Page 90 of I Love to Hate You
I sigh as I smile, looking up at the ceiling. “Yeah. I love to hate you, too.”
Maya
Epilogue
MAYA
“Wow.Did you know it had a jacuzzi tub?”
I shake my head as I stare at it with wide eyes. “No, I didn’t.”
“How much does this place cost again?” Kendrick asks, half-joking.
“I don’t know. She said it was in our price range.”
“With a jacuzzi tub in the bathroom? We’re marketing specialists, not the chief marketing director.”
“Babe, nobody knows the difference,” I say, laughing as we turn around and head back into the bathroom. It’s not the biggest room in the world, but it certainly is larger than what either of us are currently living in. That’s why us moving in together is such a big deal. It’s like we get to upgrade our lives at the exact same time. It’s just another notch on this belt of awesomeness that we’re wearing together.
Time has moved rather quickly since my father passed away. I honestly don’t know where the last five months went, but they have flown by. It all was probably hard to see because we’ve been so busy with work and making time for each other that we just haven’t focused on it. We’ve been too caught up in the moment to slow down, but every now and then I realize that the pace we’re on isn’t a bad one, it’s just new. It’s just ours.
When I went back to work after the incident in my house, I thought I would struggle. I was worried that I’d feel distracted by suddenly losing my last parent and living alone for the first time in my life. After all, I didn’t have time to prepare for it like a normal child moving out would. I opened my eyes one day and I was in the hospital with another dead parent. It all happened in the blink of an eye, and I was very concerned that I’d have a hard time being creative while my brain was still in its grieving process. However, I forgot to account for something.
Kendrick Kennedy.
My first day back at work, Kendrick never left my side, and while some people might say that’s a bad thing, it was exactly what I needed in the moment. I didn’t want to deal with a bunch of questions from the interns about what happened. I didn’t want to talk to Denver or Mr. Conner about why I needed time off after having just been hired. I didn’t want any of it, and Kendrick was exactly the offensive lineman I needed to block away anything that could threaten my fragile existence at the time. He glared at anyone working themselves up to ask something I didn’t want to talk about. I overheard him telling multiple people to not to even mention their own parents around me, or they’d have to suffer the consequences of his wrath. He was my guardian angel dressed as a knight in a black suit, who batted away anything he knew would upset me, and provided me with the comfort I needed. He was perfect, and at the end of the first week, I knew I was in love with him. I didn’t tell him, but I was as sure of it as I am that the sky is blue.
Since then, my confidence has built itself back up, and Kendrick and I are a phenomenal team at Bell Liberty. We finally had our meeting with Mr. Conner and proceeded to knock his socks off with our ideas for how to market Nasir Booker’s novel. Everything we came up with was a homerun, and before either of us knew what happened, we were running strategy meetings and being handed new products and ideas to pitch. We were a well-oiled machine, and our reputation in the office couldn’t possibly be higher. The icing on the cake was when we got to see every single one of our friends be promoted from interns to employees. Even Chad. While Derek and Erica were sorted to different departments, we still see each other every day and hang out on the weekends. All six of us are still friends, and we wouldn’t trade them for the world. Not bad for two people who were seen as bullies coming out of college.
“What are you doing?” Kendrick asks, his voice suddenly cutting into my train of thought. “Stop staring at yourself in the mirror and come on, Vain.”
“I’m not being vain. I wasn’t staring at myself,” I rebut. “I was just lost in thought. God, you’re so annoying.”
“Don’t start with me, Maya. If I push you against the wall with a hand around your throat, I don’t think the realtor will be happy, and both of us will be stuck in the houses we’re in now. Is that what you want?” I look at him as thoughts of his hand around my throat come to mind, and I smirk. “Don’t look at me like that. Let’s go.”
“Aww,” I groan gaily as he pulls me by the wrist into the living room where our realtor, Laura, stands holding a clipboard and a smile.
“Sorry we took so long,” Kendrick says, glancing over at me.
I scoff. “Yeah, he’s sorry he took so long. He was staring at himself in the mirror.” Kendrick makes a sound and looks at me wide-eyed, but I ignore it and continue speaking to the realtor. “Anyway, we love it.”
“Oh, that’s great,” Laura says, smiling wide.
“Yes, and we’re going to take it,” I continue. Just saying it makes me feel lighter than air. This is it. Kendrick and I are going to live together. This is our condo. Holy shit.
“That is fantastic news,” she says, seemingly just as happy as I feel. “Okay, so now we get to the annoying part of filling out tons of paperwork and making it official, which we’ll do in my office. Let’s say we meet there right after lunch. Does that work for both of you?”
“Absolutely,” Kendrick answers for us, and we walk out the door hand in hand with the realtor following closely.
Once we’re outside, Laura locks the door behind us. “Can I just say—you two make a beautiful couple. I think you’re really going to be happy here.”
“Thank you,” I reply. “Can you believe we used to hate each other?”
Laura laughs to herself as Kendrick wraps an arm around my waist and turns me to leave.
“Don’t listen to her, Laura. She was always the one for me. We’ll see you after lunch. Thanks.”
“Thanks, guys,” Laura calls out before walking the opposite direction.
