Page 35 of Mr. Blackwood

“It’s been a minute. Glad you could join us,” Regent teased, holding his glass up.

“Man, please. Don’t start with that. You of all people know what a beast running your own businesses can be at times,” I replied as I took my seat among my three good friends.

“I do, which is why I don’t mind delegating shit, so I can still have some fun,” he replied.

“Yeah, okay. If fun is sticking your shit in three different broads every chance you get, I guess,” I remarked.

“All of your asses need to settle down,” Kanaan remarked, double pointing at the three of us.

“Why? Because you knocked up your girlfriend, and you can’t go out and have some fun? We should be stuck in the house bored too?” Regent asked, holding his glass up for a refill.

The waitress came and grabbed his glass and sashayed away.

“Damn, I wouldn’t mind knocking that up,” Regent stated, following the curve of her rounded ass cheeks in the black compression shorts.

“Speaking of knocking up and settling down, word on the street is you’ve been seen out on a few occasions with a certain pretty lady who owns a magazine,” Jett stated, leaning back in his chair and crossing his ankle over his knee.

“Whose word you’ve been listening to?” I asked before I took a sip of my Macallan.

“I heard about it over at Sovereign,” he stated, eyeing me to see if I would deny it.

Sovereign was an upscale gentlemen’s club for black men of a certain income class. We all frequented there, but I hadn’t been able to escape lately. Between business and entertaining Camilla, I had stayed away. That was another reason that we were meeting at my office: I couldn’t get away.

I wanted to stick around to see if she would return today. She wasn’t in her office or answering her phone; I knew she was probably busy. My friends and I had planned to meet up at the club today, but I changed the venue for them to meet me on my rooftop bar instead. Of course, Regent wasn’t happy. He wanted strippers and not tiny clothing-clad servers.

We were all in our forties. Jett and Regent were forty-five, Kanaan was forty-three, and I would turn forty-three in December.

“So, what’s the word?” Kanaan asked.

“I’ve been seeing someone.”

“He’s been seeing that woman who owns the magazine ColorMe CEO,” Jett shared.

Kanaan set his cigar down and leaned forward to rest his elbow on his knees. “Are you doing a spread?”

“No. It’s nothing like that.”

“Come again, friend, because unless she quit her job or some shit, there’s no way that she’s not collecting data on you for a future story,” Kanaan warned.

“He’s got a point, Jabari. You can’t afford that shit,” Regent stated emphatically/

I sighed and sat back. “I had her sign an NDA.”

“You think that’s gonna protect you if she gets wind of your secrets?” Regent asked.

“It had better protect me. She’s not like the others. I’m treading lightly here, but she’s not out to get me. Trust me.”

“I hope you can trust her ass. Because if not, this shit’s gonna blow up in your face,” Jett warned.

“It won’t. I’ve done a background check on her, there are cameras installed in her office, and I’m still having her watched. If anything pops up, I’ll be the first to know.”

“And you’ll do what it takes to shut that shit down?” Kanaan asked.

“I’ll do what it takes to shut that shit down.”

I prayed my promise wouldn’t come back to bite me in the ass, and I prayed that Camilla wouldn’t give me a reason to have to make good on my promise to my friends.

15 – CAMILLA