Chapter 4
Sade
“I tried something safe… and felt nothing.”
Dinner didn’t fall apart after Vaughn walked away. It just never got back to where it started.
Marcus kept trying to carry the conversation, asking the right questions, keeping his tone even, but something had already shifted. Not because of him. Because of the interruption and how it sat with me after.
I picked the card up once more while he was talking, holding it between two fingers. I didn’t turn it over at first. Just looked at the front, reading his name silently, letting it sit for a second before I flipped it.
Vaughn St. Clair. Urban Real Estate Developer.
I set it back down beside the rose and picked up my glass.
Marcus followed my movement. “You sure you don’t know him?”
“I don’t,” I said, and left it there.
He nodded, but I could tell he didn’t fully believe it.
The rest of dinner moved forward.
When the bill came, Marcus reached for it anyway.
The server stopped him. “It’s already taken care of.”
Marcus paused, then let out a small breath through his nose. “I know that already.”
He still pulled his wallet out, though. Slid a few bills into the folder and handed it back.
“For the service,” he said.
We stood a few minutes later, and I didn’t look around the room. I didn’t search for him. I didn’t acknowledge the table he was still sitting at. I picked up my purse, stepped away from the booth, and left everything exactly where it was.
Outside, Marcus walked me to my car.
“I’d like to see you again.”
I turned to him.
“You’re a good man,” I said, keeping my tone honest. “But I don’t think we’re a match.”
He held my gaze for a second, then nodded.
“I respect that.”
I got in my car and pulled off.
By the time I got home, I was already taking my heels off at the door.
I didn’t turn the lights on right away. Just walked through the space, letting it stay quiet the way I needed it to be after being out.
I reached for my phone and called Laila before I could talk myself out of it.
She answered on the second ring.
“Tell me everything.”
I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water. “It wasn’t bad. Just not for me.”
“Mmm,” she hummed. “He boring?”
“No. Just… not my person.”
She laughed. “Okay, that’s fair. So, what happened? Because I know it’s more than that.”
“Girl, Vaughn showed up.”
“Who?”
“From Alana show.”
“Girl, shut up.”
“I’m serious.”
“What do you mean he showed up?”
“He walked up to the table in the middle of dinner and started talking about work.”
“That’s bold.”
“It was unnecessary.”
“What he say?”
“That he had a development and needed an interior designer. Then he dropped his card and a rose on the table.”
“A rose?” she repeated. “Oh, he doing too much.”
“He paid for the whole table too.”
“Hell nah,” she said. “Why he flexin’?”
I twisted the cap off my water and took a sip.
“He didn’t even acknowledge Marcus at first,” I added. “Just talked to me.”
“See, that’s the part I like. Love me a bold nigga.”
“I don’t.”
“You should work for him.”
I shook my head even though she couldn’t see me.
“No. I know his type.”
“What that mean?”
“That means he’ll throw me on a team with a bunch of designers who don’t care, expect me to carry the project, then disappear once it’s done.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.”
“Or,” she said, dragging the word out, “you just don’t want to work with his fine ass because you know he’ll talk his way into those panties.”
I laughed. “Not hardly. I’m just good.”
“Mmhm.”
“I am.”
“Okay.”
I could hear her smiling through the phone. “Go look at his big sister’s post.”
“What?”
“His sister Vanessa. She just posted something about him. It’s going crazy.”
I walked toward the living room, grabbing my phone from the counter.
“What’s her name?”
“OfficialVBaby.”
I typed it in while she stayed on the line.
Her page came up quick.
Verified. Heavy following. The post was right at the top.
I tapped it.
A picture of him. Same energy he had in person.
The next slide was a real application about finding him a wife.
I stared at it for a second.
“You see it?” Laila asked.
“I see it.”
“You should get in the comments.”
I let out a laugh. “Girl, do I look thirsty?”
She laughed too.
“I’m just saying.”
“I’m not interested in that nigga,” I said, scrolling the comments.
I paused.
“Look at Alana.”
“What she say?”
“She didn’t even say anything. Just laughing emojis and heart eyes.”
Laila made a sound. “She on that dick. Like she ain’t turn him down when he was driving for Arrowhead Water.”
“Exactly,” I said. “She already in line and didn’t want that nigga when he was a nobody.”
“I’m weak.”
I kept scrolling for a few more seconds, then locked my phone.
“I’m going to bed,” I said.
“Alright. I’ll see you in the morning. I will have your breakfast, boss lady.”
“Okay.”
I paused before hanging up.
“And don’t say anything to Alana about what I told you.”
“Girl—”
“I’m serious.”
“Alright, alright. I won’t.”
We hung up.
I showered without rushing, letting the water run a little longer than usual.
By the time I got into bed, my phone was already face down on the nightstand.
I didn’t pick it back up.
I didn’t go back to the post.
And I didn’t think about him any longer than I had to.
Whatever that was…
It stayed where it started.
At that table.
And I left it there on purpose.