Her expression cracked.
“You just an employee.” A bitter laugh slipped from my mouth.
“You think I’d really call you my friend after you slept with my man and had babies by him?” My nose wrinkled.
Tears instantly filled her eyes.
“Well stop asking about my kids then!” she snapped, voice shaking. “And I don’t need this job either! I only work here because I wanna be around you… because I been trying to fix what I broke!” Her chest was rising and falling now.
“I love you, Layloni,” She croaked out. “I’m sorry for what I did. I was high, I was jealous, and my mind wasn’t right. I couldn’t see that you were the best thing that ever happened to me.” She wiped her face roughly.
“But if you can’t see that I’m sincere, then forget it. I ain’t begging nobody.” She spat.
My fists clenched tight against the edge of my desk.
“I’ll never trust you,” I snapped. “And part of me still hates you.” The second the words left my mouth, I felt the weight of them.
I wanted a drink so bad my chest hurt, but I couldn’t even have that because of the baby. My emotions were a complete mess. Shadonna just happened to be standing in front of me when it all spilled over.
“I don’t know where all this anger coming from,” she said quietly. “Because if you felt like this the whole time… then you fake as hell for hiring me, helping with my kids, getting me counseling… all that.” Her voice hardened.
“But it’s cool. I’m used to being alone anyway.” She balled the twelve-hundred-dollar check in her fist and threw it onto the floor.
“You can keep this shit. And your job.” She turned and walked straight out the office.
I sat there frozen, a huge part of me wanted to call her back. But pride wouldn’t let me. Hurt people hurt people, that still wasn’t an excuse for how shitty I acted towards her. Even though I still despised Shadonna for what she did… I loved her too. She knew she messed up and I knew she regretted it.
I made a mental note to myself to reach out and apologize. I finished the rest of my paperwork quietly and ignored Monty calling my phone for thethird timetoday.
After cleaning up my office, I said goodbye to the girls on the floor and headed out. All I wanted was a long hot bath.
A small cup of ginger tea and my pillow.
After soaking in the tub for almost an hour and sipping on a small cup of tea, my body finally started to relax. The heat had melted some of the tension out my muscles, but mentally I still felt like shit about how I came at Shadonna earlier.
I leaned back against the couch cushions and sighed.
I already knew I was going to reach out and apologize. No matter how complicated our past was, she was still a good asset to the shop. Half the women that came through the doors asked for her specifically just to wash and blow-dry their hair. Her hands had magic in them, and I couldn’t deny that.
Sitting here alone forced me to check myself along with my actions. Letting my emotions run the show was dangerous. It made me say reckless shit and would eventually have me making dumb decisions that I wouldn’t be able to take back.
Soon as I decided to get up, a firm knock echoed through the house. My stomach tightened instantly. For a split second I just knew it was King, a little excitement fluttered in my chest. I wanted him around me and hated that I was too stubborn to admit that shit.
I stood up slowly and looked down at myself. A silk nightgown hugged my body, I had on some fuzzy pink socks. My stomach hadn’t really started poking out yet, but the softness I used to have there had turned firm.
The baby was definitely making its presence known. Taking a breath, I opened the door. Instead of King, Kyle stood there with two other bodyguards behind him. For a second guilt hit me hard for not calling Rellianah sooner… but the moment I saw her standing behind them I couldn’t even focus on that.
I was just happy she was here. Kyle stepped inside first, doing a full walk-through of my house like the serious, by-the-book man he was.
“I told you nobody here,” I muttered under my breath.
He ignored me completely and kept checking rooms. The other two guards stepped aside when Kyle was done and that’s when Rellianah appeared in the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest with her infamous crooked smile plastered on her face. She rolled her eyes hard at her guards then snapped her fingers.
“Move,” she hissed out sharply.
They stepped aside as she walked in like she owned the place. She turned to the door and slammed it in their faces.
I burst out laughing. Her attitude was off the damn chain, I had missed her crazy ass bad. She tossed her thick curly hairover her shoulders and looked me up and down like she was inspecting me.
