We Take this Man (5 page)

Ray said, “Can you put that on the group calendar?”

“No, my account isn’t set up yet and I expect that anyone on the team who may not be standing here will get the invite by word of mouth.”

His smooth cockiness left us stunned. Desiree and I looked like
damn
. It’s nothing like a man with cocoa skin giving orders. Even as his nemesis, I was forced to blush. In less than five minutes and in fewer than five words, he let us know that he was a no-bullshit kind of manager.

“Damn, there goes the morning runs to Starbucks I let y’all get away with.”

When the cubicle cleared, Desiree and I gave each other funny looks. I pouted, “He seems a little arrogant.”

She laughed. “Forget him. That’s why he got a big nose.”

“And big lips.”

We laughed. It tickled us that at least we had one negative thing to say about him. In the middle of our amusement, I thought about the source. How the hell can Desiree’s auburn-wig-wearing, 1985-glasses-wearing, all-my-clothes-are-from-1992 ass talk about anybody? I shook my head and thought,
I’m going to hell
.

Before I got to my desk, I decided to peep in and do a more personal introduction. I tapped on his door. “Hi, Dwight. I’m . . .”

“Alicia Dixon.”

“That’s me. You’re good. You remembered everyone’s name that fast?”

“No. I remember you, though. During my extensive meetings with the program managers, they mentioned you a lot. So when you said your name, it immediately registered. Have a seat.”

I plopped down in the chair and noticed a bunch of unhealthy snacks piled in a box on the floor. Twinkies. M&M’S. Twizzlers. Maybe that would explain the protruding belly. His height definitely reduced the impact of his width, but nonetheless, he could definitely jog around the track a few times. “So, was it hard for you to make the decision to come here?”

“Ah, not really. Horizon South is one of the biggest technology firms in Jacksonville. So it was a choice between getting a large increase in pay or a severe decrease.”

We both laughed at the no-brainer decision. “I do understand. How much notice did they give you to make the decision?”

“Two weeks.”

“Are you kidding me? You had to make a decision to uproot your life”—noticing his wedding ring, I added—“and your family, in two weeks?”

“Well, my wife and kids haven’t come yet. It was too much for my wife to accept so suddenly.”

“I bet. That’s ludicrous.”

He clarified, “That’s Corporate America.”

“Yeah. That’s true.”

I stood to leave. He said, “How do you think the initial meeting with the team went?”

“You handled them well. You have to put your foot down or we’ll walk all over you.”

He laughed. “That’s hard to do.”

“I bet.”

He smiled. “So, you’re second-in-command, huh?”

“I’m the Development Lead, but I do so much development that sometimes I feel like I’m just leading myself.”

“We’ll have to do something about that.”

My twists swung around and I frowned. “Like what?”

“If you’re the Lead, you have no business doing the work.”

“Sometimes if you want it done right, you have to do it yourself. You know what I mean.”

I stopped midway through my chuckle when I noticed he wasn’t amused. He said, “No, actually, I don’t. Maybe we have to reevaluate some things around here.”

My eyes shifted. Was that his way of saying that we had to reevaluate my job? Suddenly, we’d hopped off the good foot that we started off on. I was lost for words and it took me a minute to shake off the astonishment.

“Oh well . . . I guess I’ll see you at our meeting this afternoon.”

I turned to leave and he called my name. “I wasn’t trying to offend you when I said we have to reevaluate things. I was talking about the way the software is designed. That’s my job, you know?”

“Who said I was offended?”

“The sassy, sista-girl way that you were about to storm out of here.”

“Whatever, I’ll see you at the one-fifteen meeting.”

We both laughed for a minute. He said, “I’m going to enjoy this. I’ve never worked with a sista in charge.”

“Well there’s a first time for everything.”

“You’re right, Ms. Dixon. You’re absolutely right.”

When I walked out of his office, I immediately began to scrutinize everything he said in the conversation. Maybe he was a male chauvinist. Maybe he thought I wasn’t skilled enough for my position. Maybe he was going to be a jerk. Maybe I wasn’t going to like him.

In our team meeting, Dwight looked to me to explain a lot of the current organizational procedures as he tried to make us aware of his management style. He had a way of making complexity seem simple. Though I was still taken aback by his forward approach earlier, he seemed to have a good system.

He’d often look at me. “What do you think about that, Ms. Dixon?”

When I would nod, he’d joke, “Gotta make the ladies happy.”

The guys in the group seemed to get a kick out of that. He had a way with words that left the entire room clinging to the next one. How could he mesmerize all of us? After my tenth time asking myself that question, it hit me. The first step to leadership is to look like you know even when you don’t. Dwight stepped up in here like he’d been working with the team for years and, damn it, he wanted respect. It was really that simple.

Suddenly, I began to question my job and how we would integrate responsibility. If he knows everything, and there are ten developers on the team; the leader is not leading, so what do you need her for? Paying five developers and one good lead would mean they could get rid of me.

In my mind, I was already strategizing my approach to the battle of the sexes. He would not win and I would prevail. As I daydreamed about our power struggle, he called my name.

I looked up and noticed everyone gathering their things. “Let’s go to my office and go through this Software Development Document.”

My eyes questioned how this post-meeting originated. He continued, “We’ll go through it page by page, see whether we may need to add more detail or where we could cut corners.”

I smiled tightly. “That should be fine.”

“And I need you to help set up my development environment.”

When we left the conference room, I said, “You’re trying to be here all night, huh?”

“What time do you usually get off?”

“I’m a nine to seven girl.”

“So I have you for the next four hours.”

Did I say that I wanted to spend the rest of my workday with him? Hell, I have things to do. Why couldn’t he be like most people and chill on his first day? He was trying to be an overachiever and disrupting my mode of operation.

“Well let me drop this stuff off at my desk and I’ll be over.”

I stopped at Desiree’s cube before I went into his office and rolled my eyes. Desiree imitated him, “Is that okay with you, Ms. Dixon?”

“Exactly. I think he was trying to be smart.”

“Alicia, please. I think he’s being respectful.”

I shared with her the discussion about reevaluating things around here. She laughed. “Alicia, you’re just paranoid. I think you should stop trying to interpret what he’s trying to say and listen to what he’s actually saying.”

The
whatever
look on my face let her know that I didn’t agree. She said, “Don’t be afraid to learn new things.”

“Who me?” I had to laugh because I have that argument with Desiree nearly every day. She is the exact same person I met five years ago. She doesn’t like to travel. She doesn’t like to eat different food. Look at who needs to try new things.

She clarified, because I’m certain she knew what was going through my mind. “Alicia, yes, you are adventurous in your personal life. But sometimes you can be so closed-minded when it comes to work. Honestly. Maybe if you listen to his game plan, it may help you out.” She paused and studied my resistance. “How many hours did you work last week?”

As I headed out of her office, I said, “Too many to discuss. I’ll catch you tomorrow if I don’t see you before you leave.”

“Okay, Ms. Dixon.”

A slight smile lingered as I walked into Dwight’s office. “Hey, you ready?”

He looked away from his computer screen. “Ms. Dixon. I thought you changed your mind.”

“I had to go to the restroom. Is that okay?”

He looked up at me as if he questioned if that is where I’d really gone. “Oh, I’m sorry. I’m all up in your business.”

We both laughed and he reclined in his chair. The springs creaked as he rested his hands on top of his bald head. Ah, I figured it was my turn to speak. When I noticed the pictures on his desk, I said, “Oh my, is this your family?”

He gazed momentarily at the pictures. “Yeah, my three girls.”

“That’s cute. What are their names?”

He pointed to his wife. “That’s my Tracey.” Then he pointed to the girls. “The oldest is Jordan. She’s six and my baby girl is Destiny. She’s four.”

“They are adorable. You’re the only guy in the house, huh? I know that’s something. Are you going to try for a boy?”

“Nah, she’s done. If it were up to me, I would, but wifey says she’s done.”

A quick streak of envy rippled through me. It must be nice to be called
wifey
. That holds so much more weight than just simply saying my wife.
Wifey
means the chick who is the center of the world.
Wife
just means a chick I married. If I ever bumped my head and decided to do it, it would only be on the condition that he thought I was
wifey
.

“How long have you guys been married?”

“Almost ten years.” He smiled and gazed at the picture. “We were high school sweethearts.”

“Really.”

“Yeah, really.”

He scrutinized my shocked expression. How could anyone be with the same person since they were a teenager and still look so happy?

“I can’t imagine. You guys never dated anyone else?”

“Nope. Never dated anyone else. Let’s get started.”

Still a little amazed about his love story, I paused before speaking, “Do you have the document up on your computer?”

He nodded and began printing a copy of the document. I asked, “When is your family coming?”

He sighed. “She says she’s not coming.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Nah, we literally moved into her dream home about two months ago and she just ain’t feeling moving yet.”

“But isn’t this position permanent?”

He chuckled. “Exactly. Try explaining that to my little lady. I think when the novelty of the house wears off, she’ll follow her man.” As if this was a guarantee, he shifted back to work. “Should I print out two copies and we go through each page together?”

“Yeah that makes sense.” I was now interested to know what his wife was thinking. “So, neither of you guys want to bend?”

He squinted. “When I first heard about the merger, coming here wasn’t even an option. Then I had to decide whether I should take a pay cut or a pay increase. With my salary here, I can afford to maintain a home here and there and still come out better than I would have there. I’m going to buy a house just as nice here and that should change her mind.”

“You know the company reimburses up to twenty thousand for settlement and anything over that, but up to twenty percent of the purchase price can be borrowed interest-free. If you leave, they apply interest, though.”

“Yeah, I know. That’s my plan. You know all the rules. Did you relocate from anywhere?”

“Unfortunately not, I’m from around here. I know the rules ’cause I was pissed that I couldn’t use them.”

“Well as long as I find a house comparable, she’ll come here, I’m sure.”

I nodded slowly. “If you think so.”

When he refocused the conversation on work, I decided not to pry any longer, but I thought it was crazy that there was no reunion plan. He wasn’t the most attractive guy and he was a tad bit overweight, but still, to let your husband run free in the wilderness for the sake of a house was beyond me.

After sitting in his office until eight o’clock discussing new strategies, I gained an entirely new perspective of him. Dwight was smart and organized. He knew just how to delegate and I knew the software like the back of my hand. His presence would definitely free up some of my time.

CHAPTER 6

Tracey

D
wight moved and I’d been dealing with it. He was trying to do his best, calling and keeping up with us. So far it was okay. I got a new car out of the deal, and he planned a trip for us all to go to Disney World. The other good thing about Dwight not being home was that I got to shop as often as I liked and I didn’t have to hide any bags. As the girls and I headed home from Kohl’s, my cell phone rang. pain in the ass came across the screen. It was my brother, Wade, calling.

“Sister, I love you and I think you are the best.”

“What do you want, Wade?”

“I don’t want nothing. I want to come and check on you.”

“Check on me.”

“Yeah, my nieces there?”

“We were out but we almost at the house.”

“All right, I’m going to meet you there.”

When I pulled up to my house Wade was sitting in front of my door with his seat all the way back. I blew the horn and pressed my garage opener. He stepped out of his car wearing black khakis and a striped green-and-blue shirt. His hair was in a curly fro. He looked more like a college student than thirtysomething. He gave me a hug and lifted Destiny up in the air.

“What’s up, little nieces?”

“Uncle Wade!” Jordan shouted. “Can you take us to the toy store?”

“Not today.”

“You always say not today,” Destiny said.

I opened my trunk and walked to the back of my car to show him what I needed him to bring in the house. When I glanced over at his car, I saw a woman staring over at me. I turned to him and said, “Who is that?”

“A friend.”

“You just going to let that girl just sit in the car?”

“She cool. She know how to wait.”

“You so wrong, Wade,” I said as I glanced back over at the car. Who was I to fight for the girl’s right, if she was dumb enough to let some man leave her in the car? We went into the house.