Had it not been for Kandi, I doubt that I would have visited them this holiday season. As stubborn as I could be, I would have probably walked my ass to the next town fifteen miles awayto find a place to rest my head. I would have reasoned that was a better option than facing either of them.
I would have been wrong. The best thing that I could have done was spend time with my family. Thanks to them and Kandi’s support, I was finding healing in places I hadn’t realized I needed them. That talk with Chauncey did my ass a world of good. What was even better were the talks that I had with my aunt and uncle throughout my stay. They quickly let me know they harbored no ill feelings toward me based on how I left.
And when I shared that I hadn’t wanted to return because they always said I would never find love, they cleared that up too. They explained that they were trying to get me to see that I was pushing people away with my attitude. They also thought I would never have love in my life if I didn’t know how to love in return.
I pushed off the bed and finished getting dressed. We had finally left Cherokee Springs early this morning at four and caught a flight to New York. Not long after we landed, Kyle called to confirm that he had retrieved his car from my uncle’s place. I had paid him a handsome amount for the use and inconvenience of being without a car for almost a week. Despite his reassurances that he was okay and didn’t need the money, I sent him ten stacks as a token of my appreciation.
With a glance at the time, I noticed that it was a few minutes before nine. My meeting was scheduled for eleven, and I wanted time to make a few stops before I arrived at the office. A car was scheduled to pick me up in fifteen minutes. We were staying in the penthouse suite of One Remington, the hotel I had Kandi book for us.
At the time, we had separate rooms. After everything that occurred between us, we should have been sharing rooms. Only, since our arrival in town, she’d been quiet and shut down. I had apologized to her several times for snapping at her. She assuredme that she was fine and accepted my apology. I could tell that something was off.
Staring into the beveled, crushed crystal mirror, I straightened my tie one final time and ran a hand over my hair. Satisfied that my appearance didn’t look like the shit I’d been through in the last week, I turned and headed out of my room. I hadn’t got much sleep last night, and I had none since we arrived in town, but I knew that I would be all right.
I jogged down the stairs and spotted Kandi in the kitchen making coffee. She spun around when she heard me and then turned back to the coffee machine.
“The hotel delivered the breakfast. It’s at the table,” she mumbled.
“Good. Come join me.”
“Just a minute.” She was distracted as she fiddled with the coffee machine.
“Come on. I’m sure the coffee they served is much better than anything we could make on our own.”
She nodded and took a seat at the table opposite me. I removed the covers for the silver serving trays and inhaled the aroma of buttermilk pancakes, turkey bacon, and egg white frittatas. There was also a tray of fresh, hand-cut fruit.
“Would you like some?” I asked, offering her the serving bowl that held the blueberry compote for our pancakes. When she shook her head no, I offered her the whipped ricotta, which she also declined.
I removed the stopper from the crystal syrup decanter and poured a generous amount of syrup onto my pancakes. When she looked up, I held it out to her, and she quietly took it. I was over this tension between us, but I didn’t have much time to discuss it. I knew that I would be heading out soon, so I had to hurry up and eat.
Kandi moaned slightly and then looked up at me with wide, apologetic eyes. I smirked at her and remarked on her sounds of pleasure. “Their bourbon barrel-aged maple syrup is the best you’ll ever taste.”
She licked some syrup from her fingertips and resumed ignoring me. She was texting someone on her phone and smiling at something they said. Jealousy rose within me, and I wished that she would smile at me like that. Before I could finish my meal, Kandi rose from the table and headed to the stairs where our bedrooms were located.
“I’ll be ready in about fifteen minutes,” she murmured, still staring at and texting on her phone.
“No need.”
She glanced back down the steps at me with a look of concern in her eyes.
“You don’t need to worry about getting dressed. I’ve done these meetings a million times or more. I can do it in my sleep with my hands tied behind my back. Catch up on your rest.”
The look that she gave me should have incinerated me right on the spot. The fuck? I couldn’t figure this woman out. I thought she would have loved to stay behind to catch up on rest. After all, we hadn’t gotten much in the last few hours.
Seeing as how I wasn’t with the shits, I let her make it, and I headed downstairs to get in the car that was waiting for me. The last thing on my mind was trying to guess what the hell was on Kandi’s mind. All of that fairy-tale Christmas shit was over, back to reality. I had money to make.
21
A CHILD WAS BORN
Kayn
The meeting went much longer than I expected. After we had gone through several rounds of negotiations and talks, we broke for lunch. It was supposed to be a business lunch, but it had become anything but. I’d had one too many drinks during lunch, along with the rest of the crew, and needed some time to get my mind right. I’d been drinking to forget about my troubles, but that shit caused the meeting to be held up much longer than I wanted it to.
I climbed out of the car and passed my driver, Charles, a silver envelope as he held the door. “Merry Christmas, Charles.”
“Thanks, Mr. Kayn.” His large, round eyes were even wider as he stared at me in confusion.
I knew that Charles had stared at me in disbelief, not because I gave him a gift, but because I had said “Merry Christmas.” That wasn’t something I would have said in the past. I was often generous with recognizing people for their hard work. I didn’t say it as much as I showed it with a few hundred to several thousand dollar bills in an envelope or their next paycheck.
