Chapter 11
ELEVEN
“Hi, baby. How was school?” I smiled in the camera at an obviously exhausted Essence.
“Good,” she told me as she yawned.
“Where’s your sister?” Emorey was too quiet.
“She’s sleeping.”
“Already?”
“Yes. She said she didn’t take a nap at school, so she’s tired.”
“Sounds accurate. You seem tired, too.”
“I am tired,” she admitted.
“Then just call me tomorrow, Es. I just wanted to see your face. I’m pulling up to the house now.”
“OK.”
Before I could get another word out, Essence ended the call.
I winced at the internal infliction of her move.
I’d never felt so neglected by my children in my life.
In all honesty, I wanted them begging and crying to come home so that I could rush to get them, but they weren’t thinking about me.
I figured they’d needed the break as much as I did.
After the call ended, I decided to take a minute for myself.
We’d had such a busy Tuesday at work, and my feet were killing me.
I opened the Instagram app on my phone to see if Luca had accepted my request and to my surprise, he had.
He’d also made his way to my notifications.
Under the one photo that I’d posted, he had written ‘seven’ , which was the time he was due at our doorstep.
My cheeks burned as they rose to form a smile.
Instead of replying to the comment directly, I chose to message him instead.
But before I hit the message tab, I checked out his profile.
It wasn’t lost upon me that it was empty, much like Laike’s.
He only had one photo, too. It was of a beautiful rottweiler with saggy cheeks and wet lips.
Rest easy, Major , a caption beneath it read. It was short and straight to the point. The picture was dated back four years prior, which only could have meant that his pet had died when he was in prison, and he wasn’t the one who’d made the post.
Seven it is. I’m really looking forward to our time together. - Ever.
I sent the message and shut down my app completely. Knowing Luca, there wouldn’t be a response. I’d see him when I saw him.
With Essence back at the forefront of my head, along with a heavy heart, I shut off my engine and grabbed my purse from the passenger seat. I locked my doors and headed up the driveway. When I made it near the door, I noticed the short, stubby man in white ringing our doorbell.
“Can I help you?” I asked as I got closer and closer.
“Yeah. I’m looking for Ever. Ever Sinclair?”
“That’s me,” I admitted, wondering who he was and what his presence meant.
“I have a delivery for you from Mr. Luca Einsenberg. If you’d do me a favor and sign for it, I can get out of your hair.”
“Uh. Yeah. Uh. Sure.” Baffled, I responded, still trying to figure out what was going on as he handed me the white box.
I held it in one hand as he handed me a pen and placed a notepad in front of me.
I scribbled my name across the paper and seconds later, he vanished into thin air.
He didn’t give me much of a chance to ask any questions, but I figured I’d discover whatever answers I had once I opened the box he’d handed me.
I stumbled inside of the house, excited and nervous about opening the package at the same time. It was five o’clock, and I’d be seeing Luca in about two hours, so I didn’t understand why the gift couldn’t have waited. I assumed it was directly connected to the night we’d be having.
As I rushed past Lyric’s room, I saw she was knee deep in her computer screen.
She barely looked at me as she waved in my direction.
I took the hint and continued down the hallway then up the stairs.
When I made it to my bedroom, I slammed the door behind me with my foot and laid the box on the bed carefully, being that I wasn’t sure what was inside of it. Whatever it was wasn’t heavy at all.
I removed the tape from the sides and opened the flap in the front. The flood of emotions that followed the discovery of what was inside left my knees weak and my eyes moist. My heart swelled in my chest, beating slower and with so much more purpose.
A thoughtful man was one I’d always seen myself with.
One that took the time to make life more meaningful, down to the last second of your day.
One that didn’t need to be told what you were into, loved, or wanted to tap into because they paid close enough attention.
One that was out for your heart when it came to gifts, birthdays, holidays, and special occasions because it was their time to show just how much you meant to them.
It was only day one and Luca had nailed the test.
I pulled out the chef’s hat with Ever embroidered across the top in brown.
I pulled it on my head and over my low bun.
It was a perfect fit. Next, I pulled out the white coat to match.
It, too, had Ever written on it with a three-tier cake above it.
I brought it to my chest and wrapped my arms around my body for a hug.
Even more than the diamond bracelets that he’d purchased for me, I loved this gift.
“Was that who was laying on the doorbell? A delivery guy?” Lyric stepped into my room and asked.
“Yes. Luca sent me this hat and chef’s jacket. I never even mentioned being a cake maker.”
“He’s meticulous, Ever. You didn’t have to. He pays attention to detail and your Instagram says you’re the cake woman. Your profile image is also you and a cake.”
“I guess I’ve just never had a man pay much attention to me,” I admitted with a shrug. “This means so much.”
“As it should, and you deserve it. I saw the little comment he posted under your picture. What’s up with seven? Is there something you need to tell me?”
“Me, too. And, yes. There is something. He invited me on a date and promised to be here by seven.”
“And you didn’t feel the need to scream that when you walked through the door? Honey, we have to get you together.”
“You were working.”
“Ever, I’m an accountant for the Einsenbergs. All of them. From my father to my mother to my brothers. I could’ve stopped if I wanted to.”
“What about your other accounting gig?”
“Two hours of work a day, and I’m literally done. They pay me well but my family pays me better. I can’t give them all of my time like that.”
I’d said the same thing. It was obvious that Lyric was the princess of the family and was compensated well.
However, I imagined the bulk of her work was for the company that she’d been working for since I met her.
Now, I understood it was her family’s finances that got most of her time.
It was as if I learned something new every day about my friend.
Long distance friendship Lyric and local Lyric were two different people.
“Okay, that makes sense.”
“Alright, let’s get you to the store. We don’t have long, girl.”
We decided to take my car to the mall with Lyric at the wheel.
She drove like a bat out of hell to get us there in under twenty minutes.
Luckily, all the stores had mall entrances as well as outdoor entrances, which helped tremendously in our time crunch.
We made it to Zara and walked right in from the parking lot.
“We should split up to cover more ground,” I suggested.
“Yeah. If we haven’t found anything in ten minutes, let’s meet at the door that leads us to the mall. We can go by Nordstroms or Forever21.”
“Forever21, but only because it’s so much smaller. I’d rather not have so many options.”
“Okay. I’ll call you to the dressing room if I find anything.”
As planned, we separated and began our searches.
I combed through the pieces that were closer to the front while Lyric searched the area near the cash registers.
Though I liked a few of the pieces they had to offer, I didn’t love any of them.
Nothing stood out to me and nothing seemed good enough for the date night with Luca.
Everything was mediocre. I wanted some sassiness going on.
“There you are.” Lyric sighed when she found me at the mall entrance.
“Didn’t find anything either?” I asked.
“Nothing worth taking a second look at. Let’s head to Forever21. I’m sure they have something we can put together really quickly.”
“If it ain’t Lyric motherfucking Einsenberg in the flesh,” a deep rasp blurted in the busy mall.
I looked up to find what was arguably the blackest man I’d ever seen walking in our direction.
As much as I wanted to tear my eyes from him and look to Lyric for an explanation, I couldn’t.
His midnight black skin and gold teeth that shined as he showcased the dimpled smile was too commanding.
I couldn’t help but wonder where all of these men were when I was living in Channing my entire life before moving, searching for some decent material.
There was none! Since I’d moved back, I’d run into four men who were breathtaking, two of them being the Einsenberg brothers.
“Ken,” Lyric acknowledged the handsome specimen, opening her arms to embrace him.
“Long fucking time. I just ran into your hoe ass brother earlier. Nigga didn’t plan on telling me he was out, I don’t think,” he fussed. His smile immediately turned into a smug expression as his brows furrowed on his face.
“You know that’s not true. He’s still processing it himself. Eight years is a long time, Ken.”
“Don’t I know,” he replied, combing over Lyric’s body with his eyes. Even in a simple pair of denim and a white cropped top, she was stunning. “That’s how long it’s been since I’ve run into you. Where you been hiding?”