Page 35 of Book Bae

She laughed and replied, “Why do you always find ways to continually impress me?”

I winked at her. “Just being who I am, beautiful.”

“Yeah. Book bae is a real thing,” she replied and squeezed my hand.

I winked at her as she opened the door to lead me inside. I looked forward to the next several hours. It wasn’t until we stepped in her house and I was surrounded by her aura and all things Myraj that I realized how much I’d missed her presence from all those months ago.

EIGHT DAYS LATER

Every now and then, my eyes would stray to the window where the homeowners across the street were getting their lawn manicured. I noticed a woman pushing a stroller down the sidewalk. I had seen her walking by earlier. She wore tight yoga pants and a short tube top that had her cleavage spilling over, but now she stopped to flirt with the mailman.

I glanced at the envelope again before my eyes drifted back out the window. Across the street and two houses over, a couple of teen siblings argued, seemingly about who would drive the car. The boy finally won, and the girl stomped around to the passenger side.

My anxious thoughts ran wild, my palms were sweaty, and my heart raced inside of my chest as I turned my gaze back to the envelope and then back to the expensive bottle of bourbon. Myraj had it delivered that morning along with a snifter, tumbler, and Glencairn. The glasses had my initials etched in gold underneath the rim of each. I knew that her gift wasn’t cheap. It tugged at my heart that she remembered how passionate I was about bourbon.

“Daddy! Daddy!” The excited voice of my son drew my thoughts away from the current dilemma. He was the light of my world and always brought joy into my life.

“Hey, li’l G.” I greeted Malachi as he ran into my office where I sat behind my desk.

“Can you come pway wace cars wif me in da backyard? Mai said you busy.” He often interchanged his L’s for W’s.

I lifted him onto my lap and stared into his dark brown eyes.

“I’m never too busy for you,” I replied and tickled his sides just as Mai appeared in the doorway.

“I’m so sorry, Micaiah. I tried to contain him, but⁠—”

“It’s all good. You never have to worry about that,” I replied. Mai was Malachi’s nanny. He was in preschool most days, but whenever he was out, and on the weekends, she came to help out during my writing sessions or if I had some business to handle.

“I was just preparing his lunch.”

“Go ahead and finish. I’ll take him out back and play with him for a while. When you finish, call us and I’ll bring him in. I’m sure when he finishes, he’ll be ready for a nap,” I declared, tugging one of his long plaits.

“Okay. Thank you,” she replied sweetly.

She hurried back toward the kitchen, and I headed for the backyard, which I had access to from my office.

I set Malachi in the grass and sat down beside him as we played with the toy cars that he had set up on his racetrack. We zoomed the cars around the racetrack for about twenty minutes before Mai called and said she was ready for him.

We put the cars away, and I walked hand in hand with my son through the kitchen doors.

“I’m hungry,” he declared.

“Let’s wash your hands first, and then we can feed you. Okay?”

“Okay, Daddy.”

I stood him on the stepstool at the kitchen sink and turned the water on.

“I fixed enough for you too, if you’d like. I know you haven’t eaten yet.”

“What are we having for lunch?” I asked as my stomach growled.

Mai laughed. “Broccoli and potato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.”

“Sounds good to me,” I declared.

“Grill cheese! Grill cheese! Me want⁠—”