Chapter 4 Cole
CHAPTER 4 COLE
ADINKRA SAYING: (Nkrabea) Everybody has their own distinct destiny.
HELEN ADDO: Destiny doesn’t happen by accident. It needs a nudge from your mother.
SAMUEL ADDO: Your mother isn’t always right.
I should have been enjoying the May weather and the sundress season it signaled. But eight months after that fateful day seeing Ofosua Addo in her hospital finest, she was still on my brain.
When is she not?
Even now, at the Clubhouse, one of the hottest brunch spots in all of Manhattan, in the packed crowd, I would have sworn I saw her crossing the street.
I needed help at this point.
We often crossed paths at work, but neither of us ever brought up that night in the hospital. Once or twice, I’d wanted to ask her about it, since she’d stopped wearing her engagement ring. But I knew that fell under the none-of-my-business category. Since we weren’t exactly friends.
Whose fault is that?
I lounged casually as the line for the restaurant wrapped around the block. It paid to have a standing table.
My best friend Tallon jogged through the front door. His father owned a dozen Manhattan restaurants, including this one. He gave me the easy smile he’d had since we were kids. “Sorry I’m late. I didn’t want to come.”
I rolled my eyes and dragged him in for a quick one-armed hug. “You’re a dick. And you’re not late.”
He grinned. “Asshole. Ouch. But you know, that’s what Stefani, or Sarah, or Stacy… whatever the fuck her name was, said to me when I booted her from my apartment.”
I choked out a laugh as he sat down. “You go through women like candy. What is wrong with you?”
“Well, I can’t decide. Also, I may or may not have a memory problem. I don’t know. Whatever.”
I rolled my eyes again. “Did it ever occur to you that maybe you’re the problem? The past lineup of girls that you can’t remember names of would indicate perhaps a fuck boy.”
He laughed. “Yeah, it’s occurred to me. But that’s deep-thought shit that I don’t want to look too closely at. It makes me feel bad about myself.” He clutched at his chest and then grabbed one of the croissants that I’d ordered for the table. The pastries here were stupid delicious. Tallon glanced around. “Where’s the asshole?”
I rolled my eyes. “I don’t know why you keep inviting him.”
No one liked Chad. And I hated getting double doses of him, especially since he worked for my uncle as a financial analyst at Drake.
Your company.
I shoved aside that uncomfortable thought. Basically, Chad crunched a bunch of numbers to tell us if an author, book, or brand would be profitable or not. All he cared about was money and his own opinions. The type who thought he could buy his way into everything. Like my uncle.
“You know he’s a dick. I don’t want him messing up our morning.”
“Well, tough, he’s coming. And besides, Chad’s all right.”
He was not all right, but Tallon had a soft heart.
Speak of the devil and he shall appear. From the periphery of my vision, Chad casually sauntered into the restaurant as if he weren’t already ten minutes late.
Tallon leaned forward. “Don’t forget that his parents have that sick yacht. We could go to Ibiza.”
“You hear yourself, right?”
He shrugged. “I’m an enigma. You see, I like to hold on to my money. If I can get some other idiot to buy a yacht and sail it to Ibiza to go party on, I’ll do that.”
These are your friends.
Tallon might think of himself as a dick, the kind who fucked around on girls and pretended to forget their names, but he was softer than he projected. And if he saw someone who needed help, he couldn’t refuse. It was why he kept most people at arm’s length. So they could never see that vulnerability and take advantage of it because he couldn’t help himself. He kept everything surface. No one ever really got to know him very well. Except me.
I’d been there when he lost his mother. He’d been there when my drunken father tried to physically wrestle my trust fund out of my eleven-year-old hands at my grandfather’s will reading.
And that’s why you keep him around: because you hope he’s secretly a good dude in other ways.
If your friends are only good in secret, what does that say about you?
I was not going to look too closely at that.
Chad threw himself into a chair, grabbed the pitcher of mimosas, and poured a healthy serving. And then, to three girls that waited patiently in the line on the other side of the barrier of hedges, he raised his glass and grinned. “Hey, ladies, you three can join us, but only if you climb over the planters and show us what’s under your skirts.”
Christ. I blinked at him. “Bro, is your asshole meter permanently set to ‘on’? Is it stuck?”
Chad grinned. “Come on, they’re hot.”
“You’re a dick.” I turned my attention to the women. “I’m sorry. Let me make up for him being an asshole.”
I waved over the hostess and quietly asked her to seat them inside. I also paid for their breakfast.
Chad laughed. “Man, you’re going to empty your trust fund like your daddy did with his.”
A shadow of dread danced up my spine. I turned my attention to him. “What the fuck did you say?”
He held up his hands. “Sorry, sorry. I mean, I was just looking out for your finances. Since you’re the heir apparent.”
Of course… When I was a kid, I’d followed my grandfather around relentlessly, trying to learn everything about the business. But then he died, and I didn’t want anything to do with it. That would only last for so long, as I was meant to take over in a few years. At first I’d resisted. Though, as it turned out, I liked it.
I liked the challenge. I loved the books. I loved seeing where publishing was headed. I wanted to make a mark. It connected me to my grandfather, the only person who really gave a shit about me.
“You worry about yours. I’ll worry about mine.”
I held Chad’s gaze and didn’t let it go until he finally blinked and looked away, backing off. “All right, sorry, sorry. I’m being a dick. I’m just hungover. I need coffee. Happy now?”
No, I wasn’t happy. But what was I going to do, kick his ass in the restaurant? Then I really would be like my father. I shook my head. “Yeah, whatever.”
Suddenly, the hairs at the back of my neck stood at attention. I immediately started glancing around for what was causing my sudden irritation in addition to Chad. The usual cause for that electrical-zap-to-the-balls feeling was Ofosua Addo, the one girl at work who didn’t give a fuck that I was a Drake. The truth of it was, she didn’t have any fucks to spare for me regardless of who I was. When I couldn’t find her in the restaurant, I turned back to my drink and pastries.
Ofosua fucking Addo.
Good thing she wasn’t here, because Chad couldn’t help himself but to be a total douche to her. He didn’t care, and I knew it pissed her off. And while I liked seeing Ofosua pissed off, it wasn’t because I wanted her to be upset but because it made her eyes bright and sparkly.
She hated me too.
And okay, fine, I was aloof to her sometimes. All right, all the time. It wasn’t my fault though. On the very first day I’d started in publishing, when my uncle had introduced her as one of his brightest stars, she’d put her hand out for me to shake, then given me a warm bright smile. But I’d been struck stupid. Incapable of speech. She had these ridiculous cheekbones and incredible skin, dark brown and impossibly smooth.
So, like a moron, I’d stood there staring at her, my dick begging to do a happy dance. And I’d said nothing. She’d been standing there with her hand out to shake mine, and all I’d been able to do was stare at her. I hadn’t even introduced myself or shaken her hand. Suddenly, that warm light that had flashed in her eyes had gone glacial.
Her gaze swept over me, and she’d dismissed me like I didn’t matter. I’d tried to fix it afterward by going back and telling her some lame excuse about how I’d been focused on something else, and she’d been cold. Since then, our relationship had never improved. No matter how hard I tried to make her like me, she hated me even more. Which made me even more hyper-aware of her.
I hated the way that she would march down the hallway like she owned the building in her no-nonsense, take-no-shit, never-bother-with-prisoners kind of way. I hated the way I couldn’t take my eyes off her ass when she did it.
I thought we’d had a moment months ago, when I’d seen her in the hospital. But she still treated me the same as she always did. She was beautiful but, Jesus, such a fucking pain in the ass. She was so annoying. Opinionated. Infuriat—
“Look, it’s Ofosua,” Chad said, breaking into my reverie.
There was that electrical zap again. Arousal with just a hint of a warning. “She’s not here. Stop fucking with me.”
Chad laughed. “God, you really do hate her.”
“Yup, absolutely.”
Liar.
Tallon glanced at me narrowly. “Man, I’ve been trying to get a glimpse of this woman. I have never seen Cole like this. It’s fascinating. Where is she?”
Chad pointed, and like a glutton for punishment, my eyes followed the direction, finally focusing beyond the wrought-iron fence, and there she was, standing with what I assumed was part of a congregation, based on all the suits and dresses.
She looked outstanding in an outfit completely unlike anything she ever wore to work, some kind of African-printed pink-and-purple skirt-and-blouse combination, with her hair wrapped up tight with more fabric. Some of her curls came out to frame her face and tickle her clavicle.
I wished to fuck I hadn’t seen it, because I knew from this moment on, I would forever be looking to see those curls tickle that bone. Holy hell. Her skirt was fitted tight, hugging every single curve. Her shoes matched the pink on her dress perfectly.
Chad grinned. “Oh, Ofosua. What an ass on her, but then she talks. Always, in every single meeting. ‘We have to pay less attention to the bottom line and more to underserved communities,’ or ‘We need to use the influence we have,’ blah, blah, blah, bullshit. She should talk less and bend over more.”
My gaze snapped away from Ofosua to Chad. “Watch your mouth.”
He laughed. “What? Oh, come on, even you have to agree. I know you hate her, but even you have to agree that is a juicy peach. I mean, I don’t even fuck with Black girls, but you know, if what I heard is—”
I clasped my hands together in front of me. “Chad, before you finish that statement, I’m giving you a warning. Whatever the hell you think is going to be a funny commentary or a hot take, it’s not. So keep it to your fucking self.”
Chad’s eyes went wide. Across the table, Tallon lifted a brow, studying me. I hated that he’d seen it. He could see what I’d hidden from most people: that little chip on my shoulder when it came to Ofosua Addo.
Chad lifted his hands. “I thought you hated her.”
“I do. But I hate pricks like you talking about their colleagues like this even more. Do me a favor: take her name out of your mouth. Never say it again in my presence, yeah?”
He opened his mouth to argue, but I think he must have seen the look on my face, the truth behind it, that I would annihilate him if he did. And he shut his mouth. “Yeah, cool. I’m done.”
We went back to eating, and I could tell by the way Tallon was watching me that he had a lot to say. But he would be saying it without Chad present. He’d be grilling me because now he knew how much I wanted Ofosua Addo in my bed. And like an idiot, even though I had told myself to keep my eyes off the woman, I couldn’t help an occasional glance. And the final one was going to give me another sleepless night. It was as she reached the top step, and she backed up slightly to help the older woman. At the last step, the woman teetered on her heels, causing Ofosua to bend ever so slightly, accentuating the curve of her ass.
Fuck, my dick jumped straight to attention.
Hello, beautiful.
Damn it.
As much as I hated him, Chad was right. Ofosua Addo’s ass was a thing of beauty. I’d spent the last two years staring at it. Imagining things I could do to it, wanting to touch it. Of course, I kept those thoughts to myself and tried not to think with my dick, because if I did, I was no better than Chad.
No better than your father.
It would ruin everything. One day, I planned to be in charge of Drake Publishing, and letting Ofosua distract me wasn’t the way to get there. But now she was here , on a Sunday, intruding on my carefully drawn lines. My mask was slipping now. Tallon could see. I hoped that she never saw it, because if she did, she would eviscerate me.