"Thanks again for meeting with me, Tal," Kiara says as she sits down on one of the white couches in my office. She glances around with wide eyes. "Wow, this is a really nice space you got here. If the other girls knew about it, they'd want to start coming here for our monthly dance dinners."
I laugh and shake my head. "I wouldn't be able to relax if we did that." I settle myself across from Kiara and continue, "Sorry we had to meet here instead of someplace more casual. My next meeting is at ten so that leaves us with an hour to go over all your questions."
Kiara nods but doesn't say anything. I wait for her to turn her wheels before speaking, "Do you have specific questions you'd like to go over?"
After moving her lips to the side, Kiara nods again. "Um, I don't know where to start. I guess I'll just say why I'm here." After a deep breath, the words begin tumbling out of her, "So, I've just felt like I've been drowning in debt and barely even able to make a living paycheck-to-paycheck. I thought that was just the hand I'd been given in life until I watched this YouTube video about building wealth. It kind of opened my eyes to some things that have been a part of my family for generations. No one has ever been good with money and no one has ever taught us how to be good with money."
I've never heard Kiara speak with so much seriousness, urgency, and conviction in her voice before. The young girl is a force of strength based on her dance skills and playful jabs at the other girls, but this vulnerable side to her prods at my heartstrings.
"And I kept learning all these statistics that just blew my mind. Did you know that for every dollar a White American has, a Black American has twelve cents? Isn't that crazy? I was praying about it, and I really feel like I'm being called to break this constant cycle of poverty that's in my family. I just have no idea where to start and every time I think about it, I'm a bawling mess." A glassy look emerges over Kiara's eyes and my eyebrows knit together. I lean forward and lightly squeeze the young girl's shoulder.
"I'm so sorry, Ki." I don't know what else to say. While I know about the wealth gap in theory, it's not a part of my job to know all the details. That bothers me the more I think about it. Why don't I know more?
While Kiara continues to speak, an unsettled feeling churns in the pit of my stomach. The type of financial advice I need to give her is going to be different from what I'm used to giving my clients. Kiara doesn't need to maximize her investments to secure things like a second home in the Bahamas. No, Kiara needs to find a way to live without the anxiety of money hanging over her head on the daily.
"Do you think you'll be able to help me or am I a lost cause?"
I take in a sharp breath. "Of course I want to help! I'll try my best so I can't guarantee things will be perfect, but we can start with the basics."
"Thank you so much." Kiara sniffs and smiles with gratitude.
"Alright, let's start. What investments do you currently have?"
Kiara shakes her head. "I don't even know what that means."
I nod. Shoot, of course. I need to go back more! I wonder for a moment if Lucas would know what to say. He probably would be better at this than me. Something I'd never admit to him. I rack my brain trying to remember the first time I was taught about anything finance-related back in middle school. My dad was extremely frugal and would teach me the basics of savings, emergency funds, and the like. When I first learned things, I became addicted. Money meant freedom and power. Yet, it was years before I stumbled upon the pitfalls too. Still to this day, I have to remind myself that life doesn't revolve around money since in my world, it often seems like it does.
We spend the next forty minutes chatting in detail about everything. Kiara's face lights up every time I share a nugget of information. At one point, she takes out her phone and begins taking notes.
"This has been so helpful, thank you so much! I'm going to host a family meeting with everyone and relay the information."
I smile back warmly as my heart fills with joy that I was able to help somewhat. I make a quick mental note to look up some of the videos that Kiara mentioned. "We'll need to schedule more time to talk through everything as I know I'm forgetting a ton, but that's the start of it."
Before Kiara can respond, a knock at the door grabs our attention. Imani enters the room and walks up to our seating area. "Sorry to disturb, Talia. Lucas is here to see you. He said he came early to prep for the meeting."
I stand up, and approach the door just as Lucas' head pops in. "Hey, Lucas. Come in, we're just about done."
Lucas smiles which causes a little flutter in my stomach. Ever since our dinner together two weeks ago at Medici, things with him have been flat out weird. We aren't blatantly terrorizing each other anymore but I'm still slightly on edge wondering what he's going to do to retaliate for the whole fur bikini thing. It's like he's holding back just to mess with me. So, maybe he is terrorizing me after all, but secretly? I have no idea.
Whatever the case is, I can't let him see me squirm. We've kept most of our conversations professional and spent the last two weeks at each other's offices, trying to execute on the details of this merger. An awareness of myself is always present when we meet, which bothers me. I even feel some hesitance and discomfort from Lucas' side as well. Yet, we both know that we have to push through whatever this weird We Don't Like Each Other But We Need To Work Together Civilly stage is for the benefit of the newly merged company. The trouble is, he's always on my mind. Even when I go to dance practice, he somehow finds a way to be a part of my thoughts.
"No worries! I'll just use the restroom real quick and then we can chat when I get back." Lucas lifts his thumb back and smiles politely at Kiara and Imani before leaving.
Imani is about to turn around when Kiara calls out loudly, "Daaaaamn Tal! Who was that fine specimen?" The vulnerability from our talk has dried up, having just been pulled out by Lucas' presence. The playful Kiara that I'm used to seeing at practice is back.
I roll my eyes in mock annoyance.
Imani turns back to face us with a satisfied grin. "Girl! I know, right? When he first came to the office I swear the whole building shut down just to look at him. Both men and women."
I shake my head and make my way back to Kiara. "He's my co-president. We work together."
"Are you sure that wasn't anything more? It was like watching one thousand shades of Grey just now with the way you two were looking at each other."
"God, no! It's not like that. We're just co-workers. In fact, we don't really like each other."
Both Imani and Kiara cross their arms. "Mhmm," Imani responds before she turns to Kiara. "You should see the way they talk to each other in meetings. It's like they're an old couple bickering about one of them forgetting the milk from the grocery store."
I gasp and then laugh. "Oh, my God! Okay, stop!" I say as I place my hands over my face. Heat spreads through my cheeks. Why am I blushing like a teenager? Get it together, Talia. "Imani, you have work to do. And Kiara you need to leave before you get any more ideas."
"I can't wait to tell the girls about this."
I make my way to Kiara for a goodbye hug before giving her a playful head shake. "You better not, Ki!"
After the girls leave it's about another couple of minutes before I hear Lucas' deep voice in conversation with someone just outside my door. With curiosity getting a hold of me, I get up and open the door to find Kiara still there and waving goodbye to a grinning Lucas. What was that about?
"Hey!" My voice wobbles and I clear my throat. "What did you need to talk about before the meeting?"
With a weird smile still plastered on his face, Lucas follows me into my office. His broad frame and sheer presence takes up a considerable amount of room, despite the spaciousness of the office. "So, what is it?" I say as I sit down.
He seems to clear whatever is on his mind with a shake of his head. His cobalt eyes meet me again before he speaks. "Just wanted to give you a heads up that my dad is going to invite you over to a family and friends dinner that's in a couple of weeks."
"So?"
"So," he pauses, likely gathering his thoughts before continuing, "I just wanted to let you know you don't have to say yes. It's just a casual thing my parents like to do every year for Labor Day."
I nod, contemplating Lucas' words. Is he saying that this goes outside our unspoken rules about keeping things professional? "Alright, thanks for the heads up. I think it'll be good for me to go. I can get a chance to learn more about Charles Handler and what he deems to be good business strategy."
"Good luck getting him to stop talking once you start."
I giggle, like actually giggle like a little school girl, before chiding myself for making that sound. The room stays silent for a moment, with the awkwardness flooding in like it has been lately when we finish up a meeting. I clear my throat. "Anything else?"
Lucas shakes his head, before wiping his hands along his thighs and standing up. "I guess that's it. I'll see you in the conference room." And with that he leaves the room, and I release the breath I'm holding.