11
Lawrence sat in his home office on a conference call with Miles, his trusted paralegal of three years, discussing forensic research needed for a deal. Monica had already left to attend church
with her parents and Brandon and Lawrence wouldn‟t see her
until the next day. He enjoyed hispeace even if he were working.
He had been up since six that morning working nonstop. It was one o‟ clock and he gottenup to number three of twenty contracts to approve. This was the part of his job he couldn‟t stand
but learning how to read quickly and efficiently was a talent that all lawyers are required to possess.
He was thankful for his small break before Miles called him. The text from Kenya wasn‟t expected
but greatly appreciated. Lawrence tried to test her limits with a bit of flirting and she was starting to
reciprocate unfortunately Miles returned his call quicker than anticipated. Maybe she‟d text him later.
But now he was had to focus on a high priority deal. It concerned Energex, one of the top naturalgas companies in the country. Lawrence had been working on a merger as consultant and had beencourting them for months to become a permanent client for Lareby and Greenburg. Even if they did sign on, Lawrence would still get a hefty piece of the pie.
“Thanks f
or completing the research on Magnolia. The only thing missing is the dirt on the
proxies,” Lawrence said to his Cisco telepresence receiver.
“That was kinda tough to get but I‟ll work on it. How soon do you need that?”
“Can you get it to me by Wednesday?”
“I‟ll make it happen.”
“What day is your mock trial?”
“It‟s on next Friday so it won‟t interfere with it.”
“Are you sure, because I don‟t want to overload you.”
“I mean I have Jules, Tom and Kasey to help too.”
“Don‟t lean on Kasey too much because she hasn‟t been so productive on the last twoacquisitions.”
“Yeah I know but she can do the work if you push her.”
“That shouldn‟t be the case. I operate ahead of the curve and want people on my team thatdon‟t sit on their hands and deliver results. I play to win and I expect the same from you guys.”“I know.”
“I made you my number one because you‟ve proven that you can handle the pressure andkeep the others in line.”
“I‟ll talk to Kasey.”
“Do it before I have to because if I do, she‟s out.”
“I‟ll handle it.”
Copyright © 2012 Jennifer Ekeoba. All rights reserved.
Lawrence was glad he had Miles Nyugen on his team. He was twenty-six and in his last yearof law school and impressed Lawrence with his initiative and hard work ethic. There was a lot of potential and Lawrence decided to take him under his wing and cultivate a brilliant attorney. There
weren‟
t too many Asians in the corporate law game. The doorbell chimed
and Lawrence sighed in frustration. He wasn‟t in the mood for visitors.
“Hey Miles, someone‟s at the door. I think that‟s it for now. We‟ll discuss the details in the
afternoon when you get o
ut of class. Enjoy the rest of your weekend kiddo.”
“Sure, later man.”
“Later.”
Lawrence hung up, slipped on his sneakers and rushed to the front door.
“I‟mcoming,” Lawrence yelled. He opened the door to find Kyle holding up a large brown paper bag.“What took you so long to come to the door?” Kyle asked, walking in.
“I was on the phone with my paralegal. I smell smothered pork chops.”
“And you are correct sir. Granny Syl put four in there for you.”
Kyle placed the large bag on the coffee table and sat on
Lawrence‟s white modern Italian
leather sectional. Lawrence went to the kitchen and grabbed a fork and knife, napkins, hot sauce anda Heineken. He sat in front of the bag and Kyle frowned.
“What‟s wrong with you?” Lawrence asked, taking the three Tupperw
are containers fromthe brown bag.
“Beer Junior?”
“Don‟t give me that speech. It‟s only a beverage.”
“An alcoholic beverage. What‟s wrong with water or a soda?”
“I drink those too but I wanted a Heineken.”
“Fine, do what you want.”
“I do anyway.”
Lawrence
couldn‟t wait to dig into his lunch. Smothered pork chops, baked
macaroni and cheese, collard greens, black-
eyed peas and devil‟s food cake. Good food was one of
the perks of having a Black grandmother. His Belgian grandmother Brigitte could cook too but not
like Sylvia. “No rolls?” Lawrence asked.
“They should be in there.”
Lawrence reached down in the bag and found the fourthcontainer of two yeast rolls. He sprinkled a small amount of hot sauce on his lunch and started hisfeast.
“Is that another tattoo,” Kyle asked, referring to the newest ink on Lawrence‟s forearm.
“Oh yeah. I got it a couple of weeks ago.”
“What is that? Latin?”
“Omnia Vincam. It means „I will conquer all‟.”
“You‟re the only person I know that understands that.”
“Law is in Latin. It didn‟t hurt to learn it.”
“I don‟t understand why you would do that to yourself.”
“I appreciate art, even body art.”
“Don‟t they hurt?”
Copyright © 2012 Jennifer Ekeoba. All rights reserved.
“Pain is pain no matter the form. How‟s Granny Syl?” Lawrence
asked shoveling greens andblack-eyed peas into his mouth.
“She‟s okay. The doctor said her sugar was a little high.”
“She didn‟t eat any of this did she?”
“No the doctor put her on a diet. She wanted to know when she was going to see you.”
“I‟ve been busy.”
“She‟s starting to think you‟re avoiding her.”
“I‟m not. I have lawyers to manage not only in Houston but in the other offices, highmaintenance clients and I‟m always traveling, not to mention all of TV appearances I make, all the
committees I sit on a
nd speaking engagements. It can‟t be helped. I hardly have a break, in
fact,
once I‟m done with lunch
I have to get back to work.”
“You can at least call her. Mother‟s Day is coming up soon.”
“I‟ll have Michelle make some time in my schedule. How are my babies?”
“Maddie is getting over the chicken pox.”
“Oh no. Is she okay?”
“She had a fever on Thursday but she‟s doing better now.”
“I bet she loves the oatmeal bathes.”
“She didn‟t at first.”
“How‟s little Karen?”
“She learned to stand up.”
“Really? She can‟t even crawl yet.”
“She‟s ready to walk. Every time we put her down, she pops back up.”
“They‟re growing up so fast.”
His six year-old and eight month old nieces were the highlightof his life. Both were light vanilla with jet black curly hair like their mother but you could tell those
were Kyle‟s babies. Lawrence wanted kids but that dream was dashed so his nieces helped to fill that
void. Kyle and his wife Marie never had to worry about having money for the girls becauseLawrence was their piggy bank.
“Marie has got her hands full.”
“Yeah but she‟s happy to be teaching again.”
“So the whole house wife thing wasn‟t working out?”
“Nope. She‟s was borderline for a minute and I just said “babe, if you want to go back to work I support you.” She was teaching
the following week.”
Lawrence laughed and took a sip of hisbeer.
“Funny.”
“By the way, I preached this morning.”
“Oh yeah,” Lawrence said with pride. “Is that why you‟re so GQ today?”
“I‟m always GQ, what are you talking about?”
“Not always kid. How did
you do today?”
“I think I did pretty good. We had two baptisms this morning.”
Copyright © 2012 Jennifer Ekeoba. All rights reserved.
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My Funny Valentine Chapter 11
Sundays Best..... My Funny Valentine is an African-American, Christian book series that looks into the world of two very different people but have pasts equally troubling and what becomes of their faithfulness to God or lack thereof.
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