.

a shopping day that you didn’t want to miss and you asked me to go on? Remember that?” I recalled never pushing back but only saying, “All good. I got you.”

      Silence filled the kitchen.

      “Fuck it, Kahlil. I will pick her up and reschedule what I have to do since you’re making me feel like a bad mom. Does that satisfy you now, o powerful one? Can I drive the car today?” Janet snapped back, storming out of the kitchen before I could respond.

      I walked to the stairs, held onto the rail, and yelled, “That’s real adultlike! Way to finish a conversation! Iliana, let’s go.”

      “Dad, I can catch the bus today if that will help you and Mom out,” Iliana said after we got into the car.

      “Sweetheart, listen to me very carefully. I work and provide anything you or your mom needs or wants, no questions asked. Because I do this, when I ask your mom for a favor by picking you up after school, then that’s exactly what should happen without any backlash. If she had a doctor’s appointment or something critical like that, fine, we could work something out; but the fact that your mom refused to give details lets me know it’s nothing that important where she couldn’t change up what she had going to come get you, and that’s unacceptable. But don’t you worry. I will have this all resolved when I can get you a car. Work has been so hectic for me to take you to look. It’s not like you made this easy. You should have been driving at sixteen,” I said, winking my eye at her.

      “I know I procrastinated,” Iliana said with this embarrassed look on her face. By the time we pulled up to the school, things were calm once more. I had good conversation with my daughter that changed my attitude.

      “Have a good day, sweetheart,” I said to Iliana once she closed the door to walk up the stairs to school.

      “Thanks, Dad. I hope you have a good day at work,” she replied.

      “Do you have lunch money?” I blurted out the window, catching Iliana’s attention before she could make it to the top of the steps.

      “Yes, Dad!” she yelled back. She stood there laughing at me with embarrassment written all on her face looking around to make sure none of her friends were around as I treated her like a baby. I watched Iliana walk toward the school doors until she was out of sight and then drove off to the office.

      Walking off the elevator onto the thirteenth floor, I was instantly greeted by my assistant, Tammy.

      “Good morning, Mr. Smooth. There are five messages on your desk, and the five o’clock meeting with Chicago Fusion Supplements executives was moved up to one o’clock,” she said.

      “One o’clock! That’s a drastic adjustment. When did this happen?” I asked in shock.

      “I received the call about ten minutes ago. Would you like for me to request another time or just reschedule the meeting altogether?” she asked.

      “No, that’s fine. We will make the necessary adjustments on our end. Make sure to send the communication out to the rest of the team; and I need you to contact the CEO of Minority Clothing Company, Warren Parks, and let him know I need to cancel the luncheon we have today,” I said.

      After getting my schedule straight with Tammy, I got on the phone to call Janet to let her know that I’d be able to get Iliana after all, but there was no answer.

      Chapter 3

      The office phone rang.

      “Undisputed Marketing and Advertising, Kahlil Smooth speaking,” I said over the speaker phone.

      “Kahlil, it’s Warren. I just received a call from your assistant about our lunch meeting today. What’s going on? We need to talk ASAP,” Warren demanded.

      Minority Clothing Company was one of the top men’s urban clothing lines in the United States. Warren enlisted my help because the company was getting ready to expand launching its first ever women’s clothing line. Warren and I were close friends, so he reached out to me first for the opportunity to help expand his brand.

      “What’s up, WP? Man, I have to apologize for canceling so abruptly. Unfortunately, there’s something urgent that I need to tend to that’s forcing me to push our meeting out. I can’t avoid it,” I said.

      “Timing is so critical on my end especially for these next few months. You rescheduling has thrown a big ass wrench in my timeline. Are you sure there’s no way for us to sit down today to review the layouts for the women’s line? I need to have things settled before I fly out for business for the next few months,” Warren explained.

      “Warren, today is virtually impossible for me since my entire schedule was pushed up by four hours. I’ll complete the other upcoming launch within a few days, and after that, you have my word that I will have my team focused and devoted on nothing else but the Minority Clothing women’s line launch until it’s finished,” I pleaded.

      “Smooth, we have approximately ten months before this thing goes off, and I must have things finalized early enough to allow some wiggle room to tweak things just in case a problem arises that we both know will. The last thing I want to happen is to rush or miss some key things and this investment flops. I’m nervous. I’ve invested millions, my brother. I need Undisputed to help me make this a success,” Warren demanded with tension in his voice.

      “I promise you. I’m going to make it happen, WP. Is there any way for us to meet a week from now?”

      “That’s a no go. I’m off to Miami with my talent team to interview potential models they have selected for the fashion show to debut the clothes immediately following the Undisputed Marketing presentation. From there, I’m off to Hawaii for more model recruiting. Then there’s a fashion show in Europe that both the male and female brands have been invited to showcase in. I will finish things off with an interview for the biggest magazine in Europe and then will take pictures for the cover. So, as you can see, I’m completely booked solid for the next few months.”

      “Shit! I see why you need to meet today,” I said, slowly reclining in my chair.

      “There’s a very small window of opportunity for us to meet, but it would require you flying to New York this upcoming Monday and Tuesday. I can arrange several small breakout meetings and one final group meeting with my team based on my schedule before I fly out. Will you make this happen?”

      “Say no more, brother. I’m there!”

      After ending the intense phone call that covered my ass with Minority Clothing, I put both hands on my head, breathing a sigh of relief. Trying to regain my composure, I immediately began reviewing the presentation and notes for the Chicago Fusion meeting. Halfway through the reviews, my office phone rang.

      “Mr. Smooth, I have Janet Thompson on line 2 for you. Would you like me to put her through?” Tammy asked.

      “Go ahead and put her through, Tammy,” I answered.

      “Yeah, you called?” Janet snapped on the phone before I could get a word out.

      “Yeah, you called? Is that how we’re going to start this off?” I asked.

      “I’m sorry, Kahlil, but it’s been a long day. Can you just tell me what you wanted?” she demanded.

      “Look. I just wanted to tell you that I’ll pick up Iliana from school since my schedule was adjusted. Go ahead and do whatever it was you had planned.” There was a brief silence on the phone.

      “Don’t worry about it. I cancelled what I had to do, so if you’re going to finish work early, just go home. You made me feel like shit this morning, so I decided to spend some time with Iliana.”

      “I apologize for how that came out, Janet. I couldn’t understand why you got so pissed this morning over something so simple like picking her up,” I said.

      “I know your heart was in a good place. I’m going to pick her up, and we’re going to spend some much-needed