Chapter 5
Chapter
Five
Karina
Isat back down at the table across from Kareem. I’d found a brunch spot not too far from his office to grab a bite to eat, but I wasn’t expecting him to show up. Kareem had always been the type to do whatever he wanted, and I guess the years that had passed between us hadn’t changed that.
“Thank you,” he softly stated.
“Kareem, what is this? Why did you come to my grandparents’ house? I need to at least know that if we are going to make it through this assignment.”
“Honestly, I didn’t plan to. I bumped into your grandmother at the grocery store, and at first, we were just catching up, talking mostly about you. Then the next thing I knew, she was inviting me to dinner, and I was agreeing.”
“But why would you agree to something like that? You know her intentions were to set us up, right?”
“And what’s so wrong with that, Karina?”
“You mean besides the fact that I’ve seen you with hundreds of women over the years. Every year, it was a new girl until recently.”
“Nice to know you’ve been keeping tabs on me. Meanwhile, you are virtually impossible to find online.”
“You looked for me online?”
“Not as hard as I should have apparently.”
Hearing that Kareem tried to find me online made the corner of my mouth turn upward against my will.
I wasn’t some lovesick girl still caught up on her first love — well, only love.
I was a professional, and this was a professional outing.
I sat up straight in the booth, trying to refocus myself on what I was truly here to do, but no amount of refocusing stopped the question that spilled out of me.
“Why did you stop? Found someone more special?”
“Never. I just got the message.”
“And what message was that?”
“Karina, you made it clear you weren’t messing with me like that. I tried to change your mind, but it gets to a point where a man has to bow out with his dignity intact.”
“And what about now? Is your dignity not in jeopardy anymore?”
“I’m older now, and I know you are exactly what I want, who I want. I’ve been with enough women to last a lifetime.”
Hearing that sent a tingling down my spine. I didn’t want to imagine Kareem with even one other woman, let alone multiple, but I had to face reality. I know he wasn’t just sitting around waiting on me.
“Karina, I refuse to believe that my bumping into your grandmother at the grocery store and you showing up at my office this morning were coincidences. Baby, that’s fate. We are supposed to be together. You may have been the girl who got away in high school, but that shit ain’t happening twice.”
“And what? I don’t have a say in any of this? How do you know I want to be with you?”
“You’re still sitting here, aren’t you? You can’t even look at me too long without having to look away, and I bet if I come to your side of the table and dip my hand between those thighs, it would confirm what I already know.”
“And what’s that?”
I took a sip of my drink, needing the ice chips it held to cool me off. Kareem was, in fact, correct. My pussy had been betraying me since he first stood from the desk in his office.
“That she will always get wet for me.”
Kareem stood from his seat, and I instantly squirmed in mine. Before I could protest, he held up a finger to stop me. My silly ass didn’t say one word, but my eyes were glued to his.
“Chill. I’m not coming over there. Give me your phone.”
I did as I was told and handed Kareem an unlocked phone. He typed away on the screen before handing it back to me. Our fingers touched as I retrieved it, and just that simple contact had me clenching my legs tighter than I already had been.
“Don’t worry about coming back to the office today. Enjoy the rest of your lunch. I have a business meeting tonight, and I’ll need you there. I already put my number in your phone. Text me your address, and be ready by seven.”
Kareem kissed me on the cheek and walked out. I was too stunned to respond. In fact, I was so stunned I couldn’t finish my food, so I wrapped it up and headed home. I needed a shower and a nap if I was going to be ready for tonight.
I had just stepped out of the shower when I heard the knock on the door.
It was only 6:45 p.m., but if I remembered anything about Kareem, it was that he was always early.
He was always the first person seated in class or anywhere else we had to be, and when I asked him about it, he would just tell me that being on time was the easiest way to show someone respect.
It never clicked for me in high school, but now that I was an adult, I understood.
I didn’t have time to fully dry myself off before another round of knocks could be heard, so I threw on my kimono and headed to the front. I didn’t know what I expected when I opened the door, but I didn’t expect Kareem to look the way he did.
He was dressed in a perfectly tailored blue Armani suit.
His lineup looked even fresher than it had this morning, and he smelled damn good.
There was no way I was supposed to remain focused during this meeting when Kareem looked and smelled the way he did.
I didn’t know what he was wearing, but I wanted to smell it on him all the time.
“I’m almost ready.”
I willed myself to speak and step aside so Kareem could come in. My apartment was probably the most modest apartment he’d seen in years, and it wasn’t the cleanest. I wasn’t a nasty girl, but I didn’t have everything put where it should have been.
“It’s no rush. Take your time.”
Kareem followed me, and I could feel his eyes on me, which made me not want to turn around to face him. One look at him was enough at this moment. I knew I couldn’t stand more than that.
“You can have a seat over here.”
I struggled to get the offer out while I organized the pillows and picked up the magazine clippings and articles that had been thrown over the couch for him to sit down.
I had spent the weekend getting ready for this project, so everything that inspired me was still in my living room.
That included the board I made with all things Kareem that stared both him and me in the face.
“I’ll just take this.”
I tried to push my rolling board out of sight, but Kareem stopped me.
“No, you can leave it. It will give me something to focus on while you’re getting dressed. This is essentially everything you have on me, right?”
“Um, yeah. Everything I could find that was published.”
“Interesting.”
“Yeah, it’s just a part of my process. Whenever I start working on a story, I pull everything I can find on the person I’m writing about.
A big story like the one we are doing on you, there’s very little room for error.
This is just to get it right. I promise I’m not digging through your life just for fun. ”
“I don’t know. I kind of like the idea of you being this interested in me. I would have killed for you to make a board like this for me back in high school.”
If Kareem had only known this board was nothing compared to the entire wall I had for him in high school. I smiled and dropped my head just thinking about it. I was obsessed with Kareem, and had prom not completely changed everything between us, I probably still would be to this day.
I most certainly never got over him or the night we spent together. There had never been another boy or night like that one since. I hadn’t realized it until just now, but I never made space in my life to experience what we had again.
My entire existence since leaving home had been trying to prove to myself that I was more than where I came from. And yes, I had done well for myself, but now that I was nearing my mid-thirties, I wondered if all the work I had put in was even worth it.
Most of my friends were starting families and getting married, but I was still chasing a dream that I may never catch. How well I did on Kareem’s project would be the determining factor in my life. With that in mind, I gave Kareem one last nod.
“I’ll be back in a bit.”