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  We arrived at Jasmine’s party, which was held in a beautiful mansion in Sandy Springs. The spiral staircase leading up to the door took my breath away and there were valets that parked our cars. Now this was living. When Jasmine threw a party, she did it with style. No one could accuse her of having bad taste.

  We walked into the house and I immediately spotted Jasmine in an emerald green Grecian style dress and Cedric was directly beside her. They really needed to stop playing and just make their relationship official. Jasmine was dragging her heels and refusing to commit out of fear. Cedric was good for her and I couldn’t see him hurting her in the same way that her ex had. Besides, neither I nor Patrice would betray her the way that Amelia did.

  I heard Joshua’s voice behind me and I didn’t even bother turning around because I knew that he wouldn’t even look my way. But he did give Kenneth a brotherly head nod before he greeted Jasmine with a hug. I narrowed my eyes at her and she gave me an ‘I’m sorry,’ look. Patrice emerged from upstairs and her short peacock blue dress showed off all of her best assets. Not to brag, but I have hot friends.

  “Hey girl!” Patrice said before she gave me a hug.

  All of us huddled together for a little while to exchange greetings and hugs before everyone branched off. Joshua walked away with Patrice and bounced back and forth between her and Jasmine for most of the night.

  “You’re the most beautiful woman here baby,” Kenneth said into my ear.

  I looked at his face and I could see that he sincerely meant what he said. I gave a slight blush and my chest swelled with pride. I didn’t need the reassurance because I was secure with myself but it’s always nice to know that your man thinks you’re hot.

  I gave him a quick kiss on the lips, “You’re the only man worth noticing in this entire room.”

  “I better be,” he said with a cheeky smile.

  “You know that I only have eyes for you babe,” I said.

  Kenneth and I parted ways to mingle and network. We both knew how to work a room and because we handle different areas of the fashion industry, it’s best if we break apart in order to do it properly. Jasmine pulled me to the side.

  “I want you to meet Desmond. He’s an old childhood friend of mine and he’s moved back to Atlanta recently and I think that he could be what you’re looking for.”

  I gave Desmond a once over and I smiled inwardly. He was hot. I wasn’t looking for a new man but I wasn’t blind either. Any person with eyes could see that he was a fine piece of art. Desmond was a little over 6 feet, with a deep chocolate complexion, a strong jaw line, with a beautiful head of curly hair. I looked into his eyes and saw that they were a light brown. He had a muscular build. God truly blessed the gym that he was a member of.

  “Hello Desmond, I’m Nicole,” I said politely before I turned to Jasmine, “Why would he be what I’m looking for?”

  “He’s launching a new fashion line for men,” she said excitedly.

  “Is that so?” I said looking at him.

  “Yes it is, I’m in the middle of talking to buyers now and I would love to give you an exclusive first look.”

  “Now you’re speaking my language,” I laughed.

  “Is his line any good?” I asked Jasmine.

  “It’s fire,” she said, “Men everywhere will want it. It’s Masculine but trendy and you know that the two don’t always go hand in hand.”

  “See, now all you have to do is check it out and we can start making some serious money,” Desmond said.

  “When you talk money, you’re worth my time,” I joked.

  “Well, I’ve done my part. I’ll leave the two of you to work out the details,” she said before she disappeared into the crowd.

  After speaking to him for a few minutes he handed me his business card. He was really funny and I could tell that he would be easy to work with. I valued my humble clients the most and I loved unpretentious suppliers even more. He had the type of personality that I enjoyed doing business with.

  “Let’s go out for dinner after you take a look at my new line. I would love to get to know you better outside of work.”

  “Well, er, I can’t do that because I have a boyfriend,” I said.

  “Oh! Sucks for me, but I can understand why you’re not single,” he said, “We can keep it professional; I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize our working relationship.”

  “I’m glad to hear that. But don’t get ahead yourself. I’m not on board yet.”

  “Hey baby,” Kenneth said walking up from behind and surprising me.

  “Hey love,” I said noticing him putting his arm around my waist.

  He knew better than to exhibit this kind of behavior when I was networking and I extended him the same courtesy. People don’t want to do business with people that have overly protective partners. It’s not worth the drama and I completely understand why.

  “I’m sorry to interrupt the two of you but Patrice has someone that she wants you to meet.”

  I introduced Kenneth and Desmond and they exchanged greetings. I promised Desmond that I would call him on Monday and we parted ways.

  “Jealous baby?” I asked playfully.

  “Now you know better than that,” he laughed, “I know that I don’t have to worry,” he grinned.

  I knew that he was lying but at the same time I thought that it was cute. Healthy jealousy in a relationship never hurt. He ushered me over to Patrice and she was standing next to a beautiful statuesque woman. She was African American and something else, I couldn’t put my finger on it but she was an exotic beauty.

  “Hey Nikki,” Patrice said, “I wanted to introduce you to my coworker Loren. She’s trying to break into the modeling industry over here.”

  “I don’t think that she’ll have a problem with that,” I said before I introduced myself to her.

  We shook hands but everything was done very tightly. I found out what area she lived in and we did a little bit of small talk but I just got this bad vibe from her. She did not seem that interested in actually having a conversation as I could see her eyeing up all the men in the room. To be blunt, I just didn’t like the girl. I can admit that she’s stunning and that paired with her attitude was enough to make me not like her. Call it female intuition but she seemed very phony to me. You know the kind of girls that have a smile plastered to their face but it never reaches their eyes? I made an excuse to step away from them and continued to mingle and network. I do not really deal with models directly myself so there was not much need to continue with talking with Loren.

  About an hour later I noticed a woman coming on to Kenneth. He didn’t see me watching him but I could tell when a skank was trying to work her magic from a mile away. She was doing her best to be subtle but her body language was telling the story for her. I watched in silence to see his reaction. He gave a disgusted shake of head and looked around the room. He then pointed me out to her. When he saw that I was watching he gave me a really cute smile, and she gave me a look that was the opposite. I guess it hurts to get turned down by a fly guy that doesn’t want you.

  I was so happy that he didn’t spend time flirting with her. In the past he would have flirted back and forth and would have defended himself by saying that he was just being polite. He really was changing for the better and he was proving my feelings about him to be correct.

  Kenneth and I decided to call it a night when we saw that it was almost midnight. I found my friends and said my goodbyes. As we were leaving I noticed out of the corner of my eye I saw Joshua and Loren making out. Not just regular making out either, it was ‘let’s get a hotel room,” making out. I pointed him out to Kenneth and Kenneth smiled.

  We were both happy to see Joshua moving on. The quicker he moved on and found happiness the sooner all of our lives could go back to being normal. Maybe this Loren girl would be useful after all.

  #Chapter3

  “I can forgive you, but I will never forget.”

  Joshua

  Going t
o Kenneth’s apartment after I’m done with a long day is one of my greatest joys. From the moment that I enter his apartment all of my stress goes away. Although, I sometimes feel like I’m never truly off of the clock. There’s always something to be done. The life of an entrepreneur isn’t something that’s easy by a long shot. I handle most of the aspects of my business, except my accounting.

  So many people wonder why I don’t use Kenneth to handle my books, but I just think that would be awkward. Maybe after we’re married, I’ll let him do it but for now I don’t want him to be a huge part of my finances. I couldn’t imagine how we would have gotten along during our breakup if he was my accountant. I couldn’t have handled seeing him every month.

  I saw that his car was already in the parking lot so I didn’t have to call or text to see if he was at home. I couldn’t believe that I was becoming such a sap for him all over again. But this time it was so much easier to do it without guilt. I finally felt like his feelings mirrored my own.

  I let myself into his apartment because he gave me the keys. Yes, I have the keys baby!

  He’d never once even thought about given me a key in the previous part of our relationship. I didn’t even ask because I knew it just wasn’t going to happen. So when he gave me the keys to his apartment a few days ago I was in shock and awe. He’s really stepping his game up, and I truly appreciate it. It’s been long overdue.

  When I opened the door Kenneth was already sitting on his couch and looking comfortable. His schedule had gotten so much better now that he had the huge contract with the modeling agency. He no longer had to hustle and bustle like everyone else. When he was finished seeing clients, then he was finished. He could choose to network if he wanted, but the truth was that his workload was already full. It didn’t look like any of his clientele would be dropping him or moving on anytime soon so he was able to take a breather at the end of the day.

  “Hey Angel face,” he said casually as he stood up to hug me.

  I took off my shoes and walked over to him to, “Hey Kenny, I’ve missed you.”

  “Well the feeling is mutual,” he said as he pinched my ass.

  I giggled and playfully hit him on the shoulder. He was always molesting me, but I liked it. It’s always nice when the man that you love can’t keep his hands off of you. I made a mental note to go to the gym in the morning. It had been over 2 weeks since I was there. I couldn’t afford to let my body slip just because I was back in a relationship. I loved my wardrobe, and I didn’t want to have to buy another one just because I didn’t work out.

  We sat on the couch and cuddled in contentment.

  “Oh babe, I’ve been meaning to tell you, Joshua and Loren are together now. It's crazy!”

  “That’s great,” I said, “so when did you find this out?”

  It had been almost two weeks since we’d seen the both of them at the party. Joshua and Ken were back to being as thick as thieves once again. Yet, Joshua still completely ignored me. I find it funny how men can forgive each other and yet treat the woman as if she has a scarlet letter on her chest. It was two people that technically did Joshua wrong, and yet I was the one being singled out. That’s what I get for dating best friends, I should have known better but I let my poor judgment get the best of me.

  As if he was reading my mind, Ken kissed the top of my head, “I think it’s time for you and Joshua to make up. You don’t have to be best friends, but you both at least need to be cordial.”

  “I don’t know about that, he’s the one that treats me as if I don’t exist. I wouldn’t have a problem talking to him, but I don’t know if he’ll be up for it.”

  “Good, then there’s no harm in trying. The two of you can’t avoid each other forever. You aren’t going anywhere, and he isn’t going anywhere. So we need to fix this as soon as possible so that everyone can move on with their lives. That episode is over, he’s moved on, and we’re happy.”

  “Fine, I’ll text him and see if we can meet for coffee or something tomorrow.”

  “See that’s why I love you so damned much. You’re one of the most amazing women that I know angel face.”

  I cringed on the inside at the thought of having to contact Joshua, but I couldn’t turn down Ken’s request because I knew that it meant a lot to him. Also he was right, Joshua was going to be a part of our lives whether I liked it or not. It was time for us to bury the hatchet. I hoped that it would be easier to do since he was now officially with Loren. I picked up my phone and texted Josh in front of Ken so the he would know that I’m serious.

  Within a few minutes Joshua replied.

  From: Josh

  To: Me

  Yeah. Sure. Coffee at Café Kia-Ora at 10 a.m. See you there.

  I was surprised that he responded so quickly and that he was willing to meet at all. Maybe him dating Loren was going to be a good thing after all. I guess it would be nice if we could bury the hatchet but I won't hold my breath.

  *

  I sat nervously at the table as I waited for Joshua to show up. I was fortunate that I had my Hazelnut latte to keep my hands busy. Because if I didn’t, then they would have been annoyingly tapping the table, and I would have disturbed the entire restaurant. I hate being nervous about meeting people, especially Joshua. Real stress and I just didn’t get along.

  I saw him walk into the restaurant, and he was a few minutes late. I imagine he did that on purpose. I pushed down my annoyance and plastered a smile on my face. He didn’t return my smile, he had a look of indifference on his face. I saw that some things just weren’t going to change no matter how hard I tried.

  “Hello,” I said breaking the ice.

  “So what did you want to talk about?”

  “I wanted to smooth things over with you. It’s pretty clear that we’re going to see each other often since you’re Ken’s best friend, and I’m his girlfriend.”

  Joshua adjusted in his seat and kept his cold attitude. He was being such an asshole, why did he show up if he wasn’t going to at least meet me halfway?

  “Right, we’re going to see each other. But I don’t see why we would have to speak to each other, the way that things are working seem just fine.”

  “No they’re not just fine. It bothers Ken that we don’t speak, and it’s something that he would really like to see happen. You’ve moved on with Loren, and so I was hoping that we could at least start over and be cordial.”

  He snorted and shook his head, “Cordial huh?”

  My frustration reached its boiling point, “Look, I’m so sorry about the way that everything happened. But at the end of the day it’s always going to be Kenneth for me. You knew the risk that you were taking when you pursued me. You saw first-hand for yourself how I felt for him. I’ve been head over heels in love with him since I’ve met him. The way that I went about it was so very wrong, and I wish that I could take it back. If I had my way, I would have spoken to you before I made a leap like that. You deserved that much.”

  Joshua and I sat in silence for a minute, and he finally opened his mouth to respond, “I can forgive you, but I will never forget. You should have been woman enough to keep it real with me in the beginning instead of acting like an immature little girl that doesn’t know how to handle relationships. Don’t ever expect for us to be friends again, but I will be civil for Kenneth’s sake. If it means that much to him then I’ll do it.”

  I looked at him in disbelief, he said that he had forgiven me, but he lied. He was still extremely pissed with me and I wanted to fight fire with fire but I knew that the outcome wouldn’t turn out well. I refused to let Kenneth down but I had a burning question.

  “How can you forgive Kenneth so easily and still hate me the way that you do?”

  He gave me an evil grin, “Well you know the saying, bros before h-“

  “Don’t you fucking dare,” I said cutting him off.

  I placed a ten on the table and left him sitting at the café. I was completely pissed off and a little hurt. I wasn�
�t being a hoe…was I? I tried to do the best that I could to be open with everyone, but I was human. Apparently I was the only one not allowed to make mistakes.

  I sat in my car and cursed myself for letting that little miscreant get to me. How could I have overlooked all of his horrible qualities? He was a complete asshole, and I should have seen it sooner. There were signs of it when we were together, but I was blinded by my own hurt. I wanted him to be my prince charming and to save me from the heartbreak that Kenneth inflicted. Joshua really was a delayed rebound. I guess I should have known that all along.