Bree
I tossed and turned but couldn’t sleep. Cazmir was mad at me when I was on the verge of losing my sister because of his lie. How the fuck did that work?
I mean yeah, I could’ve easily ran and told Ysis about what I knew the second Cazmir told me, but I was caught in the middle trying to be loyal to both my friend and my man.
The entire situation had been impossible from the start.
If I told Ysis, I betrayed Cazmir. If I kept quiet, I betrayed Ysis.
Somewhere along the way I convinced myself I could hold everything together until the truth came out naturally, but looking back, that was probably the dumbest thing I could’ve done.
Life had a funny way of reminding you that secrets never stayed buried for long.
While Kayla managed to bridge the gap between us that night, I could still see the hurt sitting behind Ysis’s eyes.
She forgave me enough not to throw hands, but forgiveness and trust weren’t the same thing.
Trust took time to rebuild, and after the way everything happened, I knew I was going to have to earn that back.
The worst part was she had every right to feel the way she did.
I’d sat across from her, laughed with her, hugged her, and carried information that could’ve changed her entire life.
No matter what my intentions were, that truth wasn’t easy to overlook.
The fire in her eyes that night told me she wanted to smack the shit out of me.
Honestly, if Kayla hadn’t stepped between us when she did, I had no doubt she would’ve tried.
Which would’ve been a complete disaster because the last thing I wanted was to physically fight somebody I considered a sister.
I didn’t know what was going on with Kayla and Yayo that night, but whatever it was, I was thankful she showed up.
Somehow in the middle of dealing with her own relationship drama, she still managed to save mine.
With a frustrated groan, I threw the covers off and sat up.
Sleep clearly wasn’t happening tonight. Making my way into the kitchen, I opened the cabinet and grabbed a wine glass before reaching for the bottle I’d been saving.
At that point I needed something to take the edge off, because between Ysis being hurt and Cazmir acting like I committed a federal crime, my nerves were shot.
“Fuck him,” I muttered. A bitch was calling out sick tomorrow.
I started pouring the wine into the glass before stopping halfway through.
Looking between the glass and the bottle, I realized one of them was just an unnecessary middleman.
Setting the glass back on the counter, I grabbed the bottle instead and headed back toward my bedroom.
Climbing beneath the covers, I took a long swig before staring up at the ceiling. The wine burned going down, but not nearly enough to distract me from everything running through my head. As angry as we both were, I missed my man.
I missed talking to him. I missed him calling me Brenae when he was trying to be sweet.
I even missed him acting like he knew everything when half the time he was just as stubborn as I was.
None of this had been intentional. Neither one of us woke up planning for things to unfold this way.
Somewhere between loyalty, secrets, family drama, and trying to do what we thought was right, we both got caught in the middle of a bad situation.
The problem was neither of us seemed willing to be the first one to admit it.
Picking up my phone, I decided to show him what he was missing.
I opened up the video recording on my phone, propped it up, and slid my panties to the side.
Working my fingers inside my pussy, giving equal attention to my clit, I put on a performance so good you would’ve thought I was an OnlyFans model who did this for a living.
During my final climax, I thrashed, arching my body off the bed as squirt shot toward the camera.
Out of breath, I laid there, amazed at how many times I came from my fingers and rose alone.
I knew my point would be proven. Stopping the video, I went and got cleaned up with a quick shower, then changed my sheets.
Turning the lights back off, I sent him the video, put my phone on the charger, and went to sleep.
Tomorrow was another day, and knowing us, we’d probably be arguing, making up, or doing some combination of both before the week was over.
***
I woke up refreshed the next morning, beginning my day with a Starbucks run.
Coming back home, I decided to deep clean my apartment.
Once I finished that, I got dressed for the day, styling my hair in a low ponytail and adding some light jewelry.
There was something therapeutic about resetting my space when life felt chaotic.
If my thoughts were a mess, at least my apartment didn’t have to be.
Picking up my phone, I scrolled through the new messages from Nia and Lauren.
The group chat had been lowkey silent since me and Ysis got into it, which further let me know the news had made it's way around. While Ysis seemed on board with reconciliation the night everything happened, she’d been unusually quiet since.
Knowing her, she was probably processing everything the same way she always did—internally first, then externally when she was ready. It still made my stomach hurt though.
Looking at the message I’d sent Cazmir, he still hadn’t responded. I’d sent an email stating I was sick and wouldn’t be coming in today and, of course, I got a professional response back from that.
From: Cazmir Valecrest
Subject: RE: Out Sick Today
Thank you for letting me know. I hope you’re feeling better soon. Please take the time you need to rest and recover. If anything urgent requires your attention, I will have someone reach out. Otherwise, focus on getting well and we’ll see you when you return.
Regards,
Cazmir Valecrest
Whatever. Rolling my eyes, I tossed my phone into my purse and grabbed my keys. If that man wanted to play corporate robot, then fine. A bitch had other things to do.
One thing about me, when life got too loud, I always found my way back to art.
Pottery had become one of those things that grounded me.
It forced me to slow down, focus, and create something with my hands instead of obsessing over things I couldn’t control.
For a couple of hours, I lost myself shaping clay, letting the wheel spin beneath my palms while my thoughts finally settled.
No phones. No secrets. No drama. No stubborn men pretending they weren’t just as miserable as I was.
By the time I finished, my mind felt clearer than it had in days.
I walked back toward my car carrying a small ceramic vase I’d been working on.
As I slid into my car, my thoughts drifted somewhere they always seemed to eventually return.
My father used to say that people spent their whole lives searching for peace without ever realizing peace wasn’t a destination. It was a discipline.
Growing up with a military father meant constantly moving, constantly adapting, and constantly saying goodbye.
Just when I’d make a friend, we’d leave.
Just when I’d learn my way around a city, we’d pack up and start over somewhere else.
Most people don’t realize what that does to a child.
You learn not to get too attached, how to start over, how to survive uncertainty, but you also spend years searching for somewhere that finally feels permanent.
Maybe that's why friendships meant so much to me, why Ysis hurting me felt so devastating, why Cazmir shutting me out felt like abandonment even though I knew it wasn’t—because beneath all the confidence, all the attitude, and the independence, there was still a little girl who got tired of people leaving, and right now it felt like everything around me was shifting again.
After leaving pottery, I decided to head to a cute little restaurant three blocks over from the studio.
They had the best oysters in Memphis and since I had successfully skipped work, gotten my apartment spotless, and survived an emotional breakdown without committing a felony, I figured I deserved a decent lunch.
Besides, it was the perfect excuse to finally sit down with my Kindle and continue our current book club read, Married to the Money by Thee Tasha Marie.
Settling into my booth, I placed an order for my drink, a water, and their famous grilled seafood oysters before looking over the menu of pasta selections.
After deciding what I wanted, I placed the menu down and fished both my phone and Kindle out of my purse.
Holding the screen up, I took a quick photo of my setup and dropped it into the group chat before opening my Kindle and finding my place.
Not she out here playing hooky while we slaving away at work. I knew that hoe wasn’t sick. Lauren replied almost immediately.
Damn sis, why you didn’t tell us. I would’ve called out sick too bitch. Nia followed right behind her.
Drop the address sis. I’ll pull up and dine with you. Ysis replied. I smiled to myself. Seeing her participate in the conversation made me feel a little better about everything. We still had a long way to go, but at least she wasn’t pretending I didn’t exist.
Am I the only one who sees what I think I’m seeing? Kayla replied, completely throwing all of us off.
Girl stop talking in code.What you talking about? Ysis shot back. Before anybody could answer, the group FaceTime lit up. One by one everybody filtered into the call, causing me to quickly grab my AirPods so I wouldn’t disturb the other people trying to enjoy their lunch.
“Bitch, look up and across the room to your far left in the cut. Is that Mama Sina over there with Sera daddy, Judge Emory?”