Chapter 19
Chapter
Nineteen
Karina
Iwas taking two steps for every one Kareem took. I raced as fast as I could to be by his side, but he walked so fast that I was falling behind quickly. He was pissed, and trying to keep up with him was hard.
As soon as we made it into the smaller conference room that Kareem had taken as his office, he sat down and threw the portfolio on the table next to him. Ray sat on the opposite side, but I took the seat right next to Kareem. I was hoping our close proximity would calm him a little.
I had never seen Kareem so upset. Even as a child, he was always happy. His smile lit up the room when we were kids, but I was quickly learning that Kareem as a child was a lot different from grown man Kareem.
He still had a heart made of gold, but it could also be cold as hell when he felt threatened. This Kareem scared me. I didn’t know what to do to calm him. I also didn’t know what I could possibly say, but I at least had to try.
“Not signing this deal won’t affect you one way or another.
We don’t need to spin this story because the truth is better than any story we could come up with.
Trust me. This is not a problem for you.
We can walk away from this knowing that your people, your real supporters, will still love you and be amazed by what your company does. ”
I placed my hand on top of Kareem’s. He had balled his fingers into a fist, but my touch softened it. He placed his free hand on top of mine, and I smiled on the inside, still afraid to let it show.
“Yeah, I agree with Karina. This deal does not make or break K there is a next move. God wouldn’t bring you this far to only bring you this far.
This deal may have fallen through, but your mission is far from over. You have so much more to do.”
“Thank you, baby.”
He kissed the top of my head, and the liquor in me made me want to melt into him. The more time I spent with Kareem, the more I wanted to explain exactly why I had walked away all those years ago, especially since it felt like I was experiencing it all over again.
I could tell how my disappearance deeply affected him, and it truly hurt me to witness it.
Still, I was having déjà vu. What I was feeling for him right now was the same thing I felt for him when I decided that it was too much for me to take on.
I knew that if I went through a heartbreak with a man like Kareem, I would never recover, and if I was being honest, that hadn’t changed.
I had enough good sense at eighteen to get myself out of the situation before it got too heavy. Yet a decade later, I was willingly walking right back in. I was falling for Kareem all over again. The only difference was that I was having a hard time pulling away this time.
Thank you, baby.
The words repeated in my head as silence hung between Kareem and me.
He’d called me baby, and it made me want nothing more than to tell him everything I was feeling.
I wanted to voice my apprehension with him in hopes that he would quiet the storm brewing in my mind.
I wanted to tell him how afraid I was and have him tell me I didn’t have a damn thing to be afraid of.
I needed to know it was safe to fall in love and that what Kareem had just told me on the Ferris wheel wasn’t just about the ride. That he, in fact, would be there to catch me every time I fell, even if the falling were simply into him.
“Can I have this dance?” Kareem stood and stretched out his arm to me as music filled the air around us.
I was still tipsy from the shots, but I managed to stand on my feet. My eyes were fixed on the hell of a man that stood in front of me, and my arms wrapped around his neck as he pulled me close to him on the dance floor.
“I will always save my last dance for you.”
I dropped my head on Kareem’s shoulder as we swayed from one side to another. Running was the last thing that could possibly consume my mind in this moment. I was right where I wanted to be, and I had a very good reason to stay here forever… Kareem.