The Retreat Read Online Free

would ever truly be able to do God’s will when his family was in constant need of his help.

Chapter Three
    â€œNot the response that I expected.” Melvin, Jamal’s boss, adjusted his platinum Day-Date Rolex.
    Jamal began to loosen his tie and unfastened his top button. “I am happy. I’m ecstatic. This is what I want.”
    â€œI remember when you sat in that chair five years ago, nervous and scared. It was like your entire future rested on you getting this job. But day in and day out I’ve seen you hustle your butt off to get results.”
    Jamal had worked for that promotion every day for the past four years. To become a senior marketing exec for Pinnacle Sportswear was his goal. He was sick and tired of living from dime to dollar. Jamal’s family raised him on the idea that if a person wanted something, he had to be willing to work harder than the next man to get it. That meant that when everyone else was asleep, he needed to be at work.
    So he made a solemn promise to work while everyone else was at the water cooler, engaged in gossip. Jamal would work while his coworkers complained about their salaries. He never lost sight of his goal and purpose. With his faith in God, he now had everything he wanted career-wise, but his mind could not allow him to savor his victory.
    Jamal thought about his son, Jamir, and how every day Jamir resembled him less and less. His life was at a crossroads, and with so many life-changing decisions at his feet, Jamal turned to the only one who knew what the best course of action was for his life.
    â€œFather, open my eyes so that I might see the wonderful plan you have for me. I don’t want to be outside your will, and I pray that the results today will bring you honor and glory. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.” Jamal prayed.
    â€œIf I had your wisdom at my age, I would be a billionaire by now. But understand we are not going to pay you this salary for a nine-to-five, forty-hour workweek. We are going to need you to be a machine. Can you live with that?” Melvin asked.
    Jamal locked into his problem: a $100,000 salary in exchange for time with his most precious resource, his son Jamir.
    â€œCan you?” Melvin asked.
    â€œI know I can, I just need a minute to get my affairs in order.”
    Melvin pulled the cigar out of his mouth. “I’ll tell you what, take until next week to think about it, and on Monday I expect your answer.”
    â€œThank you, Mr. White.”
    This weekend was the Men’s Retreat, and Jamal would have a lot to think and pray about. He walked back to his cubical, where he had a decent view of the parking lot. He also had a view of his car: a white Honda Civic with a dented front bumper. This is where he was. Mr. White’s offer was where he could be.
    â€œHow did it go?” Mylessa asked, interrupting Jamal’s thoughts.
    Mylessa was a five-foot-six-inch-tall, chocolate-complexioned beauty with a curvaceous frame. She commanded the attention of every man in the office, including Jamal.
    â€œIt went great. He offered it to me.” Jamal leaned back in his chair.
    Mylessa wore a smoky gray skirt that was sprayed to her hips. Her complete body of work was punctuated by the sound of her four-inch stilettos. “Well, that’s great. So you’re going to celebrate, right?” Mylessa tossed some of her shoulder-length hair behind her shoulder.
    Jamal was certain that it was a weave, but with the advancements in hair technology, it was becoming more and more difficult to differentiate real hair from a weave; such was the case for Mylessa.
    â€œI might do something, I don’t know yet,” Jamal said.
    â€œWell, a couple of us from work are heading over to Club Infusion tonight, and I would love to see you there.” Mylessa finished her pitch with a seductive licking of her lips, as her eyes scanned Jamal from head to toe. Jamal was feeling her. She was beautiful,