Page 67 of Off the Charts
“Oh? Hey y’all,” Jersei nervously laughed and frowned as she looked around at everyone. “Surprise what?” She looked up at me. “They surprising us for our meeting anniversary?”
“Nah. It’s bigger than that, mama.” I pulled her deeper into the building. “You like this space?”
“It’s really nice, but that doesn’t..” she paused and released my hand. I watched her walk closer to the table ahead of us without saying a word. J looked at two bottles of her wine. In the middle of it was a paper that I knew was the deed to the building, a pen, and a small seed. That was the first thing she grabbed before turning toward me with tears streaming down her face. “Baby. What is this?”
“It’s a mustard seed, J. You said you’ve never seen one, so I wanted you to see how small it is in real life. You already had the faith, baby. I just planted the seed,” I shrugged. “This building is for your distillery. You stopped running from me, now it’stime to stop running from your dreams. Like everybody said, surprise.”
Almost ten months ago, Valen found a building in Edgewynne that used to be a lounge. It was on the market for close to a year and that raised red flags, so V called an inspector from The Falls to fly down and look at the space. Everything checked out, but the owner was asking for too fucking much. It took talking and a hint of bullying that mutha’fucka into getting them to agree. Their yes was only the first step. We, well mainly Valen, spent months dealing with the legal battles and at the end of last year, the shit was officially under Denver Estate Group. From there, V pretty much had this shit rebuilt from the ground up. There wasn’t much we added to it because I wanted Jersei to have full creative control of her space. I knew my lady and I knew she would already feel a way that I made such a large purchase for her, so I didn’t want to overstep and interfere with her dream. I prayed that the vision that she had in mind could be brought to life here.
Jersei looked at the seed in her hand then back to me. She placed it on the table and cupped her mouth with both hands before releasing a scream that turned into a cry.
“You did not. You did not! Vayce!” She looked around. “Mama, are y’all serious? This is my place?”
Mama Brenda had the phone all in her face, but I could see that she was crying. She nodded. “It is, Jersei Monroe.”
Everyone cooed as I pulled her into my chest allowing her to have her moment.
“It’s yours, J. The next location on me too. If you want it tomorrow, I will make that shit happen. Say the word,” I kissed her forehead.
“I cannot thank you enough. Oh my gosh. I don’t even know what to say. I am mind blown. Thank you so much,” she lookedaround. “I can see it now. The people, the bottles, the machines. I have so much work to do.”
“You already have a team ready. All you have to do is tell them what you need. They’re waiting on you,” I kissed her forehead.
“Ou, I gotta get some throat spray and cold drops tonight,” Jersei shook her head, tears still freely falling. I hollered. “Oh my gosh. Thank you.”
I held her until she was ready to be released. Valen came over and grabbed her hand and turned her to the table.
“Whenever you are ready, the documents are ready for your signature. From there, the building will officially be in your name.” Jersei hugged her tightly before accepting the pen. The photographer captured her signing from every angle. Jersei stood up straight and I clapped my hands while everybody cheered again. “It’s official!”
“Period cousin!” Honey yelled.
“Blair and Dess, this is Jersei. J, this is Blair and Dess, Nick and Shawn’s girls,” I introduced them all. They immediately started yapping and it was perfect timing because the easy part was over. Valen took charge and led the women toward the back and away from the room we’d end up in. When they walked away, I was left with Devon, Shawn, Nick, and Zion.
“Breathe nigga,” Devon shoved me. We all laughed.
“You got this bro,” Nick said.
“Follow your heart,” Shawn added.
“You got this Pops. I believe in you,” Zion said. He dug in his pocket and handed me the black velvet box. Tears stung the back of my lids, and I had to swallow hard as fuck. “Mommy is really smart. She won’t tell you no.” Zy’s voice cracked, and I wrapped him in my embrace. Each time he called me pops, my heart warmed.
“Thanks, Zy.”
We moved into the private room. My boys filled in on the sides while I walked down the pathway that led to the front. It was time.
There was an array of brown airbrushed magnolias bound together in the shape of a heart. Our initials were in the middle in the same cursive font as they were on our necklaces. There were lit candles down the aisle leading toward the words with small balloons on opposite sides. Everything was better than the pictures I used as inspo. Against the back wall were LED lights that readWill You Marry Me, big and bright as the letters were echoing in my brain.
My heart damn near did a cartwheel out of my chest, and I could feel sweat trickling down my forehead. I was trying to remember the lines I’d been rehearsing way before I bought the fucking ring, but my mind was racing. Shit, I almost forgot how to walk on my wobbling ass legs. I took a deep breath trying to shake myself out of my fear. This is what I wanted, so why the fuck was I scared?
The women came back laughing loud as hell. One by one, they entered the room. Valen was last and I knew that meant Mama Brenda would be rounding the corner next followed by Jersei. I forgot to tell the violinist to start playing so Shawn tapped him for me. I nodded my head toward him as a thank you and he nodded once. He started playing “Adore” by Prince, the first song we connected over.
Then, Mama Brenda entered talking loudly and Jersei was seven seconds behind her. I knew because I counted every moment that passed. Her mouth fell wide open as she looked around.
“Oh, y’all lying! What?” She chuckled and walked away. When she reappeared, she realized this was actually happening. “Wait? Is this real? Oooh,” her bottom lip trembled. Harmoni grabbed her purse from her hands as she stepped into the room.She placed her hands on her knees bawling her eyes out then took a few steps down the aisle.
“Vayce,” she cried.
“I know, baby.” I wiped my tears. “I’m nervous as fuck too, but we got this. C’mere,” I extended my hand.
