Higher Love

by Alexandria House

  It was from Derek: I’m waiting for u and I hope ur sexy ass is wearing a skirt.

  Me: A skirt and no panties.

  Derek: Aw, shit!!!!!! Hurry up and get here!

  Me: Getting on the elevator now.

  Phone in hand, I stepped into the elevator with a huge smile on my face. I couldn’t wait to see my man. I waited as the elevator filled with bodies and dropped my smile when Tami, who looked like she was exactly one second from exploding, boarded and stood near the doors. She glanced toward the back where I stood and gave me a little smile. I frowned.

  We both got off on the same floor, of course, and headed toward the offices of Sable Inc., Tami a few paces ahead of me. Imagine my surprise when she stopped in her tracks down the hall from the office and faced me. “I want to ask you a favor,” she said, giving me some weird-ass sincere look.

  I glanced around at the empty hallway. “A favor? You don’t even know me.”

  “I know of you. Lloyd has nothing but really good things to say about you.”

  I tilted my neck back and scoffed. “Am I supposed to be excited about Lloyd’s opinion of me?”

  “No, it’s just that I need your help with something for him, and I thought you’d be more willing if you understood neither he nor I hold any malice for you.”

  Was this bitch out of her mind? “Malice? Are you insane?” I stepped around her and continued toward the office.

  “Wait! If I apologize for sleeping with Lloyd while you were with him will you at least hear me out?”

  I turned back around and moved closer to her. “Maybe, but make it quick. My man, your husband’s boss, is waiting to bend me over his desk and screw my brains out.”

  She blinked hard. “Oh...well, I’m sorry for sleeping with Lloyd while the two of you were together. It was wrong, but we just happened to fall in love.”

  “Mm-hmm…”

  “And I wanted to ask if maybe you could stop flaunting your relationship with Mr. Hill in front of Lloyd. He’s having a hard time concentrating on his job, because he says you’re always there meeting with Mr. Hill. He’s sure you were seeing him before you two broke up.”

  “Do I look like I give any variable amount of damns about that? He can think what he wants.”

  “Well, he’s thinking about quitting, and I’ve already let him uproot me once because of you.” There was an edge to her voice.

  “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “He felt so guilty about how things worked out with you, he decided to leave Dallas, and then he gets here and runs into you again and you’re with the CEO. It’s been hard for him to cope with.”

  I just stood there and stared at her. How could I respond to this craziness? Was she actually trying to blame me for what they did?

  “We can’t move again. Not right now. We’re about to have a baby.”

  She sounded so serious, so sincere, I almost didn’t say what I said.

  Almost.

  I chuckled lightly. “Soooo, you’re standing here telling me your husband is jealous of me and my man? You know how pathetic you sound?”

  “I—”

  “Look, I’m not going to stop doing shit to spare Lloyd’s feelings. He’s your problem now. Not mine. Now you have a nice day, a nice week, hell, a nice life, but don’t come at me with this stupidity ever again.”

  I turned to leave then stopped and faced her again. “If you had asked, I would’ve told you Lloyd ain’t shit. Now you know, don’t you?”

  A few seconds later, I entered the main office, waved at the receptionist, and headed straight to Derek’s office, passing Lloyd’s office and flashing him a dazzling smile on my way there. I knocked and let myself into Derek’s office where he greeted me with a smile and a tight embrace. I eyed the food set up on a table in the corner of the room and whispered, “Close the blinds, baby.”

  He backed away a little and with a grin, said, “You want dessert first, huh?”

  I bit my bottom lip and nodded.

  After he hurriedly locked the door and closed the blinds on the windows that gave him a view of the cubicles, I pulled my skirt up around my waist, bent over the desk, and sang, “Come and get it.”

  29

  A trip to Vail, Colorado, sounded like a good idea, especially since it was January and it was miserably cold in Texas, miserably cold without the benefit of the gorgeous snowy landscape characteristic of Vail. So when I took a poll of my followers to find out where they wanted me to visit next, I was both shocked and happy to oblige them by traveling to the winter wonderland. When I invited Derek and he agreed to accompany me, the idea of going there went from good to excellent. So I began researching the area as I always did before a trip, and came up with an itinerary for our three-day vacation. But, the day before we were to leave, he backed out. I made all these plans for us, and he gave me some business-related excuse at the last minute. And, no, our black asses weren’t hitting the slopes or anything like that, but there were plans and now I’d have to do all that shit alone.

  And I was pissed at him.

  Very pissed.

  So pissed that when he kissed me goodbye the morning of my departure and told me to have fun, I rolled my eyes. I stalked around the house for an hour after he left for work, didn’t even call him as I usually would when I boarded the jet. The crazy thing is, I don’t know why I was so mad at him. It wasn’t as if I wasn’t accustomed to traveling alone. In all the years I’d been a travel blogger, even before it became a full-time gig for me, I almost always traveled alone except for a few times when Denise or Trevia or both of them tagged along and the very rare occasion Lloyd accompanied me. For the most part, I loved traveling alone. Sure, there were times I wished someone I cared for could experience certain things with me, but I’d never felt so despondent about traveling alone before. I suppose it was the thought of being separated from Derek that bothered me more than anything. I just didn’t want to be away from him. Not then. Not ever.

  Because I loved him.

  Really and truly I did. He was my first real love. Not Lloyd Robinson or anyone else. Just Derek Dwight Hill.

  I reclined in the soft leather seat and gazed out the window at the sky and the clouds and wished I was in his arms right that moment.

  *****

  The lodge in Vail was warm and homey and cozy, decorated in shades of brown with a rustic feel to it. It was one of the top-rated lodging establishments in the area, and a Sable Jets affiliate. I had the presence of mind to take photos of the exterior and the interior common areas, but the thrill I usually felt when I traveled was gone. Shit, Derek Hill had tamed my ass for real, had me wishing I was on his couch waiting for him to get home from work.

  So I spent my first day in Vail pouting in my room. Damn near jumped for joy when Derek called me that evening. I was equal parts mad at him and elated to hear his voice.

  “So how was day one? You get some good pictures for your blog?”

  “A few...”

  “A few? I thought the itinerary you made was packed with stuff.”

  “It is. I just didn’t feel like doing any of it today, so I stayed in my room.”

  “Stayed in your room? What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.”

  “You sick?”

  “No, I’m not sick.”

  “Then what is it?”

  “I told you. Nothing.”

  “Greer, come on. Tell me what’s wrong.”

  “You know what’s wrong. I wanted you to come with me. You’re supposed to be here. Not there. I’m lonely.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I miss you.”

  “You know I miss you, too. I’ll make it up to you. I promise.”

  “If you say so...”

  “You ever known me to lie to you?”

  I sighed. “No.”

  “Then you know I’ll make it up to you. I had to stay here and work. It couldn’t be avoided, baby.”

  “What happened to all that big bad ‘I
’m the CEO’ stuff?”

  “Even the CEO has to work from time to time. Hey, promise me you’ll go out and do some stuff tomorrow. I’m making this request not only as your man but as your business associate. The Nubian Nomad is your baby. Don’t let your readers or Sable Jets down because I messed up.”

  “You didn’t mess up. You had to work. That’s what grown-ups do.”

  “So you forgive me?”

  “Yes, but when I get home on Sunday you better be waiting for me butt-ass naked.”

  “Hell, I already planned to do that. I love you. Enjoy yourself, okay?”

  “I love you, too. I’ll try.”

  *****

  The next morning, Derek called and gave me a little pep talk encouraging me to seize the day and do all I could to bring Vail to my readers. So after a huge breakfast, I dressed in some of the warm, expensive clothes I bought specially for the trip and ventured into town, where I lost track of time shopping and eating and taking tons of pictures. I even tweeted and Instagrammed a bunch of them, and I sent Derek a video of me having lunch. By dinner time, I was exhausted and had decided to forgo eating and just collapse into bed. I entered the lodge with shopping bags in both hands, my mind so preoccupied with the idea of getting some rest that I ran right into someone. “Oh, excuse me. I’m sorry,” I said, only giving them half a glance.

  “You good, girl.”

  I stopped and looked at the woman. I’d know her voice anywhere. “Denise?!” I shrieked, as I dropped the bags and threw my arms around her. “What are you doing here?”

  She giggled and backed away a bit. “What are any of us doing here?”

  With a deeply furrowed brow, I asked, “What?” I looked around and almost instantly pressed my hand to my mouth. Lit candles occupied every surface in the huge, living room-like lobby. Five or six people were standing around me, all dressed in white. In the dimness, I had to really focus before recognizing Trevia and Derek’s brother and sister-in-law. Hell, even Millie was there. Then I turned and behind me saw a sight that made me gasp. “Mama? Daddy?”

  I rushed to my smiling parents and hugged them both at the same time. They were dressed in white, too. “What’s going on?” I asked through tears. “Why are y’all here?”

  “I invited them. I invited everyone.”

  Derek.

  His voice came from somewhere behind me. I was afraid that if I turned to face him, I’d lose it. So I didn’t.

  His voice grew closer as he continued speaking. “I wanted this to be special. I wanted to be sure everyone we knew and loved, those that are closest to us, were here for this.”

  Tears poured from my eyes as my parents smiled at me. I felt a hand on my shoulder, heard Derek say, “I flew them all here for you. For us.”

  I sniffled. “That’s why you wanted me to leave the lodge today?”

  “Yes.”

  I smiled and shook my head but didn’t and couldn’t face him yet.

  “Greer, when I met you all those months ago, I knew you were beautiful, smart, fearless, fiery, and more than a little mysterious. What I didn’t know was that you held the key to my heart inside of you.”

  I was blubbering like an idiot. I mean, I had Kim Kardashian beat with my ugly cry.

  He reached for my hand and spun me around to face him. Dressed in a crisp white Mandarin collar shirt and white slacks with his dreadlocks pulled into a neat ponytail at the back of his head, he looked like everything I’d ever dreamed of, my king.

  He lowered himself onto one knee, and I tightly shut my eyes and told myself to stop crying. Myself didn’t listen.

  “Open your eyes, baby,” he softly said.

  I did, and almost fell backward at the sight of the ring he held. It made Lloyd’s ring look like it came from the dollar store.

  “Greer Charlene Kennedy, I love you with all my heart and soul. You are everything to me, and I want to spend the rest of my life making you as happy as you’ve made me. I want to see the world with you, have kids with you, grow old with you. Greer, will you marry me?”

  I swiped at my wet eyes and sighed. “Y-yes. Yes, I will. I love you so much.”

  He slid the ring onto my finger, stood, and pulled me to him. I wrapped my arms around him and cried tears of joy until I could cry no more.

  30

  Lying on my back with Greer’s naked body straddling mine, I smiled, happy that my plan had all worked out. A million things could’ve gone wrong. Greer could have returned to the lodge before we were ready, or someone could’ve backed out of coming, or she could’ve said no. Anything. But as it stood, everything worked out, and the woman peering down at me was now my fiancée.

  “You made me cry. Not just cry, but ugly cry,” she said.

  “I didn’t mean to, but they were tears of joy, right?”

  “Absolutely. But how did you pull this off? How’d you get in touch with Trevia and Denise and my parents? You’d never even met any of them before now, right?”

  “You don’t have a password or lock code on your phone. All I had to do was knock you out with some sex and snoop and get the numbers.”

  She threw her head back and laughed. “Is that right? You think you be knocking me out?”

  I raised an eyebrow. “You saying I don’t? Am I gonna have to prove myself?”

  “No, baby. I was just playing. You know you be putting me in comas on the regular.”

  I reached up and pulled her down onto my chest. “Naw, don’t get scared now.”

  “I’m not scared, just tired, exhausted. And…thank you.”

  I rubbed her back and gently kissed her lips. “For what?”

  “For being a real man and showing me real love. And...for proving that Lloyd’s ring was cheap.”

  I grinned. “I told your ass. I love you, Greer. I don’t think you have any idea how much.”

  “Can’t be as much as I love you.” She kissed me, sat up, and reached down between us, grabbing hold of my manhood which sprung to attention, as it always did for her.

  Looking into her eyes, I said, “I thought you were tired.”

  “I am,” she replied, as she guided me inside of her. “I want you to put me in one of those comas.”

  I grabbed her hips and sucked in a breath. “You got it, baby.”

  *****

  On the flight back home, Greer set us up some joint social media accounts since I didn’t have any (just wasn’t my thing) so I could reconnect with some of my old friends and invite them to the wedding that I wanted to have sooner rather than later. But I knew it would take time to plan everything, and I wanted her to have whatever she wanted—big or small. All I knew was I felt like the luckiest man on earth to have found this woman where I did when I did. I was feeling so good, I seriously considered giving Lloyd Robinson a raise. Stevie Wonder could look at him and sense his misery. He messed up, and he knew it, but to my advantage. Any man who would let go of a woman like Greer was a damn fool, and I wasn’t going to ever let that happen to me. She was mine, and I was hers.

  Forever.

  31

  We weren’t doing shit.

  I mean, we were doing absolutely nothing...and I loved it. I loved just sitting in his living room wearing an old pair of jeans and my favorite t-shirt, reading a book while he sat right next to me on his laptop reading something on some business website. He was wearing sweats and a t-shirt. No underwear because I could tell, and my mouth watered every time I glanced in his direction. I was content to be there in that big room with its manly but cozy decor. Very content.

  I felt with him the same way I felt when I first started traveling, like I had discovered some hidden part of myself. It was kind of like learning a new skill. The person is whole to begin with, but with the new skill, they are an enhanced version of who they already were. Derek didn’t necessarily complete me, because I was already a fully-actualized woman before I knew him. I understood who I was and what my place was in the world. I was fully aware of what I liked and disliked. I kne
w where I was in my career and where I was trying to go. Connecting my life to Derek’s enhanced me, gave me someone to share myself with on every level. And while he enhanced me, I complemented him, gave him someone he could be himself with, made it okay for him to be both the Derek I met in Virginia and the Texas CEO at the same time.

  “Why’re you staring at me?” he asked, closing the laptop and giving me his attention.

  “I’m tryna figure out how you could possibly look that good in sweats and a t-shirt. You know you’re fine, right? I mean, you have been told that once or twice before?”

  He shrugged as he reached over and squeezed my thigh. “I think it was just once.”

  “You’re such a liar.”

  “Okay, twice.”

  I rolled my eyes.

  He glanced at his watch. “Hmm, it’s almost noon. What do you want to do today?”

  “Honestly, I wanna sit right here and chill with you. Maybe watch a movie or something on TV or Netflix.”

  “Is that right? What about lunch? Want me to run out and grab something?”

  I shook my head. “I can fix us something. You’re getting a full-service woman here. I cook, I clean. Okay, I clean sometimes. I—”

  “You put it on me in the bedroom...”

  I giggled. “You’re so crazy!”

  With a big, cheesy grin on his face, he said, “You do. How do you think you got that ring?”

  “I better have it because you love me!”

  “I do love you, baby. I also love it when you put it on me.”

  “Wow, and all this time I thought you wanted me for my brain, my beauty…”

  “I do...and your booty.”

  I swatted at him and he grabbed my arm, pulling me to him. “You know I love the hell out of you, right?”

  “I do. You know I love you, right?”

  “Yeah, and seriously, baby, I love you because you’re real. You’re real enough to curse me out if you need to, you’re real enough to have my back when I need it, and you’re real enough to walk the red carpet one day and sit here and be bored with me the next and not complain.”