Returning the notecards to the safety of my bag, I focused on the people around me. All the blank faces. Each trying their hardest to not make eye contact. Would I be able to make a difference in a place like New York City? As I watched people push their way off and on the train at each stop, my confidence diminished.
3
Anderson
An alert chimed on my computer. I opened the action item my assistant, Martin, had entered into my calendar.
Meeting with a potential client in Graham’s conference room at ten.
Checking the clock in the corner of my computer, my attention returned to the report I was reading. A second alert popped up on my computer, and my phone began to vibrate. Turning off the alarm on my phone, I opened the alert on my computer.
Leave now, or you’ll be late.
Shaking my head, I read the same message on my phone. Martin was nothing if not thorough. As I made my way to the conference room, I contemplated how he could set an alarm on my phone while on vacation.
Opening the door to the conference room, I checked my watch. I made it a point to be the first to arrive for meetings, not last. What the…? The appointment was scheduled for ten, and it was two minutes before. The privilege of being late was not one that I indulged in. It was a lesson handed down from my father at an early age: all the money in the world won’t change the color of our skin. We walked a much different path than our sisters and brothers living paycheck to paycheck. But we most certainly had to deal with the discrimination that still pulsated through our city.
Creating a coffee community within the space where folks spend the majority of their time was written in green marker on the large dry erase board. An attractive woman in a fitted pencil skirt and a sheer white blouse stood at the end of the table holding something.
Are those notecards?
Taking a seat, I nodded at Graham and turned my attention to the presenter. When our eyes met, the color drained from her face. I glanced at Graham to see if I missed something, but he was scribbling some notes. He looked up and cleared his throat.
“Time is limited. Let’s get started.” He snapped.
That was Graham Morgan. I’d worked for him for a little over a year, and he started every meeting indicating time was limited. Requiring everyone that he allowed into his orbit to respect his time was just one of the skills contributing to his multi-billion-dollar company’s success. I was working hard every day to learn what the other qualities were.
The woman spoke about a coffee shop that would focus on removing the blank stares of today’s New Yorkers. Her idea was to place a coffee shop on the bottom floor of an office building. Hello, that’s been done. Why are we here? She continued. I only vaguely paid attention, as it was clear this was not a project Graham would be interested in.
Her voice is familiar. Could I have slept with her? She’s hot.
She turned toward the screen. My gaze landed on her perfectly round ass. I have definitely not had sex with her. Yet.
“Do you have any questions so far?” It was the first time she had looked up from her cards.
Graham looked over at me before he spoke. Shit, this will not be good.
“Who are you?”
I cringed as she looked at me and then back to Graham. He was going to flip out on the woman. I almost felt sorry for what was about to happen.
“Mr. Morgan, as I mentioned, my name is Jurnee Messer and–”
“How did you get on my schedule?”
Graham sat up and pushed a button on the phone to the right of his chair. “Sadie? How did this meeting get on my schedule?” He barked into the speaker.
“Hello, Graham.” Soraya, Graham’s wife, voice filled the conference room.
Graham may have been one of the ten youngest self-made billionaires in the country, but he had one weakness that took him to his knees every time. His family. The way I heard it, Soraya Morgan broke through her future husband’s workaholic super-suit the day they met on a train. Even Alan talks about the old Graham that would fire secretaries before they had time to finish their first cup of coffee.
“Shit.” Graham leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.
“Hey, Jurnee. How’s the meeting going with my husband?” Her voice got louder to ensure all could hear.
Jurnee. It absolutely could not be the crazy woman from yesterday. As she watched me put all the pieces in place, the smile on her face confirmed who she was. How did she get here? How did she know I was scheduled to be in this meeting? Was she trying to get a leg up by running into me out of the office?
“Soraya. Hello. The meeting is going…” Jurnee dragged his gaze from me to Graham.
“Graham Morgan.” Soraya’s warning tone was crystal clear. “May I speak to you out here, please?”
“On my way.” He was on his feet before he had all his words out.
“Bring Anderson with you, please. And, Jurnee, let’s plan on you coming over for lunch next week. I promised Avery and Genevieve that I’d keep you entertained until they return.”
“I’d love that. Thank you.” Jurnee’s tone was an odd mixture of relief and off-balance. The phone disconnected, and I stared at Jurnee. Who the hell was this woman? How did she know Graham’s baby momma and her best friends? What the hell is going on?
Graham cleared his throat as I wondered if this woman’s name was really Jurnee. His lifted eyebrow went up when I gazed at him. I was keeping his wife waiting, Graham Morgan kept a lot of people waiting, Soraya Morgan was not one of those people.
I made my way around the conference room table and exited behind him. Not before stealing a quick look at Jurnee, who was packing up her presentation.
Once we were in the hallway, Graham handed me the folder that had been in front of him on the table. “This is for you. Make it happen.”
I scanned the first page inside of the folder. “Latte Love? Are you kidding me?”
“Have you known me to joke?”
“We’re taking this on?”
“Did you hear who answered when I called my secretary?”
The question made me more confused but I answered, “Soraya.”
“My wife. Anderson, one thing you will learn when you fall in love, hopefully quickly, is it’s far easier to give her whatever she wants. Happy wife… blah blah blah.”
“Soraya didn’t even ask you to consider this partnership and had she witnessed the presentation that woman had started–”
Graham laughed and headed toward his office.
“You know she’s pitching a single coffee shop, right?”
He stopped, “Well, she will be partnering with us for a chain of coffee shops, and your task is to determine how we flip my wife’s curious project into an advantage for the firm.”
“Doesn’t Alan onboard new partnerships?”
Graham started walking again, “Alan is on two projects, and you wanted to learn everything. Here’s this week’s everything.”
“Actually, I believe I asked if there was a possibility of a partnership for me in the future.” I corrected him.
“Step one of moving toward a discussion about a partnership, making sure my wife stays extremely happy.”
As we turned the corner, Soraya stood with their four-year-old son on her hip.
“Baby, you can’t–” Graham strode to his wife and reached for the child with outstretched arms.
“Graham, you had better have been nice in there.” Soraya cut him off with her hands on her hips.
The tips of her hair were bright pink. For a brief moment, I wished I had paid attention when my assistant had listed his thoughts on how the color of Soraya’s tips matched her mood. My thoughts returned to the woman in the conference room.
“Soraya–”
She cut him off again, “Look, I told–”
Graham leaned down and kissed his wife, smothering her words with his mouth. After that awkward moment passed, he looked back at me. “Anderson has something to tell you.”
>
Before I could speak, Soraya crossed her arms and glared up at me.
“Hello, Soraya. Pleasure as always to see you–”
“Cut the crap, Anderson. What?”
My glance over at Graham found him grinning almost in relief. Lorenzo was squeezing his cheeks, wanting his attention. He gestured for me to begin.
“I will be working with Ms. Messer on partnering with her chain of coffee shops.”
“Anderson, that’s wonderful. She had a solid presentation then?”
Not knowing how to answer, I glanced back at Graham. It was clear he wasn’t going to help on this one. “Well, the presentation got cut short, but I’m sure it was going to be comprehensive.”
Soraya squinted, waiting for me to continue. “I’ll let Graham give you all the details. I’d better get back in there and get started.”
Cracking the folder open as I made my way back down the hall to the conference room, it surprised me to only find the contact information sheet and a legal pad with a couple of lines of Graham’s notes. As I entered, Jurnee rose from the chair.
“I didn’t want to be rude and leave without saying thank you. I’ll get out of your way now.”
“Because where you come from, manners are important.”
“Manners are important, no matter where one is from.” Her biting tone forced me to stifle a smile. Focus, Man.
With a shake of my head, I cleared the events of our first meeting out of my mind. She shifted her weight to her other leg. She was preparing to bolt. My previous job at the law firm had taught me two things—first, the importance of reading a client and knowing how to schmooze them effectively. The second, and most important, was that law wasn’t for me, and I wasn’t for it.
“My name is Anderson Douglas, and I’m pleased to inform you that Morgan Financial Holdings is interested in partnering with you on a chain of coffee shops around the city.”
Giving my hand a firm shake, Jurnee corrected me, “One coffee shop, Latte Love.”
“A chain of coffee shops, and we will have to figure out a better name than that,” I responded.
“One coffee shop, and what’s wrong with Latte Love?” She sunk down in the chair as I sat across from her.
“Morgan Financial is interested in partnering with you on a chain of coffee shops. The name will be something we negotiate as we prepare the contracts.”
“But my presentation was for one coffee shop and…” She stopped talking as her gaze reached mine.
This was the first time since meeting her that she wasn’t filling the silence with words. I waited.
She took a deep breath, “he wasn’t supposed to be interested.”
4
Jurnee
“What?”
I stared at my portfolio sitting on the table in front of me. “He wasn’t supposed to want to go into business with me for one coffee shop.”
“Graham Morgan doesn’t want to go into business with you for one coffee shop. He wants to partner with you on a chain of coffee shops. The sooner you get this, the sooner we can move forward.”
Tilting my head to the side, I could only stare at him.
“Ms. Messer–”
“Jurnee. My name is Jurnee.”
I’m not sure why it mattered, but I felt the need to correct him. While he was attractive yesterday in the restaurant, today, he was something more. Maybe it was the fact that his attention wasn’t lost on his phone. Maybe it was because he was prepared to hand me something I never thought I would have. Maybe it was because when he spoke, I had to clench my thighs together because the sound of his voice excited me more than was even right.
“Jurnee.” He was trying a different approach, and I had to work hard not to roll my eyes at his tone change. “Graham and I understand that you were pitching a single coffee shop, but Graham believes in your idea. He is interested in turning your one coffee shop idea into a chain, spreading your vision all over the City.”
“Is this why you were so rude yesterday? Because you work for Graham Morgan?”
“I wasn’t at the restaurant for a date. I had a meeting that canceled.”
“You’re full of shit.”
He was clearly caught off guard by my words, and that made me smile. I could see the wheels turning in his mind. Is it wrong that I’m enjoying making him work hard? Probably.
“Well, Ms. Manners, isn’t that something coming from you? Super polite.”
I leaned back in the chair, and my shoulders slumped. He was right. I was being an ass to him because I was butthurt that he wasn’t interested. Shit. What’s wrong with you, Jurnee? Super professional.
“Mr. Douglas, please accept my apology for being rude. This is a generous offer and–” I stopped when his hand went up. “Yes?”
“Please call me Anderson. We are a long way from you thanking me for this great opportunity.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Jurnee, Morgan Financial Holdings is prepared to go into this partnership with you, but I will need to work with your attorneys to solidify an agreement that works for both parties.”
“Well, I don’t have an attorney, and I agree to the terms. I mean, I didn’t even think this was a possibility. Everything is a cherry at this point.”
The look on his face let me know I had said something wrong. I replayed my words to figure out what I said to warrant a face of utter disbelief. Cherry?
“You came to a meeting at Morgan Financial Holdings to pitch a partnership, and you don’t have an attorney. What’s wrong with you?”
“There isn’t anything wrong with me.” I glared at him. “Had you had put the phone down for five minutes yesterday, you’d already know I’m a fabulous individual with manners any mother would be proud of.”
“I think more than five minutes would have been required.”
His phone vibrated before I could reply to his latest insult. The wheels were spinning with a good comeback as he answered the phone.
“Anderson.” He snapped into his phone.
That cleared up any question if he was only rude to me or rude to everyone.
“Call Samantha and see if she can come. I’ll be there shortly.” I noted a dramatic change in his tone. He listened a moment longer and placed the phone on the table. He tapped the button on the same phone Graham had used to call his secretary during our earlier meeting.
“Markus.” A man with a deep voice answered.
What was with this city and the lack of pleasantries?
“Rover isn’t doing well again. Are you close?”
“I’ll be out front in five.” Both men disconnected with no further conversation.
Rover. This guy has a pet.
“You have a pet?” I couldn’t stop the words from falling out of my mouth.
“I do have a pet.” He flipped the folder over that had been sitting open on the table. “I need to cut this short.” He continued as he scanned the handwritten notes in front of him. “We have a lot of work to do, and I’d like to get started first thing Monday morning. Does nine work for you?”
“You just don’t seem like someone that would have a pet.”
“You have determined in the short time that we have spent together that I’m not the type of person who would have a pet?”
“Sort of.”
“I guess that’s another area that you aren’t as competent in. Reading people. Are you able to be here by nine? Are you alright working here at Morgan?” He looked me up and down. “I’m assuming you don’t have an office in the city. Correct?”
“Nine is fine.” I grabbed my belongings and headed for the door. “I hope everything turns out okay with Rover.”
I closed the door behind me and took a much-needed deep breath. I walked down the hallway toward the exit, suddenly nervous that I’d gotten turned around. All the dark cherry wood doors looked the same. Luckily, the hallway opened up to the lobby where I waited before the meeting with Graham. I exited the large double glass doors and mad
e my way to the elevator.
My mind was spinning as the reality of going into business with Graham Morgan began to seep in. The fact that I was going to be working with the most attractive man I’d ever seen but with a shitty personality crept into my thoughts as I pressed the button to call the elevator.
Shit. What are you going to do now?
5
Anderson
The soft chime of the elevator in my building snatched me out of my non-stop thoughts about the woman in the morning meeting. Stepping into the kitchen, Linda, my housekeeper and informal guardian since the age of thirteen, gave me an understanding smile. She handed me a cold bottle of Stella. When my parents moved to France without me, when I was a child, it was Linda that looked after my day-to-day needs.
Downing the beer, I listened to my friends talk major shit about me in the next room. Linda laughed, patted my shoulder, and headed toward the elevator. Weekends were her free time, she left on Friday to spend them with her family.
“I’m here,” I figured I should announce myself to my friends.
“You’re late!” Bryan snapped.
Bryan was the second person I met when I started at NYU and one of three of my closest friends. Unlike the rest of us, no one had to wonder how he felt because he wore every emotion on his sleeve. Otis said it’s what made his songs so powerful and him so annoying.
“Sorry.” I set my beer at my spot at the table. “Markus decided at the last minute to run a security drill on the new alternate secondary team. They failed. By the time he finished shouting at them that my safety is their sole responsibility, they both quit.”
“Is something going on?” Otis asked as he gestured for me to get him a beer.
“Not here, but my sisters’ security team had a couple try to get on their property, so Markus is on high alert.”
Mister Manhattan: A Hero Club Novel Page 2