“It’s beginning to look a lot like…”
“Christmas!” she answered, hanging the last few ornaments on the tree. “I still can’t believe I let you do all this. I knew for sure we’d be at the store at least an hour ago!”
“Admit it! It makes you smile, right?”
“Yeah, it does. It’ll be something nice to come home to. I guess you do know how to make a house a home or whatever,” she said before rolling her eyes.
“I mean, it’s nothing like my house, but we can’t all be number one,” I boasted as a chuckle blew from my nose.
“Now that we’ve done what you wanted to do, let’s go do what I wanna do! Let’s go blow a bag at the party store for my baby showerbecause everything has to be perfect! Oh, and let’s stop by the mall so I can get a cinnamon pretzel and a pretzel dog with cheese!”
“Aight, let’s go!” I chuckled before walking over to help her slide her swollen feet into her fuzzy black UGG slides and strolled out to the car.
two
. . .
Hendrix
There used to be only three things I needed in life to be happy: money, basketball, and my freedom. In the blink of an eye, Cassidy had suddenly taken precedence over my need for freedom, and I didn’t put up a fight about it. After seeing her again and spending the week with her on that island, I knew fate had stepped in and expedited our feelings for one another. When I got back, I made up my mind that I was done with all the nonsense that came with being single. I wanted her to be mine. Cassidy was the type of woman that made a nigga flex his brain. Everything about her made me want to go harder. I never expected to ever want to move mountains for her fine, stubborn ass. Yet, life was just better with her.
“How’d the interview go, babe?” I asked as soon as I answered her phone call, making sure not to answer her FaceTime call before having her call me regularly.
“Why didn’t you answer my FaceTime call?” she inquired.
“I’m just leaving practice and my service is shitty. Tell me how the interview went,” I said, changing my question into a statement.
“Not so good,” she admitted.
“What do you mean? Walk me through it. What did they ask and what did you say?”
“They asked everything I thought they would. You know like, which programming languages and software I knew, and asked if I was ready to lead a team. Everything we went over.”
“Okay, so what was so bad about it?”
“I don’t know why I feel like I bombed it, but I do. You know how you can just catch a vibe when you walk into a room? I didn’t get a good feeling. It was like they already had their mind made up on who they wanted for the promotion and interviewing me was just them checking the box.”
“Did they say anything at the end, like when you could expect to hear something?”
She let out a frustrated breath. “They said they’dbe in touch. That’s never a good sign.”
“Don’t feel that way, baby. Just think positive.”
“How about you think positive, and I’ll continue to think how I think,” she replied, tone dry as a bone.
“Or you could look at yourself in the mirror and see what I see.”
“And what exactly do you see?” she probed.
“I see a woman who knows how to make a man pay attention. Look at what you’ve already accomplished. All you do is inspire. These hoe ass execs gon’ hate and make you feel like you ain’t on their level, but they need to get on yours. With a face like that and that gorgeous smile, plus brains—you a triple threat. I’m your number one fan, Cass. You a real one. I know it and you know it too.”
I could hear her cheesing through the phone. “Thank you, baby.”
“You know I always want to see you smiling and at your best.”
“I know. I miss you.”
A smile walked up one side of my face. “I miss you, too. Where you at?”
