Truth Meets Love (2 page)

When I open the door and see the beautiful face that shines back at me, holding a bouquet of wildflowers just below her chin, my heart fills to levels of warmth that almost feel like pain. Macey is smiling up at me with her tongue pressed in the space where her two front teeth used to hold residence, and she thrusts the flowers up toward my chest as far as she can reach as she says, "Here Hadley, Daddy let me pick these for you, and Pugs helped me write the card."

Pugs is standing behind, grinning down at the shimmering black locks of this little angel on earth. "This little ray of sunshine couldn't even settle herself long enough to eat one of my fresh-baked cinnamon rolls after her Daddy brought her over this morning before work. She had to get these flowers to you for your big day because she is convinced they will be a 'power-source' for you."

Just then Macey lifts her fist and holds it up for me to bump as we chant in unison, "GIRL-POWER!" It is an inside pact between Macey and me that we girls stick together and draw strength from each other.

Dez, her late mother, and I started the pact 10 years prior, after we met in the parking lot outside the campus library late one night. I was walking to my car after hours of studying for finals and conducting research for a project in one of my classes when I heard muffled hissing sounds and what I now understand was boots dragging on the ground. I searched the parking lot and sea of cars to identify what it might be and when nothing seemed out of the ordinary, I unlocked my car door and pulled it open. Just then I heard a loud, low grunt and then a woman's angry voice bellow, "OH NO, the fuck you don't! Get OFF ME! HELP!" It was coming from a few rows of cars away from where I was parked.

I didn't think; I didn't have time to. I just threw all of my books and laptop bag across my front seat. Then I reached down and grabbed the tire iron from underneath the driver's seat. My heart was thundering in my chest. There was a loud roar humming through my head and out both my ears. I couldn't feel anything but my death grip on the cold metal in my hand. I rounded the backend of a pickup bed and saw a strewn line of personal items laying across the ground: a canvas bag with contents scattered everywhere, books, a phone, makeup. I followed the trail to a row of bushes lining the outside of the lot, where there were two long grooves cut out of the grass, and ducked behind a clearing in the bushes. I heard the low hiss and then a thud followed by a whimper and another thud. I pulled the LED light from my keychain in my sweatshirt pocket and shone the faint light out in front of me to locate the area that I heard the sounds coming from. I swung my line of sight around, and my light caught a mass to the left, just on the edge of the row of bushes.

I pressed toward the figure, adrenaline pumping from every pore, tire iron held back, cocked and ready. As I closed in, the man straddling the woman on the ground heard my approach and swung around. I saw a shiny glint by his hand as I felt a sting and burn down my side just as the iron in my right hand connected with the side of his head. I stumbled back and felt warmth oozing down my side, but I brought the iron back up just as he recovered his balance. He reached for the girl beneath him and pulled her head up by the black mane of hair falling around her face. He roughly pulled her head back and plastered her back to his front. The blood-tinged knife blade was pressed up against the side of her neck, just below her jaw. He let her hair go and closed his grip around her upper arms and chest, squeezing her to him as he kept the knife pressed to her throat.

It was the first time I could really focus and see her face. Dez was small and had a slight slant to her almond-shaped, huge black eyes. She had high cheekbones and a lot of long black hair. She was distressed but composed and alert. She didn't plead cry or scream, which I was thankful for, because it would have made the experience that much more terrifying and amped up the tension. She was focused and almost seemed to be deep in concentration.

Just then her eyes met mine. They were black and determined. Dez planted her boots into the ground and her hands against his forearm holding her and then threw the back of her head into his face. I heard a crunch and then I swung the iron down on the arm still wielding the knife. It fell from his hands and she scrambled out of his grasp and reached for me.

I pulled her to me, holding the tire iron ready to unleash another strike. We started to back up and held tightly to each other. The feel of warm thumping hearts beating against each other started to send a calm over me and restored my survival instincts. He started to get up from his knees and I saw a steady stream of dark liquid pouring from his nose. My coal-eyed appendage stiffened against me and pulled back from me slightly. Dez released one of my forearms she had been tightly gripping and swung her boot back and then connected under his jaw with the ferocity of a field goal kicker… two steps, lights out! I grabbed the knife from where it had fallen out of his hand. He fell hard to the ground, heaving with loud gurgling sounds reverberating around us, and we squeezed back together, iron bar raised, and started to back away.

I am brought out from my dark thoughts as a warm, soft hand clutches my two fingers and pulls me into the kitchen to put the flowers on display and read me her card. Macey steers me to the chaise lounge flanking the breakfast bar and sits next to me, pulling the card from the bouquet and placing it across my lap. I grab Macey in a hug and hold her close as I feel her heart beating fast against me. I pull the card from the envelope and begin to read aloud, "Roses are red, violets are blue; no matter the color of flowers, they will never be as beautiful to me as you! Kick Some Tail Today! Love, Pugs, Tyler and Macey." My heart swells and triples its pace as these moments pass with the sweetest, most adorable child grinning up at me. She breaks my heart so completely and heals it with my next breath. She's beautiful with those soulful black eyes. She's Dez.

The complex we live in has four townhouses in a line facing the street. There are two-car garages between each of our units within the same complex. The last unit in the row as you turn on to our street is mine, and I have owned the complex since I was 22. Pugs had found the jackpot online when she moved out from South Dakota to help me find a place to buy. I got it for a steal, and there were even improvement allowances built in to the closing. My current tenants consist of a single father, Tyler, and his five-year-old daughter Macey, who occupy the unit next door to mine. On their other side is Betty, better known to Tyler, Macey and me as "Pugs." The last unit was just vacated by my 25-year-old assistant Shelby, who found love with the head of our IT department. Shelby and Marcus are now the proud co-owners of a four-bed, three-bath ranch-style home just outside of town.

After Dez got sick and I knew my MBA was paid for by Greyson Capital, Inc., I didn't need all the money I had saved for my education. Instead, I put it to even better use. I pulled the down payment from my savings and let my little pack of punches, Pugs, negotiate the details. She had more experience with these things and I had my hands full. Pugs offered to assist with the down payment but I refused. She had done so much for me already, and it was important to me to do this on my own. It was my first real "home purchase." However, I needed a place where Dez could be comfortable, too. I also made sure it would accommodate Pugs and me so we could be close to Tyler, Dez and Macey to help take care of them. Although this was for convenience, it was also to give Dez peace of mind. It was a way to make sure Dez understood I got her message loud and clear. She didn't have to worry about Tyler and Macey and I wanted to make sure she knew they were always going to remain an important part of my life once she was gone.

I will never forget when she told me that she had breast cancer. She was so calm, composed and brave. She had stopped by my place unannounced one evening. She had already made up her mind about continuing her pregnancy, even after she had gotten the news the day before, all the time knowing that not pursuing aggressive treatment immediately would lower her chances of being able to fight it before it was too late. It was like she was staring down the barrel of a partially loaded weapon, knowing her chances of escaping a fatal blow were minimal.

I was in shock. I was angry at her at the time for not fighting to save herself. I love Dez so much, and I still feel guilty every time I look at Macey now and think back to that conversation. However, Dez got me to see her point, as always. Her argument was that there was no guarantee at that stage she would even survive after the treatments were started, and she would never forgive herself for terminating the pregnancy if she lived through it, anyway. She wanted me to make sure Macey knew how much Dez loved her and how important it was to have her. She didn't want all the focus put on what Dez sacrificed to bring Macey into this world. She said she didn't want Macey thinking that she would ever choose to leave her without a mother or that Dez regretted that she chose to continue her plan to have Macey once she found out about the breast cancer. She was afraid Macey might feel like it was her fault, and Dez wanted her to know that it was the only peace and light she had to look forward to. She felt she was leaving this world with a better piece of her. Macey was a dream come true in Dez's life and it was her dying wish that Macey always knew that.

I remember I broke from my tears and laughed when she instructed me to burn the box in her extra bedroom closet that contained old love letters from ex-boyfriends. She said they were not of any value to her anymore, and she didn't want Macey or Tyler to ever have to read them. She was also adamant that I not bring up some of the things she might have done back in our wilder days. I can already tell Macey is going to have a few of those stories of her own. She is her mother's child, after all!

Dez got choked up, resigned to her fate, when she asked me to make sure I talked to Mace about her, since she probably wouldn't remember much about her Mom and I knew her best. Then I couldn't contain the sobs that followed when she asked me to make sure Tyler and Macey don't miss their chance at love. She took this opportunity to let me know that setting an example and being open to finding love for myself might be a good place to start when that time came.

I pull Macey's cheek to my face with my hand as I bend down to her so she is peering up at me. I see Dez so I kiss her forehead followed by, "Mace, thank you for being the first love of my life to bring me flowers, and that poem will be branded on my heart forever. It was beautiful just like you." Mace grins and that little gap in her teeth shows bright. My heart breaks. I set Mace to the ground and run both my hands over her hair and put the long black strand behind her ear. I give Pugs a hug as she and Mace make their way to the door and trail down the walk to try one of those cinnamon rolls.

Chapter TWO

WORKING GIRL

Hadley-

I come into my office and pull my laptop from its case, along with the presentation slides for the close of the $860M merger I am championing today. It is my first official day in my newly-appointed role as SVP of Acquisitions and Mergers at Greyson Capital, Inc. I have two hours to prepare the room before the suits begin folding in. I check my phone and see I have two text messages. There is one from a potential renter in response to the ad Shelby, my assistant and former tenant, listed in the company newsletter about the vacant unit in my complex. They would like to set up a time to meet. I quickly browse my schedule and respond with an invite for 8PM tomorrow evening.

The other is from Mr. Greyson, my CEO and the largest shareholder in the company, who has asked that I come to his office ASAP. There is someone that he wants me to meet. I sigh slightly at the realization that this is probably what my new role entails. It seems there may now be less focus on studying files on my laptop and analyzing data and asset quality and more face-to-face meetings. The close of the deals was just the beginning of the work that lies ahead to consolidate organizations and hundreds of millions of assets. I liked the challenge, the intensity and mostly the camaraderie of my compadres on the team. We have coined our new execution strategy as, "We either find a way or make one." We have six months to completely consolidate and enfold Mathis Engineering, Inc. into the commercial and government construction projects and development sectors of an affiliated entity of Greyson Capital, Inc.

Behind e-mails Hadley could be a man, and the statistics and strategies for solutions and investment opportunities would have more credibility with them… you know, coming from a MAN. Deals I would manage would be closed by Mr. Greyson, and I could stay in the background. I could be like the puppet master. I could continue to focus on organizing the team, aligning vendors to consolidate systems, infrastructure migrations, and security details.

My new position requires me to come out from behind the scenes, and it opens up some of my inner vulnerabilities. However, I keep moving my legs in strong, confident strides through hall to the office just two doors from mine and give myself the pep talk. I like to focus on the work keep my eye on the wider scope. Mr. Greyson says that is of my strongest qualities. I see the possibilities and fill the steps to lead and direct resources there, as opposed to letting results or outcomes steer my direction.

It shouldn't matter that I am a 29-year-old woman and not a 35 to 50-year-old male if I can do the job. The 35 to 50-year-old male populace makes up 100% of my peer base. They don't seem to share the sentiment.
Pussies
.

Let's see, I have been discussed over beers in gross detail. Marcus got into a fist-fight with our previous Chief Accounting Officer for spouting his mouth about what he would like me to do with mine at a gathering after work. Mr. Greyson must have caught wind and not appreciated the comments any more than I did when I heard about it. We were only CAO-less for two months before they found Sam, and he's the bomb.

I have been ogled, propositioned, asked to make travel arrangements, get the coffee for the meeting… you know, all part of being a woman in a man's world. My all-time favorite was the invitation I received from our Director of Marketing, which is now an outsourced function.