Royce Minnelli
I checked my watch in annoyance. "How much longer?" I was over the pleasantries and wanted my lunch.
"We just got started..." the nervous white girl's voice wavers just a little. I don't know why she thought the wholesome look was going to appease me. I'm appalled.
I couldn't resist. This is my money on the line. "And I wanna know how long you gon be up there, wasting my time?"
"Mr. Minnelli!" she shrieks.
I stand up with Greyson. "We're done here." We nod to her and leave the boardroom.
"You cold as hell. I was enjoying her presentation." Greyson looks back with a twist of his lips. "At least listen to it."
"I'm cold but you right behind me as we walk out. And why would I give false hope? That's the difference between me and you." I chuckle as I get in my Maserati. "Were you going to invest in them weak ass lashes?" I unlock the passenger side.
"I left out because you my ride nigga!" he yells with a laugh. "Well...no. I wasn't but I liked her delivery." Greyson is honest at best. I roll my eyes and take off down the street. "Somebody gon snatch yo mean ass up."
"Not gonna happen..." I accelerate. My phone rings. "Minnelli."
"Um, Carter's agent is on the phone."
"Put em through." I don't waste time. Grey look over at me in concern. "Contract negotiations."
"Minnelli. That figure is bullshit and you know it."
"Scar. That's real rude for somebody tryna get their client paid." I chuckle. I could hear the man growl just a little. "Take it or leave it."
"You'll be seeing me in a few days." He guaranteed before abruptly hanging up.
Greyson looks at me in concern. "You know you need to pay that man. Three championships and MVP awards every year of his contract. Come on now..."
"Oh, I'm gonna pay him. I just wanna see how hard he wanna fight for it. he knows how this goes with me..." I scoff.
"I just know you better know what you doing." Greyson called himself warning me.
That night, I sat in my home office and watched the sunset over the mountain with a glass of scotch. I had one of my long time hoes going to my "apartment" for a night. Usually I wouldn't mind meeting her up there but now... I don't know. Not yet...
I pulled up later than normal and walked in. She stood in the kitchen in my favorite colored lingerie. I'm not impressed.
Three hours later, her nails deep in my back, holding my wrist. Her eyes closed tight. I still ain't come yet. I push inside her hard. Her screams don't encourage me. I catch a halfhearted nut.
"Better every time." She winks on her way out.
"At least one of us is." I don't bite my tongue. She sends me a middle finger. I delete her number before she's out the door.
Across town, on the edge of the county, Scarlett "Scar" Newman paced her office like a lioness. Her anger was radiating off her skin.
"Why you letting a pompous billionaire get your panties in a wad sis? You know how he operate. Them articles about him don't lie!" Mari Timmons, Mia's best friend, spoke at her business partner.
"I don't give a fuck. I am SCAR. I get results from these niggas. And he pushing me to that limit sis."
"So, you willing to blow your cover for your client? When the sports world finds out you're a woman, what you gon do?"
"I-" Scarlett calms down. Then she grits her teeth. "I will get this man his money."
"Oh I know that... that's not the conversation. Are you willing to lose your career over it in the same breath?" Mari drills her. "You need to think! You built this shit on anonymity!"
Scarlett sighs, already defeated. "Let's worry about something else right now."
That night, Scarlett soaked in her tub. Her mind drifted to her ex. Her first love.
"You need to chill out, Zack! You're already injured."
"I gotta make it to the league! To put you through school, and get my mama a house." He pushed her off of him.
"Zack, listen to me. You don't need to put me through school. I have my own way of getting through school. I promise you that."
"I saw how much debt you're about to be in. And this is my chance." He reiterated. Scarlett sighs and backs off.
She was a high school senior at the time and Zack was a college junior. Their relationship was forbidden at best, but he loved her and she loved him. he never betrayed her, and the age difference motivated them, regardless of what outsiders had to say.
One Saturday night, on one of the last games of the season, Zack made the executive decision to play with an injured back. The running back was slated to go number one or two in the NFL draft. But that would never come. One hit in the wrong direction, Zack was immediately paralyzed from the waist down.
Scarlett stood shocked from the stands as his mother ran down the steps to the locker room. Her body was numb. Her mind completely shot.
Three hours later, Zackery was dead. The hit snapped his spinal cord, causing internal bleeding and doctors couldn't stop it. What was even worse, the young man that hit him stopped playing football immediately. He would be killed in a car accident, losing his life in the same way Zack lost his.
Because of that tragedy, Scarlett went to school to be an agent of some sort. And she was the best at it without never having show her face. Until now...
"I miss you so much Zack. So much." The tears caught her off guard. "Oh my God..." she couldn't stop crying. Some days were harder than others. "I miss you..."
"I know you do, Scar Scar. But you gotta let me go."
"But-but...I-"
"It's okay to let me go." And just like that, the voice disappeared. Scarlett dried her tears and then her body. Let Zack go, if only I knew how.