Page 22 of Mister President

“It doesn’t matter.” He gave me a kiss on the forehead, as usual. “I guess I’ll see you for family day.”

With a nod, I stood to say goodbye to my baby. “See you then.”

12

Fiona

At the last minute,I decided to meet Elias at the restaurant instead of having him meet me. Regardless of how I felt about Elias, I wasn’t so blinded by infatuation that I forgot where I came from. That I forgot who my parents were and how they felt about marriage. To them, marriage was a means to further develop the wealth that would slide down our bloodline. I’d been raised to be a wife and mother… a wife and mother to a certain kind of man.

Regardless of how Daddy pined over Elias when it came to business, that would be different when I presented him as my man. My goal was to get close to Elias and convince Daddy that he was the right pick for me, but that was going to take some time.

When I parked at the beach, my nerves rattled even more. This was the moment I’d been waiting on for years, and it was finally here. There was no doubt in my mind that Elias and I would get along well. If Mommy didn’t teach me anything else,she taught me how to feed off a man. As long as he wasn’t an undercover narcissist or asshole, I’d be able to mirror his vibe.

Elias told me to text him when I arrived, so I did. A few minutes later, he made his way out to my Lexus. I watched as he walked to my door. He looked so damn good in his charcoal gray suit with a black T-shirt underneath. Silver and platinum jewelry made his dark, rich skin pop even more. It looked like he had a fresh haircut, and my pussy salivated wanting to suck him in.

“Good evening, pretty girl.” He spoke as he opened the door.

I allowed him to help me get out of the car, and as he eyed my frame, his eyes lowered as he licked his lips. I took special care in getting ready tonight. My outfit for the evening was a two-piece crop top and skirt set. It was a red shade that was slightly darker than my hair. Based on the low groan that escaped him, it was safe to say he liked what he saw.

“You look amazing, Fi.”

I giggled quietly as he closed the door. “Thank you, Elias. You look handsome, but that’s nothing new.”

We shared a brief hug, then he led me to the restaurant. As it was withThe Viewrestaurant, we had to use an elevator to get to the top floor ofMera’s Soul Food & Speakeasy. We stopped at the lower level since we were a little early for our reservation. Elias asked me if I was okay with that since we hadn’t originally discussed going to the bar. We were early because he didn’t have to come and pick me up, so I didn’t mind stopping by the bar.

It had the typical speakeasy vibe—very dark lighting, limited seating, and a small space. I loved that there was a small stage to the left for karaoke. Since it was under the restaurant and meant solely for drinking and karaoke, the menu only offered pizza. This was the first speakeasy I’d gone to that had karaoke, but I was sure it was a cool vibe.

There were only five tables and all of them were packed except two. One open seat was at the bar, and Elias told meI could sit there if the people who had the table didn’t want to share. I was cool with that, and it also gave him brownie points for being a gentleman. I’d been with men in the past who expected me to stand in a crowded space just because they couldn’t sit.

He held my hand and led me through the small yet cozy space.

“Excuse me,” he said, getting the attention of the ladies who sat at the table.

When they turned, two laughed while the other’s eyes widened at the sight of Elias. She smiled as her eyes slowly trailed over to me.

“What’s up, cuz?” one of the women asked Elias with a syrupy grin.

“Wassup, Felicity? I should have known y’all would come through for opening day.”

“Yeah, it’s a vibe,” the other girl sitting next to her said. “We probably won’t go up to the restaurant today because it’s packed with reservations, but the pizzas we’ve seen have been looking good.”

The one whose eyes were locked with Elias’s still hadn’t spoken yet.

“I was looking at that oxtail joint. If I get that, I’ll probably wanna smoke and crash afterward,” Felicity said.

“Introduce us to your date, E,” the beautiful woman that he’d been unable to take his eyes off directed.

“Oh yeah.” Elias released a nervous chuckle as he pulled me closer to his side. “Felicity, Tamar, this is Fiona.” He shifted me so I was more in front of him when he directed his attention back to the bombshell beauty. “Mandy, this is Fiona.” Elias looked down at me. “Fiona, this is Amanda, my—”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Amanda said, interrupting him and extending her hand for me to shake.

“You as well. You’re absolutely gorgeous.”

She bashfully smiled as our hands dropped. “Thank you, love. You’re so damn pretty too.” She cupped my cheek in a way that made chills cover my skin. “I love your features, and those freckles are so cute. I bet Elias can’t keep his hands off you.”

He shifted uncomfortably as his hand gripped my waist. “We were about to see if we could sit here, but I’ll just let her sit at the bar until our table upstairs is ready.”

“Oh no, y’all can sit here,” Amanda offered. “We can scoot over a bit.”

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