Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 109178 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 546(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 109178 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 546(@200wpm)___ 437(@250wpm)___ 364(@300wpm)
“Hi,” she stated dryly, barely making eye contact with him as she snatched the second menu off the table and began flipping through it. “Did you order?”
“Nope.” He leaned back in the booth seat and stared at her a good long while as she kept her eye on the menu. “I thought the history we had would prevent you from being like this with me, of all people. But I see we’re startin’ from scratch.”
“Like a pie? Is this about me being late? Don’t be dramatic.” Her lazy gaze met his, and she offered a watered-down smile before setting her eyes upon the menu again.
“The late part isn’t what I’m referring to. You were a hard nut to crack when we first met, you know that? Wouldn’t talk. The madder you were, the more tightlipped you got.”
“Well, that was in the past,” she said dismissively, her jaw moving as if she were suppressing a yawn.
“You’re doing it again. Something has happened since the night I saw you at the club. Is it something I said on the phone when I called?” He knew damn well it was, but he wanted her to own it. “You won’t tell me what it is though, and I don’t like playing guessing games.”
“I’m not playing games, and the past has nothing to do with now.”
“Yes it does because time passes, but the nature of people stays the same. I deserve to be told what’s wrong without having to pull it out of you. This shit is weird.”
“Please.” She sucked her teeth. “That was ten years ago. I don’t know you like that, Lennox. We were much younger and—”
“I don’t care if it was ten seconds ago or ten thousand years ago. People don’t change. They can grow, but that’s a choice, and one that is seldom made. You know, this little defensive wall of yours I’ve seen a thousand times. You’ve got something on your mind. We can’t talk, Nadia, until you tell me what’s wrong.”
She rolled her eyes in response and gripped the menu tighter.
“I didn’t do shit to you,” he added.
“I didn’t say you did.” She sucked her teeth.
“Then why are you being rude?” He snatched the menu out of her grip and tossed it on the table. “You know what? The hell with this.” He grabbed his jacket to slide it back on. “I don’t need this shit, and I don’t—”
“Because I’m afraid you’re going to say something to make me feel bad!” She held the bridge of her nose between her fingers and shut her eyes. “You cut me off when we were talking, saying you needed to speak to me about business. I thought… I thought you were interested in getting reacquainted or maybe build our friendship back. But I was wrong. You made that clear.” Her hands trembled slightly, and her complexion deepened.
Damn. She’s scared.
“I think you’ve misunderstood, or maybe I didn’t explain it well. That’s not what’s going on, Nadia.” He tossed his jacket aside and settled back in his seat. Damn… I think she missed me as much as I missed her.
She didn’t speak for a long while, just sat there looking out of the window. The waitress came and took their orders. After the lady departed, Nadia finally locked eyes with him.
“I’m sorry, Lennox. I was just, uh, so surprised, and a little excited to see you last night. When you called this morning and said you needed to speak to me about something serious, I got… I got nervous. I wanted to talk to you about your life, you know? About how you’re doing and all the good things that have happened. When you said that to me, mentioned speakin’ about business, it kind of ruined the mood, ya know? Made me feel like you were angry with me for somethin’ I may have said or done in the past. Or maybe something has happened, and you think I’m to blame. I don’t know… we haven’t spoken to one another in so long. You were one of the few men in my life who was true blue. When I left to go to school in Atlanta, you were so supportive. I never forgot that.”
He couldn’t help but stare at her. She was just so damn beautiful, and now so vulnerable, too.
“Nadia, you know what? You have a way of reading people. Sometimes you read too deeply.”
“Me?” She pointed at herself, sporting a sad smile. “I saw you the same way. Like you can see through me.”
“How are you feeling? Seeing me after all of this time?” He grabbed his water and took a sip.
“Honestly, I have mixed feelings. You know I don’t talk to people about how I feel… well, you don’t know that because it’s been a long time and things change… but,” she swallowed and looked down at her fingers, picking at the cuticles, “I was excited to see you last night. Then everything came rushing back and I wanted to forget I ran into you altogether.”