Page 44 of Til Death
“What?”
“It’s the papers you were looking for?”
Eyeing the folder, I grabbed it and opened it. Just like she said, the papers I needed were inside.
“The other day I came in here, thinking you were still working. I noticed your office had a bunch of papers scattered around so I decided to organize it for you. Honestly, I don’t know how you even work in the clutter you accumulate.” Her face twisted in confusion.
I thumbed through the file, seeing everything I needed was inside.
“I actually created a whole color system for you so that it’s easier for you to find things.”
That surprised me. “My system worked for me.” Normally my assistant kept track of things for me. With her still on maternity leave, I wasn’t receiving the organization I was used to.
Xylina rolled her eyes. “Your system is a mess. I don’t even know how you get anything done.”
Before I could answer, a sound went off on my computer. I glanced over, seeing it was time to go into my meeting.
“We’ll discuss this later.” I turned to the computer and laid the file on it. “You can see yourself out.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her face fall.
“Right,” she mumbled. “I’ll leave you then.”
For a second, I glanced at her again. It wasn’t like her to give up easily or quietly.
Xylina turned and left my office with no other rebuttal. I noticed a notecard near where she had her hand on the desk. Picking it up, I saw she had the colors and materials attached to them all written down. Something pulled inside me.
“Yosiah.” My name being called, caused my attention to leave the notecard.
“Yes, I’m here.” I cleared my throat and set the notecard down.
Business was my main priority right now. With things moving along progressively, I couldn’t afford to get distracted just as crunch time showed itself.
“Yosiah, how come you never bring that wife of yours when you come to visit?” Mama Chelle questioned. “It’s bad enough that we weren’t even invited to the wedding. Now it seems as if you’re hiding her.”
Roman chortled into his glass. Reginae and Ryo were in attendance along with his fiancée.
Michelle had insisted on throwing a dinner to celebrate the award I was given last week. I didn’t think it was necessary, but she shut my protest down, insisting that if it were any of her children she would do the same thing. Being that it was her husband who’d helped me start my company in the first place, I stopped fighting and agreed.
“Well, Mama, this dinner is forfamilyonly, correct? She’s not family,” Reginae cut in.
After all these years, the two still didn’t get along. Reginae never turned down the chance to throw shots at Xylina and vice versa.
Mama Chelle frowned. “That’s his wife, why wouldn’t she be included?”
The details surrounding my marriage were never told to her as far as I was aware.
“I’m sure Nae means because our marriage is unconventional. Also, she had a prior engagement to attend.” That wasn’t a lie. She’d left before me, all dolled up.
“A shame. We barely know the girl and you’ve been married for years.”
“Now, now leave the boy alone. We’re not here to discuss his marriage anyway. This is a celebration,” Erik called out, lifting his glass. “I knew when I first agreed to invest in you, you were going to accomplish great things, Yosiah.”
Grateful for the change in subject, I lifted my own glass. “Thank you, Erik. If it wasn’t for you and your generosity, I might have just now been getting Blue Shield up and running.”
“I know a good thing when I see it. I’m not foolish with my investments. You have the drive I love to see in a businessman.”
He wasn’t lying. Erik still oversaw his family’s business, but he’d also taken a step back and gotten into investing to enhance his portfolio. He was always mentioning never having his eggs in one basket. I didn’t know exactly what all he had his hands in, but I knew he was a jack of trades. I had gotten a lot of advice from him in my years as an entrepreneur.
