Fifteen Years (5 page)

Josiah stretched. He was tired, but it didn’t make sense to sit down and relax. There wasn’t enough time. The clock on the wall was a reminder that he had to be in the second floor conference room in less than fifteen minutes. It would take less than five for him to get there, so he had a few minutes to kill.

Josiah pulled a Styrofoam cup from his desk drawer and walked to the back corner of his office where he kept a small refrigerator. It was one of the few things he still had from his time at UNC. The employees at Bionic Burgers had surprised him with it on his last day of work before heading off to college. It had come in real handy and had held up exceptionally well through the years. The Maytag kitchen appliance had lived up to the hype.

As he gulped down the water he’d poured, Josiah stood and looked out at the goings-on in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. From the view of his office window, the city looked to be hard at work. There were very few cars moving on the street. That was due to one of two things. Either people were at work, looking at their clocks and counting the hours before they could go home, or they were at home, looking at their bills and praying that they’d soon be able to go to work. The economy was in a mess and had been for some time. The United States had voted in a great president with a
progressive plan to turn things around, but it was going to take a while. Things didn’t get like this overnight, and they weren’t going to turn around overnight either.

“Thank you, Jesus.” Josiah whispered the prayer as he stared at the grounds of MacGyver Technologies. He knew that if it weren’t for the grace of God, he’d be among the thousands who had been laid off due to tough economic times.

Instead, Josiah was being given a promotion, something very few jobs were handing out these days. Even the ones that were surviving weren’t jumping to increase any employee salaries. Josiah knew he had a reason to be thankful. Like Craig had said, he’d been given favor. So why did he feel cursed so often?

He polished off his water and strutted back to his desk where a neat pile of papers sat in his in-box. There was so much work to be done. If Josiah thought he could get out of today’s meeting, he would, but it was no use. The main purpose of the meeting was to introduce new software to all of the analysts. And since Mickey really didn’t know much about the product that his own company was unveiling, Josiah, once again, needed to be there to cover his ignorance.

Chuckling at the thought, Josiah tossed his empty cup in the garbage can beside his desk, picked up the blue binder from the top of the file cabinet, and put the last few minutes of his life on reverse. He picked up his keys from the leather chair, lifted his suit jacket from the coatrack, dropped the keys in its pocket, slipped the coat on his body, and then turned the lights off on his way out.

This time when the elevator doors opened, there was no tall, beautiful woman there to greet him by name. There had been no runny-nosed executive there to overload him with information either. Yet when the doors closed behind his entrance, Josiah still used the tip of his shoe to press the button that would take him to his next destination.

“CONGRATULATIONS, Josiah. I can’t think of anyone in MacGyver Technologies who deserves this recognition more than you. I knew it was only a matter of time before a gem like you got noticed.” Nadhima Odemowa spoke the words as she approached the honoree’s table with Mickey Colt in tow. Her right arm was extended, offering Josiah her hand.

Standing, Josiah Tucker accepted the friendly handshake, all the while, wondering if the woman’s daughter had filled her in on their awkward meeting yesterday. “Thank you, Nadhima. I feel very fortunate.”

“Oh, his value was noticed a long time ago,” Mickey chimed, sounding a bit defensive at Nadhima’s insinuation.

Could have fooled me.
Josiah pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind and put all of his energies into maintaining his smile. He
tried to be modest every time a new coworker walked up to congratulate him, but Josiah couldn’t deny that being humble was tough when he knew he was worthy of the promotion. After nearly seven years of hard work, and at times, feeling unappreciated and overlooked (especially in the years since Mr. MacGyver passed away), Josiah couldn’t think of anyone who was more deserving of the recognition either. “Thank you, Mr. Colt,” he chose to say. “It’s good to work for a company that honors its employees.”

“Well, anybody who can work his way up the corporate ladder like you did, and in such a short time, has definitely earned the right to join the ranks of the executives. You’re a firecracker, Josiah. A firecracker.”

Firecracker.
Yeah, right. Josiah almost laughed. Buckskin was a better definition. He had covered Mickey’s behind more times than a few. Still, Josiah chose to be cordial in his response.

“Coming from you, that’s an especially humbling compliment, Mr. Colt. I’m grateful to be named among the other senior analysts that work for such a respectful company.” If there was one thing that Josiah had learned in his years at MacGyver, it was to not always speak his mind. He could suck up to authority with the best of them. It was a part of the game. The part that only the winners knew about.

“I noticed that you haven’t been served your meal, and I assume that was by choice?” Mickey looked around as he presented the questionlike comment. He looked as if he were ready to pounce on the caterers if they’d somehow forgotten to serve the honoree.

“Yes, it was my choice to eat later,” Josiah assured him. “I’d rather eat after speaking.”

“I’m the same way,” Nadhima said.

“That’s understandable.” A slow nod preceded Mickey’s scanning of the empty chairs that surrounded the special table. He then
looked at the Rolex that encircled his wrist. “Is your family running late? I’m about to get ready to introduce you in just a few moments. I’d hate for them to miss the highlight of the evening.”

It was Josiah’s high school graduation all over again. He was the man of the hour and had no one there to celebrate his accomplishments with him. Looking past Mickey, purposefully avoiding eye contact, Josiah gave his head a slow nod. “They may not be able to make it in time. My … well, as I’ve told you in the past, my family lives out of town, and they made no promises about tonight. It’s okay if you move ahead with the program.”

“That’s too bad.” Mickey shook Josiah’s hand once more, and this time he topped it off with a single sympathetic pat to his shoulder.

Mickey had that same pitiful expression on his face as the redheaded officer wore when he came to tell Josiah that his mother had been murdered. Josiah couldn’t help wondering if Mickey knew the truth about his family… or the lack thereof. Seven years was a long time to work with someone and never see one member of his family. Josiah was sure that if Mickey didn’t know, he had some suspicions.

Breaking the brief silence with a deafening sneeze into his handkerchief, Mickey regrouped, and then said, “Well, present or not, I know they’re proud. I would have loved to have met them, but I’m sure you’ll be honored with something else in the near future that they’ll be able to come and witness. No doubt about that.”

Eye contact was finally made, but it was fleeting. “Thank you, Mr. Colt. I appreciate the faith that you’ve placed in my abilities.”

When Mickey smiled, Josiah found a new reason to wait until later to eat. How does one make six figures and not take better care of his teeth? Couldn’t he have the doctor sedate him or something? There had to be a way for Mickey to rectify that whole yuck-mouth situation and deal with his dentist phobia at the same time.

“I’ll be giving the floor to you in just a bit,” Mickey promised
just before departing with Nadhima following close behind like a paid security guard.

As soon as Mickey was out of sight, Josiah retrieved this personal-sized bottle of hand sanitizer from his suit pocket and sterilized his hands. Anybody who sneezed and wiped their nose as often as Mickey did should never reach out to shake a person’s hand. The spot on his shoulder where Mickey had patted couldn’t be wiped away, but Josiah made a mental note to send his suit to the cleaners first thing Monday morning.

The smell of rubbing alcohol reeked from Josiah’s hands as he sank back into his seat and picked up his glass. He’d already polished off the water, but now his mouth was dry again. Probably a direct result of the lie that he’d just told his boss about his family’s absence. Josiah took in a mouthful of unsweetened tea that disgusted his tongue, and he tried not to gag as he placed the sweating glass back on the table. Immediately, he reached for the glass of water that had been a part of the place setting to the left of him. Might as well, since no one would be sitting there to enjoy it.

“Hey, JT. What’s up, man?”

A rush of liberation swept through Josiah at the sight of the approaching Craig Wilson. He didn’t know what had changed his mind, but whatever it was, Josiah was grateful. Because of him, the honoree’s table wouldn’t be completely empty after all. And just a bit of truth, perhaps, could be attached to the untruth he’d told earlier.

“Craig.” Josiah could hear the relief in his own voice. “What are you doing here, man?” The two slapped their palms together and then pulled each other into a quick brotherly hug. Josiah tried to control his grin, but couldn’t. “I thought you said you had other plans tonight that you couldn’t change.”

“I did.” Craig stepped to the side, unveiling the woman he’d been dating for the past two years. “Whether we came here or not
was Dani’s call, and she chose to spend her birthday supporting you.” Craig seemed proud to make the announcement.

Josiah bent his knees slightly as he embraced his best friend’s girl. “Thanks, Danielle. You didn’t have to do this.”

“I know.” She looked up at Josiah as he fully released her. “I wanted to. There was no way that I would miss this by choice. When Craig told me about the function before, I thought it was something that was celebrating a group of your colleagues. When he explained to me last night that it was an honorary dinner specifically for you, it was a no-brainer. Tonight is your night, JT, and we want to celebrate it with you. Congratulations.”

When Josiah looked at Danielle Brown, he understood Craig’s attraction. She was only five three, but what she lacked in height, she made up in intelligence and beauty. Craig and Danielle had been attending the same church for years, but it wasn’t until Craig took the teaching position at Chapel Hill High that they met. That was one of the drawbacks of being connected to a ten thousand member church like Living Water Cathedral. A man could be worshiping in the same sanctuary with his own barber and not know it.

Danielle was already a guidance counselor at Chapel Hill High School when Craig joined the staff just over two years ago. They’d hit it off almost immediately and had been inseparable ever since. At first, Josiah had been a bit surprised that Craig was drawn to the freshman counselor. Danielle didn’t fit the mold of any of the women Craig had dated in college. His college sweethearts were tall, fair-skinned, and generally had chemically treated hair. Most wore silky weave that flowed down their backs. Danielle was none of the above. Except for her short stature, she was an India Arie look-alike. She was dark and very afro-centric, wearing her dark brown shoulder-length hair in sisterlocks adorned with small African shells and beading. All of her jewelry was authentically
made in the motherland, and she wore little or no makeup. Not that she needed to. Her natural beauty was enough to turn any warm-blooded man’s head.

“When I told Dani that this was your night to shine, she suggested that we alter our dinner plans and support you instead.” Craig slipped his arm around his fiancée’s waist and kissed her jaw. Then he turned back to Josiah. “So here we are.”

Danielle shrugged like it was no big deal. “JT, I can’t believe you didn’t just tell me about this. Canceling our outing gave me the chance to go by and see my niece, anyway. You know she’s been going through therapy ever since the doctor gave clearance, and I don’t get around there to sit with my sister nearly as often as I should. Craig and I can go out again tomorrow night and make that my official birthday dinner, if necessary. There were definitely more important things to do today.”

“I appreciate that very much.” Josiah couldn’t stop smiling. They had no idea what their presence meant. “And I’m sure your niece was just as thrilled to have you spend time with her as I am to have you here with me.” Turning his face from them, Josiah pointed toward the empty seats around the table. “Pick a seat and join me. There’s water, tea, and bread already on the table, as you can see. The waiter will bring a plate once he notices you sitting here, I’m sure.”

The elevator music that had been playing at a lowered volume over the speaker system suddenly hushed, and when the floor lights dimmed to make the front of the room the focal point, the chatter in the rented hotel space quieted too. In Josiah’s tenure at Mac-Gyvers, he had done everything from one-on-one training sessions with entrepreneurs of home-based businesses to teaching systems orientation workshops to groups of more than a hundred employees. Standing in front of the scrutinizing eyes of people and having
them size him up as he addressed them wasn’t something that Josiah wasn’t accustomed to. As a matter of fact, it was one of his strengths. One of the assets that elevated him to the place he was today.