Chapter 4
Chapter
Four
Kareem
“You can have a seat.” I motioned for Karina to take one of the chairs on the opposite side of my desk while I returned to my seat.
I let my eyes search her face before they started to roam her body all on their own. I may have missed my shot back home, but it was clear God was making way for a whole new plan, and I couldn’t thank him enough for that.
“Thank you.” Karina took a seat and set her bag on the floor beside her chair. “Um, like I said, I have my portfolio with me. I know you requested Rayla, but I want you to know I am going to do my best with this article.”
Karina wasn’t my first, but I was sure I was hers. Something about knowing that made me want to be her last. It wasn’t about being inside her or even knowing that I was the first to do it. It was the fact that no matter how many girls I’d been with since then, I always pretended they were her.
We’d gone to prom together and spent the night together afterward. Since that day, I had never been able to get her out of my mind. Having Karina constantly on my mind was hard as fuck, seeing as though she started avoiding me the very next day.
Karina took all AP courses in high school, which meant the only way we would cross paths was if we mutually agreed to meet up. Before prom night, that was exactly what we’d always done. That night changed everything between us because she switched all the way up on me.
I chased Karina down at school the day after prom but she ignored me the whole day.
After that, I felt like she made it her business to never take our normal routes or even pass by our meeting spots.
I had called her, checked her social media, even hung around outside of her classrooms, and still, she managed to slip by me.
Imagine giving a girl her first orgasm, and after you did, she never talked to you again. As a teenage boy, that shit hurt my pride more than anything. It had been sixteen years, and I was still chasing the same girl.
I thought I missed my chance with Karina the moment I got up from the dining table at her grandparents’ home in Mississippi.
Truthfully, I thought having Thanksgiving dinner with the Stevens’s would have worked in my favor because I knew how much Karina’s grandparents meant to her.
They had raised her to be the beautiful and graceful woman standing in front of me today, and damn, they had done a good job.
“It’s good to see you again, Karina. I didn’t think I would after Thanksgiving.”
I chose my words carefully because Thanksgiving showed me every moment that I had with Karina could be the one she decided would be the last. She was the only woman I knew who cared absolutely nothing about what I had going on. She just didn’t want my ass, and that was clear.
Still, I at least had to try to change her mind. Karina popping up in my life two times in a row had to be some kind of sign. Not only had I never gotten over her in the first place, but I was now being taunted by her presence. There was no way God would be that cruel.
“Yeah, about that. I didn’t mean to stand you up. I’m just not interested in dating anyone right now. I hope that is not going to affect our working together.”
“It won’t. I’m not that pressed for a date, so I wouldn’t take it as a diss if you didn’t want to go out with me. I get it.”
“Okay, good.”
Karina pulled her portfolio from her bag and handed it to me.
I grabbed it only so she wouldn’t be stuck holding it out to me.
I didn’t really need to look at it. Karina had always been brilliant, and I knew her well enough to know that she wouldn’t mess up something so important to my brand and the growth of my business.
“I can give you a minute to look over that if you want. You can take a moment to sit with it, and I’ll grab lunch. We can discuss your vision when I come back.”
“I’d rather grab lunch with you.”
She smiled nervously as I watched her emotions play out on her face. She was weighing the idea of turning me down again. I could tell she didn’t want to say no, but she most definitely didn’t want to say yes.
“You can say no if you want, but I don’t really need to look at that. I know you will do a good job. I’m not tripping on that.”
“Kareem, please look at the portfolio. I want you to treat me like anyone else. I’m not trying to have people saying I got this job because you’re attracted to me.”
“Who said I was attracted to you? I just wanted to grab lunch. A man’s got to eat, right?”
“Well, a man can eat alone. Besides, I can already tell by the look your assistant has been giving me that this may be a thing. I cannot have rumors spread about me. My career depends on me making a name for myself based on merit alone.”
“You don’t have to be so uptight around me.”
“I’m not uptight. I’m just trying to be professional.”
“Too damn professional.”
“I’m going to leave that with you and go get lunch alone.”
Karina wasted no time getting up from her seat and heading out the door. I watched as she walked out. I didn’t want my eyes to be so fixed on her, but at this point, I didn’t have a choice. I was completely under her spell, and there wasn’t shit I could do about it.
I hated to see Karina leave my office, but watching her walk out the door in that sexy ass pencil skirt was a gift I wouldn’t refuse.
Once she was on the other side of the door, I felt like I could finally let out the breath I hadn’t noticed I’d been holding. Karina was like art, and looking away was always impossible.
Sitting back in my chair, I opened the portfolio. I heard Karina when she said she wanted to be judged solely on merit, and although I didn’t agree, I understood. Karina was more than just her skill set to me. She was the girl who had my heart since I was sixteen years old.
Her being the one to tell my story made sense to me based on that alone, but I couldn’t say it out loud, not if I wanted to respect her wishes.
Still, the more I flipped through the pages, the more what I already knew was confirmed.
Karina Stevens was the brilliant, beautiful woman she had always been, and there was no way I was letting her get away from me this time.
“It’s dope, but I knew it would be.”
I dropped Karina’s portfolio on the table in front of her. Even looking down at her from the angle I was standing was mesmerizing. How could one person be such a magnetic force while doing everything she could to avoid me?
“How did you find me?”
Karina looked up at me with those big brown eyes, and a smile formed. I was sure it was against her will because she dropped her head as soon as she did it. Still, I would take the smile.
I slid into the chair that sat across from Karina without answering her question. How I had found her was irrelevant. I was already here and not leaving until we were at least able to have lunch together.
“What’d you order?”
“I didn’t have a chance to even look over the menu, which is how I know you couldn’t have looked over that portfolio.”
“I did, and obviously, I like what I see.”
My eyes remained trained on Karina even when the server approached the table to take our orders. I barely acknowledged her, and Karina didn’t know if she wanted to answer the woman’s question or look at me. The way she tucked her hair behind her ear out of nervousness was cute.
“Can we have a moment to look over the menu?”
“Sure. Take your time.”
The server was still polite despite neither of us really coming there for the food. I knew I came for one thing alone. I was sure it was obvious that my distraction was how beautiful Karina looked sitting across from me.
“These are for you.”
I handed Karina the flowers I’d grabbed off a flower stand on the way over, and she took them. They were calla lilies, elegant just as she was. She smiled again, which told me I might have been pushing the needle a bit too far.
“Thank you.”
“You can thank me by loosening up a bit. I know how important your job is to you.”
“Do you? Because this article is a big deal for me.”
“Karina, I promise I’m not trying to jeopardize any of that, but I can’t pretend I don’t want to be around you. I’d be lying to everyone else and myself.”
“Why do you want to be around me suddenly? I mean, before Thanksgiving, we hadn’t seen each other in years.”
“And I can’t help but think that’s the way you wanted it, Karina… since prom night.”
“Let’s not go there.”
She stood to leave, and I placed my hand on her arm to stop her. If prom night were a sensitive subject, we could avoid that topic. I just wanted her to stay.
“Look, I’m sorry I brought it up, but stay. Please.”