Chapter 13 Zoya #2
Little did I know, the girl was engaged and hiding it from all of us. She knew how close I was to my brother, so she knew the moment she would have mentioned she was engaged, I would have told him.
Me: When?
Kennedy: Tomorrow.
Me: Fine.
I didn’t have much time to sit and think about Kennedy being homeless because I had a few video meetings, and then I had court in a few. I needed to focus on those, and not Kennedy’s lack of accommodations.
I handed valet my keys, as I rounded my car and headed into my building. It was a little after five in the evening, but the sun was still up. It was coming to that time when the sun would eventually go down earlier, and the cooler weather would come in for fall and winter.
Seasonal depression would set in, and then the holidays would soon follow. The holidays were always nothing to brag about. I cannot remember the last time I spent a birthday or a holiday with my family.
Those were things that we never did.
Menace usually went to Aspen and disappeared for a few weeks. I busied myself with work and holiday movies just so I could feel something. Don usually came to sit on my couch to complain about us never getting together.
Kora brought a wreath and then bragged about being festive, when in reality, she was usually out the country in Europe with whatever white man she was dealing with at the time. None of us did the holidays and I used to hate it, but it became our norm, so I got used to it.
I spent the majority of my time alone. Like tonight, it was a Friday night, and my only plan was to walk Bando, order in, and sit in my office while completing things that I didn’t get the chance to complete earlier at the office.
One of them being Kingston Steele wanting to retain me as a lawyer. I was familiar with Kingston because he was Bia’s older cousin, and Bia was Kora’s best friend. I made a mental note to call Kora this coming week to get the tea on that situation.
Since Kora and Kingston were familiar, I knew she was the one who told him to retain me. If Kora gave you legal advice, you usually took it because the woman knew what she was talking about. Kora saw and heard things as a federal judge.
I pressed the fob against the access pad and pressed my floor, leaning back onto the wall. The door was taking forever to close, and just as it started to close, I saw Gerald walking through the lobby.
He didn’t come from the main entrance, which meant he was coming from the gym. I watched as the door slowly closed, and he walked straight toward me. His eyes were locked on me, and mine were locked on his dick print, as it was swinging in those gray sweatpants he wore.
The compression workout shirt he wore clung to his body, showcasing those muscles that demanded attention. I leaned forward and continued to press the button so the door could close quicker. He noticed and nodded his head while smirking, knowing he had to wait for the next elevator.
We hadn’t spoken in over two weeks, and I wasn’t about to start on this elevator.
The elevator flew up to my floor, skipping floors as it usually did.
When you were on a higher floor, it often skipped floors to get you to your floor quickly.
Whenever I went to Don’s, it skipped every floor and went straight to the penthouse.
Soon as the elevator opened, I rushed down the hall as quickly as my heels would allow me. My condo was all the way down toward the other end of the hall along with his.
The chime from the second elevator sounded. “Shit.”
“Ms. Lawyer, you avoiding me?”
I screwed my face up, clearly bothered that he called me Ms. Lawyer. In the current calculations in my journal, we had elevated from Ms. Lawyer. “Gerald, leave me alone.”
I picked up my pace. “I can catch you.”
I still had a full half of hallway to make it down, and he was by the elevators. Could he beat me to my door?
Sure.
Was I too stubborn and wanted to test the theory, even in these YSL mules?
Absolutely.
I hiked my work bag onto my arm and took off running down the hall, breathing out my nose because Menace had taught me that when Landon beat me in a race when we were younger.
I was ready to tear Landon’s ass up because he was rubbing it in, and Menace grabbed me, telling me to breathe out my nose while running. Then he went and raced Landon, and made Landon feel exactly how I felt.
Like I knew he would, Gerald breezed right past me. The asshole had the nerve to start stretching while he waited for me to continue walking down the hallway.
I stopped trying to run and was now walking down the rest of the hallway like a worn-down hooker who had her last bit of cash snatched from her while fixing her wig.
Just tired and out of hooting and hollering.
“Don’t know why you standing at my door.”
“I need to walk our fucking dog.”
I spun around and balled his lips up. “Gerald, stop cursing at me.”
He puckered his lips, loosening my grip around his thick lips and then kissed the palm of my hand, as I unlocked my door. “Not cursing at you.”
Folding my arms, I looked up at him. “Since when I became Ms. Lawyer?”
He chuckled, making me realize he had said the shit on purpose. “You don’t like that, eh?”
“It’s fine… just was wondering.” I played it off like I wasn’t bothered by the sudden switch of names.
There was this thing inside of me that refused to allow men to see the real me. I never wanted them to think I wanted them more than they wanted me. Part of me felt like a sucker, so I played hard to get a lot of the time, never showcasing my true feelings.
“Zoya?”
“Hmm?”
“Open the damn door… got us in the hallway looking like a lick” he replied, and I pushed the door open.
Soon as the door opened, Bando came trotting down the hall. When I first got him, I used to crate him. The more time we spent together, I learned that he had no desire to do anything other than nap when I was gone. He usually took his naps in my office because the view was better.
At least, that was what I liked to think.
He stopped and sat, not jumping on us when we came through the door. I sat my things on the counter. “Release.”
Bando got super excited and started wagging his entire butt as I rubbed him down. He was a big dog, and I couldn’t have him running and jumping onto people when he met them. He was friendly, but not everyone knew that.
Plus, I didn’t want people thinking my dog was just a big ol teddy bear. I wanted people to look at him as protection, because that was exactly what he was. With me having a nephew and a God daughter, I needed to make sure he wasn’t knocking them down once they both started to walk.
“When the hell did you become a dog trainer?” Gerald asked, still standing toward the foyer.
“I hired one and then took over once I realized he’s smart like his mama.”
After Bando was satisfied with his pets from both me and Gerald, I looked over the binder of notes my dog walker filled out before she left Bando for the day. She had just taken him out for a walk fifteen minutes ago, and I had missed her.
“How was work, Ms. Lawyer?”
Bothered by the name, I shrugged. “Work was work.”
“Why you being short with me?”
“No reason.”
“Be honest.”
I continued to unpack all the things that I brought for lunch today, as he leaned on the counter next to the sink. “I’m always honest.”
“Except for now.”
“How about you be honest.”
He shrugged. “I want to fuck the shit out of you. Want to mark every part of your body with my tongue… make your knees weak while I’m sucking on your pussy.”
My stupid voice betrayed me because it was slightly lower, weakened after his words. “Gerald, that’s nasty.”
“Yeah. That’s the point. I want to be nasty with you, Ms. Good Pum Pum.”
I laughed. “Whatever… why did you chase me to my door?”
He took my chin and looked into my eyes. “Baby, you would have had to beat me to your door for me to chase you.”
“Oh, fuck you, Gerald!” I shoved him away, while laughing.
Gerald had this thick hearty laugh that caused his entire body to shake. It was one of my favorite things about him. I always admired how he could laugh, even when things weren’t perfect.
He never took himself seriously, which is something I admired about him.
“What you doing tonight?”
I leaned on the opposite counter. “Watching TV and settling in for the weekend. May even get crazy and stop stalling on clearing out the online carts I’ve been filling.”
“Boring ass.”
I shrugged. “Work has been stressful, so I’m taking any moment to just chill and hang back.”
As he stared at me, he licked his lips slowly. “Make time for me.”
“Hell no. You forgot about that cheap shot you took at me. Then proceeded to ignore me.”
“It wasn’t a cheap shot at all. It was the truth, and just because you didn’t like it doesn’t mean it wasn’t the truth. I apologize for the delivery, but not the message.”
The words scrambled in my head as I stared at him, a little pissed because he was doubling down on what he said. “It was rude.”
“Calling me a felon wasn’t rude?”
“You’re a felon.”
“And you pick bum ass niggas,” he replied.
Folding my arms. “So, you saying that you’re a bum?”
Gerald smirked. “You didn’t pick me, Ms. Lawyer… I picked you. You purposely pick fucked up men because you feel you don’t deserve better.”
“Not true.”
It was the way he was reading me and had probably studied every inch of me. His observation wasn’t rooted in assumption. He spoke as if he knew everything he was saying to be true and had witnessed it first-hand. Gerald knew the material well.
Almost too well.
He abandoned the counter and walked closer to me. “Very true… I’m here to remind you that you deserve better, and you are better. Hear me?”
He softly held my chin in his hand, as he peered down into my eyes. This man’s hands had probably done some of the most gruesome things, and here he was, in my kitchen, being as gentle as a feather.