All Up In My Business Read Online Free PDF

her?”
    Toussaint’s countenance remained neutral. “I called her. We met.”
    “And?”
    “It’s all good. She’s playing hard to get, but that’s just getting me hard.”
    “You’re thirty-two years old, Toussaint. It’s time to think about getting married and settling down. Do you think that might happen with Shyla?”
    “Naw, man, it’s not even like that. Me and baby girl like to hang out, that’s all. But speaking of marriage, what’s up with you and Vic? It felt kinda chilly between y’all in the boardroom earlier.”
    “Nothing’s up,” Malcolm honestly replied. “That’s the problem.”
    “Care to talk about it?”
    Malcolm stood and walked over to the large windows that looked out over downtown Atlanta. “Not much to talk about, especially where my wife is concerned. Her focus is taken up with the kids and that holy roller church she’s been attending. At one time, she swore she’d never worship where her mother attended. Now she can’t curse, drink, or screw because she’s ‘living for the Lord.’ “
    “Whoa, wait a minute. You aren’t buttering the biscuit?”
    Malcolm had said more than he intended. “We’ll get through it,” he replied, coming back to his desk and picking up Toussaint’s proposal.
    “I sure hope so. You’re only thirty-four. Y’all have at least thirty, forty more years together. You need to keep the home fires burning before somebody else starts looking hot to you.”
    “Hey, Shyla,” Malcolm said as someone “hot” stuck her head just inside his office door. “You’re working late.”
    “I was headed out and heard your voices. I don’t mean to interrupt.”
    Malcolm waved her in. “You’re not interrupting.”
    Shyla knew the picture she painted as she strode confidently into the room and sat next to Toussaint. Aside from being naturally beautiful, her makeup was flawless, her tailored Chanel suit fit to perfection, her three-inch heels emphasized her long, lean legs, and the new weave she’d just gotten the past weekend was worth every bit of the twelve hundred dollars she’d paid for it. “Your presentation was excellent, Toussaint. I looked for you afterward because I have a couple marketing ideas regarding the new markets that you might find interesting. But your secretary told me you’d left for the day.”
    “Had a meeting,” Toussaint countered easily. “But I have some time now. Why don’t we go back to your office and talk about it.”
    The two left Malcolm’s office shortly thereafter, and everyoneknew that talking wouldn’t be the only thing happening once Toussaint and Shyla were alone.
    Malcolm placed his key in the lock and turned the doorknob to their six-bedroom, six-bath, colonial-style brick home. It was a little after 10:00 p.m., and considering the fact that four children lived there—between the ages of three and eight—things were surprisingly quiet. He loosened his tie as he headed to the stairs and his new favorite room, the man cave. Like his father, cognac was his drink of choice, and like Adam, Malcolm’s waistline was beginning to show how many meals this favored drink had chased down.
    Malcolm placed two cubes of ice in a tumbler and poured two fingers of the amber-colored liquid into the glass. He took a drink, grimaced, and poured a bit more. He took off his tie, followed by his jacket, and sat down in the dark room without turning on the lights.
Here I am only thirty-four years old and feeling like an old man. Few friends, even fewer interests outside work, and no sex life. Man, you’re pitiful
.
    “I thought I heard the garage door open.” Victoria startled Malcolm, whose back had been to her when she came down the stairs. “What are you doing down here drinking in the dark? That’s what drunks do.”
    Malcolm took a deep breath and another sip of his drink before standing and turning around. “Hello, Victoria.”
    “Hello.” Victoria crossed her arms and leaned against the massive fireplace