I could tell from the box that it had come from Happy Cakes, a spot here in The Bronx that I'd dreamed of getting a cake from since I was a kid. Buying a whole cake instead of justa slice sounded like a dream to me, and the $100 he spent on it was something we never could have afford in the past.
I was completely outdone by the effort in front of me. Not ever in our relationship had he gone all out like this. He must be competing with who he knows has my interest. Where I thought I had seen it all, it was the plant sitting on the table behind the cake that got my attention and made me become verbal after otherwise being speechless.
"Wait, is that a real Variegated Monstera plant?"
"Touch it and see."
I could hear the joy in his voice when I walked over to the plant and gently caressed one of the leaves.
"Oh wow. This is, this is beautiful, Kairo." My voice was choked up, feeling the plant seem to hydrate my fingertips.
"Where did you get it?"
I turned around to face him, noticing he'd done all of this to the apartment and also given himself a fresh cut.
"I got the plant on Randell Ave at this flower shop. They had this one in the window, and I recognized it almost instantly because of all the pictures you have of it on your vision board. Now you can throw those away and take pictures of the real thing. No more clippings."
"But what is all of this for?"
"Did you not read the sign?" He pointed to the balloons.
"Yeah, I read it, but."
"But you're my wife, and I missed your birthday. This is the way I make things up to you."
"I figured you wouldn't want to celebrate me at all after what you found out about Hov and Anthony."
Kairo shrugged his shoulder and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Yeah, all that shit does hurt, but that won't make me stop loving you. Nothing can, and I only wish it were the same for you."
"Kairo, I do still love you. It's just that you have hurt me so much, it's hard to think past that right now."
Kairo came up in my personal space so close that I started to get timid. Was Hov's scent still on my skin? Had the cotton candy spray I got out of the store up the street worked?
He grabbed my hand and looked into my eyes in the same way he had in the past when he got caught. Was it genuine? I don't know; either it was, or he was a damn good actor. Something about the sadness in his eyes after he cheats, however, always makes me feel bad. That's how you know he's a master manipulator. Either that, or a dummy who makes dumb decisions with consequences he can never handle.
"Ciara, please give me another chance. What happened here with Jessica's dude was a wakeup call if nothing else. Going to jail, thinking I would be gone forever, and hearing you out here with other dudes was all I needed to hear to want to turn my life around. I swear I'm sorry, baby. I'm sorry for cheating, I'm sorry for lying to you, and I'm sorry for threatening to blackmail you."
"Thanks for that."
"You don't have to thank me. Just help put that shit behind us by having dinner with me. I ordered takeout from Jake's Steakhouse. I figured we could enjoy it here instead of you having to get dressed and put on heels and shit for us to catch a bus or an Uber. You ready for your food now?"
"Yeah, I guess I could eat."
I shrugged my shoulders.
Kairo ran over to the kitchen, pulling out the go containers from the oven and a few plates from the cabinets. I wasn't hungry at all because of the large meal I'd eaten earlier today, and although Kairo wasn't my favorite person right now, nothing in me could make me hurt his feelings. I guess because I'm a good person, and this food did smell good as hell. What would eating across the table from him hurt? Shoot, maybe if we weren't super beefed up, our separation could be a little less toxic.
I sat down at the small black breakfast table Hov had put inside my dining area. It was modern and sleek, just like all the other stuff he had in his penthouse in Brooklyn. I placed my phone upside down on the table, but when a message chimed, I opened up my screen, forced to hide a smile when I read Hov's message.
Hov:You alright? Checking to see if you good or need anything?
Me:No, I'm okay. Thank you, tho. Can't wait to see you again.
I felt a rush so exhilarating hitting send on that text knowing that Kairo was feet away from me in the kitchen. Is this why men can't stop cheating?
After the microwave alarm went off a few times, Kairo was walking over to me, slowly balancing two plates in his hands.
