Page 48 of Made to Love Ya

My heart dropped, and I couldn’t help but grab the mouse and scroll down. It couldn’t be. I read the entry for Soldier’s, an African restaurant in town. Based on what she had written so far, she was giving them a glowing review, but she hadn’t finished her write up.

I clicked out of it and went to the history that was on the side panel. I scrolled until I found the one for River & 3rd. My anger burned inside of me as I read it again. I felt her write up was unfair and untrue.

I clicked out of the issue that she had written about River & 3rdand returned to her work in progress before I got up. I still hadn’t signed the contract, but I wasn’t in the headspace to sign anything. I walked back to my room and dialed Jaylen.

“What’s up, Zae?”

“Can you call Steve Jones and tell him to give me another twenty-four hours on that contract?”

“You good, man? What’s wrong? I already signed it. It’s all good. Just sign the damn thing.”

“I know, but you know that I have to read everything before I sign it. I’ve got something urgent that I need to handle on my end, and I can’t give it the attention it deserves right now.”

“All right. I gotcha.”

“Thanks, man.”

I hung up the phone and sat on the edge of the bed. I didn’t know how to address this shit with Talia. I already knew that if I said anything to her about it, she would be pissed that I was snooping through her shit. I would also have to tell her that I was the one who prevented her from getting that job at the magazine. She would be angry as hell at me. There was no way that I could tell her I knew she was T and not tell her that I owned River & 3rdand that I’d impacted her ability to be hired at the magazine. I couldn’t tell her one truth without telling her the rest.

How in the hell did I resolve this issue? One part of me wanted to say something because it was her damn fault that our ability to snag that damn James Beard award for best restauranteur was at stake. But if I did, I’d have to let her know that I was the one who stood between her and her dream as well.

Telling Talia some shit like that would be the end of us. There was no way we could withstand that. As much as I wanted to believe she loved me the way I loved her, I also knew her career was important to her.

All this time, I had been angry; it was my baby I had been angry with. Damn her! Why’d she have to be the T inT’s Tasty Temptations? She had written several articles about that restaurant, and all of them were negative, and she had written one about Cozy Fusions a couple of years ago. To my knowledge, she hadn’t been back. And if she had, she hadn’t written another review.

This was one of those that I would have to sleep on if I got any sleep at all. I showered and climbed into bed. By the time Talia finished her phone call, showered, and climbed into my bed, I was half asleep.

She nuzzled up to me, kissed my neck, and whispered, “I love you.”

I wondered if she would feel the same way if she knew the truth.

* * *

“I’m happy for you.”

“Are you?”

“I really am, Cee-Cee. You’re a good girl, and you deserve the best. I’m sorry that I couldn’t give you what you wanted and deserved.”

My ex-girlfriend, Chantel Collins, who we affectionately called Cee-Cee, admired her engagement ring again. Her fiancé had put a pretty decent sized rock on her hand.

“How long have you been with him?”

“A little over a year. We started dating a few months after you and I broke up.”

“You mean after you broke up with me.”

Cee-Cee smiled that beautiful smile of hers. “It was mutual.”

“No. It wasn’t. You came home one day after work, cooked a nice meal for the two of us, and after dinner over a glass of wine and dessert, you said it wasn’t going to work.”

“And you looked relieved. And when you asked why, I told you that Talia had your heart, and you never denied it.”

“I did too.”

“No, you didn’t.”

“I said that she was my best friend’s little sister.”

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