Chapter 28
Worries
As soon as I pulled into the parking garage at work, the hairs on my arms stood up, and I had a shiver down my spine. I took a deep breath and tried to shake it off, but couldn’t.
After my momma told me that she had talked to Gio, I had been on edge. Not because I was worried I would go back, but because I didn’t know what he would do knowing I was with somebody.
Before I walked inside, I called Love, and he answered right away.
“Wussup, baby girl, are you okay?”
His voice calmed me a lil’ bit.
“I’m so-so. I just have a strange feeling,” I said, looking around.
“You want me to send niggas to sit outside the hospital with a picture of that nigga?”
I smirked. “No, baby, it’s okay, I just needed to hear your voice.”
“MWAH!” Love said into the phone. “Don’t let that clow nigga worry you. You have a dangerous nigga protecting you.”
“Oh, really,” I said low.
“I don’t want you to see that side of me. I like being your thuggish lover.” We both laughed, and he continued. “But let that nigga try you.”
I smiled and hopped outta my car, talking to Love until I got into the locker room. As I was getting changed, my girls started to come in.
“Hey, Ms. Love,” Renee said as she unlocked her locker. We looked at each other, and the smile she had on her face slowly went away.
“What is wrong, girl?” she asked, sitting me down on the bench.
I shook my head, not wanting to even bring it back up, but Kenya and Deja noticed something was wrong when they walked through the door. They all sat around me, and I told them about the call I got from my mom.
Each of them hugged me, telling me not to worry, but that was easier said than done.
We got ourselves together, but the feelin’ stayed with me.
It sat in my chest… quiet and heavy.
I moved through my shift like I always did, taking care of my patients, smiling when I needed to, laughing with my girls when they cracked jokes, but every now and then, my mind drifted.
Back to my mom’s call.
Back to Gio.
Back to the fact that he was out and knew what city I was in.
Around my lunch break, my name got buzzed, and when I went out to the nurse’s station, Kenya was smiling at me in the distance. Once I got to the station, I saw flowers and lunch waiting for me. I smiled, already knowing who it was from.
“The way that man takes care of you is so sweet,” Kenya said as I smelled the flowers.
I noticed the card and picked out the flowers to read it.
Stay outta your head, ya man got you.
Love
My chest softened instantly.
“He’s kinda amazing,” I said with a smirk.
I looked at the food, and it had another note attached.
Go eat.
I laughed, and Renee came over my shoulder, looking at the note with me before she grabbed my arm.
“Come on, let’s go do what your man said.”
We went down to the cafeteria. Kenya, Deja, and Renee got some lunch, and I waited for them to sit down.
My eyes kept drifting toward the windows, staring at any nigga that walked by, making sure it wasn’t him.
Once my girls sat down, they started talking about the weekend, things we could do, and how it was almost time for a nail appointment.
I was in and out of the conversation, not really adding much to it.
When I heard my name.
“Islah, girl, are you okay for real?” Deja asked.
I shrugged. “I’m trying to be, but I just can’t stop thinking about Gio.”
All of them nodded.
“Listen,” Kenya said, reaching across the table, placing her hand on top of mine.
“If that nigga can find you in the A, then yes, the nigga is crazy. But when you have a crazy nigga on your hands, you have to have a real one that will put him in his place, and you have that.” She paused while Deja and Renee nodded, agreeing.
“The way Love steps for you, I’ve only seen it in the movies. That nigga gonna take care of you.”
I took a deep breath. What Kenya said made a lot of sense. As I looked down at my ring, a smile came over me.
By the end of my shift, I was ready to get in bed, maybe have a body rub if Love could slide through. I changed my clothes and gave each of my girls a hug before heading out.
I made it to the main floor of the hospital, talking to different people in passing. Just as I was about to walk through the sliding glass door, I called Love.
The phone rang longer than it normally did when I heard, “Wussup, Mamas,” coming from behind me.
I turned around slow and saw Love smiling at me with his nigga in the passenger seat. They both hopped out. I gave my keys to his nigga, already knowing the routine, while Love pulled me into his arms, kissing me and squeezing me tight.
“You okay?” he asked, brushing my hair outta my face.
I smirked. “I am now.” Feeling every ounce of worry leave my body.
Love walked me around to the passenger side and helped me in while looking around.
Well, pulled off fast, and he took me out to dinner, to a restaurant he had been wanting us to try.
Dinner was quiet, not awkward. I was just quiet, letting Love carry the conversation, talking about what he created and what he was working on.
After a while of us sitting across from each other, his eyes never left me, like he was reading everything I wasn’t sayin’.
He took a sip and placed his glass back on the table. “You still thinking about it.”
It wasn’t a question.
I exhaled while moving my fork through my food.
“I’m trying not to.”
He leaned back in his chair, still watching me.
“I don’t like that he got you feelin’ like that.”
“Me neither, I’m just worried,” I said low.
“Worried about what?”
I paused.
“Worried about what he would do if he knew that I moved on.”
“Move in with me then,” he said.
I blinked. “What?!”
Love sat up straighter in his chair. “Move in with me, then you don’t have to worry about none of that.”
I shook my head. “That’s fast, Love… we just—”
“I don’t care,” he cut in. “I know what I want,” he added. “And I know what I’m not gonna have my girl worried to leave her home, work, whatever.”
I shifted in my seat, my heart picking up a lil’.
“Love…. I don’t—”
“Are you gonna let me protect you?” he asked flatly.
My brow raised. “I’m letting you protect me.”
“Nah, baby girl, if it comes down to it, are you gonna let me really protect you when it comes to this nigga? I get you might still have a soft place in your heart for him—”
“I don’t,” I said, cutting him off. “And yes, I want you to protect me.”
Love smiled at me. “That’s all I needed to hear, baby girl. I’ma handle it.”
We left the restaurant and went back to my place. Love rolled up and smoked while I hopped in the shower. When I finished, Love was in bed waiting for me.
He tapped the bed while smiling at me, and I climbed in and cuddled up under him.
“What do you need from me?” he asked.
I paused and thought about it.
“Hold me.”
He nodded and did just that. Holding me tight in his arms. I felt relaxed. I felt comfortable. I felt… protected.
I fell asleep in his arms and woke up around four in the morning, needing some water.
I slid out from under his arms, went into my kitchen, and fixed myself a glass of water.
I was wide awake and went and stood by the window, looking at the city still moving. I was thinking about everything, from my mom to my friends, to Gio and Love. When I felt hands around my waist and soft kisses on my neck.
I smiled to myself, feeling what I was feeling when I heard, “You feel so good…”
My eyebrow raised, and the hair on my arms stood up. I slowly pulled away, turned around, and let out a scream I never heard come from my body.
Gio.
He was in my house, in my space, smiling at me, laughing at me.
“We ain’t over, girl, fuck you thought it was,” he said.
I kept screaming, and suddenly, I had no air. Nothing was coming outta my mouth, but I could hear Love’s voice.
When I finally woke up, I was in bed with Love, sitting in front of me with his hands on my shoulders, shaking me.
His eyes were wide, as wide as mine felt. I pulled him into my arms and started crying.
“I’ll move!” I damn near screamed at him. “I will move in with you.”
Love wrapped his arms around me and rocked me side to side while telling me it would be okay.
But I didn’t feel it, not even a lil’ bit.