Beautiful Surrender. Sherelle Green

Incorporated,” Malik said into the speaker.

      “Hi, Malik. It’s Mya.”

      “I’ll buzz you up.” As he pressed the buzzer to let her into his second floor office, he took note of the way she had said his name. He enjoyed listening to the way his name rolled off her tongue, but the way she said it sounded too formal. This might be a professional meeting, but Malik preferred her to sound a little more relaxed.

      At the light ding of the elevator, he opened the door to his office suite just as she was stepping into the hallway. She had worn a similar skirt to when he had seen her a couple days ago, but this one was beige and she wore it with a russet-colored blouse. The colors really brought out the golden highlights in her wavy brown hair that he hadn’t really noticed before.

      “You look great,” he said. She gave him a quick up and down glance before replying, “Thanks, so do you.”

      Malik had chosen to get rid of his tie and had unbuttoned the first few buttons of his light gray dress shirt that he’d paired with dark gray slacks.

      “Thanks. If you’ll follow me to the conference room, we can begin discussing business.” Mya followed behind Malik and he could feel her eyes glued to the back of his head.

      “You must be in Chicago quite a bit,” she said as they passed Mona’s desk.

      “Not really,” he replied as he held open the conference room door for her to enter. She placed her bag and purse in a nearby chair and sat down at the table, observing the art on the wall. “Since I’ll be cohosting the auction and I currently have more clients in Illinois than Michigan, I figured I would work out of Chicago for a while.”

      Mya’s head whipped towards Malik just as he took a seat across the table from her.

      “You’re staying in Chicago?” she asked.

      “Yes, I am. I figured it would be easier than all the traveling. But once a week, I’ll still take a drive to my office in Detroit. I have an office manager and three interns there, so my office is in good hands.”

      Mya stared at him for a while and didn’t say anything. He imagined that she was still trying to accept the fact that he would be residing in her city for a while.

      She cleared her throat and nervously brushed her fingers through her hair before leaning back in the swivel chair. The act was done subconsciously, which made her look even sexier to Malik. She had a good poker face. He’d give her that. But he was paid to see beneath the surface and study a person’s actions. He wondered if Mya knew that her actions were proving just how nervous she was.

      “So,” she said, recovering from his statement. “You said your assistant would be here too. Did she step out for a minute?”

      “Actually, I told her she could go home early, so it’s just the two of us,” he responded.

      “Oh, I see,” she said, her brown eyes growing slightly bigger before returning to their normal size.

      He was sure she didn’t see the big picture. Not fully anyway. Malik was a careful thinker. He was the type of person who could develop a plan that would take years to execute. And he would maintain his patience until every task of the plan had been completed.

      “Where will you stay?” she asked.

      “I own an apartment complex in Hyde Park. I have tenants in all units except the penthouse, so I will reside there while I’m in Chicago.”

      “Nice,” she said as she began removing items from her bag. “Did you decide how long you will stay?”

      I’m sure much longer than you’d like. “Probably at least until the auction. After that, I’ll play it by ear.”

      Malik stood up and walked to the corner of the conference room where the Keurig was placed. “Would you like some coffee?”

      “I don’t drink coffee,” she stated as she jotted something down in her notepad. “But tea would be great if you have it.”

      “Yes, I do,” he said as he placed the sugar holder and stirrers on the conference table. “So, how about you tell me the overall goal of the fundraiser.”

      “Sure,” she said as she crossed one leg over the other. It took all Malik’s strength not to drop his eyes to her legs. He distracted himself with making his coffee and her tea instead.

      “At Elite Events, there are a variety of organizations and events that we sponsor. One of my most cherished sponsorships is the work we do with Chicago after-school programs. There are two programs in particular that we donate a hefty amount of money to annually. But a few months ago we learned that our efforts to save those programs weren’t effective, and they will have to permanently close before the start of school.”

      “That’s unfortunate,” Malik responded as he placed the hot drinks on the conference table.

      “Exactly,” Mya stated. “After talking with my partners, we’ve decided to open our own after-school program. The employees who currently work in the programs that are closing have agreed to transition to our program since they will be out of jobs soon. It will take a lot of hard work to make everything happen in a little over three months, but we have a lot of support, so I think we can do it. I’ll also be spending one or two days a week as needed working in the office of the after-school program instead of the Elite Events office.”

      “Wow,” Malik stated as he absorbed everything Mya had said. “I admire your dedication, it will really make a difference in the community.”

      She smiled before she slid a piece of paper across the desk. “Thanks. I just hope we can help the students that benefit from the programs that are closing and also bring awareness to those who don’t follow what goes on in the education system. We can’t fund the entire program and keep it running without the help of the community, that’s why we are having the charity date auction next month.”

      “I’d say you’re well on your way and I like the idea of a date auction to raise money. June is a good month to have a singles event because people probably spent last fall, winter and spring preparing mentally and physically for the hot weather.”

      “Exactly,” Mya said nodding her head in agreement. “You know the streets overflow with people as soon as the weather gets above fifty degrees. And it will take place right after school ends.”

      “So,” Malik said as he stirred around the sugar and hazelnut cream he’d poured into his coffee. “What help do you need from me?”

      “Well, that piece of paper details everything,” she replied as she pointed to the paper she had slid across the table. “It’s a tentative schedule of all deadlines including dates for auditions to see what singles we want to auction off and many other details. My partners and I have settled on auctioning off twenty singles...ten women and ten men. Of the twenty participants, I want at least half to be business professionals or well known individuals in the Midwest states to up the ante and get singles more excited at the possibility of going out with a local celebrity. I already have two business women and two Chicago athletes who have agreed, so I’m looking for about six more.”

      “I can definitely reach out to a few people as well,” Malik added.

      “Great! We may charge a small fee to enter the auction and since we’re event planners, we will plan dates for a few lucky couples in the audience.”

      “How would that work?” Malik asked.

      “Two weeks before the auction, we will email a questionnaire for everyone to fill out. Anyone interested in winning a date will only have forty-eight hours to fill out the form and return it to us. Then we will shuffle through the data and match at least six singles. We will announce the matches at the auction.”

      “It looks like you and your partners even have the media plan for the event taken care of,” Malik said as he skimmed the sheet of paper.

      “We