Chapter 16
Zoe
The second I stepped into the diner, I recognized Raymond.
He was the only man dressed in a suit. Even with me seeing just the back of his head, I knew who he was.
With a smile, I headed to his booth. For the past three weeks, life had been perfect, even with the moments of sadness, frustration, and grief.
I had been spending almost every day with Haji for the past two weeks, and I wanted more of him.
I wanted to live in that man’s skin. I loved everything about him.
He was several years younger than Raymond yet more mature than him.
Even with me dealing with Raymond for the past decade, Haji felt like the first grown man I’d ever dealt with.
From the way he planned and initiated things to the way he considered me.
His intentionality. Him being a safe space. Him helping me heal.
I loved everything about Haji to the point where getting an unexpected pop-up from Raymond felt like not just an intrusion but a violation as well. Like how dare he impede upon my time with my man?
Raymond had no idea I’d moved on already.
He probably thought I was here depressed and missing him.
That wouldn’t have been the case even if I was in Rose Valley Hills.
While I wouldn’t downplay my care and feelings for Raymond, it was easy to move on when you had someone giving you better and treating you better.
When I rounded the corner, Raymond removed the shades from his face. He looked so out of place, and that made me smile. Raymond stood, and the hug he gave me caught me off guard. What caught me even more off guard was him kissing me. I frantically pushed him away and wiped my mouth.
“What the hell was that?” I asked, not even bothering to hide my disgust.
Chuckling, he reached for me, but I took a step back. “I can’t hug and kiss you now?”
“Uh, no. You weren’t affectionate while we were together, so I’m not sure why you’d think that would be appropriate now.”
“Don’t be dramatic, Zoe. I was affectionate with you.”
A snorted laugh escaped me as I sat in a chair on the opposite side of the table. “Yeah, you were affectionate when we were celebrating or having sex. That’s about it.”
His head shook as he sighed and looked over the menu. “Whatever. Is there anything edible here?”
“Everything is great here actually. I know this isn’t the Michelin vibe you’re used to, but they have some of the best Southern and comfort food I’ve ever had in my life.”
“Clearly. It looks like you’ve already put on a few pounds. I like it though. You’ve always had a nice enough ass for your small frame. Now, you’re getting hippy.”
With a roll of my eyes, I crossed my arms over my chest. “What do you want, Raymond? I know you didn’t come to Jasper Lane just to annoy me.”
His eyes lifted from the menu as he smiled. “I’m about to get offended. You’re treating me like I wasn’t the love of your life. Like we weren’t set to get married before I hurt your little feelings.”
The more he talked, the more he showed me I’d made the right call by calling off our engagement.
“My little feelings?” I repeated, and his eyes rolled toward the ceiling.
“Are you going to over analyze everything I say, Zoe?”
“No, but I am going to call you out on your bullshit. Maybe if I hadn’t been blind to it for the last decade, I wouldn’t have agreed to marry your ass.”
“Wow.” Raymond scoffed and sat back in his seat. “Where is all this hostility coming from?”
“Raymond, I really don’t have time for this. Can you just tell me what you’re doing here?”
“I was hoping we could have lunch first.”
I was hungry, so I nodded my agreement. “Fine, but only if you’re not going to be stuck up and complain about the food the whole time. I want you to give it a chance.”
“I can do that.” I allowed my guards to lower slightly. We ordered our food, and I resisted the urge to check my phone. “So, how have you been?”
“Great. I’m really glad you told me to take a break. It’s changed my life.”
“Yeah? How so?”
“Well, coming back here has forced me to deal with a lot of things I’ve buried over the years.
I used work and our relationship to bury my grief.
My loneliness. Hurt. Anger. I’m dealing with the loss of my sister in a healthy way, finally, and working on my relationship with my parents.
That’s the biggest and most important change. ”
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to tell him about my passion for baking returning.
How it made me feel happier than I ever felt while working for him.
How it made me feel closer to my sister.
How the joy and pleasure it gave customers made me feel as good as coffee made Zina feel, and I finally understood why she chose the shop over being a lawyer.
I also wasn’t sure if I wanted to tell him about Haji.
Or the fact that I was considering staying in Jasper Lane permanently.
That part, I was still thinking over.
Truth was, regardless of how much fun I was having, I’d grown accustomed to a certain lifestyle that was the opposite of what I had here.
Plus, I made damn good money working for Raymond.
Though I knew Haji would offer to provide for me, I didn’t know how he could.
The coffee shop hadn’t been making enough money to take care of him let alone me.
I didn’t want to be a financial burden on him.
He had a really nice five-bedroom home with a bonus room and large backyard, fit for a family.
And his truck was nice. I wanted to ask him how he’d been maintaining for the last year, but that felt too intrusive to casually bring up in conversation.
So as much as I wanted to stay here, I didn’t know if I would.
More than anything, I was considering continuing to work for Raymond virtually and just traveling when I had to for meetings.
“I’m happy to hear that. I can admit I wanted you to take the break for your physical health, but I’m happy to hear it’s helping you mentally and emotionally as well.”
He sounded sincere, which I appreciated. “Thank you, Raymond.”
“Are you coming home in a week?”
There it was. “Is that why you’re here?”
Raymond shrugged and thanked the waitress as she set our drinks down. “Yes. You haven’t been replying to my texts.”
“You told me not to work for a month, so I’m not sure why you were texting me about work.”
He smiled. “I needed you. I know this will sound selfish, but I’ve been struggling without you at the office.
A part of me was hoping you’d help, even though I asked you not to work for four weeks.
” Raymond paused and sighed. “I can admit I took a step back and let you run more than I should have. You made me comfortable, I trusted you, and you were so good at your job that I got too comfortable. The last three weeks have been an adjustment for me. As uncomfortable as that has been, I can also thank you for that.”
“I know it can be easy to get a little lazy or, as you put it, comfortable when you have good help. That isn’t all on you. To be valuable to you, I overextended myself. I wanted you to trust me and feel like I could do whatever you wanted and needed.”
“And you no longer feel that way?”
My head shook before I took a sip of my drink.
“Nah. I’m done performing for anything and anyone.
I’m also done abandoning myself and my boundaries to keep people in my life who don’t need or want to be kept.
Our work relationship was strained and toxic as hell because I took on too much and didn’t say no.
That was completely on me, and though you took advantage, I take responsibility for that. ”
Raymond’s head tilted as he eyed me curiously. “Hmm . . .” The smile that lifted the corners of his mouth disappeared just as quickly as it had made its appearance. “You’re different. I wasn’t expecting that.”
“Yeah, I bet,” I said with a chuckle.
“I wanted to wait until after we ate to discuss this, but I can’t help but ask how you’ve been spending your days here.”
“My mornings are the same. Even with you suggesting I’ve gained weight, which I haven’t, I swim, run, or workout. After that, I spend time in the coffee shop. Then, I do whatever.”
“Are you ready to come back to work?”
“Honestly, Raymond, no. Some days I miss it, and others, I don’t. I was thinking about staying here and working virtually unless we had meetings, then I’d come to The Hills. Is that something you’d be okay with?”
“How would that work?” he questioned.
“Well, a lot of what I do is done on my computer alone after consultations with clients. The only time I come to the office is when we have meetings, so it’ll literally be the same. I’ll still be able to travel with you and network. I just won’t be in the office or Rose Valley Hills.”
Raymond released a long exhale and massaged his chin. “I don’t know how that would work with your new promotion. That was why I wanted to come and talk to you.”
“Promotion?” I parroted quietly. I wasn’t expecting him to say that.
“Yeah.” When his hands reached across the table, I hesitantly put mine inside.
“I’m not gonna hurt you, woman, and I know you know you’re still safe with me.
” His thumbs caressed my hands. “I wanted to apologize sincerely for the way I reacted to you passing out in that meeting. Looking back, you did deserve better than that. I was so busy focusing on business that I didn’t put forth the effort to be your man or a compassionate boss for that matter.
“Romance aside, I should have shown more care regarding your health. The first one on that floor with you should have been me. I made it seem like I cared more about money than you, and that was wrong morally. Not only was it wrong morally, but it was wrong professionally as well. The second meeting led to them deciding to work with another firm. They said I was cold, callous, and uncaring. They said I showed them I didn’t care about my fiancée, and if I didn’t care about you, they couldn’t trust me with their business. ”
“Oh, so that’s what this is about?” I pulled my hands from his. “You’re not apologizing because you were wrong. You’re apologizing for business.”
“No, that’s not it at all,” he assured me softly, standing and sitting in the chair next to me.
“That is what opened my eyes to how fucked up I was.
I can be about my business and still care.
My father ran his business with an iron fist, and I took on that ideology.
Times are different now, and I have to adjust. Not just for business but personally too.
“I hate the way I handled you. For a while, I was able to convince myself I was right, but I wasn’t.
You were working so hard for me, and while I respect you taking accountability for that, you shouldn’t have had to.
I did take advantage of you. You being as great as you were allowed me to work less.
My trust in you led to you overworking yourself.
And instead of me paying you more and making sure you were okay physically and mentally, I yelled at you like you were a child. I sincerely apologize for that.”
“Thank you,” I almost whispered. “Had you said this then, maybe things would have ended differently, but everything happens for a reason, right?”
Raymond smiled. “I get why you broke up with me. As much as I miss you and want you back, you deserve better than what you were getting from me. If I felt like I could earn you back, I’d try.
And before you ask, me wanting you romantically has nothing to do with me offering you the promotion.
Regardless of what happens between us personally, I want you as president of marketing.
I’m prepared to offer you half a mil a year.
I know the cap is usually at six and that you should be started around three, but I want you to see that I value you, Zoe. ”
My mouth opened and closed. I was literally speechless.
What he was offering to pay was, in fact, the high range for presidents of marketing departments, particularly at tech companies.
What made me so great at my job was I was an expert in marketing specifically, so I could work in any niche with any client and be able to speak their language and explain a plan they’d be able to understand.
Even with that being the case, hearing Raymond offer me half a million dollars as my starting salary was insane.
I was currently comfortably making two hundred and seventy five thousand a year as his VP, which was why I wasn’t too sure about leaving my job to stay in Jasper Lane.
That was a hell of a lot of money to throw away .
. . but was love, peace, and a soft, slow life worth it in exchange?
“I don’t know what to say,” I finally confessed. “I’m honored by the offer.”
“If you take the promotion, I’ll need you back in The Hills, Zoe.
My president can’t work from here.” I nodded silently.
Our food was placed in front of us, but I suddenly had no appetite.
“Take all the time you need to think about it, but please don’t take more than three weeks.
If you could have an answer for me by the time your virtual run is over, that would be great. ”
“Yeah, sure. Seeing as I was expecting you to say three days, three weeks is more than enough.”
He laughed. “I know you, Zoe. If I push too hard, you’ll pull away. Take the time you need to think about it, and when you’re ready to come home, just let me know.”
I stared at my salad as if the croutons would be able to talk to me and tell me what to do. Just when I thought I’d had everything figured out, Raymond had come and dropped a damn bomb on me.