Chapter 9 Nyako – Fated Breakfast
NYAKO – FATED brEAKFAST
For the most part, Navy and I managed to stay out of each other’s way, but there were only a few hours left in the night anyway. As much fun as we had at the airport, I wasn’t trying to replicate that over an entire week.
Fun was fun, but business was altogether something else. While my sister may have still been on vacation, I wasn’t. It was time for me to focus on the magazine and buying a house. I was determined to start my day off right, so I had gotten up early and showered.
Before I hit the ground running, though, I needed a big breakfast. It was seldom that I allowed myself to indulge in my favorite breakfast foods, but I was going to this morning. I deserved it.
For the last couple of months, all I had eaten were fruit bowls, smoothies, protein shakes, and oatmeal every once in a while.
I moved around the kitchen gathering pots and pans to prepare the breakfast that I wanted.
I had placed an online order the day before to have groceries delivered this morning.
I had cleaned the already clean kitchen, unpacked the groceries, and now I was ready to cook.
“I don’t know, Tangie. I’m vacillating between having just an online platform or adding the paper magazine to the subscription offering for specific individuals.”
“I think that you should provide the paper magazine at a premium subscription, of course. There are still people who value holding a magazine in their hands as opposed to looking at it online.”
“I know. I just need to interview a couple of designers and three other positions before I can finalize anything. I’m so excited about this, Tangie.”
My best friend laughed. “Girl, I’m just excited that you’re back home.”
“Me too. Once I get settled in, we’re going to have a mandatory girls’ day.”
“No, Nyako. We’re going to do that before you settle down. Once you’re settled in, you’re going to be extremely busy. I’m claiming a day before you even buy the house.”
Laughing, I replied, “Okay, girl, but let me hop off this phone and get started on my breakfast.”
“It’s not like you have much to do. Pull a few leaves off the trees, borrow some seeds from the squirrels, and—”
“Girl, shut up. Bye, babe.”
“Byeee. Eat a real meal. Love you.”
“If that makes you happy, I’ll do whatever it takes. Love you too.”
I clicked the call off and smiled. I loved my best friend so much, but she could be overly motherly at times.
“Your boyfriend?”
I jumped at the sound of his raspy voice behind me. I turned around and saw Navy standing there looking more scrumptious than anything that I could prepare. How the hell would I be able to survive this week with this man looking this good?
He rubbed his red eyes as he yawned. I took in the tattoos on his arms and chest. A coiled cobra, looking like it was ready to strike, and the snarling bear who stood on its hind legs, decorated his left pec, and on his right one were crossed hockey sticks and a puck in the middle with what I guessed was his jersey number, seven.
Tribal bands decorated both arms along with the warrior African tribal tattoo sleeves on both arms.
Although it looked like it was time for him to shave, it looked sexy and endearing on him. A pair of red and black basketball shorts hung dangerously low on his hips, giving me a glimpse of the soft, wavy hairs that dipped down below. His feet were bare, and he wore no shirt.
My thighs clenched, and I recalled the two nights and one day that we shared just a couple of days ago. I also recalled that we promised that weekend was all there was.
“I cooked. Hungry?” I asked, looking at him and trying to keep my eyes on his. I was having difficulty doing that, because his gaze was dropping to various points on my body.
“Depends on what you’re offering.”
He pointed at my nightgown, and I dropped my gaze to see that my nipples were poking through. I pulled my robe closed and apologized. “I’m sorry.”
“No need,” he replied in a husky tone. “What did you cook?”
“Uhm, Spanish omelets, Canadian bacon, and French toast. It’s homemade.”
“I’ll definitely have some. French toast is my favorite.”
He moved around me in the kitchen, grabbing plates and glasses for both of us as I placed the bacon on paper towels to drain the grease. When he moved beside me again and handed me the plates, his arm brushed the side of my breast. That immediate contact made my nipples grow harder.
“What are you getting into today?” I asked.
“Relaxing. Unwinding before I let my family know that I’m here.”
“Are you not looking forward to seeing them?”
“Yeah, I am. I love my parents, and I always look forward to spending time with my sister and brother. I also know that I’ll have to hear my parents’ mouth about Natika and her wedding and that shit she pulled a year ago.”
I walked into the kitchen with him behind me. We took a seat on the couch in front of the TV to eat.
“Did they like her?”
“For the most part, they did, but they didn’t think she was the right girl for me.
They both warned me against it. Natika always thought my mom didn’t like her.
When I asked her why she felt that way, she said she had that usual black mama’s mentality where no woman is good enough for her boys.
She claimed that my daddy didn’t really like black women; he only liked the lighter ones like my mom.
She thought she was too dark for my white daddy’s taste. ”
“Damn. That’s a lot.”
“Right. When we broke up, I gave them some raggedy excuse that made them leave me alone. Once they learned the truth, they were on the ‘down with Natika’ bandwagon. I know they’re going to go in about that wedding.”
“Speaking of which, what made you go live to talk about it?”
He sighed. “Honestly? It was you.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. Just kicking it with you this weekend and how we shared what we’d both gone through made me think about my actions.
I wilded out this past year, Nyako. I was sleeping with women I had never met before and wouldn’t see again.
I was drinking liquor like it was water.
I was just doing dumb shit. We had a couple of drinks that night we were together, but nothing after that.
It was the best that I had felt in a long while.
It made me realize that I didn’t want to keep doing my life like that.
I wanted better for myself, and I also realized that I was really over Natika and me.
It was my ego that was taking a bruising. ”
“I’m glad that you were able to realize that and do something about it. Have you spoken to her?”
He nodded. “I called her right before I went live.”
A little flutter of jealousy reared up inside of me, and I hated that it did. I’d never been a jealous girl, and I wasn’t about to start. Besides, I had no right being jealous; we barely knew each other.
“What made you come on my live?” he asked, slicing into his toast.
He pulled it to his lips, and a little syrup dribbled down and into his beard. My fingers itched, wanting to reach out and touch him, but instead, I placed my hands under my thighs as I chewed my bacon.
“Curiosity. I happened to be on social media, and your live was trending. Someone had written hashtag special person. So, I decided to dip in to see what and who you were talking about.”
He grabbed a napkin and wiped his mouth and beard. “Be honest. Were you hoping I was talking about you?”
“Noooo.” I tried to fight the telling smirk that wanted to come out and shine, but I failed.
“Yes, you were,” he replied, teasing and laughing at me.
“Okay, maybe just a little.” I pinched my index finger and thumb together.
He grew serious as he stared at me. “I wouldn’t do that. My personal business is just that, personal. If we were in a relationship, I might share that, but we’re not. What we shared isn’t for the world to know. Thought we said we weren’t going to reach out to each other anyway.”
“I didn’t reach out. I was just being nosy. I had no plans on contacting you.”
“You posted a question in the chat.”
“I did, but that didn’t mean that anything would occur after that. This right here,” I stated, waving my hands around the condo, “it’s just a fluke.”
“Or fate.”
“Do you believe in fate?” My voice had dropped almost to a whisper, and my eyelids were heavy as I took him in.
He flicked a nail back and forth over his soul patch, and his eyes were dark, sexy, and alluring. “I believe that all things are possible. We don’t have control over the bigger picture. We can only control our actions to what happens. What about you?”
“Before this week, I would have said no . . . But how do you explain that we’re both friends of Adrian’s, we both scheduled the exact same dates at the exact same location with her, and she managed to put us both in the same suite?
I mean, Adrian’s the most organized and meticulous person that I know. ”
“Yeah, I agree.”
“I even wondered if she might have done it intentionally to set us up.”
We both stared at each other and then shook our heads replying, “Naah.”
“Yeah, she’s not that mischievous,” Navy stated.
“Aside from that, she would have no way of knowing that we would both be on the same flight and in the same terminal and both stuck together,” I professed.
We looked at each other again, him with his French toast halfway to his lips, and me with a forkful of omelet. Smirking, we stated together, “Fate.”