Page 13 of Tell Me I'm Not Dreaming
Artie waves away her concern. “Well, if these rich kids would just get a group chat or a fucking diary, they wouldn’t have all these problems.”
“We also wouldn’t have jobs, sir,” Lyric jokes.
“Touché.” Artie grins.
Ranson returns. Artie moves out of his way and lets him in.
Ranson looks at him. “Artie! How are you? How are Chris and Izzie doing? Tell them congratulations for me.”
“I’m doing well, and so are they. I’ll tell them you asked about them. Congratulations on the newest member of the Hamilton brood.”
“He’ll be a Lawrence but thank you. Mike is very excited to be a mom.” Ranson smiles tellingly.
Lyric sees how excited Ranson is to be an uncle again. She also thinks it’s cute that he calls his sister, Michaela, Mike.
Stop it, girl, focus.Remember your poker face.This man is a client.A fine ass, kind-hearted, sexy client that smells hella good, but a client none-the-less.
“It was good seeing you, Ranson. I bid you both adieu,” Artie says.
“Bye, Art,” Lyric replies.
Artie leaves, and Ranson closes the door behind him before taking a seat in front of Lyric’s desk.
“Ms. Fuqua?—”
“Lyric. You can call me Lyric.”
“Lyric Fuqua. That’s quite a name.”
“Lyric Annalise Fuqua. And my mother said she knew I was meant for greatness, and she wanted my name to stand out.”
“Good job, Momma Fuqua.” He smirks.
“We’re supposed to be talking about how we can assure that your father doesn’t tear down your business.”
“Of course, but you can’t blame me for wanting to get to know you. We are going to be working closely together.”
The way he sayscloselymakes Lyric’s poker face slip for a second. She bites her lip, then quickly realizes what she’s done and corrects herself.
“Nice save. You fixed your face almost quick enough for me to not catch that lip bite.” He winks.
Heat creeps up her cheeks, but she tells herself to stop tripping before her brown skin reveals her innermost thoughts.
“Focus, Ranson.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Was that a twang I heard?
Can’t be. All the Hamiltons are born and bred in Los Angeles. Lyric was born and raised in Memphis, but her family relocated when she was five. Her accent isn’t nearly as heavy as it once was. She wanted to fit in at school, so she taught herself how to speak without one. It’s not that Lyric didn’t like her accent, she just didn’t want to be teased. On the contrary, she loves Southern dialects. Especially on Black men! Truth be told, Southern brothers are her kryptonite.
“Good. Now the plan I have will call for you to let the businesses you’ve helped know that there will be changes coming down the pipeline. Is there a way for you to find another source of capital without your father getting wind of it?”
“Doubtful. Again, he has his hands in everything concerning us. He has ears everywhere. If we’re the Lannisters, then Morris is his own personal Lord Varys.”
Morris being Morris DuBose. The personal assistant to Parker Hamilton. He’s known for doing sneaky underhanded things to help Parker get the upper hand on his competitors.
“Then we’ll just have to be sneakier than Mr. DuBose,” Lyric proclaims.
