Page 18

Bailey

T uesday was getting off to a better start than yesterday.

I called the temp service Penny told me to call while she was on vacation and told them not to bother sending another replacement.

Then I sent Marlow a text to let her know I would be working remotely today and promised to tell her everything that happened after I went to Titan’s office yesterday.

I had so much to do but I loved being busy because I did my best work when I was under pressure.

I was so engrossed in my work that I lost track of time, and when my phone rang, I was surprised to see that it was a half past noon.

My brows creased in confusion when I saw that it was Fred calling from the front desk.

“Hey, Fred!” I yelled into the phone because he was a little hard of hearing.

I loved Fred, he’s been the doorman here for longer than I’ve lived here.

After I bought this place and moved in he was always kind and professional.

Then one day he saw me coming home with this guy I was dating and after I realized he wasn’t shit I ended things two weeks later.

When I saw Fred the next day and told him to take the piece of shit off my visitor list he said, “I knew that little nigga wasn’t shit the moment I saw him, you are too good of a person and too smart to be giving your energy to any ol’ muthafucka with a dick. ”

When I tell you I was gagged…honey, I was gagged because I never knew Fred spoke like that, especially to me.

I didn’t cuss his ass out or report him for being unprofessional, and why would I?

He was speaking the truth, we became closer, and he started treating me and any of my female friends that came to visit like daughters.

Which is why he was so comfortable fussing at me when I came home injured last night.

“Hey Bailey, there’s a young man here named Troy. He says he works for Heighten Rounding. That’s an unusual name, you know these people, baby girl?” He yelled into the receiver, and I had to pull the phone away from my ear.

“No, sir, my name is Royce, and I work for Titan Brown-ing. ” I heard Royce say in the background, and God bless him because he sounded so calm and patient. I was confused though because I had no clue why he was here.

“I know him, he can come up.” I screamed at Fred and hung up.

A few minutes later, Royce knocked on my door and I hobbled across the living room to open it.

I squinted because Royce’s smile was bright as hell like he just got his teeth polished but he looked nice.

He was wearing a charcoal-colored suit that was tailored to perfection, with a crisp white shirt, a black tie, and his black hard bottoms were so shiny, I could almost see my reflection.

“Hello, Ms. Henson. Mr. Browning told me to swing by to make sure you had lunch and to make sure you got his delivery.” At the mention of lunch, my stomach growled loudly and when I looked down I saw he had a large paper bag in his hand.

The aroma coming from that bag had my mouth watering, and when I reached for it, Royce moved out of my way.

“May I come in?”

Before I could respond he had invited himself inside. I frowned as he gently brushed past me because of his audacity but then I saw Fred was behind him with a moving cart full of boxes.

“What is all that, Fred?” I asked moving out of the way so he could come in.

“I like Titan,” he whispered, then winked at me as he wheeled the cart past me and started unloading the boxes onto the floor.

As he stacked the boxes into neat piles by the door I silently counted a dozen boxes and upon closer inspection, I noticed the boxes had the logo of a high-end boutique I frequented called Aura by Traci .

“It’s about damn time you had someone do something nice for you.

If you gone give up the goods, you might as well get something out of it,” Fred said after he was finished stacking the shoe boxes and my mouth dropped open, once again I was gagged.

“You have a good day, baby girl, and stay off that damn leg.” He chastised me when he saw I was struggling a little to stand straight and then gave me a kiss on the cheek before he left.

“He’s a character ain’t he?” Royce said, laughing as he came over to me.

“Please come sit down! Mr. Browning wouldn’t forgive me if I let something happen to you.

” He held my hand and assisted me to one of the low back chairs at my kitchen island where he left the bag with my delicious smelling food in it.

“Thanks, Royce, you’re so nice! How long have you worked with Titan?” I asked while taking the hot container out of the bag and saliva almost leaked out of my mouth when I saw the best looking bacon cheeseburger and fries. My stomach felt like it was eating my back, I was so damn hungry.

“About three years now. He’s an amazing boss and has taught me so much.” I could tell from his voice and the look on his face that he respected and admired Titan.

“Well, I should get going,” he said, glancing at his Rolex, “I have so much to finish at the office, it was great seeing you again.”

Before I could say goodbye, he was out the door. I shrugged at his quick departure and started devouring my lunch. It took me less than thirty minutes to inhale my food, and I was about to start working when I remembered the boxes by the door.

After I limped over to the neat pile, I picked up the first box I put my hand on, and when I opened it, there was a pair of yellow leather flat shoes with soft black soles inside that looked extremely comfortable.

I took out the left shoe and put it on the floor and the moment my foot was inside, I moaned in satisfaction because the thick memory foam insert caressed every part of my foot like a long lost lover.

I went to put the shoes back and saw an envelope taped on top of another box.

I took it off, and as soon as I opened it, I saw Titan’s business stationary and couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face.

Bailey,

I heard you last night say you didn’t own any flat shoes for work, and as your man I wanted to rectify that problem and if you’re wondering how I knew your shoe size, remember I carried your funky ass heels yesterday, LOL. Also, if you need Lloyd to take you somewhere, let me know.

You better call me this time,

Titan

My heart practically leaped out of my chest with happiness even though he tried it, calling my shoes funky.

Titan was already earning major points in the boyfriend department; we haven’t been a couple a full twenty fours and he was already buying me a few thousand dollars’ worth of shoes just because he wanted to.

I went to the couch to get my phone to call him when it rang.

When I picked it up I saw it was Marlow and answered just in case something was wrong at the office.

“So, you and Titan huh?” Marlow asked as soon as I answered.

“What? How the hell you know?” We just became official yesterday; did he call his publicist as soon as he left here last night or some shit? Because I know news about us didn’t spread that damn fast.

“His cute assistant came by looking for you, I told him you were out. Then no sooner than he left, Titan called my office. I was curious why he was so concerned so I may or may not have used my attorney line of questioning and baited him into telling me you were a couple.”

“Girl you are so damn nosy! But you know I love your nosy ass.” I laughed and just shook my head.

Marlow was a damn blood hound when she wanted to know something and was relentless until she got answers and as someone who’s been on the receiving end of her “attorney line of questioning” I can see why Titan told her we were together before I could tell her.

Well, since she went through the trouble of questioning him, there was no point in denying the truth.

“Yeah, me and Titan, we just made it official yesterday after he brought me home from the hospital.” I grunted as I finally sat down on my couch because my ankle was starting to throb.

“And why were you in the hospital?” Marlow’s concern for me warmed my heart.

“I fell on my way to work. I didn’t realize how bad it was until I went to Titan’s office for a lunch meeting.

That’s when he took me to the ER. I have a hairline fracture so I’m in a walking boot and they gave me crutches; and the cut on my knee is going to leave a scar but I’m ok.

But because I don’t have any shoes for work under three inches, guess what Titan did? ”

“What?” Marlow was always eager to gossip.

“He bought me a dozen pairs of flat shoes! That’s why his assistant was looking for me, he came over here with the delivery.” I failed horribly to hide how excited I was from someone just taking the time to think about my needs.

“Wooooooooow!” Marlow sounded impressed. “So, when did y’all fuck?” Marlow asked, cutting straight to the chase.

“Oh, my goodness we haven’t…. yet.” I chuckled.

“You mean to tell me, that fine ass man sent you all those shoes and you ain’t gave him no ass?” Marlow sounded skeptical.

“I thought he was going to bend me over and fuck me through the couch when we started kissing and humping like two horny ass teenagers last night. Lord knows I was willing and ready, but he stopped because he didn’t want to make my knee and ankle worse.”

“Your mouth ain’t fucked up is it?” Marlow asked rhetorically. “You mean to tell me, he took you to the ER, waited with you, brought you home, brought you all those shoes?—”

“He offered to let me use his driver to bring me to work too,” I interrupted.

“Oh lawd!” Marlow yelled dramatically. “If you don’t give that man your oral thanks, I’ll do it for you!” Marlow cackled at her own joke but when she noticed I wasn’t laughing with her, she stopped immediately.