34. Azalea
34
Azalea
With nowhere to go and nothing to do, I turned to my Pinterest board again.
It remained full of hopes and dreams that I knew would come true one day, despite this detour. Maybe even because of it. With no job, I could focus on my project.
Silver linings.
But I would miss a lot. Kevin moving to a new place. It would be his first time living on his own. Tori graduating from her GED program. Josh finding a psychologist. Willie getting promoted.
All because of dick.
Felonbae strikes again.
I looked at my buzzing phone and rolled my eyes, sending Amina to voicemail yet again. I felt bad about it, especially since she was pregnant, but fuck her. For the moment.
I would fold soon. I could feel it.
But for now, I just didn’t have the bandwidth to hear I told you so .
I’d never been fired before in my working life. I prided myself on my professionalism. Never late. Never insubordinate. Never broke policy. That was a big one. And look at me now. About to lose it all over—what did Mina call it?
Oh, yeah.
Street meat.
But that’s the thing.
Isaac was so much more than that.
With him, I felt something I’d never felt before in a relationship. The best way I could put it into words was that he was real. A real person with real thoughts and emotions.
Roman was a man who said the right things and went through the motions of what he thought a good man was supposed to do, but he was never a good man. That’s why it always felt off. That’s why my gut screamed at me.
With Isaac, everything felt like it locked into place. It felt right. Even his imperfections felt right.
Is that how love feels?
Maybe.
I stared at my laptop screen and felt the tears well up. I couldn’t even look at my board anymore. I slammed it shut and went to my room.
Even Pinkie and Brownie steered clear of me.
I don’t know how long I slept, but I woke to another phone call. Through bleary eyes, I worked out that it was Roman, and sheer rage is what compelled me to answer when I should have just blocked him.
“What do you want?”
“Just checking on you. How have things been?”
“Things are great,” I said flatly. “Life is amazing right now.”
“Oh. Wow. Well, good for you.”
“You sound surprised.”
“I’m not. Not at all.”
His confirmation sent me right to petty land. I sat up and perked up, putting a little pep in my voice.
“You know what, Rome? I can’t remember the last time I was this happy.”
“You don’t have to throw that in my face.”
“What, my happiness? I would think you would like that since you used to say that was the most important thing in the world. Or did you only want me happy with you?”
“It’s not even like that. I love seeing you happy.”
“I’m so glad to hear you say that, Roman. So that means we’re friends, right?”
“Absolutely.”
“Good. Because I want to be able to share with you how happy my boyfriend makes me.”
“You don’t need to—“
“He keeps a smile on my face, bestie. I think I’m in love. He treats me so well, and he happens to have the biggest dick I’ve ever—“
Click!
“Hello? Bestie?”
Somehow the call disconnected.
Oh well.
It was more Tyler Perry than Disney, but it was my movie. I could write it however I wanted.