Mr. Producer:
True. But nothing is as exciting as being with you.
Me:
I’ll be back before you know it.
Mr. Producer:
I’m counting on it.
The next morning,I sat in my boss’s office. I informed them of my plan to travel from city to city, promote our services, new positions, and whatever else I needed to do to stay actively working. Once I was given the stamp of approval, it was up from there. Sort of. I had one final stop to make. I left my laptop at Damien’s apartment. After the foolishness with my sister, I needed the rest of the trip to go smoothly. But if Damien knew I was in town, he’d want to talk, and as the self-proclaimed Queen of Avoidance, I just wasn’t gonna deal with that.
Pulling an all-nighter, I staked out his apartment. I parked a few apartments down and waited for him to leave for his night shift at the radio station. The minute he got in his car, I headed upstairs. I remember scolding myself for not giving Damienback his key, but now it worked in my favor. Quickly, I turned the key in the door and crept in. My mouth fell wide open.
“Babe, you back? Did you leave something?”
I stood speechless, watching Tara prance into the living room wearing his shirt.My shirt.A souvenir I brought him back from Orlando a few months ago.
“Oh my God. Sib-”
“Tara.” I shrugged. “Tara, Tara, Tara,” I said again as I shook my head.
“I’m sorry, it’s not what you think.”
“Girl.” I sighed again this time in exhaustion. “I don’t even care. I’m just here to get my laptop.” I brushed past her to search for my laptop. A surge of anger came over me once I heard the front door open then close.
“I left my charger—oh shit. Sibley, baby, it’s not-”
“Damien, I just came to get my laptop,” I said, scanning his small living room. I saw it, then headed to retrieve it from the floor. And I knew I hadn’t put it there, with his trifling ass.Keep calm, Sibley, I thought. After picking it up, I looked at both of them somewhat in disbelief. “I’ll leave you two to whatever it is that you do,” I stated, walking past him and to the door.
“Aye, hold on a minute.” He demanded, grabbing my arm. I didn’t think it through. Their betrayal had me on autopilot, and before I knew it, I was programmed to crash my laptop into his face.
“Aahhh shit! Sibley, have you lost your fuckin mind?” He yelled as Tara came to his aid.
“Fuck you, Damien. Y’all deserve each other.” I screamed, stepping over my shattered laptop and storming out.
Over the next couple of days, I virtually disappeared. The first thing I did was get blood and lab work done to make sure I didn’t have any STIs or STDs. I also requested a rapid HIV test. I didn’t know how long they’d been messing around, or if Tara wasthe only one. There was no telling who Damien had been with, so I had to ease my mind and get tested.
Treasure sent checkup texts that I did not respond to. Kier texted to check in and follow up on when I’d be back; however, I didn’t have the capacity to respond. Tara sent apology texts and tried her best to explain the situation. And Damien, being the trash-ass loser that he was, texted me too, only his texts explained how Tara came on to him.
Now I felt like I was living a nightmare. Anytime Damien was on his phone texting or answering it but keeping the conversations vague, I wondered if he was talking to Tara. Tara,my God, seeing her in his apartment was a punch to my gut. The way she defended him too hard. The way he repeated things I’d only told her. I ignored it because they were friends first, and I trusted her. My heart hurt. It wasn’t that I was longing for Damien. I was mourning my friendship. If I ever forgave Tara, which I knew I would, we wouldn’t exist the way we did before. It would be cordial. But not now, because if I saw that bitch again, she’d be getting a beat down. And that was on my mama and daddy grave.
After four days at home, I made peace with the situation. On day five, I replaced my laptop. Day six, I went to get my hair done. And by day seven, me and my small boho knotless braids sat on a plane thinking about how my life had changed within the blink of an eye.
My initial encounter with Kier took me by surprise, and his invite to Vegas caught me off guard. I knew I was guarded the entire time, measuring my words, watching his tone, pretending I wasn’t halfway invested. I told myself I was being smart and careful. But if I was honest, I was scared. Scared of moving too fast, scared of liking him too much, and scared of looking stupid if it didn’t work out.
Going home forced me to be real with myself. I wasn’t naïve. I knew who Kier was and the kind of world he operated in. He was surrounded by beautiful women, a ton of money, and access to whatever he wanted. And though I knew she was being spiteful, Naomi’s words still lingered in the back of my mind whether I wanted them to or not.
But I also knew what I felt in the short time I was with him. This time, I wasn’t coming back to see if we could work.
I was coming back ready and willing to let it.
seven
. . .
The airoutside LAX was heavy and thick with humidity. The pickup lane was packed with people dragging luggage and snapping at drivers like everybody’s patience had been left on the plane. I was frustrated too. There was a whining toddler on the plane, and I barely got any sleep. I wondered if I had bags under my eyes. I kept my sunglasses on even though the sun was currently lowering, more for the feeling of privacy than anything else. My phone vibrated in my hand, and I saw a text from Kier.
