Chapter 10 Kairo
Kairo
I woke up the next morning without an alarm.
That alone felt like progress. I stayed still for a second, feeling Khloe’s body warm against mine, her leg draped over my thigh.
I decided right then I wasn’t rushing that day.
Whatever happened that morning at the office could wait a couple hours.
I knew my day had the potential to run late, and I didn’t want to start it already owing her time.
She rolled over, hair a mess, eyes barely open.
“Good morning,” she said, voice thick with morning breath.
I laughed. “Good morning to you too.”
We kissed, laughing at how we both needed to go brush our teeth.
“You hungry?” I asked.
Her eyes lit up instantly. “Starving.”
That smile was the shit I lived for. We both laughed and rolled out of bed. Brushing teeth side by side. She started her makeup while I bounced between the closet and the mirror, holding up shirts, switching shoes, trying to decide how I wanted to dress for the day.
“Baby,” she said suddenly.
“Yeah?”
“Let’s do something spontaneous.”
I turned toward her, eyebrows raised. “What you mean?”
My mind went straight to sex because… why not? I thought she wanted to try some crazy position and I was down for that shit.
“Let’s fly to Chicago. Right now. Just for the day. Eat. Walk around. Do something fun.”
For a split second, I almost said yes. Chicago is her favorite city. It's a quick flight and a place to make quick memories. Something just for us. Then reality punched me in the chest.
“Baby…” I started, already hating the way the word sounded. “That sounds fun as hell, but I’ve got a meeting after lunch I can’t miss. That’s why I wanted to do breakfast, so I could still give you my morning.”
Her face changed immediately.
She shut her eyes like she was counting backwards from ten, trying not to explode. When she opened them again, she was calm.
“Kairo,” she said slowly, “you and this fucking job that you let control your fucking life is exhausting me.”
“You are the boss,” she continued. “You make the rules. You call the shots. But you walk around acting like you work under somebody else’s authority, and it pisses me the fuck off.”
I opened my mouth to say something then closed it because it would start another argument.
“I don’t want to argue,” she said. “I don’t want to go back and forth. I actually want you to have a good day, so I’m fine. I’ll take Kennedi to school. Then I’m going to the art store and do something for myself.”
She stepped past me, already done.
“You go ahead and go to work,” she added, not even turning around. “I’ll see you whenever you decide to come home. I said what I wanted to do today. If you can’t do that, then have a great day.”
She walked out of the closet. I stood there staring at the empty space she left behind like what the fuck just happened.
As much as she didn’t want to argue, neither did I. I’d woken up trying to do better. Trying to show up. Trying to give her time. And somehow, it was still wrong.
I finished getting dressed in silence. I grabbed my keys, took one last look at the bedroom, and headed out.
I pulled up to the office still fuming. I sat there for a second, trying to cool off before I walked inside. As soon as I opened the door and stepped into the lobby, Kemi was just turning the corner with her usual caramel latte in hand. The second she saw me, she jumped and grabbed her chest.
“Boy! What are you doing here? I got your message earlier. You’re not supposed to be in until around lunch,” she said, side-eyeing me like I ruined her quiet start to the day.
I smirked and casually took the coffee from her hand. “Good morning to you, too.” I walked it over to her desk. She followed behind in her heels walking faster now that she didn’t have the hot cup.
“Mmmhm,” she said as she sat. “What did you do?”
“Why it gotta be me who did something?”
She raised one brow. “Because you’re a man…”
I sighed hard and ran my hand over my beard. “She wanted to fly to Chicago this morning. Just wake up and go.”
“Oh,” Kemi said, leaning back in her chair. “Did you tell her about the big contractor coming in today?”
“I tried. She wasn’t trying to hear none of that.” I shook my head, still feeling the frustration from the closet. “I told her I had this meeting after lunch, and that’s why I stayed back this morning to be with her. I wanted to give her that time.”
Kemi clicked her tongue and tilted her head. “I honestly see both sides.”
I looked at her like she’d just betrayed me. “What? Nah, pick a side.”
She laughed. “Kairo, you’re the boss. She knows your calendar is flexible. And she’s probably craving spontaneity and quality time. But I also get that this meeting’s a big deal and not something you can skip. Like tomorrow would be better since you aren’t meeting anyone, so you could go.”
“Exactly! But I knew she wouldn’t even try to compromise with that,” I said, frustrated all over again. “I was so irritated I came straight here. I didn’t even get breakfast.”
Kemi laughed and stood. “Lucky for you, your schedule is boring this morning. No one’s on your books, and your dad’s out. I can order us something since I haven’t had food either.”
I nodded, grateful. “That sounds like a plan. I’ma head to my office real quick and check in with my brothers. Order whatever you want and put it on my card.”
“Don’t mind if I do,” she said, already pulling up the app on her phone.
As I walked toward my office, I tried to shake off the tension still sitting on my shoulders.
I wanted to show up more, and I had. I wanted to give Khloe time, and I was doing that too.
But somehow, it still wasn’t enough. That’s what pissed me off the most. Its like doing all the work and still getting an F on the test.
Maybe she was right. Maybe I did let the job run me more than I ran it. But I wasn’t playing games. I was trying to build something—for her, for Kennedi, for all of us. I just wished she could see that.
By the time I came back out to the front, Kemi had already laid out the breakfast on her desk like it was our little buffet. I pulled a chair over and sat down across from her.
“You really came through,” I said, taking a bite.
She sipped her coffee and smiled. “I always do.”
We ate in silence for a few minutes before I finally spoke up. “Kennedi told me she’s talking to some boy.”
Kemi perked up. “Oh Lord.”
I laughed. “Yeah… Some boy she says goes to a different school. Plays basketball. But here’s the kicker—he got a ‘situation.’”
Kemi put her fork down and burst out laughing. “A situation?”
“Exactly what I said. I was like, what the hell does that mean? Another girlfriend?”
She wiped her mouth and nodded. “These kids are something else.”
“She told me like it was nothing, and honestly, I ain’t even trip. I was just happy her secretive ass opened up to me. I didn’t want to shut that down.”
Kemi gave me that proud look she gives when she thinks I’m being a good dad. “That’s exactly why she talks to you. You give her space to be real. That matters.”
Kemi had a son too. He’d come by the office a lot over the years while she worked late.
I respected her hustle heavy. Her aunt used to work with my dad and granddad before she retired, and she brought Kemi in.
She taught her everything, and honestly, Kemi had taken it up a notch. Aunt was solid, but Kemi was titanium.
“I cannot wait until the weekend,” she said with a dramatic sigh. “No phones, no calls, no files. Just me in my bed with Netflix.”
I laughed. “That social battery be dying fast, huh?”
“It's gone. Some weekends I just want to stay in the house all day and recharge. I don’t want to talk to anybody.”
I nodded. “I’m the same way. Khloe thinks the weekends are for adventure and activity and twelve-hour days outside.”
We both laughed, shaking our heads like old people. “Maybe we need to invest in some B12 or something,” I said.
“Something is definitely off,” she laughed.
There was a moment of quiet before I looked at her and asked, “You ever think about having more kids?”
She looked at me like I was crazy. “Hell no.”
I choked on my orange juice.
“Don’t get me wrong,” she continued. “I love my son. He’s my world.
Sometimes I feel like I don’t even deserve a kid that amazing.
But parenting is hard. And being a single parent?
” She shook her head. “I do the nurturing and the providing. Ain’t no choosing which one I feel like doing that day. I don’t get breaks.”
I nodded slowly. “That’s a lot and makes even more sense.
I want this big-ass life for Kennedi. A legacy.
A foundation she can build on for her kids and their kids.
But if I have more kids, I'll work even harder so I wouldn’t have to divide the life I’m trying to give them.
I can see me now trying to multiply it.”
“Whew,” she said, pointing at me like I just dropped scripture. “Say that!!”
“I’m just saying,” I shrugged. “People act like having one kid is selfish, but we don’t say that about one husband, one wife. Why not just one kid?”
We both laughed at that.
Kemi raised her cup like she was toasting. “To intentional parenting.”
“To surviving it,” I added, tapping my cup to hers.