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“I didn’t expect you to be. But you were so strong-willed, vivacious, and ready to take on the world. I refuse to believe that the old Adrienne has disappeared forever.”
Adrienne knew that if Lloyd had come back into her life just a year earlier, he wouldn’t be so disappointed. It was as though Delilah’s horrible death had removed the stuffing from her insides. But that was not a story she was ready to tell him.
“It’s like you’re surrounded by some kind of mist.”
“We’re different people now, Lloyd, and that is as it should be. Now, stop talking crazy like that and let’s talk about something else, like why you changed your name.”
The waiter came back with their dinner. Lloyd didn’t answer until the waiter had arranged their plates and departed.
Lloyd grimaced. “Your tone is very judgmental. How many black men with low-class ghetto names like LaMar Jenkins have you ever seen running a Fortune five hundred company?”
Adrienne shook her head. “None, I guess. But you shouldn’t have to give up such a big part of who you are to get ahead.”
His brows were furrowed again. “Nonsense. People do it all the time in show business. Cary Grant’s real name was Archibald Alexander Leach. If a record company had presented you with a five-million-dollar contract, and the only condition was that you change your name to Patti Pularski, what would you have done?”
Adrienne couldn’t think of anything to say. Lloyd had made his point. They both knew what her answer would have been.
“That’s what I thought.” Lloyd sounded triumphant.
“Eat your food,” Adrienne said gently. “It’s getting cold.”
She searched her mind for something pleasant to talk about, but she was so surprised by what Lloyd had said that she gave up and just ate. After a while she said, “This is delicious.”
Lloyd took another bite of his filet mignon. “They cook a mean steak, too.”
“How did you find this place?”
“John Elliott and his wife bought me here my first night in town.” Lloyd grimaced. “Speaking of John, he isn’t very happy with me these days.”
So that’s why she hadn’t heard from Lloyd in so long. “Why not?”
He sighed and wiped his mouth. “On the day Mallory Guest was supposed to sign our contract, she asked me a question and didn’t like the answer I gave her. So now Ms. Guest is thinking things over. She isn’t sure about the job anymore.”
Adrienne’s heart sank. That’s why he was in such a bad mood. It looked as though she was going to stay stuck in the secretarial bull pen. “Can you tell me about it?”
Lloyd shrugged. “Why not? Mallory read the contract and then asked if PWE Multicultural will use the art, production, and writing personnel that we currently have on staff. Her voice sounded edgy but I ignored it. I told her that the person I hire will have to recruit a whole new staff of talent.”
“What did she say?” asked Adrienne.
“She said that the new creative director would have to raid the staffs of African-American-owned advertising agencies to find the qualified people.”
Adrienne frowned. “That’s terrible.”
Lloyd was clearly taken aback, but he recovered quickly. “Raid is a pretty strong word,” he replied smoothly. “I prefer to think that PWE Multicultural will simply invite interested parties to join our team.”
“I’ll bet she didn’t like the sound of that any better than I do.”
“No, she didn’t,” Lloyd admitted. “She said if every mainstream ad agency follows this trend, the African-American-owned ad agencies will cease to exist.”
“Would you really let that happen?”
“I had not given any thought to the issue until Mallory raised it, but I certainly don’t want that to happen. I told her a small fib to buy myself some time to think. I told her that I had considered the possible ramifications, but I wasn’t prepared to discuss my solution with her until she took the job.”
“You should have been a politician. Go on.”
“Mallory smiled like a game show hostess and said that unless she agreed with my solution in advance, she wouldn’t be joining PWE at all.”
“So now you’re trying to come up with a solution?” Adrienne guessed.
