Chapter 13
Sade
“Everything with him felt simple… and I didn’t know if that was a good thing or not.”
Isat on the contract longer than I should have. Not because I was scared, but because I had to break the news to my team and my scheduling arrangement.
Now it was a week later, and I told Vaughn I was on the way to the structure.
I pulled up alone, boss energy turned up. But when I walked in, I powered down a bit and smiled.
“What is this? For us?” I asked as I approached the desk.
He had two dozen red-and-white roses from A Million Roses, two bottles of rosé Cliquot, and balloons.
“Nah, not for me… for you. You earned this,” he said, walking around the desk.
I smirked. “But I haven’t done anything yet.”
He took my hand, and I let him. “You’ve done enough.”
He pulled the chair out, and I sat down.
I put the folder that held the contract on the desk.
“I wanted to sign it in your face.”
I took the contract out, picked up his pen, and signed my name neatly. I slid it to him. He wasted no time signing under my name.
He smiled, showing off his pearly whites and small gap. “We locked in now for two years, maybe more.”
He picked up a champagne bottle and popped it.
He poured into two glasses. “Have a drink with me before you leave.” He handed me the glass.
We talked about first-day plans over drinks. Thirty minutes later, I looked at the time, remembering I had a date at my office.
“We can talk more as the days go by, but I have another meeting to attend.”
“Okay, but don’t leave without this.” He slid a black envelope to me.
I opened it.
“The first 500 grand. Congrats,” he said.
I damn near wanted to cry. “Thank you so much for this opportunity and for even considering my company. We won’t let you down,” I said it like a promise.
“I know you won’t. Go handle your business.”
I took my flowers and unopened champagne for Laila and me later.
I walked out of his office still holding the envelope, the weight of it sitting different in my hand. Not heavy… just real.
I got in my car and sat there for a second before pulling off, my phone lighting up on the seat next to me.
His name popped up.
Marcus. My date I didn’t match with.
I had told Malik after our first date that we didn’t match. It wasn’t forced, it just didn’t feel like something I needed to keep going. He didn’t argue it, didn’t press me about it either.
He just kept texting me.
Not all day. Not doing too much. Just enough to stay present.
A check-in here.
A joke there.
A “you ate yet?” that didn’t feel like small talk.
He never moved like he was trying to convince me. He moved like he already knew I was going to circle back.
And I did.
I don’t know when I decided to give him another chance. Maybe it was how consistent he was without being annoying. Maybe it was how easy it felt to talk to him when I wasn’t trying to figure him out.
Or maybe I just liked that he didn’t need me to like him right away.
Either way, I told him to pull up to my office.
He said he had something planned, so I told Laila to let him in.
I pulled up to my office expecting him to already be there, and he was. He had the table set up with steak dinners, candles low, nothing over the top, just enough to show he planned it. Laila wasn’t there, which I already knew she wouldn’t be. This was my space right now.
He stood when I walked in, eyes going straight to the flowers in my hand before they came back to me.
“I guess I’m too late,” he said, holding up the bouquet he had brought.
I set mine down on the desk. “You not late. These ain’t what you think.”
He glanced at them again. “So what are they?”
“Congratulations,” I said simply. “Business.”
He nodded once, not dragging it out, not making it weird. “A’ight… I can respect that.”
That’s what I liked about him. He didn’t press.
I set the champagne down and walked over to the table. “You did all this?”
“I said I was pulling up on you. I meant that.”
I sat down, smoothing my dress before picking up my fork. “You consistent. I’ll give you that.”
“I don’t play about what I say,” he replied, taking his seat across from me.
We started eating, talking about regular things at first. His day. My meeting. He listened when I spoke, not interrupting, not trying to outtalk me.
“Tell me something about you that I should respect,” he said after a moment, cutting into his steak like he meant the question.
I looked at him, thinking for a second.
“That I’m a virgin.”
He choked on his drink with a low laugh, shaking his head. “What?”
“I said I’m a virgin,” I repeated it without changing my tone.
He leaned back in his chair, studying me now. “Wow… I wasn’t expecting that. So is it a religious thing? You waiting till marriage?”
“Maybe,” I said, smirking slightly. “But if I’m being honest… my mother always centered men. So do most of my friends. I watched that my whole life. It made me not even want to bother. I don’t like how that ends.”
He nodded, taking that in. “That’s fair.”
He paused for a second. “So you don’t get urges? You don’t handle that?”
I snickered, shaking my head. “I handle my business when I need to.”
“I can respect it,” he said. “I won’t cross boundaries. Your presence is good enough.”
I smiled at that. “Thank you.”
We kept talking, finishing our food without any weird energy. It was easy. Comfortable. No pressure behind it.
When we stood up, he grabbed his jacket and looked at me with a small smile.
“You still think we ain’t a good match?” he asked.
I walked him toward the door, thinking about it for a second before answering.
“We mesh well outside of those fancy restaurants,” I said. “Call me.”
He smiled, pulling me into a quick hug. “I will.”
He left just like that. No dragging it out. No extra.
Once he was gone, I stood there for a second, looking at the table, then over at the flowers sitting on my desk next to the ones Vaughn gave me.
I walked over and touched one of the roses, not thinking too deep, just noticing the difference.
His were simple.
Vaughn’s were… not.
I picked up my phone, about to text Laila, but stopped.
For a second, Vaughn crossed my mind.
The way he moved.
The way he watched me.
I shook it off and set my phone back down.
I wasn’t about to overthink anything that didn’t need to be thought about.
I grabbed the champagne and headed toward the back, already moving on to the next thing I had to do.