A Tempting Proposal

The situation really didn’t seem settled at all, but Imani always prided herself on seeing the bright side. Fidgeting with the nameplate on her desk, she tried to hide her apprehension. But she never backed down from a challenge, and Daman Barker was definitely a challenge. “Yes, it’s settled.” Let the games begin!

Chapter 4

When Daman walked into R&W Marketing Tuesday morning, he immediately felt at ease. Every time he walked into the firm that his boys, Taheim Reed and Jaleen Walker, had successfully established, he felt a sense of accomplishment. Two months ago, he decided to partner with his best friends full time to bring R&W to the next level. If Taheim and Jaleen could run a successful business and also be junior partners in their family businesses, he didn’t see any reason why he couldn’t, too. Daman had been traveling between his Detroit hometown and the windy city of Chicago almost every week by plane or car, but planned on making Chicago his permanent home by the end of the year. At thirty, he was proud of what he’d accomplished so far. Although Daman’s career was thriving with R&W, he couldn’t say the same for his feelings about Barker Architecture.

His father, Stan, and uncle Frank had opened Barker Architecture when they were in their early twenties. Now, Barker Architecture had grown to an astounding fifteen offices. They were responsible for much of the beautiful architecture and amazing landmarks throughout the Midwest. When Daman’s father passed away eight years ago, his uncle took over as president and chief executive officer of the company. His uncle had never had children of his own, so he treated Daman like the son he never had. Daman had just graduated from college and was working on his master’s, but his uncle picked up where Daman’s father had left off and began showing him all the ins and outs of the company. When Daman became vice president of Barker Architecture, he began noticing inconsistencies with some of the accounting documentation. Barker Architecture was one of the companies affected by the 2008 economic crisis.

In order to keep the company afloat, Barker Architecture reached out to several investors, many of whom were old friends of Daman’s father. When Daman became vice president in 2011, he wanted to focus all his energy into ensuring Barker Architecture would never be a victim of another economic crisis, so he began looking into the company’s accounting files. His uncle was quick to try and divert Daman away from his personal investigation, but Daman continued to question his uncle about certain accounts and customers. Was Barker Architecture really in trouble in 2008? Or was his uncle hiding something? A few months ago, Daman decided it was finally time for him to step away from the office to figure out what was really going on. Since their second largest office was in Chicago, Daman told his uncle he would work out of that office and return to Detroit weekly or biweekly as needed. His uncle agreed, considering he was also aware of Daman’s new partnership with R&W.

As Daman walked into R&W, he tried to put Barker Architecture out of his mind for the moment, but a phone call earlier that morning had been filled with disappointing news concerning just that.

“Hello, Mr. Barker!” the perky front-desk receptionist said, breaking his thoughts.

“Hi, Sherry. Are there any messages for me?”

Flipping her auburn hair behind her ear, she shuffled through a stack of papers. “Yes, you have several. Mr. Kingsberg called to recap last week’s meeting, and Mrs. Remmy called about her upcoming meeting. Also, Glamour Cosmetics, Franko Industries and William’s Whole Foods are all interested in starting an account with R&W. Mr. Reed and Mr. Walker would like you to begin working on those accounts.”

“Thanks, Sherry.”

“You’re welcome, Mr. Barker.” She snapped her fingers. “Oh, and I almost forgot! Imani Rayne from Elite Events Incorporated called your connected line and asked if you could call her back when you got a chance.”

Daman smiled. He’d wondered if she would call. His connected line was the private line displayed on his business card for Barker Architecture. That was the only line connected to both Barker Architecture and R&W Marketing.

“Is that all she said?”

“Yes, Mr. Barker. She left her work number for you to call back.”

“Thanks again, Sherry.”

Daman looked at the clock sitting on Sherry’s desk to see how much time he had before his meeting with Taheim and Jaleen. Noticing he only had three minutes to spare, he placed the paper displaying his messages in his suit jacket and headed down the hall.

He walked into the large conference room and was immediately greeted by both men.

Taheim was the first to speak. “Man, Jaleen told me about the proposal to plan the gala. That would be great exposure for R&W. You agreed, right?”

“Of course.”

“Great. Did you decide when you want to announce your partnership with R&W?”

“I’m not sure, exactly. I’m still trying to tie up a few things at Barker Architecture before making the announcement, but I will definitely do it before the gala.”

Taheim and Jaleen nodded in agreement.

“Who are you planning the gala with?” Jaleen asked. “I don’t remember you telling me on the phone the other day.”

Daman wished he’d been able to stop thinking about Imani.

“A woman, and a very attractive woman at that. We didn’t get off to the best start. She thinks I’m arrogant and cocky. But you know me. I’m determined to show her my softer side.” He gave his best “all-American boy” look and placed his hands over his heart in exaggeration.

Taheim laughed. “Already on the prowl, huh?”

“Well, yeah, but there’s something about her. She’s educated, successful and confident, and I know she wants the gala to be a success, too.”

“D, no offense, but the women you mess with are never educated, successful, or confident. Well, a couple have been, but not many.”

“I know. She’s different.”

“What’s her name?” Jaleen asked.

“Imani Rayne.” No sooner than her name left his mouth, did Taheim spill his coffee on the table.

“Is everything okay, man?” Daman asked.

Taheim and Jaleen shared a look that didn’t go unseen by Daman. Taheim cleaned up the spilled coffee.

“Yeah, man. I’m good. Have the two of you met yet?”

Daman didn’t like not knowing what was up with his boys. He tried to squash the tinge of jealousy he felt. “Yeah, we met. Why? Did one of you date her or something?”

“No,” both men replied in unison. They didn’t date each other’s exes, and he didn’t even know why he cared. It’s not like he wanted to date her. Daman Barker didn’t date; he entertained.

Jaleen began to speak, but he was cut off by Taheim.

“The truth is that we’ve heard of her and her family. Not much happens in Chicago that her family isn’t involved with socially or politically.”

Jaleen nodded in agreement. “Not to mention she’s attractive, and so are all the women in her circle.”

Daman felt like there was more to the story than either man was telling him, but he chose to ignore it.

“Okay, well, she called me about the gala, and I was going to return her call right after this meeting. Could we talk more after I finish the call?”

“Sure, man. We’ll talk at lunch or something.”

* * *

Daman walked into his tastefully decorated office, sat down at his desk and began dialing the number Imani had left in her message.

“Thank you for calling Elite Events Incorporated. How may I direct your call?”

“Hello. May I please speak with Imani Rayne?”

“May I ask who’s calling?”

“Daman Barker.”

“One moment, Mr. Barker.”

Daman enjoyed the upbeat R&B music that played in the background. It was much better than the dreadful elevator music most companies played when they put you on hold.