Gabby’s face scrunched up with curiosity and a little bit of fear. “How did he respond?”
I shook my head, trying to put it into words. “Obviously, he waspissed, but it like, consumed his whole body. I felt his anger vibrating off of him. I didn’t feel threatened or frightened by it, but I knew if he were ever in the same room with E—er, my ex, he might not make it out.”
“Tuh, and that’s a bad thing?”
I frowned. “Gabby.”
She held up her hand. “Don’t even start with me. You already know how I feel about that asshole. I’m still holding a grudge against you for even entertaining the idea of seeing that bastard, but I’m trying my best to get over it. And if Xavier finds him and wants to take his head off, I’mallfor it.”
I sighed, knowing there was no reasoning with her about this.
“But let’s drop that discussion and get to the important part. Did you run out the next morning like you did the first time? Did that man have to hand-deliver the panties to you in your office again?”
I burst out laughing, having to cover my mouth when I received a few stares from other patrons.
“Gabby!” I whispered harshly.
“Well?”
“No, he didn’t have to hand-deliver my panties to me this time.”
“Good. Although that was funny as hell.”
“It wasn’t that damn funny. Besides, this time the man hid my clothes.”
“What?” Her eyes doubled in size.
“Yeah, I woke up looking for my clothes and couldn’t find them. Not even my damn panties. I had to wear one of his T-shirts as I made breakfast—what the...? Are you all right?” I asked a now choking Gabby.
“My bad, I just thought I heard you say you were cooking that man breakfast. My ears must’ve malfunctioned or something.”
I angled my neck, giving her a side-eye. “You’ve got jokes?”
“I mean, we lived together for close to five years, and I can count on one hand the number of times you made breakfast. I’m just saying.”
“Any damn way,when he got up, I told him I had to borrow his T-shirt because I couldn’t find my clothes, and he told me it’s because he’d hidden them. He didn’t want me running out before we had a chance to talk.”
“Amen to that. Witcho scary ass.”
“I’m not scary.”
“Tuh, the hell you aren’t. I mean, it’s with good reason, but Xavier is obviously a good man who is also successful, smart, funny, and good-looking as hell. Not that I’ve noticed.” She added that last part when I gave her another side-eye.
“Yeah, but he comes with baggage, too. I know he’s still holding something back that made him react the way he did and walk out on me, and there’s other stuff.” I didn’t want to add that I’d just come to realize how much Xavier reminded me of my father. Both had so many traits in common and could charm the pants off of just about any woman. That was just part of what attracted me to Xavier, but also what gave me pause.
“Chanel, we all come with baggage. Every single one of us has some shit we need to work through. There are no perfect people. You just gotta figure out if the person you’re with’s good qualities are enough to balance out their baggage.”
I gave her a quizzical look. “You been watchingFix My Lifeagain?”
She gave me one of her smart-ass, sassy looks; her dark eyes narrowing on me. “Don’t play with me, you know I don’t watch that damn show.”
I giggled. Gabby hated that show. Believed it was just TV fodder for people who had real life problems. I tended to agree with her. No one-hour TV show was going to fix anyone’s life.
But I began thinking about what Gabby said. There were times I thought she should’ve gone into counseling as a profession. Don’t get me wrong, she was great at what she did and obviously had a passion for it, but she was one of the best listeners I’d ever encountered and had a way of seeing things that cut right past the bullshit. She also wouldn’t hesitate to tell anyone like it was when they needed to hear it.If only she could apply some of her advice to her own life.I thought back on her reluctance to settle on a spot for her spa and her issues around relationships.
“You ready to go? You should let me do a facial on you tonight. I’ll have your skin glowing for the next few days when your man finally gets back in town.”
“Don’t threaten me with a good time,” I responded, grinning.
