“No, I’m not no muthafucking pregnant. Can’t get pregnant off silicon, bitch.”
“You switch them out so much, you could be fucking with a nigga for all I know. Might’ve gotten into some poly shit. I don’t know what you got going on.”
“And that’s a problem. And I’ll never get in another poly relationship again in my life, ho.”
“You want all of these clothes in this basket?” Sienna yelled from the room.
“Don’t touch my stuff! I got it! Please exit my room. Hazel, get off me!”
I shook her off, took a deep breath, and looked at her with a frown. I did not feel like getting dressed and going out but because I knew them, they weren’t going to let up until I did. So, in an effort to get them to leave me the hell alone, I pushed Hazel out of my bathroom, locked the door, and started the shower.
About an hour later, I was dressed in a simple black jumpsuit, and an oversized blue jean top I left unbutton, sitting in Sienna’s car, getting ready to head to the restaurant. While they talked amongst each other, I stared out of the window, trying to will myself to have a good time. We were downtown, on a nice spring night, I needed to enjoy it. Although my mood had been blah and I’d wanted to stay in the house, being outside was a bit refreshing. A definite step up from moping around all day.
Sienna tapped me on the arm. I looked over at her, and she handed me half of an edible. “Here.”
I took it and popped it in my mouth with a sigh.
That was exactly what I needed. Something to ease my racing mind.
I flipped the sun visor down and rubbed my glossy lips together. I looked damn good. A lot better than I felt. But then again, I was a master at doing that. Dressing the part. Hiding my pain behind beauty. I flat ironed my twenty-four-inch wig bone straight and put on a bit of makeup. Because my makeup was light, I wore a pair of wispy, dramatic lashes. I kept my lip combo simple—brown liner, and clear gloss. Before leaving, I doused on my favorite, Marc Jacobs Perfect.
My phone rang and I fished around my black Coach bag for it. Once I saw that it was Duke, I sighed and put it back. From the corner of my eye, I noticed Sienna notice.
“We should turn our phones off for the night,” she said, grabbing hers. “Jah got the kids, and Tuesdai ain’t gone want shit.”
From the backseat, Hazel sucked her teeth. “Now you know?—”
“Girl, turn that damn phone off,” Si said.
I looked at her, wondering if Hazel knew something she wasn’t supposed to know. Sienna lightly turned the corners of her mouth up as to say, ‘be for real’. I turned mine up in return, tilted my head to the side a little, and looked away, grabbing my phone from the purse to shut it off. Right in the middle of him calling again. God I wanted to block his bitch ass.
It had been over a week since everything happened and the vibe around the house hadn’t done anything but get worse. And the calls and text messages? More persistent. He wanted to come home. Said he was suffering without me… without us and he missed his kids. Those text messages went unanswered too. I knew he couldn’t stay out of the house forever. Not without an active divorce on file. I just… I wasn’t ready to see him yet. Aubryand Gabe stopped asking me about when he would be home. Honesty and Sparkle though? They asked every single day, and it was wearing me down.
After sitting, talking shit for a couple more minutes, we got out. My heeled mules beat against the pavement as I strutted down Gratiot Ave, heading to a spot called Standby. Downtown was as crowded as I expected it to be during happy hour. A calm breeze swept across my face, through my hair and I smiled a little, feeling the effects of the edible starting to come alive. I still had a little while before it reached its full capacity but the little jolt of ‘don’t give a fuck’ felt good as hell.
We walked in and asked to sit at the bar. It was kind of early and neither of us wanted an actual meal. We came for the drinks, and the drinks only, although I did plan on having me an appetizer.
As we made our way to the bar, I paused, ready to turn around and leave. Seated at the bar was Crescent and two other men I recognized from the first meeting we had. I spotted him, and he spotted me. Stopped mid-drink and put his eyes on mine. I swallowed, and glanced over my shoulder, locking eyes with Hazel who gave me a puzzled look.
“Girl… Go,” she pushed.
I turned back around and my eyes found his again. Subtly, he nodded and I nodded back, unsure of what to do with myself. Instead of holding us up any longer, I walked off, following behind Sienna who was further ahead. My eyes never left him, and his never left me. Detroit was small… very small. Running into people you know wasn’t unlikely but Crescent? My mind instantly went to us reconnecting and I wondered if the chain of events would have happened regardless. I wondered if I hadn’t met back up with him then, if we would have crossed paths still, today, validating Emerald’s red string theory.
I shook that thought off and took a seat at the bar, only a couple of stools away from him and his boys.
I hadn’t seen him since the meeting at Skylight Industries. We were supposed to meet the other day. Virtually. But he gave me pushback on it, being difficult. We’re supposed to meet in a few days. He wanted to meet in person. Said because of the current state of the project, an in-person meeting should he mandatory. I argued that we could talk about whatever we needed to talk about over Zoom. The last message was sent by me a day ago. He was purposely ignoring me. And that shit had been annoying the hell out of me.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood when he got up and headed in our direction. What the fuck was he doing? We weren’t on good terms. What could he possibly want?
“Wassup, how y’all doing?” he spoke to Sienna and Hazel before putting his eyes on me. “Mahogany. Funny seeing you here.”
Lightly, I laughed. “Yeah… right,” I said. Turning to my sisters, I introduced him as one of my clients.
Although he was more than that. A simple client wouldn’t have the hairs on the back of my neck standing. My hands didn’t get clammy when I was around a simple client. My regulars didn’t make my heart race or my skin tingle without touch. Crescent was… God. He still had that effect on me, even in the middle of a little fight. I couldn’t stand his ass! He looked damn good too. He was, as usual, dressed in a nice designer suit. His hair looked freshly cut and lined up. And he smelled delicious. I wanted to bottle him up and spray him all over my pillows. Pathetic.
“Nice to meet y’all,” Crescent said with a soft smile. Looking to me, his eyes locked on mine and he nodded. “It was really nice seeing you.”
Smiling, I nodded back with a squint. “It was nice seeing you, too, Crescent.”
