One good reason, p.17
One Good Reason, page 17
Closing my laptop down, I packed it away and stood. “How about when you’ve figured out what direction you’re wanting to go in, you reach back out to my assistant? We can go over the logistics later.” Tapping the conference room table, I rounded it and motioned for my assistant to follow.
“You know all he’s going to do is reach out to someone else.” She finally shared after we had made it back to my office.
“And just like I told him, all they would be doing is taking his fucking money.” I laughed.
“He’s arrogant. I could tell that from the way he talks.”
“Very much so. Like I said, I’ll do the app for him but when his shit tanks I don’t need the backlash being kicked this way.”
“I think you made the right decision.” She laughed.
“I know I did. How are things coming with the dating app. Have you heard anything from the developers?”
“Last we spoke, everything was going good.”
“That’s what I like to hear. Set me up a meeting with them, I’ve got something I wanna run by them.”
Looking down at her iPad, she tapped on the screen and asked, “You wanna meet today?”
“Nawl.” My head shook. “I’m getting ready to leave for the day. I’ve got dinner plans later and can’t afford to be late.”
“Okay. When I get a date and time, I’ll forward it over to you.”
“Thank you so much, Chari.”
“You’re welcome, Mr. Harvey.”
After Chari left the office, I texted Preme and Drix. An idea came to me the other night while I was laying up in bed and I wanted to run it by them before moving forward, especially since it heavily involved one of Preme’s guys.
Now that business was done for the day, I needed to head home to prepare for my date with Talitha. Hopefully by the end of the night, I would be back in her good graces.
CHAPTER 16
Talitha
“Where are the two of you eating at?” Gema nosey-self inquired.
“Nikolai’s Roof. It’s down on Courtland Street.”
“Sounds fancy,” she noted.
“He’s rich. He can afford it.” I giggled. “Besides, he insisted on taking me out and I’ve been trying to get a reservation at this place for months.
“Ummhmm. Is this a business dinner or is it personal?”
“Business, Gema. He’s my boss.”
“The two of you like each other.”
“And what made you decide that?”
“I can see it in his eyes. You, on the other hand, it’s in the way you move around him. The way you change the subject when I mention his name.”
Since Gema had met Law, she made it a point to ask about him. She liked him for some God-awful reason.
Plopping down on the foot of her bed, I clutched my robe close. “Can I tell you a secret?”
“There’s something about him that I like.”
“I know it.” Holding up my hand I stopped her. “But… He reminds me a lot of him.”
Gema knew the “him” I was referencing. It was the reason her eyes dropped. “Why is that?” she finally asked.
“He has money. A lot of it. And he’s very powerful. Nothing is out of reach for him, and I’ve been taught that men who access that type of power are dangerous. I don’t want to look at him like that, but I can’t help it.”
Closing the puzzle book, she sat it beside her on the bed. “Maybe it’s time for you to go back to therapy, Tali. Your past has been creeping back up for a while now. I keep quiet cause I hope you can work through it on your own, but I think you need help.”
“I was okay until… Shit. I don’t know when.”
“That money that Joe set up for you to receive was your restitution. We couldn’t lock the muthafucka up so Joe made sure he paid.”
“I know. But every time I get a deposit, I feel like it’s hush money.”
“In a way, it is. But we did what we thought was best at that time.”
“And I appreciate you guys for that. I was young and incapable of making those type of decisions for myself so I’m really grateful for you and Papa Joe. Still, sometimes I feel like my silence was bought.”
“And I feel like we secured your future. We tried to go after him, Tali. I tried with my hardest. You know how small Warner Robins is. And he’s their hometown hero. It was hard to prove espionage.”
“I know.” I sighed. “I wish it wouldn’t have gotten that far. I should’ve said something sooner.”
“You were a kid. He was an adult that had been in your life since the day you were born. You didn’t know any better.”
“You’re right.”
“I know it. Still, you can’t take any of that out on Lawton. Something tells me he’s not the type of use his money for evil.”
“That may be true, however, with my issues… it’s hard to separate the two.”
“Maybe you should sit down and explain all of this to him.”
“Oh no, Gema. I’ve already told him too much.”
“What you told him?”
“In a roundabout way, I told him what happened.”
“All of it?”
“No.” I shook my head. “Enough for him to understand why I come off the way I do.”
“Well, when you’re ready, you will tell him. He’s a good guy… take it easy on him.”
“He’s an arrogant asshole.”
“And you’re a damn brat.”
“That’s you and Papa Joe’s fault. Y’all had me thinking I was better than everybody.” I giggled.
“No. We wanted you to feel normal. Not like a victim.”
“You raised five kids of her your own. I’m sorry that you had to step up and raise someone else’s.”
“We wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.”
“Bertha!” Mrs. Jessie called out. Sticking her head in the door, she asked. “You ‘bout ready for your bath?”
“Ummhmm. Miss missy here got a hot date she needs to get ready for.”
“It’s not a date Gema.” I groaned.
“Chile.” She waved me off. “You done stood in that bathroom and curled your hair. It’s a date.” She laughed.
“Mrs. Jessie, get her out of here. She talking crazy now.”
“Don’t wanna hear the truth. Come on Jessie… I’m ready.”
Pulling her covers back, I helped Gema out of the bed and sat there while Mrs. Jessie assisted her to the bathroom. It was times like this that I would miss if anything ever happened to her. Gema knew exactly what to say to make me feel better about a lot of shit. Maybe I needed to listen to her and get back into therapy. Surely that would help me through a lot of the issues that were arising.
By the time Law arrived to picked me up, Mrs. Jessie had bathed, fed, and put Gema down for the night. I knew he was as eager to speak with her as she was him but the two of them had been out all day and she had grown tired. I promised him that the next time I took her out for breakfast, I would let him join us.
Sitting across from him in the restaurant, I stared at his handsome face. My issues were in the back of my mind but the longer I studied the way his brows dipped as he perused the menu, I knew everything Gema had said was right. Law wasn’t the person who hurt me and regardless of how much money he had, he’d never made me feel like my molester had. I guess I could let up on him and be his friend again.
“Something on my face?” he asked without peeling his eyes away from the menu.
He looked good so you damn right I’d been staring a hole through him. Donned in a tan shirt with blue strips going across his chest, it was hard not to stare. The blue trousers matched the strips and the dark brown leather loafers he wore set his look off. A simple gold watch sat strategically on his wrist and his cologne was so overpowering, it tickled my nose every time he moved.
“If you were really studying the menu, you wouldn’t know I was looking at you,” I tossed back.
“You sitting over there staring a hole in my face, Talitha. Of course, I know you’re staring.”
“What are you ordering?”
“I guess the rack of lamb. You?”
“I don’t know,” I huffed. “I Yelped the menu earlier today and now I think I’ve changed my mind.”
“Get whatever you want. And if you don’t like it, order something else,” he answered like that was the solution. I wasn’t about to order a bunch of random things off the menu. That was absurd and wasteful.
“Can I have a piece of your lamb?” I asked, just to fuck with him.
“As long as you don’t mind it being medium rare.” He shrugged.
“Medium rare!” I shrieked. “That’s full of blood.”
“I’ve never been one to shy away from a little blood.” Law winked and focused back on the menu.
“I hate when you do that,” I tittered. “Does everything have to be so sexual with you?”
“I wasn’t meaning it like that,” he lied. “But since that’s where your mind went, appease me.”
“Appease you how?”
“Why does everything I say or do have to be a sexual innuendo?”
“Have you had a conversation with yourself? You speak in double entendres. It’s the bane of your existence.”
“You are so full of shit.” Law laughed. “I was being serious. I’m a grown ass man, blood doesn’t make me squeamish. You can take it however you want.”
Picking up my glass, I downed the rest of my French 75.
“Have you ate today?”
“I ate lunch. Why?”
“That was hours ago, and that’s your third drink. You should slow down until you get something on your stomach.”
“I’m okay, Lawton.”
“You’re unpredictable when you’ve been drinking. I’m trying to have a good night. I don’t’ want you to misconstrue anything I say and be angry with me as a result.”
“I won’t.” I giggled. “Besides… Gema would have my ass if I did.”
“Umm.” He hummed. “So, my girl is still on my side?”
“You expected her to not be.”
“I don’t know what I expected. I figured since you were pissed with me, you had her on your bandwagon.”
“Well lucky for you, Gema isn’t one sided. She’s extremely fair, even when I give her a hundred reasons to not be.”
Placing the menu down, Law leaned in and propped his elbows on the table. “You said that to say what?”
“I wasn’t your biggest fan and I told her.”
“And instead of her being mad right along with you, she was neutral.”
“Too neutral for my liking.” I frowned.
‘Remind me to get her a gift.” Picking up his glass, he tossed back the shot of bourbon. The view of his Adams apple bobbing when he swallowed had my thighs clenching under the table. After swiping away remnants of the liquor from his beard he asked, “Ready to order?”
“No more than what I was minutes ago. But go ahead.”
Waving the server over, Law placed an order for his rack of lamb and kept it light for me by ordering me a medium well steak with asparagus and mashed potatoes as my sides. After ordering another round of drinks for the table, the two of us settled into light conversation.
Once the food arrived at the table, we ate and caught up on what each other had been doing the few weeks we hadn’t talked.
“How is the application coming along?”
“I just finished the essay portion of it. I’m going to scan it and send it over to your email so you can look at it. I figured once I felt secure with it, I could go ahead and send it in.”
“When I spoke to the contractors yesterday, they were working on the restrooms. I’ve gotta get a plumber out there. He mentioned something about the toilets running.”
“Any water damages?”
“No. They just keep running after being flushed. Doesn’t sound like a serious issue but it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
“You’re right about that. Patton mentioned knowing an inspector.”
“Yeah. He’s got a connect that he’s going to send over to handle that part.”
“Good.” I nodded. “So, I’m guessing after we’re given the go ahead, we can file?”
“We can,” he confirmed.
“I didn’t expect it to move this fast.”
“That’s why it’s best to know people,” he voiced.
“Of course, it is–” I started but stopped when the conversation I had with Gema earlier circled through my mind. Deciding to change the topic, I asked, “So, I know you said you had business to take care of. But what’s the real reason you disappeared?”
“Life got in the way,” he admitted vaguely.
“Life, huh?” I questioned. Taking a sip of my drink, I peered at him over the rim of the glass. “Life’s a bitch at times.”
“Life is what you make it most of the time. You put in a shitty effort, you get shitty responses.”
“I guess that’s why I always get shitty responses, huh.”
“No, my dear. You get shitty responses because you hold yourself back from being happy. It’s like you thrive off being miserable. You have the world at the tip of your fingers and instead of appreciating that, you find ways to diminish it.”
“Well… don’t you have me all figured out.”
Dropping his fork, Law leaned back in his chair. “I really don’t. And that’s what I don’t understand. I’m usually good at reading people but I can’t read you for shit.”
“You can’t read me because you want to fix me, Lawton. And in case you haven’t realized, I’m unfixable.”
“Bullshit!” he countered.
“It’s the truth.”
“It’s not,” he refuted with a quick toss of his hand. “You aren’t unfixable. If that’s the case, you wouldn’t have sought therapy. Your fears aren’t what you let on. Your fear is getting close to people so, you keep everyone at arm’s length.”
“Only people who have the potential to hurt me.”
“Everyone has the potential to hurt you. Hell, Gema could hurt you, Talitha.”
“She won’t,” I argued.
“But she could. You don’t get close to people, you don’t let people get close to you. You portray this well put together woman when in reality you’re still that same hurt five year old.”
“Fuck you, Harvey!” I hissed, playfully.
“Now it’s fuck me.” He chuckled. “Look at you, sitting over there looking all gorgeous and shit. Your soul is black because you’ve been hurt. I’m not trying to cause any harm to you, Talitha. I want to be your friend and I want you to genuinely be mine. No expectations… no rules.”
“I thought we were friends,” I stated.
“Only at your convenience.”
“I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”
Swiping his thumb across his nose, Law chuckled. “I figured it wouldn’t be too much longer. What do you want to talk about?”
“Why did your last relationship end?” I had my suspicions, but I wanted a definitive answer from him.
“Shit. Several reasons.”
“Give me one.”
“She wanted kids.”
“And you don’t,” I denoted. “Why didn’t you try to meet her half the way?”
“How can you meet someone halfway with a child?”
“I don’t know, Law. You weren’t willing to compromise at all?”
“I did compromise. I let her go so she could be happy. And from what I found out recently, she got what she was seeking.”
“What you mean by that?”
“She’s pregnant.”
My eyes bulged. “Wow.”
Lifting his shoulder, he mumbled. “Right.”
“Is it yours?”
“Nawl,” he drawled. “I don’t know who the lucky man is.”
“How’d that make you feel when you found out?”
“To be honest, I can’t really say. Did I feel a way? Yeah, but I don’t know in what manner. If that makes sense.”
“It does. Do you regret anything?”
Shaking his head vehemently, he retorted, “Not one minute of it. All I’ve ever wanted for her was for her to be happy.”
“Then why feel a way?” I probed.
“Can’t answer that.”
Tucking a curl behind my ear, I picked up my glass and emptied it. “Well, I’m happy that she’s getting what she wanted out of life. Rossi and Marsha speaks highly of her so I’m certain they’re happy for her as well.”
“I wouldn’t know. I don’t talk about her to anyone.”
“Are you bitter?”
Tossing his head back, Law laughed. “Is that what you came up with out of everything I said.”
I shrugged. “In a way. You’re a man’s man, Law. You lost your partner and not even a year later she’s carrying the next man’s baby. That’s gotta hurt.”
Leaning in, Law bit his bottom lip and studied my face. “I get what you’re trying to do Talitha and it’s not going to work.” Pulling back, he picked up his fork and resumed eating his lamb.
“Can’t blame a girl for trying.”
“If you say so. How was the rest of your evening with Rossi and Marsha?”
“It was well needed. Between working on this application, redoing things at the youth center, and taking care of Gema… I needed the adult interaction. I did have one too many drinks and had to catch an Uber back to the house.”
“Why didn’t you call me? I would’ve come and picked you up.”
“It was late. I didn’t want Baker having to get out of bed because I was careless.”
“Noticed I said I. You could have called. It wouldn’t have been an inconvenience. Why didn’t Rossi or Marsha drop you off?”
“I live in Douglasville, Law. That would’ve been too much on them. They offered but I declined.”
“Next time, call me. It’s dangerous being in an Uber alone in that condition.”
“Yes, sir father,” I saluted him.
“You love trying me, don’t you.”
“Maybe I do,” I flirted.
“Finish eating your food Talitha before you get yourself in some shit that you can’t get out of,” Law advised.
