Page 37 of Mahogany 1

“We getting breakfast?” Hazel asked. “Munchies and I don’t want no cold ass pizza.”

I guess I woke everyone up with my alarm.

“Y’all can order something. I’ll eat whatever,” I said, climbing out of the bed, avoiding Sienna whose feet were in my face. “I have to go over this client profile before I go into the office.”

“You’re going into the office?” Sienna asked, on high alert. “I thought maybe we could have a part two today. Brunch and mimosas.”

She was worried about me. All night last night, I caught her staring at me with this… look on her face. I had to give her reassuring smiles every time I caught her. It didn’t upset me. Like, at all. Not like I thought it would for her to know that something was wrong. It actually gave me a bit of comfort. Just to know that I could bare it all… that I could drop the mask for a bit… and just be me, emotionally raw, and not be judged or really questioned about it. I was close with both my sisters growing up, but it was something about Pandora’s that made Sienna, and I grow closer.

“Yeah, I have to. Today was the only available time slot for the month. You know I hate working on Saturdays but you know I love securing clients more.” I lightly laughed, in an effort to show her I was okay. “We can do happy hour. The meeting shouldn’t last that long.”

“Happy hour sounds good to me,” Naoki said with a stretch.

Hazel turned over and said, “I can’t do happy hour. Me and bae goin’ out.”

“Look at this bitch,” Naoki said with a smile, playfully shoving Hazel. “You in love, Haze’?”

Hazel blushed and pushed her back. “Gone on somewhere!” She said through a smile.

My baby was rarely ever in a serious relationship but the one she was in now was a completely different story. What got me was the fact that the person she was with was a woman. It took a lesbian relationship to really tame her free-spirited ways. We thought it was cute, but our mother? Shit, she was about ready to blow a gasket any time Hazel mentioned or brought her girlfriend, Tuesdai around.

“Well, happy hour minus one,” Sienna said. “I’ll just drop my two off at mommas before we link. Where you want to go?”

I walked over to the table for my messenger bag to get to work. “It don’t matter Si. You pick, since it’s your idea.”

This was different. The dynamic switch. As big sis, I was usually the one trying to make sure they were straight. My little sisters. It felt good to be catered to. Felt good not to wear that superwoman, Mahogany saves the day cape. I wondered how long it would last before things went back to normal and my truth was forgotten about.

“So you okay?”asked my dad, on the other end of the phone.

“Yes, dad. I’m fine. I just needed a day,” I said, as I swiped around on my iPad, steady going over today’s portfolio.

About two hours later, I was at the firm, preparing for my meeting, on the phone with my daddy pretending that yesterday did not happen. Trying to at least. He kept asking if I was okay and talked shit about ‘fucking Duke up if he hurt his baby girl’. My dad was a mess. Loved all three of his daughters with his whole heart and treated us like princesses instead of grown ass women. As nice as it was, I needed to get off the phone before my mother woke up. The last thing I needed to hear about was how wives didn’t sleep outside of the house without their husbands. A whole bunch of bullshit I’d been dealing with since I got with Duke’s ass. My mom was like that. All righteous and stuck to her vows. Hell, it was her fault I was in the mess I was in. The first time Duke cheated, I ran to her, told her how he broke my heart and how I planned to leave him. She sent my ass right back to the house and told me not to be out telling my business. Said men matured slower and that I needed to forgive him becausethe flesh was weak, but the heart was willing. A lot of bullshit a nineteen-year-old little girl should not have had to hear. What I didn’t know then was that that was the start of conditioning that would follow me for the rest of my relationship and marriage. So yeah… the very, very, very last person I wanted to hear from was Evelyn Mills,theeStepford wife.

I sighed and on cue, my daddy caught it. “What’s that sighing about then, NeNe? Na, I’m really not tryin’ to be up in y’all business but?—”

“Daddy I’m preparing for one of the biggest meetings of my career. This ain’t got nothing to do with Duke or anything else, alright? I told you I was good, old man.”

I was good.

I left the broken, battered Mahogany on the other side of Couture’s doors, remember? I had my game face on, ready to secure the biggest deal of my career. Next to talking to Evelyn, the last thing I needed was to worry about a Ducati muthafucking Morris. He’d ruined enough for me; I wasn’t letting him get in the way of work too.

“Alright Pickles, I hear ya,” he said with a light laugh. “Breathe baby.”

Pickles was my nickname. For him it was, at least. I loved them. Growing up, I would eat a jar in a day if they didn’t tell me not to. I still ate them. Religiously, too. Ironically, the only time I hated them was when I was pregnant.

“The meeting starts in an hour, and I just need?—”

“What I always tell you if we talk before these meetings?”

“I can do it,” I paused, steady flipping through Skylight Industries TikTok account. This was nothing new. I treated every client the same when it came to briefing. That was why I had secured as many as I did. But this one? This one could take Couture to new heights so a bitch was nervous. Probablyshould’ve spent last night prepping instead of getting drunk and high. Or at least gotten up earl?—

“Confidence, NeNe,” My dad said, pulling me out of my thoughts, right at the brink of me having an anxiety attack. “You excel at everything you do. And you’re worried about some company choosing you? Those muthafucka and any other muthafuckas you meet with would be a fool not to partner with you. You aretheeMahogany Mills-Morris. Top interior designer in the region, baby girl. When that meeting starts, you better not be on no scary shit. Claim it! You know what you did? I mean… really. You know but you don’t know. You are a walking testament baby. Shake that shit off and turn into the boss you were born to be.”

I dropped a couple of tears. Shit. I was so got damn emotional it made no sense. My makeup would need to be touched up, for sure. I was a boss. I did life as if I was a warrior. Handled challenges like they meant absolutely nothing but sometimes I wasn’t as confident. Didn’t have that umph. I was intimidated and I wasn’t intimidated often. In all actuality, I was afraid of failure. I’d talked so much about the meeting today, that I was afraid that I’d be knocked off my high horse. Afraid that all of the positive, cocky shit about securing the deal would be diminished by a rejection.It had to be what I was going through with Duke. Couldn’t be anything else.

“I hear you daddy. I got this,” I fronted.

“You do. That contract is yours baby girl. Now, wipe your tears and fix yourself up. Call me as soon as the meeting is over with the good news.”

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