I smirked and casually took the coffee from her hand. “Good morning to you, too.” I walked it over to her desk. She followed behind in her heels walking faster now that she didn’t have the hot cup.
“Mmmhm,” she said as she sat. “What did you do?”
“Why it gotta be me who did something?”
She raised one brow. “Because you’re a man…”
I sighed hard and ran my hand over my beard. “She wanted to fly to Chicago this morning. Just wake up and go.”
“Oh,” Kemi said, leaning back in her chair. “Did you tell her about the big contractor coming in today?”
“I tried. She wasn’t trying to hear none of that.” I shook my head, still feeling the frustration from the closet. “I told her Ihad this meeting after lunch, and that’s why I stayed back this morning to be with her. I wanted to give her that time.”
Kemi clicked her tongue and tilted her head. “I honestly see both sides.”
I looked at her like she’d just betrayed me. “What? Nah, pick a side.”
She laughed. “Kairo, you’re the boss. She knows your calendar is flexible. And she’s probably craving spontaneity and quality time. But I also get that this meeting’s a big deal and not something you can skip. Like tomorrow would be better since you aren’t meeting anyone, so you could go.”
“Exactly! But I knew she wouldn’t even try to compromise with that,” I said, frustrated all over again. “I was so irritated I came straight here. I didn’t even get breakfast.”
Kemi laughed and stood. “Lucky for you, your schedule is boring this morning. No one’s on your books, and your dad’s out. I can order us something since I haven’t had food either.”
I nodded, grateful. “That sounds like a plan. I’ma head to my office real quick and check in with my brothers. Order whatever you want and put it on my card.”
“Don’t mind if I do,” she said, already pulling up the app on her phone.
As I walked toward my office, I tried to shake off the tension still sitting on my shoulders. I wanted to show up more, and I had. I wanted to give Khloe time, and I was doing that too. But somehow, it still wasn’t enough. That’s what pissed me off the most. Its like doing all the work and still getting an F on the test.
Maybe she was right. Maybe I did let the job run me more than I ran it. But I wasn’t playing games. I was trying to build something—for her, for Kennedi, for all of us. I just wished she could see that.
By the time I came back out to the front, Kemi had already laid out the breakfast on her desk like it was our little buffet. I pulled a chair over and sat down across from her.
“You really came through,” I said, taking a bite.
She sipped her coffee and smiled. “I always do.”
We ate in silence for a few minutes before I finally spoke up. “Kennedi told me she’s talking to some boy.”
Kemi perked up. “Oh Lord.”
I laughed. “Yeah… Some boy she says goes to a different school. Plays basketball. But here’s the kicker—he got a ‘situation.’”
Kemi put her fork down and burst out laughing. “A situation?”
“Exactly what I said. I was like, what the hell does that mean? Another girlfriend?”
She wiped her mouth and nodded. “These kids are something else.”
“She told me like it was nothing, and honestly, I ain’t even trip. I was just happy her secretive ass opened up to me. I didn’t want to shut that down.”
Kemi gave me that proud look she gives when she thinks I’m being a good dad. “That’s exactly why she talks to you. You give her space to be real. That matters.”
Kemi had a son too. He’d come by the office a lot over the years while she worked late. I respected her hustle heavy. Her auntused to work with my dad and granddad before she retired, and she brought Kemi in. She taught her everything, and honestly, Kemi had taken it up a notch. Aunt was solid, but Kemi was titanium.
“I cannot wait until the weekend,” she said with a dramatic sigh. “No phones, no calls, no files. Just me in my bed with Netflix.”
I laughed. “That social battery be dying fast, huh?”
