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  “Thank you for doing this,” Mitch whispered in her ear as he waved at another man. “I want to introduce you to some people.”

  As he escorted her across the large gathering, she caught a glimpse of Angela and Byron standing by the fireplace laughing and talking.

  Angela’s mouth dropped, and she stopped mid-sentence as she feasted her jealous eyes on her heavy-set friend. She had never seen LaToya look so beautiful. And she never thought in a million years that Mitch would have the audacity to bring her here among his peers and his bosses.

  Within minutes, Mitch was introducing LaToya to the senior partners of the firm and their wives. He explained proudly that she was the owner of a thriving cleaning business and represented over ten employees who had impeccable backgrounds. The wives were impressed. They compliment LaToya on her dress, asked for her business card and shared with her their desire to find good staff for their homes.

  Speechless, Angela watched in complete awe. Everything that she had said was falling apart. Her friend, the person whom she guessed would never even be acknowledged in these circles, was the center of attention. And they all accepted her, just as she was, because Mitch accepted her. And most importantly, because she accepted herself.

  From the corner of her eye, LaToya saw Byron whisper something to Angela and point over in her direction, but Angela quickly nodded no and walked away.

  LaToya smiled and held her head up high. As she went to the ladies’ room, she passed a long mirror in the corner. She titled her head at her reflection. The beautiful, vibrant woman that she was looking at was her. It brought tears to her eyes, but she quickly pushed them away.

  “I love your dress,” a woman said as she passed. She stopped. “I’m Catherine. I understand that you’re here with Mitch.”

  LaToya turned to the dark-skinned woman in a perfect black suit with red-backed heels, and a low fade and shook her head. “Yes, I’m his girlfriend,” she said proudly. Just the mention of that fact made her smile.

  “Well, it’s very nice to meet you. I’m arriving late tonight. One of my kids was not feeling very well, but I wouldn’t miss this event for the world. So, after I was sure that he was well and off to bed, I came on and left my husband to tend to him.”

  “How old is he?” LaToya asked.

  “Ten years old now,” the woman said, waving at a group of men who called out her name.

  “Do you work with Mitch?” LaToya asked, clutching her purse.

  “You could say that,” she smiled. “I’m one of the founding partners. Catherine Severs.”

  “Of course,” LaToya said, shaking her head. “Malone, Severs, Nelson and Crump.” She extended her hand to shake the woman’s hand. “Well, it’s an honor to meet you.”

  “The pleasure is all mine, really. I’ve heard great things about you,” Catherine said with a twinkle in her eye. “Now, if you’d excuse me. I really must go and say a few hellos, especially one in particular to the man of the hour, Mitch.”

  LaToya nodded and took a deep breath as the woman walked off. Can’t judge a book by its cover, she thought to herself. Suddenly, she felt completely vindicated in her support of Mitch at Angela’s house. In fact, she felt vindicated for everything. LaToya was sure that Angela didn’t know that Severs was a dark, dark, black woman. That she had chosen Mitch over Byron. That the good ole boy network, while still working somewhere, wasn’t necessarily working at this firm or in this case. And she only hoped that her old friend might find that out as well.

  She quickly went to powder her nose and freshened up just in time to get back out to the main hall where the speech was to take place. As the crowd quieted, Catherine walked up to the front and was passed the microphone.

  All eyes were on her. Smiles. Nods. Complete approval. She waved at LaToya in plain view of Angela, who looked on confused.

  “We’ve had a great year here at Malone, Severs, Nelson and Crump, haven’t we,” Catherine said into the microphone.

  The crowd cheered in response.

  “You know when Mike, Bob, Cory and myself started this firm over twenty years ago, we had a vision for what we wanted to provide the world. And we’ve been able to see that vision come into fruition because of our clients and our staff. All of us have worked hard this year to accomplish our goals and take this firm to the next level. And I truly commend you all. But there is one man in particular who even in the face of adversity has done a tremendous job. He even took on a few projects that would have surely been halted if we had not had him step up and volunteer to take on his work and these extra assignments. Mitch O’Keefe, would you mind coming up here with me?”

  The crowd cheered and clapped again, calling out his name. He slipped his hand from LaToya’s and walked up to the front to join Catherine. Proudly, she placed her hand on Mitch’s back and smiled.

  “For many of you and because of the grapevine at the firm, I’m sure that you already know, but formally, I would like to announce our newest partner, Mitch O’Keefe, who has agreed to take us on long term and move our company into an amazing direction so that we can continue to flourish.”

  The crowd cheered him on and clapped. Gracefully, he nodded and waved towards the crowd, then threw a kiss towards LaToya.

  Catherine continued. “I had the opportunity to meet his backbone, whom he has spoken so highly of at the firm for the last couple of weeks and she’s amazing. I’m sure that both she and everyone here would like to hear a few words from you.” She gave him a hug, then moved towards the background to give Mitch the stage.

  Mitch smiled and slipped one hand in his pocket. He was a picture of elegance and confidence. His eyes glimmered. His bright, wide perfect smile exuded masculine beauty. “You know, I’m really proud to accept this opportunity. And I’m honored to be here with you tonight celebrating our hard work as a cohesive team. It’s been a trying but successful year for the firm, and I’m certain that as we move into the new fiscal year, we’ll do even bigger and better things. When I accepted this partnership, Catherine asked me one question. She asked if I had someone at home to help keep me grounded,” he turned and looked at Catherine. “And I answered yes. Everyone knows through the grapevine that I haven’t been lucky in love, but let me tell you that the reason that I was able to pull myself up by the bootstraps and stay in the game,” he turned and looked at LaToya who stood with tears in her eyes. “is because of my wonderful Zach and the woman here with me tonight. She’s been amazing and strong and a true vision for me. She’s given me the strength to carry on, and she’s given me the happiness I needed to feel whole again. So, I hope you all have the same or find the same, because I truly believe that happiness leads to better productivity at work, better outlooks on life and a stronger firm. So I’m happy to be a partner with this great organization, and I’m happy to have LaToya Jenkins as a part of my life.”

  The tears flowed freely down LaToya’s cheeks. She didn’t even bother to wipe them away. The entire crowd looked at her as they clapped. They cheered the two on as Mitch gave the microphone back and went down to hold her in his arms and kiss her for all to see. Even Angela wiped a tear. It was an eye-opener for anyone who had never seen it before. Love. Pure. Special. Genuine love and didn’t matter that she was overweight. It didn’t matter that she was dark skinned. It didn’t matter that she was a cleaning lady. What did matter was that she was loved. And she loved. She gave her all and she received it back.

  Holding him close, she whispered in his ear. “I don’t feel like the ugly girl friend anymore.”

  He looked into her eyes and smiled. “You were never the ugly girlfriend in the first place.”

  The End

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  About the Author

  Latrivia S. Nelson is the author of Ivy’s Twisted Vine (the
largest modern interracial romance novel in its genre), the Medlov Crime Family Series including bestseller Dmitry's Closet, Dmitry's Royal Flush: Rise of the Queen and upcoming book Anatoly Medlov: Complete Reign. She is also a Public Relations Senior Specialist for the award-winning, highly-acclaimed firm, The Carter Malone Group (the largest female Public Relations firm in Memphis). Nelson's books are published by the Memphis-based company RiverHouse Publishing, LLC.