by nikki blaire
“Humph.” Ayda scoffed. Tremaine had most definitely let her go. He hadn’t called or even sent a single text, which had also hurt her. She hadn’t expected him to fight for her, but she had expected him to do something. Anything.
“Okay, well, see you tomorrow.”
“Bye, dear.” Ayda hung up, and then tossed back the rest of her glass of wine.
Chapter Eighteen
The key that Tremaine had placed in a small jewelry box moved around in his pocket, making him more nervous. He tossed and turned for several nights trying to figure out exactly how he was going to approach Ayda with the key. At first, he kept drawing a blank, but the idea popped into his head once he decided to simply trust his instincts.
After getting the jewelry box, he stuffed the key inside his pocket then got ready to execute his plan. He would show up to the meeting, looking as good as possible, and at his first moment alone with her, he would give her the key...and beg. Beg like he had never begged before.
“You don’t look half bad, Mr. Henley.” He brushed his hair in the bathroom mirror one more time before heading out of the door. He and Sasha had changed up their morning routine since he and Ayda had split up, so that he could avoid the possibility of seeing her at the coffee shop in the mornings. He hadn’t been ready to face her. However, this morning, he was more than ready to see her, as he strolled inside. If he ran into her here, then so be it.
He ushered Sasha inside ahead of him then looked around, but Ayda was nowhere to be found.
“Figures.” He sighed, letting his shoulders fall, while Sasha walked up to the barista with her order. Once they finished breakfast, he got her off to school, and then headed to the corporate office to check out what would be his new office. He still had loose ends to tie up in his current position, but he figured it wouldn’t hurt to stop by and at least pick up his new business cards. He also hoped that it would take his mind off of his meeting today. He was growing more anxious as the time came closer.
Will she still be angry? Will she even talk to me?
Those were the thoughts running through his mind while Mr. Ashford gave him a short overview.
“And your meeting today, Tremaine.”
Hearing his name caught his attention.
“Yes, my meeting with Prestige and Forde Financials.”
He quickly responded in his “business” voice, not wanting to get caught slipping before he even officially started.
“Just make sure we look good.” Mr. Ashford gave a quick grin.
“I definitely will, sir.” He held out his hand for Mr. Ashford to shake.
You and me both.
Tremaine thought to himself, as Mr. Ashford excused him from his office. He had some time to waste before his meeting, so he ventured back to his old office to pack it up and practice his spiel for when he saw Ayda. He busied himself for as long as he could, but eventually made his way to Ayda’s building. As he stepped into the lobby, he promised himself that he would never go this long without seeing her again.
I mean, even if this goes bad, we’ll still be neighbors.
He laughed to himself then touched the jewelry box in his pocket as he exited the elevator onto the Prestige office’s floor. Renee’s familiar and happy face greeted him once he approached Ayda’s office.
“Tremaine! It’s so great to see you! Looking sharp, as usual.” She beamed then stood up to hug him. He hadn’t expected such a warm welcome, but he appreciated it.
“It’s great to see you too.” He released her then looked around.
“Are Marc and Ayda already in her office?”
A confused grimace formed on Renee’s face.
“For what?’
“Our meeting...for the project. We are still having our strategy session, right?” He casually played with his cufflinks, then looked back up to Renee, seeing complete horror on her face.
“Um, yes. It’s still...uh...I thought the Director of Business Development was joining this meeting from your company. I thought you were the regional property,” She began to frantically search her desk for her phone.
“I was. They promoted ya boy.” He grinned, but Renee responded with more concern on her face.
“Oh, wow. Congratulations! That’s...awesome...for you.” She started to type frantically on her phone. “Um, Ayda’s out for lunch and Marc isn’t here yet.” She mentioned to him without looking up. “Do you want some coffee or something?” Her voice was feeble and she was clearly worried about something. Tremaine was going to let it go, but she was so rattled that he couldn’t ignore it.
“What’s up, Renee? Don’t play with me.”
She bit her bottom lip, like she wanted to lie, but then thought against it. Renee took a deep breath and then exhaled before reaching out to touch his arm.
“Tremaine...Ayda doesn’t know that you’re going to be in this meeting. With the way she’s been...dealing with everything, I don’t think she’s gonna like this surprise.”
Renee held her phone to her ear then cursed when the call went straight to Ayda’s voicemail.
“She’s a professional. You think it’ll be that big of a deal?” Tremaine didn’t want to cause any more problems, but he was just as shocked to find out that she had not known he was coming. “And how could she not know? How could you not know?” He walked over to a chair in the waiting area to sit down. He had to think this through. He expected to surprise her with the key and his want to reconcile, but he had not counted on surprising her like this.
“Your name’s not in the emails.” Renee spat. “I checked them, several times because she was gonna back out and have me do it if you were…”
She closed her mouth once she realized she had revealed too much.
“Is she still that mad at me? She doesn’t even wanna see me?”
“She’s hurt, Tremaine. Plus, she’s dramatic.” Renee rolled her eyes, which made him laugh. He knew exactly how Renee was feeling. Ayda had a way of turning nothing into something, but that was also a quality that he loved about her. She could turn dirt into gold.
“But your office called and asked for me.” He turned back to the issue at hand.
“Yea, that’s because you were named in the proposal. The email chain I saw had a Mr. Ashford and then said the new Director of Business Development…that’s you, huh? Well, it’s whatever.”
She gave up trying to reach Ayda after the call went to voicemail again.
“Her phone must be dead. I called her mother and got her voicemail too. I’m over it.” She walked back to her desk and flopped into the chair. “I swear I don’t get paid enough for all the damage control that I try to do.” She flipped her bang out of her eyes.
“You can wait here until Marc shows up and then I’ll escort everyone to the conference room.” Renee dropped all pretenses, but Tremaine was still concerned about the inevitable attitude he was going to get once Ayda’s eyes fell on him.
“Should I just leave?” He was being sincere.
“Boy, no.” Renee waved his comment away. “If she’s not too busy rushing once she gets back, I’ll try to tell her then. But, that’s all I can do. Besides, I’m not one to interfere with what is clearly ordained.” She gave him a smirk.
“Alright, then.” He adjusted his suit jacket then sat back down. “One last thing, if y’all didn’t know I was coming, why were you so happy to see me when I came in?”
Renee smacked her teeth then lowered her voice.
“I thought you’d come to give her some common sense. If you know what I mean. Goodness knows she needs it.”
Tremaine broke out into hearty laughter.
“Duly noted.”
A moment later, Marc arrived, so Renee led them to a conference room.
“Good afternoon, Tremaine.” Marc nodded in his direction then sat down across from him. Tremaine sighed, not in the mood for another match up with him. He already had enough on his mind.
“What’s up?” He casually responded. Now, he and Marc
really had the same job, the only difference being Marc’s name was on the building of where he worked. Still, in Tremaine’s eyes, they were equals now.
“I wanted to give you my card, so that we can continue to correspond on this.” Marc let out a snuff then reached into his breast pocket before passing the card across the table.
“Thanks, and here.” Tremaine pulled out a cardholder then passed a crisp new business card to him.
“Director of Business Development.” Marc read the title out loud. “I thought—”
“Yea, you thought.” Tremaine cut him off then leaned back in his chair to wait for Ayda to arrive.
****
“Come on, Mother. Can we wrap this up? I have a meeting.” Ayda stood with Claudette at her favorite boutique while she confirmed the items that they had purchased. “I don’t know why I thought we could do this quickly.” She sighed, while Claudette fussed over insignificant details, like shades of cerulean and material for buttons.
“Style is not quick.” Claudette snapped. “I told you to set aside several hours. That’s what you get for trying to squeeze me in as an afterthought.”
Ayda rolled her eyes and sucked her teeth. Her mother had warned her, but Ayda just hadn’t believed her. She never spent this much time shopping. Her phone had died thirty minutes ago, and now she was terribly frustrated.
“You can go ahead and go. I have your measurements. I can pick out the rest. It’ll be delivered to your apartment.”
Claudette waved her away, but Ayda hesitated to leave at hearing that her mother would pick out the rest of the clothes for her. They had completely different taste. Ayda preferred simple colors and patterns, while her mother insisted on the ornate.
“Fine. Just please...consider what I like.” She sighed, checking her watch. She was going to be late if she stayed any longer and couldn’t text Renee to let her know.
“Sure enough, dear.” Claudette gave her a coy smile that let Ayda know that she would get whatever her mother felt was appropriate, but she didn’t have time to argue. She hugged her goodbye, and then rushed to the shop’s exit. She hustled out onto the sidewalk to hail a cab when she came face-to-face with Tracy as she walked into the boutique.
Not today, Tracy.
She silently prayed that Tracy would be on her way, but Ayda had no such luck. A thin smile formed on her face once she realized that it was Ayda standing in front of her.
“Ayda,” She opened her mouth, but Ayda held up her hand to quiet her.
“If you have anything to say other than congratulations then I don’t want to hear it, Tracy.” She tried to move past her, but Tracy intentionally stepped back into her path.
“Oh, of course, congratulations on that. I’m assuming Prestige got wind of my resignation and decided you were the safe bet.” She tried to be nasty, but Ayda was over letting this woman get under her skin.
“Or you’re just so upset about being passed over that you’re quitting. Either way, I’m sure you’ll spin some lie to make this fit your behind like you always do. Excuse me, I have a meeting.” She pushed forward hard with her shoulder, forcing Tracy out of her way.
“Ayda!” Tracy called out to her, almost yelling. The sudden change in octave halted Ayda in her tracks. She spun around to face Tracy, vowing to drag the woman with her words if she said anything to her that was out of line. “My sister...” She paused, thinking of the right words. “She said she talked to you. Whatever you said has got her wanting to leave Aaron.”
Tracy stepped closer. Her usually light complexion was spotted red with anger.
“Good. Glad I could talk some sense into her.” Ayda stood her ground.
“You stay the hell away from my family, especially my sister. She doesn’t need you filling her head with your flighty bullshit. Aaron doesn’t want you!”
Ayda’s eyes grew wide. She had never heard Tracy curse before. The woman was always the pinnacle of perfection and professionalism. She snickered at finally seeing her come undone over Aaron, of all things.
“You’re delusional, Tracy. You know that? You don’t see anything because if you did, you’d be happy that your sister found the courage to leave that bastard.”
Tracy started to speak, but Ayda cut her off.
“How much longer are you going to ignore her “being sore” for no reason and suddenly cancelling plans? Huh, Tracy? Her changed behavior, dark moods, and whatever other signs she’s probably been hoping that you notice.” Ayda shook her head. “You’re her sister. Protect her. Don’t pimp her.”
She turned to walk away, but Tracy grabbed her arm.
“I don’t know what you’re trying to insinuate,” She spat, but Ayda snatched her arm away with a loud laugh.
“Yes, you do. You definitely do.” She gave Tracy a long stare then turned to the curb to hail a cab, leaving her on the curb. Shortly after, Ayda pulled up to her office’s building. She thrust the cab door open then rushed to the elevators to get to her floor.
“I’m sorry, Renee. My phone died, and then my mother was so overzealous...I left as soon as I could.”
She hurried to her office, spotting Renee standing in front of it. Part of her wanted to unload about her run-in with Tracy, but she couldn’t do that without sharing the entire story of her relationship with Aaron.
“It’s okay, but I need to talk to you.” She followed Ayda into her office, twisting her thumbs, which made Ayda stop and pay attention. Renee only twisted her thumbs when something was wrong.
“What’s wrong? Are they trying to put my new office in the one that smells like cigarettes? I knew I should’ve picked an office instead of letting them choose—”
“Ayda, no. Stop talking.” Renee bluntly cut her off. “Tremaine is here, and I know you really didn’t want to see him, but he’s here for the meeting. Apparently, he’s the new Director of Business Development.”
“What?” Ayda’s chest caved in. She had to sit down.
“He’s in the conference room with Marc. Now, I can do the meeting if you want—”
“Of course not. Then he’ll know that I feel some type of way and he can’t know that.”
She breathed deeply to slow her racing heart.
“Okay. Well then, you need to get in there. Here are some copies of the proposal. Just take a deep breath and you’ll be fine.”
Ayda nodded, needing the game time pep talk. She grabbed her folder then stood up slowly. Renee led her out of her office to the conference room, but stopped before they reached the door.
“You good?” Renee asked, smoothing her hands over Ayda’s dress.
“I’ll be okay.” She inhaled deeply. “Girl, how does he look?” She turned to Renee and whispered. The last thing she needed was for Tremaine to look any better than he already did.
“Uh...like regular, girl.” Renee voice wavered.
“Got dammit. That good?” Ayda whined then took another breath. “Okay, alright. I’m good.” She snapped herself out of it then pushed the door open. Both Marc and Tremaine looked up at her as she strutted into the office. She hoped neither of them could sense her bravado.
“Hello, Marc.” She greeted him with a quick hug then examined his behavior to see if he had any inkling of her and Tremaine’s break up. He seemed normal, so she sat down. As if sensing her concern, Tremaine gave her a slight nod to let her know that he hadn’t said anything.
“Tremaine.” She acknowledged him, but didn’t dare touch him, especially not while he was wearing the hell out of that charcoal gray suit. It gave his skin an extra golden glow that made her muscles clench.
I hate him.
She growled in her head, while she passed out copies of the proposal.
“Good afternoon, Ayda. You look beautiful today.”
He flashed her one of those panty-wetting smiles. She glared at his dimples then scowled while she mumbled a thank you. She was even more frustrated because she would have put more effort into her own appearance if she had known Tremaine was coming
. She wanted to look amazing enough to make him as sick as she was feeling right now. Today, she had just thrown on an orange sheath dress that synched a little at the waist, and pulled her hair into a high bun. Nothing fancy, meanwhile Tremaine looked like the leading man in an R&B video.
I hate him!
She thought again.
“Okay, well, let’s get started. We really need to pull everything together in order to do a comprehensive mock up for the campaign. Marc, what are Forde Financials’ goals for this project?”
“Yes,” Marc looked up from his phone. “We ultimately want to attract a socially-minded clientele base. Therefore, this project has to effectively engage and positively affect the surrounding community. How, I’m not sure, but affordable housing, like Ayda mentions in this proposal, is a big issue in the city. We can have an underlying piece be about the funding of affordable housing, as we are a financial institution and have dabbled in construction investment. However, we need to do something big that’ll get us in the papers.”
Marc nodded towards Ayda before standing up.
“I’ve gotta take this. Give me a minute.” He dismissed himself with his phone pressed to his ear. Once the doors closed behind him, the room seemed to shrink. Suddenly, Tremaine felt too close even though he was sitting several chairs away.
“Can we talk for a minute?”
She heard his voice, but refused to look in his direction.
“About what?” She pretended to be looking through the papers in front of her.
“Us.” He moved closer to her, which made her temperature rise. “You came to me to apologize, but I wasn’t listening. I made it worse, and so now I’ve gotta step to you with an apology of my own.”
He was sitting next to her now and his cologne was clouding her thoughts. Her body betrayed her by standing on full alert at his presence.
“I’m sorry, Ayda for all that I said and did to contribute to us being like this. That’s the last thing that I wanted. I also wanted to thank you. Your belief in me is what got me this promotion.”
“Congratulations on that, but you don’t need to thank me. You did that.”