“He’ll be cool with it.”
“You don’t know that,” she says, grinning, amused at his quick response on his brother’s behalf.
“Trust yo’ man. It’ll be straight. I’ll just let him know. And thanks for handling this for him.”
“Of course, baby.”
“I don’t know what I’d do without you,” he admits honestly.
“Lucky for you, you’re so fine, you’ll never have to find out. I’m not going nowhere, ever.”
“Imma hold you to that,” he says.
They lay like this, enjoying each other and the show, until it’s time to get ready to leave. At six o’clock on the dot, Akeem turns into a small plaza a few minutes from downtown. They left the condo about thirty minutes ago and traffic was a little heavier than normal for a Thursday night. When he pulls into the parking spot up front, Sunjiya surmises that it’s an office plaza. Its modern, almost residential style had her confused at first. Hell, she’s still confused.
“Where are we?” she asks when he kills the engine.
“Let’s go see,” is all he says before opening his door.
She merely shrugs and prepares to go inside. She wholeheartedly trusts him and will go wherever he wants to take her. Following him so far has led her here, to complete and total happiness, to a love she never imagined, to him.
All of the businesses appear to be closed but one, the small legal office on the end. Lights illuminate through the windows and glass door. She assumes he’s heading there but he stops at the building next to the law office. It has a glass door as well with a huge black lock box. To her surprise, he knows the code and unlocks the door.
What the hell is this?
He opens the door and motions for her to enter. Her curiosity is through the roof but she enters. He’s right behind her and presses the light switches on the wall for the entire eight hundred fifty square foot office space to light up. It’s partially furnished with a beautiful, open lobby, two small work areas with sleek desks and chairs, and a large work area partitioned off with glass walls.
“This is beautiful,” she utters as she scans the space. “What is this place?”
“I’m buying this place,” he says. “I think it would look good with plants and pictures on the wall.”
“That would be perfect but what are you going to do with it? Rent it out?” she asks. “This is an amazing investment.”
“It really is. I’m just thinking of the future,” he says, then steps behind her. “Our future.” His words tickle her neck but their seriousness makes her stomach flutter.
When she turns to face him, his face matches his sentiment. “What are you saying, Akeem?”
“I bought this for you, Melanin Voyages. It’s just the first step in our forever,” he says and her mind won’t let her process his words.
“What?” she pushes out.
He grabs her hands then stares into her eyes as he responds with his heart. “Sunjiya, this is for you. I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
“Baby, are you serious? It’s only been like seven months,” she stammers.
“Is that too fast?”
“For other people but not us,” she says with a smile.
“Good, ’cause honestly, I can’t imagine my life without you. There’s no one else for me. It’s you, just you, and I want to do a real forever with you,” he says and her tears flow out of nowhere.
“So we’re going to do this?” she gushes.
“Not without a ring,” he says before releasing her hands. He goes into his pocket and pulls out a tiny black box. “I’m a simple type of man. It’s just me, the people I love, and my guns,” he says with a smirk and she smiles. “But I need you to understand there’s nothing simple about my feelings for you. They’re everything and I want to give you everything.” He opens the box and the most brilliant and beautiful diamond ring is nuzzled in the middle.
“Our journey started out crazy as hell but it’s us,” he continues and she nods excitedly in agreement. The surrealness of the moment has her emotions all over the damn place andshe anxiously anticipates his words while staring at the gorgeous ring. “It’s all us and I want to stay on this fast and beautiful ride with you till forever. Will you marry me, bae?” he asks.
“Absolutely!” she exclaims. As he slides the ring on her finger, more tears, happy tears, flow from her eyes. This is truly the happiest she’s ever been in her life. “God, I love you.”
