Fortunate

by nikki blaire

“Tell your grandma that I’m coming down. I just need six minutes.” He positioned her fingers to hold up the number six. “You can do that, right?”

  “Right.” She turned towards the door, still holding up the number. He chuckled to himself as she rushed out. Sasha really was happy, and often times, didn’t realize that she was missing a mother at all.

  That’s because you’re taking care of her every need. You’re a good dad.

  Ayda’s voice sounded off in his head along with a fresh image of her face.

  Although Ayda didn’t know him well, she had assessed that he was a good father. That vote of confidence meant a lot, especially since he wasn’t always so sure of it himself. He strode into the bathroom to get ready for the day with a smile painted on his face.

  I want to live my dream. Dream career, dream girl, dream family.

  He said to himself, while he looked in the mirror. It would definitely take him a while to get to his dream career, but he already had the dream kid, and it seemed like he could possibly have the dream girl once she stopped avoiding him.

  Only time would tell.

  Chapter Six

  Ayda flopped down at her desk in her office. Her sour mood had yet to dissipate and she could tell that it was getting on Renee’s nerves.

  “Call a friend of yours and get that nasty attitude knocked out of you before I have to do it.” Renee had whispered to her earlier during their staff meeting after Ayda had gotten snappy with her.

  Ayda had rolled her eyes and insinuated that Renee was off base with her allegations, but they both knew she was right on target. It had been a week since Tremaine had turned her down, but Ayda’s ego was still bruised and she was obviously frustrated. She glanced down at her phone vibrating on her desk to see an incoming text from the random date she had gone on in an attempt to forget about Tremaine. It hadn’t worked, and now, she was annoyed at seeing the unsaved number flash across her phone screen.

  She closed her eyes, but once they snapped shut, she began to remember the kiss. Instantly, she relived Tremaine’s warmth, the softness of his lips, and the tiny nips that he had left on hers. This, paired with being aggravated for even caring so much, had left Ayda downright cranky. She blew out an angry breath and leaned back in her chair. She had no idea how someone who she barely even knew had gotten under her skin.

  “Ms. Forde is busy. You’ll need to come back later.” The sound of Renee’s voice sliced through Ayda’s thoughts. She was clearly upset and only one person brought that level of aggression out of Renee in the workplace.

  Tracy. Her nemesis’ voice sounded as soon as she said the name in her head. Before Ayda could stop herself, she was crossing the room to her office door. She pulled it open and found Tracy standing in front of Renee’s desk.

  “Um, Tracy, I have a conference call in a few, but I can see you quickly.” Ayda stepped in to diffuse the tension.

  “Thank you. I was just telling your assistant that you would surely make time for me.” The little quip almost made Renee lunge, but she restrained herself.

  “Uh, no. I think Renee acted with the correct judgment.” She would never let anyone talk about Renee like that in her presence. “I’m busy, but if this is urgent enough for you to come to my office, I’ll talk with you briefly. Is this urgent?”

  Tracy narrowed her eyes at being put on the spot. They both knew she was here just to cause problems, but the classy thing to do was just pretend that they actually had something to discuss.

  “Just come in, Tracy.” She followed Ayda into the office then sat down at her desk.

  “Congratulations on your campaign. I heard that it was successful.”

  “You know it’s successful. It’s still trending and the ads are at every train station.”

  “I don’t take the train.” She spat back, which made Ayda cut her eyes at her. Tracy was so pretentious that it literally made Ayda sick, especially since she had no right to be. If Ayda could manage to stay humble with the amount of money her family was worth, then Tracy definitely could.

  “Look, Tracy, you coming here to intimidate me isn’t going to work. You can sit in as many of my meetings as you want, come by my office as much as you want. None of it is going to get to me when it comes to this promotion.” She laced her fingers then sat them on the desk.

  “Little Ayda.” She wore a smirk. “My promotion is the least of my worries.” She waved her comment off. “I just came by because I saw that you’ll be helping with the Spring Affair. It’ll be nice for you to show your face again. Are you bringing a plus one? I’m sure one of your boy toys would be happy to come, or will you be propositioning one of your brothers’ friends?”

  Tracy pursed her lips while her face remained smug. It was bait and Ayda’s quick temper almost took it.

  “You know what, Tracy,” She took a deep breath. “I understand that it bothers you that I’m more...fierce than you. That I’m driven and focused.” Tremaine’s words came tumbling out of her mouth. “I know that scares you and threatens your sense of being the prima Black woman around here, but I don’t care about that. You won’t disrespect me. Please leave my office.”

  With a slight huff, Tracy stood up and exited quickly. Seeing her flee brought joy to Ayda’s soul. She laughed so hard that Renee burst into the office to see what had happened.

  “I’ve never seen her run like that. What did you say?” She walked around Ayda’s desk.

  “I just said,” She lingered on Tremaine’s words for another moment. “I just said something that someone told me.”

  His face appeared again, clear as day, in her mind. The very person that she had been trying to avoid had given her the exact ammo she needed to get the best of Tracy.

  “Well, they told you right. I’m headed home for the day, okay.” Renee gave her a slight hug then waved goodbye. Ayda glanced at the clock, it was past 5:30 p.m. The day had slipped away from her and she still had work to do. She yawned at the thought of having to push through for another couple of hours.

  “I just need a coffee.” She reasoned with herself. She would just run to the coffee shop around the corner and then come back to the office.

  Minutes later, she stepped into the little shop. Her mind instantly reminisced on meeting Tremaine a few weeks ago, which made her frown at how she was avoiding him now. Her pride had taken a sharp blow that night and she could barely face herself, let alone, him. Kicking him out had been over the top, even for her. It was childish and she owed Tremaine an apology. But, she would do it when she was good and ready, and right now, avoiding him was just easier.

  She stepped up to the barista, placed her order, and then moved to the side. As usual, when she had idle time, she pulled out her phone to check emails, but was interrupted by a smooth, rich voice flooding over her.

  “Ayda Patricia Forde.”

  I know that voice.

  She realized once the baritone floated to her ears.

  I know that scent.

  Her mind registered it as the same scent that had wrapped around her in her building’s elevator almost two weeks ago. She spun around to find the object of her frustrations standing in front of her.

  “H-hi, Tremaine.” She cursed at herself for stuttering under her breath. “It’s a little late for you to be here, huh?”

  He was dressed in a dark gray suit with soft touches of color. The man was impeccable.

  “I’ve got a late night in the office. Gotta burn the midnight oil.” He nonchalantly moved past her to the counter to order. She let out a sigh of relief thinking that she had dodged an awkward moment, when Tremaine turned back towards her.

  “So, why have you been avoiding me?” He said it so matter-of -factly, as if he were asking her about the weather.

  “What?” She pretended to not have heard him, as the barista called out her coffee order. She moved to grab it, but Tremaine beat her to the punch.

  “Here ya go.” He gently placed it in her hand, while scooping up his own order. “Now, li
ke I was saying, why have you been avoiding me?”

  She shrugged and then looked down to gather her thoughts. Looking at his face was too jarring. He was too fine and she was constantly word vomiting his presence.

  “I’m sorry. Really. About the whole thing.” Was all that she could get out after she looked back up at him. A small smile touched the corners of his lips.

  “Well, look at that.” He put a hand on the small of her back to guide her away from the counter.

  “Look at what?”

  She tried to ignore the tiny sensations pulsating up her spine from Tremaine’s touch. They were like tiny shocks of electricity and made her skin prickle with goose bumps.

  “Look at you, surprising me. I just knew you were the type of person who didn’t apologize easily.”

  “Well, I’m just full of surprises. It was good to see you.” She was happy to cut the conversation short, then turned on her heels towards the door. She whipped out her phone in an effort to seem less bothered, while she hurriedly scampered away. She swiped the screen to unlock it and began to scroll through her unread emails when her feet gave way from under her. She slammed onto the coffee shop’s floor.

  “Ayda, you alright?”

  No, I’m not alright. I just fell on my ass in front of a shop full of people!

  She wanted to scream, but held her tongue. It was her fault. Renee had warned her a million times about paying more attention to her phone than to her surroundings.

  “I’m fine.” She moved to sit up. Her butt and ankle stung from the fall, but she didn’t think that she was hurt too badly. Tremaine rushed over to her and helped her to her feet. “Thanks.” She smiled meekly, but quickly flinched once she tried to balance on her own. “Dammit, my ankle.”

  “Let’s sit you down and take a look at it.” He easily scooped her up and out of the walkway then sat her down on a nearby stool. “Let me see.” He took her foot into his hand and then eased off her pump.

  “Does that hurt?” He asked while he gently squeezed from her toes up to her ankle.

  His hands were definitely not hurting her. She fixed her mouth to reply to him, but was interrupted by the shop’s manager approaching them. Tremaine reassured him that Ayda was fine, then went back to work on her ankle.

  “It’s not a sprain, just tender.” He lowered it to the ground then put her shoe back on. “I think you’ll be fine with some ice. Just to make sure it doesn’t swell. If it’s not better in the morning, then you should go to a doctor.”

  “How do you know?” She snapped, still angry from being embarrassed.

  “I’ve got a daughter who dances. Believe me, you’d know if it were sprained.”

  “Well, thanks.” She sucked her lip between her teeth then pushed herself to her feet.

  “You sure you don’t need help,” He tried to assist. Ayda gently brushed him off, but faltered as soon as she took her first step. “Aight, it’s clear you’re going to be hard headed.” Tremaine quickly gathered her up before she could protest. “Let’s get you home.”

  He acted as a human crutch, while Ayda gimped out of the shop and to the curb for a cab. He hailed one quickly and then helped her inside and within minutes they were back at her apartment building. She was still embarrassed and didn’t want to go through the front, so Tremaine carried her to the side entrance. Once inside, they stood silently in the elevator, but Ayda’s mind was running a mile a minute. She was processing everything and caught in a state of deja vu. She and Tremaine had been on this elevator, going to her apartment before, and that hadn’t gone so well.

  “Here we are.” They stopped in front of her door. She silently dug in her purse for her keys and then opened the door wide enough for him to help her through. He guided her to the couch, where she flopped down with a loud sigh.

  “Again, thank you. I’ve had to tell you that more today than I’ve had to say all year.” She tried to soothe the awkwardness with a laugh.

  “No problem at all. It’s not like you took me out of my way.” He grinned. “Do you need anything? I can get you some ice.” She shook her head then bent down to take off her other heel. “Alright, well, I’m going to head out before you kick me out again.”

  Her mouth fell open in a gasp.

  “I apologized for that.” She spat, her frustration flaring up again.

  “I’m just playin.” He reached out to calm her and smiled one of his amazing smiles that Ayda couldn’t get out of her head. “Don’t get all upset. I’ve gotta go back to the office, so it’s cool. Plus, you need some time to rest.” He turned to leave, but stopped short of the door.

  “Actually, before I go,” He turned back around to face her. “I owe you an apology too. I should’ve been clearer with my actions the other night. I’m sure all of my flirting and sending signals only confused the hell out of you once I pumped the brakes. That was my bad. I really do wanna get to know you, Ayda. I’ve just learned that it’s best to be on the same page before having sex.”

  A loud, sharp laugh that Ayda couldn’t suppress cut Tremaine off.

  “I’ve just learned that’s best to be on the same page before having sex.” She mimicked him. “You can save that for someone else, Tremaine. No need to sugarcoat the truth with me.” She pushed herself to her feet. “I mean, what other page is there to possibly be on? Just be real.” She took a cautious step forward then slowly padded to her kitchen counter, while Tremaine watched her with a blank expression on his face.

  “What are you talking about?” He was right behind her now, standing too close for her comfort. She rolled her eyes, and then she reached for a bottle of wine from the wine chiller built into the counter. She grabbed a glass then filled it to the brim before taking a long sip. She was intentionally being dismissive, but Tremaine seemed unbothered by her tactic.

  “I know you heard my question.” His chuckle was low and throaty. “And you shouldn’t be walking on that thing without icing it.”

  “Fine, fine. I’ll get ice.” She pulled out a freezer bag from a drawer then exaggeratedly filled it from the refrigerator’s ice machine. “There.” She closed the bag and then sat down to place it on her ankle, but Tremaine gingerly clipped it from her hand.

  “We’ll do this after you answer my question. What are you talking about?” Now, she felt like a child being reprimanded.

  “You know exactly what I’m talking about, Tremaine. I just want you to be honest and tell me that you’re just not attracted to me instead of trying go around it. It won’t hurt my feelings now and it wouldn’t have hurt my feelings the other night either. I’m probably too thick for you, and you probably don’t even like dark skinned,”

  Before Ayda could finish her sentence, Tremaine’s lips crashed onto hers with full force. They felt just as soft and warm as she remembered, while his hands began to slide down from her arms to rove over the rest of her. He ended the kiss, but his hand was still firmly planted on her thigh. He gave it a strong squeeze then placed a finger under her chin forcing her to look up at him.

  “There ain’t no such thing as too thick for me.” He bit his bottom lip then squeezed her thigh again.

  A sudden rush of wetness flooded Ayda’s already moistened panties. He laughed at her starry eyes then bent down to finally put the ice on her ankle.

  “I told you I’d been watching you for a month. How could you even think…” His words trailed off as he shook his head. He massaged her foot and ankle tenderly then grabbed a dishtowel to hold the bagged ice in place. “Keep this here, aight.”

  Ayda nodded. Her will to be difficult had completely dissipated.

  “I’ll see you around.” He stood to leave, giving her one last sweeping look.

  “Or you could stay.” The words popped out of her mouth. Tremaine’s gaze transformed from a gentle once over to a laser focused stare.

  “I,” He paused to search for the right words in unison with the sound of loud knocking at Ayda’s front door. Her eyebrow arched, confused at who would even
dare to knock so loudly.

  “I got it.” Tremaine moved to the door just as Dwele’s voice called from the other side.

  “Ayda, let me in! I’ve gotta use the bathroom! You know I’ve got a thing about public restrooms.” Tremaine turned back to her once his hand was on the door.

  “It’s okay.” She giggled. “It’s my brother. Let him in.”

  Tremaine swung the door open and Dwele bounded in, barely registering that a man had opened the door and not Ayda.

  “Uh, what’s up?” He looked Tremaine up and down before his eyes darted to Ayda sitting at the kitchen counter. “Dwele Forde.” He held up a fist for Tremaine to dap.

  “Tremaine Henley.” They touched fists then Tremaine moved aside.

  “What’s up, Ayda?” Dwele tried to remain casual, but there were several questions looming in his expression. “I’m gonna use the bathroom.”

  “No problem.” She pointed to the guest bathroom with a smile. They both watched him leave the room and waited until he had shut the door to continue their conversation. “So, will you stay?”

  “I can’t.” He shook his head. “I’ve gotta pick up my daughter.”

  His daughter.

  Ayda had almost forgotten about that. Tremaine had a beautiful little girl who he was raising with someone else. The thought pricked at her for some reason.

  “Right. Maybe another time. Thanks again for the...ya know.” She pointed to her ankle.

  “No problem. Goodnight.” He leaned forward and left a kiss on her forehead just as Dwele emerged from the bathroom. “Nice to meet you.” Tremaine nodded in his direction then headed to the door. He gave Ayda another glance before leaving then closed the door behind him. Once it slammed, Ayda realized she had been holding her breath.

  “Thanks, sis. I was coming from a firm mixer. I knew not to drink that much being so far from home, but you know me. You good?” His eyes darted to her ankle. “How’d that happen?”

  “I fell in the coffee shop after work.” She waved it off. “All in my phone, per usual, and you’re welcome. As much as you use my apartment as a pit stop, I should just give you a key.”