The Gift Page 4

  In Starbucks, I was lucky enough to find a prime spot to sit in. Right in the corner at the window where I could see outside, as well as everyone that entered. I rushed to put my purse and laptop down before going back to the counter to order a hot salted caramel mocha. I made sure to get whip cream, and ordered a butter croissant to go with it. As soon as the foam from the drink touched my top lip, I closed my eyes and relaxation found me. The warm fluid trickling down into my soul reminded me of just how comforting winter could be. If you could even consider it winter, since it was only in the sixties. Anybody else in the world would dispute that those temperatures qualified for winter. But that was Vegas, for you.

  An older couple sat in the chairs directly in front of me, each of them on their iPads playing some game. Every now and then they’d compare screens, probably to see what level the other one was on. It was so cute. It made me think of how it would be when I finally got into a relationship. That’s if I ever got into a relationship. I didn’t have the best track record. I’d been there and done that. And hearing about celebrity cheating scandals daily, had me not wanting anybody claiming me. Temptation seemed like the norm and I didn’t have time to be trying to love on somebody, and be worried about if they were in turn, loving on somebody else.

  “Hi,” the friendly woman said to me, when she caught me daydreaming in her and her man’s direction.

  Embarrassing as hell!

  “Hello,” I said, forcing out a nervous giggle. “So sorry for staring. Was just admiring you guys is all,” I lied, feeling way too stupid to say anything else.

  She continued staring daggers through me, long after the lie. I didn’t want to have a battle of the stares with this woman, but she wasn’t letting up. I hoped to hell she didn’t think I was checking out her old man.

  Luckily, during our staring contest, my phone rang giving me a reason to abandon the awkward moment that she and I shared. The number showing on my caller ID was unfamiliar. But since it was neither an 800, nor an 888, I proceeded to answer it.

  “This is Kayla,” I answered.

  “Kayla, hi. It’s Angela Myers from Echo Construction. Is now a good time to speak?”

  “Yes, yes, of course, Ms. Myers,” I said nervously. “What can I do for you? You guys went with another candidate for the position, huh?” I asked, feeling my heart sink.

  It was a position that I’d applied, and interviewed for over a month ago. Yet, I hadn’t heard anything back. It had been the pattern with the stuff I had put in for. Almost always they’d call for an interview, but hearing from them again, was becoming a rare occurrence.

  “Well, we did go with a candidate . . .” She paused and I took that opportunity to speak.

  “I figured,” I told her, my heart sinking into the pits of my stomach. “It was a bit out of my realm, but I figured why not give it—”

  “We chose you, Kayla. You’re our selected intended.”

  Her words registered immediately. There were no delays reaching my brain. Before I knew it, I screamed out, “Oh my God!” It was loud, causing the couple across from me to jerk their heads my way. I grabbed my coffee, my purse, and my laptop then ran off to a more uninhabited part of the café. “I can’t believe this!” I said, trying my best not to cry.

  “Does that mean that it’s okay to send the offer letter to the email on file?”

  “Absolutely! Yes, yes, please do! Oh my God! You just don’t know how happy I am!”

  “Oh, I can tell. And I’m happy that you’re happy. I’m emailing you now. If you could review the letter at your earliest convenience, I would appreciate it. If you have any questions, the responses may be delayed. My vacation begins today at 4:30PM. But I’ll check emails minimally.”

  “Oh my God,” I whispered low enough that she didn’t hear me.

  “If the offer meets your expectations then send me back a signed copy so that we can move forward.”

  “I’ll send it back right away. Thank you so much.”

  “You’re very welcome, Kayla. And if I don’t hear back from you today, have a Merry Christmas.”

  “Thank you, Ms. Myers. You do the same.”

  It had to be somewhere around half an hour when I emerged from the ladies’ room at Starbucks. I needed to get somewhere a little more secluded when the emotional downpour hit me out of nowhere. And now I felt lighter. So much lighter! I felt like a whole new woman. I cried and I cried hard. I thanked God and the universe for having come to my rescue when everything went bleak on me. I couldn’t believe that everything had turned out the way that it had. Things like this didn’t happen to people in their everyday lives—especially not me!

  And when I arrived back at my apartment, I found that the universe wasn’t quite done with me . . .

  -8-

  Silas

  “Look who finally showed up!” My best friend Steve lifted his wrist up in dramatic fashion to look at his watch. “And he’s only fifteen minutes late, too! Ladies, you have to excuse my boy. He’s on his own time. Forgot to let you know that the world revolves around him.”

  “Oh, that’s perfectly fine with me,” one of the two women stated. “He looks to be well worth the wait.”

  I wanted to drag this dude aside and let him know that I didn’t appreciate the shit he had pulled . . . again. But I decided to play it cool. It wasn’t the first time his ass had ambushed me with some strange women that I didn’t know. I walked over to Steve and dapped him up before taking one of the three seats left at the table.

  I was going to be cordial for as long as my mood allowed. But I had no idea how long that would be. I only knew that I wasn’t going to sit there and force shit.

  “Ladies, this is my best friend, Silas Daniels,” he introduced.

  “Hi Silas,” the two blondes greeted in unison.

  “Silas, this here is Sarah, and—”

  “Bunni, is my name,” the other woman offered, speaking ahead. “I’m the lucky girl that Stevie here picked as your date for the night,” she stated confidently.

  I turned to look at Steve, and then back to the Bunni. “My date for the night, huh?”

  “Absolutely,” she said, smiling big. Her silicon was on full display in a yellow off-the-shoulder top. “I hope you’re not disappointed.”

  “Disappointed? Not at all. Surprised, now that better describes it.”

  “Well Stevie was just looking out for you,” Sarah, Steve’s date added in his defense. “Says that you’re always working. And you know what they say about all work and no play . . .”

  “But Silas doesn’t look like such a dull boy . . .” Bunni concluded.

  I swear I wanted to laugh. I wanted to laugh while I was choking the fuck out of Steve. This man never stopped. But he’d hear about it for sure. I didn’t even really have the time to be out tonight, but made the time because I thought I was coming to kick it with the fellas. Shit-talking, dinner, drinks and shoot some pool. That’s what I thought because that’s the way he had presented it. If I wanted something to fuck on, I knew goddamn well how to get it for myself.

  “Nah, my boy ain’t dull at all,” Steve offered up. “He’s the life of the party. When he allows him—”

  “I’ll be right back,” I said cutting into Steve’s sales pitch. “Gotta take this call,” I said, looking down at my phone vibrating on top of the table.

  “Aww,” Bunni whined as I got up from the table. “Hurry back!” she called out behind me.

  On my way up the stairs in the direction of the restaurant’s exit, I answered the call.

  “Hi Silas, it’s Kayla. Did I catch you at a bad time?”

  I smiled to myself, happy for the save. “Not at all. What’s going on?”

  “I just wanted to call and chat you up for a minute, if that’s okay.”

  “It’s more than okay.”

  “Sounds like people and music in the background. You sure I didn’t catch you at a bad time? I can call back. Or you can call me when you’re free.”

&
nbsp; “No, you’re good. But hold on for just a second,” I told her while signaling the valet for my car.

  “Of course.”

  While they were bringing my car curbside, I returned to her.

  “So, what’s going on?”

  “You say that so casually, like you didn’t just appear in my life, and change the whole trajectory of it. You rescued me, Silas. From a really dark place that I wasn’t sure I would crawl my way out of. I owe you…”

  “Nah, you don’t owe me anything, Kayla. It’s nothing to help somebody—especially when you can.”

  “Well, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I mean…”

  She went silent on me for seconds on end. I figured she was gathering her thoughts and I didn’t want to rush her in any way. And in the meantime, valet arrived with my car and I was able to pair to my vehicle’s Bluetooth to talk to her hands-free.

  “I’ve never had anyone do what you did for me, Silas. But I’ve never been in this situation either. I mean, there’s been some predicaments, but this was the most dire. I was almost fully depleted. I just . . . I just hope that you don’t think negatively of me in any way. My head is so much straighter than what you’ve been met with. I’m really a bright woman, with some intellect. I’ve just caught some bad breaks. And at forty years old, I shouldn’t still be repeating cycles.”

  “Kayla, listen. First of all, forty? You’re kidding, right?”

  “No,” she said, sadly. “I know it’s bad.”

  “I wasn’t even on that page with it. I said it like that because you don’t even look like you’re out of your thirties.”

  “Oh,” she sighed. “Well, thank you. I thought the stress would age me for sure.”

  “Not from where I’m standing.”

  “I appreciate that. Well, I just want you to know that—”

  “Kayla stop,” I interrupted her. “Don’t worry about what I think. For the record, I don’t think negatively at all. That’s all you, doing it to yourself. You need to get to a place where you accept that sometimes things that happen to you, happen for you. You weren’t supposed to be there at that place. I guarantee you weren’t. Let it go. As much as you enjoyed the work, you weren’t meant for there. They weren’t meant for you. You were meant for bigger things.”

  “Wow. That’s a gem you just dropped there. I appreciate it. And you’re right. If anybody comes down on me . . . it’s me. With boulders, I do.”

  “Yeah, you have to stop that. What purpose does it serve? None. Evict that entire train of thought from your mind. Don’t let it take up residence. If you have to, just try figuring out why that situation wasn’t for you, and make better steps next time. But don’t beat yourself up.”

  “Silas, for real, life coach is in your future. I hope you know that. And you keep sharing all this knowledge of yours, you might have me on your phone line more often than not.”

  “I wouldn’t be mad at that,” I laughed.

  “So, guess what?” she said, traces of excitement behind the words.

  “What?”

  “I got an offer yesterday!” she shrieked. “And it’s not a lateral. It’s a promotion!”

  “Seriously? Congrats, Kayla! I’m happy for you.”

  “Thank you!”

  “See, stuff is already turning around for you. If you were still at that other job, you wouldn’t have applied, right?”

  “True . . .”

  “So, when did you find out about the job?”

  “After I left RC Willey yesterday, I had the uber drop me off at Starbucks. I got the call while I was there.”

  “That’s dope, Kayla.”

  “Right?! Get this, though. I ended up having to call for another uber to run me to Office Depot so that I could print and fax the acceptance letter back.”

  She was smiling. I could hear it in her voice.

  “Nice.”

  “Yeah, it was more than nice. The day was magical,” she stated with slight hesitation in her voice.

  “Kayla,” I called out. “Where’d you go?”

  “I’m here. I was kinda just waiting for you to bring up what else you did for me. But you’re not even going to, huh?”

  “What?” I said, feigning ignorance.

  “Silas—”

  “Please don’t ask me why again, Kayla.” I shrugged my shoulders. “I did it because you needed it.”

  “For three months, Silas. You paid for . . .” She paused in between words. “As soon as I can, I’m paying you ba—”

  “I didn’t do any of what I did, for a reimbursement from you.”

  “But—”

  “Consider it an early Christmas gift.”

  “A four-figure Christmas gift? To a stranger? Silas . . .”

  “It’s all good.”

  “Really?”

  “Really.”

  “Well, it really just doesn’t seem like I’m ever going to win this debate. Doesn’t seem like you’ll take a repayment from me. So will you at least let me cook you dinner?” she asked. “Everything is supposed to be here tomorrow. And I don’t start the new job until after the holidays. I want to do something nice for you. You have to let me do that. Please let me do that.”

  “Okay.”

  “Did I hear an ‘okay’ from the man?!”

  I found myself smiling. “Yep, you did.”

  “Dang! It only took forever. So, here’s the deal. Delivery is tomorrow between 8 and 12. I started cleaning yesterday, and doing some more tonight so that when they come, I can just slide all the beauty into place. Then when they leave, I can run to the store and have dinner ready somewhere around . . . what time does your work day end?”

  “What time do you have in mind?”

  “I was thinking around 7. Is that good?”

  “That’s perfect.”

  “Yay!”

  “So, I’ll be there to pick you up at 7,” I told her.

  “Wait. Hold on. Nooo, I’m cooking for you, so that means—”

  “I’ll be there to get you at 7. Be ready. You have yourself a beautiful night, Kayla. I’ll see you tomorrow evening.”

  By the time I disconnected from the call I was laughing. I caught her all the way off guard. I could hear the surprise in her voice. I even heard her trying to protest, but plans were set.

  Of course, during my call with Kayla, Steve had beeped in a few times. So, it was no surprise to me, that when I finally got to the house, I had several voicemails and text messages—all from him. He was pissed off, but he had nobody to blame but himself. Maybe he would finally get the message.

  I’d see him soon enough, then he could speak his piece and I sure as fuck would speak mine. Until then, he’d wait because my night had ended and I was about to kick back and relax.

  -9-

  Kayla

  Now was one of those times where not having friends really worked against me. Man, oh man. I had acquaintances, but not women that I called friends. They were either ones that I’d met at the job I had, or just somebody I met in passing. Nevertheless, there was nobody in my life that I could call to get advice on what I should wear out with Silas. To even share the details of all the stuff that was happening in my life! Nobody. And I wanted to. As much as I’ve said in my past that friendships were overrated, I wasn’t thinking that now.

  Silas had really surprised me and taken control of the whole situation that I was trying to set up for him. Just 360’d that entire thing. Took all the power away from me and got in the driver’s seat. Because of that, I now stood in my closet trying to decide on whether to wear a dress or pants. Or maybe even a jumpsuit or a skirt. Jeans even.

  No, I thought. A dress is better. Neutral to any environment.

  Besides, if Silas was just getting off work, then he would probably have on a suit or some slacks or something like that.

  Arghh! Shit was hard.

  I was so busy trying to anticipate what he might be wearing, where we might be going, that my head was starting to throb. I
was surprised at the energy I was giving to the situation. How much I really wanted to make the right impression.

  After contemplating forever, I ended up outfitted in a seafoam green, faux suede, jumpsuit that had a gold zipper in the front of it. I added gold accessories, choosing a pair of large hoop earrings and a bangle for my wrist. The thin chain choker that I wore was cold as hell on my neck when I first put it on, but I championed it out.

  Instead of a ponytail, I parted my bob deep on the left, and added some large wand curls that I ended up picking apart, to provide more fullness. After the smoky eye application and lipstick, I threw on a pair of tan suede booties. When I looked in the mirror, I loved what I saw. The life had returned to my face. My eyes were smiling all by themselves. The sadness I previously felt from looking in the mirror, was gone. I was happy and felt that my life was back on track to being decent.

  I was ready for dinner with my new friend.

  A few minutes before 7, my doorbell rang. The butterflies in my stomach congregated in one spot, and went crazy! I was fine up until that very moment and now I could barely make it to the front door without thinking that my legs were going to lock up and send me tumbling to the floor—on my face!

  Kayla! Girl, you have to chill! I inwardly scolded myself. Pull yourself together!

  I stopped just short of the door to allow myself a few deep breaths. I was trying to keep from passing out.

  When I opened the door, there stood Silas in all his fineness, those tight eyes smiling at me. His facial hair was groomed to perfection. He was a vision. He had to know it. Of course, the aroma of his cologne walked into the front door, right past me, and lit up the space around me.

  “Hey,” I said to him.” It was the first word that came to mind.

  “Hey, yourself,” he responded.

  He was in a charcoal grey suit, with a white crew neck shirt beneath it. He looked damn good and his suit fit nicely! With the way he just had 8k sitting around on a furniture card, for sure the suit was tailored. Probably in his own damn suit factory!