Gabby waved her hand. “Of course. But why are you so stressed? Your dad asked you to work with him. You should be happy about that. Plus, those beautiful flowers from a special someone seem to indicate you guys are back on track.”
I snorted. I’d told Gabby that Xavier and I had gotten into it in Miami, but hadn’t revealed all the details to her. That would’ve required me telling her about finding out I was pregnant right after I moved to L.A. And although I knew she wouldn’t judge my actions, I wasn’t ready to share that yet.
“Those flowers are from Jamal. He brought them to welcome me to the building.”
“Oh, so you and Mr. Grant haven’t completely hashed things out yet, huh?”
I sat back in my chair, wiping my mouth with my napkin before answering her. “Not quite. Only two days after we got back from Miami, he had to fly back out to D.C. for work. He just got back in last night.” We’d talked while he was gone, but the conversations were short and stilted.
“You’re still not going to tell me what this fight was about?”
I looked at Gabby, hoping I wasn’t hurting her feelings, but I just wasn’t ready to go into detail. Especially not at work. Thankfully, there was a knock on my door before I could respond. My office phone hadn’t been hooked up yet, so my assistant had to come to my office to give me my messages. I assumed it was her as I rose to open the door.
I was met with a man holding a huge bouquet. I was blown away by the beauty of the arrangement that included white roses and hydrangeas.
“Ms. Richards?” the man asked behind the bouquet.
“Yes, that’s me.”
“Happy first day on the job. Enjoy. The card is in the middle.”
The arrangement was far too elegant and beautiful to be from anyone besides Xavier. I stuck my nose in the flowers and sniffed as I walked to my desk to place them down. I grinned as I pulled the card from the middle of the bouquet.
Good luck on your first day, baby girl. I’ll see you later today. -X
I placed the card down and ran my hand over one of the roses.
“I see he hasn’t given up on you. And that smile tells me you haven’t either. I know you two will work this little tiff out,” Gabrielle stated from her seat.
I hoped what she said was true. I hadn’t seen Xavier in close to a week since he left for D.C., and we would be meeting at Dr. Winston’s office. I was grateful he even agreed to go with me in the first place. When Dr. Winston had suggested I bring Xavier to a session to work through our issue, I was hesitant. My fears were put to rest a bit when he agreed.
“We’re going to see Dr. Winston today. Xavier and I,” I added the last part for clarity.
Gabby’s perfectly arched eyebrow rose. “He’s going to your therapist with you?”
“Yeah,” I answered, biting my lower lip.
“Don’t be nervous. That’s a good thing.” Her genuine smile reassured me, and I glanced back at the bouquet.
****
Xavier
I strutted through the office doors of the lobby of the large office building toward the elevator. A few minutes later, I was exiting onto the fifteenth floor and heading toward an office I’d never been to before. Thankfully, I spotted Chanel standing outside of one of the doors. When she saw me, a small smile cracked her face.
“Hi,” she greeted.
I pulled her into me and pressed a quick kiss to her gloss-coated lips. She reached up, wiping the excess gloss from my lips.
“Thanks for coming.”
I frowned. “You say that like you expected me not to show.”
When her eyes turned downward, my heart sank. She obviously hadn’t totally trusted me to show. That had me feeling some type of way.
“Let’s go.” I opened the door, allowing her to enter first.
I entered behind her to see a young guy at the receptionist desk. I could see recognition flash across his face when he saw Chanel.
