Chapter 28
Sade
“I started missing him the moment he stopped bothering me.”
Vaughn and I had barely been speaking for five days. We still came to work every day and handled business as if nothing had happened, but the lunches stopped, the random conversations stopped, and even the little slick comments disappeared. Now it was just work.
“Morning.”
“Shipment came.”
“Sign this.”
That was it.
I pulled up to Crown Heights, trying not to think about it. Marcus had called me twice on the drive there, talking about dinner later, and I was trying to focus on that instead, but I told him I was too tired. I just couldn’t face him while Vaughn was mad.
Why the fuck was it bothering me so much?
I got out of the car and walked inside with my coffee in hand. Workers were already moving around. Denise was talking to one of the electricians while Laila stood near the front, arguing with somebody over paint samples.
“Sade,” Laila called out. “Tell this man this beige is ugly.”
I looked at the wall once. “It is. Go with the white that came in last night.”
The worker sighed dramatically. “Y’all women are impossible.”
“We saving you from bad decisions, and Mr. St. Clair tearing it down,” I replied, walking off. I was referring to Vaughn’s father.
Laila caught up beside me. “Okay… what happened between you and Vaughn? You've been having lunch with me all week, and y'all have been distant.”
“Nothing.”
“That’s not how ‘nothing’ people act.”
I kept walking. “Nothing happened.”
“Yeah, okay.”
I rolled my eyes. “You and that damn yeah, okay.”
“‘Cause you’re lying.”
“I’m not.”
She looked at me for a second before smirking. “Y’all went from married couple to divorced parents real fast.”
I laughed. “We are not a married couple.”
“Could’ve fooled me.”
I walked off before she could keep going.
That surveillance shit changed something. What stuck with me most was that I still couldn’t decide if Vaughn overreacted or if I actually felt guilty.
I hated that part.
By lunchtime, I still hadn’t really seen him. Just little glimpses. Him outside on the phone. Him talking to contractors. Him walking through units with his hands in his pockets, looking irritated about something.
Probably me…
Every time I almost looked too long, I stopped myself.
Now, I was in one of the model units, reviewing furniture placement, when Denise walked in, holding paperwork.
“Vaughn approved the kitchen changes.”
I looked up. “He didn’t fight me on it?”
“No.”
That made me pause. “Okay…”
She handed me the paperwork. “You okay?”
“Yeah.”
She looked unconvinced but left it alone.
The workday kept moving.
Around six, most of the workers started leaving because rain was coming down hard outside. My crew and I stayed behind finishing a few things before wrapping up.
Laila walked in holding her purse. “Hubby and I are about to leave before this rain gets crazy.”
I nodded without looking up from my tablet. “Okay.”
She stood there another second.
“What?”
“You staying?”
“Just for a little bit.”
“Yeah, okay.”
“Leave.”
She laughed and headed out.
About twenty minutes later, the building finally got quiet.
I was sitting at one of the kitchen islands, going over measurements, when I heard footsteps coming down the hallway.
I already knew who it was.
Vaughn walked in, Goyard duffel bag slung over his shoulder, black Alo hoodie halfway zipped.
“You still here?”
“Yeah, but I am about to leave since I can’t be here alone anymore.”
He nodded once and walked over to the fridge, grabbing a water.
I tried focusing on my tablet, but it didn’t work.
He stood there drinking water, staring at me.
My stomach growled loud enough for both of us to hear.
Vaughn laughed under his breath.
“You ain’t ate?”
“I’ve been busy.”
He grabbed his phone immediately. “What you want?”
I frowned. “For what?”
“Food.”
“I can order my own food when I get home.”
“I ain’t ask that. What you want?”
I stared at him for a second before answering. “Wings or Mexican.”
He smirked slightly. “Of course. I’ll order wings.”
Twenty minutes later, hot wings and waffle fries were sitting between us while rain beat against the windows outside.
We still weren’t really talking. Just eating, getting the feel of each other again. At least that was what I was doing.
And honestly…
I missed this more than I should have.
Vaughn finally looked over at me while biting into a wing.
“You still mad at me?”
I swallowed my food before answering. “I know nobody was here with us, but you embarrassed me.”
He leaned back against the counter. “Watching another nigga eat your pussy embarrassed me too. Imagine if security had seen it before I could delete it?”
I looked at him. “That’s exactly what I mean.”
He rubbed his beard and looked away. “A’ight. Maybe I handled it wrong.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Maybe?”
He looked back at me. “You want the politically correct apology or the real one?”
“The real one.”
His eyes stayed on mine for a second. “I ain’t like seeing that shit.”
I looked down at my food instead of him.
“You acted like I cheated on you.”
He smirked. “You kinda did. They’ve been calling you my work wife.”
My head snapped up immediately. “Are you serious?”
“I’m playing,” he said quickly, but he was smirking again.
I shook my head and laughed.
“There you go,” he uttered.
“What?”
“You finally laughing again.”
The room got quiet again after that, but it wasn’t awkward anymore.
Rain kept hitting the windows.
Both of us sitting there eating wings in a half-finished luxury unit.
I don’t even remember when I got comfortable enough to kick off my shoes and pull my legs up on the couch with my food, but at some point, I stopped thinking about leaving or texting Marcus back.
We started talking again after that.
Regular conversation.
I looked up and saw him watching me put extra sauce and pepper juice on my wings.
“See, that’s how I know you really from Compton. Rich women don’t still get excited over yellow peppers and extra sauce.”
I laughed. “You always this funny?”
“Nah. You just finally loosened up.”
I rolled my eyes but smiled anyway.
The rain kept coming down harder outside, and eventually I opened my laptop again, trying to finish work while Vaughn moved around the unit, checking random things.
I told myself I was still focused, but being around him was comfortable.
I sat there answering emails and reviewing layouts while music played low on my MacBook, neither of us looking like we wanted to leave. At some point, Vaughn disappeared into another room on a phone call.
I tried ignoring how calm I suddenly felt sitting there with him in my presence.
That’s the last thing I really remember before my eyes started getting heavy.