“What that mean?” I asked.
“It means . . . say cheese!” she said, then quickly snapped the photo.
With her headphones on, she looked at the photo once, then skipped away, dancing terribly.
Princess chuckled and placed her hand on my chest. “She’s so happy.”
“I know,” I said.
And I was too. That scared me a little.
The sound of water swooshing from the faucet broke my concentration. After a long day of spending my money, Yana was in the kitchen, washing the pots and pans she’d used earlier to make breakfast. I was on my phone, reading an email from another Michigan artist who was looking to work with me. Princess sat near the window at the dining room table, deep in thought, typing on her laptop.
I leaned back on the couch, clicked the side button of my iPhone, and locked the screen. The room was full of white noise, but we each remained silent.
“I wanted to see if I could stay next door at Kara’s,” Yana said, breaking the silence. “I figured it wouldn’t be a big deal since it’s close, and it’s Jax’s daughter.”
“Who?” I asked.
“Oh my God, really? Jax,” Yana replied. “You know, your neighbor and colleague? The rapper?”
Princess nodded but didn’t look up. “Just text me.”
“Thanks, Mom.” Yana shut the water off, grabbed a bag that I hadn’t noticed was sitting on the kitchen’s island barstool, and walked down the hallway. The sound of the lock clicking behind her let me know that she was gone.
When it was just Princess and me, the house was quiet again.
I turned my head toward her. The way her skin glowed in the sunset caused a reddish-orange halo around her. She didn’t notice as I watched her. The only sounds that filled the room were the keys that clicked on the keypad.
“I forgot ‘Jax’ was his stage name. I call that nigga Otis.” I broke the silence.
“Oh, yeah.” Princess giggled. Her eyes never left her laptop as she kept typing.
I watched her for a moment. She hadn’t looked in my direction at all, locked into her work with her shoulders hunched. I remembered how cute she was when she had tunnel vision when we were kids. She would shut the whole world out. The way she would breathe deeply and slowly when she was calm used to turn me on so bad.
I didn’t want to interrupt her flow, but at the same time, the weight of what transpired between the two of us the night before was heavy on my mind. I was stuck between wanting to ask her what that meant, but I didn’t know how to ask. I went back and forth between those thoughts before I told myself that maybe I was just thinking too much into it.
I leaned back against the couch and let my head fall back against the pillows. My eyes followed the ceiling fan as it spun around in a circle. When I peeked out of the corner of my eye, Princess still hadn’t looked my way.
I opened my arms, stretched, and let out a loud and dramatic yawn.
Still, nothing.
I cleared my throat and began to hum, shooting glances her way to see if she noticed. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her pause.
She turned her head, and with a smirk on her lips, she asked, “Are you serious right now?”
I pretended as if I didn’t know what she meant. “Oh, am I interrupting you? My bad.”
“What’s up, Zay?” she asked through a laugh. “Do you wanna talk about last night?”
I exhaled. “Yeah, I kind of do.”
She exhaled, shut her laptop, and walked over to the couch. I leaned up and turned my body to face her as she sat down next to me.
“To be honest . . .” She paused as if she needed to choose her words carefully. “The wine kind of got to me. I was in my feelings. I hope I didn’t move too fast.”
I took a deep breath and looked into her eyes. I wanted her to know that I was serious. “Don’t apologize.”
