“I take me seriously,” CJ says. “And the ladies take me very seriously.”
“Nobody wants to hear about your DMs,” Jalen says.
“I do,” CJ tells him. “I want to hear about them all the time.”
I shake my head. “Y’all are exhausting.”
“But you’re happy,” Jalen says, watching me. “So it’s whatever. You and Lily good?”
I can’t stop the smile before it shows up. “Yeah. We’re good.”
CJ sits forward. “Good good?”
I stare at him.
He grins. “That means yes.”
“That means mind your business.”
Tank laughs. “He’s back.”
I am. That’s the thing. I feel like myself again. Steady. Back where I’m supposed to be.
Lily and I went to the Bahamas, and everything shifted into place. We laughed. We rested. She painted with the ocean infront of her. She was happy and open in a way I hadn’t seen in too long.
Then we came home, and that job started pulling the light out of her again.
I hate it.
“She got this promotion,” I say, setting my water down. “Employee relations manager or something. More money, better title, but she doesn’t want it.”
“Then why’d she take it?” Tank asks.
“She didn’t really get offered. They just told her.”
Jalen frowns. “That sounds about right for corporate.”
“She hates that job,” I say. “She’s good at it, but she hates it. Lit with Lily is what she wants to do. That’s where she comes alive.”
CJ leans back. “So what are you gonna do? Buy her freedom?”
I look at him.
His grin drops. “Wait. Are you?”
“Not exactly.”
Jalen narrows his eyes. “What does ‘not exactly’ mean?”
I sit forward, elbows on my knees. “I found her a studio.”
The words come out with pride. I can’t help it. I’ve been sitting on this for days, waiting for everything to be ready.
The place was dusty and rough when I first saw it, but now the floors are done and the walls are fixed. The storage room is cleared out, and the back patio is ready for her paint water thing.
I left the rest for her. The feel of it. The walls. Whatever would make it hers instead of something I finished and handed over.
Tank blinks. “A studio?”
