Chapter 14
I a i n ’ t g o n ’ lie, when Nyomi said we had a cake tastin’ , I ain’t think much of it.
Thought it was gon’ be us sittin’ at a lil’ round table, tryin’ bites of chocolate or vanilla cake, then leavin’.
Easy shit. But when we walked into that bougie ass bakery between a yoga studio and a wine bar, I already knew this shit was gon’ take longer than I had patience for.
As soon as we stepped in, the sweet smell hit me. The whole place looked like a fuckin’ Hallmark movie wit’ white marble counters, soft jazz playin’ through speakers, gold fixtures, and glass cake stands on display. Nyomi was already smilin’.
“You like it?” she asked me, loopin’ her arm wit’ mine.”
“Looks like some shit you see on Pinterest.”
She smirked. “What you know about Pinterest?”
I gave her a dry look. “I got eyes, baby. I see you scrollin’ on that shit.”
She laughed, then turned when a tall white woman in a black apron walked over. “Hi, I’m Bella. And welcome to Bella’s Cakery! You must be the future Joneses?”
Nyomi beat me to it. “Yes. I’m Nyomi, and this is Keon.”
“Perfect,” Bella said, all perky and shit. “Come on back to our tasting suite. We’ve got five flavors to try, based on the notes your mom sent over.”
I ain’t say shit but followed them to a private area in the back. There was glass water cups, silver tastin’ forks, and a tiered platter of cake slices already laid out.
Bella pulled out a lil’ menu card. “So today we have red velvet with cream cheese, vanilla almond, lemon raspberry, brown butter caramel, and chocolate ganache. All from scratch. Let’s start with the red velvet.” She handed us both a plate wit’ a small slice.
Nyomi already had her fork up, moanin’. “Mm, okay, this looks moist.”
I cut a piece wit’ my fork, then popped it in my mouth. “Damn,” I muttered. “That shit kinda good.”
“Right?” she said, eyes wide, chewin’ slowly. “Not too sweet. The cream cheese is giving.”
I glanced over at her. “The cream cheese givin’ what?”
She grinned. “It’s givin’ ‘book us now.’” Bella laughed, then moved to the vanilla almond cake.
“Bet this gon’ taste basic,” I said before tryin’ it. “Like some shit for a baby shower.”
Nyomi took a bite and nodded. “You ain’t wrong. It’s cute, but definitely basic.”
Next was lemon raspberry. Bella was hypin’ that one up, sayin’ it was a client favorite. I took one bite and shook my head. “Hell nah. Too fruity. That’s a no.”
Nyomi agreed. “Yeah, I don’t want fruit in my wedding cake. I want decadence.”
“Say that then,” I said, tossin’ my fork down.
We moved on to the brown butter caramel, and that shit had to be illegal to be that fuckin’ good. Nyomi’s eyes were already closed, like she was somewhere else. “Oh my God,” she whispered. “That’s it. That’s the one.”
“Shit tastes like money,” I said. “Like luxury.”
Bella looked pleased. “It’s one of our most requested wedding flavors.”
“Yeah, I see why,” I said, leanin’ back. “Put a lil’ edible gold on that, and we locked in.” The last flavor was chocolate ganache. It was good, but it ain’t beat the brown butter. Me and Nyomi leaned back, sippin’ water, lookin’ satisfied.
“So… what’s your verdict?” Bella asked us, holdin’ a clipboard, all nervous and shit.
Nyomi wiped her mouth. “That brown butter caramel. Hands down.”
I nodded. “And I’m guessin’ we doin’ the big four-tier joint?”
Nyomi looked at me sideways. “I mean… we can do three tiers. That’s perfect, babe.”
“Aight,” I smirked. “Long as I get a big ass slice at the end of it, we good.”
Bella clapped her hands. “Perfect! I’ll mark your selection and send an updated invoice.” I told her I’d pay for that shit right now, and we took care of that lil’ twenty-five hunnid dollar payment.
Nyomi’s eyelashes fluttered. “Thank you so much. Everything was incredible.”
I nodded at Bella. “Yeah, we ‘ppreciate you.” Nyomi and I stepped out into the brick cold air, her tucked into my side as I opened my truck’s passenger door.
“Get in, trouble.”
She slid up, smoothed her dress, and buckled. "Trouble? That's you."
I climbed behind the wheel, pullin’ up the same playlist we was vibin’ to. “Watch your mouth before I put you in the back.”
She almost laughed, caught herself, and turned up the radio. Ari Lennox floated through the speakers. I glanced over. “So we’re sticking to R&B today?”
“I want you to be happy. It’s your world, baby.” Leaning over, I kissed her lips and pulled off wit’ my hand slidin’ up her thigh.
Her voice softened. “Thank you for being present, babe. Last time…”
“Aye,” I tapped her thigh. “No bringin’ up past shit.”
Truth was, I knew Nyomi was still a lil’ pissed off, Shan blocked her on everything after the shit I pulled. It’s whatever, though. Shit still gettin’ done, and me and my woman was still us. Half an hour later, I parked and motioned toward the flower shop doors.
“Let’s go buy your Springtime shit before I change my fuckin’ mind.”
Nyomi hopped out, slammed the door, and called back over the roof, “Let’s gooo!”
I shook my head, laughin’ as I followed her.
The moment we stepped inside the shop, the smell of flowers hit me all at once.
Goddamn. There was roses, lilies, and some other expensive lookin’ shit I ain’t even know the names of.
The place was bright as hell too wit’ windows, white shelves, and glass vases everywhere.
Her whole face lit up instantly. “Keon… look at this.”
I closed the door behind us and leaned against it for a second watchin’ her move through the place like a kid in a candy store. “This what you been geeked up ‘bout?” I asked.
She turned around, holdin’ up a bouquet, smilin’ big. “Yes.”
I walked over slowly. “It’s just flowers, baby.”
She stared at me like I had insulted her entire bloodline. “They are not just flowers.”
I folded my arms. “Aight then. Educate me.”
A brown-skinned shorty wit’ short locs and a warm smile walked up from behind the counter. “You must be the future Joneses,” she greeted us.
I nodded while Nyomi smiled right back. “Yes. Hi.”
The woman chuckled. “Well, welcome to Frost & Bloom. I’m Dominique.”
Nyomi immediately launched into planner mode. “So we’re doing a spring theme. Because we’re not having an outdoor wedding, I want the venue to give garden vibes with every floral arrangement. Elegant but still soft. I want tall arrangements but not too busy.”
Dominique nodded as if she already understood everything. “Perfect. I actually pulled a few examples based on the notes your mom sent earlier.” She led us toward a long table where a few sample arrangements were set up.
Nyomi gasped a little under her breath. “Oh, my God.”
Every flower and branch looked like it was picked out of the garden of life or some shit. Bright colors, some crystal lookin’ shit hangin’ off, green branches twisted through another one. I rubbed my chin, takin’ it all in.
Nyomi walked closer to the table, leanin’ down to study the arrangements like she was evaluatin’ art. “This is beautiful,” she said softly.
Dominique pointed to one of the centerpieces. “This one has pastel pink garden roses, ranunculus, and fresh eucalyptus.”
I blinked. “Sounds bougie.”
Nyomi cleared her throat, nudgin’ me on the side. “Anyway…”
“It probably is.”
Dominique smiled politely. “Let’s move on to some others. Over here, we have…”
For like thirty minutes, she started explainin’ different centerpiece heights, aisle flowers, and ceremony arch options. All that shit. Nyomi listened like a student in class, noddin’ along while occasionally lookin’ back at me. She couldn’t shop smilin’, happy as fuck.
Pullin’ her by her waist, I hugged her from behind and kissed her neck. “Get whatever you want, baby.”
She turned her head and looked up at me. “You serious?”
“Whatever you want.” After payin’ off the garden roses and all the other shit, we jumped in the car to go to the last spot.
It took us almost an hour to drive there in traffic.
I threw the truck in park and leaned back in the seat for a second, rubbin’ my stomach.
“I’m hungrier than a muthafucka,” I muttered.
Nyomi looked over at me. “Same. I want lobster.”
“I need a big ass steak right now.” Our phones went off at the same time, and I pulled mine from my jeans to see it was a group text notification from Ma Deb.
“I bet Kassim is giving her a run for her money,” Nyomi chuckled. I opened the text on my phone, and she peeked over my shoulder. “Aww,” she said immediately.
Laughin’, I shook my head. “That boy droolin’ like a muthafucka.”
She nudged me. “Leave my baby alone. I miss him.”
We both loved the picture, and then I slipped the phone back into my pocket before we got out the truck. Wrappin’ my arm around her shoulders as we walked toward the entrance, I told her, “Let’s get through this venue shit so we can go get my son.”
She smiled up at me. “Deal.” The spot was nice wit’ one of those long wooden walkways that led down toward the entrance. Nyomi stopped halfway across the lot just to stare at it again. “You see this?” she said quietly.
I looked at the buildin’. “I see it.”
“Imagine the wedding.”
I shrugged. “I’m imaginin’ a steak.”
She laughed and shook her head. “You get on my nerves.”
We walked in together, and the vibe hit immediately. The whole spot smelled like pine, vanilla, and money. The Asian woman who came to greet us was all smiles. “Hi, hi! I’m Chai! You must be the future Joneses!”
Nyomi chuckled. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Right this way,” she said, leadin’ us through a hallway. “Let me show you the spaces for the wedding and the reception.”
We ended up lookin’ at two big ass ballroom wit’ shiny floors glistenin’ like they was freshly waxed, ceilings damn near touchin’ heaven, and tall ass windows showin’ off the city skyline.
Nyomi damn near fell out. Her whole face lit up like a lil’ kid who just seen all her presents under the tree on Christmas mornin’.
Big ass smile. Eyes all wide. She wasn’t even tryna play it cool either.
She spun ‘round in a slow circle, takin’ it all in like she already saw us dancin’ in the middle of that floor.
“Aww,” she whispered, damn near breathless. “This is it. This is the one. I can feel it.”
I just stood there watchin’ her, arms folded, tryna hide the smirk creepin’ up on my face. I ain’t even gon’ lie. Seein’ my woman that happy made me finally get it. Nyomi walked toward the windows, fingers stretched out like she needed to touch the damn air.
“Knuck, it’s perfect. I can see it all. The flowers, the uplighting, the aisle… oh, my God…”
I shook my head and chuckled. “You actin’ like we just found Narnia.”
“I’m serious,” she said, turnin’ back toward me, eyes glossy like she was lowkey emotional. “You don’t understand how much I want this. It’s gonna be classy and not too big.”
I walked over, grabbed her by the waist, and looked ‘round real quick. “Whatever you want, baby.” She grinned hard, gripped my arms, and kissed me hard as shit.
“So,” Chai walked over to us, “What dates are we looking at?”
Nyomi looked at me, then back at her. “The 30th.”
She blinked and laughed a lil’ bit. “You mean… as in the end of this month?” We both nodded. She laughed again, but slower this time. “Oh! Um… I’m sorry. That’s… that’s not possible. I mean, we’re, like, completely booked. Usually…”
“I’ll pay whatever,” I cut her off calmly, pullin’ my black card from my pocket and slidin’ it across the nearby table. “Double the rental fee. Staff bonus. Whatever you need to make this shit happen.”
Her eyes bounced from the card back to me.
“I don’t care what it costs,” I added, lookin’ her dead in the face. “We gettin’ married at the end of this month. If you can’t fit that into your schedule, I’ll take my bread somewhere else.” Nyomi touched my arm lightly, surprised but lowkey blushin’.
Chai hesitated, then nodded. “Well… let me make a few calls and see what strings I can pull.”
I nodded. “Sounds more like it.”
Me and Nyomi locked eyes while the lady stepped off to go work her magic. Her smile was soft. “You didn’t have to do all that, crazy. What if she says it can’t happen?”
“Then I’ma buy the buildin’,” I shrugged.
She snorted. “You’re so damn dramatic.”
“Only ‘bout you.” Before the venue lady could even make it back over, I leaned close to Nyomi’s ear. “I’m tryna lick that pussy from the back. I need my fix.”
“Move, nasty.”
Before she could say anything else, Chai’s happy-go-lucky ass came back, lookin’ slightly flustered but real chipper. “Okay! So… you two must be sprinkled in wedding magic or something, because I just made a few calls. I shifted a corporate event to a different date so you can have the venue.”
Nyomi gasped. “Wait… seriously?”
“Yes,” she smiled. “Our wedding planner is going to hire an assistant and some extra staff but your Springtime wedding can happen this month.”
“Oh, my God!” She turned to look at me, tears glossin’ her lashes, lips parted, like she didn’t know whether to cry or laugh.
I just nodded and pulled her in, arm snug ‘round her waist. “Told you. Whatever you want, you can get.”
They better had made it work. Real shit, I wasn’t tryna wait no longer. We’d been through too much, held each other down through everything. This ain’t just a celebration. It was us finally gettin’ our forever started, and a nigga was more than ready.
I looked over at Nyomi and Chai as they started talkin’ ’bout next steps and shit. Everything was fallin’ into place like God was up top alignin’ shit the way it should be.