Internally, Tamika panicked. She had clearly said something wrong. All she’d done was agree. Should she have said something else? Was she being too greedy?
“My dear,” Sylvie began, “TamCam Cosmetics is your baby, andyoushould retain control. My initial offer was going to be fifty-one/forty-nine, with you keeping fifty-one percent. But before we get deep into the numbers, you should hire legal counsel to help you with the negotiations. There are going to be a lot of changes, with your input, of course. But you, my dear, will need to have someone on your team protecting your interests. Because I assure you, I will be protecting mine. Do you understand?”
Tamika swallowed and nodded. “Yes, I understand.”
“We will be investing quite a lot of money into your company. I hope you are prepared for what is to come.”
“I am,” Tamika said.
“Do you have any questions for us?” Ella asked.
“Nothing right now. I guess I’ll wait to see what your offer is,” Tamika said.
“We’d like to get started right away,” Ella told her.
Tamika straightened her shoulders and sat up straighter in the chair. “As soon as you send over your offer, I’ll run it by my attorney.”
A slight smile lifted the corners of Sylvie’s lips. “Good.” She stood. “Thank you for coming. Ella will show you out.”
They shook hands. Sylvie’s was a firm handshake, but not overly done, and she looked Tamika directly in the eyes. She slipped on her glasses and strode back to her desk.
Tamika followed Ella out of the office.
At the elevator, Ella said, “Expect to hear from us very soon.”
“Thank you,” Tamika said.
“We look forward to doing business with you. Have a good day, Miss Jones.”
I will now! she wanted to scream. Instead, she nodded, saying politely, “You do the same.”
She entered the elevator and rode it all the way to the bottom. On the twenty-minute ride to the apartment, she sat quietly in the back seat of the limo, heart thumping, overwhelmed by the meeting, awestruck when she thought about how her life was about to change.
The driver dropped her off at the apartment, and after she let herself inside, she closed the door, leaned back against it—and screamed.
21
The day had arrived to talk to her father, and in a few minutes he’d knock on the door.
Tamika’s father was from St. Kitts in the Caribbean, and as old-fashioned and protective as they come. He believed in gender roles, though he’d been insistent that she and her sister get a good education so they could take care of themselves. Somehow he never saw an issue with those conflicting ideologies.
She hadn’t been home in a while, and there were other issues they needed to discuss before she broached the topic of her pregnancy, so Anton went to pick up lunch, giving her time to talk to her father alone.
She paced the floor, and when her father knocked, she hurried over and opened the door.
“Hi, daddy!” She flung herself into his arms.
Linwood Jones was a tall, burly man with a bald head and salt and pepper beard. As always, he was dressed casually, this time in jeans and a plaid shirt. He pulled her into a snug hug and squeezed her tight. Growing up he hadn’t been affectionate, but after her mother’s passing, the hugs became more frequent, and he often told her that he loved her.
He stepped back and took a good look at her. “You look happy,” he said.
His deep voice still carried his lilting Caribbean accent.
“That’s because I am happy.”
“Good, good.”
He entered and immediately began inspecting the apartment, eyes scouring the photos on the wall that now included pictures of Tamika and Anton together.
