THIRTEEN #3
Jio chuckled. “Wow, I never thought I would hear that from Boss Lady.”
Nina adjusted her body against his.
“I did it for us.”
She saw a shift in his expression.
Jio wasn't a man accustomed to being chosen first.
Respected?
Feared?
Needed?
Always.
But prioritized? That was a lil’ different.
“You serious?”
Nina nodded. “I know you said for us to lock in right now, and I think we’ve done that, but I needed one day… with you,” she admitted.
“You can have whatever you want.” He reached for another kiss, this one more sensual than the last. The afternoon swept by them.
Movies played in the background. Nina was in and out of sleep, and Jio did the same but with work.
Some calls he had to answer, others he sent to voicemail.
When lil’ mama was awake, she had his undivided attention, and when he heard her snoring, he crept away to count money in the other room and put plays together.
Balance was possible when the person you wanted to build with was on the exact same page as you.
By nightfall, they found themselves standing in front of the refrigerator, high and hungry as hell.
“What you want for dinner?”
Nina crossed her arms. “I picked last night.”
“No, you didn't. I brought home Chinese and you ate it.”
“Same thing,” she huffed.
“Man what you got a taste for?”
“Sushi.”
He shook his head. “Nah, I don’t want that. What about steak?”
“No, because then we have to put clothes on and leave the house,” she pouted.
Jio told her, “You can send Ava to pick it up or I can call one of the lil’ homies. Is that what you want?”
She shrugged. “It’s whatever you choose.”
Nina didn’t like making decisions when she was with him. She had to do enough of that at work. She loved that Jio was a natural born leader.
“Okay, I’ll handle dinner. Don’t worry about it.” He pulled his phone out to make it happen.
“Thanks, babe. I’m going to finish my book. I’m on the last three chapters!”
He loved his little bookworm. The fact that they both loved to read was a bonus.
Ten minutes later, Jio found her curled up, lost in the pages of a book that she swore she couldn’t put down.
“What's this?” she asked since he’d handed her an envelope.
“Open it.”
Nina looked suspicious. “Should I be nervous?”
“Girl, open it up and see.”
Nina ripped it open. “NO. YOU. DID. NOT!” She hopped off the couch and read it again to be sure her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her.
Her favorite musical. Front row seats. Nina couldn’t believe it.
Her mouth dropped open. “How did you get these? They sold out on the first day!” she told him in case he didn’t know.
“I heard you on the phone with your mom asking did she have a plug.”
Nina looked up. “And you remembered and got me tickets?” Her eyes welled with tears.
“Yes, for you and Ephrem. I know how much yall both love the Theatre shit.”
Ephrem had spent months complaining about missing the original run. Jio figured he would kill two birds with one stone.
“You really love me,” she recognized.
“You just now figuring that out?”
Nina hugged the tickets against her chest. “Thank you baby, so much!”
Jio kissed her forehead. “You welcome.”
“I want you to go with us.”
His expression shifted because that wasn’t a part of the plan. “Aah, you and Ephrem are going.”
“It’s three tickets in here.”
“Huh?”
She pulled the tickets back out and counted them.
He thought to himself, “Damn, is that why I paid so fuckin’ much?”
“I want you there.”
“Nina—”
“I know you’re busy and this isn’t your thing, but it would mean a lot to me if you came,” she expressed. There were parts of Jio's life that still existed outside her understanding.
“I'll be there.” She was requesting a little bit more of him and he would give her that. Nina wasn’t asking for much.
“You promise?”
He kissed her slowly. “I promise.”
Nina melted. “Thank you.” She hugged him tightly.
“I’ll do whatever to make you smile, baby girl,” he said to her, and this time… she believed him.
η
A few more weeks had passed, and her stomach was doing somersaults again.
At first, she thought it was the combination of too much champagne and seafood but yesterday, she ate nothing the night before and still felt this way so something else was happening.
Jio stood instantly. “Bookie?”
Nina rushed down the hallway to the nearest bathroom. She barely made it to the toilet before her body betrayed her.
“Damn,” she groaned once it passed.
Jio was behind her within seconds, one hand gathering her hair and the other rubbing slow circles down her back.
“You sick?”
“Noooooooo!” she fussed, wishing he would’ve stayed his ass in the kitchen.
“You throwing up for fun then?”
“I drank last night.”
“You didn’t drink enough to be throwing up like this.”
She snapped. “You don’t know my body.”
Now, Nina knew like he did…that he absolutely knew her body. In and out.
Nina flushed the toilet and sat back on her heels. She was embarrassed and annoyed and she hated throwing up. She hated being watched by Jio while she threw up too. The look on his face told her that he was very worried about her, and secretly, she was too.
It was obvious what was going on, but she wanted to be in denial so bad.
“I’m fine,” she said before he could start.
He reached under the sink, grabbed a washcloth and ran it under cool water. After wringing it out, he crouched in front of her and wiped her mouth gently.
“Jio…”
“What?”
“You’re ignoring me.”
“I heard you, Nina.”
“Don’t call me that. Why are you calling me by my name?”
He looked at her like she was crazy.
She gave him a look that warned him to revert back to baby or babe, and the one that he shot her way told her, “I’m not playing with you right now.”
“Brush your teeth,” he said before standing. He left her alone to handle her business.
By the time she returned to the kitchen, her plate had been covered to keep warm and a glass of ginger ale sat beside it.
She frowned. “Where did this come from?”
“Uh, the fridge.”
“You don’t drink ginger ale.”
“Yeah but you do when your stomach hurts.”
Nina stared at the glass.
It was the little things.
She picked it up and took a careful sip. Her stomach was so sensitive these days that she had to tread lightly.
“Thank you.”
Jio nodded but watched her closely enough to make her uncomfortable.
“I’m okayyyyyyy,” she stressed.
“You keep saying that.” Now, he was the one sounding irritated and frustrated.
“Because I am.”
“You sure?”
Nina sighed. “Yes. I have been stressed, tired, drinking and smoking every day. I haven’t smoked in a year. My body is trying to fight off something.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t drink OR smoke anymore until you go to the doctor,” he finally addressed the elephant in the room.
Nina softened at the edge in his voice. Jio wasn’t scared of many things, at least not openly. But when it came to her health, her safety, her breathing too hard, her walking too fast in heels, a cough that lasted too long, or a headache that didn’t pass fast enough, the man lost his entire mind.
“I’m alright.”
He nodded but he still wasn’t convinced. “You have to go to the doctor,” he said gently.
The way he said it was too certain, as if he had already made the decision somewhere between midnight and morning. She was fragile and needed to be handled with care.
“I need you to acknowledge that this is complicated.”
“What you want me to say?”
“Exactly what I just said.” Shit wasn’t rocket science.
Nina looked down at his shirt on her body. At her bare legs. At the ginger ale in her hand. At the breakfast he made. And lastly, at the man standing in front of her, flaws and all.
“I have to get dressed,” she said, although work was the last thing on her mind.
Jio stepped back. “You need me to get your clothes out for you?” He was stylish and enjoyed dressing her whenever she allowed him to.
“Yes I would like that, baby. Thank you, and I want you to dress me for the Broadway play too.”
Jio rubbed his hands together. “I’ll get started on that today. I’m thinking deep plunge dress. High split. Gold heels…”
η
Nina spent most of her life believing that her accomplishments were attached to her personality. The same went for how she measured success or a productive day. The more she did, the better she felt.
If she wasn't building, fixing, leading, or chasing something, she foolishly believed that she was wasting precious time.
Her mindset was rooted in years of watching her parents sacrifice sleep for success.
Vacations turned into networking opportunities.
Family dinners always ended up as an impromptu board meeting.
Even birthday celebrations eventually circled back to business.
Nina had unknowingly inherited the belief that rest belonged to people who weren’t hungry enough.
Therapy had challenged that thinking but God had challenged it even more.
Peace wasn’t earned, but it was accepted.
She repeated that sentence often, especially on mornings like this one where she could’ve opened her laptop, answered a few emails and reviewed tomorrow’s board presentation before breakfast. Instead, the computer remained zipped inside her leather tote bag exactly where she’d tossed it the night before.
Stacey had nearly lost her mind when Nina called to move three meetings.
“It’s not a good idea to leave Forbes waiting in limbo,” her publicist criticized.
“I know.”
“Did you get a chance to look at the edits from Essence?”
“Not yet, but I will,” she stifled a yawn. Stacey had called and interrupted a much-needed nap.
“Okay, and what about your updated bio? Did you look at the changes I added?”
“I started on it. I have a few notes,” she told a half-truth.
“Nina...”
“You’ll have everything before you wake up tomorrow morning.”
The silence on the other end of the phone had been so dramatic that Nina pulled the receiver away from her ear just to make sure the call hadn’t disconnected.
“Are you sick?”
Nina laughed so hard she’d nearly snorted.
“No.”
“You sure?”