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“Hold off before you say that, because I need you to handle my upcoming civil case so I can focus all of my attention on this. And, Milli, if this goes to trial, I’ll need you to be my second chair. I’m hoping we can settle before it comes to that, though.”
“We got you,” Amelia said, pulling me into a hug. “I knew you’d make the right decision.”
“Carina and I are going out with her girls and their men. She told me Shalom was going to be there with her sister in case you wanted to stop by and try to convince her to work with you.”
I clenched my jaw and avoided blurting not wanting to have anything to do with her. Violet seemed to believe she was key to me not being overwhelmed with this case, and because I trusted Violet, I would agree. As much as I hated the idea of being in the same room as Shalom, I’d put my feelings to the side for the sake of this case.
“I’ll stop by for a while. Thanks for the heads up.”
“Of course.”
As we headed our separate ways, I prayed that Shalom and I could talk as sensible adults without things getting out of hand. If we couldn’t, at least I’d be able to tell Violet I tried, and she’d have to get the second-best researcher for this case.
“Hey,” Parker spoke, gaining my attention.
I was scrolling through my emails looking for one from an old client. Toya had called and said she wanted to confirm that I’d gotten her email about freelancing for her history department. She was one of the department chairs for a prestigious private college here and she wanted to convince the board to allow her to take her history class on a trip that the President of their school disapproved of. I hadn’t gotten the email and wondered if it ended up in my spam folder somehow. Even though I was a little unsure of what she thought I could find to help change his mind, I was willing to help in any way I could.
“Hey,” I replied, putting my phone face down on the table. Everyone was having a great time, and I was too, but it would bother me if I couldn’t find that email. It made me wonder what else I had been missing out on.
“I just wanted to give you a heads up. Mecca is about to walk in.”
Gritting my teeth as my thighs clenched, I nodded. “Why?”
“It’s not to cause trouble. He wants to apologize. Do you think you can handle that?”
I ran my tongue across my teeth and swallowed hard. Even though I didn’t want to be in the same room as Mecca, this was inevitable. Parker and Carina really liked each other, so I wouldn’t be able to avoid him forever.
“I’ll be fine. Thanks for the heads up.”
Parker smiled with the left corner of his mouth before returning to his seat next to Carina. Suddenly, emails became the furthest thing from my mind. My armpits and palms immediately began to sweat. Rubbing the pads of my fingers together, I took in deep breaths. My heart palpitated, but it plunged at the sight of him.
He made his way over to our table, and I had to admit, the sight of him made my mouth water. Mecca was impeccably dressed in a suit that looked like it was made for him. The burgundy color looked amazing against his peanut butter brown skin. A crisp white button-up complemented my favorite shade of brown on a man. Silver jewelry adorned his neck, ears, and wrist as he held a bouquet of sunflowers.
Standing in front of me, he extended them in my direction. My mind immediately went back to when we were kids. He’d taken sunflowers out of his grandmother’s garden to give to me and she tried to skin him alive for it. I laughed until I cried as I watched her chase after him while he barely exerted energy and effort.
I bit down on my bottom lip to try and camouflage my smile, but I was sure it didn’t work when he gave me a smile of his own.
“You didn’t get these out of Grandma Rose’s garden, did you?”
Taking the empty seat next to me, Mecca shook his head. “Nah, she passed three years ago.”
My heart plummeted as a whimper escaped me. With watery eyes, I reached for his hand before immediately pulling mine away.
“I’m so sorry, Mecca. I know she was your favorite girl.”
He gave me a smirk as his eyes glossed over, but they dried quickly as he swallowed.
“She was my second favorite girl. You were the first.” Before I could fully process what he’d said, Mecca pointed to the flowers as he continued. “Those came from my garden. I started it to feel connected to her.”
“They’re beautiful… just like she was.”
It felt like all eyes were on us, and if I were to count only the ones at our table, they were. Everyone looked on quietly as we engaged. Their attention made me nervous, and I wasn’t sure if they feared we would start yelling at each other or worse.
“I just wanted to apologize, Shalom.” My eyes fluttered until they closed at the sound of his words. “I shouldn’t have put my hands on you…”
“No, that was a reaction to me. I slapped you, and I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry too.”
I opened my eyes, and his were still on me. They were just as beautiful as I remember. Coffee brown in color with the ability to make nothing else in the world matter. There was a small scar on the side of his left eye, and I’d accidentally put it there.
