“The signing with Mauve next week. Bacote & Taylor would like to know if you’d like to have it here in L.A. or at their headquarters in New York.”
Mauve was a brandy line that I’d recently partnered with at the coordination of Shayna and Dawn’s PR connections. I’d been wanting to invest with a brandy line for quite some time, but never acquired the resources to vet a reputable company that was in need of investors. Mauve was repackaging their brand and was gearing up to execute a new marketing campaign. It was a match made in heaven. These women, Bacote & Taylor, were working.
“Let’s do it here in L.A.. I’m really trying to minimize my travel over the next few months.” I had Rayna in mind with that decision.
I knew that I had to put in more time with her, making her feel secure in my life. And that wouldn’t happen if I was boarding a damn plan every week. I needed to prove to her that we were solid. Not to mention, I still hadn’t forgotten about Brian Thompson’s lurking ass. He was becoming a problem that I had to carefully, yet firmly address. He wasn’t taking to my niceness.
“Okay…” Brett dragged, as he made notes on his tablet. “And now it’s time for the conference call with Bacote & Taylor. I’ll punch them in.” He spoke in his announcer’s voiceover as he rose to the phone and dialed a few numbers.
Dawn Taylor answered in her usual professional manner. For the first few moments of the conversation, Brett and Dawn spoke about dates, events, and other details that involved my schedule. I checked out, thinking about my conversation last week with Dawn the day after the Trey Songz concert.
She appeared at Cobalt, surprising me once again. She claimed that she wanted to see the place to gauge the possibilities of shows and events that their firm had planned for the club. She was dressed very seductively in a skirt that came just to her knees, a blouse that opened in the middle of her cleavage and sexy as Brian Atwoods. She was trying…too hard. Quite honestly, Dawn was an attractive woman who knew how to flaunt her shit, but she wasn’t my type. I didn’t want a woman who brought too much attention to her sensual nature. The best thing to do was to make a man believe he had exclusive rights to it and he had the sole power to bring it to surface.
I was sitting at the bar, having a drink and talking to my new bar manager, Mike. In the short time that he had been with us, I’d picked up on his mild and controlled energy. We could sit and talk about the philosophies of life for hours. I was stressed and needed a mid-day drink so after I finished with some paperwork in my office, I came down to the bar. It was always a pleasure and escape from reality to sit and hear some of his life stories and lessons. I got to share a few of mine with him as well.
I didn’t notice when Dawn walked in. It was just after two and there were always deliveries being made with maintenance staff coming in and out during the afternoons, so I was never sensitive to the activities of the door. She strolled over towards the bar, locking eyes on me. I didn’t say much, just took a swig of my drink, anticipating the nature of her visit.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Jacobs.” Her smile was wily per usual, only today I wasn’t responsive to it. She stirred up a shit load of trouble in my home the night before, at the after party. Rayna said Dawn was actually crying in the restroom.
“So it is.” I watched her stand just inches away from me, resting her arms on the lip of the bar. “To what do I owe the pleasure, Ms. Taylor?” Even through her smooth cocoa skin, I could see her blush.
“I didn’t expect to see you here actually. I was coming to take a peek at the place to help start drumming up ideas for marketing.” Suddenly, her smile deepened, “Seeing you here is a bonus.”