Chapter 32 Ofosua
CHAPTER 32 OFOSUA
ADINKRA SAYING: (Asase Ye Duru) A symbol of providence.
SAMUEL ADDO: What is meant to be will be. Don’t tell your mother, but it’s rarely ever that hard to find your fate.
I wasn’t sure why, but I was nervous. Hell, it didn’t make any sense. It wasn’t like I was presenting my stories to a roomful of producers.
These guys were people Brian had worked with in the past. And they were looking for some love stories featuring Black joy. Aurora and I could deliver that in spades. It hadn’t been easy to convince her agent to let us co-rep her on the film side. She and Aurora were still disappointed about my move from Drake. The books I’d toiled over for months were now in limbo because once Steven found out Cosmos was having second thoughts about investing, he saw no reason to keep Mahogany Prose, and instead he’d reassigned my authors to other editors, dissolving my imprint. That was standard procedure when an editor left a house, and it usually worked out okay in the end. But I knew the real score: Steven had never seen these books’ true worth in the first place. I just had to hope my former colleagues did.
At least I had an opportunity to help Aurora and the rest of my authors tell their stories in different ways. I stared back up at the Cosmos Film and Media offices, shielding my eyes from the sun and hoping I’d done enough.
“She’s going to do great, you know?”
I whipped around on the sidewalk, the familiar voice burning me deep in my womb. Seeing him standing there, looking as gorgeous as always, had my stomach in knots, and all the air whooshed out of my lungs.
“Cole.”
“Yes, that is my name.”
It hurt to look at him. Why did he look like that? Completely unaffected by anything that had happened. And I, well, I felt like a wreck. I had to turn away. “Yup, she’s always great.”
There was a pause, and I thought maybe he’d walked away. Somehow, that made me disappointed. But when I turned, he was right behind me. “Do you have to stand so close?”
“There was a time when you liked me standing close.”
“Well, you know, that was before you dumped me unceremoniously, so I’m not exactly too keen on you standing this close right now.”
“I was a dick.”
I laughed. “That’s accurate.”
“I miss you.”
I blinked rapidly. “What?”
“You heard me. I miss you.”
He thought he could just come back? After what he’d done? “No, Cole. You don’t get to do this. You don’t get to cut me out of your life then turn up randomly—on the sidewalk, no less—in my new one and tell me things like you miss me. That’s not how this works.”
“I know. I completely understand. I fucked up.”
“You think?”
“I let go of the one person who believed in me even when she shouldn’t. I was terrified of hurting you, of getting it wrong. So I fucked it up. I have no right to ask anything of you. No right to turn back up in your life. But if you maybe thought you wanted to give me some time to apologize, you know where to find me.”
I couldn’t breathe.
This wasn’t fair; he was supposed to be gone. Away.
“This is about Aurora. Why are you even here?”
“Her work means as much to me as it does to you. Mahogany Prose was ours . We built it together.”
“Don’t do this, Cole. Don’t do this thing where you act like you care, because I want to believe you. And I can’t afford to do that right now.”
“I know. You have no reason to believe me. No reason to count on me. No reason to trust my word. I fucked up bad. And I want nothing more than to fall at your feet and tell you that I’m sorry, but I know I need to do more than say the words, which you won’t trust anyway. So I’m going to show you.”
I turned and blinked at him. “What?”
“All I need is time to show you.” And with that he started backing up through the crowd. Soon the pedestrians swallowed him up and I was left standing on the sidewalk staring after him. What the hell was he talking about? He had to be delusional. There was no way I was getting sucked back in by Cole Drake for a third time.
I was still confused and in a daze when I met Emory for coffee. She squeezed me hard and said, “God, I miss you. Everything has been a shit show of turmoil since you left. Now, what’s up with you and Cole?”
“Nothing. We’re… nothing.”
“Ugh, God, I thought for sure once you heard that he’d been looking for you…”
I frowned. “He’s been looking for me?”
She laughed. “Yeah. He about lost it in the office when he discovered you were gone. When I was talking to Cora about it, she said he also went there looking for you.”
“He went to my house?”
She nodded. “None of us were giving out your number. All he knew was Cosmos had given you a job. That’s how he found you in LA. I thought he saw you.”
My skin went clammy and cold. He’d gone to LA? “Wait, what?”
Her eyes went wide. “Oh my God, you don’t know? You have no idea what he’s been doing?”
I shook my head. My heart suddenly racing. What had he been doing?
“Oh my God, Ofosua.” She sighed. “You didn’t know he went to LA? Or that he took your mother with him?”
My mother? I needed something stronger than coffee for this. I couldn’t comprehend the words that she was saying. But what struck me dumb was the fact that Cole and my mother went to LA. Together. And he was still alive.
“I can’t believe he didn’t tell you.”
I shook my head. “He didn’t tell me anything except that he would show me he’s sorry, or something like that.”
“Yeah, as he should. And I presume you also didn’t how he’s fighting to keep the imprint. Things have been really tense with him and Steven.”
“Cole’s trying to keep Mahogany Prose? I thought he scrapped it.”
“ Steven tried. But Cole’s been looking for an editor to replace you, and in the meantime he’s making sure your books land with just the right editors in-house until the new you arrives. He and Steven have daily fights. It’s pretty intense. Steven is pissed, but Cole is holding firm.”
“He’s trying to keep all of my books?” I still couldn’t believe it. “He’s done all of that for me?”
Cole had come for me. He’d come for me, and he hadn’t even said so.
I was going to find out why.
COLE
The Mandrake was every bit the opulent hotel the name suggested. Brian had helped me out again and told me where she’d be after her meetings.
Though she’d been less than thrilled to find me on her hotel doorstep.
“Ofosua—”
She put up her hand, and that simple gesture was breaking my heart all over again. She looked beautiful.
“You hurt me.”
“I know, and I don’t deserve your forgiveness, but I’m going to ask for it anyway.”
But she was ready for me as she shook her head. “Why did you go to LA?”
I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is that it was my fault you ended up in LA at all. You were right when you told me that I was a coward.”
“I am so afraid of you hurting me again, Cole.”
“Ofosua, you know why I went to LA, why I had to see you.”
“No, I don’t. Why would you do any of this?”
I ran my hands through my hair. “Can’t you see it?”
“See what, Cole? You told me you didn’t want me.”
“That’s not what I said. I said that it wasn’t a good idea. I was terrified, Ofosua. I know this sounds like an excuse, but I somehow came to the conclusion that our relationship would only hurt you in the end, especially with our families involved, and then I chickened out. I shouldn’t have let your mother run me off. But she said all the things that I had been afraid of out loud, including that I wasn’t good enough for you. I should have told her that I would fight for you every step of the way. Every minute away from you was like a void that sucked the essence of my very existence. It’s like the air was pulled out of me, and I couldn’t breathe. So I made a promise to myself to do anything possible to get you back at my side.”
Her eyes burned with tears. “I can’t.”
“And you shouldn’t have to. I know I have a lot of work to do to prove to you what I actually mean. I’m trying. So I’m going to keep doing the things I should have done since the night I first met you on my uncle’s balcony until you take me back. I’m going to keep turning up for you. I’m going to keep showing you that even though I don’t deserve you, I am sorry for making you feel like this was the Yofi situation all over again. I thought I was doing the right thing, but I clearly wasn’t, and I’m fucking miserable because of it.”
She laughed softly. “I can’t believe you actually went to LA and back in one day. For me.”
I shrugged. “Well, that’s where I thought you were.”
“That’s insane. You even took my mother with you?”
“How did you know?” I shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. She is, um… You know what, I think I’ve grown on her.”
She rolled her eyes. “Oh my God, I’m sorry you had to go through the ordeal of being trapped on a plane with my mum.”
“Hey, it’s part of the penance I have to pay.”
She was still staring at me, and her wide eyes were brimming with tears. “I don’t know what to do with you.”
I shrugged. “Well, then why don’t you allow me to prove to you how much I want and need you? I love you.”
She stared at me.
“Oh, did I not mention that before? I love you. I love you with all of me, Ofosua. I won’t ever get tired of saying those words to you, even when you get tired of hearing me say them. I love you, Ofosua Addo.”
The first tears spilled, and I palmed her cheek. “I probably should have been saying that a lot sooner, since I’ve been in love with you for God knows how long.”
“What? Really?”
I nodded. “I know it’s going to take you a while to warm up to the idea. But like I said, I’m not going anywhere.”
“What am I supposed to do with you?”
“Well, I have an idea or two, but you tell me what you want, and I’ll do it.”
“You. I want you, Cole. I’ve always wanted you, but all the same obstacles are still in our way.”
She wasn’t wrong, but I didn’t care. “I know. And it won’t be easy. But two weeks without you and I felt like I was dying inside. We belong together because that’s what we want, and fuck anyone who has anything to say about it. I will never leave your side again. I can’t breathe without you.” I swiped away another tear on her cheek as I spoke. “I’m going to kiss you now, okay?”
More tears followed as she laughed and cried. As I slid my lips over hers, I knew that I was the luckiest, happiest person alive. I would do whatever it took for her to give me a second chance. I was going to fight like hell to hold on tight. No one was going to stop me from winning her trust.
Not her mother, and certainly not myself.