3. Legacy
Legacy
ONE MONTH LATER (PRESENT DAY)
“ D amn,” I muttered as my ankle twisted to the right. I slipped out of my shoe and glared at the broken heel. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Not today of all days.” I moaned and shoved the shoe back on my foot.
Hobbling toward my vehicle, I clicked the key fob and jerked the trunk open. I removed both of my shoes and tossed them back into the trunk. Grabbing a fresh pair of heels from my trunk, I shoved them on my feet and slammed it before I headed back out of the parking garage.
Today was my third day at my new job, and it seemed as if everything in the world was trying to make me late.
It wasn’t a good look. After my breakup with Regal, I needed a fresh start.
I was with Zenobia and Bam all of two weeks before I had a place of my own.
He and his friends helped me move from their apartment into my own.
Bam and a couple of his friends had even accompanied me back to the apartment that I shared with Regal, to get the rest of my things a few days later.
Of course, his grimy ass had been there trying to explain some shit.
But one look from Bam and a growl from his friend, Rock, and that shut all that down. That nigga played mute, deaf, and dumb.
This morning, my alarm didn’t go off, I burnt my toast, and I didn’t realize that I had forgotten to put gas in my car the night before.
I was so frustrated, but I was determined not to let anything get me down.
It had been a phenomenal first two days in my new job as a paralegal for Cramer, Palmer, and Johnson.
I wouldn’t let little things like waking up twenty minutes late, not eating breakfast, and getting stuck in a long line of cars for gas until I said, ‘fuck it, I’ll make it on fumes’ stop me from having a great day.
I rushed back through the parking garage until I got to the elevators and jabbed the button.
I glanced left and right and blew out a breath.
I speed-walked a few feet and took the stairwell from the third floor down to the first. I raced toward the building and prayed that I would not be sweaty from my little mad dash by the time I made it to the twelfth floor.
“Hold that elevator!” I shouted as I ran toward it.
At this time of the morning, the elevators were extremely busy with everyone trying to make it in for eight o’clock.
Just as I reached the elevators, I stumbled forward.
The elevator closed, and my heart thrummed wildly in my chest as I expected to hit the elevator doors with my face.
I was jerked back into something hard and wrapped up in a pair of strong arms. My arms flailed wildly, and I dropped my purse and my laptop bag.
Every item in my purse fell out and rolled across the floor, including my Plan B box.
I dropped down to gather my things just as my rescuer did the same. I stuffed as much as I could into my purse and accepted the items from his hand. Just as he handed the Plan B box to me and asked, “Are you okay?” my gaze shifted up at the sound of the slightly familiar voice.
When my eyes locked with his, I groaned. “You’ve got to be shitting me.”
A slight smirk tilted his full lips, and his eyes flashed dark. “On sight, ma. Elevator or bathroom. You name it.”
I huffed out a sigh of outrage, jerked the Plan B box from his hand, and stuffed them into my purse.
“Why are you here?” I hissed.
He chuckled. “I should be asking you the same thing. First, you stalked me in the bar, and now you’ve followed me to my job. I hate to see what you might do if you actually do get the dick.”
I snatched my purse and laptop bag and stood up. Marching back to the elevator, I exhaled loudly, praying that my day would get better. I jabbed the elevator button.
“I am not stalking you. I’m already late, trying to get to my job, and the last thing that I need is you harassing me.”
“Why are you mad at me? Be honest. Is it because I saw a side of you that you’d rather people not see?”
“You don’t know me, so don’t judge me.”
“I’m not judging. Just curious about how you can be ready to jump in bed with a nigga one minute and then act like you can’t stand him the next.”
The elevator doors opened, and I rushed on, along with a few other people who had gathered behind us. I moved to the back of the elevator after pushing the button for my floor, and Legend did the same.
I closed my eyes and secretly inhaled the tobacco and leather scent of his cologne.
“So, what’s good, ma? Do you need a distraction?”
I cut my eyes at him, willing him to be silent.
He had saved his number in my phone under the words “Perfect Distraction.” Although I had said that I wanted him to be that, he hadn’t been.
In fact, when we got to the room, he ordered room service because he thought that I needed something in my stomach.
I barely made it halfway through the meal before I passed out.
Although I pretended to be disappointed the next morning that I hadn’t gotten what I had come for, a flash of relief seeped through me.
I was grateful that I hadn’t gone through with my plan.
Truthfully, I knew that I was making a bad decision based on alcohol, a bet, and heartache.
“There are no distractions,” I replied as the elevator stopped at my floor. I smirked. “Have a nice day, sir.”
I rushed onto my floor and hurried to the small office designated for me.
As I passed the attorneys’ offices I had been assigned to, I noticed only one of them was in already.
She was on a phone call, and she looked harried.
I was thankful for small miracles as I rushed into my office and hooked my laptop up to my monitors to start my day.
“So, how is the new job coming?” Josi asked as we snagged a table after picking up our drinks.
“It’s everything that I hoped it would be. They keep me busy, and in the few days that I’ve been there, I’ve learned so much already.”
“Are you still stuck in estate planning?”
“Actually, no, I’m not. I’m in litigation.”
“Nice, friend. That’s what you’ve wanted. New apartment, new job, and now it’s time for a new man.”
“I’ll pass.”
“What? I know you’re not going to let that booga bear get you down.”
I spit out my drink as I chuckled. “Why did you and Mauri always come for him?”
“Sis, he’s ugly. We could never figure out why you let him dog you the way you did. I mean, don’t get me wrong. You shouldn’t let no man dog you, but baby, at least let his ass be fine and cute. What did you ever see in his lame ass?”
“Regal was sweet, at first. He was attentive, took time out to attend to me whenever I wasn’t feeling well. His personality is what won me over.”
“The mark of an ugly man . . . his personality is what won me over,” she mimicked in a whiny tone. “Puleez. You betta make him pay to play. If he can’t do that, then he needs to be soulmate potential, and old boy had none of that.”
“He had money, Josi.”
“I mean, yeah, he was paid, but still. Ain’t no amount of money worth the shit that he sent you through.”
“I didn’t stay for the money. I had my own. Besides, I left.”
“About damn time. Anyway, what’s that go to do with why you’re passing on men?”
“I just don’t want the hassle of relationships anymore. All men cheat. They’re just dogs that I can do without.”
“Honey, please. What about when you need that itch scratched?”
I thought back to my failed attempt at getting that “itch scratched.” “That’s what they make toys for.”
“Girl, don’t play with me. Ain’t no toy comparable to some good dick and jiggling balls.”
I spit my drink out again, laughing at her crazy self.
“And if you’re gonna keep spitting drinks out, I suggest you quit wasting money and buy yourself a new bag instead.”
“I’ve got plenty.”
“Whatever happened to that man you met the night that we busted Regal’s ass at the studio? We met him at Smoke ‘N’ Chill. What was his name? Legal. Leggie. Legion.”
“Legend, girl.”
“You sure?”
I rolled my eyes. “Yes, and I never reached out to him. But it didn’t matter because I ran into his ass at my new office building today.”
“Seriously? He works for your law firm?”
“No. He works for another company within the office building. Those corporate buildings downtown sometimes have several businesses within them. We have quite a few, according to the directory in the lobby. Our law firm has offices on the tenth through twelfth floors. He went higher than that.”
“Did you ask him where he worked and where he was going? Did he notice you?”
“No. No. And unfortunately, yes.”
“Honey, he was too fine to be an unfortunate.”
“If you saw what happened, you would change your tune.” I pulled my glass to my lips again and relished in the coolness of the drink.
“What happened, boo?”
I told her about everything that happened and every word he spoke. Her eyes bulged in her head, and her mouth dropped wider with every detail that I shared.
“You’ve got to be shitting me,” Josi stated with a giggle before she sipped her daiquiri. We were meeting for after-work drinks at Groove Theory.
“If I’m lying, I’m flying.” I rolled my eyes and took a sip of my appletini. “It ruined my entire day.”
“Girl, please. A man as fine as he was, there is no way that your day was ruined. Maybe he ruined you for any other niggas, but he’s incapable of ruining anyone’s day,” Josi replied dryly and turned her gaze to something behind me.
I turned to see what she was looking at, and I spotted someone I had seen at other establishments whenever we showed up.
“Who the hell is that?” I asked.
“Who, boo?” she asked as her tone rose in pitch.
“That light-skinned YN who seems to be following us wherever we go these last couple of months?”
Her face flushed, and she quickly shook her head before she pulled her fingers through her braids. “I have no idea who you’re talking about.”
I looked around again, and the man seemed to have disappeared.