Page 23 of A Trial of the Heart
I shrugged, shifting my weight from one foot to the other. “Guess you made more of an impact than I wanted to believe. Like you, I don’t want a relationship, but I’m truly not ready to say goodbye.”
He smiled with his eyes before one tugged at the corner of his lips taking over soon after. “Beautiful, I told you it’s not goodbye. We shall cross paths again.”
I’d heard Rashad, and I almost wanted to ask him how he was so sure about us crossing paths, but I learned that if Rashad wanted to, he would.
“Okay.” I matched his smile.
“Shiloh, hate to cut ya time with Mr. Snatch You Away the Whole Cruise, but our Uber is here, and we have to go to make our flight,” LeeAnn said, stepping near us.
LeeAnn had given Rashad the nickname after the second night I’d been with Rashad. She wasn’t mad he’d occupied my time by any means, but every chance she got, she teased me with the name.
“I’m coming.”
“It was nice meeting you.” LeeAnn looked to Rashad. “Thank you for taking care of my girl. She needed the time you gave her.” She giggled like a little kid. “I’ll be in the car.”
She looked my way and winked before ambling off, dragging her suitcase behind her.
I sighed. “Guess this is it.”
“For now.”
“Take care of yourself, Rashad. Thank you. Bye.” I lingered, unsure if I should kiss him, maybe say something else, or do anything at all. Finally, I spun on my heels, not wanting the goodbye to be any harder than it already was.
“Shiloh?” Rashad called after me. A chill shot through my body, forcing me to stop, turn, and face him.
“It’s see you later, beautiful.” He winked, causing my heart to skip a beat.
As much as I wanted to believe I’d see Rashad again, I was positive that once my Uber pulled off, it would be the last time I’d see him. I smiled just before turning and sashaying my way to the Uber. Yeah, this was goodbye, and not that “see you later” that Rashad said it was.
Chapter
Eleven
Shiloh:
Two Weeks Later
“Good luck out there today, Shiloh,” my colleague, William, said in a snarky tone as he peeked his head into my office without even announcing himself.
I’d been back in Virginia for two weeks, and besides when Rashad had told me he had made it back home, I hadn’t heard from him. I had his number as he had mine, but I hadn’t reached out, even though I missed his presence tremendously. I was working a high-profile case, so missing him or not, I didn’t reach out because I needed to focus, and I feared he’d throw me off. He had said it wasn’t goodbye, but since I hadn’t talked to him, I chalked it up to being just that.
Peering over my MacBook at William, I curled my deep, red-stained lips into a forced smile before I parted them evenly. “Thank you, William.” My tone was calm.
I knew William hated me, and honestly, the feeling was mutual because of the rich, spoiled, daddy’s boy persona he had going on.
“Should have been mine anyway, but we won’t speak about that,” he joked, stepping inside my office as if I had invited him.
Most cases, William did get. I mean, his father ran the office after all, so, of course, he was handed all the high-profile cases over me. I was the only female and African American lawyer in the office. I got overlooked and treated like the secretary more times than I cared to admit. When I started my internship with the office almost four years ago, it was thanks to my father. He and William’s father, Arthur, were college roommates. My father raved about the time they shared at Harvard Law School and how amazing Arthur was. I was confused by it all. From day one, I saw Arthur and William for the racist pricks they were. I only stuck around in the company because being a young black criminal lawyer who had graduated at the top of her class bothered many. I intimidated most lawyers in the area, so they refused to even give my resume a second look, even if I could win the cases. Arthur hired me straight after my internship. So, until I could open my firm, I was stuck with what I had.
Dropping the smile, I pursed my lips together as I placed my hands on top of my desk, intertwining them together.
“Is there something I can help you with this morning, William?” The tone of my voice never changed.
A chortle slipped from his thin ass ashy lips.
“Nope, not really.” He popped his lips like a female would. “Just wanted to say good luck this morning.” He backed up closer to the door. “I know you were partying two weeks ago on a cruise ship, so I’m positive you didn’t get much planning done for court…” William let his words drag. “This is a high-profile case and all, so I just wish you the best,” he added in a snarky tone.
“I’ll be fine. Thank you.” I stood to let William know I was done with the conversation, and he was dismissed.
