“Finding raw talent is like finding a beautiful diamond, but turning that talent into a brand is like owning the entire diamond mine. You follow me?” Mr. White asked his management team; leaning back in his over-sized captain’s chair. “Today we are going to meet a diamond in the rough. This woman has been sending me demos for two years. She has the gift, but she needs it to be packaged.”
“Excuse me, Mr. White.” Melvin was a new executive at White House Records and anxious to make his mark in the business. His recent MBA from Harvard gave him the finest education, and now the 25 year old scholar lusted for fortune and fame. “If she, the talent in question, has the “gift”, then what was the purpose of delaying her entry into the program for two years?”
The other three executives, seasoned in years and experience, traded smirks and expressions of arrogance regarding the young rookie’s inquiry. Noticing their responses, Melvin appeared to sink into his impressive Savile Row business. His hands twisting the cap on his pen until the cap popped off.
“Young Melvin that is a good question, despite the noticeable condemnation of your peers.” Mr. White turned to look at the older executives. “They were once in your shoes and displayed the same lack of knowledge; but I taught them as I will teach you.”
The older executives corrected their relaxed postures and wiped the grins off their faces.
“To answer your question,” Mr. White paused to check the time on his Hublot Black Caviar Bang. The million dollar watch had been a gift and was conspicuously the only thing black he ever wore on his colorless body. The watch was also the back-handed topic of constant conversation among those in his inner circle. “She was not hungry enough.”
Then he laughed a wide mouth laugh, causing his head to sway from side to side. The others joined in.
At that moment, a modelesque beauty opened the door to the glass laden conference room.
“Mr. White, and associates, she is here”, notified the administrative assistant.
“Thank you, Tammy. I am going to send Mr. Melvin Banks out to greet her in exactly five minutes.” Mr. White held up his hand to display five fingers and then casually motioned for her to leave.
Once the door was magnetically closed, Mr. White gave each executive their assignment and adjourned the business meeting with one minute to spare.
Melvin’s sleek, tall frame and model looks, walked ever so slightly on his toes down the long marble tile hallway to the front of the apartment lobby. The beautiful assistant and another woman, equally as pretty, were reviewing something on the computer screen to his right. Plasma screens were hung on two adjacent walls, one with audible music videos, and the other with the silent stream of news from CNN. And to his left, seated in a white leather armchair was Belicia. Her head was down, eyes closed, and her hands clasped together in a prayer pose.
Melvin placed his face close to Be’s face but without touching her. He was next to her for ten seconds, listening to the rhythm of her breath, before she flinched from the awareness of his sweet smelling presence and opened her eyes. She tried to look out of the corner of her eyes to see the young man so close to her countenance but was too afraid to turn her head.
Then Melvin moved in as close as humanly possible without contact and whispered in her ear, “Are you hungry?”
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