Page 65 of Trust Issues
“Hey, yourself.” His silver eyes took my hair in little by little then he looked at my face. “This is new.” He gestured to my hair. “Is that your hair? I always thought you had…curls.” He was mesmerized and I wanted to facepalm.
“Yes, Bill. This is my hair. I’ve been wearing a wig all this time. I’ll start wearing it again if my natural hair makes you uncomfortable. I couldn’t help rolling my eyes because I didn’t mean a damn bit of what I said. If he didn’t like my natural fucking hair then I knew I’d have to find a new job.
Shit.
Max was right. I needed to be myself. I needed to proud of my hair no matter what it looked like and to be honest, it looked like royalty.
“Let’s go into your office,” Bill said, opening the door for me. I felt heat prickle the back of my neck. I’d made a name for myself at Allen & Allen and I didn’t want to leave but I would if I had to. I’d also sue the fuck out of them for discrimination.
The more I thought about it, the more I got pissed with myself for hiding behind a wig out of fear. I sat behind my desk with a straight spine and looked Bill in the eye.
“You think I’d want you to wear a wig?” He frowned.
“I assumed my hair would make you andothersuncomfortable. I wore the wig just in case.”
“Kyla, you’re the best damn lawyer this firm has. Don’t tell Marshall or Cadence and for god’s sake don’t tell Charles but your hair is the last thing on my mind. I wanted to ask you why in the world haven’t you gone for partner yet. You know Charles is moving soon, right?”
“Yeah, I know but…” I didn’t know what to say. I was fully prepared to argue Bill down on the whole hair issue. Clearly, I didn’t have to.
“But what? Listen, wear your hair however you like as long as you keep winning cases the way you do, Kyla. I don’t have a problem with it. Besides, you think I’d open myself up to a discrimination suit? Against you?” He let out a deep chuckle and shook his head.
“Yeah, I guess that wouldn’t be smart of you. Wow. I’m floored right now. I wore that damn wig every day thinking you and Charles would send me packing if I dared to wear my locs.”
“Nah. No worries. Listen, after this divorce is done, I want you to interview for partner. Something tells me you’re a shoo-in but what do I know?” He shrugged then stood to his feet. “Keep up the good work, Bradshaw.”
Well…fuck.
That lifted a huge weight off my chest. I smiled from ear to ear after Bill left. I called Max right away.
“You knew I forgot to put on my fucking wig. Didn’t you?” I scolded the minute he picked up the phone.
“I think you’re doing dirty talk wrong, Kyle. That’s not how it goes.”
“Don’t play with me, Max.”
“Fine. Yes. I realized it but I wanted to see if you’d sink or swim. Now, either you’re calling to tell me you got fired or you’re calling to tell me you nailed your case and nobody in your office gave two fucks what your hair looked like. Which one is it?”
I rolled my eyes and hung up on him immediately. I didn’t have to take that shit. My phone buzzed with a text message two seconds later. It was a row of crying laughing emojis from Max.
Max: So I must have been right. Nobody cared about your hair and you killed in court. Good to know. I’ll eat your pussy tonight to celebrate.
See? I was prepared to be pissed and then he sent me texts like that. I was busy smiling at my phone like an idiot when Cadence walked in.
“Ooh, you must be talking to Max.”
“Huh?” I jerked my gaze to hers and then shook my head. “How do you know I’m talking to Max?”
“Because you have that ridiculous starry-eyed look on your face. The same one I get when I’m talking to Naima.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. Anyway, what’s up?”
“Nothing. Okay, I’m lying. I came to be nosey because I saw Bill follow you in here then leave. What’s going on? Did he bitch at you about your hair because I swear to God, Kyla…”
“No, he didn’t.” I held my hand up and laughed a little. “He was actually cool with it. I thought he was going to chew me out and tell me I couldn’t wear my hair like this.” Cadence sat down in the chair across from my desk and crossed her legs.
“Yo, why was Bill in here? Everything okay?” Marshall poked his head in and gawked when he saw my locs. “Holy shit, Kyla. Is that all yours?”
“Yes, Marshall. It’s all mine. If that’s your way of telling me I look beautiful, I’ll take it.”
