ELEVEN #2
The trip seemed so random, but Nina understood needing to run before you lost your damn mind. She wished that she had gone with her more often than she cared to admit.
The problem was that this group of friends required effort.
Her therapist reminded her constantly that, “You don't get to complain about loneliness when you turn down every opportunity you get to connect.”
The advice annoyed her, mostly because it was true. Nina selfishly wanted friends when it was convenient for her.
With a dramatic sigh that they couldn’t hear, she finally responded after a whirlwind of a day.
“I'm coming.”
The replies arrived immediately.
GOOD.
ABOUT TIME.
WE THOUGHT YOU DIED.
Nina laughed at their sarcasm as she had a change of heart and began to look forward to a girls’ night out. Maybe her therapist had been right all along. Maybe she had to prioritize friendship the same way she did everything else. Tonight could be just what she needed.
She gathered her belongings and hustled home to shower the day off and prepare for what she prayed to be a memorable dinner.
Two hours later, Nina sat beneath the warm glow of a rooftop lounge surrounded by women she had loved for years.
The conversation flowed effortlessly as it always did on the rare occasions that she showed up.
They discussed relationships, their budding careers, aging parents, the state of the economy, and a smidge of politics before one of her line sisters reeled it back and said, “We need another round. I do not want to talk about the damn election!” She pounded her fist on the table in a playful manner.
For the first time in a few weeks… shit, maybe months, Nina was able to sit her responsibilities in the chair next to her and not worry about checking on it.
Marcelle & Co. was her baby. She didn’t have a nanny or a night nurse for her baby.
It went with her everywhere. She carried it for nine months and was now the sole provider and caregiver for what she pushed out.
But tonight, the baby slept. She didn’t have to worry about it.
She could have a good time without guilt.
Nina wasn’t stuck leading the fort, managing employees, directing commercials, fixing shit that she didn’t break.
It was a relief to exist without pressure or performance.
If this was what it felt like to not have a care in the world, then damn, she should’ve been more responsive in the group chat.
Nina was sure that her line sisters all had shit going on but they didn’t wear it on their shoulders or their faces.
The realization was a relief. She decided to order another drink.
“What are you smiling about?” Liza nudged her in the side and asked quietly.
She didn’t even realize she had a positive expression on her face. Nina touched her jaw. “I may be tipsy girl. I missed y’all though.” The alcohol had her relaxed and vulnerable.
“We missed you. Come out more!” Liza begged.
“I plan on it. I’m going to visit the ladies’ room.” Her bladder had been break dancing all night and she couldn’t hold it any longer. Nina excused herself from the table and headed for the dimly lit hallway after one of the bussers pointed her in the right direction.
“Well damn.”
The voice stopped her in her tracks. She turned around. “Carter?”
His smile widened. “Nina Marcelle… still gorgeous as ever.”
Law school had produced many attractive men.
Most of them eventually became exhausted-looking attorneys.
She prayed that it didn’t happen to him.
So far, Carter Hayes continued to stay away from that fate.
He was tall, dark, and handsome. The suit was tailored and expensive.
He stood back with a posture so confident that it made her stand up a lil’ better.
She only cared to ever impress her parents, adding other people to an already difficult pair would’ve had her admitted somewhere.
“I knew that was you… shit, it’s dark back here.” Nina laughed. She didn’t share that she kept a tiny gun in her Gucci bag. Those two years with Jio Gotti had not been in vain. She stayed strapped these days, with or without security in tow.
“I haven’t seen you since we ran into you in VIBES,” he recalled.
“That was almost a year ago?” She knew it was exactly a year and two months ago, but hey, who was counting the days of being a single woman?
His eyes traveled briefly across her face. “Yep, and you look incredible.”
The compliment felt genuine, which she despised, but she’d been deprived of affection, intimacy, and attention for quite a while. He couldn’t stop smiling, and for some reason, she couldn’t either. What was happening?
Carter now worked in the prosecutor's office and apparently had political aspirations.
She wasn't surprised, he'd always been ambitious.
He asked the normal questions that men ask when they were catching up, and she tried to answer them all with a straight face, although her leg was shaking profusely.
“I’m sorry, Carter, I really need to tinkle! It was good seeing you though,” she said dismissively before running off and into the restroom. She couldn’t hold it a second longer. Literally. As soon as her ass hit the unlined toilet, she let it rip.
“Aahhhh,” she breathed out in relief. She freshened up in the mirror.
A little perfume dabbed behind her ear, wrists, and in the middle of her tits.
She had been secretly dabbling in some of her passion projects and she held one of them between her fingers.
A gold bottle in the shape of a lipstick that also had a mirror.
The fragrance was a mixture of black currant and vanilla.
She was taking her time perfecting every little detail, so for now, it was her own little secret.
Whenever anyone complimented her on her scent, she smiled inwardly, knowing that soon the whole world would be smelling like Nina Marcelle.
She was on her way back to the table where her line sisters were congregating when she felt a pull on her arm. Her first instinct was to grab her purse where her protection was buried under keys and things.
“Two more minutes of your time please,” Carter asked gently.
She wished she had it to give but she didn’t.
Nina shook her head.
“There are seven women with me.”
“So?”
“So that’s expensive, and I can’t have a drink with you without making sure they’re good,” she played coy for the fuck of it. His grin widened. When the bartender came over to see what they wanted, Carter happily handed over his card.
“I’ll survive.”
Before she could stop him. “I was joking sir!”
“Can I start a tab?” He asked as his black AMEX disappeared into the bartender’s hand before she could stop him.
Nina winked. “Top shelf only.”
“For you, I’m already knowing. You still drink those Rose, mint, and St. Germaine joints?”
Nina paused and looked up into his eyes that she’d never noticed before. They were the perfect mixture of dark brown and light green.
“You remembered that?”
“Absolutely, you ordered it every time we went anywhere.” He was in her study group during her law school days but she didn’t know he was paying attention to her drink order.
The attention to detail caught her off guard, and for some reason, she liked it… a lot.
Carter remained exactly where he was while Nina ordered a round of drinks for her and her girls. Most men would've used the opportunity to leave once the conversation reached a natural stopping point, but he stayed at the bar
“You okay?” she said on her tippy toes.
“Yes, you need another drink?” He wanted to make sure she had everything she needed.
“I’m good. I have a busy day tomorrow.”
Nina liked that he stayed around. It wasn’t in an annoying way or in a desperate “Girl give me them draws” way, but he was chilling.
He seemed to genuinely enjoy her company.
He was happy to be around, and she was cool with that, and surprisingly, it didn’t catch her off guard.
Maybe because she knew him. Carter wasn’t a stranger.
He knew her before she became Miss CEO. He’d had her number before she was recognizable everywhere she went.
He didn’t care about all of that. They’d been in the law school trenches together.
For years, she’d grown accustomed to men wanting something from her, whether that was a status bump or access to larger circles and rooms. Sometimes it was merely the idea of being connected to a Marcelle.
The older she became, the more difficult it was to determine who genuinely liked her and who liked what came with her, so maybe that’s why Jio had been the only man that she had let in.
“You disappeared after graduation,” he commented.
“Where did that come from?” She raised an eyebrow.
“I’ve been wanting to ask.”
She countered, “So did you.”
“Fair, but you knew where I was.”
Nina shrugged. “I was finally free and decided to enjoy the summer.”
The bartender slid a fresh drink across the counter for him.
Carter lifted his glass. “To surviving adulthood.”
Nina touched her nearly empty wine glass against his. “Are we doing our best though?” she posed the million-dollar question.
“Most days.”
She laughed again. The sound surprised her because it had been far too long since she had a lot to laugh and smile about.
It seemed as if Jio took her joy with him when she left him in her lobby by his lonesome.
Kicking it with Carter at the bar felt normal, and Nina had never had a regular life.
Things flowing and being easy weren’t something she had much experience with.
Whether that was in relationships, life, her family, navigating a career, and damn sure not with Jio.