Chapter 3 | Jace
As I pulled open the glass door leading to our boardroom of LB Incorporated, my youngest brother, Langston, held the phone to his ear, and his long limbs paced the floor. He’d always had trouble sitting still for too long. The pace of football was too slow for him. He’d naturally gravitated to the constant action of basketball and was in his last years as a Denver Nugget. He had a game last night and still sulked from the loss to the Rockets. He only stayed longer in the city to support my meeting with Spirit.
When I entered the room, he looked up and lifted one brow at the Tom Ford suit I wore. I chose a suit tonight so Spirit would believe my proposal wasn’t just a passing thought. I had excellent instincts in business, and my ideas were sound.
Remi, the middle brother and still a running back for the New York Jets, walked into the room, cocky as ever. His gold and diamonds flashed on his neck and hands. He was the brash one of us and loved the fame and attention the most among the three of us. Remi was the one we worried about once the curtains closed. At 40, the time was nearing for him to retire. I stepped back and embraced him. He shook Langston’s hand and sat down at the head.
I squeezed his shoulder. “Come on, you know I’m lead on this one. Move.”
“We all know Spirit and agreed to help. How come you get to sit here? It’s our financial group,” he reminded.
“’Why does he get to sit here’, uneducated negro. Why... not, ‘how come’,” Langston corrected as he clicked off his cell. He was the brainiac of the family. He’d earned a Masters in Organic Chemistry during his first years in the NBA. “Poor grammar and all, Remi has a point. Why do you get to sit there when this is our decision to help?”
“I brought her proposal to the group.” I pushed Remi hard, and his chair partially spun before he stopped the movement with his foot.
“Injure me, and you owe me thirty million.” He jabbed his finger.
“You’re not even worth a dime.” I teased, knowing he was sensitive about making less than I did when I played. “Come on, let this be on me. She didn’t seem pleased that I’m the investor, and she hates all the ideas. I need to get her to see reason.”
“Of course she hates all your ideas.” Langston practically bounced in his chair on the side. “I mean...you did stand her up for the prom.”
“That was twenty-five years ago.”
Remi added. “Women don’t forget that shit. She got laughed at, Bruh.”
I sank into the empty seat on the other side of Remi, across from Langston. “Who laughed at her?”
“Your stank ass date and her friends two days before the prom made fun of her, basically told her that you were just being nice when you asked her because she wasn’t pretty enough for you.” Remi drummed his knuckles.
My heart squeezed painfully. “How do you know that? And why didn’t anyone tell me?”
“Snookie and I were in the same class, remember? Everyone knew at Sunnydale and she was humiliated. You were the star football player. No one could tell you anything back then. Besides, I assumed you knew and didn’t care.”
“I swear I didn’t know that LaShonda said anything to Snookie, and you know why I went with LaShonda, Remi.”
“I don’t know why you stood Spirit up. Enlighten me.” Langston looked at me. At five years younger, he was often left out of conversations while we were growing up.
“Don’t want to talk about that now. It’s the past and we’re here,” I firmly said. I didn’t want to talk further about how I hurt the one person who I would never want to hurt.
Remi tugged on his long goatee. “Then, let me stay seated where I am because she likes me, and we may get somewhere tonight.”
I scoffed. “Don’t be so sure. She’s not the nice, sweet girl next door we knew. She was in love with me for years and acted like she couldn’t stand me when I saw her earlier.”
Langston scowled and jabbed the table with his index finger. “Do you hear how you sound? She didn’t know you to love you. Just had a crush on you like most of the girls did back then.” He then frowned. “You saw her today? Why? I thought we were all going to surprise her together.”
Remi chuckled. “We have our work cut out for us if she saw him already.” He suddenly looked me up and down. “Is that why you’re wearing a suit? Trying to impress her. Bruh, are you trying to get with Spirit?”
“Naw. Leave that woman alone. She doesn’t need you to fuck her life up,” Langston retorted.
“Listen, I’m not trying to hurt her at all. I don’t know how to explain it, but seeing her again revived me. After all these years, seeing her again brought back good memories of us when we were young. I like her and want to get to know her. Don’t bust my balls about this. Just let me take the lead, okay?”
We all heard the elevator ding, and I shot them warning glances to not embarrass me. The doors opened, and we saw one black-heeled boot that hugged an ankle right below a shapely calf. Then my gaze followed her body up to a wine-colored dress that molded to her curves enough to be professional and just enough to be sexy. The dark brown leather jacket emphasized her waistline, and her oiled brown cleavage teased me. By the time my eyes made it to Spirit’s beautiful face, she noticed my brothers through the glass walls and smiled wide with joy the way I thought she would look at me. I sulked as my brothers practically tripped over themselves to get to her. She hugged Langston and ruffled his long locs. “Look at you. Never thought you would grow.” Langston had been the shortest of the three of us until he grew six inches one summer and passed us up.
The goofiest smile covered Langston’s face. “You’re even more beautiful, Spirit.”
She hugged him again. “Thank you.”
Before she could reach him, Remi swung her around. “I looked for you at the tenth and twentieth high school reunion. Why didn’t you show up?”
“You were the popular one. Not me. Nobody missed me.” She smiled up at Remi. They were in the same grade, and he’d been protective of her from the first day we all walked to school together.
“I missed you.” He stepped back, openly admiring her. “You looking good, Spirit. Real good.”
“We have work to do,” I interjected before Remi made his move. She was mine, and I would make that even more transparent to my brothers once the meeting ended.
Spirit finally looked at me and straightened her shoulders, and the warmth she’d just shared with my brothers became cold. “Jace.”
Shit. She really didn’t like me. “Spirit.” I decided to use her real name. I noticed that she seemed to appreciate it when Remi did it. “Take a seat, and I’ll explain.”
She took a seat next to Langston. “No need. Seeing the three of you here, I think I know what LB Industries stands for now: Legendary Brothers, right? You are the board, so I don’t have a chance to be heard.” We’d become known as the Legendary Brothers in the sports world once it became evident that Langston was destined for the NBA.
Langston quickly said, “We all own the company, Jace doesn’t have the final say.”
I narrowed my eyes at my brother, who’d just told me yesterday that he approved my proposal. “Yet, neither of my brothers can present proposals to help your restaurant thrive.”
She pulled several manila folders from her leather bag, “I did some slight revisions on the business plan I first presented to you. I can have the restaurant open at four instead of in the morning. Our focus will be on Happy Hour and dinner. We won’t need more staff, and I’ll make enough profit to breathe. You can find another location and build the restaurant you want.”
I hunched forward. “You’re that close-minded to cannabis that you won’t even consider it? Or are you that stubborn that you’ll bite the hand trying to feed you because you’re stuck on something that happened in high school?”
She sat up straighter, and her voice squeaked, “What?”
“I said what I said. You’re allowing the past to interfere with a hell of a proposal.”
“You’re asking me to make my church-going grandmother’s vision into something she would never agree to.” She pointed to the folder in front of him. “You haven’t even opened the folder. Are you that stubborn that you can’t consider another option?”
I pushed her folder away from me. “Told you if I invest, it’s my numbers.”
Remi, who’d been studying the folders contents, shook his head slowly. “This will only save money in the short term. You’ll lose more profit eventually by only opening in the evening. Your area gets foot traffic all day. People walk back and forth on that strip, and you’ll lose potential customers.”
She looked at Langston, so hopeful, I almost relented. But I knew the business and didn’t want to see her fail. She had the perfect location to become one of the hottest spots in Houston. Langston looked at her. “What is your opposition to changing the name? I get not wanting to have a menu with cannabis-infused dishes, but what’s wrong with Embers, especially when you want to add a bar? Café and cocktails don’t usually go together.”
“My grandmother gave me that name. Do you know how it feels to actually live your dream, and then it vanishes before you can truly enjoy it? I studied culinary in France before deciding that I needed to be practical and worked for years in a career I hated. Once I gave up my job and found the perfect space for my restaurant, I called it Café Kimble in honor of the woman who gave me my love of cooking. I am proud, but not how you think, and it’s not because it’s your idea.” She finally looked at me.
I inhaled and exhaled before calmly replying, “I mean no disrespect to you or your grandmother, but Café Kimble doesn’t go with the ambiance or the menu. Maybe we can list those items without cannabis under that name on our menu. Even if we scrap the weed aspect of the restaurant, the name doesn’t work with the planned renovations.”
Her pretty brown eyes sparkled as she rose like the regal queen she was. “Then I guess I’ll find other investors to believe in my vision. Thank you. It really was good seeing everyone from the neighborhood.”
We were stunned as she hugged my brothers and nodded at me. Once, she walked out of the room with her head held high. Remi said, “Go after her. Fix it. Now.”
I tightened my jaw and rushed out and into the elevator as it closed. Spirit looked up surprised and immediately crossed her arms protectively. “Listen, no one is going to invest. We only did it because we knew you. Your business plan won’t cut it, not for that neighborhood. Your soul food place is a good idea for the Third Ward, where our people hang out, but not in Midtown, where all walks of life pass through. Midtown is one of the most diverse and trendiest areas in the country, and we have to change with the market. I don’t know how you lucked up with this property, but it’s a potential gold mine. Within a year, two tops, you’ve repaid me. Then it’s truly yours.”
Dully, she stared at me.
“You have nothing to say?”
“You were a quarterback. What if your dream team asks you to be on their team but as a kicker? You’re not the captain anymore, but have to follow someone else. Would you still join the team or stay where you are with the team that knows your value and respects you as a leader, even if it’s a losing team?”
The elevator landed on the ground floor, and I pressed stop to block her path. “We’re not getting off this elevator until you agree to let me invest in your restaurant.”
“Then I hope you don’t have to pee because I can hold mine for eight hours.” She quirked a brow and triumphantly smiled.
“You’re so damn beautiful. It’s insane no man has snatched you up and locked you down and thrown away the key.” I leaned against the wall opposite her.
Spirit tilted her head, assessing me from head to toe. “Is that your go-to when you want a woman to do what you want? Make her feel good. Kiss her. Tell her she’s pretty.”
“Waiting for a thank you.” I grinned.
“I only say ‘thanks’ when I believe the compliment is sincere.”
I placed my hand over my heart. “That hurts, Snookie. Is it hard for you to believe that I’ve had a hard time thinking straight since you stepped out of this elevator upstairs? Like seriously, were you trying to kill me up there? Had me and my brothers wanting to do anything you asked.”
She said quietly, “Except give me back my dream.”
I touched her heel with my shoe. “I used to be your dream.”
Spirit’s neck jerked so hard.
I quickly blocked my face. “Wait...wait...I have a point before you slap me again. I used to be your dream many moons ago. Since then, your dream has shifted to something better than who I was. That’s all I’m offering. A shift in your dreams. The restaurant is still yours, okay? We’ll work through everything step by step. If you don’t like something, we’ll discuss it and come to a compromise.”
“I need the name to stay.”
I nodded my head. “Fine. Café Kimble, ain’t it. Come up with something else using your family name.”
Her forehead wrinkled and then relaxed. “Embers by Kimble. It even rhymes.” She tapped my shoe. “Come on, you know it’s catchy.”
“Okay. Embers by Kimble.” I admitted grudgingly. “It is catchy.”
She finally unfolded her arms. “If I agree to this, will you bother the living shit out of me?”
“If you mean, will I be hands-on during the renovations, then yes. After the restaurant opens, I’m out of your braids.”
She giggled.
I jammed my hands in my pocket. “I was beginning to think I couldn’t make you smile anymore. I used to love to make you laugh when we were kids.”
Spirit shrugged and dropped her gaze to her heels. “I was a silly girl with stars in her eyes for the wrong boy, who couldn’t see what everyone else could see.”
“And what was that?” I knew what she would say but had to hear it from her.
“That you were just being nice to the smart, geeky girl next door.”
“The fact that sometimes I hated football practice because I couldn’t walk home with you or that when you finally started high school, suddenly my junior year felt brighter, does that seem like I was only being nice to the smart, geeky girl next door?”
She suddenly crossed the small space and pulled my head down to kiss the fuck out of me. Her tongue quickly found mine. She caressed the back of my neck as she kissed me. My arms crossed her back, and I hugged her to me, relishing her soft, strawberry-flavored gloss and how she boldly explored my mouth. I moaned loudly. My hand drifted to the edge of her dress, and I began raising the material.
Spirit broke the kiss, pushed me away, and hit the button to open the elevator doors. “I’ll sign the papers tonight, and the restaurant will close for renovations this weekend.” She stepped over the threshold and held the door. “I always wanted to kiss you like that. Now, I can truly let go of that foolish dream of you and move on. We can talk later about the details of the renovation. It’s getting late, and I have plans.”
She sauntered away, and I yelled, “It better not be with a man.”
Spirit only waved her hand in the air and never looked back.
As the elevator doors closed, I realized that this was the second time she walked out on me today. There would not be a third time.