Page 64 of Trust Issues
“Nothing, baby. You look absolutely beautiful. Have a good day in court.” For some reason, that shit irked me all the way to court. I didn’t even have time to stop at my office so I sent Cadence a text and asked her to meet me at the courthouse with my notes. My girl showed up for me too.
Thank god.
“Um…hey, Kyla.” She blinked a few times before handing me a folder. We walked into the building and I stepped through the metal detector.
“You okay?” I frowned at the way she was looking at me. Her eyes traveled from the top of my head to my eyes and back again.
“I’m fine but,” she leaned over and whispered in my ear. “You realize you don’t have your wig on right?”
Horror settled into my bones and I thought I would pass the fuck out on that shiny ass floor. My eyes scanned the area for the nearest bathroom and I dragged Cadence with me. Once the door closed behind us I freaked the fuck out.
“Oh my god! I can’t believe I forgot to put my wig on!” Memories of Max doing very unholy things to me flashed through my mind. “T-This morning Max and I werebusyand I was supposed to run across the hall and…”
“Ooh. So wait, the dick was so good it made you forget your wig? Okay, Maxwell. I see you.”
“Cadence shut the hell up. I need a wig! I can’t go in there with my locs. Maybe I can call Naima to bring it to me.”
“Nope. She’s dead to the world. I left her this morning and let’s just say she’s sleepy now.” I wanted to probe at the sly smile on her face but I opted not to. There were bigger fish to fry. I could poke fun at their all-nighter later.
“I’ll call her until I wake her up.”
“You can’t, Kyla. You have to be in that courtroom in fifteen minutes. It takes that long to get here from your place and like I said, she’s asleep. That means you’re going to have to call her for at least five to ten minutes and then convince her to bring you your wig after she finishes laughing.”
She was right.
Fuck.
“You can get it! Please, Cadence!”
“Girl. Fifteen minutes to get to your apartment and then fifteen minutes to get back. Are you good at math?”
“Fuck!” I snatched my hair out of its ponytail and looked at myself in the mirror. I could do this. This is what I looked like daily. I could walk into the courtroom like it was nothing. I could pretend nothing was wrong at all. Hell, for all they knew the locs were a wig.
Yeah.
That’s right.
I’d make it work.
“Come on, Kyla. You can do this,” Cadence assured me while rubbing my shoulders.
“I don’t have a choice,” I whined, straightening my spine. “I’m going to go in this motherfucking courtroom, win this motherfucking prenup dispute, take my notes for Bill’s case and go home.”
“You’ll be fine.”
“I’m glad you think so. Thank you for bringing my notes, Cadence.” I gave her a hug and ran my fingers through my locs. If I was being honest, which it seemed I had no choice but to be, not having my wig on at work did feel kind of freeing.
That wig was tight and hot as fuck.
Once I was done with my mini meltdown, I pulled my shoulders back, lifted my gaze, and walked out of the bathroom to my own badass soundtrack of sharp six-inch heels clicking on the marble floor.
When I entered the courtroom, the presiding judge was one I was used to seeing. We had a pretty decent relationship. When she saw me with my locs out and on full display, her eyebrows hit her hairline. She recovered quickly though and greeted me as if it were nothing. I was nervous as hell but I’d never let it show. I forgot my wig for a reason so it was time to rock my mistake and let it all hang out. Hell, even my client did a double take. I pretended not to notice or care. I presented my case like a fucking boss. My nerves were disobedient children running amok in my body once everything was wrapped up. I never let on once.
Of course, I won the dispute and got my client the summer home she was fighting for that her soon-to-be ex was trying to swindle her out of. I didn’t want to seem like I was in a rush even though I was. I congratulated my client and stayed around for exactly ten minutes of small talk, carefully avoiding the topic of my hair. Once that shit was done, I was in my car and driving toward Allen & Allen.
I tried to walk in unseen so I could get my notes and go the fuck home but the sound of my name being called from across the floor made me go rigid. “Kyla! Is that you?” Of-fucking-course, it was Bill trying to chase me down. Of course, it was. The universe wouldn’t have it any other way.
I spun around with a phony smile on my face and greeted him with a chipper voice. “Hey, Bill!”
