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my own record label and turn my passion for music into a lucrative business enterprise.”
    Mars smiled as she spoke candidly. He was too impressed with this woman for words.
    “I did extensive research on every facet of the music industry and my internships provided some inside knowledge. I formulated a solid business plan and submitted a proposal package to several corporations who had programs that awarded business start-up grants to minority entrepreneurs. The corporate board of directors for TCG Management and The Enrichment Project, Inc. took a huge risk on me. I took a huge risk on a VERY talented artist…”
    “And the rest is history. Well…history still in the making,” Mars said. “You’re thirty years old and the most powerful woman… the most powerful BLACK woman…in the music industry. Now, tell me a little bit about the phenomenon’s personal side.”
    “The phenomenon?” Keshari mused, and then smiled at the compliment.
    She sipped her wine, hesitating before she proceeded to tell him a bit about the side of herself that so few people knew.
    “Well,” she said, “I certainly don’t have the whole Cosby-likefamilial background that you have. My mom died of cancer when I was a teenager. I never really knew my father. My grandmother took over trying to raise me when my mother passed away. She died a year ago. We were never really that close, even though I was her only child’s grandchild. Other than that, I don’t really have any biological family to speak of. I’ve got no children…and I’m not sure if I’ll ever meet the man I love enough to want any…and I’m definitely not sure when my life will slow down enough to even be a parent. I’ve got two purebred Rottweilers, Hannibal and Marcus Garvey. They’re probably the closest I’ll get to having children. Then, there’s my best friend, Misha, who’s always been like a sister to me.”
    “Damn,” Mars said seriously, sipping his wine, “that’s deep. It’s amazing where you are now, considering your losses and all else that you’ve been through so early on in your life.”
    “I have to admit that I never fathomed achieving the kind of success that I have. I often wonder if my life would have taken even remotely the same direction if my mother were still alive. I wonder if my life would be anything like it is now if I’d made a few different choices along the way.”
    Mars made eye contact with Keshari across the table and held her gaze for a lingering moment. He seemed to look through her, into her, and take an unobstructed view all the way to the heart of her, and his eyes said, I’m here for you. I’ve got you if you need me. For someone who literally rubbed elbows with some of America’s most dangerous on a regular basis, Mars Buchanan put her completely off balance. She gulped a huge swallow of her wine and got up from the table. She strolled down the dimly lit terrace toward the gazebo where the Jacuzzi was situated. Mars watched her intently and wondered what she was thinking.
    “Tell me,” Mars said, coming up behind Keshari and playingwith a lock of her hair, “just how is it that a breathtakingly beautiful, single, extremely successful sista like you has managed to escape getting married? Or being hemmed up in an exclusive relationship with some understandably overprotective boyfriend?”

    Keshari spun around, surprised at Mars’s closeness to her. Her heart was racing again like it had been when she arrived at his apartment.
    “Do you really have to ask that question?” She laughed. “It’s like I told you. I’m married to my career. There has not been time…in years…for me to get seriously involved with anyone.”
    Her and Mars’s eyes met again. He was close enough to her now to practically feel her heart racing. His closeness made her feel as if all of her vulnerability was exposed like physical nakedness. It made her awkward and anxious and wanting to put some space between her and this