Chapter 11
Chapter
Eleven
Karina
“Kareem, I can’t believe you did all of this for me. How did you pull this off in such a short amount of time?”
I looked around the rooftop in awe. The smile on my face was so wide that my cheeks hurt. Just thinking about the amount of planning that went into this made me so happy.
“You’d be surprised how many miracles a man can pull off for you when he really wants to.”
Kareem was right about that. I’d dated a few men over the years, and none of them had put this much effort into taking me out. Granted, Kareem and I had years of history, but as he said, if a man wanted to, he would.
I followed Kareem further into the garden that had been perfectly curated on the rooftop and couldn’t believe what I was looking at.
I was standing in the middle of my literal childhood dream.
So many nights I laid awake dreaming of coming to Paris, and now I was in Paris, and all of it had been made possible by someone I thought I’d lost years ago.
We were supposed to be here on a business trip for him to shine a light on his company, and even though that light was turning out to be dim, Kareem made time to make this night about me.
I wouldn’t have batted an eye if Kareem had wanted to sit in his room and sulk a little, because not getting the thing you had been dreaming of can be hard, but that wasn’t the case.
Kareem not only wanted to get out, but he also wasn’t thinking of himself or the big decision he had to make.
The more I smiled, the worse I felt about what he was going through.
“I don’t even feel right about being as happy as I am because your day did not go the way we expected it to.”
“What you mean? You took some bad pictures of me or something? Don’t post shit without my approval,” Kareem teased, and I nudged him.
It was just like him to make a joke out of something like this. He was never the type to focus on things he couldn’t change.
“You play too much.”
“Baby, I’m a man. I know every day won’t be the exact thing I want, but I can’t let that stop me from still wanting to be the type of man that shows up for my woman.”
“You are adamant about me being your woman, aren’t you? I haven’t said yes yet.”
“I already told you. I’m going to keep treating you like my woman until you know it’s true. I’m telling you… I’m not going to change my mind about this. Karina, I know I want to be with you. I just hope you feel the same way.”
“I won’t lie and say I’m not starting to feel it,” I said as he pulled the chair out for me to take a seat.
We were sitting at a candlelit dinner on this rooftop that Kareem had perfectly decorated out of my dream. I couldn’t believe everything that surrounded me. He had gotten every single detail just right.
The server brought out the food not long after we sat down. We ate a perfectly cooked steak dinner and drank a bottle of red wine. I wasn’t much of a drinker these days, so a few sips had me feeling myself. I was sure Kareem could tell by the goofy smile I couldn’t hide if I tried.
“I’m going to assume that smile means you like your food.”
“Yes.” I giggled a little. “It’s perfect. Everything is perfect.”
“Just like you.”
“Kareem, can I ask you a question?”
“What’s up?”
“How did you remember something I told you when I was sixteen years old and make it a reality so easily? I get the whole ‘if a man wanted to, he would thing,’ but this is next-level planning.”
I had kissed my fair share of frogs over the years, but I’d never met someone so intentional about me and what I wanted. Kareem was drawing a line in the sand and making it clear just how serious he was about me. That made me regret walking away from him all those years ago.
Sitting across from Kareem now, I was ashamed that we weren’t where we could have been if I had stayed.
I felt like I had to do what was best for me back then, but now that I was older, I wished I had considered what was best for both of us.
Kareem and I got too close too fast, and that was just something I never expected.
Now, we were on a rooftop years later, and he was still proving himself to be the man of my dreams.
“It has always been next-level between us, Karina. It always will be.”
“Yeah.”
I had to look away to keep from tearing up again. I had wondered what our lives together would look like so many times over the years, and tonight, I was getting a clear picture of what could have been. As good as it felt in the moment, it also hurt.
“I’m glad you like all of this.”
“How could I not?”
“Do you know how stubborn you are?” Kareem gave me a knowing look before he continued. “I knew I had to go big if I was going to even get a smile out of you.”
“Well, I cannot stop smiling right now. I think my cheeks are going to be stuck like this all day tomorrow, and they are most certainly going to be hurting in the morning.”
“You know they have ice cream here too, right?”
“Huh?”
“I know ice cream is probably the last thing on your mind because your ass is always cold, but if I remember correctly, you always wanted to know if the ice cream in Paris tasted the same as it does back home. So, I got you some. I got those macaroon things you used to talk about, too.”
Kareem smiled, and the light caught the dimples in his high yellow cheeks just right. It was a shy grin, but still sexy as hell. I wanted to kiss him so badly. Instead, I reached across the table just to touch his face. He placed his hand on top of mine out of instinct.
“I’m happy to be here with you, Mr. Sheffield.”
“I’m happy to have you here. We both know I probably just tanked this deal.
I’ve been telling the board what I want, and still, they keep trying to push me in another direction.
I know I’m probably going to have to walk away, but having you here, sitting across from me on a rooftop in Paris, I feel like I can deal with anything.
If I got you by my side, I could walk away from this deal and still be the happiest man on earth. ”
“Kareem, I am so proud of you. The fact that you are staring your dreams in the face and saying ‘I’m okay with losing this if it means that I get to save lives’ is an act for which I have the highest level of respect.”
“I’m not afraid to walk away from this deal because I know there will always be another one. Whether it comes next week or next year, it doesn’t matter. What God has for me will always be mine, and I won’t have to compromise on something as big as this to get it.”
“You should be very proud of what you are doing, and I know whoever you bring to your table next is going to be worth the wait.”
Maxwell’s “Pretty Wings” started playing in the background before he could respond, and Kareem simply smiled and dropped his head.
It was the song that we danced to at prom all those years ago and probably the most popular song that year.
“Pretty Wings” was probably the only song that could sum up all that we were.
When he looked up again, I was staring right back at him. Kareem licked his lips, and I couldn’t help but watch the way his tongue glided across his bottom lip. I could almost feel it on me, causing me to adjust myself in my seat. With his eyes still on me, Kareem got up from his seat.
“May I have this dance?”
“Of course, you can.”
I grabbed Kareem’s hand, which he had stretched out to me, and let him lift me from my seat.
The feel of his skin against mine reminded me of how much I loved this man before I even knew who he would become.
He pulled me into his arms, and we swayed from one side to another as we fell into the rhythm of the beat.