Hey, hey, hey!!!! So, I know I've been gone for a minute, but I promise I have been working behind the scenes. But I wanna thank y'all for continuing to rock with me, so I have a few goodies to offer!! #1 - Teaser Tuesday featuring the first two chapters from the upcoming Book #4 in The Champion Sisters Series - The Champ is Here! #2 - Book 2 in The Champion Sisters Series, The Rise of a Champ is FREE on Amazon!!! Yes, you read that right... FREE! Get your eBook copy now. Click here #3 - My second release, Weary No More, is also FREE on Amazon!!! That's two free books and two free chapters!!! Click here Again, I really want to thank you all for continuing to read and wait patiently for the next release. Without further ado... Chapter 1: Olympia (September 2018) This is not the way I imagined my Monday morning starting off. Usually, it began with my mom and me having a cup of tea and catching on our weekend as if we didn’t talk daily. Instead, I was in the conference room at Champions of Hope preparing to fire my first employee. In the five years I’ve been in business, I’ve never had an employee that lived to make my life a living hell as Sara Williamson did. She was fresh out of nursing school when I hired her on a recommendation from one of my trusted former colleagues, and the only reason why she stayed around that long was because I really wanted to help her get to the next level in her career. But as the saying goes… you can’t help evr’ybody! I took the chance to go over the notes I’ve memorized like my name over the last week since I decided to let Sara go. 1. Ensure that the employee is not surprised. He/She should already know they were performing below standard. Check. Sara has been called in regarding her performance several times. She failed to meet the minimum goals of the job. 2. Be clear and concise. Check. I have an itemized list of Sara’s excessive absenteeism and her write-ups from breaking the code of conduct. 3. Have a witness. Check. I have two. My mom, Athena Champion, who is our office manager and will take notes and my right-hand girl, Kia, who is our HR Director. 4. Make sure your actions are legal. Check. This was the first thing I did after deciding to fire her. My one-woman legal team was nothing to mess with. I guess I eventually needed to go through this as a CEO, but dammit, why did it have to be her. 5. Be prepared for emotion, but keep yours in check. Check. If she tried it, security would be escorting Ms. Sara back to her car before she can even think about causing a scene. Plus, today was not the day to mess with me. It was a few months away from my 35th birthday, and things weren’t coming together in life or for my party like I needed them to. I was a walking billboard for Murphy’s Law. Every gotdamn thing was going wrong, and I couldn’t stay ahead of the disasters no matter how hard I tried. So, more than anything, I was pissed that Sara put me in this predicament when she has so many people rooting for her. What a waste. After a few minutes alone with my notes and lukewarm tea, my mom and Kia walked in with their notepads and serious faces. Sara did not want smoke with any of us today. We did not come to play. Security sent me a text moments later to say that Sara was on her way up. We had just a minute or two to finalize the details before Sara made it to the 11th floor. Champions of Care is a staffing agency housed in a new, modern, twenty-eight floor building on Peachtree Street in Atlanta. I signed a lease for this office space for ten years and am currently five years into it. This space sold me with its open concept reception area, one large conference room, one large communal work area, and two huddle/call rooms inside the communal space. This was the perfect space for me as I didn’t have more than three employees as permanent office staff, but I needed a home base where my staff nurses could come for training and meetings. The best part about this building was that it was walking distance from my condo. Especially since I hated to drive. This eliminated that problem, plus having to find parking. Sara walked in looking wary, her body language already defensive before any of us had even uttered a word. “Umm, hey. I got an email from Kia about this meeting. What’s up?” “Have a seat, Sara. As you know, you were on a corrective action plan, and it ended yesterday.” Ensure that the employee is not surprised. He/She should already know they were performing below standard. Ok, she wasn’t surprised by me mentioning that. I continued, “according to your plan, you were not to exceed two absences, in addition to following the code of conduct you signed for Champions of Care and The Abagail Center.” Be clear and concise. “I have Kia here as our HR Director and Mrs. Champion as our witness and notetaker. Feel free to stop me at any time if you have any questions.” Have a witness. “Olympia, you don’t need to drag this out. Are you firing me?” Homegirl was getting snippy. I would not let her take control of this meeting. Kia was to the left of me and made a sound to clear her throat as if she was offering me a reminder to stay on track. Mommy had yet to say a word. “Sara. I want to make sure you understand everything. Unfortunately, our contract as staff nurses requires us to terminate any licensed nurse who breaks the code of ethics. You did that when you were caught leaving a dementia patient outside unattended to talk on the phone.” Make sure your actions are legal. “But she was right there. I didn’t even walk far.” Sara was raising her voice and that caused both Kia and my mom to stop writing and look at me. I was cool though. “They are lying. I asked them for proof, and as of yesterday, they still haven’t shown me anything.” “I hear you. You have a right to request that information. I will be sure to send you what they sent me. According to Abagail House, you being away from the patient for two minutes was not acceptable. And for that reason, we have to terminate you effective immediately.” Be prepared for emotion but keep yours in check. The rest of the meeting went on with Sara denying her role in her own demise, followed by some HR feedback from Kia. Unfortunately, we would not be able to provide her with a positive reference for future employment, and it would go on her permanent record. Once we got her out of the office, the three of us went out for a long lunch and talked about everything except what just happened. Just as I expected, my birthday party was a hot topic, and my mom said that my sister Zafirah would be willing to help me out. At five o’clock on the dot, I started making my way home, wishing that I had someone waiting on me, not a permanent fixture, so to speak. Just someone who could help me get rid of the stressors that have been having me tense and anxiety-filled lately. I guess I could call up one of my ole’ trusty dudes to do the job, but I didn’t feel like a whole of talking, and none of them could be trusted just to do the deed and leave. Oh well, I guess me and my dog Mags will have to take a nice, long walk followed by a nice glass of wine and some ratchet TV. But I was ok with that. Year thirty-five would bring me more excitement. I was putting that out into the universe and wishing it into existence. Chapter 2: Gavin (September 2018) Today was going to be a long Friday! My thoughts took the lead as I stepped off the elevator and headed to my office. As the newly installed President and CEO of Midtown West Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, I’ve taken this walk a total of thirty-two times. I couldn’t believe I was back in ATL. I got the call on my fortieth birthday back in July, and here we are two months later, and I am getting along nicely in my dream job. I’m still amazed that I was offered the position at only forty years old and without an MD behind my name. But the board was adamant about selecting someone who wanted to focus on infrastructure, rebuilding the hospital brand, and improving the standard of care. My background and work experience highlighted those things excellently. It helps that Dr. Williamson is my Executive Vice President and was my prior boss when I was COO at another hospital. He’s an excellent mentor and assured me that I should soak up as much knowledge from him as I could before he retired. This was no easy feat or accomplishment, but I worked very hard to get here. Before heading to my private office, I decided to stop and take in the view before me. This was the newest wing of the hospital and featured windows so wide and clean that it looked like you could walk right outside from the twenty-second floor. I had to be sure to commend the Safety & Facilities department on the improvement. Most people thought I was unqualified and crazy when I concentrated on restructuring this department first. There was a reason for my madness. Appearance is critical in the healthcare field. If things looked good inside and out, the rest of the organization would fall into place or at the very least, begin to take pride in their work, environment, and roles within the hospital organization. If nothing else, those who couldn’t or wouldn’t get with the program would find themselves looking for employment elsewhere. I’ve been tasked with changing the culture of this hospital, and I plan on succeeding at it. My executive assistant, Daniel, recently graduated from Mortonhouse University with his MBA but had been interning at the hospital since he was in undergrad. He came to me from the neurology department because the original EA that was assigned to me decided that she didn’t agree with my hiring and turned in her retirement papers. It was the best decision for both of us. Daniel was efficient, professional, detailed, and he seemed to be able to read my mind. The best thing about Daniel is that even though I arrived every morning at 7 am, Daniel was already here. Since we were both new in our roles, we were working upwards of twelve-hour days, but I planned on getting Daniel to cut back soon. I didn’t want him to burn out. “Mr. Upchurch, your tea is coming, we ran out of the chai tea bags, so I’ve just requested for more to be sent up. Your 9 am meeting with the Chief of the ER department has been moved to Conference Room Seven instead of five; there was a connection issue with the WiFi and I have the IT department looking into it. I’ve updated all of the attendees and breakfast should be set up by 8:45. Did you need anything else while you get settled?” This was why I was happy to see Robin’s hateful ass walk out the door. Didn’t I say he was efficient? I know he had career goals and aspirations bigger than being my assistant, and I was already hating to see him go. Someone with his talent, skillset, and drive would go far and I wouldn’t stop this black man from breaking the glass ceiling. Instead, I would do what I could to make sure he got there faster. “Thanks Daniel. Nothing else. I’ll see you in a few for our daily check-in. How are things coming along with the wedding planning?” He was recently engaged to his college sweetheart and they were planning a small, intimate, wedding ceremony to save on time, money, and stress. Smart. “Going good. Drica is making a big deal about us not having a DJ, so what we did was start a wedding playlist and send it to all our guests and let them add what they wanted to hear. Since it’s going to be the people closest to us and our very best friends, we know everyone will pick songs that will work for all the guests. Oh and I talked to Drica and you can definitely bring a plus one. She was happy to make that exception for you. Right after she told me that my raggedy, ratchet cousin Jayson better leave his “estranged” wife at home.” Cedrica is Daniel’s fearless fiancee and she ran a tight ship. He walked back to his office while we both laughed at Drica’s banning Jayson’s wife from the wedding. Being an observer to their relationship made me think back on my marriage and divorce to Jesslyn. Jess and I met in fall 1999 as undergrads at The Central Florida University when I was starting my senior year and she was a junior. I thought we would just have a quick relationship for my last year of school because my five-year plan was already written, proofread, and printed. It did not include any serious emotional attachments and it damn sure didn’t include a whole wife. But being with Jesslyn caused me rewrite everything I thought my life would be. When we met, she was really driven but not so serious that she couldn’t have fun. And we had fun. All the time. Since we lived in Orlando, we visited Disneyworld more times than I could count, and that was before we had kids. Things just felt right between us and that feeling continued until Jess got pregnant. Or should I say we got pregnant; she didn’t get that way on her own. Very early on in our relationship, Jess mentioned that she’d gotten pregnant when she was 17 and she decided to terminate that pregnancy. She said it was the most heartbreaking experience she’d ever had in her life and because of it, we were extra careful with protection. A cold, followed by her being prescribed antibiotics, and ending with a night of us celebrating her promotion at work led to all of our careful planning being thrown out the window. Once we got the positive pregnancy results, we decided to get married. Our beautiful, curious, daughter Melodie was born in May 2002 and Micah, or Mu, as we called him, followed in June 2006. Things started changing with Jess and me when we moved to Atlanta and I was promoted to the COO position of a fairly large healthcare system. All of a sudden, she turned into one of the cast members of RHOA and I never saw it coming. After that, I always regretted moving her away from her family and our support system because they kept her grounded. We started constantly fighting about her spending and about some of the decisions she was making for the kids. It never got better even though we both kept saying we were working on it. In 2012 we split, the divorce was finalized in 2013. Jess decided to go back to Orlando to be close to her family and raise the kids there, so I followed her. But I could not pass up this opportunity. The only thing that caused a second thought in my mind was how this move would affect my kids. They gave me their blessing and said they liked the idea of being able to visit Atlanta. I don't usually spend much time reminiscing, but the wedding talk had me traveling down memory lane. Thankfully, Jess and I were in a good place now as coparents and I spoke to the kids almost daily, the only time we didn’t speak is if they were busy with friends or activities. As I was looking over my notes for the day, Daniel walked back in at the same time my office phone rang. That means it was someone who had my direct extension if Daniel’s phone didn’t ring. “Let me take this Daniel, come back in five?” He nodded at my request as he excited while working on his iPad. This guy was always working. “Upchurch.” I know it wasn’t as professional a greeting as it should have been, but it was barely 7am and it was throwing me off schedule. “Gavin, did Mu call you yesterday?” She had a knack for these early morning calls. I just wished she would have skipped it today. “No, Jess. I didn’t. What’s up?” “Well your son, Micah Upchurch, was in a fight at school yesterday and he’s been suspended for two days, plus benched for the next two football games.” “What the hell happened?” I was concerned about the fight, but I also knew that Mu wouldn’t see the game suspension as punishment because he didn’t love football as much as he loved basketball. “He said a boy was teasing a smaller, quiet girl in class and he warned him to stop; the boy didn’t stop, so he punched him.” “Well, I don’t see a problem there. He was defending her. We both would have encouraged him to do as such.” These schools did a horrible job with their zero policy infractions. Certain instances needed to happen. My soon standing up to a bully was one of them. “I’ll call him after my meeting since he’s home, then I will get the principal on the phone. Lonnie and I know each other from childhood, so I’ll see what I can do. But I will not make him apologize.” Mu did nothing wrong and I would ensure him of that. We wouldn’t have him thinking it was wrong to defend someone being taken advantage of. Hell no. Not on my watch. “Please do that. He’s worried that you would be upset with him for being suspended from school. I told him that we would always be proud of him for making the right decision.” Jess was one hundred percent correct. I was happy that we were aligned in that way and to raise our children to be good human beings effectively. “So, what else is up with you? When’s the next time you’re coming home?” Her tone switched to something more flirtatious. Oh shit, I knew I shouldn’t have fucked her before leaving Orlando to come to Atlanta. It was just a bad decision all around. We promised that was the last time cause it wasn’t heading anywhere and our kids didn’t need the confusion. “You know that I’m being honored by the BSU at our alma mater next month. I’ll get with Mel and Mu so we can plan something with my mom. She’s been chomping at the bit to see Mu. He’s been so busy, but luckily Mel stops by often since she drives now.” “I’ll be around as well. Just FYI.” She had the nerve to giggle after staying that. “Jess, you already know we said we would dead that situation.” I chose my next set of words carefully; my ex-wide has always been sensitive to rejection. Or what she determined was rejection. “Plus, the kids almost caught us, and we don’t want them having false expectations about us. Right?” Maybe if she felt like this was her idea, it would take the sting out of it. “Right! I was just mentioning that in case you wanted us to all hang out together. That’s it. You’re really feeling yourself today, huh Gavin?” Her giggle turned into a full-blown, uncomfortable laugh. “I’m confident every day, Jess! But let me go, Daniel is waiting for me for our morning meeting. Tell Mu I’ll call him later.” I hung up after her soft goodbye, then proceeded to inform Daniel that we could finally get the day started. And what a day it would be once he presented me with a list of tasks that seemed as if it would take a week to complete. In his usual fashion, Daniel quickly followed up with an incredibly detailed plan of action, then walked away to start executing. Damn, I’m really gonna miss him when I have to promote him. For now, I had shit to do, and first up was prepping for this meeting where I was gonna turn shit upside down and probably piss a few people off in the process. It’s a good thing I wasn’t hired to make friends. COMING SOON! Books #1 and #2 now available on Amazon.
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