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He opened a folder and passed me several sheets of paper. I quickly glanced at the billion-dollar numbers as he continued to talk.
“Do you remember when we first met, and you were trying to get me to come here to this bank as a client?” he asked.
“Vividly, you shot me down cold,” I answered.
“I thought your ideas were genius level ideas, but as we discussed, I only want a black bank handling my money,” he returned.
“You did compliment me on my presentation before you said no. I get it though, Hotep Bank is doing great by you.”
“They are, but they don’t have anyone as smart as you are on their team. This business model,” he pointed to the paper in front of me, “is based off what you and I discussed that day.”
I looked down at the paper and saw that indeed, some of the money moves were my idea.
“You want to bring your business here?”
“Absolutely not. I want to take you with me to Hotep. I’ve been in discussions with them about the corporation, but I know that they don’t have anyone on their team with the expertise to pull this off, but you do. I want you to run The Valentine Corporation banking division. Hotep will underwrite it, for now, so you would be their employee. After a couple years, I want it to be independent,” Samuel explained.
“You’re asking me to leave my bank and go to work for Hotep?”
“Yes. I know you’ve been here for a while and I know that your salary is good. You give us the number you want to earn, and I will make sure we match it plus add the executive title behind your name. Since I got out of the hospital, my goal has been to make sure my entire family is positioned to make history. That’s what I’m asking you to do, make history with the Valentine Corporation. When we pull this off, businesses around the world are going to follow this blueprint. They will come to you for leadership and direction. When they do, you will be in a position to help them and get a cut of their earnings. When they come to you, if you want, you can work with them independent of Valentine Corporation. You can start Abernathy Wealth Management or something like that. It’s just an idea. Lastly, I would also like for you and Key to consider purchasing some of the properties in the area around the community centers that we are building. I think it would be a great opportunity to flip them and make a nice profit.”
I was speechless, caught off guard, and surprised. Getting Samuel Valentine as one of my bank’s clients was a dream of mine. I’d given up hope after he shot me down, but now he was asking me to run his banking division and invest in his business ventures. I was honored.
“I will have to think about this, Samuel. As you know, I have a lot going on at the moment.”
“I’m not asking for a definitive yes or no right now. I want you to meet with the Hotep staff to get a feel for how things are run. Give me some feedback then make a decision,” Samuel said.
“I will. Thanks.”
Keeva
I stood in the mirror looking at my outfit choice for the evening. I had an unlimited wardrobe since Averie was pregnant and had quickly outgrown all her clothes. It was Kerem’s and my do-over date. The first one was a disaster, but he promised me that the second one would be much better. He told me to dress comfortably again, so I wore a red and white striped t-shirt with a pair of jeans from Averie’s closet that fit me like a glove. I put on my red wedge sandals and wore my weave up in a ponytail.
Stepping out of the room, I found Kerem standing near the bar in a pair of blue jeans that hugged his ass and legs just right. I quietly admired him. He looked up from his phone and caught me staring.
“You see something you like?” He asked.
“Yep,” I said and pulled my bottom lip between my teeth.
“C’mere,” he said while beckoning me with his finger.
“Naw, I’m not that easy. I don’t put out on the first date.”
“Oh yeah? We will see about that,” he said while slowly perusing my body with his eyes. “You ready to go?”
“I am.”
He reached for my hand and laced his fingers in mine.
“I’m digging those jeans, Mrs. Abernathy.”
“Thank you, Mr. Abernathy.”
We pulled from the curb headed to our destination.
“I had a fascinating meeting today,” Kerem said.
“Oh yeah?”
