Man of Fate

by Rochelle Alers

  Rising, Kyle extended his hand to Wyatt. “Thank you.”

  “It’s been a pleasure,” Wyatt said facetiously when he took Kyle’s hand. He turned to Jordan. “Call me at home tonight.”

  Jordan’s gaze softened when he stared at his grandfather. He nodded. “Okay.” Rising to his feet, he walked out of the office to wait near the elevator for Kyle. The tenants’ association had gotten what they wanted, Kyle had gotten what he wanted and, at the mention of becoming a partner, Jordan had gotten what he wanted.

  Kyle met Jordan at the elevator, both men sporting wide grins. “Who were you calling gangsta?” Jordan teased.

  “I didn’t want to believe it when the old man rolled up on me like that.”

  “You’re lucky the old man didn’t draw down on you. I’ve never seen it, but there are rumors that he carries a small automatic concealed on his person. It’s totally unnecessary because he has a driver who doubles as his bodyguard.”

  “Maybe he doesn’t trust his bodyguard.”

  Jordan pushed the button for the elevator, and the doors opened silently. “My grandfather doesn’t trust anyone.” He stood off to the side and waited for Kyle to enter the car, then followed. “Were you serious when you mentioned me becoming a partner?”

  Kyle stared at Jordan, recognizing his hunger for success and the need to prove his worthiness. The question was: to whom? “Yes, Jordan, I am quite serious about making you partner. I’ve already instructed the office manager to change the letterhead to read Chatham and Wainwright.”

  Jordan closed his eyes and said a silent prayer of thanks. He liked working for and with Kyle, enjoyed advocating for the firm’s clients and he liked Harlem. Many times he took his lunch outside the office and wound up touring the neighborhood.

  He opened his eyes. “Thank you, Kyle.”

  “There’s no need to thank me. You’ve earned it. You’ve been putting in a lot of hours.”

  “I feel like celebrating. Why don’t you come by and see my new place? I’m seeing a girl who’s in culinary school and I get to test everything she prepares. I’ll ask her to put something together and we can toast my good fortune over drinks.”

  “I’d like to, but I promised my girlfriend that we would go out for dinner.”

  “Why don’t you come and bring her with you? I’m certain anything Natasha would prepare would equal or surpass a restaurant meal.”

  “Okay, Jordan. Ava and I will come see your new house and toast your success. I want you to take the rest of the day off. You’ll have just twenty-four hours to bask in your newfound success, because tomorrow you’ll have to jump back on the treadmill.” He and his new partner shared a smile. “What time is your soirée?”

  “Cocktails will be served at seven and dinner at eight.”

  The elevator arrived at the lobby, and Kyle and Jordan stood outside the steel-and-glass building talking for a few minutes before parting with a promise to see one another later that evening.

  CHAPTER 17

  “Do you have me on speaker, Kyle?”

  “Yes, I do, Mom.”

  “You know I hate it when you do that. You sound as if you’re in a tunnel.”

  “I can’t hold the phone, talk to you and dress myself at the same time.” Kyle tightened the knot in his tie and then turned down the shirt collar.

  “Do you want me to call you back at another time?” Frances Chatham asked.

  Picking up the cordless instrument, Kyle deactivated the speaker. “No, Mom.”

  “I just called to thank you for the anniversary gift. The gift certificate from that Arizona spa arrived today. Elwin complained about going to a place where women sat around in fluffy white bathrobes with mudpacks on their faces until I told him there were spa packages for men, too, that include massages, facials and golfing. I think it was the mention of golf that made him change his mind about going with me. I want to thank you for thinking of us, Kyle. Sedona isn’t that far from Phoenix, so after we leave the spa we’re going to spend a couple of days with Sandra and the grandbabies.”

  “You don’t have to thank me, Mom.”

  “Yes, I do, Kyle. You always remember our anniversary.”

  Kyle smiled. “It’s kind of hard not to remember when it falls on my birthday. And, I’d like to thank you for the wonderful card.”

  “You are quite welcome, son. How does it feel to be thirty-nine?”

  “I feel good. In fact, I feel very, very good.” Kyle adjusted the receiver between his chin and shoulder as he sat down on a padded bench to slip into his shoes. He told his mother about the surprise birthday celebration at Micah’s house.

  “That was very generous of him to do that,” Frances said. “I still can’t believe that Micah is a married man. I remember him saying he would never get married. If he can do it, so can you.”

  “The difference between Micah and me is that Micah said he was never going to marry. I’ve never said that.”

  “Do you think you’ll ever get married, son?”

  Leaning over, Kyle tied his shoelaces. “I’m sure I will. But she has to be the right woman.”

  “There are no right and wrong women, Kyle. What you’re looking for is perfection, and there are no perfect women in the world, just like there’re no perfect men. We all come with flaws. What you have to do is ignore or overlook the flaws to appreciate the better qualities.”

  He smiled. “It all sounds good, Mom. You’ll be the first to know when I find that almost perfect, slightly flawed woman who makes me consider putting a ring on her finger. Right now it’s not going to happen.”

  “Why are you always so cynical when it comes to the topic of marriage?”

  “I’m not cynical, Mom. Marriage is an important and sacred institution, but you’d never know it by the soaring divorce rates. When I commit to marrying a woman I don’t want it to be like test-driving a car. Either I’m in it for the duration or I’m going to stay single. I have no qualms about ending a relationship if it means saving myself from an emotional breakdown. Ivan has enough screwed-up folks on his couch crying about their messed-up marriages and relationships. I don’t intend to become one of them.”

  “Are you looking for someone?”

  “Unconsciously I’m always looking for the woman who’ll become the one. The ultimate challenge is finding her.”

  Kyle saw movement out the corner of his eye. Turning, he saw Ava standing in the doorway to his dressing room. Smiling, he beckoned her closer. He’d called to ask her if she wouldn’t mind a change of plans for the evening, and she’d agreed to accompany him to Jordan’s rather than have dinner at local restaurant. He’d given her a set of keys to his house and told her to hold on to them. It was apparent she’d used them to let herself in.

  “Mom, I’d love to talk some more, but I have to go or I’m going to be late for an appointment.”

  “Thanks again for the anniversary gift.”

  “You’re welcome. I’ll call you in a couple of days.”

  “Goodbye, son. I love you.”

  “I love you, too, Mom.”

  A sheepish grin crossed his face as he hung up. “That was my mother.”

  Ava forced a brittle smile. Her mouth was smiling, but inside, her stomach muscles felt as if they were tied into knots. She’d walked in on Kyle in time to hear him say he was always subconsciously looking for the right woman. What a fool she’d been, because she’d believed that she was that woman.

  It was a case of history repeating itself. She’d dated Anthony exclusively during college, believing they were going to marry following graduation, but it hadn’t happened because Anthony claimed he’d found someone else better suited to his temperament.

  Ava had met Anthony King her first week at Columbia and it was as if she’d been struck by a bolt of lightning. The psychology major was sitting in a coffee shop with a group of boys and when she’d walked in to find every seat occupied, he got up and offered her his seat. Of course, he became the butt of jokes when
his friends called him Sir Anthony because of his chivalrous exhibition. They laughed while she was impressed.

  Both were considered nerds, and this suited Ava just fine because she’d come to New York’s Columbia University to study, not party.

  Anthony lived in a small dorm room while she shared a two-bedroom apartment with her Iowan roommate. Anthony stayed over so often that Ava felt as if they were living together. What she hadn’t known until it was too late was that the nights he didn’t stay over he was sleeping with another student at his dorm—a girl better suited to his temperament.

  His announcement had caught her completely by surprise, and she’d walked around shell-shocked for months. Thankfully she’d secured a teaching position in a school in Alphabet City and having to deal with a classroom of noisy, hyperactive first-graders forced the focus on her career.

  Kyle claimed he loved her, wanted to take care of her, yet unconsciously he was looking for a woman to replace her.

  Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Ava Warrick had no intention of playing the fool to a man to whom she’d given her heart. At least with William Marshall she didn’t have to deal with another woman. It was just him and his crazy perception of life.

  She walked over and touched her cheek to his. “You smell nice.”

  Damn, I’m good. Ava couldn’t believe what a consummate actress she’d become. She’d promised Kyle that she would go with him to his law associate’s home for an informal cocktail party and she planned to follow through on her promise. She’d also promised to sleep over and she would follow through on that promise, too.

  Tonight was already scripted, but she wasn’t so certain about tomorrow. What Ava had to decide was whether to walk out of Kyle’s life as she’d done with Will, or to confront him about what she’d overheard him tell his mother. The latter posed a problem because he could accuse her of eavesdropping.

  Then there was always the wait-and-see method. Wait to see if what they had was worth fighting for before she decided to let it go. Her internal struggle was that she loved Kyle, loved him more than she’d loved any other man in her life.

  * * *

  Kyle smiled at the woman who made him feel like a kid with a crush on a girl who wouldn’t give him a glance or the time of day, a woman who had him craving her like an addiction and a woman who had him thinking about sharing his future with her. He’d lied to his mother when he’d told her he was looking for a woman he wanted to marry, because he didn’t want Frances to become the town crier, calling every family member to tell them her firstborn was going to jump the broom.

  “You look incredible, darling.” And she did. Ava wore a little black dress that hugged every curve of her sexy body. The squared neckline, capped sleeves and hem ending at her knees were simple and elegant. His gaze moved down to her smooth, bare legs and groomed feet in a pair of strappy black stilettos.

  Ava lowered her gaze, peering up at him through her lashes. “Thank you.”

  Dipping his head, Kyle kissed her cheek. “I love taking you out and showing you off.”

  “Like a hood ornament?”

  A frown settled into his features. “Why would you say something like that, Ava?”

  “Didn’t you say you like showing me off? Isn’t that what men do with women they think of as eye candy?”

  “You’re a lot more than eye candy.”

  “What am I, Kyle?”

  “You’re the love of my life.”

  “But for how long?”

  “What!”

  “You heard me, Kyle. How long will I remain the love of your life?”

  “I’d like to believe I’d be around after the end of September.”

  “What are you talking about?” Ava had never known Kyle to talk in riddles.

  “Wasn’t it you who said we’d only be together for three months? Then my very beautiful genie granted me an additional month.”

  “Did I say that?”

  “Yes, you did.” Pushing back his shirt cuff, Kyle looked at his watch. “We have to go or we’re going to be late.”

  Ava was more confused now than she’d been when she’d walked in and overheard Kyle talking to his mother. She hadn’t thought Kyle would take her seriously when she’d said they would be together for three months. It was something that had come to mind at that moment.

  Maybe, just maybe, Kyle Chatham could become the last man in her life. She would celebrate her thirty-fifth birthday in December and she hadn’t wanted to start over looking for a man.

  Before meeting Kyle, Ava had believed she didn’t need to be married and that not bearing a child could still make her feel like a complete woman, but she’d lied to herself. Maybe her change of heart had come from spending the two weeks with her sister. After several false starts, Aisha had finally found the love of her life. She lived in a beautiful home, had a loving and protective husband and a new baby.

  Ava knew she was in denial.

  Ava wanted to be married.

  Ava wanted Kyle Chatham.

  Ava Warrick wanted to become the mother of Kyle Chatham’s babies.

  Kyle waved a hand in front Ava’s face. “Where were you?”

  Her eyelids fluttered. “What?”

  “You just zoned out on me. I said we have to leave or we’re going to be late.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “Ninety-eighth and Fifth.”

  “That’s not too far.”

  Kyle, resting his hand in the small of Ava’s back, steered her out of the dressing room. “I’m not driving.”

  “How are we getting there?”

  “Jordan’s sending a car.”

  A black-suited driver, leaning against the bumper of a Town Car, straightened when Kyle and Ava descended the steps to the street. He opened the rear door, waiting until his passengers were seated before closing the door and sitting down behind the wheel.

  Kyle held on to Ava’s hand during the short ride until the driver maneuvered in front of the prewar highrise steps from Central Park and Mount Sinai Hospital. The building’s doorman opened the door, assisting Ava when she placed one foot on the sidewalk, then the other. Kyle surreptitiously slipped the driver a bill, then took Ava’s arm and led her into the opulently appointed lobby.

  He gave the doorman his name and who he was visiting, and they were escorted to Jordan’s maisonette. A passing elevator attendant slowed to take furtive glances at Ava’s legs. Yes, he thought, she’s all mine.

  Jordan stood in the doorway, smiling. “Welcome, welcome.”

  Kyle exchanged a handshake and embrace with his law partner. Reaching into the breast pocket of his jacket, he handed Jordan a small, silver-wrapped box. “Here’s a little something to commemorate your new position.”

  Jordan slapped Kyle’s broad back. “Thanks, partner. Please come in so I can make the proper introductions before showing you around the place.”

  Ava gaped at the tall, tanned and incredibly handsome man who had become Kyle’s law partner. K. E. Chatham Legal Services was now Chatham and Wainwright, PC, Attorneys at Law. She felt a shiver go through her when Jordan focused his large hazel eyes on her. The recessed lighting in the spacious foyer glinted off the shimmering green.

  Jordan extended a large, groomed hand. “Jordan Wainwright.”

  Ava placed her hand on his palm. “Ava Warrick.”

  He inclined his head in a gesture she interpreted as reverence. “It’s my deepest pleasure to welcome you into my home.”

  Ava gave Kyle a sidelong glance, wanting to ask him if Jordan Wainwright was for real. The young attorney was the epitome of formality. “Thank you for inviting us.”

  “Jordan, darling, I see that our guests have arrived.”

  Kyle turned to find a petite, dark-skinned woman with a profusion of tiny twists of hair secured on the top of her head. Several of them had escaped to cascade on her nape and over her ears. She wore a white chef’s tunic over black cropped pants. She’d pushed her tiny feet int
o black ballet-type shoes. He smiled as realization dawned. Jordan’s rift with his grandfather was because he was dating an African-American woman.

  Jordan held out his hand and she floated over to take it. “Natasha, this is Kyle Chatham, whom I never stop talking about, and the beautiful lady with him is Ava Warrick. Kyle, Ava, this is Natasha Parker. She’s putting together the most exquisite dinner.” Ava and Kyle exchanged handshakes with Natasha.

  Natasha rested a hand on Jordan’s suit jacket. “Will you please serve the cocktails while I get the hors d’oeuvres?”

  “Of course, honey. Kyle, Ava, please follow me.”

  Ava found herself in an enormous living room with twelve-foot ceilings and wall-to-wall windows. The apartment was filled with antiques and reproductions, reminding her of furnishings on display at museums.

  “What are you drinking, Ava?”

  She remembered the last time she had had an alcoholic drink, when she and Kyle had wound up copulating on the floor of the shower stall. “I’ll have a white wine.”

  Jordan opened a built-in refrigerator and removed a bottle of wine. “How about you, Kyle?”

  “I’ll have a Scotch and soda.”

  “Good choice.”

  The three waited for Natasha to return before they toasted one another and the new partnership. The aspiring chef had prepared hot and cold hors d’oeuvres that demonstrated her unique cooking talent.

  Jordan showed them around the apartment, which featured split bedrooms, two bathrooms, one with a Jacuzzi, and a gourmet kitchen with Miele appliances, a formal dining room and a spacious living room. A back-door entrance led into the kitchen and a maid’s room and bath. The area also had a pantry and a laundry room with a washer and dryer.

  The cocktail hour ended and at exactly eight o’clock they sat down to a dinner of crown rib roast, blanched green beans and saffron rice. A fragrant red wine accompanied the meal and after her second glass of wine that evening Ava wanted to curl up and go to sleep. When she’d remarked on the quality of the merlot, Jordan revealed that a case of red and white wines had arrived that afternoon, compliments of Kyle. Dinner ended with a dessert of meringues dusted with cinnamon, coffee and various cordials.