“You are so right, and that’s exactly what I plan to do. I hope the intern I find is someone I can mentor the same way you mentored me.”
“Look at you. I should have known you were already on it. Now, I don’t mean to change the subject or anything, but what do you want to eat? We’ve already started drinking, and I can’t afford to be sick tomorrow morning.”
Rayla danced in her seat like she always did when she was getting ready to eat, and I did the same because I was just as hungry as she was. I hadn’t even looked over the menu yet, but we had ordered at least two rounds of trio mimosas. I wasthankful for the drinks because they did make it a little easier to digest the bomb Rayla dropped on me.
I was happy we got all business-related talks out of the way early so we could focus on our food and drinks. As much as I wish it were, business was not the only thing I needed to run by my best friend. I had to tell her what exactly went down with Kareem. Rayla was aware that I had left New York early. My leaving early wasn’t a problem because all of my work was done, and technically, I’d completed my assignment. That didn’t mean I hadn’t left unfinished business in other realms of my life.
“I left New York without saying goodbye to Kareem.” I blurted it out because I knew if I gave myself time to think, I would think my way right out of telling her at all.
I never enjoyed discussing my personal life, but I was learning to take advice when I needed it. My love life was the area I needed it.
“You did what?”
“Well, it’s kind of a long story, but basically, I just left.”
I sipped my drink and shrugged like that was all to it, as ifleavingweren’t a letdown in itself, like my best friend wouldn’t push for more details exactly as I would if the roles were reversed.
“Karina, spill it.”
“I don’t know what happened, Rayla. One minute, we were having a good time, and the next, my old high school nemesis was showing up, ruining the moment. I just had flashbacks to high school and her competing with me for everything. I didn’t feel like competing for Kareem’s attention once again, so I left.”
“When my brother first called me asking why I would send Kareem’s high school girlfriend to cover the story, I thought I’d made the biggest mistake. However, the more I saw you two together online, the more I knew this couldn’t be just some past fling. The fact that you ran further lets me know that.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean, whenever you feel yourself getting close to someone, you either push them away, disappear on them, or find a reason to cut them out of your life altogether. Karina, what have I told you about running from every little problem in your life? At some point, girl, you’ve got to stand up to the bad guy. Sometimes that bad guy is a hating ass girl from high school, but other times it could just be you.”
“I know. I’m working on it. But I did shoot Kareem a text this morning to let him know that I am still alive.”
“And how did he receive that?”
“He said he would see me soon.”
“You know what? When you see him, don’t take that time for granted. Karina, I know your life is going to get super busy super fast, but don’t cut love out of it. You see what I’ve done. I’ve been making LuxRay my entire life, and I’m proud of what I’ve built here. I’m proud of the people we serve and the legacy that I’ve created. The only problem is I have no one to pass that legacy onto, so what was the point of building it? I am thirty-eight years old, almost thirty-nine, and if it weren’t for a man literally picking me up off my feet, I would still be unmarried today. Now, I am praying we still have time for kids. I don’t want that to be you. I actually want that point to reach you faster than it reached me. You’re about to be thirty-five, sweetie, so lock the fuck in. Go get your man and give that man some babies because, despite what the world tells us, we can have it all. You can have the business and the man, the children, and time for yourself. Life can move so fast, Karina. Don’t get left.”
Chapter
Twenty-Six
Kareem
“Dup, and stop all that crying,” I taunted Nico as he wiped the blood from his lip.
The sweat dripping from his forehead made the creases on his forehead pop out even more when he frowned. I could tell he was pissed, but it was just a game. He needed to get off my court if he couldn’t stand the pressure.
My favorite part of this house was the basketball court, where I spent so much time. I was more of a football player in high school, but as I got older, I was always talented at both. I never joined the school basketball team, but as an adult, basketball was one of my favorite stress relievers, and right now, I was stressed.
Being on my own court and playing ball with my boys should have given me the space I needed to blow off some steam, but I wasn’t feeling it. The more I tried to focus on the game, the more my brain told me to call Karina. The fact that she hadn’t called me had me taking my frustrations out on the wrong people.
“Damn, Kareem, man, that’s your third foul. What are you trying to do? Knock my head off?”
“Stop being a bitch. I barely touched you.”
“Now why I got to be a bitch?”
Nico threw the ball to the side and stepped to me like he was going to do something. I didn’t move from my spot because I knew he wasn’t. Ray got between us to de-escalate the situation, but he didn’t really need to. I was calm, and Nico was just being the pussy he was sometimes.
“Whoa, whoa,” Ray barked, stretching his arms out between the two of us. “This is a friendly competition.”
