AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter One
Mira
Being a black woman doing a man's job is tough, but I am tougher and harder than nails. I get the job done, and that’s why clients keep trooping to my construction company in droves. When I first started in the industry, many of the men in the business were uncomfortable around me. They often turned their noses up at me or tried to talk over my head. Some clients were afraid a woman would mess up their jobs. There were also clients who said they couldn't hire me because of their wives (as if I wanted to sleep with every male customer that booked me). There was this one time when a man contacted me to build a house for his family. Everything was good to go. He’d picked out the floor plan, the outside design, and I’d done a rundown of the pricing. Then, when his wife met me, the first thing she wanted to know was if I was married or not.
“We can’t do business with a woman who has no family, Terry,” she’d said looking visibly disturbed by my womanhood. “I wouldn’t feel comfortable with you meeting with her alone, and that would mean I would have to take more time off work than necessary, so I could be there,” she told her husband as I sat there in awe.
I spent the next twenty minutes trying to convince the woman I was qualified for the job, and I worked with the utmost professionalism. She still declined to work with my company because I was a woman.
“Well, it sounds as if you need to time travel back into the 60s when women were barefoot and pregnant,” were my last words to her before I cut my eyes in her husband’s direction and said, “And thanks for wasting my time!”
In the beginning, it was rough. I could have given up then. But my doggedness, determination, passion, and love for architecture brought me to the point of being respected in the industry.
M&M Construction was a name to reckon with, and we had won several awards. Recently, we won two national construction awards. The focus of my company was delivering excellence and cost-effective construction solutions. That accomplishment earned us the Project New York City Skyline contract, which comprised of the building of seven skyscrapers, each with intricate designs.
“Hello, Miss McBride,” Joe’s voice broke into my thoughts, and I smiled at my foreman as he made his way toward me.
Work was ongoing at the construction site, and we had all hands on deck, working hard to have the first building completed before the deadline.
“Hey, Joe,” I replied.
He stood beside me, and we looked at the uncompleted site. I saw the excitement in his eyes that mirrored mine. Building a new house or taking on a new skyscraper project came with its ups and downs, but in the end, it was worth the stress. I felt fulfilled when I saw the delight on the faces of my clients. This was a huge project, and although we would meet the deadline, we still had to do our best until the job was done. Joe had been my foreman for the last five years, and he was like family. I could always count on Joe to get the job done.
“What do you think?” I asked. “We are gonna make it on time, right?”
He nodded and braced his muscled arms on his chest. Joe was tall and muscular with sandy brown hair and olive skin. He had a charming personality and an optimist view of everything, which was why I liked him.
“Of course,” Joe replied. “We’ll meet the deadline and clinch another award with the work that’s being done here.”
I laughed. “That’s what I want to hear.”
Optimism and hard work were the only things I would accept from anyone in a managing spot in my company. Two of the masons came down carrying some equipment; however, upon seeing I was on the site, they scurried away before I could look at them good. Everyone on my team worked hard because they knew it was required, and my mere presence was a reminder of that obligation.
“So…” Joe started to say something, but someone called out his name, cutting him off.
“Joe!” A tall, well-proportioned, chestnut-haired man with the thickest brown brows approached Joe. He wore faded denim jeans and a loose gray shirt. He looked confident, and while I liked confident men, I didn’t know why I didn’t like this man’s disposition. Maybe it was because he was marred with cockiness and arrogance that swished around him in the air as if it would blow anyone over that he wanted to cross. If there's anything I loathed in this world, it’s arrogant people.
This man didn't walk. Instead, he sauntered with a swagger that gave him a roguish persona. Besides being strikingly handsome, he had a full beard that added to a grown and sexy look that worked for him. His reddish-brown hair was tousled by the wind, and a wisp of hair had strayed to his temple. He easily brushed it back with the tips of his big fingers as he looked at me. His eyes were so beautiful that I couldn't stop staring into them. It grated my nerves to know I allowed myself to ogle him. I knew men like him. He either treated women like they weren’t their equal or felt he could get away with anything he wanted by flashing a sexy smile.
Not with this girl!
The longer I stared at him, the more his face looked familiar. I couldn't remember where I had seen him before as he shook hands with Joe without sparing another glance in my direction.
“Good morning, Mr. Levine,” Joe said cheerily. “This is—”
"Joe, your company is doing well, and I'd like to schedule a meeting with you to talk about acquiring it. It’s going to be a lot of good money in it for you, Joe," the man’s brash voice spat out, authoritatively. As if what he’d just barked out was not anyone’s choice but the final word. "Come to my office tomorrow so we can go over the details. What time are you available? Say around 11? Is that fine?"
What? I screamed in my head and clenched my fists tightly. Who is this big head who thinks he can march in here talking about buying M&M without even talking to me? Whoever he is, he has some serious issues.
Joe blanched, looking pale as the color drained from his face. He turned to me, and the color had returned, but he was beet red.
“Mr. Levine, this is my—” Joe said, trying to introduce me before Mr. Levine cut him off again.
"As I was saying, I have done my research, and I discovered that M&M recently won two awards, and it is also one of the best construction companies in America, but how long will that success last? I know you bought it from the black girl that started it, and both of you have done a good job here. But I can make sure that it remains in the number one spot, and take it even further," Mr. Levine bragged. Just as I suspected, he thought the sun rose and fell on his behind.
