If those gossip muthafuckas got wind of this, my world would surely crumble. My marriage and God knows what else would be impacted. I had too much to lose fucking with Papi, and even Ezekiel, yet it still didn’t stop me.
Papi quietly left out the restroom with me tiptoeing behind him. He walked toward the front door to peek out the curtain and see if the coast was clear. His eyes darted around before letting go of the fabric and looking at me.
“You good. She’s gone.”
“Whatever.” I snatched my purse off the bar table, straightened out my clothes, threw on my sunglasses, and opened the door.
Without him noticing, I quickly did my own scan of the area. I didn’t want to get any surprises or get caught off guard. Lucky for his bitch, she was gone. I didn’t have to worry about whooping a bitch’s ass today.
I strutted my pretty, scrumptious ass toward the elevator and made my way down to the parking structure. Papi gave me a good release, so good that I felt like I could go home, face Reason, and listen to whatever baby talk shit he wanted to share.
CHAPTER 21
REASON
Isat in my office, remembering how happy Saje looked when she walked into our bedroom last night, like she was floating on top of the world. That was the first time in a while I’d seen her look so carefree. I watched her suspiciously as I wondered if she was finally coming to terms with the idea of us having a baby. ’Cause shit was about to get real in our home soon.
These past six months felt like there was a disconnect between my wife and me, and here I was thinking this process would’ve brought us closer.
I didn’t want to believe Saje didn’t want our child as much as I did. Every time she looked annoyed when I mentioned the baby, I asked if she was still interested, and her answer would always be, “Of course I am, Reason.” Then, she would smile so hard and join in on conversations about the plans we had for our child.
I gave my baby grace because I knew she had her own issues, but I needed her to get on board because time was flying by.
Once I was done reminiscing about Saje, my thoughts went to Basheer. He was pulling his weight at the network and handling my surrogacy dealings too. As soon as Amara andNehemiah gave him updates, he was on my line, giving me the deets. I had increased his pay because of all he did to help Saje and me. With our busy schedules, it probably would’ve been impossible to manage it all.
After shaking away my thoughts, I flipped through the album I had with all the ultrasound photos of our baby. It was my own little collection, something that had become my peace while I was on the go. Seeing how he or she was developing kept me grounded. Until our baby was here, all I could do was imagine how it would feel when I finally held our child in my arms.
People at the office said I was overworking myself because of all the hours I put in, but they didn’t know it was all for a reason. After my baby was born, I planned to take time off. I wasn’t missing anything during my seed’s first year for nothing in this world, not even my career. It ain’t like I didn’t have the means or funds to do so. So, while I was able to make it, that’s what I would do. I had given my life to UTN, and soon it would be time to give my all to my little one.
I pulled out the printout of the latest ultrasound from the plastic slot and ran my fingers across the image. Compared to the previous ultrasound I’d received, he or she was getting big. We still hadn’t found out what we were having because Saje and I were still trying to determine if we wanted to wait to find out the sex of the baby. But anticipation was killing me. I was ready to know whether we were having a boy or girl.
My office phone rang, and Basheer’s name appeared on the caller ID, which only meant he was in his office.
“Yo?” I answered.
“I was checkin’ to see if you were here. I’m on my way.”
“Aight.”
Not even a minute later, Basheer barged into my office, went straight to my mini refrigerator, and grabbed a water bottle.“Nigga, don’t you have a stocked fridge in your office?” I leaned back in my chair, watching him.
“Yeah, but you got all this high class, expensive ass water in yo’ shit.”
I shook my head. “Whatever, man.”
He gulped down half the water before taking a seat.
“Have you had the chance to read over the ad sales, sponsorships, and distribution deals yet?”
“I haven’t gotten around to it, but I’ll do it before I leave the office.”
“Just reminding you, Bruh. I thought you might’ve forgotten about it.”
“Good looking out.” I pulled out my notepad and added the reminder to my long list of things I needed to get done. This task would get moved up to the top because I had to ensure the network always remained profitable.
I stood up, walked over to the window, and gazed into the calm bay.
“Nigga, what got you in deep thought?” Basheer’s loud voice interrupted my thoughts.
