Chapter 7
Seven
Brick
A s soon as I closed my laptop, I leaned back in the desk chair and closed my eyes. I had just endured hours of business inquiries and two writing sessions, and I was feeling drained. Out of all the potential clients I talked to, there was only one singer I felt good about working with.
She seemed genuine, and she was a writer herself, so she respected the art form.
She also wanted to sing about something of substance, and that was a breath of fresh air, for sure.
Just about everyone else my manager and I talked to were on the same bullshit that I had just told Dy I was sick of dealing with.
Dy .
It had been hours, and she hadn’t come up to the room even once. I knew the hotel had plenty of things to do, so there was no telling what she had been up to, but I was more than ready to find out.
Grabbing my phone from the desk, I unlocked it and went to dial her number.
Damn . . .
It wasn’t until then that I realized we never exchanged numbers.
I laughed at how ass backwards that was.
I was sure I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Dylan Ivie.
I had touched, tasted, and indulged in every inch of her for the last day and a half, and I had never even asked for her phone number.
The realization frustrated me because I was ready to be near her again. I wanted to hold her in my arms and look at her pretty face for the rest of the day. Standing, I stretched my arms before putting on my sneakers. Once I was ready to head out, I left the room in search of my Doll.
There was an elevator near our room, but I had been sitting for so long that I decided to walk to the one on the other side of the floor.
I usually started my days with exercise.
Since I didn’t go down to the gym today, a short walk was the least I could do.
As I walked, my phone rang. As soon as I looked at the screen, I cursed under my breath.
It was like LaShontae could feel that another woman was on my mind.
I had been away from Dy all day, but the minute I decided to find her, my ex—the same ex Dy made it a point to ask about—is on my line.
I wanted to ignore it, but I decided not to.
I didn’t need her interrupting my time with Dy later, so I would stay on the line long enough to tell her to leave me the hell alone.
“What, LaShontae?” I asked as soon as she answered.
She kissed her teeth. “Why are you talking to me like that, Ellis? I’m calling to check on you because I heard there was a snowstorm in New York.”
My face tightened at her words. The fact that she was checking the weather where I was annoyed me to no end, because I needed her to let us go.
“I’m straight. But I’m busy. I’on need you checkin’ up on me and shit. We are not together, so?—”
“Uggggh.” Her groan was loud and drawn out. “I don’t need you to keep reminding me that you broke up with me, Brixton. I already know that. I’m checking up on you because I love you and I’m trying my best to fix this. You’re not making it easy for me.”
I shook my head as I approached the elevator.
“Aye, listen to me good when I say this, LaShontae, ’cause it really is the last time I’m breakin’ this down for you.
There is no this for you to fix. We were done the second you thought it was a smart idea to step out on me.
You ain’t loyal, and I don’t fuck wit’ that.
I’m tryin’ my best to make our split as smooth as possible.
I got you a crib, and I gave you some money.
“If you ever really need somethin’ you can always call me, ’cause I know your family situation, and I’m not a heartless nigga. But there will never be an us again. Aight?”
She was quiet on the other end, but I could hear her sniffling, like she was crying. That shit didn’t move me in the least, because her ass wasn’t crying when she was fucking with ole boy. A full minute went by, and she still said nothing else, so I shook my head and said, “I gotta go.”
As soon as I hung up, I blocked her number. I’d unblock her once I made it back home because I meant what I said about her ever needing anything. While I was solidifying my future with Dylan Ivie, though, I needed LaShontae far away from the mix.
Sliding my phone into my pocket, I stepped onto the elevator and chose the main floor. It was time to find my woman.
By the time I returned to the elevator, the annoyance I felt from LaShontae’s phone call had tripled. I had walked all around the hotel and still hadn’t found Dy.
Running a hand across the top of my head, I pressed the elevator button for my floor. With closed eyes, I leaned on the glass wall as the elevator ascended, telling myself she had to be back in the room by now.
The ride up was short, and once the doors opened, I lifted myself from the wall and exited with a tight jaw.
I hated dumb shit, and to me, letting Dy walk out of the room without getting her number or making a plan for when we would link back up was dumb as hell.
I was aggravated with myself more than anything.
I opened the electronic key on my phone as I approached my room door and pressed the button. Once I heard a faint click , I opened the door, and my face immediately relaxed into a smile.
Sitting in the middle of the living room floor, surrounded by magazines, snacks, and art supplies, was my Doll.
In that soft voice of hers, she greeted me with a smile. “Hi.”
I removed my jacket and tossed it on a love seat before heading straight for her.
Her cotton candy scent invaded my nostrils as I joined her on the floor, and I wrapped my arms around her before burying my face in her neck.
“You always smell good as fuck.”
“Thanks. How was your meeting?”
I kissed her neck before lifting my head again.
Gripping Dy’s waist, I turned her body toward mine and positioned her on my lap so that she was straddling it.
Immediately, she laced her arms around my neck and pressed her juicy lips on mine.
It took us a minute, but eventually, we came up for air, and I frowned.
“Give me your damn phone number.”
Dy’s expression matched mine until I finished my statement, then she was cracking up laughing with her head thrown back.
“What’s funny?” I asked, gripping her chin and bringing her in for another kiss.
“You’re funny. I asked you a question, and instead of answering it, you make a random ass request,” she said, still laughing.
I kissed my teeth. “That shit ain’t random. The meetings were cool, and as soon as I got outta the last one, I wanted you under me again. I ain’t have your fuckin’ number, so I just spent an hour downstairs lookin’ for you,” I said, unlocking my phone and handing it to her.
“I need access to your pretty ass voice at all times. So gettin’ your number is our first order of business.”
She retrieved my phone and kept her eyes on the screen as she typed, but she couldn’t hide the red in her cheeks if she tried. Once she was done, she handed me the phone.
“There,” she said softly.
“’Preciate that.” Now that that was handled, I finally took in everything laid out around us.
“You ’bout to do an art project or some shit?”
She rolled her eyes. “ We’re about to do a project. We talked about getting back to what we love, and since we’re stuck in this hotel, I thought we could spend some time making our visions clear. So . . .”
She removed herself from my lap and reached over to grab the stack of small posters.
“I got everything we need to make vision boards. If you want to.”
I glanced at everything she had set up before focusing on her face again.
Her bright eyes and hiked brows told me she was excited about this.
Her teeth biting the hell out of her bottom lip told me she was nervous about how I would respond to it.
That was funny to me because it meant that she was still unclear on just how much she meant to me.
Making Dy happy became my top priority the moment I heard her voice again at the airport. If cutting pictures out of a magazine would make her smile, then the choice was easy.
Leaning over, I kissed her lips softly.
“Sounds like a plan, Doll.”
“This shit feels like school,” I said, flipping through the pages of the sports magazine I had picked up from the pile.
We had been working in a comfortable silence for about ten minutes, but I had spent most of that time staring at my woman.
She was locked in on this vision board shit, and I was locked in on her.
I’d much rather spend my time watching her complete her board, but I knew she wanted me to participate.
I was trying, but this really wasn’t my shit.
She glanced up at me and smiled. “You loved school, though. You were the one helping Marc and me write out papers the same night you would write your own.”
She flipped another page in her magazine as I responded.
“Nah, that’s different. Writing makes sense. It comes easy. Cutting out pictures of beaches and Bentleys and tryna force another meaning on ’em ain’t my kind of art, Doll.”
Dy flipped another page and scanned it for a moment before she smiled and began cutting it out. She had been doing that for the last ten minutes, and I loved seeing her face light up when she found something she wanted to use.
“It’s not about beaches or Bentleys, Brick.”
It took real effort not to kiss her lips. “Nah?” I questioned.
She shook her head. “Nope. It’s about intention. Your vision has nothing to do with cars or vacations right now. You said you wanted the words you put out there to mean something again. You want to own your voice, right?”
Once she was done cutting, she handed it to me, and I read it silently.
Create the life you want, or settle for the one they give you.
I couldn’t lie. I liked this one. Chuckling, I glanced at her. “Aight, that’s hard.”
She smiled brightly.
“Exactly. You don’t have to force a meaning on a random picture. When you come across one that means something to you, cut it out. Just keep flipping until you do.”
“Aight. I’m keepin’ this, though,” I said, holding up the quote she had handed me.
“It’s for you,” she said, still smiling. “And put down that magazine and get something different. Your vision has nothing to do with sports.”
I laughed. “I guess you got a point,” I said, putting the magazine down and picking up the glue. I secured the quote to my poster before she grabbed a different magazine and flipped through it.
Dy played music from her phone, and I was feeling her playlist.
We worked silently for a while, and I kept her advice in mind as I went through the magazines.
When you come across one that means something to you, cut it out.
Her words actually made the process go smoother, because it wasn’t until she reminded me of what I had shared with her the night before that I actually started to consider what I wanted out of life.
I had gotten so comfortable with the money I was making that I forgot I was a nigga with dreams. Being able to lay them out on the poster had me feeling like I was taking those dreams and creating a plan with them. I liked plans, so this vision board shit was all right with me.
I cut out a picture of a vinyl record before glancing at my Doll. She was working on the bottom corner of her board. She had her tongue out slightly as she tried to place her latest image just right.
“What’s that one?” I asked once she was done.
Observing it, she replied, “A round table of women. I feel like I want to build something—like a business or a collective with people who get it, you know?”
I nodded as I admired her.
“I do. You ever said that out loud before?”
She placed the top back on her glue stick and frowned as her eyes trailed up to the ceiling.
After a minute, she said, “I don’t think so.”
“Well, it’s real now. That’s what’s up, Doll.”
Dy grinned. “What did you just cut out?”
I showed her the record. “I used to want my own record label. For a minute—when I was just beginning to make money from songwriting—I felt like I could really do it. Somewhere down the line, though, that dream dipped and ain’t come back since.”
“Until tonight,” she said softly.
With my free hand, I reached over and gripped her chin. She leaned into me with no hesitation, and I kissed her lips gently.
“Until tonight,” I replied.
We remained there, with our eyes locked on each other for a minute before we quietly resumed our boards. I hadn’t felt this peaceful in a minute, and I knew it had everything to do with Dylan. It wasn’t until she came back into my life that my dreams became clear to me again.
I never wanted anything but the woman beside me and to write. I hoped like hell she was feeling everything I felt, because there was no way I was living another day without her.
No way at all.