by Tracy Reed
“Let me get the key and you can head on over to my place.” Sean went into his office and returned quickly with the key. “Here, I’ll call the doorman and tell him to expect you. The fridge is empty.”
“That’s unusual,” Jordan teased.
“Funny. There’s a great Chinese place around the corner. The menu is in the drawer next to the sink. Make yourself comfortable and I’ll see you around six.”
“Thanks.” He hugged his brother.
“Sean, it’s the factory on line one,” Ryder called out.
“Come on honey.” Jordan grabbed Zoë’s hand.
“You two go on and I’ll see you later.”
The elevator dinged and Simon and Winnie took off running. The soft taps continued into the kitchen. Kyla put the groceries away, fed the dogs and walked down to the guest room and pushed the door open. “Oh My God.” She ran back into the kitchen and grabbed her phone. Jordan and Zoë came running out behind her.
“Kyla, put the phone down,” Jordan pleaded as he tied his robe.
“How do you know my name?”
“I’m Sean’s brother and this is my wife Zoë.”
She continued dialing. “Pick up baby.” After the third ring, he picked up. “Sean, there’s—”
“Oh, baby, I meant to call you. My brother and sister-in- law surprised me and—”
“Are staying in your guest room?”
“How did you…oh no.”
“Yeah, I walked in and woke them up.”
“I’m sorry. Let me speak to him.” She handed Jordan the phone.
“I’m so sorry. I forgot, Ky and I were having dinner at my place tonight.”
“Want us to leave and come back,” Jordan said.
“No, that won’t be necessary. I’m on my way and I’ll straighten all of this out. Let me talk to Kyla.”
Jordan handed Kyla the phone. “He wants to talk to you.”
Kyla took the phone and walked into the pantry. “Yes.”
“Baby, I’m so sorry. The factory called and I got distracted with a minor problem. I’m sorry. Forgive me?”
She let out a sigh. “Sure. Call me later.”
“Don’t leave. I’m on my way.”
“I’m not going to stay here with people I don’t know.”
“Ky, please. I know this isn’t how I pictured you guys meeting, but…”
“I’ll take Simon and Winnie for a walk and meet you back here in about twenty minutes?”
“I’m leaving now.”
“I thought you were on your way?”
“I’m walking out the door now.”
“Be careful.” She pushed the button ending the call, took a deep breath and walked back into the kitchen. Jordan was the only one there. “Okay, uhm, Sean is on his way.”
“I’m sorry about the mix up. He said we could stay here.”
“No problem. I’m going to take the dogs for a walk and be back in about twenty minutes. Simon, Winnie,” she called. The little dogs came to her and she put their leashes on and got on the elevator.
The ride up to his loft felt longer than normal. When the elevator stopped, Sean ran off and dropped his coat on the chair. “Is anyone here?” he called out. “Hello.” No answer. He took his phone out of his pocket and pressed the button for the preset number…no answer. He tried again and still no answer, so he left a message. “Hey baby, I’m home, where are you?” He pressed the button ending the call.
“She should be back any moment,” Jordan said as he came around the corner.
“I’m so sorry. I got caught up with the factory and I forgot to call her.” He shook his head. “This isn’t how I wanted you guys to meet. How did she seem?”
“She was a little heated.”
The elevator dinged, the door opened and the dogs came running out, followed by Kyla. She walked into the kitchen while taking off her coat.
“Hey baby,” Sean said as he walked over to kiss her and she turned away. “Ky, I’m sorry.” She stood with her arms folded, not saying a word.
“Lil bro, Zoë and I are going to pick up dinner.” He called out. “Zo.” The petite brown skinned woman walked into the kitchen.
“Hey, Sean.” She extended her hand to Kyla. “I’m sorry, we haven’t been formally introduced. I’m Zoë Prescott.”
Kyla shook her hand. “Kyla James. I’m sorry about busting in on you earlier, but seems Sean forgot to tell me he had guests.” She cut Sean a sharp look.
“Kyla, I understand. These two are very much a like and when work calls, everything else has a tendency to take a back seat.”
“Let’s go baby.” Jordan took her hand pulling her onto the elevator.
Once the doors closed, Sean started apologizing. “Baby, I’m so sorry. I really did mean to call you. They just showed up.” He pulled her close. “Forgive me?”
She stood with her arms folded in front of her, pouting. “That will cost you another massage and salt scrub during our vacation,” she informed him.
“You’ve got it.” He gently kissed her.
“How long are they staying?”
“Through the weekend.” He dropped his arms and picked up his coat, took it to his room and came back. “I forgot we were eating in tonight.”
“That’s okay. Winnie and I will leave.”
“No, stay.”
“Sean, I really don’t want to intrude.”
“Babe, you’re not intruding.”
She hesitated. “Meeting your family wasn’t on my agenda for tonight. Look at me, I’m a mess.”
“You look beautiful. Please stay,” he begged.
She hesitated. “Fine, that will cost you another spa treatment.”
“What?”
“Hey, I’m not the one who forgot to call his girlfriend.”
“Okay…are we good?”
“For now.” She smirked.
“Good, relax. I’m going to change and by then Jordan and Zoë should be back.” He kissed her and went down to his bedroom.
This wasn’t how she pictured meeting Sean’s brother. She thought that meeting would happen over dinner at LeBernardin or Daniel’s. Not walking in on he and his wife napping. Thank God it wasn’t worse.
Chapter 59
SEAN EXITED THE ELEVATOR, PUT the bag on the counter and let Simon off his leash. Simon took off running and barking. “Simon be quiet, we have company.” The cute little dog quieted down and looked up at him. “I know you want to see Kyla and Winnie, but they’re not coming over this morning.” Simon barked and trotted off to the corner and climbed into his bed, pouting. Sean shook his head. “Sometimes I think you really do understand what I’m saying to you.” He walked into the pantry, came back and Jordan was sitting at the counter. “Oh, hey.”
“I see you and Simon are still having those heart to heart talks,” Jordan teased.
“Yeah, well, it’s my fault. I gave Ky her dog Winnie and Simon has become attached to her.”
“You’re kidding. Simon’s girlfriend is your girlfriend’s dog…I don’t believe it.” He shook his head laughing. “Both of you are whipped.”
“Look who’s talking.”
“And proud of it.”
“Do you want some coffee?” Sean asked.
“Yes, thank you.”
“What time did you two get in?”
Jordan rubbed his head. “I think it was after two.”
“Where did you go?”
“After dinner, we checked out a little jazz club and man, I don’t know where my wife gets her energy.”
“I don’t need to hear any more.” Sean smiled.
“She’s a little spit fire.” He took a couple of sips before continuing. “So let me see it.”
“See what?”
“The ring.” Sean walked down to his bedroom and returned shortly with a small black velvet box, placed it on the counter in front of Jordan, and opened it. “Wow, that’s beautiful.”
“Thanks.”
“I was a little
concerned you might be rushing into things but, after spending time with the two of you the other night, I think the timing is right, but you already knew that.”
“Yeah.”
“So, how are you going to do it?”
“I’m not sure. She’s not the romantic type.” Jordan nodded. “So I was thinking about just placing it in front of her and asking her if she wanted to get married.”
“And it will be you and Simon for the rest of your life.”
“I’m yanking your chain.” They laughed. “There’s a cafe`we frequent and I was thinking about doing it there after hours.”
“A cafe`?”
“It’s where we sort of had our first date.”
“You said she wasn’t romantic, that’s very romantic.”
“I know, but I think if I don’t make it romantic, she’ll be upset with me.”
“They all want the proposal to be romantic. When are you going to do it?”
“Maybe next week…I’ve been trying to work up the nerve.”
“Take it from me, if you’re waiting on your nerves to calm down, that won’t happen until after she says, yes. It’s sort of like a band-aid, you just gotta rip it off.” They laughed “So Simon is sulking?”
“Yep, we had plans with Ky and Winnie and she cancelled.”
“Why? I hope not because of us?”
“Sort of. She said she didn’t want to intrude on your visit and now Simon is upset.” He sipped his coffee.
“Don’t change your plans because of me and Zoë. She’s still sleeping and it’s not like we’re tourists. You know, we used to live here.”
“I know.”
“Call her…take Simon to see his girlfriend.” He reached for a bagel, sliced it and smeared both pieces with cream cheese. “I don’t want to spend the day with the two of you looking sad.”
Sean picked up his phone and pressed the button for Kyla’s number and started walking down the hall. “Good morning.”
“Who’s this?” Kyla laughed. “Just kidding. Good morning.”
“Simon is sulking. Do you want to get breakfast?”
“I thought you were spending the day with Jordan and Zoë?”
“We’re meeting up later. What do you say we spend the day together as planned?”
She hesitated before answering. “I must really love you to get out of my warm bed. I’ll meet you at Swanie’s in about forty-five minutes.” She hung up.
Sean plopped down on the bed with his mouth open, acting like a school girl. “I can’t believe she just said that.” He sat staring at the phone. “Okay, I guess I got my answer God, thank you.” He changed his clothes, put a sweater on Simon and left. He was on cloud nine the entire walk to the restaurant. He and Simon stood outside waiting for Kyla and Winnie. When the taxi pulled up, he paid the driver, helped Kyla out and kissed her passionately in front of the restaurant. No need to wonder anymore, her words and her kiss confirmed that she loved him.
Chapter 60
THE DOORMAN BUZZED AND JORDAN hurried over to answer the phone. “Hello, Mr. Prescott, your godbrother Chris is here in the lobby, should I send him up?”
“Sure.” Jordan hung up the phone and hesitated before saying anything to Zoë. He adjusted his sweater and called out. “Honey…Honey.”
Zoë walked into the kitchen. “Hey, babe, what’s up?”
“Chris is on his way up.”
“Oh.” She sat on the stool at the kitchen counter. “Well it’s not like you didn’t know he was coming.”
“Yeah, but I feel like I’m betraying Sean.”
“You are.” He looked shocked at her frankness.
“I’m just concerned about him.”
“That’s not what you said the other night. Three nights ago, when you woke me up in the middle of the night, saying we needed to come see about Sean, you didn’t care that you might be betraying him,” Zoë reminded him.
“That was because of that weird phone call.”
“And now?”
The elevator dinged and the door opened. Jordan walked over and greeted his godbrother. “Hey man, what’s up?”
“Same ole, same ole.” He walked over and hugged Zoë.
“Hey Zoë, looking good.”
“I know. Where’s Trina?”
“Tyler has a little cold and she didn’t want to bring him out this morning.”
“I understand.”
“How’s my godson?” Chris asked.
“Big. Jordan brought you pictures.” Zoë kissed Jordan on the cheek. “I’ll see you later.”
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to pick up some bagels and go see Trina.”
“We’ll go with you,” Jordan replied.
“No!” She patted Jordan’s chest.
“Excuse me?”
“Trina and I don’t want any part of your little summit.”
“Excuse me?” Chris replied.
“You heard me. We don’t want to listen to the two of you go back and forth about, why Sean shouldn’t be with Kyla. Or how she’s a bad influence on him. Or how he’s making a fool of himself. Or how she’s got him under a spell. Or how it’s just a matter of time until he slips up again. Isn’t that what you guys said the other night on the phone?”
“That’s not exactly true, Zoë,” Chris retorted.
“Oh please, Chris. If Jordan had listened to you, we wouldn’t be married. What is it with you? You act like you’re the only one allowed to be married and have a family.”
“What are you talking about?”
She folded her arms in front of her chest tapping her foot. “Oh, I don’t know, maybe it has something to do with you telling Jordan I was a controlling, manipulative, selfish shrew who was only after his money.”
“I…are you going to let her talk to me like that?” Chris asked.
Jordan threw his arms up. “She’s only speaking the truth.”
“I never called you selfish.”
“You two are a piece of work. I was hoping once we got here and you spent a little time with Kyla and Sean, you would see Chris was just hallucinating his insinuations.”
“Hallucinating,” Chris jumped in and she held her hand up in his face. “Girl, you better…”
“Stop it, both of you,” Jordan shouted back. “Zoë, please apologize.”
She exhaled, turned around and mumbled, “Sorry.”
“Chris.”
“Apology accepted.”
“And?” Jordan looked at him waiting for an identical response.
“And?”
“Apologize for calling my wife a controlling, manipulative, selfish shrew.”
“Sorry I called you selfish.”
“You know what…you aren’t even worth the energy it would take to slap you,” Zoë countered.
“Zo…”
“What? Jordan, I’m not going to stand here and let this idiot talk about my brother-in-law like he’s some stupid kid.”
“What…forget what I said. You’re not a selfish shrew, but a confused stuck up—”
Jordan jumped in. “Stop it. Why does it always turn into a shouting match when you two get together? Zoë, honey, please calm down.”
“But he…”
“And Chris, apologize to my wife or leave.”
He exhaled. “I’m sorry.”
Jordan stood in the middle of the room, rubbing his forehead. “Chris, why did you want to talk?”
He turned around and faced Jordan and cleared his throat. “Like I was saying before Zoë jumped in, Sean is in way over his head with this woman.”
“Please,” Zoë retorted.
“Honey, let him speak.” She threw her hands up. “Chris, continue.”
“He’s known this woman, all of what six months?”
“That’s not true,” Zoë blurted.
“Honey, let Chris finish.”
“But that’s not true,” Zoë rebuffed.
“What do you know?” Chris countered.
“That’s not true,” Chris retorted.
“They’ve been working together a little over six years.”
“Did Sean tell you that?” Jordan asked.
“Yes.”
“Okay, six years, but they’ve only been dating a few months.” Chris snapped back.
“And what, you think just because it hasn’t taken them ten years they can’t be in love?”
“Zoë, honey, that was a low blow.” Jordan knew that was a direct slam to Chris and how long it took him to make up his mind to marry Trina.
“Sorry, but you two haven’t got a clue about what’s going on with Sean.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jordan asked.
“Both of you still see old Sean.” They both looked confused. She shook her head. “Honey, I love you, but you still see Sean as the troubled little brother you took to his first AA meeting. And Chris here only sees the baby Christian that slipped up and had sex with his ex-fiancée.”
“You are so off base,” Chris protested.
“Every time the subject of Sean and a woman comes up, you say the same thing, ‘I hope he doesn’t slip up with this one like he did with Francesca.’ It’s no wonder he didn’t tell you about Leticia.”
“Who?” Jordan asked.
She threw her head back and mumbled, “Sean is gonna kill me.” She took a deep breath. “He met Leticia at the farmer’s market and they were together for quite a while.”
“He never said anything to me about her. What about you Jordan?” Chris asked.
“The other night he mentioned that there had been someone else.”
“When was this?” Chris asked.
“About four years ago,” Zoë confessed. “But she wasn’t the only one.”
“Excuse me?” Jordan questioned her statement.
“There were a couple others, but they weren’t as serious as Leticia.”
“And no one knew?” Chris asked.
“Trina and I knew.”
Chris paced back and forth. “I can’t believe my wife kept that from me. How long was he with…”
“Leticia. About a year and a half. And before you ask. No, he didn’t sleep with her, and they broke up because she wanted to get married, and he wasn’t ready.”
