“Yes,” Love replied simply. “He’s here to score the project. That’s it. He’s working. This is professional.”
“Now that I think of it, that song he made, what’s the name of it? Damn, . . . why can’t I think of it?” Tara popped back in.
“I know what you’re thinking of. I was just thinking the same thing!” Quiyanna began and snapped her fingers like it would jump-start her memory. “The one where he says ‘I take Grand River all the way down to get to you’ . . . Didn’t you used to live off Grand River Avenue in Detroit?”
“Yes!” Tara shouted. “Yes, that’s the one! That song is about you, isn’t it?”
“Keep your voice down!” Love gritted between her teeth. “It is not about me! Y’all need to stop it! Now I told y’all, we were kids. That’s it, that’s all. So much time has passed; it’s not a big deal today. We can work together and keep it professional. It is not a big deal. So will y’all please drop it?”
“Hmm . . .” Quiyanna mumbled jokingly. “Stubborn ol’ Leo. Sounds like y’all were a match made in heaven.”
They didn’t say anything else after that, but the look on their faces said enough. They weren’t convinced. Love wasn’t so sure if she was even convinced herself.
Suddenly, Love’s phone buzzed with a text from Yana.
Yana:
Mom, don’t be mad but I had dad pick me up from school. My stomach just hurts really bad. Can you please just come home?
She let out a sigh of relief. She had a reason to excuse herself from this conversation, although she wasn’t happy to hear of her daughter not feeling well.
“I have to go. Yana doesn’t feel good.”
She stood, grabbed her purse from the booth, and slung it over her shoulder.
Quiyanna and Tara glanced at her in silence with smirks on their faces.
“Tara,” Love began, “use my Capital One card to take care of this. I want to get my bonus points.”
Tara nodded. Quiyanna sat back and raised a brow with a knowing expression on her face as she smiled.
Love rolled her eyes, placed shades on her face, turned, and walked out of the bar.
She hurriedly crossed into the parking lot, unlocked her car door, and pressed the start button. Once the car started and the radio turned on, she let out the breath she was holding from the conversation inside.
Pull it together, Love. What do they know? It’s just work. You got this.
With that thought, she put the car into drive and pulled out of the parking lot, half-believing it herself.
When Love arrived home and stepped into the house, she immediately felt a heavy weight rush over her.
She dropped her keys on the entry table and froze when she saw Juwon sitting on the couch, legs crossed, remote in hand, scrolling through channels like he’d been there a while.
She rolled her eyes. She had talked to him many times over the course of the past seven months now about boundaries. After thirteen years of marriage, she would think he would be tired of hearing her nag at him about the same thing.
She walked the hallway down to the living room and dropped her purse on the couch opposite him. He didn’t glance up at heronce and continued to scroll through the channels like he hadn’t seen or heard her come in.
Love became agitated, stood in place, and folded her arms, waiting for him to acknowledge her. When he didn’t do it as quick as she’d like, she spoke with a dry, impatient tone. “What are you doing here, Juwon?”
He jerked his head toward her and quickly pressed mute on the remote. He stood from the couch slowly. “Love, baby, damn, I didn’t hear you come in.”
“Why are you here, Juwon?” Love asked again, this time more impatient and short.
Juwon sighed and looked directly into her eyes. “Yana asked me to stay. She’s upstairs. She’s . . . been upset.”
Love’s expression shifted instantly. Suddenly, she was concerned. “What happened?”
He ran a hand over his jaw. “Little heartbreak, I think. She didn’t say much. Just said she didn’t want to be alone, but she didn’t want to talk to me about it. She said she only wanted you.”
