Page 31 of Surrender to Love

“Something Ricky,” I say, trying to recall.

“Rocky. Rocky Patel. The Convictions are an ultra-premium varietal of theirs. They are made with over ten-year aged tobacco and only rolled by two pairs of the most experienced master rollers in Rocky's factory,” Alex says with a smile before sipping from her drink.

“I swear, you really know your cigars. I need you to teach a class on cigars at TopPick for my girls. Many of my clients enjoy a good cigar; their dates having knowledge of them is sexy and sellable,” Giselle says.

“Oh, I would love that. When I come for my investment talk, I can add that,” Alex says excitedly. Two of her favorite topics are money and cigars, and twice a year, she talks to Giselle’s escorts about investing and managing their money.

“We can do a real class. With your cigar expertise and my academic and curriculum skills, we can create a two to three week course in Canvas or Blackboard,” I add and Giselle shakes her head.

“You two, I swear. I don’t need all that. Just a quick conversation about cigars.”

“I like Kyrah’s idea better. A course is perfect. You can even add it to your new hire orientation process,” Alex says.

“My orientation process is just fine. You two do the damn most,” Giselle says as she playfully rolls her eyes.

“Says the queen of doing the most,” I say and we all laugh.

Our cigar sommelier for the evening returns with our cigars and smoking accessories properly laid out on a black and marble tray. After placing it on the table, she turns to Alex.

“Anything else, Miss Stansfield?” she asks.

“No, not right now, Natalie. Thank you,” Alex replies with a smile. The minute Natalie walks off, Alex reaches to her side and pulls two envelopes out of her clutch. “Before we smoke, let’s get to the reason for this evening.”

“I thought you just wanted to see us before you left for your trip,” I say.

“Well, you know I always want to see my girls, but tonight I have what I think is good ass news. I was hoping we all could be here, but I’ll get with Reya tomorrow before I leave.” After placing the envelopes on the table, she continues. “Remember that small IT startup I had you all invest in about two years ago, Tech Resolve?”

“Honestly, no,” Giselle says, verbalizing my exact thoughts, and Alex smirks.

“I can’t with y’all,” Alex says with a grin. “Do you ever listen when I talk?”

“I listen but I don’t remember every detail. Investments are all you. I defer to your knowledge and expertise. I read my quarterly statements though,” I admit. “They always put a smile on my face. Financial security is everything.”

“Trust me, we all agree on that shit,” Giselle adds. “So what’s going on with the startup?”

“It’s doing very, very well. It’s more mature, stable, and generating more cash than it can use for growth, so we all got cash dividends. Check these out,” she says as she hands me and Giselle envelopes. There’s a huge smile on her face as we open them. When I spot the amount listed, my smile matches hers.

“My five thousand dollar investment earned me this in two years?” I question, elated about the five figures on the cashier’s check.

“Yes,” Alex confirms. “Now you just have to decide what you want to do with it.”

Without a second thought, Giselle grabs her pen from her handbag, endorses her check, and hands it back to Alex. “Reinvest mine.”

“Got it. You can think yours over and let me know, Kyrah,” Alex says.

Since I also already have my mind made up, I simply say, “I’m going to put half in my savings and transfer the other half back to you to invest. You have something specific in mind?”

“More shares in Tech Resolve and in gold,” Alex says assuredly.

“You know I trust you. Sounds good to me,” I say, then nod. “Thank you.”

“Of course. Now, let’s celebrate with these.” After prepping the three cigars, she passes two of them to me and Giselle.

“A toast first though,” Giselle says. “This was an unexpected but welcomed surprise. Lift those glasses. To our financial guru, cash dividends, and true friends.”

“To all of that,” Alex adds before we tap our glasses. After taking a sip, Alex smirks then glances at me. “Are we toasting to anything else?”

“Like what?” I ask curiously.