50 Shades of Drake 1 and 2

Chapter Thirty-Seven

     Destiny didn't have to be told twice. Run, she did. She successfully buried herself into her school work. Split her time between school, work, and spending time with friends such as Jasmine, Candace, and Carlos.

    Jasmine was elated to discover that Destiny was submitting an article that contained an interview with the Aubrey Graham. She was even more thrilled to discover the topic of the article. "An attractive man who cares about important causes?" She'd shaken her head and sucked her teeth. "Lethal combination."

    Don't I know it, Destiny had thought at the time.

    Destiny was wrapping up the editing of the article, seated at her desk in the newsroom. Her hair was piled on top of her head in a topknot, and that morning before her classes, she'd thrown on a t-shirt, a pair of jeans, and sneakers. She hadn't even bothered with makeup. These days, she was just trying to get to graduation day. Going through the motions. Bare minimum.

    "You're like a well-oiled machine," came a deep voice from behind her.

    She turned and arched a look up at Chad, the sports writer. The last time she'd exchanged words with him, she'd been...extremely drunk. She smiled sheepishly. "I want to make sure it's perfect before I submit it."

    "It's amazing that you were even able to get the article," he commended, going to sit in Jasmine's empty chair across the aisle. "How did that happen?"  

    "He stopped into the bakery where I work," she told him, shrugging.

    "And you asked him to do the interview and he said yes?" Chad asked, lifting an eyebrow.

    She shrugged and turned back to her monitor.

    "I heard that he was the one who came and rescued you at the club that night," Chad went on.

    "You heard that, did you?" She made a few quick edits to her draft of the article.

    He laughed. "You're a stone wall, huh?"

    "Are you interviewing me right now?" she asked him while typing.

    "I'm just curious."

    "I was just fortunate to get an interview, okay?" she asked him. "If you want to insinuate that I only got the article because I had some kind of...thing going on with him, that's fine by me. I don't care what conclusions you come to. Gossip is gossip. I'm not one to do it."

    Chad held his hands up. "Look, that's not why I was asking."

    She turned and looked at him. "Then why were you?"

    "Maybe I was just trying to see where your head was at," he said with a shrug. "Try to see if you have been swept up by Aubrey Graham. See if...you're still single enough for me to take you out to dinner."

    Her eyes widened. She hadn't expected those words to leave his mouth. She looked at him, really looked at him. Tall, deep brown skin, kind dark brown eyes. The bare trace of a five o'clock shadow. Muscular, lean build. Dressed well. Currently wearing a nice polo shirt, pressed khaki slacks, and matching Sperry Topsiders. Attractive, intelligent, and he had been a dedicated athlete, an amazing team player in his sports heyday. She leaned back in her chair, studying him.

    He mimicked the action, leaning back in his chair and returning the look of appraisal.

    "When were you thinking of taking me out?" she questioned.

    He looked at the time on his cell phone. "How about now? Or whenever you're done with those edits?"

    She looked down at her outfit. "I look...a hot mess right now."

    "You look beautiful. The way you always do."

    She tilted her head to the side. "There's no way I'd go out in this."

    "So we can stay in," he suggested.

    She narrowed her eyes at him.

    "Not like..." He wildly gestured with his hands, sitting up straighter in his chair. "Not like that. That's not what I meant. I wouldn't disrespect you like that."

    She sighed and turned back to her monitor.

    He dropped his hands in his lap and lowered his head. "If tonight's not a good night, then maybe another night."

    She stole a glance at him out of the corner of her eye and smiled. "I'm almost done with editing," she told him. "Your place. Takeout. Netflix."

    "Yeah." He perked up in his chair. "That sounds perfect."

    She nodded. "Okay."

~~~~~~

TEXT FROM: Aubrey Graham

MESSAGE: How is the article coming along? Do you know when it will go to print?

    "I ordered two different kinds of pizza," Chad announced when he returned from answering the door. "A veggie supreme and a regular supreme."

    Destiny lifted her eyes from her cell phone. She set the phone down on the end table next to Chad's couch. His one bedroom apartment was tastefully decorated. Not too much decoration, not too little. Just a touch here and there. The crown achievement of the living room was its wide, black entertainment center. She perched on the edge of the black leather couch, finding it difficult to keep herself from thinking about Aubrey's text message.

    Chad stood in front of her, holding two pizza boxes. "Did you have a preference between the two?"

    She snapped out of her thoughts. "Veggie sounds good," she said, sounding distracted.

    He carried both boxes into the kitchen, where he prepared plates of pizza. He brought her back a plate and set a plate for himself on the coffee table. "Are you sure you okay?" he asked. "Are you tired? We can reschedule if you need to."

    She laughed uneasily. "Are you kidding me? We're here and you already went through the trouble of getting the pizza. I'm fine, I'm just...hoping the article is well-received."

    "Well-received?" he laughed as he returned to the kitchen, this time to pour them a few drinks. "You're going to be the talk of the campus, the talk of D.C. I don't know. He rarely even interviews anymore, right? You could be a nationwide sensation this time next week."

    She shrugged her shoulders and wrapped her arms around herself. "I just...I don't know."

    "You're a perfectionist," Chad commented from the kitchen as he poured.

    She looked towards him. "Maybe a little," she said, feeling like she was being psychoanalyzed.

    "Most writers are," he told her.

    "Knowing that doesn't help though," she muttered.

    "No, but relaxing does. Just...relax. Have faith in yourself, faith in your talent." He returned with two glasses of amber liquid. "Apple juice," he explained. "It's all I have, other than water. I probably should have gone grocery shopping."

    She laughed. "Apple juice is fine." She accepted the glass from him and their fingers brushed against each other for the briefest of moments. The touch didn't send electric shocks throughout her body, the way Aubrey's had. She settled back on the couch and nursed her drink. "So, what are we watching?"

    "I wanted to leave that up to you," Chad said, seating himself.

    "You're giving me free reign?" she asked. "Chick flicks? I can pick anything?"

    He smiled as he picked up the remote control from the arm of the couch. "Anything. Just... don't be cruel. All I ask."

    She flexed her fingers, grinning devilishly.

    He laughed. "What did I just get myself into?"