The sun always beams down so nice during the four o’ clock hour across the glass picture frame of my boss’ family, angled perfect for the sun’s rays to catch the glares. But of course I’m not supposed to be even day-dreaming right now….Mr. Godfrey has had him for the past hour. I just want Zoric to take a look at this blueprint& outline so I can finally get approved. I mean, all the money will go solely for this project. ‘Cause the way I’m thinking is that Outback can sit somewhat in the front so people can see it &Macy’s can be in the front…..”Ms. Tanvers, I see you are still here….I was thinking we can take a look at this tomorrow morning because right now I have to go pick up my son, Christian from school..” Mr. Zoric said as he walks across the room to retrieve his briefcase and coat from his office closet. Adjusting his coat and shutting down his computer he says, “I’m very sorry for having you to wait, Godfrey wouldn’t let up on me.”
“But I thought you wanted to see if before the board meeting in the morning, you know to run this by the president…” I said, sitting on the edge of the mahogany colored chair, seated across from his desk. I’ve gotten my hopes all up for the thumbs-up on this &now look! Ahhh great! Now what am I gonna do??
“Unfortunately, my wife isn’t able to pick him up today; she called me just now as Godfrey&I ended our conference call with the sewage department ( ASD). My apologies& good night.” He nods& says quickly walks out the door. Lord, help me!!! What do I do?? Right on the heels of the door closing, I walk back to my office &gather my things together as I think to myself, “I really wanna pitch this idea! This will truly bring in some revenue& profit for Anders. I mean, the attraction&attention of it will surely drive people to entertain and make business and create all kinds of buzz for people. We got the space for it; those 3 buildings for rent& add the new money with that….Jill Scott starts singing at me as my cell phone rings& my thoughts are interrupted. I stop walking &grab it from my coat pocket to discover it’s my daughter calling.
“…Yea babe, I’ll be there soon to help you with that assignment you got. I tell Tandie to have her aunt April to start dinner& hang up the phone. Now outside, I continue walking the parking lot to my ’01 Nissan Altima. To my amazement, I find there’s a lot of traffic, well no surprise there considering the rush hour at this time of day. Once in the car, I turn on the oldies but goodies station&listen to DJ Frankie Darcel’s update on the traffic, Back-ups&slow downs for your drive home today…
“It’s gonna be a long drive home today”, I say to myself as I make a left turn from the structure onto Blakeston Bouvelard. Just two lights from I-87, I turn up the radio up to hear more jams. “Just what I need to get me home, after a day like today…” shouting as my body moves with the music. After a while, the music is drowned out by my thoughts as they continue.
“Why won’t Councilwoman Gayle&Executive Perkins take a look?! Mr. Garys is the only one who has listened to me since I’ve been trying to promote this project for the last year and a half! Almost two years! I feel like a caterpillar! I have never felt accepted in my office! All because I have a disability of my mental health! My type 1 Epilepsy is not totally bad! I mean, I don’t have grand-mall seizures or anything at the wheel! I’m very fortunate to still be able to drive! Even my doctor told me I could. But Why Lord?! Because they think Ms. Lily Tanvers is inexperienced and doesn’t know a thing about the financial side of construction!! I don’t see why!! I’ve been doing this construction thing now for the past 9 years. Being an architect, you’ve gotta know the ups& downs of finances, the aspect of it. I mean, why would I not know anything about the money it takes to fund an expensive project like this! Ahh, that’s why I have my own hard earned money taken out every paycheck to make sure I am putting my own money in this,! Forever 21, Macy’s, DSW, Target, Ruby Tuesday’s, &Outback! Oh yea, and CVS…That’s a lot but I deeply feel this would work! Can’t forget a mini ATM which would be a Chase branch. 5,000 a month Lord!!! That’s how much I’ve been setting aside for this! All of a sudden, I can hear myself speak, “You know what Lord, if it’s meant, it will happen! I don’t know why I’m wasting my time thinking about this…You got it!” I say as I shake my head, smile, &sing with the Zapp Band to my imaginary husband that he’s my Computer Love.
A half hr of traffic and 15 minutes of driving later, I pull into the driveway of a purple &yellow bungalow, seated perfect in the middle of my block on Glosten Lane called home.
“Hey April, girl I’m beat!” I say, walking in the door as I greet my sister April. I am truly thankful for her. She has been there for me in the worst& best times. Highs &lows, sideways &upright, we have always been close. 200 something miles & six years don’t keep us apart from each other. I’ll miss her once she leaves for D.C. for that internship! She is one lucky chick! To be picked to work side-by-side with First Lady Obama with the Let’sMove campaign, now that’s an amazing blessing! I find her stirring about in the kitchen preparing dinner. From the smell of onions& ground beef, that tells me she is making tacos. My stomach screams hurry as I feel it grumbling!
“Lily, We missed you! Tands& I have been spending more& more quality time together since I’ve been in town these last few weeks,…” she is saying as she gathers everything and take to the dining room table, one thing at a time.
“I can’t stay, Chris & I are hanging out tonight. I’ll see you tomorrow evening, when you get back from work…” she says, preparing her over-night bag and puts on her coat. Just then, my favorite comes to greet me. “Mommy,I’m so glad to see you…we learned how write short stories in English today… it was so fun!” Tandie raved as I showed April out.
“Kisses, see ya Tands! Tomorrow we can play the Wii after your homework!” April & I hug and smooch each other on the cheek before she’s fast down the driveway to her car. Closing the door and walking back to the kitchen I say to Tandy “Before we start this project, let’s dig into these tacos, huh?!” I say, smiling.
Tandy’s puzzled face looks up at me from her math worksheet we are working on as she asks, “Would it be 4?” I take a minute to calculate & I come up with 3.3333.
“No, it’s 3.333, so what we wanna do is place this at the top so you have 3 going into 10 3 ways with a remainder of 3 at the top…” I say, convincing her she’s got it as she continues. It’s nearing 8:30 and we both have to get ready for bed. We go upstairs and go into our own rooms. As I am changing &setting my clothes out for the next day I pray, “Lord, Thank You for this day& whatever is to become of this project, it’s in Your hands!” I finish wrapping my hair& shower quickly. Forty five minutes have gone & we both are ready for bed.
“Goodnight Mommy, I love you….” Tandy says upon getting into her bed. Kissing her on the forehead I say, “Sweet Dreams Tands.” Alone again in my master bedroom, I lay across the bed for a while watching television until I fall asleep. Up& out the next morning, I drop Tandy off at school and jump on the freeway to work. I can’t help but think if Mr. Zoric will finally look at this proposal today. Once in my office, I take time to check emails and glance over the blueprint one last time before the big meeting at 10 o’ clock. Thirty minutes have gone by and it’s time to get ready for the meeting. “I’m kinda nervous, but we shall see what happens…” I say to myself as I prepare my folder with outlines and calendars. I walk down the hall to the big conference room. My stomach starts to flutter with excitement as I enter the room to see Ms. Andrews, Mr. Gary’s assistant seated next to Councilwoman Gayle. “Yay, maybe she has talked to her and hopefully changed her mind, on Mr. Gary’s behalf, ok wait Lily, don’t get too excited. This is just a board meeting, it may not even be on the agenda..” I think to myself.
“Morning everyone, I hope everyone has brought their agendas and planners because we have some serious business to discuss…” spoken like a true leader, Mr. Zoric says. There are six of us present. Myself, Councilwoman Gayle, Executive Peters, Ms. Andrews, President Eubanks, Mr. Zoric, and our secretary Ms. Winters. The next hour is spent going over old and new business and here is where I must present my blueprint.
“It’s always a pleasure to be able to present. I know this has been something we’ve gone over but I think if we just take one last look at this, we can definitely benefit this time, President Eubanks, if I may…” I proceed to the front of the room to begin my presentation.
“The dynamics of this project consists of a lot, but the most important aspect of this is the financial backing. I’ve been setting my own money aside for this! That’s how much I want this! I want to be able to expand those three buildings downtown already. The goal is to have a strip mall, where residents and businesses can go shop& dine; not go far out. It would be strategically placed in the middle of downtown, Crossings Avenue that runs east and west. Macy’s,Target, Outback, are just a few businesses I would want to be there. I have already spoken with Chase and they agree to place a branch there. Executive Peters, President Eubanks, Councilwoman Gayle, if you all would just give me another chance! I know I can do this and certain this would generate tons of business! Thank you! Ah yes, one last thing…it would be nice to have this venue added to Anders, it would make a nice touch for the all-star basketball weekend coming up in November. Thanks again everyone!” I complete my presentation with a positive attitude. Taking my seat, I feel better that I’ve finally had the chance to present this before this board. As I listen to the final items being discussed, I think to myself, “I noticed some heads nods and thoughtful expressions on the faces of my colleagues and bosses, which is a good thing given the way I’ve been treated in these 9 years. I don’t feel like I was ever treated fairly here at HigherGrounds, contract company. At the very least, they can see what all this 37 year old, brown-skinned, tastefully shaped Indian/Black/Mexican American woman is all about. I’m more than silly and witty, friendly and ethical, smart and business savvy. I want to show them just what I’m made of. I think to myself.
“This meeting is adjourned, take an early lunch everyone!” President Eubanks speaks.
I go on with my day after lunch with phone calls, emails, and a brief conference call with one of my clients. The next two days are business as usual until there is an emergency meeting called on Thursday afternoon. We all gather in the conference room where President Eubanks informs us of some horrible news.
“I really hate to be the bearer of bad news but Mr. Garys had a terrible heart attack last night in his home! He died shortly after at the bedside of his wife!” Shocking voices suddenly crowd the room as he once again gets our attention.
“Additionally, Mr. Garys has left his salary and the five bonuses he was expecting to Ms. Tanvers for the mall project!” he says with a slight smile but worried face.
“Ahhhhhh, oh my GOSH!!!!!!! I don’t know what to say!!! For real??!!, Oh Lord…You are awesome!!!! I, I I just don’t know what to say!!! I feel awful that this happened to him…” I’m walking around the room in such shock and amazement!!!! “How…Does his wife…honestly?? Wow!!!!!!”
My heart is soo heavy with raw emotion and all sorts of feelings as I gather my things and prepare to go home. President Eubanks says he’s going to close the office tomorrow so everyone can cope with this terrible news. He told me that we would meet on Monday to discuss plans and ideas further on the mall proposal.
Later that night, I get alone to myself as I let my body rest in the bed. I can’t help but think and say to myself, “So, Thank You Jesus!!!!! My proposal and blueprint has finally been accepted. I can’t thank You enough Lord!!! I send my prayers up for Mr. Garys and his family, that’s just horrible. I guess that would explain why he wasn’t at the meeting a few days ago. He must have been having health issues, that’s gotta be it. Well, that’s why we all need to stay in shape. Oh Thank You Lord!!! My disability will never, ever stop me from being me and doing what I have to get done!” I was in a state of praise still as I fell asleep.
Three months have passed and I am finally in the building stages of my project. Everyone has all been so helpful, even the clients themselves. Together with the money Mr. Garys has left me and my own money, we have a strip mall in its developing stages that cost a grand total of 1.5 million dollars! We even had enough money to hire an additional construction company to make the parking lot and design the pavilion. We were able to have all the places mentioned at the meeting. The ribbon-cutting ceremony was awesome and now I see my hard work in its works. I finally feel like I have become that butterfly, coming out of my caterpillar stage. September has came &left as another month goes by and I see Anders Alley full of people and business, metaphorically, I feel like my wings finally flap beautifully.