“Take some of that out ya voice, Lala. I will fuck you up.” Kong grunted. “Where you at? Ember said you took off too fast.”
“Because I don’t need you or anybody else looking out for me! I’m very much grown. You got a whole wife at home, probably wondering where the hell you are. Why do you keep doing this?” Eyes filling to the brim with tears, she listened to make sure he was still there.
The line was quiet, but time was still moving.
“Because I can’t be witchu, but I can’t let you go. I want you to be safe. I still care about your dreams and all the shit you want to do with your life. There’s already an account set aside for every product, space, marketing, whatever you need to brand you. Because I see you, Ayla. Ain’t nobody like you, baby.” The tenderness in his tone made her wish she could see his face when he said those things.
She knew he meant them.
“You came in and healed me in a way I didn’t know I needed. My kids are getting more of my time. I still think about their mother, but I’m in a place now where it doesn’t hurt as much. Learning to accept what is and recognize what I already have in everything around me. Including you.”
“And what about Nay?—”
“Don’t bring her up in this.” Kong silenced her. “I’m talking about you and me. What’s with her is… complicated, and I did it to myself, so I have to deal with the repercussions of that. I just need to know when this is over, when I take care of this, will you be there?”
“Kong, I…”
“Keep it real, Lala. Let me know what it is. If you want me to stay away, I’ll do the best I can.”
“Can we talk face to face when I get back to the house? I’m grabbing something to eat at the Shack.” She glanced at the clock display on her dash.
“It’s almost ten o’clock clock at night, La, the fuck you doing?”
“I was craving a snack wrap. Don’t yell at me.” Suddenly, her chest tightened, and she wanted to cry.
Kong sighed. He wasn’t used to this hypersensitive side of her.
“Aight, be careful, man. And hurry up. I’ll be here.”
She slipped her phone into her Michael Kors bag and pushed the driver’s door open. Her Ugg boots crunched against the patches of snow still on the ground, and the rain began. Yeah, she definitely needed to get her shit and go. She hated driving in this kind of weather. Slinging her bag over her shoulder, she tightened her khaki-colored peacoat around herself and rushed toward the entrance door.
Instantly, the scent of frying oil, chicken, and burgers smacked her in the face. She took in the many filled tables and spotted some of her old crew behind the counters taking orders. Ramona picked her out amidst the chaos.
“Hey! What are you doing here?” She smiled when Ayla approached the counter.
“Looking for a few snack wraps and a cold Pepsi, please. Throw in some waffle fries too with some of that queso dip.”
“You got it, girl.” Ramona’s bright eyes swept over her before hiking a brow. “That sounds like a craving. Are you pregnant?” she teased, leaning in and whispering.
Ayla damned near pissed herself. Ramona was the first person to call her out on it. Her appearance wasn’t extreme but enough for anyone close to her to know that something was up. She’d been rocking big shirts over everything lately. Ramona had worked with her weekly over the last year and a half too.Ayla thought she had a decent figure so she never shied away from showing it off.
“Oh, my God, you are! Girl, what is the tea?” Grabbing her arm, Ramona pulled her aside.
“Please don’t say anything to anybody,” Ayla pleaded. “I just found out. This baby is due in a few months. Doctors said it was a damn cryptic pregnancy. I been walking around here pregnant as hell and didn’t even know it.”
“Well, ain’t no hiding it now for anyone who’s really looking, sunshine. You’re beautiful.”
“Thank you.”
“So, who’s the daddy?” Ramona leaned against a counter and folded her arms across her chest.
“I can’t talk about that right now. I haven’t told him. We’re technically not even together, and… it wasn’t a relationship anyway. We had sex a couple of times, and this was the result.”
“Well, I won’t press you then,” Ramona said with eyeroll as she pushed herself off the counter. “Let me put your order in.”
“Thanks, girl.”
“So, you and Moose are not coming over?” Coast said into the phone, which she had on speaker.
