Page 5 of Token

“Oh, you wound me!” Kennedy exclaimed, feigning affront. “Is my word not good enough anymore?”

Aurora snickered. “Hey, I know you.”

“Have faith, Ror. I’m going to get a fantastic job. Speaking of which, can wefinallyget to the reason I called?” she asked, breathless excitement back in her voice.

“Of course. What’s up? You sound jazzed.” The distant blare of an ambulance could be heard in the background.

“I’ve just been tokenized,” Kennedy stated in her brightestfake it till you make itvoice. “Butit looks like it’s going to pay off for me this time.”

“Wait—hold on. Let me put my earbuds in. The traffic out here is too damn loud,” Aurora muttered, and after a pause said, “Okay, now back the truck up and tell me what happened and whose ass I need to kick.”

Kennedy chuckled at the image that came to mind. Mama Bear Vaughn to the rescue clad in skinny jeans and a pair of Jimmy Choo heels, wielding a Gucci shoulder bag. Fierce.

“You heard me. But here’s the thing—for once, being the token Black female in theentirecompany comes with benefits. At two o’clock, I’m going to meet Sahara, the Desert Queen, herself.” She paused a dramatic beat to allow the news to sink in. “Andthey’re paying me ten grand to do it.” Had she not been out in public, she would havesqueedwith joy. This must be how people felt when they won the lottery, because let’s face it—this was the closest she’d ever come.

Several seconds of “street noise” followed her announcement. She heard the occasional car horn, but apparently her friend was speechless.

“You’ve got to be shitting me.” Aurora sounded semi-outraged and flummoxed at the same time.

“Shitting about which part? Meeting Sahara or the money I’m being paid to do it?”

“I don’t know. All of it, I guess. How is being a token ever a good thing, and how the hell are you getting to meet Sahara?”

After Kennedy calmly recounted her meeting with Mr. Mullins, Aurora exclaimed, “They’re paying you ten thousand dollars for that?”

“Yeah, but listen, there’s more.”

“How much more can there be?”

Kennedy flashed a smile at the couple taking up residence at the table next to hers, lowered her voice, and told Aurora what she’d learned from Sally in HR about Sahara walking out of the meeting yesterday.

Aurora let out a short burst of laughter. “Oh my god, I love it! You know what this means, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I’m ten grand richer.”

“I’m not just talking about the money.”

“You haven’t seen my bank balance,” Kennedy remarked dryly. “Right now, moneyismy number one priority.”

“No,” Aurora said, a note of urgency to her tone. “Listen to me. Right now, they need you a lot more than you need them.”

“Again, my bank balance begs to differ.”

“Ken, if things go the way I think they will, they’re going to offer you a job. And you’re going to negotiate yourself a salary fifteen percent—no, twenty percent—higher than what you made at your last job.”

Kennedy let out a dismissive huff. “Why on earth would they offer me a job? They’re already paying me a small fortune just to attend the meeting.” Although, to be fair, ten grand didn’t go as far in New York as it would in North Carolina. She couldn’t afford a Birkin handbag, but she could pay down her interest-compounding student loan.

“This isn’t a one-and-done deal, Ken. They’re going to need you, if for nothing else, for show.”

“Yeah, but—”

“No buts. They’re going to offer you a job and you’re going to negotiate yourself the biggest raise you’ve ever had. And while you’re at it, make sure to ask for a signing bonus, and don’t take anything less than ten thousand, got it?”

In the midst of sipping lemonade, Kennedy nearly choked. “Are you serious?”

“Trust me, this is the stuff I do for a living, and these guys are currently operating in crisis mode. Without you, they’re sunk.”

When Maureen instructed her to go on in and make herself comfortable, Kennedy hadn’t expected that when she entered,you could hear a pin dropsilence would descend on the conference room, or seven pairs of eyes would lock in on her like heat-seeking missiles.

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