Ego {Completed}

Chapter 8

Wednesday morning, I scrolled through my e mails. Most of them were just reminders about upcoming meetings or events, but two of them I actually bothered to pay closer attention to. The first one was from my mother, of all people. She e mailed me to remind me about family dinner on Sunday, and she stressed that she wanted all of her children there. I rolled my eyes, but made a mental note to call her and let her know that I would be there. I miss one dinner, and she acts like I skipped out on Christmas, or something.
The second e mail was from Shawn stating that he has read over my outline, and he would like to continue with us. I smiled and responded to him with a thank you message as well as a time and a place for our lunch meeting. Right after I sent it, I got right to work on our official contract.

I was about halfway done when Solange came into my office.
"Mom's on the phone for you. Line one."
I frowned. "Why didn't she call my cell?"
She just shrugged and left my office again.
I picked up the phone, and before I could even finish saying "hello," she was already going off on me.
"Beyoncé Giselle, I know you hear me calling your phone!"
"I'm sorry Mama, I didn't." I said as I searched for my phone. It was still in my purse, which explains why I didn't hear it. I meant to take it out after I finished reading all my e mails, but then I got caught up in making out this contract. Sure enough, I had eleven missed calls from her.
"The least you could have done is responded to my e mail, I know you saw it. It seems like the only way to get in touch with you is through your job."
I rested my head against my fist and just listened until she finished ranting.

"Are you done, Mama?"
"Girl, don't get smart with me!"
"I'm not. I'm sorry I didn't answer your call, and I'm sorry I missed brunch on Sunday. I was busy."
"Busy with what?"
"A client." I said vaguely. It's not exactly a lie, I just didn't know he was my client at the time.
"Since when do you work on Sunday's?" I started to hesitate, but fortunately, she kept talking. "Never mind. Since you missed brunch, you didn't get any of the details for the wedding. It's going to be in July, and you and your sisters will all be participating, so y'all need to get along."
I rolled my eyes. I can act like I have some sense, so I didn't really need the lecture. "Yes ma'am." I answered.
"Anyway, we can talk more about it on Sunday. You will be at dinner, right?"
"Yes, Mamma."
"Good. Well, I'll let you get back to work, since it's the only thing you seem to care about."
"Mamma!"
"I'm just teasing you, girl. Bye."
She hung up after that, and I shook my head. My family always comments on how I'm such a control freak and workaholic because of my job. But I can't help it. I literally built this place from scratch, and I'm very proud of how far I've come. I refuse to apologize for that.

I finished typing up Shawn's contract, and I had it printed out. Since he got back with me early, I set our lunch meeting for tomorrow. I will still give him the weekend to look over the contract and make his decision, though. I finished my work early, and I decided to let everyone go home early too, if they wanted. I was in a pretty good mood.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Beyoncé asked me to meet her at a small hole-in-the-wall restaurant for lunch today to go over our contract. I have to say, I expected that she would call an end to our activities once she found out that I'm her author, but a man can still dream, right?
I walked in to find that she was already sitting at a booth and ordering something. "Sorry I'm late," I spoke when I sat down with her.
"Actually, you're five minutes early. I had to show up early to make up for our first meeting." She smiled.
I laughed a little, and the waiter asked me what I would like to drink. I ordered a water.
"So, you looked over my outline?"
I nodded. "Yes, I did. And I would really like to move forward. I really do appreciate you even giving my book any attention."
She smiled. "It really is very good. And, so was the book you gave me."
"You read it already?"
She shrugged. "I get paid to read, doesn't take me long to finish a book. But I did really like it."
I smiled. "You should stop by my library sometime. There's also a bookstore, if you want to read something related."
She laughed. "Maybe I will."