Part of Trent hated to see the bruises and black eyes his father left on his mothers’ face, but she never said anything. She never said a mumbling word. She never left. She never kept Trent’s dad from coming in and out of the house when and however he wanted to. Trent’s mom would try to cover up the injuries with makeup, as if Trent and his brother were blind and dumb and didn’t know where the bruises came from, but it didn’t work. Trent and his brother had bruises of their own to show for how much their dad loved them.
One day when Trent was still fairly young, he tried to take up for his mother, to step in and keep his father from hitting her. But instead of getting mad at his dad, Trent’s mom turned on him and told him to ‘mind his own business’. Every since then, Trent stopped feeling sorry for her… he never again tried to defend her or any other woman for that matter. It must not have been too bad; she never tried to leave him, she just stayed and took everything Trent’s dad had to dish out. Trent learned what it meant to be tough, how to protect himself, and how to treat a woman from the way his dad treated his mom. He learned how to keep a woman in check.
There was nothing in Trent’s home life that could keep him from the allure of the streets. Trent had gotten into some trouble as a youngster, following behind his older brother who had made a name for himself in the streets. Just like most of the young boys in the neighborhood, Trent’s brother sold dope for one of the biggest drug dealers on the lower east side of Chicago. Trent liked the money he saw his brother, Tommy making, the way the young girls flocked to him, and the respect that came along with it. Trent wanted to be just like his brother, and as soon as he was old enough to play lookout, he did. But Trent wasn’t as smooth and street-savvy as Tommy was, and was busted when he was 14 years old. He got caught up in a sting operation and the police rounded up as many as they could who were a part of the drug game in Trent’s neighborhood. Tommy got away, but Trent didn’t. Because it was Trent’s first offense, the judge didn’t throw the book at him, but gave him a stern warning that if he ever saw Trent in his court room again, he would lock him up and throw away the key.
Where Trent’s mother knew she had lost her oldest child to the streets, she wasn’t willing to let the streets have her baby boy. His mother made a decision that would change Trent’s’ life forever. She made the decision to send Trent to her mother down south in Atlanta. She figured the change of environment might save her son’s life. His mother may not have made good decisions about her own life, but she wanted to do right by Trent.
Trent’s grandmother was a no-nonsense kind of a woman, and it didn’t take long for her to break Trent from a street mentality; or so she thought. She made sure he went to school and got his education. She didn’t tolerate back talk or disrespect of any kind. Living with his Grandma Mabel was certainly different than living with his mom. Grandma Mabel helped turn Trent around. He graduated high school and went on to a respectable HBCU where he got his Bachelor’s degree in finance; later getting a master’s in business administration. But a part of Trent was still street. No matter how many honors, accolades, and Roman papers he collected, Trent was from the hood and he knew it. He never forgot where he came from, regardless.
More than that, Trent liked his street side, and had no desire to change it… but nobody else needed to know that. He kept his hood tendencies under wraps, making sure that the face the public saw was that of a highly educated, respectable young man who had defied his previous stereotype.
Holly and Trent’s eyes met as he slowly passed in front of her door. It was as if time stood still. Holly felt herself blushing, her body warming from the inside out, and she couldn’t help but smile. He smiled too.
Was this the start of something special? It felt different this time when their eyes locked, if even for a brief moment. It was certainly not the first time he had passed her office door or that they had smiled sheepishly at each other. But this time it felt different, and Holly wondered if he felt it too. Holly caught herself staring; daydreaming long after Trent had left from view. She caught herself when she felt the eyes of her secretary, Julia, staring at her staring after him. Holly quickly averted her gaze. She definitely didn’t want to give Julia any ideas, and certainly nothing to gossip about.
It did not take long before the whirlwind romance had begun. The mutual smiles between the two turned into Trent asking Holly for her phone number, which she gladly shared… trying not to come off as too anxious or too excited. He disguised his request under the auspices of wanting to talk with her about a business project, but they both knew why he really wanted it. There was no reason to talk to her about a project after work hours. They had worked jointly on projects before that didn’t require any afterhour’s phone calls. This was no different. Holly was the lead financial manager on this one, and Trent was assigned along with two other analysts to provide support to Holly and her right-hand man, Greg. If there needed to be any afterhours conversations about the project, those conversations would be between Greg and Holly, not Holly and Trent. But Holly didn’t bust his bubble or put him on Front Street with his veiled request. She gave him the number because secretly, she wanted to get to know him outside of the confines of Miller, Neil & Thompson.
The first night Holly and Trent talked on the telephone, it was like they had known each other all their lives. Even though their background and upbringing had been so different, they seemed to have so much in common. They talked on the phone for hours, the initial conversation lasting well into the wee hours of the morning. The next day, Holly and Trent couldn’t help but smile when they passed each other in the hallway. They had made a powerful connection and they both knew it.
Trent seemed careful not to move too fast, and Holly appreciated the fact that he was not rushing her into anything. After they had made such a strong connection on the phone, Holly would have thought he would want to immediately meet in person outside of work, but he hadn’t asked and she was okay with that. Holly wanted to do things the right way this time. She wanted to take her time… to really get to know Trent before spending too much face-to-face time with him.
She knew the risks in that. She was physically attracted to him, and she knew he was physically attracted to her as well. Had they been alone in each other’s presence, the ability to restrain themselves may have proven too difficult, and Holly would likely find herself in a compromising situation. It had been a long time since she had been up close and personal with a fine young man, and she wasn’t sure whether or not she would be able to resist Trent’s animal magnetism. So she was more than pleased with the fact Trent was taking his time.
After nearly three weeks of late-night phone conversations and getting to know each other a little better, Holly and Trent agreed to a first date. Of course, Trent asked, as Holly was old fashioned in that way. No matter how much she liked him or any other man; she certainly would not ask a man out. She would wait until, like a gentleman, he made the first move. And he did!