-spoil you
I woke up at around seven in the morning out of sheer hunger; the night before had been fun but we hadn't remembered to eat anything other than a few snack in the midst of everything else. I quietly rolled out of Jay's hold and tip-toed in the direction of the kitchen. To my surprise Kev was already seated at the breakfast bar, phone in one hand a cup of coffee in front of him.
"Hey Kevin, why are you up so early?" My gravelly voice murmured as I moved towards the refrigerator, Kev hopped up as he adopted a defensive stance; he let out a sigh of relief and clutched his heart when he noticed that it was me.
"You can't sneak up on people like that girl." Kev chuckled and shook his head, "I woulda shot you in my past life." He sat back on the bar stool with a groan.
"I didn't sneak up on you! You were looking at your phone, so you didn't notice me." I replied while I gathered the ingredients for our breakfast, "You didn't answer my question though Kevin."
His eyebrows furrowed in confusion for a second before realization took over his features. "Oh, I couldn't sleep. My mother was on my mind; the biological one." Kev slid his phone across the breakfast bar so that I could see what he had been looking at. The screen showed a picture of three women hugging each other with wide smiles; one of them was Amira and I assumed that on either side of her were Kev and D's mothers. The photo reminded me of one that I had on my dresser of Jazzy, Lea and me. "She's the one on the left and D's mother Ximena is on the right." Kev filled in the blanks for me.
"They look so carefree and beautiful." I whispered as I admired the photo, my heart hurt for Kev because I could relate to him and Darian so much; the three of us lost our mothers at a young age and we had fathers who never showed interest, at least when it counted. "Do you think about her a lot?" I handed the phone back to him and leaned over the counter.
Kev rubbed the back of his neck and regretfully shook his head, "Honestly? No, she's always at the back of my mind but the thoughts rarely make it to the forefront. It sounds fucked up but when people ask me about my mother, I automatically relate it to mama Mira." He shrugged, "I think about Gia when I feel lost; after our conversation last night I feel like I need to stop acting like a kid." Kev looked at the photo while he spoke.
"You don't act like a kid Kev! You're an frickin' CEO; the stuff we talked about last night is only a small part of who you are. You know that we only told you that stuff because we care about you right?" I asked him while I resumed breakfast; I made sure to split my attention between Kev and the task so that he knew that I was still paying attention to him.
"I know. I was good about it for a while too but- someone shot me down and I've been trying to ignore it." Kev smiled halfheartedly but it never reached his eyes, "I'm going to be real though; nameless, emotionless sex doesn't make me feel the same way it used to."
I let out a loud burst of laughter before clamping a hand over my mouth. "It's not funny but it's funny. I think that you're making progress then Kev. For the record though; running through vagina because your ego is wounded isn't a healthy thing to do but I'm sure you know that." I pointed a wooden spoon at him while I spoke; Kev held his hands up in surrender. "Who was it that shot you down?" I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from smiling; I was sure of who the girl was, but I wanted him to say it.
Kev chuckled and looked at me like I was crazy, "I think everyone knows who she is. It's probably for the best because I don't think that we're ready for each other yet. I've got to be on my best behavior for a while before I drag her into my shit; we'll be friends for as long as she wants. You need help with anything?" Kev offered; he wasn't as open about his feelings as Jay was and he always tried to cut the conversation short when things were getting too close to his boundary, but I didn't mind; everyone had to start somewhere. I hoped that he and "the girl" figured themselves out and appreciated how mature it was of him to know that the timing was off.
"Sure Kev, don't hurt yourself though because I won't help you if you do." I instructed him to do several tasks which cut the preparation time in half; before I knew it, the two of us had completed an entire breakfast spread which may or may not had been too much for just the six of us to eat. One by one, my friends started to emerge from the living room and took their seats at the table.
We ate together and talked for what felt like hours and then it was time for everyone to leave; it was Saturday but Kev and D still had work to attend to, Lea had planned to spend time with her family and Jazzy had a day of condo decoration to look forward to.
Jay and I said our goodbyes to everyone and sent them home with leftovers. Later on was date night for us and Jay had insisted on taking me shopping instead of lounging around like we would usually do when we had free time. I wasn't a big shopper when it came to clothing because I always believed that if I wanted a new outfit, I would put the money right back into Lavish; however, I loved shoes and bags like no other.
"Where are we going to shop?" I asked him while he got dressed; Jay always took longer than I did to get ready, it didn't matter where we were going.
"Somewhere simple like Bergdorf, they've got everything there." Jay told me as he grabbed his phone and wallet off of the dresser. My eyes popped out of my head at his nonchalance, he caught my expression when he turned back to me. "What, you don't like it there?"
"Jay, did you just call Bergdorf Goodman simple? I keep forgetting that you're rich." I laughed; although I was aware of his impact on the business world, we never got down to the dollars and cents of each other's bank accounts.
Money wasn't something that impressed me; I was impressed with what Jason was able to accomplish in life but the actual amount of money he made wasn't an important factor to me and vice versa. What I cared about the most was our emotional connection; it was the only thing that would stand the test of time.
Jay shrugged noncommittally, "I'm not rich, just comfortable." He responded humbly and left the bedroom.
I hopped off of the bed and followed him out of the room, "Only rich people say that they're comfortable but I'll drop it." I teased him.
"Last night was fun." Jay changed the subject; I rolled my eyes and locked the front door; he hadn't even attempted to be subtle about the redirect.
"It was, I love how easily our groups meshed. I feel like I've known you guys forever." I smiled as I thought back to the first time that I'd met Kevin; he, Darian and Jay always knew how to make people feel comfortable.
Jay opened the door of his Bentley truck for me and kissed me on the cheek, "We've got similar ways of thinking; for the most part anyway, and that made it easy. It helps that you're all hilarious; I don't think that anyone could dislike you or your friends."
I took my seat and Jay closed the door for me before jogging over to the driver's side. We talked about the "friendcation" for the entire ride; the only thing that we knew for sure was that we wanted to go somewhere tropical because it would be winter by the time that we would be free to travel; the temperature had already dropped significantly. Our initial plan regarding the timing that had been thrown around the night before was illogical; if we were going to go away and be unreachable to all of our employees, then there needed to be a lot of preparation in place so that everything would run smoothly in our absence.
When we finally made it to the large department store I made a beeline straight for the shoe department, being sure to drag Jay with me. My eyes were immediately glued to a pair of Balenciaga thigh high boots; if I didn't leave with anything else, those shoes were definitely going home with me. I quickly flagged down a sales assistant and requested a pair in my size while I continued to browse.
"You like these?" Jay pointed to a pair of Valentino Garavani over the knee boots. I could have sworn that I heard angels singing around me as I stared at those boots; I nodded frantically at him and he asked the sales associate to bring me a pair as soon as she set the other pair down.
I tried on the first pair of shoes and nearly died; I loved them. "What do you think?" I asked Jay as I modeled the shoes.
"You're getting those, they look perfect on you." Jay complimented as he rubbed on my exposed thigh, I slapped his hand away before he got carried away in the store. "You see them sparkling? I've got plans for you in these shoes for sure." He licked his lips and sat back on the plush couch.
I rolled my eyes and hid my face with my hair as my cheeks began to feel hot; I took the heels off and tried on the other pair which I was even more in love with when I saw what they looked like on. "Yes to these." I told the sales associate; I wasn't sure where I was going to wear them but I knew that I wanted them.
Jay patiently waited as I tried on shoe after shoe and even picked out several that he liked for me to try. We ended up choosing six pairs and then went in search of the handbags
.
"Babe!" I gasped, "I have to have this." I admired a handbag that had me on the verge of drooling. I was about to make a serious dent in his bank account, but he assured me that it was okay.
Jay chuckled, "You can have whatever you like." He sang softly by my ear and then planted a kiss on my cheek, "I'm impressed that you're even letting me do this."
"I'm going to buy you whatever you want when we finish up; that's the only way that I would entertain the thought." I shrugged as I picked up another bag that I liked. "Don't object either."
"Whatever you say mama." Jay smirked. "It's your world, I'm just living in it."
I chuckled and pulled his collar so that I could kiss him; it was long and hard which was possibly inappropriate with our surroundings considered, it was hard for me to be on my best behavior around temptation personified. "I love you." I whispered against his lips and pulled away.
"I love you too KP, you see anything else that you like?" He asked me as he wrapped an arm around my waist. I shook my head no as we walked to the checkout area where all of my things had accumulated.
"Your total is twenty-five thousand, three hundred and seventy-five dollars; how would you like to pay today?" The woman asked with a seductive lilt to her voice; Jay gave her a polite smile and handed over his black card. "Thank you for shopping with us, come back anytime." She returned his card and attempted to subtly touch his arm, but he dodged her.
"You need to chill." He scowled at her and then picked up the bags. "We can put these down and then come back, it's gonna be too much to do both sets of shopping at once." Jay said as we walked towards the exit.
"You really need to stop looking this good before I have beat up someone's daughter." I joked as we strolled to where his truck was parked. "She was ready to risk it all just to touch you."
"I don't know about that, but women need to stop doing shit like that; I'm going to have to embarrass one of these broads one day." Jay huffed as he unlocked the truck and put the bags into the back seat, "Do you want to get luck or shop more?"
"Shop, we can eat later. I'm so excited about this!" I winked at him. "Ready to let mama spoil you?"
He looked me up and down with a prominent smirk on his face, "Yeah, you can do whatever you want to me sexy." Jay pulled me toward him as he leaned on his truck and grabbed a handful of my ass.
"Stop! There are children out here!" I chuckled and gave a half-hearted attempt at moving away. "You're stalling." I whispered.
Jay laughed softly and smiled, "Aight we can go now. Just don't pick out any Gucci; that brand is played out."
"You can pick whatever you want babe, I'm just there to pay." I explained, we walked with our hands intertwined; it successfully turned us into the couple that I once hated to see when I walked down the street.
The sales associates in the Men's department were decidedly desperate for male attention as they attempted to catch Jason's eye; little did they know that they would lose either way. I amused myself by observing their behavior for about five minutes before Jay called out to me.
"Babe, do you like this?" Jay asked while showing me an Off-White sweater. I nodded and smiled as the girls looked visibly deflated as if they'd seen me for the first time. "I'm about to pick out all the Off-White." He chuckled as he continued to browse.
"What about this track suit? The red would look so good on you." I told him as I pointed to another outfit. I loved to see him in bright colors although he mostly stuck to muted earth tones and black.
"Okay, we can add that to the pile." Jay spoke while he continued to look around; I had never seen him shop before but I was undoubtedly amused by the sight; he looked so happy and carefree, I wondered if he thought the same about me when I was looking around earlier. It took about an hour of him looking around before he decided to call it a day and I was impressed with the amount of items that he had managed to pick out in that short amount of time. I was even more impressed that it seemed like he was able to pick out complete outfits instead of just random articles of clothing.
His fan club took everything to the cashier area, at least they had a purpose. Jay pulled out his phone and recorded them ringing up all of the items and then put the camera on me. "Get you somebody who's gonna cash out on you. Thanks baby."
I smiled like an idiot and rolled my eyes at him, "You're welcome babe." I said before moving his phone out of my face.
"Your total is twenty-six thousand, eight hundred and twenty dollars." The cashier said dryly, I smiled at her and handed her my card. She swiped it and handed it back to me with an annoyed expression. "Bye now."
"Bye love, enjoy your day!" I blew a kiss at her before Jay and I picked up all of the bags.
"You're ridiculous Kira." Jay chuckled as we walked back to the truck, "She seemed a little bothered."
I shrugged but didn't respond, we made it to the truck in no time and piled all of Jay's bags into the trunk. "I loved this; we should do it more often!" I told him when we were both seated in the car.
"We should, are you going to wear the sparkly boots tonight?" Jay asked me.
I nodded, "I already know what I'm wearing with them; we're about to be overdressed for Amira's though." I laughed as I pictured us walking into his restaurant.
"You're going to stop a few heart tonight, that's for sure." Jay smirked at me and then started the car.
About five hours later we were seated in a private room on the second floor of Amira's. Jay wanted people to have the option of private dining either in pairs or as a group. A lot of people had opted for it in the short time that the restaurant had been open, no matter how much it cost. We talked about everything that had happened since we met and then I had the bright idea to ask him one of the questions that we had asked each other on our first date.
"Where do you see yourself in five years Jay?" I asked him; I chewed my food and waited for a response.
He sipped on his whiskey and gave me a devilish smirk, "Married with a kid or two. With a house in Connecticut and a place in the city so that we can still be on top of work during the week. What about you?"
I blushed but maintained eye contact with him when I replied, "The same; our futures were separate when we first talked about this but now I don't see a future without you." I told him honestly; he was my truth serum, I always told him exactly what I was thinking without fear.
Jay reached across the table and brought my hand to his lips, "What about your biggest fear, is it still me?"
I nodded and his eyebrows immediately furrowed. "Not in a bad way; before I was afraid of letting you in but now my fear is about losing you. That allows me to put my all into this relationship." I explained myself, he seemed relieved by what I said.
"Mine is still the same; I'm afraid of letting people down, but I understand what you mean because that fear only motivates me to always do my best." Jay shrugged. Our conversation lulled for a while so that we could enjoy our food; which was amazing as always. Though Jay had experienced many issues with the first chef that he'd hired, the second one was extremely talented and never sent out a subpar plate of food.
There was a question that I'd wanted to ask him, and I hoped that it wouldn't ruin our night. "Have you talked to Jaheim again since the last time?"
"No." He shook his head, looking away for a split second. "I know that he talks to Donny, but he's still banned from talking to our parents. I think that he's trying his best now, but he's not ready to really talk to me or the rest of them yet." Jay sighed sadly.
I took his hand in mine. "It'll be okay babe, we have to believe that. We have to hope that he'll be mature enough to hold himself accountable for all of the risky situations that he's dragged you and your brothers into."
He nodded sadly, though he didn't respond verbally. My next question was sure to lighten the mood in the dining room.
"Here's a new one; when do you want to have kids?" I asked him when the waiter cleared our plates.
Jay contemplated his answer for a while, "Are you offering? Relax, I'm joking." He laughed. "I think that I want to enjoy us growing together for at least a year before we bring another person into our relationship. I know for sure that I want to start a family with you though, there's no rush."
I nodded thoughtfully, "I agree, although the timeline may be closer to a year and a half. Not saying that we're not, but I want us to be as solid as possible in all aspects of our lives; our relationship has been very fast paced you know? We're on an accelerated timeline but I agree with you, I want us to enjoy each other as a couple for a while before we have kids." I smiled reassuringly at him. "I definitely want your kids though; I wasn't really sure that I wanted any before I met you but sometimes, I catch myself imagining what they would look like and what their personalities would be like."
Jay matched my smile, "Shit, me too. All I gotta say is that I'm excited for our future KP."
"Me too Jay." I whispered.
The future never looked so bright....