Page 19 of My Heart Belongs to You

“That’s more like it.” Nadir sighed, his demeanor becoming too serious for comfort. “I feel bad for calling so late, knowing all you have going on and everything. Thank you for answering.”

“What are friends for, right?”

I couldn’t count all the times I called Nadir to vent or cry over Terrence. Out of respect for his previous relationship, I didn’t call as late as he did, but still. Whenever I needed a listening ear, he was there. While my siblings told me to move on and my other friends reminded me why they hated Terrence, Nadir simply listened to me whine, offered some wisdom, then made me laugh.

“Right.” He smirked.

“You okay?”

He nodded. “Yeah. I'm gonna stop reaching out. All it’s doing is fucking with my head.” Nadir’s fingers caressed my palm again as he mulled over his words. “Last night, Sunny told me I’ve been moody and everyone here was keeping their distance from me because of it. I can’t mistreat my staff and people I love because I'm hurting. Especially when everyone here hasn't done anything to me.”

I poked out my bottom lip and sighed. “Aw, come here.”

Holding out my arms, I closed the space between us and hugged him. The hug was to comfort Nadir, but I felt a sense of contentment too. This was just as much for me as it was for him.

“Aight, enough of the mushy stuff,” he said, releasing my waist.

“Why did you bring me back here?”

Nadir stood, forcing me to take a few steps back so our bodies wouldn’t collide.

“Kenya and Peyton created a new drink menu, and I told them to add a few wine selections too.” He pushed off the desk then walked behind it. After opening a box, he pulled out three bottles of wine. “I ordered two cases of wine from The McBride sisters and three cases from Honey Branch Winery.”

I walked to his desk to pick up one of the bottles. While marveling at the details on the back of the bottles, I said, “Check you out!”

“I was thinking about having a wine tasting with the staff and wanted to know if you could help me with that.”

“Of course,” I replied, still looking over the bottle of chardonnay from Honey Branch Winery. “When did you want to do this?”

His eyebrows furrowed. “We’re having a group outing in two weeks, maybe we can do it afterward?”

“Sounds good.”

Nadir nodded then placed the bottles back into the box. I sat in front of his desk and waited for him to finish. My mind went wild with ideas for charcuterie boards. While he carefully repacked the bottles, I watched. My heart ached for him. His relationship with Avery was so pure. The love and loyalty he gave her was commendable. Their closeness reminded me a lot of my relationship with my dad. I couldn't imagine how she was taking their separation.

“Are you sure you don’t want to reach out one last time?”

He met my gaze; the intensity in his eyes pulled at my heartstrings.

“I don’t think I can take another unanswered call or argument with Vanessa.” Nadir sat on the edge of his desk with furrowed eyebrows. “I’ll be okay.”

“Will you?” I scowled. “You’ve put on a brave face for a while now. I know this is hard for you. You can be honest with me.”

He stared at me for a beat before shaking his head. “I’ll be okay… eventually. But I’ve moped around long enough. It’s cliche as fuck to say, but life goes on.”

I understood his logic. It wasn’t that long ago that I was in his shoes, unsure of how to navigate heartbreak. But he was right; he’d be okay eventually.

My only concern was when eventually would come.

“Well, you know I’m here, my darling.”

Nadir smirked. “I never doubted that.”

A knock at the door interrupted us.

“Come in!” I winced at the annoyance in his voice.

The door opened slowly and music poured inside, shifting the energy of the room. Keith walked in with sympathetic eyes and a frown.