Chapter 10 #2
“My shit is crazy complicated already. All him showing up did was make things more complicated. I can barely even work with the man without thinking about sucking his dick. I don’t like anything interfering with my work, Em.
You know that.” Pausing, I added, “And right now… the stage Duke and I are in… I don’t want anything interfering with that neither. ”
I couldn’t be happy. What about meeting Crescent right now, under the current circumstances, was exciting?
He was my client. My very flirtatious client, but my client still.
Was there an undeniable pull? Absolutely.
Did spending time with him make me happy?
Yes. But he was my client and Duke, and I were doing well.
We were still on that roller-coastery merry-go-round.
Well… it was me who was on the rollercoaster.
I wanted to fix us. Needed to fix us but what Chanté said stuck with me.
Gnawed at me, really. Regardless, I’d been in it.
On that rollercoaster, coasting through life as always, as his wife.
Forcing smiles, trying not to cringe when he touched me, the same ol’ same ol’.
But we were good. Hadn’t argued. He’d been doing what he’s supposed to do around the house.
Things were okay. I had nothing to truly complain about.
I just… I wasn’t right. Something wouldn’t allow me to be completely free and happy with him and that something had to be the blockage Chanté mentioned.
Still, I kept on, keeping on, with the everyday routine anyway.
Emerald took a deep breath and rolled her eyes.
“Girl, fuck Duke,” she boldly said. “I love you and I know what you trying to do but shit… if the muthafucka I spent a hundred years fantasizing about suddenly popped back up, I’d be fucking.”
Emerald hated Duke as anybody that knew the truth about us would.
She didn’t know everything, but she knew enough.
She knew he cheated. Aside from Chanté, she was the only person in my life who I’d been honest with.
Had to be. Look at how we got here. If it weren’t for that invitation to Pandora’s we wouldn’t be here.
Yes, she was my client, but our contract was over.
That invitation those years ago opened up a completely different path for us.
Hell, she’d witnessed me do some freaky shit, knowing I had a husband.
We were open. Which was why she was more like a best friend than a close friend.
It was refreshing though. Being able to be me, and free with someone other than Chanté.
I didn’t have to pretend with Emerald. It was pointless anyway. She saw past the facade from the jump.
Sucking my teeth, I looked over at her. “Bitch, you don’t think I thought about that?
” I asked with a swallow. “He’s my client, Em.
Just like you don’t play at the club, I don’t mix business with pleasure.
You know how messy that shit will get if things go wrong?
Fantasy is one thing, but reality is something completely different. ”
“Mmmh,” She grunted. “I don’t know—that might be the first time I made an exception. You were on that nigga for a long time. And what happened? He came back and you ain’t gon do nothing about it?” Pausing she shook her head. “Tuh. I don’t know sis… If it was me, I’d break a few rules.”
I didn’t say anything—just took a sip of my water, stuck in my thoughts. I didn’t know the purpose of Crescent coming back into my life and I probably never would. However, I highly doubted if the purpose was for me to commit adultery. The red string theory… cute.
Lunch with Emerald went great. We spent the hour catching up. Well, mostly talking about me and my shit. I tried to get on the topic of Pandora’s but she kind of breezed by it. So, I left it alone.
After lunch, it was right back to work. I spent an hour in briefing with Gina, the designer over Euphoria, another one of Crescent’s properties, because today that’s what we were working on.
Because there were so many projects in his contract, sometimes I took the liberty of assisting the other designers.
He was a high-profile client—I had to treat him as such.
I wanted to make sure everything went swiftly.
We were about twenty minutes into the meeting and things were going great. Crescent was Crescent and I was… Mahogany… the one who’d had a couple of mimosas. I’d be lying if I said I needed to drink to work with him—they just helped to take the edge off. That’s all.
“It’s something about that black though.
I fuck with it. What you think?” Crescent asked with his arms crossed over his chest, exposing two arm sleeve tattoos I had questions about, staring at the white board at potential color schemes.
Euphoria was an adults only boutique hotel.
Grown, sexy, and luxurious. So, when he went for black, I wasn’t surprised.
With a smirk, I joined him at the board and nodded. “Of course you do. I think it’s very Crescent coded.”
He looked over at me with a smirk. “Fuck that mean?”
Fuck that mean?
Like I said… Crescent was Crescent. Within the three weeks, he’d gotten a lot more comfortable.
He'd even switched his tailored suits out for sweats and Jordan’s.
The only time I’d catch Crescent in a suit was if he had a meeting prior to ours.
Other than that, we were comfortable. He was at least. I still dressed in suits.
Depending on how long our meeting ran, I’d come out of the jacket and walk barefoot if we were at my office.
“Like I said, very Crescent coded. I threw the black in there on purpose. However, we’re not using it,” I bluntly told him before pulling the sheet of monotones off the board. “Are you familiar with color theory, Mr. Carter?”
“Mr. Carter,” he mocked. “No, I’m not familiar.” He locked eyes with me and leaned against my desk. “Educate me.”
With a sigh, I looked away and tossed the sheet into the trash. “Long story short—“
My phone rang and I glanced over at it sitting on the desk. Duke. Walking over to it, I picked it up, shot him a quick text and got back to the business at hand. “Long story short, we’re programs. Humans. People. Shit… animals too. But… like I said, long story short—“
“You never make a long story short. Especially when it comes to design. So, educate me. If it’s a long story, keep it long.”
The dynamic of our business relationship was nothing like anything I’d ever experienced.
Working with him was like working with a friend.
There was no pressure. I wondered if it came from a place of understanding and respect.
Crescent made me feel seen. He took heed to my suggestions and always wanted more information about fabrics, feng shui, or anything pertaining to what we were doing together.
With a deep breath, and a smile, I made my way back over to the board to demonstrate.
“Okay, color theory is basically about how a specific color interacts with us emotionally, and mentally. Mental stimulation, really. You’re going for a luxury, comfortable feel for the hotel, right?
Black and monotones, though pretty good representations of luxury, doubles as extremely masculine.
Based on what you’ve shared with me about your vision, monotones as primary colors won’t cut it.
You want the hotel to be inviting, elegant, luxurious… rejuvenating.
Take this green color scheme for example.
Forest green compliments brushed gold and cream immaculately.
Not only that, but these colors compliment the French/modern design very well.
In terms of color theory, green evokes feelings of harmony and grounding.
Gold is symbolic to luxury. Elusiveness, too.
The cream? It brings everything together, conveying comfort.
” With a sigh I shrugged. “Plus, the building barely gets any natural light. The black… nah. It would be too dark.”
Instead of responding, he just stared and smiled. I gave him a look, shook my head and went back to the selections. “Burnt orange could work if you’re not too fond of—“
“You went for that color palate first,” he interrupted, nodding at the green. “You prefer the green; we’re going with the green.”
I glanced up at him with a tight-lipped smile and nodded. “I’m glad you see things my way. I thought for sure you’d have an issue with ditching the black.”
“You lead, I follow,” he responded before walking away. “It’s been that way—why would that change now?”
Instead of responding, I just followed him with my eyes.
With a light sigh, I scratched at the back of my head with frustration.
I wanted him. Bad. Too bad. So bad that what Emerald said about bending the rules ran through my mind.
What would it hurt? A kiss? Some type of contact?
Other than what we had? It wouldn’t hurt… would it?
My phone buzzed with a text message from Duke, and I laughed a little. How ironic.
Duke: I was tryn to see if you wanted to go over ma’s house with us. She still want to talk about helpin with the party.
With a deep breath, I shook my head.
I couldn’t stand Duke’s mother, so I had absolutely no interest in sitting up in her face.
Especially since she wanted to help with Aubry’s party and that was already being taken care of.
I’d have to listen to her make smart remarks about how we were fancy, wasting money on planners when we could have done it together.
A bunch of shit I did not want to hear. If there was an area in my life where I could get a little help, I was taking it.
I did enough planning at work—I didn’t want to have to plan an eighteenth birthday too.
Plus, she was late. Very late. If she really wanted to help, she would have extended the offer six months ago.
Me: There’s nothing to help with. The planners handling everything. Let her know. And naw, I’m good. LOL.
Duke: SMH. Alright. I love you. Hopefully work don’t keep you held up.
Me: I love you too.
“You need a minute?” Crescent asked.
I looked up from my phone. “Hm?”
He nodded towards my phone. “If you need a minute, I can give you that.”
I sat the phone down and walked back over to the whiteboard to take the color palates down. “Oh no. I’m good. Just family stuff.”
“Four kids?” He asked.
There were pictures of them sitting on my desk.
“Yep. Four big head kids,” I said, pivoting to face him.
He returned the smile and gripped the top of his pants to sit on the couch. “What a blessing.”
I tossed all but the green color palate in the trash then joined him at the couch. Hesitantly, I asked, “Do you have more?”
He shook his head. “Hell naw. Nova Ray was my one and done.”
With dipped brows, I asked, “One and done? You don’t want more?”
He stroked his chin and shook his head. “Naw. I don’t.”
I wanted to know why. Wanted to meddle a bit.
Wondered if he had a special lady in his life.
Wondered what had happened with Nova’s mother.
I wondered a lot when it came to Crescent but because I was trying to keep it professional, I kept it professional.
As much as I could at least. However, the family thing…
questions about it sat on the tip of my tongue.
Not because I wanted to know if he was fucking someone else, giving them what I wanted so bad.
But because from what I’d learned about him so far, I’d say he was a good catch.
Charismatic. Down to earth. Authentic. Smooth.
Attentive. He had qualities I was sure a lot of women were looking for.
“Do you mind if I ask why not?” I struggled to ask.
“Losing a child leaves you with inconsolable pain. A void.”
“You don’t think having another one would fill it?”
He shook his head. “Nothing will fill it, Ms. Mills.”
Because we were in the middle of a deep conversation, I didn’t correct him.
“I can understand that,” I told him. “But—”
“How you feel about grass walls?” He interrupted, changing the subject.
Because I understood why he wanted to change the subject, I didn’t press. Wouldn’t have pressed if he hadn’t. I wasn’t trying to impose or convince him otherwise. I was going to mention a significant other. Try to get information about that. But the conversation flipped and I left it alone.
“Grass walls are okay. Not for Euphoria. Would be best at The House.”
“The House?” He questioned.
“Of Nova Ray,” I said with a little laugh.
He tossed his head back a little. “Ohhh. Alright. Gotchu.”
With that, we kept the conversation professional.
He did too. Didn’t let his eyes linger on mine for too long.
Wasn’t as ‘Crescenty’ as he usually is. Just…
chilled. And while that was okay—sort of preferred—it was alarming too.
I’d triggered him. His mood was somber. And I didn’t like it.
From that point on, I decided never to mention having kids to him again.