Chapter 5 #2
“What is wrong with her? How could she do this to her own family?” She wondered out loud. “And to you and anyone else that cared about her?”
“You know what I realized out of all of this? The only person I can count on is you. You’re always in my corner, and you keep it one hunnid with me. All this time… a nigga been in limbo… blaming himself. Whole time, I had everything I needed in front of me.” I held my hand out.
She soaked in every finger and finally stepped forward and placed a hand in mine.
“You and this baby come first. That’s my word,” I vowed, watching the waterworks build in her eyes once again. “With ya crybaby ass.”
Grabbing her hand, I squeezed it in mine for assurance, and she gave me a weak smile.
I was saying all the right things, but there was a lot resonating inside of me.
For Harbor, Alba, and the entirety of the fucked-up position we were in.
I was caught in the middle of a triangle that had formed without my knowledge.
The first time that Alba and I got close was months after Harbor vanished.
I was consumed with guilt and could barely talk to her or even look her in the face.
Harbor had me on some sucka shit over her, and I hurt Alba in the process. That wasn’t going to happen again.
Harbor
The birds chirped almost in a song outside of my window.
It was the first thing I heard. A smile came to my lips as I listened and finally peeled my eyes open.
The sunlight streamed into my room with large rays that went from low light to high beams. I soaked in everything around me.
It was a beautiful day outside, and for the first time in a long time, I would be able to actually get out and experience it.
I stretched and yawned before getting out of bed and going to brush my teeth and get dressed.
The only thing I had was workout attire and the dress that I had when I arrived all those nights ago, which Frequency had cleaned.
Sweeping my hair into a knotted bun on top of my head, with my edges crowning my face as I moisturized it.
I slipped into some tight fit joggers, a Nike baby tee, and a pair of Air Max to go with them—all courtesy of Frequency. He sure was a generous fucking asshole.
It was strange getting dressed to actually go somewhere when I felt like I’d been in quarantine for years.
I was anxious, excited, and nervous. Part of me wondered why I never plotted or planned an escape if that day ever came.
In all honesty, I could say that Frequency did scare me.
Sure, he was handsome, charming, and could probably sell sand to a fucking beach, but something dangerous lingered behind his hypnotizing eyes.
I didn’t want to see that side of him. Something told me it would be no turning back.
The digital clock on the dresser showed me that it was almost ten in the morning.
I heard the lock to the door click while I was in the middle of my morning yoga stretches.
Doing my downward dog, I could feel Frequency’s presence long before I set eyes on him.
When I lifted my gaze, he had his head angled, watching me as I kept perfect posture and brought myself back into a standing position.
“You ready?” Frequency questioned.
“More than ready.” I marched toward him.
Before I could enter the hallway, his strong hand grasped my arm.
He stood so close grilling me that I could smell the toothpaste on his breath.
His cologne was subtle, not at all smothering.
It put me on a high when I inhaled, and got me wondering if it had some kind of supernatural powers to it because the flutters that increased in my stomach alarmed me.
“Let’s make a few things clear here, Harbor. This is still my show. You’re a guest star, and you’re also valuable. I can turn you into something you never even thought you could be. It’s up to you how this plays out.” I couldn’t tell if he was giving me a pep talk or a warning.
I didn’t feel scared. I felt empowered. Nobody ever had that kind of blind faith in me before. And even though I was brought here under other conditions, I didn’t feel unsafe. I was trapped and confined, but that had been my entire life.
“Any other warnings? As far as I can see, we kind of need one another, Frequency. So you aid me, and I’ll do the same.
I gain nothing from exposing you. My family already thinks I’m a fuckup, the black sheep.
At this point, getting a bag is the only thing that I’m concerned about.
Money tends to make everyone treat you differently. ”
His crazy eyes raked me over from head to toe. He was having a great debate within himself. I could tell that much from the perplexity that masked his face. He was dressed down, but his outfit was still expensive, down to the St. Laurents on his feet.
“Let’s go,” he ordered, stepping aside so that I could pass him into the hallway.
We walked through the halls, and there was tension in the air like no other. I could’ve just been paranoid, but I swear I felt his eyes all over me up until we reached the foyer of the home. Ivy, his daughter, waited with Celine at the front door.
“Are you ladies ready for a shopping spree?” Celine asked, excitement in her voice.
“Yeah, sure.” Ivy shrugged and held her phone up while she scrolled along her social media.
She had her AirPods in her ear, and I would bet that she planned on listening to her playlist all the way to the shopping district.
“We might be out a while. Dinner sounds about a reasonable time,” Frequency told Celine before he put a kiss to her cheek.
I picked up early on that the two were very close. Celine was a gem. She was sweet, and homegirl could cook. As warm as she was, I often wondered how she got mixed up with a man like Frequency to begin with. I imagined it was quite the story, and that there was more to Celine than met the eye.
“OK, have fun!” Celine called after us.
Surprisingly, Frequency opened the front passenger door for me.
I slipped inside, and he closed it before opening the door so that his daughter could get into the back seat.
The leather seats were like butter against my ass, and the direct sun on my face was enough to get me high.
I threw my head back in the seat and took a deep breath in as he rounded the car and got into his driver’s seat.
Ivy sat in the middle of the back seat with her phone in hand so that she could entertain herself.
Frequency started the car and shifted into drive off of his property.
I noticed that there was another car tailing right behind us.
He didn’t seem bothered by it, so I assumed that he knew they were there.
We cruised through the streets and familiarity crept into me.
The street signs and different landmarks all reminded me of something.
I was on the outside looking in though because it didn’t even seem like my life anymore.
We arrived at the shopping district that all of my old friends would kill to have the money to spend in.
My sister and I weren’t spoiled like that either.
We had credit cards and knew how to get a hustle up, which was how we afforded the finer shit in life.
Our father would give us some big speech otherwise about hard work and all that other bullshit.
Harmonie and I had different styles, yet they were both expensive.
Frequency parked his Audi truck, and his security detail parallel parked right in the space behind us.
He shut off his car and checked his rearview mirror.
Our eyes clashed, then locked on one another.
I got the feeling he was keeping more of a watchful eye on me than his own daughter.
I was the flight risk. At least that was what he thought.
As bad as I wanted to get away before, things had changed drastically.
“We ready?” he asked.
“You keep asking that like I’m going to admit to some grand escape,” I said through gritted teeth.
Ivy was a very observant girl. She pretended to be uninterested, but her curiosity was evident in how she studied me and her father together.
The tension that resided in me could be seen from a mile away.
Her little ass was riding around with earbuds in, more than likely blocking us out.
She couldn’t unsee whatever she saw, whether she could hear it or not.
Body language sometimes spoke much more than what a person said from their lips.
Frequency had an aura that seeped into me when he was around.
It was powerful, damn near consuming. Everything between him and I felt personal.
“Ready! Can I just get some cash or a card and go do my own thing?” Ivy questioned.
“No,” Frequency answered calmly. “Let’s go.”
Annoyed by his response, she rolled her eyes and reluctantly followed him toward the first store.
We walked into the Chanel spot and began looking around.
Frequency had his head down in his phone, and I noticed a big, beefy-looking ass dude come in not too far behind us and park himself at the entrance.
He must’ve been the calvary the way his eyes continued to canvass me at Frequency’s side.
Something in his phone held Frequency’s attention, and I watched his face ball up into a grimace.
“Look around. Get what you want. And try that shit on. I ain’t got time to be coming back making exchanges,” he told both me and Ivy.
Like two little kids, we looked at each other, and a subtle smile hit both of our lips.
She went one way toward the junior’s section, and I wandered into the women’s area to try and find something.
I searched rack after rack, grabbing item after item to try on.
I carried jeans, a few shirts, and some casual dresses back with me to the dressing room.