“Drink this up before it gets cold. I’m heading out now.”
“Thanks for dropping everything off for me, baby.”
I had brought my boyfriend, Ben, a pot of homemade soup, crackers, juices, cold medicine, tissues with lotion for his nose, and some canned soup.
“You’re welcome. Call me if you need anything else.” I kiss Ben’s lips while silently sending up a prayer that I don’t catch his cold.
“I won’t need anything else. Where are you heading again?”
“The studio. I have an interview.”
“With whom?” he asks, eyeing me over the cup of hot tea that I just gave him.
“It’s on a need-to-know basis, and you don’t need to know. You’ll learn who my special guest is when the podcast is published, just like everyone else.” I smile teasingly at him.
He knows that I never reveal my guests beforehand; that is the lure of my show. People can’t wait to find out who will be on my podcast next and what tea they’ll be spilling.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he mutters and pulls the tea to his lips again.
I kiss his forehead. “Stop being a big baby. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Okay. Love you, Charisma.”
“Mm-hmm. Ditto.”
I rush out of his bedroom and out of his house. I lock the door behind me and rush to my car. Every time he says that he loves me, something tightens in my belly. I know that he expects me to say it, but I’m just not there yet. I have only told one man that I love him, and he broke my heart.
Speaking of which, I pull out my phone as I hop into my car and dial a number that I know as well as my own.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Chrissy.”
“Hey, boo. How are you?”
“I’m good. Are we still on for lunch this weekend?”
“Of course. You know that I have to see my two favorite people in the world.”
I laugh. “Don’t let your mama hear you saying that.”
“Oh, me and Miss Fast-Ass aren’t speaking right now.”
“Why not?”
“Girl, she went on that trip without giving me more than a day’s notice.”
I laugh. “You do realize your mother is a grown woman who owes you no explanation.”
“Yeah, whatever. She be out in these streets making judgment calls that she needs supervision on. If Chrishon was here?—”
“But he’s not, so . . .”
She sighs. “Sorry, baby, but he is my brother, so he’ll come up from time to time.”
“I know.”
“Anyway, I will see you this weekend. I have to run. I’m running late for work, as usual, and I just pulled up.”
