Allen hung up the phone and walked over to the silver-framed portrait that embraced himself, his mother and father. It was a portrait that was taken on Allen's last visit. With an incandescent heart, Allen let out a deep sigh and walked over to the rain-drenched window with picture in hand. Allen watched as businessmen below walked in rain that he felt was parallel to his current feelings.
He set the framed memory on the
vertical bookshelf that stood in one corner of his office, and proceeded to
the leather recliner that faced the window that held the view of his
desolate heart. With the sky showing the birth of Mulatto Blues, this day
had not lived up to the effulgent promise that it had prophesied in
previous weeks. With the residue of tears stranded on Allen's face like a
bad odor, he located a box of kleenex that sat on the stained glass and
gold trimmed end table to refresh his appearance.
Allen knew that he
needed to get back to the business at hand, but the stench of failing his
parents followed him like a stray dog. He decided to again, let go and let
GOD. With nine o'clock approaching, he knew that it would be a matter
of minutes before his secretary summoned him to the conference room
for his meeting with Mr. Douglas. He also knew that he needed to be at
the top of his game for this meeting. Anything less would insure doubts
in the mind of Mr. Douglas, and possibly the other members of the staff.
Allen began to clear his head by thinking of the one thing that didn't
surround his parents.
He began thinking about Gwen. He replayed their
meeting over in his head. It made him smile. He thought about her
gentle words. Though they were few, they were gentle to his ears, and
promising to his heart. He felt as though she was an artist, and she
used her words as paint, and his heart was her canvas. He felt like a
masterpiece. While his heart was being rejuvenated, reality had found
him.
"Mr. Anthony,"
Allen's secretary called on the intercom, "your nine
o'clock has arrived."
"Thank you Mary," Allen replied,
"I will be right there."
Allen gave Mary instruction to gather all of the material for his
presentation. He instructed her to get the profit and loss projections as
well as the cost analysis from the New York store, which had opened two
years ago. He told her to get the slides from the vault and prepare the
room for a slide show. Allen wanted this presentation to be the best he
had done, so he told Mary to make sure that there was an extra pot of
coffee and extra muffins from Mrs. Beasley's available. He made it clear
to Mary that he wanted no interruptions, and that there were to be no
exceptions. Allen left his office and headed to the foyer to retrieve Mr.
Douglas. Upon arriving, he noticed a middle-aged black man wearing a
Navy blue suit and two men standing to the right of him.
"Allen," Mr. Douglas initiated conversation,
"it's nice to finally meet
you."
"You as well Ted," Allen replied as he extended his hand to meet Mr.
Douglas' already extended hand.
"Allen, I know that this is probably the shortest notice that you have
ever received, and I hope that you don't mind. But I'd like to introduce
you to Mitchell and Andrew."