TO PLAN
Following the outburst I had the day I visited Mya, things between Duke and I were different . Different, as in good. Different as in growth. Different, as in peaceful. Different as in silence from Myaquanna. It seemed we were going through the typical growing pains of a new relationship over the past few months. Now, things were serene on the home front.
Prior to our conversation over pancakes that morning, I’d grown sick of her ass. Never had I wished bad on a single soul stalking the earth, but I couldn’t wait to be rid of her. At some point, she’d have to go away. If not by her own will, by force would do. While I’d never gotten my hands dirty to harm a single soul, I wasn’t above paying some hoodrats to beat her ass. Maybe it had been impulsive to have paid her a visit, but even as recalled my time in that condo, I couldn’t bring myself to regret it.
“ Everything and anything for you, Bee .”
Duke made the promise, and I was fully prepared to hold him to it whenever and if ever my heart shifted. Everything and anything for you, Duke. For him, it was much of the same, though I hadn’t voiced my devotion that day.
It wasn’t that I wanted to get married. It wasn’t that I wanted to have children. I’d already vowed that wasn’t my narrative. The idea that someone else had prevented those things from ever being an option for me was what didn’t settle well in my spirit. I wanted the option available to me if I ever changed my mind. I wanted Duke absent the baggage of the last bitch. So maybe I was jealous.
Freeing myself from the myriad of thoughts in my head shifted my focus to my surroundings. As I stood at the front of the new spa in Adelaide, my heart grew light and fluttery. At present, the building was just a shell, with concrete covering the exterior. There was much to accomplish with regard to construction. Things were going perfectly to plan, with another two to three months until the spa’s completion.
Adding to that was the fact that another location would soon be underway. The cash infusion came from Solari, surprisingly falling in line with my vision. To that end, I housed no complaints.
My phone pinged, pulling my attention away from my dreams made manifest, to its screen.
Thinking about you, bumble bee.
What about me?
I’m ready to see your fine ass in Madrid.
I smiled at the prospect of experiencing yet another part of the world with my favorite person. In the short span of our relationship, we’d been to five countries together. Had I left it up to Duke, it would have been more—many more.
Once the new spas were complete, I imagined we’d be traveling much more frequently than we already were. As busy as I kept myself in Paramour, Duke was determined to remind me of the importance of my namesake: peace and relaxation.
Let me check my calendar.
There you go with that bullshit.
I’m free for the weekend.
It had been a couple of months since we’d last taken a flight together. With business on both of our ends ramping up for the new year, we hadn’t prioritized a trip since Belize. Biting my bottom lip between my teeth, I smiled at the prospect of stepping aboard the G5 again.