Too Close

Chapter Thirty Five

Beyond The Bookshelf was Toussaint Publishing's version of Comic Con. Instead of comic books though, fans from all over come and see the authors they adore the most, talking about their works. Meet and greets, q&as, and signings took place all day and every author got to interact with at least five of their supporters.

Miles had been sitting on stage for thirty minutes, answering myriads of questions from different members of the fan-filled audience.

"Hi." The fan waved as one of the workers passed him a mic. "I'm choosing my college right now and as I was looking at Wright University in Seattle, I noticed you in pictures with the creative writing program."

"Campbell & Harlow's?" David, the host, asked knowing immediately what the fan spoke about. "A program for carefully selected Black students to be mentored by an established writer, exclusively at one of the few HBCUs on the West Coast, Wright U." He informed the audience and many oohs and ahhs sounded in the room.

"Yeah. Were you a mentor for it? My question is, is the program really as good as it sounds?"

"This is news to me. Miles, you were a professor?" All eyes and ears were on him, awaiting an answer.

"Briefly, yes. I was only able to complete one academic year though, because my first film began production that summer, and I couldn't fully dedicate my time to it anymore. But from what I see, the name Campbell & Harlow's carries you far. I've heard many of my previous students' names in the media." Miles answered, hoping that there weren't any follow ups and that they would move on to the next question.

"Hold on, crew is cooking up something back there." David announced, holding his earpiece. Seconds later, an old picture of Miles and his group appeared on the big screen behind them. The audience offered a bunch of awes this time.

He remembered everything about the moment. Jerome had came in the middle of his lecture, asking to snap a photo of all of them for the school's newsletter. Miles vividly remembered that a week before then, he'd found out that Legend wasn't biologically his.

"Alright, who do we have here? I see Nella Jackson, an upcoming poet, and Tariq Landry, a children's book author and illustrator. You had some stars on your hands."

Towards the back of the room, Dessi stood against the wall, listening in on the conversation. "The gala is coming up soon. You're finally gonna be my date to a function?" Canaan crept up on the side of her, smiling as she rolled her eyes.

"I thought Gianna was your girl? Ask her."

Canaan smacked his lips. "I only play with her. You know who I really want. I love a woman in charge." Gianna was pretty, but it was obvious that they'd only just be friends but it was a different story for Dessi.

"Go ahead and do your intern stuff before I fire you." She waved him off, her RBF slipping as she tried to hide a smile.

"Hold up, is that Gianna Graye?" Hearing her client's name come out of David's mouth, Dessi quickly looked back at the stage. "She's one of the new authors here this year."

"Yeah, that's her." Miles subtly shifted in his seat.

"Get Gianna in here right now." Dessi's game face was back on when she turned to Canaan. He wasted no time following her order and finding her talking to who he assumed to be a fan.

"Dessi needs you."

"I'm kinda busy right now?" Gianna blinked at him but could tell it was urgent by his persistence. She apologized and excused herself before following him.

"What's this about?"

"I don't know but her mood just changed all of a sudden." Canaan quietly opened the room's door and Dessi was there waiting for them.