the office today? Oscar is here and we can discuss the ideas we have.”

  Vanessa jumped at the chance. “Okay. What time should I come?”

  Crystal used her security keycard to access the bank of elevators. She glanced at her watch. It was just after 10:30 A.M. “How’s noon? We can talk to Oscar about the idea, and then go grab a quick lunch.”

  “Wow,” Vanessa said. She couldn’t believe how down-to-earth this Crystal Scott was. Initially, she suspected that Crystal might want her man. After watching the two of them interact at the Boom Boom Room last night, she thought they were too close for comfort. Before Vanessa had made her presence known, she had watched Troy dancing with Crystal and looking at her like she was the only woman in the whole room. But now she wondered if she had misinterpreted what she saw. The woman on the other end of this phone sounded harmless. “Okay. I’ll see you at noon.”

  “Great.” Crystal hung up and boarded the elevator, grinning from ear to ear.

  * * *

  Troy handed his uncle Don an envelope full of cash. “That’s the last of the money Dad owes you.” He sat back and loosened his tie. Troy had just come from a trip to the bank with his father. All of the Stuart Mitchell accounts—what was left of them, anyway—had been updated to reflect Troy as CEO, removing Fox from his position at the top of the family food chain. Today marked a changing of the guard in the Mitchell clan and this payment made it official.

  Don glanced at the envelope his nephew had passed to him and chuckled a bit. “Is that right?” He picked it up, opened it, and thumbed through the stack of large bills inside. “Why didn’t he deliver it himself?”

  Troy grinned, though he wasn’t really amused by his uncle’s facetiousness. The bad blood between Don and Fox ran deep. Much like Troy’s relationship with his own brother, Wes. Some pathologies were generational, he realized.

  “He has a busy schedule today,” Troy lied. “Getting all his ducks in a row for his upcoming campaign.”

  Don nodded. “Sounds exciting.” His tone was flat and emotionless. He smiled at his nephew. “So, now you’re the man in charge, huh? How’s it feel?”

  Troy couldn’t suppress his smile. It spread across his face like the Kool-Aid man.

  “It feels like this is how it should have been all along. You know, if things had played out the way they should have back in the day.” He sipped his water.

  Don stared him down. “Sometimes things don’t work out like we plan. But in the end everything turns out like it’s supposed to. That’s how life works.”

  Troy thought about that. “Maybe you’re right.” He prepared to leave.

  “Wait,” Don said. “When’s the last time you spoke to your brother?”

  Troy laughed, and shifted closer to the edge of his seat. “Probably the last time you spoke to yours.” He shook his head. “Why? He do something crazy again? Is he on the run?”

  Don sucked his teeth. “You always assume the worst about him.”

  “You think that’s by accident? Or could it be because of all the shit he’s got himself into over the years. And you bail him out every time. It’s like you’re encouraging him.”

  Don waved his hand at Troy and laughed. “Wes does half the shit he does to get your father’s attention. But Fox is too fuckin’ worried about you to see that.”

  Troy stood up. He was ready to go now. “Somebody had to worry about me, right?”

  Don didn’t respond. Troy’s words lingered between them.

  “Who else was gonna do it, Uncle Don? Huh? You?” He laughed at the absurdity of that. “You take care.” Troy walked out, grateful that the business between his father and Uncle Don was concluded. Now he could try to salvag
e what was left of his freedom and live his life. And his father could do the same. He left his uncle’s house and determined in his heart that it would be the last time he set foot in there.

  Don, meanwhile, dialed his nephew’s cell phone almost as soon as Troy hit the door. Wes answered on the third ring.

  “What’s up, Uncle Don?”

  “Your brother was just here. Looks like Fox put him in charge of everything.” Don picked up the envelope and spread the money out on the table to count it. “I don’t know if they told you.”

  Wes was silent for a moment as the gravity of it all sank in. His father had officially passed him over. Countless times over the years, he had been led to believe that their father loved Troy more. Troy had been given the best education, the biggest parties, the better gifts. And now he had been given the keys to their father’s kingdom. A company their parents had built together. Not always by the noblest means, either. Despite the public’s perception of their father, Fox had his own skeletons. That was hard to tell now, though. He walked around like his shit didn’t stink. So did Troy, as far as Wes was concerned. Finally, he replied, “Thanks for letting me know.”

  Wes hung up the phone, got off the couch, and put on his Timbs. Grabbing the keys to his truck, he headed out the door. Game on.

  * * *

  Troy walked down the hall toward Crystal’s office, and spotted Oscar coming toward him. They greeted each other with a masculine handshake, which Troy appreciated considering Oscar’s flair, for lack of a better word.

  “How’s everything going?” Troy asked. He rationalized his visit today as part of his routine duties as CEO. He had stopped by the offices of Champion, the male magazine his family operated as a health and fitness alternative to Hipster’s fashion and entertainment vibe. Stopping by here was just par for the course, he told himself. The possibility of running into Crystal was just a nice added bonus.