“Fool! What the hell is going on? You don’t hear me calling or knocking on the door?” Tunk asked as he made his way into the living room with a bottle in his hand too. That quickly I’d forgotten his ass was in the other room when all that shit between me and Olive went down.
“I figured whoever it was didn’t want shit. What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be atwork?” I asked sarcastically as I took a swig from the bottle.
“What do you mean? I came to check on you. That whole situation was intense. She’s fucked up, by the way. I mean if you?—”
I cut him off. I didn’t want to talk about Olive. I couldn’t, it hurt too bad.
“I don’t. So if that’s your reason for coming over here to check on me, you can get gone. I got two hours before I have to get the girls and I want to have a drink and forget all about the woman who got my chest hurting right now.”
Tunk was quiet as he nodded, taking a seat next to me and cracking his bottle.
“Don’t worry about the girls. I got Kelvin picking them up. I already knew you would need a minute. But, that’s all you get, Lando. This was your decision; so stand solid and keep shit pushing. You got two girls watching you. You ain’t got no timeto sit in whatever this is. You need to be thinking of what you’re going to tell them though.”
I let out a breath as I grabbed the back of my neck and dropped my head, shaking it in the process. This whole situation was fucked up. It wasn’t just Olive and me in this thing and now we had to think about the kids who had formed an even stronger bond.
“I know. I can already hear Neela asking for her Ms. Liv and Cece wondering why she can’t have any more playdates with Jo-Jo.” I took in a sharp breath as the mention of his name.
You can’t just disappear from his life. You made him promises, Highland. You gotta be a man and keep your word.
“Why would you punish them like that because y’all can’t get it right? They were friends first before y’all even thought about fucking it all up. Naw, you gotta make that part work, especially for my little pirates. Liv told me that Jo-Jo even talked you up to his dad; you can’t just back away from him. I meant telling them why y’all won't be having any more sleepovers and stuff.”
“I know, but Olive probably won’t even let me be around him now.”
Tunk was shaking his head as he took another sip from his bottle. “C’mon now, you already know that’s not Liv. ’Member this is the same woman who was watching and doing for the girls without even knowing you. She understands the kids are innocent in all this; she would never keep him away from you. Just like I hope you wouldn’t do that with the girls.”
I dragged my hand down my face as I tossed my head back onto the couch.
“No, but how can I be around her knowing that she’s no longer mine.”
“For the kids, you make anything and everything happen. You already know that, Lando.”
We sat there silent for a while, just drinking.
“I thought she was the one.”
Tunk shrugged. “Could be. Life ain’t over yet.”
As mad as I was at Olive right now. I went for my phone to text her. Like Tunk said, this wouldn’t affect the kids. No. They started off as friends and I would make sure they stayed that way.
Me: I don’t want our decision to part ways to change things with the kids. My girls adore you and I don’t want to take you away from them. And I want to still be a part of Jo-Jo’s life, if you’ll let me. We can work out a system that will work for both of us. Let me know.
Not even two minutes later the three dots appeared then disappeared a few times before Olive’s one word response came through.
Olive: Okay.
Chapter
Seventeen
Olive
The bright sun warmed my skin as I tossed my head back. I was on my back deck, kid-free, with a pitcher of strong ass margarita next to me as I listened to Jasiel trying to make sense of the information I had just given him. I didn’t even know why my lips got loose with him.
“I’m still not understanding what happened, Liv. The last time we talked everything was cool with you and ol’ boy. And now you telling me shit just didn’t work out?” Jasiel questioned over the speakerphone. He had called wanting to talk to Jo-Jo who was gone with Highland and the girls at Sky Zone. It had been a couple weeks now since Highland broke up with me and I was still trying to make it make sense. So I couldn’t explain to Jasiel that it was my job, because when I first told Highland what I did, I thought he was okay with it.
I wanted to be mad at Tunk for even letting him into the office, but I knew he was just trying to help Highland set up the surprise I couldn’t even bask in after.
“What do you want me to say, Jasiel? Relationships don’t always work out.”
