9. Harlem
HARLEM
AFTER THE STORM
The sun was shining bright overhead, and it was a warm day.
The temps had reached seventy-two degrees, which was hot for March, but not out of the normal.
It always amazed me how beautiful the weather would be right after a storm.
The birds were singing, a soft breeze was blowing, and the quiet hum of chatter and the buzz of activity hovered up and down Cherokee Avenue as business owners and residents cleaned up after the storm.
All the housing projects and houses around the area were built of brick and concrete to withstand the storms. None of the residents had sustained any damage to their homes, and they had shown up with force to help the business owners.
True to my promise, I had been able to gather a large group to help Tegan with her cleanup.
My shop hadn’t sustained much damage, other than water that blew inside after the window broke.
The window crew that I hired to replace my window had finished and were now at work on Tegan’s bakery window.
My staff and I had mopped, sanitized, and cleaned up the floor and our workstations within the first two hours of the morning.
I hadn’t gone to sleep, but I had driven Tegan home, made sure that she was safe in her house, and then I drove back to the bakery. With her keys and her permission, after some arguing, I had started the cleanup on her shop.
My crew arrived around six in the morning to check on things, and I had gone over with them to clean my shop.
When we were done, I led them and a few other business owners who had sustained minimal damage over to Ms. Vanessa’s bookstore, and we all cleaned up there before we headed to the dry cleaners, and finally Tegan’s bakery, which had sustained the most damage.
A lot of the residents pitched in, too, because they wanted her to stay. Everyone was looking forward to her bakery opening.
During the late-night hours, while the rest of Cherokee Avenue slept, I had been in Tegan’s bakery, tossing out trash into the big construction dumpsters that remained at the back.
After I had tossed everything out that couldn’t be salvaged, I started the process of sweeping, mopping, and sanitizing.
By the time my team arrived, I still hadn’t finished sanitizing, but I took a break to get my place in order.
My little sister, Courtney, had driven Tegan in my truck to the malls and specialty bakery stores to purchase items that needed to be replaced.
Raque had accompanied them, and I had given Courtney my business card and advised her to use it for anything Tegan needed.
I knew Tegan might argue the point, but I wasn’t worried.
Raque and my little sister were forces to be reckoned with.
Tegan’s crew arrived a little after ten in the morning. By then, we were finished with the other shops.
When Tegan, Courtney, and Raque returned from their shopping excursion, AJ, Isaac, Monte, Warren, and Javar grabbed all the bags out of the truck and took them inside. Tegan followed, with Courtney and Raque bringing up the rear.
I grabbed Tegan’s hand and pulled her away. “Hey, let me talk to you for a second,” I whispered.
She nodded absently, still wearing that same weary look in her eyes.
“Did you get everything that you needed?” I asked.
“I believe so.”
“Did you check off everything on your checklist?”
She bobbed her head. “I did, but I’m not even sure that I captured everything when I made the list. This is all so overwhelming. I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that this happened only a couple of days before we opened. I don’t think I’ll be ready to open tomorrow.”
I grasped her hands with one of mine, and I lifted her head with my other hand.
“Look at me, Baby.” When she did, I saw the gleam of unshed tears pooled in her eyes.
“You don’t have to be ready, if you don’t want to.
This bakery will be physically ready to go; I can promise you that.
I made a call, and Evan will come through later to do another inspection after everything that happened, but you don’t have to be mentally prepared if you don’t want to be. ”
“What if he doesn’t pass me this time?” she whispered. Her voice broke, and it pained me to see her like this.
Everyone had gone back inside of the bakery, and it was just Tegan and me standing out back. I pressed a kiss to her forehead, squeezed her hands, and replied, “That shouldn’t even be a worry.”
She sighed. “I really don’t want to push it off. I had sent out hundreds of invitations to prospective customers, former and current clients, family, friends, and other businesses. The last thing that I want to do is to spend an entire day contacting all those people with disappointing news.”
“Again, you don’t have to. You have enough support staff here to make sure that it can happen just as beautifully as you designed it to. The only thing at question here is your mental health. Baby, I promise that I’ve got your back, and everything will be fine no matter what you decide.”
Her bottom lip trembled as she asked, “Are you sure?”
“There’s going to come a day real soon that you’ll never question my word again. That’s because you’ll know that I’m a proven man.” I tipped her chin up with my index finger, lowered my head, and brushed my lips against hers.
When I pulled back, she smiled shyly at me and bit her bottom lip. “Thank you for all that you’re doing for me in this moment, Harlem. You have no idea how much this means to me. Someone told me that you hadn’t been asleep. You need to get some rest.”
“No one could have told you that except for Monte’s big mouth because he’s the only one who I shared that with.”
“Uhm, noooo.”
The way she dragged it out, raised her eyebrows, and bit back a smile said there was something more to the story, probably something I wouldn’t like.
“Who else?”
“Your sister, Courtney.”
“How did she know?”
“The same little birdie you suspected of telling me, told her.”
I frowned because I didn’t like that shit one bit. Monte had better not be cozying up to my little sister. I’d kick that nigga’s ass. He was trifling when it came to women, and I didn’t play that about the women in my life; they deserved the highest respect.
“I’ma check that.”
“It’s harmless.”
“Ain’t shit about Monte harmless.”
She giggled and tilted her head to the right. “I like protective you.”
“Yeah, well, we’ll see how much you like it when it’s all over your ass.”
“Oh, wow. Pressure, huh?”
“I know you said you don’t have time for dating or starting anything, but I want you to reconsider what you think you deserve, reconsider what you allow to come into your life to pamper you and usher you into your soft girl era.”
Nodding, she agreed. “I thought about that for a long while last night after you dropped me off. You should have let me stay and help clean. I wasn’t any good because all I did was toss and turn amid a couple of nightmares. I did decide to be open to getting to know you more.
“The reason that I’ve been hesitant to start another relationship is because of my ex.
The way that he gaslighted me, used me, and humiliated me in the last years of our relationship was ridiculous.
He did things for me in the beginning, too, not of the magnitude that you have, but he did things.
It changed by the third year, and I just don’t want to waste time like that again. ”
“I’m not into playing games, Baby. The last thing that I want to do is waste your time or mine. I’ve done enough of that in my life, and I’m on a different level now. I need someone who is ready to rise to that level by my side. I like where you’re going, how you handle business, and how you move.
“You can be nothing but an asset on my team, and I have nothing but power, love, strength, financial support, and permanency to bring to you. Everything that I will do and be for you is to make you stronger and better. I will never take but always give to you.”
“I’m going to take you at your word, Harlem, but the first sign of something off, just know that I’ll pull back. I have to protect my heart.”
“Promise me that you’ll always communicate with me, and I will do the same. I hate when people let stupid shit break them apart or slow them down because they didn’t communicate with each other.”
“Same.”
I rubbed my thumb over her cheek and stared into her eyes.
“Tegan, you’re something special, and I really want to draw closer and lean into what I’m feeling about you.
You make me want to protect you, and I love the energy that you give off.
Even during a horrible situation, you’re positive, encouraging, humble, and kind to others.
“I’ve watched you with the other business owners and staff.
You might be losing your shit behind the scenes, but you’re not letting anyone but me see that side of you.
Thank you for trusting me with your truth and your fears.
I promise that I will be very intentional about how I move around about you. ”
“Thank you, Harlem. That means the world to me.”
“Now that we’ve got things cleaned up, and you’ve brought all the replacement items that you could think of, what’s next?”
She sighed heavily. “The crew and I need to get in here and start baking for tomorrow. There’s so much to be done.”
“What can I do?”
She turned her lips down, placed her hands on her hips, and asked, “What can you possibly do in the kitchen?”
“I can burn.”
She giggled. “That would sound good if we were talking about throwing down on some southern food, but not in my bakery.”
“Yeah, you got me there. I’ve never been good at baking too much.”
“Then stay out of my kitchen.”
“I can do that.”
“You know what?” she declared, tapping her chin.
“What’s that?”
“How good are you with taking pictures and social media?”
“I’m a beast at that shit. The shop’s got a large following. That’s where most of my business came from that first year, after all I’d been through.”