I laughed. “Now I’d pay to see that.”
“Anyways, when am I going to meet the new beau? I feel like he’s hogging you.”
I laughed. “No he isn’t. Splitting my time between two bakeries is hogging me. But we aren’t like that yet, we’re just enjoying getting to know one another in the grand scheme of things.”
“Well then tell him your sister needs to get to know him before anything. With that being said, dinner is Friday and I expect to have you and him at the table.”
I cackled. “You’re bossing up on me now?”
“No bossing up at all. Calling big sister rank before I have to tell Mommy you let somebody in the cookie jar.”
I pointed my finger. “You wouldn’t.”
“I would, especially since she still thinks you’re her baby. Now like I said, Friday, six, and don’t be late. Now let me go pick my kids up from school before your niece gets to calling her father and telling him I’m late.” She rolled her eyes toward the ceiling.
“Okay. Love you.”
“You too. And also Friday, bring a pan of honeybun brownies.” She was out of the door before I could tell her no.
Shaking my head, I moseyed back around the counter to finish icing the red velvet brownies, so I could cut them and display them for the evening rush. Before I left for the evening I also wanted to make a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies, because not only had I been craving them, but they too sold well.
When I was baking, it always felt like time ran past. When I was in the kitchen, I was exactly where I belonged in terms of my passion. I had always felt that way, even when I was a teen. Unlike my sister, I was the homebody. I always felt like I was at my best alone cooking and or putting my energy into making things.
A few hours later I was headed up to my place to retire for the evening and look over some numbers when my phone began ringing. I glanced down and saw it was Indiri, which was sorta normal around this time. It was at that point when the day had died down and he got a moment. Besides a few text messages throughout the day, this was usually our time.
“Good evening, champ. How can I help you this evening?”
“By not giving me lip when I tell you Bigs’s big ass is on the way to get you and I need to kidnap you for the weekend.”
“Um, sir.”
“You asked how you could help me. I have a press conference Friday and that damn all-white thing tomorrow evening.”
“And?” I was standing still in my living room, biting into my bottom lip thinking about it. He never gave me time to turn him down, kind of always springing things on me at the last minute with as much urgency as a turtle.
“I want you to go to both with me.”
“Um. I guess, but Friday evening after your press conference I need you to go to dinner and meet my sister with me. She’s not gonna let it go and I’d rathe?—”
“That’s cool. Feel like you've been keeping me a secret anyway.”
I laughed hard. “That is not true. And I know that ain’t you, Mr. Move to the Burbs in a Gated Community because you love your privacy.” One minute he had Bigs bring me to his condo and the next I was being taken to a property in The Bluffs.
He chuckled as well. “I told you that was all Jordyn.”
“I know,” I responded, thinking back on our conversation before he relocated. I often forgot he was a public figure seeing as how he didn’t act like one. He didn’t wear gaudy chains or overdo it with flashy cars and a loud, boisterous personality. He was regular, like me. He lived in his privacy and loved to be left alone. He said he had done his clubbing phase and now the only time he stepped out was to show face at an event. I believed him because I had no reason not to.
“So I got you for the weekend and maybe a lil after that?” he asked, his voice breaking my thoughts.
“What do you mean a lil after that? What are you not telling me, Indiri?” This was that last minute thing I was talking about.
“Nothing. Do you have a passport?”
“For wha?—”
“Yeah, I think she has one. Go ahead and book the flight. Three days and tell Jade to stop calling you about me.” He was speaking to someone in the background. I assumed it was Jordyn. She and I had yet to formally meet but had spoken briefly on the phone a few times. Once to tell me she needed an order of the gluten free sugar cookies I’d made Indiri and another when he’d called me or I’d called him and she was in the room.
“What do I need a passport for, Indiri? What are you talking about? Who is that?”
