I DO, SHE DOESN'T

Leila Lacey

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is coincidental

Copyright © 2015 by Leila Lacey.

In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at leilalacey0914@outlok.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

Senior Editor: Leanore Elliott

Cozette Lion had come to visit her father Zeus to let him know how well the company had done this quarter, as she needed to do every few months.

Cozette had taken her families company from a gold bar to a diamond. Lion Worldwide Holdings, Inc. was the first African American owned and ran global hospitality company. Lion was ranked as the 25th largest privately held company in the United States before for going public.

Cozette’s father, Zeus had taken the reigns until he’d retired ten years ago. The decision had shocked the business community when Zeus had finally named his youngest child as his successor. With Cozette’s leadership, the company had not only done well, but had almost doubled its profits every year.

“Daddy are you home?” she yelled walking into the house.

“Hi Ms. Cozette,” her father’s longtime maid greeted her while coming in from the kitchen.

“Hey, Kay. Is Daddy here?”

“Yes, miss he’s out by the pool’

“By the pool,” Zeus interjected with a laugh.

“Who told him he could rest?” Cozette retorted. “Good Morning Daddy! How are you today?”

Zeus stood up to embrace her, giving her one of his well-known bear hugs. “I am doing wonderful, now that my baby girl is here.” He pulled a chair out for her.

“I came to show you how well the new plans and designs I implemented for the hotels are doing,” she replied smiling.

“Baby girl, it’s a Friday shouldn’t you be off on a date? Or getting ready for one. If you don’t give me a grandchild I might think I won’t get one. With your brother’s divorces are lasting longer than their marriages.”

Cozette had three older brothers. Leon who was seven years older than her, while he was brilliant with numbers, he liked sailing around the world from casino to casino, leaving broken hearts in his wake.

Keven was four years older than she was and one of the most celebrated players in the NBA today.

Last but not least, there was Josiah who was a proctologist.

Cozette had never gotten why of all the places on the human body…he would choose the behind.

Keven had so eloquently answered the question last Christmas, saying, “Because he’s full of shit.”

As wonderful, as her brothers were there was one area their decision making ability left a lot to be desired. Women!

All of them had married and all of them were in the middle of very acrimonious divorces.

After watching her brothers deal with trashy women loving them for their bank accounts and nothing else. She’d decided they last thing she needed was a husband.

Cozette had curves to spare, taking after her mother, most of her body was proportioned until you got to her bum and hips. They were lush, thick and curvy, Kim Kardashian had paid top dollar for the ass and hips God had blessed Cozette with for free, and she had no problem showing them off.

There wasn’t one plus size designer she didn’t know and well. She’d really just become accepting of her weight and size in the past three years. She’d never been one of those girls who took anyone’s shit because of her size either. Her senior year in high school, she’d been asked to the prom by the Varsity basketball team’s captain. He was also one of the most popular boys in school and he’d asked her out as a joke. The night of prom, he was two hours late before she realized he wasn’t coming.

He was completely surprised when she strode into the prom, walked directly up to him, and punched him in the face, leaving him unconscious and drooling on the gym floor. Then instead of leaving in tears, like most expected her to, she’d gotten on the dance floor and danced the rest of the night away.

Cozette wasn’t a woman who needed a man to want her, to be fulfilled. She loved her life, family, and friends. Did she want meet the love of her life and ride off into the sunset, making babies and adopting dogs? Yes, but she knew most men were too shallow to realize what she had to offer and she had too much respect for herself to give a crap.

“Daddy! We have this talk every time I come over. I told you I may never have children. I mean I refuse to bring a child into this world without it having a father, and I’m sure I won’t be getting married anytime soon.”

“Alright, Alright,” he said throwing his hands in the air, then picking up the file she handed him. “I know from being married to your mother, God rest her soul, never to argue with a strong woman. Especially, a Lion woman.”

Cozette laughed, sitting back in her chair looking out at her families twenty acre property that she, her brothers, her father and his siblings had grown up on. From the ten foot Italian Cypress to the tri-colored dappled willow, the land was covered in trees. With flowers and ponds making it one of the most peaceful places Cozette had ever been and the place she came whenever she was overwhelmed to this day.

“This is wonderful baby girl! Look at these numbers even the Carnello Hotels are way behind us. We’ve been neck and neck or even been beat for decades but these numbers are absolutely astounding!” Zeus said with pride.

“Oh please, Daddy they have no way of keeping up with us now. First, with party boy Rafael Carnello running the company, you can guarantee there is no attention to detail. Next, I am smarter, and more dedicated than he is. Rendering him a non-factor,” she explained, waving him off.

~* * * *~

Zeus smiled and laughed at his daughter’s confidence. He couldn’t think of a time when Cozette hadn’t known what she wanted and went after it with gusto. He remembered when she’d announced she was going to run for prom queen of her boarding school. While he thought his daughter was beautiful, he was worried the rich mean girls at Land Star Prep would have at her and it would be open season.

He should’ve known things would be quite to the contrary. Competitive stylish and a professional smartass, Cozette had beat her competitor by a mile.

“I’m very proud of you sweetie just don’t get too confident. You never know what those damn Carnellos have up their sleeves.”

Closing her file, Cozette winked at him whispering, “No worries Daddy. When it comes to Rafael Carnello and me, he doesn’t even have a sleeve.”