“That’s cute,” Cali muttered, forking the fruit on the plate.
“So, how you feeling?”
“Like shit,” Cali honestly answered. “I want to disappear and wait for my misery to pass… have you heard anything about Rio? Did Dad take care of everything?”
“No, to your first question and Dad hasn’t called. I’m sure he’ll take care of it soon.”
Cali rubbed her hands down her face, frustrated with the state of her life.
“I might lose my job. They're requesting that I come in but you know I can’t.”
Bria’s eyes ballooned. “Did you tell them you have a family emergency?”
“Yes, but I don't have any more PTO. I used it when I was caring for Rio.”
Bria waved her hand, dismissively. “Girl, you’ll be straight. With your skill, you’ll find a job in no time.”
“I still have bills, Bria. If I’m going to be without Rio, then I need to make some moves. I have a savings but it’s not going to be enough to sustain me. Fuck,” she hissed. “Why couldn’t I just do right?”
“Beating yourself up is going to make you feel worse.”
Cali exhaled and rubbed her tears away. She wanted to cry. Not the regular kind but she wanted to ugly cry. She needed to see snot streaming from her nose and her shoulders quivering from the pain. Cali couldn’t do that now. For some reason, she wanted to exercise strength so she wouldn’t alarm her family how broken she’d been.
“Have you spoken to Irish? Maybe she can give you an update on Rio.”
Cali had suddenly realized that she hadn’t heard from her friend. It was weird since Irish was always present for her.
“I’ll be right back.”
Right away, she stood and stepped out into the backyard. Pulling out the burner phone Douglas insisted that she use, she dialed Irish’s number.
“Hello?”
Cali was taken aback by her somber tone. “Irish?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s me, Cali. What’s wrong?”
There was a pause with a lot of shuffling in the background.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
Irish cleared her throat. “No, it’s not.”
Cali quickly sat down in the patio chair, alarmed by her words. Irish was usually upbeat, giving everyone good energy.Never was she the somber one who sounded like she was on the verge of death.
“What happened?”
Irish sighed. “A lot… I don't even know where to start… I never told you this but me and Jovanis have an open marriage.”
Cali’s mouth gaped before she covered it with her hand. Through her perspective, they had the perfect marriage. Their chemistry was electrifying and they complemented each other so well. Cali would’ve never guessed they had that type of arrangement.
“So, we date other people, but I fell for someone that Jovanis says is off limits.”
“Who?”
“You can’t tell anyone.”
