by Zuri Day
Avery totally did not mean for all of that to come out but once the words began spilling out, she couldn’t stop them. When she finished, Jake laughed so hard he put a smile on her face.
“I’m sorry. I’ve been holding that in for two weeks and once I opened my mouth...”
“The lava flowed, huh?”
“Ha! The lava flowed. He’s doing okay, though?”
“Seems fine. Doesn’t mean it’s true. Men hide their feelings.”
“Women erupt.”
“You said that.”
“I can’t believe how much I said.”
“Listen, Cayden’s my friend and I’m not one to get in the middle of another couple’s situation. I will tell you that what happened with Brittany all those years ago definitely scarred him. It’s hard to gain his trust, and if ever broken it’s hard to get it back.”
“Did he tell you what happened?”
“Not in detail.”
“He thinks I plotted with Brittany. It wasn’t like that at all. I had no idea that what I thought was a favor to her would have a negative impact on him.”
“Did you tell him that?”
“I tried, the night it happened. He wouldn’t listen then and now won’t take my calls.”
“I can’t change that, Avery. He’s an adult.”
“Can you at least tell him that I called and asked about him and that I would still like to explain exactly what happened?”
“Why is that so important to you, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Because Cayden isn’t the only one who’s trust has been betrayed. I know that feeling and it sucks. Which is why I’d never do that to anyone I care about. I’m not Brittany. My reputation matters. I’d prefer that Cayden cut ties based on truth, rather than stay angry based on a lie.”
“I like you, Avery.” She could hear the smile in his voice. “I’ll give Cayden your message.”
“Thank you.”
Avery fell back against the couch, exhausted and relieved. She’d said to Jake what she couldn’t say to Cayden. The next move, if there was one, would be on him.
Twenty-Three
Cayden was nervous to the point of almost being physically ill. Bob had called and asked to see him right away. The Society of Ma’at conference was held two weeks ago, but as of last week when he’d questioned Bob about the results, he said final decisions hadn’t come down. All the way from his home to Bob’s house, which was on the other side of Point du Sable’s downtown, Cayden tried to imagine what had come of the board’s investigation. Had they confirmed the truth of his innocence and made a decision? By the time he arrived and rang the doorbell, he still hadn’t figured it out.
Bob opened the door. He wasn’t smiling.
Cayden covered his fear with bravado. “Mr. Masters! Good to see you.”
Bob nodded but remained somber. “Come on in, son.”
Two steps in and Cayden’s world went black. A hood had been thrown over his head. He was being corralled by what felt like two or three men on all sides of him. Wrestling against their vicelike grip was useless.
“Hey, let go of me! What’s going on? Mr. Masters? Bob!”
As they wrangled him down a flight of stairs, Cayden realized that either he was being kidnapped for a ransom his mother, Tami, couldn’t possibly pay, or he was being initiated into the überexclusive fraternal order of the Society of Ma’at.
It was the latter. Cayden Barker was a Society man! Later that night, he was invited to the Estates for a dinner attended by only SOMA men. There were pats on the back and hearty congratulations. He received his SOMA ring. It was a milestone he’d dared not put on his bucket list, yet the impossible had happened before he’d turned thirty. He was in a room filled with powerful, successful men of integrity who believed he belonged there. In a rare moment of nostalgia, Cayden thought about the father he could barely remember, the one who left when he was five. His thoughts drifted to someone else, too. Avery. They hadn’t talked for over a month. He missed her. Over the past couple days, his anger had subsided. He’d begun to allow his mind to consider what his heart already knew. What Jake, Lisa and even Avery had tried to tell him. She hadn’t known what was in the envelope. Unlike Brittany, she told the truth. He wanted to leave right then to speak with her but being the guest of honor that wouldn’t be cool. So he smiled and joked through dessert, cigars and brandy before thanking his new brothers for taking time from their busy schedules to welcome him into the family. When he headed toward the door, Jake fell in beside him.
“What’s going on?”
“About what?”
“Whatever had your attention for the second half of the evening. What does that song say? Your body was here but your mind was on the other side of town.”
Was he that transparent? “You’re tripping.”
“Am I? Or are you finally coming to your senses about Avery, and almost ready to give her another chance. Or a phone call at the very least.”
They reached the set of doors leading to the parking area.
“You think you know everything, don’t you?”
“Pretty much.” Jake opened the door, then followed Cayden outside. “So when are you going to call her?”
“Man, get some business.”
“You are my business.”
“Whatever.” They reached Cayden’s Porsche. Cayden turned to give Jake a shoulder hug. “I appreciate what you guys did for me tonight.”
“You deserve everything, man. You’ve earned it.”
“Thanks again, bro.” Cayden slid into the velvety leather seat and started the car.
“Call Avery!” Jake threw up a wave, but Cayden had sped away.
As he left Bob’s house, he tapped the steering wheel to engage his phone. For several weeks, Avery’s number had occupied a top spot on the digital Rolodex screen that listed people based on number of calls. That he had to say her name was telling. It had been a long time since they talked. Cayden reached the main road. After sitting there for several seconds, he canceled placing a call, bypassed his home and hit the interstate on the way to Chicago. A conversation with Avery was long overdue. He hoped she was home.
With twenty minutes to think about it, Cayden changed his mind about a surprise visit. He didn’t have the right to bum-rush her like that. They hadn’t spoken in over a month. What if she’d moved on? As long as it had taken to make up his mind, Cayden decided, the move would serve him right. He pulled into a corner gas station and tapped Avery’s number. The sound of her ringing phone reverberated through him. That she didn’t want to take his call or talk with him was something else he hadn’t thought about. Her answering machine kicked in. He didn’t leave a message. After idling in the gas lane for a minute, weighing his limited options, he put the car in gear and headed toward the exit that would put him in the proper lane to turn right and enter the interstate on-ramp. Just before he exited the gas station, his phone rang.
“Hello, Avery.”
“Cayden.”
Defensive. Guarded. He understood.
“It’s been a while since we’ve talked.”
Silence. She wasn’t going to make it easy.
“Look, if this is about Lisa and what hap—”
“I’m glad Lisa did what she did. But this isn’t about that. I wanted to see you, to have the conversation now that you wanted to have back then. At the time, I was too upset to listen to anything you had to say, or what anyone else said for that matter. But I’ve had time to cool off, take a step back and analyze the whole situation and...it wasn’t fair of me to cut things off without us having a real conversation. That’s why I’m calling. If you’re open to it, I’d really appreciate getting together.”
“I could do that.”
“Good. How about now?”
“It’s late.”
“This d
oesn’t have to take long. I’ll understand if you can’t see me tonight, but I don’t want to wait. We had some amazing times together, Avery. If after meeting we go our separate ways, then okay. But I do have a few things I’d like to say to you.”
“I don’t want to argue.”
“Me, either.”
A pause and then, “Where are you?”
“In the city, actually, not too far from your neighborhood. Where are you?”
“At Kaphraos.”
Cayden smiled at the irony. He’d passed her on the way to Chicago. The Thai restaurant, a take-out favorite, was less than ten minutes from his house. “Is it possible for me to meet you there in, say, twenty minutes? Can you wait?”
“Okay.”
A car Cayden hadn’t noticed was behind him beeped his horn. Cayden pressed the accelerator, veered onto the on-ramp and unleashed the Porsche’s horses. A drive that should have taken at least twenty minutes was done in ten.
He walked into Kaphraos and scanned the tables. She half stood and waved. Cayden thought she looked thinner than he remembered. The devilish glint in her eyes when she’d tease him had been replaced by wariness. Her expression gave nothing away. Had he done that?
Once at the table, he offered a genuine smile. How much he’d missed her was evident in how rapidly his heart beat now. He wanted to hug her. That might be presumptuous. But considering where his lips had touched her body, a handshake seemed far too formal.
He removed his coat and sat down. “Hey there.”
“Hi.”
“Thanks for waiting.”
She nodded. “No problem.”
“You dining alone tonight?”
“Lisa and the fam had just left when you called.”
Cayden noticed the friendly server who often waited on him about to come over. He shook his head just enough to halt her steps. His gaze returned to Avery’s face. His heart dropped from the hurt that he saw there.
“Avery, baby, I’m truly sorry for how everything went down.”
He hadn’t meant to use the affectionate term. It slipped out. But seeing how her face softened and her shoulders relaxed, he was glad it happened.
She lowered her eyes. “I’m sorry, too.”
“I wish I’d handled the situation differently. When Brittany accused you of helping in her scheme, I was blindsided—shocked, angry, confused. We’re talking about the worst time in my life. My character was called into question, reputation almost ruined, career nearly derailed. In that moment and for weeks afterward, there was nothing you could have done or said to me that would have excused what you did or made a difference in how I felt.
“Understand, I was a seventeen-year-old snot-nosed kid when Brittany and I got together. She was the older woman—experienced, worldly, very manipulative. Wanted to get married. I didn’t. At all. She responded by trying to destroy my life.”
“She did that to a lot of us.”
“How? What did she say that made you want to help her destroy me?”
“That was never my intention, Cayden. Please believe me on that.” Avery removed her coat. “It’s true that the way Brittany described you seemed nothing like the cute guy I used to ogle on the basketball court.”
That comment brought their first shared smile.
“As you just said, Brittany can be very deceitful and manipulative. But the way she framed what she told me and Lisa, you were being those things. She played the victim to perfection. Even so, when she asked me to deliver that envelope to her manager, I had no idea what it contained.”
Cayden noticed the server for their station watching them. He motioned her over, then asked Avery, “Are you hungry?”
“Finishing up dinner is why I was here late.”
“Cool. What would you like to drink?”
Avery ordered a Thai-spiced hot chocolate. Cayden opted for a decaf Black Thai, made with coffee, tea and evaporated milk. Neither of them touched the menus the server placed down.
“You didn’t find it strange that she’d involve you in her work?”
“I thought I was doing a friend a favor. Later, she told me you’d used her, that you’d dated her in order to steal from the bank and then broke up with her when she threatened to speak out. Later still, when she finally told me what I’d given her manager, I felt I’d helped to prevent a crime and done the right thing.”
“And when I was exonerated?”
“Still thought you were guilty, I’m embarrassed to say. Thought the Eddingtons’ clout and money had gotten you off.”
“That, and not my good looks?”
“If the prosecuting attorney was female, that would have totally worked.”
Cayden sat back, absorbing what Avery told him, which was similar to what Lisa shared when she cornered him in the hospital. A month ago, he would have had trouble buying the story. But having had time to reflect on Brittany’s skillful machinations, he could now accept what Avery told him as truth.
“It’s why I wanted so desperately to speak with you,” Avery continued. “I could only imagine how this all appeared in your mind and how, given how close we’d become and all we’d shared, it felt like a second betrayal. But it wasn’t. In getting to know you I felt that the man you’d become looked nothing like the one who the town thought had hacked through Brittany’s account to steal money from the bank. May I ask you something?”
“Anything.”
“Why didn’t you fight back? Reveal what was really going on when it happened?”
“I cleared my name to those who mattered. Once the situation was rectified, I was advised to quickly put it behind me and focus on my career. Meanwhile Brittany came to understand that leaving town was in her best interest.”
“Why?”
“Because after I hired a detective for real, it was proven that she was the one who’d been embezzling from her employer. The bank president was friends with her family and demanded restitution but decided not to prosecute.”
“But what about you? Why didn’t you sue her for slander? She had everyone believing you were a thief!”
“There were retractions in the local and regional papers, but as often happens, they were placed in near obscurity instead of on the front page where my story ran. I was a rising star at Eddington Enterprise. Derrick wanted it over, to get the company out of that type of spotlight. Monamama said karma would take care of the rest.”
“Mona who?”
Cayden laughed. “Jake’s mother. As my pseudo-adopted mom, that’s what I came up with.”
“Cute.” They paused while the server delivered their drinks. “Where do we go from here?”
“I’d like to take up from where we left off—do as I did a decade ago and put this episode behind us and concentrate on the future.”
“I’d like that, too. Very much.”
Cayden noticed her eyes were shining. The gleam was back. He placed his arms on the table, palms up. She rested her hands in his.
“I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you, too.”
A single tear slid down Avery’s cheek. He wiped it away, his finger lingering on the soft skin he loved to touch. A warm breeze of desire swept over them both.
“What do you say we put these in to-go cups, finish them at my place?”
“I’d say that’s a perfect idea.”
As Cayden walked to his car, he envisioned ripping off Avery’s clothes as soon as the door shut and taking her right there on the floor. It played out differently. Once he held her in his arms, he wanted to savor the reunion. They showered together before making love leisurely, unhurried, rediscovering each other’s bodies, appreciating being together again. They talked for hours about everything—Cayden’s work, invention and recent dinner in his honor. Avery shared how she’d been freelancing, had secured two clients and was both
determined and encouraged to one day follow the dream of starting her own business.
“What would you call it?” he’d asked her. She didn’t know. They brainstormed until Cayden suggested, “Events On Point.”
Avery loved it. “Sold!”
Over the next month, the two settled into a comfortable flow. While the whirlwind of excitement during their first few weeks of dating had been nice, Cayden appreciated that they’d slowed down and were now taking the time to get to know each other on a deeper level. One Saturday, Cayden treated Avery, Lisa and Tami to dinner and a night of laughter at a new comedy club. Avery joined him for the infamous Eddington brunch, and lived to talk about it. Fall gave way to winter. The holidays arrived. Cayden flew all of them—Avery, Lisa and Lisa’s family—to Las Vegas for Thanksgiving. That weekend, back at Cayden’s house where Avery basically lived, they enjoyed a relaxing Sunday evening before Cayden was due back at work.
“You know what?” Avery lounged on the couch, half watching a movie, her feet in Cayden’s lap while he surfed on his phone.
“Hmm?”
“You’re pretty amazing.”
He looked up. “You think so?”
“I know so.” Avery shifted to cuddle next to him. “This weekend was everything I could have wanted and just what Lisa and her family needed. I’ve never seen Frank so animated and Lisa bounced back to the sister I knew before the cancer.”
She kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He kissed her lips. “Maybe we can invite everyone here for Christmas. Get a huge tree decorated. Lots of presents for Amanda. It would be fun.”
Avery sat up. “Hey! I just received a fairly amazing revelation.”
Cayden lifted a brow.
“In all our time together, you’ve never been to my house.”
“Is that an invitation?”
“Is that what you were waiting for?”
“You should turn your condo into a rental property. You already practically live here.”
“Are you sure we’re ready for that?”
“Most definitely.” Cayden was starting to believe he was ready for that and much more, but he wasn’t ready to tell her that quite yet. “I do want to see your place, though. How one lives says a lot about the person.”
