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Chapter 3

The office phone rang.

“Undisputed Marketing and Advertising, Kahlil Smooth speaking,” I said over the speaker phone.

“Kahlil, it’s Warren. I just received a call from your assistant about our lunch meeting today. What’s going on? We need to talk ASAP,” Warren demanded.

Minority Clothing Company was one of the top men’s urban clothing lines in the United States. Warren enlisted my help because the company was getting ready to expand launching its first ever women’s clothing line. Warren and I were close friends, so he reached out to me first for the opportunity to help expand his brand.

“What’s up, WP? Man, I have to apologize for canceling so abruptly. Unfortunately, there’s something urgent that I need to tend to that’s forcing me to push our meeting out. I can’t avoid it,” I said.

“Timing is so critical on my end especially for these next few months. You rescheduling has thrown a big ass wrench in my timeline. Are you sure there’s no way for us to sit down today to review the layouts for the women’s line? I need to have things settled before I fly out for business for the next few months,” Warren explained.

“Warren, today is virtually impossible for me since my entire schedule was pushed up by four hours. I’ll complete the other upcoming launch within a few days, and after that, you have my word that I will have my team focused and devoted on nothing else but the Minority Clothing women’s line launch until it’s finished,” I pleaded.

“Smooth, we have approximately ten months before this thing goes off, and I must have things finalized early enough to allow some wiggle room to tweak things just in case a problem arises that we both know will. The last thing I want to happen is to rush or miss some key things and this investment flops. I’m nervous. I’ve invested millions, my brother. I need Undisputed to help me make this a success,” Warren demanded with tension in his voice.

“I promise you. I’m going to make it happen, WP. Is there any way for us to meet a week from now?”

“That’s a no go. I’m off to Miami with my talent team to interview potential models they have selected for the fashion show to debut the clothes immediately following the Undisputed Marketing presentation. From there, I’m off to Hawaii for more model recruiting. Then there’s a fashion show in Europe that both the male and female brands have been invited to showcase in. I will finish things off with an interview for the biggest magazine in Europe and then will take pictures for the cover. So, as you can see, I’m completely booked solid for the next few months.”

“Shit! I see why you need to meet today,” I said, slowly reclining in my chair.

“There’s a very small window of opportunity for us to meet, but it would require you flying to New York this upcoming Monday and Tuesday. I can arrange several small breakout meetings and one final group meeting with my team based on my schedule before I fly out. Will you make this happen?”

“Say no more, brother. I’m there!”

After ending the intense phone call that covered my ass with Minority Clothing, I put both hands on my head, breathing a sigh of relief. Trying to regain my composure, I immediately began reviewing the presentation and notes for the Chicago Fusion meeting. Halfway through the reviews, my office phone rang.

“Mr. Smooth, I have Janet Thompson on line 2 for you. Would you like me to put her through?” Tammy asked.

“Go ahead and put her through, Tammy,” I answered.

“Yeah, you called?” Janet snapped on the phone before I could get a word out.

“Yeah, you called? Is that how we’re going to start this off?” I asked.

“I’m sorry, Kahlil, but it’s been a long day. Can you just tell me what you wanted?” she demanded.

“Look. I just wanted to tell you that I’ll pick up Iliana from school since my schedule was adjusted. Go ahead and do whatever it was you had planned.” There was a brief silence on the phone.

“Don’t worry about it. I cancelled what I had to do, so if you’re going to finish work early, just go home. You made me feel like shit this morning, so I decided to spend some time with Iliana.”

“I apologize for how that came out, Janet. I couldn’t understand why you got so pissed this morning over something so simple like picking her up,” I said.

“I know your heart was in a good place. I’m going to pick her up, and we’re going to spend some much-needed time together,” she said.

A big smile draped across my face as I sat there listening to Janet. “Well, that sounds like a wonderful idea! I’m sure Iliana will be pretty surprised when she finds out. I’ll finish up some things here at the office and eat whatever Féch prepared at home. So now that that’s settled, what’s going on with you? Why did you have such a bad start to your day outside of our small clash this morning?” I asked.

“I’ll wait until you get home, so we can talk about it, Kahlil,” Janet replied with a hint of anxiety in her voice.

“What’s wrong?”

“Kahlil, I’ll wait until you get home, so we can have a chance to talk face-to-face!” Janet reiterated in a stern voice.

There was a knock at the door.

“Excuse me, Kahlil. The Chicago Fusion Supplements executives have arrived,” Tammy stated from outside my opened door.

“Okay, thank you. I’ll be right there,” I whispered after placing my hand over the receiver.

“I’ll let you go to your meeting,” Janet blurted out, attempting to rush off the phone.

“Janet, just hold on a minute. We’re not finished with this discussion. I still have a few minutes so tell me—” Click. The line went dead.

I was so mad I immediately hit the speed dial button, dialing the house back, but the phone never rang. It went to voicemail. I sat at my desk boiling. I knew Janet turned on the do not disturb feature knowing I was going to call back. Quickly regaining my composure, I got up to make my way to the boardroom for my presentation.