Unexpected Interruptions Read Free Page A

maintain this job at the same time. It’s really taken a toll over the last year. I just wish I’d had the courage to make this decision sooner,” Victoria lamented.
    â€œThings don’t always work out the way we want them to. Things happen over time, not overnight.”
    â€œYeah, that’s true. And it’s time for me to stop letting other people’s expectations and my own fear impede my happiness,” Victoria said with confidence, thinking about the sacrifices she’d made to please others, like when she wanted to attend culinary school after high school graduation.
    She could still hear her father’s words ringing in her ear. “No child of mine with a near-perfect SAT score is going to school to learn how to cook and throw parties for a living. What kind of profession is that anyway? Your mother and I want so much more for you. Who knows, maybe one day you’ll take over the bank,” he’d hinted.
    â€œBut Daddy,” Victoria challenged, “event planning and catering can be a lucrative profession, just like any other service . . . like the bank. Besides, I’m good at it. Look how well the homecoming party turned out that I planned. Everyone said it was the best party Alexander Prep has ever seen!”
    â€œPlanning a homecoming party in a gymnasium and mapping out your future are two entirely different things,” her father cautioned. “Victoria, you’re my little Queen, and it’s my responsibility to make sure that I prepare you for the real world.”
    After months of arguments and listening to her mother’s pleas of intervention, Victoria appeased her father. She enrolled at Spelman College, majored in finance, and minored in coordinating birthday parties, graduation celebrations, and any other kind of festive event she could plan. After graduation, she went on to earn her MBA from Wharton, her father’s alma mater—again, obeying his wishes. She’d surprised herself when she discovered that she actually enjoyed the curriculum, knowing that her training would come in handy one day when she started her own business. But in the meantime, she put her dreams on hold and went to work at her father’s bank, which he’d named in honor of her and her mother—his two Nubian Queens.
    Victoria focused on marketing and community relations at the bank. She planned and executed promotional campaigns, community outreach events, and employee programs. She frustrated her father by doing what he called “fluff work” instead of digging into the “meat” of the bank—dealing with operations and finance. After they butted heads one too many times, Victoria decided to leave. She dusted off her resume and started looking for a new job. Within a month she landed a position with ViaTech. She packed her bags and moved to Atlanta, putting her back in the city where she’d gone to college and the city she’d grown to love.
    â€œGirlfriend, you know I got your back and your front, whether I’m helping you with memos here or planning a party with Divine Occasions,” Denise said.
    â€œThanks, you’re such a good friend.”
    â€œNo need to thank me, you’re my girl. Now, you better get ready for your lunch date with Mr. Might-be-Right.”
    â€œI just hope he’s Mr. I-Am-Sane! I’m really not up for any drama.”
    â€œThis is your first date in over a year. Just be positive. You know that saying . . . we get back what we bring forth.”
    â€œPreach, Oprah,” Victoria teased as they broke into laughter.
    You Like Adventure, Don’t You? . . .
    I hope he’s gonna be worth me getting out in this cold rain, Victoria thought as she glanced at her Baume & Mercier dangling from her wrist, and realized she was running late for her lunch date.
    â€œVictoria, I know you’ll love him,” her friend Debbie had said with enthusiasm. “Vincent is tall,