"I'm doing my best to represent the Black Canadian community," Madeleine Toussaint said to herself, and the six-foot-tall, curvy, pantsuit-wearing Haitian businesswoman looked at her reflection in the mirror, and smiled. The dark gray pantsuit and white blouse which Madeleine wore contrasted sharply against her mahogany-hued skin. Folks often commented on Madeleine's resemblance to the machete lady from The Walking Dead, but she claimed not to see the resemblance.
Madeleine walked out of the women's washroom a few minutes later, a smile on her face. When the game is on the line you have to be careful but you absolutely cannot show fear, Madeleine reminded herself. She steeled herself for what was to come. On the seventh floor of the Sunlife Financial Building in downtown Ottawa, Madeleine headed into the corporate meeting room like a jungle cat stalking her prey.
Madeleine would need every ounce of that confidence today, for she was meeting with some major power players. The men and women with the big bucks. Lots of American businesspeople came to Canada and they threw their weight around, and their money. As the attorney representing their interests, it was often Madeleine's task to give these Americans a crash course in Canadian culture and corporate policy, whether they like it or not.
There aren't a lot of Black female lawyers in the Capital of Canada, and the few that operate don't reach Madeleine Toussaint's level of power and influence. Madeleine is a corporate lawyer, a shark wrangler, and in the corridors of power, she's often the only person of color. Madeleine doesn't let any of it get her down, though. After all, nothing these corporate sharks can throw at her can dazzle her. Life has been rocky enough...
Madeleine Toussaint was born in the City of Cap-Haitien, northern Haiti, on November 7, 1982. In 2000, Madeleine's family moved to the City of Ottawa, Ontario, and this definitely changed her life. Madeleine studied Criminal Justice at Carleton University, graduating in June 2004, and then went on to study Law at the University of Ottawa, graduating in 2007. Fast forward twelve years, and Madeleine is the Queen of the Ottawa legal scene...
At the prestigious law firm of Toussaint, Kelley, McKay & Associates, located off of Bank Street, Madeleine Toussaint runs the show as the senior partner. Madeleine Toussaint founded the firm right out of law school, with her good friend Devon McKay, a talented, Jamaican-born brother, and Liam Kelley, a white dude from the City of Edmonton, Alberta, whom she met at the University of Ottawa. The three of them joined forces, and made history...
Madeleine sat at a corner of the conference room, and watched carefully as Mitchell Porter, a businessman from Boston, Massachusetts, explained his company's plans for expanding into the Canadian market. Tall and slim, with light brown hair, lime-green eyes who looked good in a dark gray business suit, Porter had a deep voice and a rather commanding presence.
"The U.S. tech world has rocked under the current leadership and we seek to mend things with Canada and expand at the same time," Porter continued, looking around the conference room. There were eleven other people in the room, among them former Ottawa City Councilman Jason Moore, real estate powerhouse Melanie James, and former Pythian Group executive Ivan Donnelly. The local big-shots had been brought to the table by the ambitious American, and his mettle was about to be tested...
"Mr. Porter, I suggest a careful approach to the Canadian market, lots of U.S. companies aren't as careful, look what happened to Target, they came in fast and left just as quickly," Madeleine said softly, looking at him as she spoke. Porter looked back at her, and once more, Madeleine was reminded that, no matter how liberal some of these people claimed to be, they weren't used to seeing people who looked like her in certain places...
"Thank you, Miss Toussaint," Mr. Porter replied with a forced smile, and Madeleine barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes as the investor continued with his spiel. Madeleine had attended hundreds of meetings like these. The clients usually sought her out due to her impressive list of wins when it came to corporate law. What they didn't expect was for her to show up and be black...
"Are you alright?" Liam Kelley whispered, and Madeleine looked at her former law school buddy and long-time friend. Short and round-faced, with dark hair and blue eyes, Liam reminded Madeleine of the mailman on Seinfeld, her favorite show growing up. Nodding at Liam, Madeleine focused on what Porter was saying. The Bostonian businessman regaled them with his plans for aggressive expansion into the Canadian tech market...
"Someone should inform this fool that the tech companies are mostly located in Kanata, Ontario, in the green belt of Ottawa, and not downtown, where space is scarce and real estate costly," Madeleine whispered, and Liam barely stopped himself from laughing. The meeting continued, until Mr. Porter got tired of hearing himself talk and finally sent everyone to lunch.
Ah, the joy of billing the hours, Madeleine thought as she filed out of the conference room with the other peons. The big meeting with Porter and the other investors was pretty much it for the day, and Madeleine decided to go home early. Kenney and the others could handle things at the firm for the moment. One of the perks of being the senior partner was getting away with things like that...
Madeleine got into her bright red Rav4, a stylish but economical choice, and sped away from the downtown core. She beat the commuter traffic by mere minutes as she reached Nepean, and then drove to the suburb of Barrhaven, where she lived. Upon arriving home, a pleasant smell in the air caused Madeleine to smile. The smell of anchovies, white rice and avocadoes, being prepared by an expert. She hurried to the kitchen and saw...him.
"Hey, babe, you're early," Theodore Maurice said, and the tall, brown-skinned, muscular brother flashed Madeleine a sincere smile. Decked out in a dark blue, flower-patterned summer shirt and blue jeans, he looked simply great. Blue was definitely Theo's favorite color, and whether he was wearing his Ontario provincial police uniform or his civilian gear, he loved to sport the azure shade.
"Damn straight," Madeleine replied, and she walked up to Theo, and gave him a passionate kiss...while squeezing his ass. Theo kissed Madeleine back passionately, and held her tight. When Theo looked into Madeleine's eyes, she felt her heart skip a beat. From the moment they'd met, almost two years ago, Madeleine had known that Theodore Maurice was some kind of special...
Born in the City of Montreal, Quebec, to a Haitian immigrant father and a white Canadian mother, Theo is definitely the son of two worlds. After completing his Criminology degree at McGill University, Theodore thought about joining the Quebec provincial police, also known as Surete Du Quebec, but they wouldn't have him. Quebec law enforcement isn't fond of blacks, and they don't hide it. Theo moved to the City of Ottawa, Ontario, and went to the Ontario police college. Afterwards, he joined the Ontario provincial police, and the rest is history...
"Hey, ma belle, you seem tense," Theodore said, taking Madeleine's face into his large hands, and she sighed, touched by his concern. One of the many things that Madeleine loves about Theo is how attuned he was to her state of being. Madeleine leaned against Theo's chest, and simply let go. Even a strong black woman has moments when she simply wants to be held, Madeleine thought, basking in Theodore's warm embrace.
"My clients are assholes, and some of them are worse than others, I'm glad to be home," Madeleine said softly, and Theo kissed her forehead. Born on February 5, 1992, Theo was only twenty seven years old, much younger than Madeleine, but he had a maturity and strength which pleasantly surprised her. He always handled his business, and never let her down. She could see why his superiors at the Ontario provincial police recently promoted him to the rank of patrol supervisor...