Chapter 2 #2
The house sat damn near a quarter mile from the entrance. People always thought social media exaggerated when they called it an estate. They didn't. The driveway wrapped around a fountain my mama had designed herself before passing rows of oak trees she'd planted years ago.
Everything about this place reminded me of her.
Kaizleigh finally looked over.
"You know..."
"Hmm?"
"I still get butterflies driving through these gates."
I smiled.
"You own this place too."
"I know."
She looked out the windshield.
"It still don't feel real."
"What you mean?"
"I really married the man of my dreams.."
She looked at me for a long second.
Then she reached over and rubbed my beard.
"And I married the woman I want to spend forever with,” I replied.
Leaning over the arm rest I grabbed her face and kissed her softly on her lips. Pulling into the circular driveway before she could even reach for the door handle, I was already outside opening it for her.
She laughed.
"You know I can open my own door."
"I know."
"So why you keep doing it?"
I shrugged.
"My daddy opened my mama's door every single day."
"Even after thirty-eight years of marriage."
I held my hand out.
"So I don't know no different."
She slipped her hand into mine.
"I hope our son watches you one day."
The words stopped me cold.
Our son.
She still believed there'd be one and that’s what I loved most about her.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and kissed the back of her hand.
"He will,” I replied confidently borrowing every bit of faith she had left.
The front door opened before we even made it to the steps.
Miss Lorraine.
She'd been with my family longer than I'd been alive. She took one look at Kaizleigh and walked straight past me.
"Oh, baby."
Kaizleigh fell into her arms.
Miss Lorraine held her without saying a word. Sometimes silence hugged harder than conversation ever could. I quietly picked up Kaizleigh's overnight bag while they stood there.
"You eat?" Miss Lorraine asked.
Kaizleigh nodded.
"A little."
Miss Lorraine looked at me.
I shook my head.
"She lying."
"I knew it."
Miss Lorraine kissed Kaizleigh's forehead.
"Go upstairs and get in that tub. I'll fix you something."
"I'm really not hungry."
"You ain't gotta be."
"I'll bring it anyway."
Kaizleigh finally gave in.
"Okay."
She looked back at me.
"You coming?"
"I'll be up in a minute."
She nodded before disappearing upstairs with Miss Lorraine.
The house got quiet.
I loosened my tie as I walked toward my office.
The walls were covered with pictures. My grandparents standing in front of the first Stylez Hotel. My daddy cutting ribbons. Magazine covers. Business awards. Forbes. Black Enterprise. Every generation had added another frame.
I stopped in front of the oldest picture which was my grandaddy standing beside one small hotel with a smile bigger than the damn building.
He had no idea what it would become.
My phone buzzed.
I didn't even have to look. I already knew who it was…my dad.
I let it ring twice before answering.
"What's up, Pop?"
"You home?"
"Yeah."
"How's my daughter?"
I looked upstairs.
"She's holding up."
There was silence.
"Doctor say anything different?"
"Naw."
"Damn."
His voice sounded tired.
"You still at the office?" I asked.
"Where else I'd be?"
I looked at the clock.
"You need to go home."
"I will."
He was lying.
He hadn't slowed down in forty years.
He wasn't about to start tonight.
"You know..."
His voice got quieter.
"I was thinking about your mama today."
I smiled.
"What she do now?"
"She would've fussed at both of us."
I laughed.
"Probably."
"'William, leave that damn paperwork alone and come to bed,” he said, mocking her voice.
I laughed harder.
"Sound just like her."
He chuckled too.
And then...nothing…Just breathing on both ends.
Finally, he spoke.
"I ain't getting any younger, son."
There it was.
I leaned against my desk.
"I know."
"I ain't saying it to pressure you."
"I know."
"I'm saying it because it's true."
My eyes drifted back to the family photos.
"I built this company thinking one day I'd hand it to you."
"You did."
"And you made it bigger than I ever imagined."
I closed my eyes.
"But every empire needs somebody willing to protect it after we're gone."
Neither one of us said anything because there wasn't shit to say. He wasn't talking about hotels or money.
He was talking about our name. The Stylez name.
"Daddy..."
"Yeah?"
"If it ever comes down to choosing Kaizleigh or this company...I'm choosing my wife,” I said without hesitating.
He was silent for a second before sighing.
"I know."
That answer surprised me.
"I raised you to protect your family first,” he added.
He paused.
"That's exactly why I believe you'll make the right decision when the time comes."
The line went quiet again.
I frowned.
"What decision?"
He didn't answer.
Instead, he simply said, “get some rest, son."
Then the line went dead. I stared at the phone in my hand for a long time. For the first time in years...My father had ended a conversation without giving me an answer. And somehow that shit bothered me more than anything he'd said.
I tossed my phone onto the desk and leaned back in my chair, rubbing both hands over my face. The office was quiet as hell. Usually that kind of silence helped me think, tonight it was making my thoughts louder though.
I looked over at the family pictures lining the wall again.
Grandaddy, daddy and me…damn three generations and one last name. Stylez.
Growing up, I used to think having this last name meant I had to become rich. Now I knew better. Money wasn’t even the hard part. Keeping a legacy alive was.
I walked over to the wet bar tucked into the corner of my office and grabbed the crystal decanter. The amber liquor splashed into the glass, and I stared at it for a second before taking a sip. It burned going down.
Good maybe it’ll burn away some of the bullshit going on in my head, I thought, but it didn’t.
I walked over to the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the backyard.
The pool lights reflected across the water while the fountains kept flowing like nothing in the world had changed.
It was funny how life worked. The whole world could be falling apart inside your chest while everything else kept moving like it wasn’t shit.
I heard soft footsteps behind me. I already knew who it was.
“So you just gone drink all night?” Kaizleigh asked.
I smiled without turning around.
“Naw.”
“You sure?”
“Mhm.”
She walked up beside me wearing one of my old black t-shirts that stopped halfway down her thighs. Her hair was wrapped up in a silk scarf, and she’d already washed the makeup off her face.
She looked beautiful. I was fucked up about her soft dark chocolate skin.
She looked over at the glass in my hand.
“Your daddy called.”
It wasn’t a question.
I chuckled under my breath.
“How you know that?”
She shrugged.
“You get this little line right here and only two people can put it there,” she said touching the space between my eyebrows.
I raised an eyebrow.
“And who the other one?”
“Me.”
That made me laugh.
There goes my husband.”
She reached up, took the glass from my hand, and set it on the windowsill.
“I wasn’t finished.”
“Yes, you was.”
“Alright then Mrs.Stylez,” I replied, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her against me.
For a minute neither one of us said anything. We just stood there watching the water.
Finally she broke the silence.
“What he say?”
“The same shit.”
“Billion…”
“He aint worried about the company. He worried about you.”
I looked down at the floor before continuing.
“He worried about what happens after me.”
She stayed quiet.
That silence told me she already knew exactly where this conversation was headed.
“He asked about legacy again.”
She closed her eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
There you go apologizing again.”
“I can’t help it.”
“You better.”
She looked away.
“Well if my body…”
“Stop.”
“If I could just…”
“Kaizleigh.”
She finally looked at me.
“You are not your womb,” I stated firmly.
A tear rolled down her cheeks before she could wipe it away.
“I know that’s easy for you to say.”
“No.”
I stepped closer.
“It’s hard as hell for me to say,” I added.
She frowned and I continued.
“Because every time you blame yourself…I lose you a little more,” I paused trying to get the words out.
Her whole face crumbled.
I pulled her into my arms before another tear could fall.
“I don’t give a damn about another hotel, a magazine cover. I don’t care if Forbes never prints my name again.”
I kissed the top of her head.
“I care about you making it through this,” I assured her.
She wrapped both arms around my waist.
“I be so scared,” she said softly.
Those four words damn near took me out.
“Scared of what?” I whispered.
“What if this is it?”
“It aint.”
“What if I never…give you the family you deserve?” her voice cracked.
I leaned back just enough to look her in the eyes.
“You are my family.”
“No…”
“You…my family starts and ends with you.”
She searched my face like she was trying to figure out if I believed what I was saying.
I did…every damn word too.