Page 21 of His Baby Her Gift

Their gazes held a bit longer before Elaina turned and walked away.

Harlem could only come to one conclusion. Elaina was batshit crazy, and she should probably buy a gun.

Chapter 9

Carter’s head was swimming. The past few days were exhausting. His Sports Agency had been working tirelessly in conjunction with the NBA Player’s Union to figure out how to protest a high-profile killing of an unarmed black man by the police. The players were rightfully angry. Carter thought everyone should be. He watched the murder on the news like millions of others. Something needed to be done. He wasn’t exactly a stranger to dealing with the police. He and Damian had been pulled over several times simply because Damian was driving a car people didn’t believe a black man should drive. Carter had seen the disrespect up close. Still, this situation hit him differently. Carter would soon be a father to a child that might experience police brutality simply for being black.How do you protect your kid from that bullshit?

Thinking of his baby inevitably leads back to thoughts of Harlem. Carter had to push his personal problems aside to focus on the matter at hand. They all wanted to do something meaningful and impactful. Since Carter managed several of the top players, his words mattered. He’d discussed his players' situation with them and laid out the pros and cons to every scenario presented. Once a consensus was made, it was time to earn his money. It was Carter’s job to protect his guys and figure out the best way forward short of them walking off the job, if possible. However, a player’s strike was a last resort and remained in his back pocket if necessary.

Discussions were grueling. Mostly all of the demands Carter’s players requested were going to be presented to the team owners. A strike could still happen, but the talks' level of urgency and delicacy meant those meetings had to be handled in person. Everything was so fluid that he flew out almost immediately.

It was now a waiting game to see how things were going to unfold. Carter figured he could wait at home and took a red-eye back to Chicago.

He wanted to go straight to Harlem’s but similar to his recent talks with the NBA Player’s Union, things with her needed to be handled with special care. To do that, Carter needed to get some much-needed rest. He hadn’t slept much over the past few days.

Carter was still fully clothed and in bed when his cell phone buzzed. Elaina’s name popped up on the screen. He balled his hand into a fist and gently tapped it against his forehead. Carter debated not answering, but he couldn’t do that for obvious reasons.

His voice was groggy. “Elaina. What’s up?”

“Carter? I hate to bother you, but I’m not feeling well. Do you think you can drop by and bring over some saltine crackers and soup?”

In the age of grocery delivery services, there was no need for Elaina to call him. She was being manipulative, and Carter knew it. He ran a frustrated hand down his face. “I’ll take care of it.”

“Thank you so much. I’ll see you later.”

He disconnected the call and grabbed his laptop that was lying on the other side of the bed. Carter turned it on and did the exact same thing Elaina could have done. He ordered the items she requested and scheduled them to be delivered to her home.

As he placed the order, Carter noticed the time.It’s after five.He didn’t realize he had slept so late in the afternoon. Carter needed to call Harlem and quickly dialed her number. The phone rang a couple of times before she picked it up.

“Hello.”

Carter didn’t miss the irritation in her voice. “Hey.” He wished he could have an easy day. One that wasn’t so damned difficult. Unfortunately, that wasn’t in the cards. If he wanted Harlem in his life, he was going to have to work for her. “I miss you. Why don’t you come over tonight, and I’ll make us dinner.”

Is that before or after you go over to Elaina’s?Harlem had no right to feel jealous, but she was. She hated that feeling. Still, Harlem had some pride and would never admit it. Her attitude was oozing through the phone. “Mesha drove up last night. She’s not leaving until later. So–” Her voice trailed off.

“Come over after. I don’t care how late.” Carter waited for her response. It was slow.

“Mesha and I have been shopping all day. I’m actually pretty tired.”

Carter was frustrated and hurt. “That sounds like bullshit, Harlem. Either you want to see me, or you don’t.”

“I just ran into your batshit crazy pregnant ex, so it’s a bit hard to get up for a visit!” Harlem snapped. “It was almost like looking at myself.”

Carter had no idea what Harlem was talking about. “What?” Elaina wasn’t even showing yet.

“Never mind.” Harlem closed her eyes as she sat in the car, fuming and waiting for Mesha. She was foul for taking her frustrations out on Carter, and she knew it. Harlem’s voice softened. “Can I call you later?” She didn’t want to continue to take her anger out on him.

Carter spoke calmly when he was anything but. “Yeah. Okay.” Angrily, he ended their call.

Mesha got in the car at the same time he disconnected. “Sorry it took so long.” Immediately, she could tell by the look on Harlem’s face that something was wrong. “What?”

Harlem sighed. “Nothing. I’m just tired.”

*****

It was always loneliest at night. That was also when Harlem’s thoughts would run wild. She lay in bed staring up at the ceiling, thinking about Carter. She hadn’t spoken to him since their last call a couple of days ago.

Harlem didn’t realize how much he filled her days and thoughts until he stopped being such a powerful presence in it. She was genuinely surprised but understood why he hadn’t called. It was best. Still, she missed him. Harlem could only hope with time, she wouldn’t miss him as much.

---