A Familiar Ring

CHAPTER 13: Remember the Rules

Prosper could not stop thinking about Cadence because she had stopped responding to his texts. He got too flirty with her while she was out at the club last weekend and she told him to "go flirt with lil shawty". That was her nice way of telling him to leave her the fuck alone. She wasn't mad at him or feeling any type of way but she truly just needed some alone time, some peace. He knew she was putting space between them because he refused to do so when she asked the first time. To be fair to Prosper, he'd tried really hard but Nola all of a sudden pushing more for monogamy or rather, a traditional title, made him realize how much he only wanted to give that to Cadence. So now that he was supposed to be at work putting the final touches on his report, he kept stopping every five minutes to check his phone for any sign of her.

He wanted to respect her wishes, he really did. But he'd thought about it. In his mind there was no way the love of his life goes radio silent for over two years and then pops up out of the blue, fine as hell, just to be left alone. Fuck that. This weekend was his nephew Messiah's 10th birthday party and his family was celebrating at the beach in Savannah. Cadence would likely go because Messiah was damn-near her God son, she loved that boy and spoiled him as if she gave birth to him. Prosper figured he'd drive up to Macon the day before just to spend a little time with Cadence, or rather, beg her to spend time with him. He was desperate.

Prosper checked his calendar to be sure he had no important meetings setup. Then he sent an email to his boss with a draft of the report attached for review. He noted he'd make any edits and final touches by the end of the next business day. Lastly, he called for his assistant and his direct reports to join him in his office.

"This weekend I have a major family event, my nephew is turning 10," Prosper stated while the ladies in the office audibly cooed, "So I'm going to head back home to Macon tonight to prep for his big day."

"You know you don't have to explain nothing to us, boss," his assistant Bryan spoke.

"Thank you," Prosper continued, "But we have a very important deadline tomorrow so even though I won't be in, I want all hands on deck. I will be available remote and on standby. I want to submit the final report tomorrow by noon so early day tomorrow for everyone."

"You got it," said one of his employees Gracie.

"Call me if you need anything. Stevens knows I'll be out but you know how he gets so just call me if he comes down here in a panic. I'm heading out now but I'll be back online tonight at 8:00."

With that, the employees shuffled out of his office and Prosper began packing up his laptop and various files on his desk to head out. He was more than ready to get back to Macon, to Cadence. It had been three weeks since he'd last seen her in person.

He quickly made it back to his loft from the office somehow meeting the perfect stroke of luck that found him avoiding any midday Atlanta traffic. He thought he'd be able to dip in quickly to retrieve Messiah's gifts and his luggage but to his surprise Nola was home too.

"Hey baby!" Nola exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh, I could ask you the same thing," Prosper replied, laughing.

"Well, I had a lunch date with a friend and a little down time before I had to be to the club. They're starting rehearsals for Player's Ball so I'll be there earlier than usual for the next few weeks."

Prosper had decided to check through his luggage one more time just to be sure he had everything he wanted packed in there. He didn't need much but he needed, at the very least, for his outfits to be on point. He quickly ran upstairs to replace a shirt and get some different sneakers.