“I’ma just do a bit of makeup to hide these dark marks. Looking like a damn raccoon,” she fussed, pulling out her large, black monogram toiletry bag.
“At least you’re a cute one.”
Cyren playfully rolled her eyes. “True. I just don’t want to look how I feel. Plus, my outfit is cute.”
“I’ll never know how you’re feeling but trust me…you don’t look like it. I get it, though. A little razzle dazzle never hurt nobody.”
“Right,” Cyren confirmed, reaching for her eye cream.
She just wanted to look more alive and bright-eyed. She propped her phone against the bathroom counter, angling it just right so Gabi could still see her. She was wrapping up her session, already thinking about what she was about to eat. Afterapplying her eye cream, she put on some concealer with a bit of blush.
Her hair was still pulled up into a pineapple, with a silk scarf and a bonnet covering it. Reaching for her brown lip liner, Cyren began outlining her lips.
“What sounds good for lunch?” Gabi asked, walking out of the gym. “I know I should probably eat clean, considering what I ate yesterday.”
Cyren chuckled. Asking her was the wrong thing to do because she was starving and had a taste for just about everything right now. Before she could respond, her phone vibrated with a Ring app notification. Squinting, she tapped the screen to see who had pulled into the driveway.
“What’s wrong? Why you looking like that?” Gabi asked, buckling her seatbelt.
“Someone just pulled up to the house,” Cyren murmured, waiting for them to emerge.
“Were you expecting somebody?”
She shook her head, eyes still locked on the live view. “No.”
“Maybe they have the wrong house.”
Gabi’s assumption would’ve made sense had the truck pulled slightly into the driveway before backing out. It hadn’t. Skylar’s car wasn’t there, so it gave the truck plenty of space to pull all the way up near the garage. The engine was still running, and the heavily tinted windows made it difficult to see inside.
Cyren’s brows pulled together. “Okay, that’s weird,” she muttered.
“What? They still sitting there?” Gabi asked, her tone slightly shifting.
“Yeah,” Cyren said, eyes glued to the screen. “They’re not even getting out.”
The longer whoever it was sat there, the more uneasy she felt. Her brain went into overdrive thinking of who it could’vebeen, but she came up short. Cyren held her breath without even realizing it, waiting for the person to get out. They didn’t. Five whole minutes passed, and now her nerves were even worse. With her eyes glancing at the screen every few seconds, she removed her scarves, untied her hair, and put on lip gloss before sliding on her house shoes. At first, she was curious to know who it was, and now she was on edge.
“They’re still there?” Gabi asked.
“Yeah… I’m about to go look.”
“Cyren.”
“I’m not going outside,” she quickly added. “I’ma just peek through the window.”
Phone in hand, she made her way toward the front of the house. Aunt Nia’s place had an open layout, but the front sat just far enough from the bedrooms to feel separate. The space opened up into a spacious foyer where a sleek indoor water fountain sat against the wall. Hearing the water trickling down the smooth stone in a soft, steady rhythm calmed her racing heart a bit. To the side of it, a narrow window stretched just enough to give a clear view of the driveway, covered by white wooden blinds.
“You got me over here holding my breath,” Gabi whispered.
Cyren would’ve laughed had she not been doing the same thing. Carefully, she reached up and nudged one of the slats with her fingertip, creating the smallest gap. Just enough to see out without being obvious. Her eyes lined up with the opening, and right on cue, the driver’s door opened.
A man stepped out with a bouquet of flowers in his hand. When he rounded the front of the SUV and walked up the pathway, her eyes slightly widened.
“Oh.”
“What? Who is it?” Gabi asked, anxiously.
Cyren blinked, caught off guard as recognition of who the man was settled in.
