My whole body reacts positively to that.
Back at home, I take out my suitcase and start packing, tossing bikinis in haphazardly. I don’t know if we’re going for the whole week, but I’m packing for the week, and I cannot wait.
My phone rings while I’m in my closet, rummaging in the back for my flowy vacation clothes. The fact that they’re so far back there tells me everything I need to know. I haven’t been on a trip since before Charisse had Naya and Sky, and that’s sad. Those girls have been on more trips this past year than I have.
“Hey.”
“What are you doing?” Charisse asks, like I summoned her with my thoughts about her babies.
“Packing.”
“Oooh, where are you going?”
“The Bahamas.”
“You two are a thing now, huh?”
I sit on the edge of my bed. “I told him I love him this weekend.”
“Oh.”
It’s not a joyful ‘oh.’ It’s an ‘oh’ of judgement. I feel it in my bones.
“I know.” I hang my head.
“But you’re in love again!”
I laugh. Charisse can find the bright side of a black hole.
“I am,” I admit.
“So, you and yourloveare going on a trip soon?”
“We’re going on a trip today. I was sad, and he’s cheering me up, I guess.”
“What are you sad about?”
I look up at the ceiling. Explaining to people that being promoted at the job I hate makes me sad, in this economy, feels privileged in some weird way.
“I got a promotion.”
Charisse goes quiet, and the contrast of Javonte’s instant empathy screams at me.
“I hate my job, and I didn’t want the promotion,” I tell her, trying to keep my irritation at bay. We haven’t hung out enough, but that’s another issue for another time.
“When did you start hating it?”
I don’t know when the switch flipped with this job, but it feels unbearable right now.
“Sorry, Charisse. I took a week off to not think about work.”
“I understand. It’s like asking a teacher about school during summer break. I hope you have a good time. Take pictures and call me when you’re not getting your back blown out.”
I gasp. “Wow. That’s Porsche’s line.”
She laughs. “I know. I asked myself ‘what would Porsche say’, and then I said it. Have fun though, for real.”
We end our call, and I sit on my bed holding a crochet crop top. Am I going to get my back blown out?
