#like i could see him saying that GIVEN some of the shit yolanda has done/said and that is entirely divorced of OTHER shit

[jlf23tumble]

Still think about how Yolanda reportedly said Zayn shouted at her that Khai was “the sperm that came out of my fucking cock!”. Like either way if it’s true it’s interesting he called his kid that and even more so if Yolanda came up with that lie herself

My guy, you gotta give me a link or a source for that quote, and you gotta do it in full, I just looked high and lo, and I saw nada, I am not the person you want to come for out of context, lmao (and I say this as someone who DID see the really shitty parts of this in real time, like the shoving, etc.).

[hournites]

A lot of ways to love you (teach me through your eyes)

Hournite Week Day 7: Love Languages 

Summary: Words of Affirmation, Acts of Service, Gifts, Quality Time, Touch. Or, Rick, Beth, and their many languages of love.

Thank you for coming along on this first HN week journey with me! ❤️

~.~

Words of Affirmation

  Beth found Rick by himself at the corner of their shared history class, carving his initials into the desk. She didn’t understand why he’d put himself there. It was like a brooding corner to be miserable. 

  “Hey,” she said, taking the seat in front of his desk. “What’s wrong?” 

  Rick dug deeper to splinter the wood. “They think I cheated on my chem test.” 

  Without asking, Beth unzipped Rick’s bag to pull out the test. Rick let her. 

  She gaped at him as she scanned over the F and comments from the teacher. He always treated Beth kindly when they passed in the halls, but she never actually had Mr. Geralds. Chemistry wasn’t her strong suit like Rick, but there wasn’t a doubt that she’d given some of the same answers with a great grade from the other science teacher. “Are you serious? That’s crazy. You’re going to contest that, right?”

  “You’re not going to even ask if I did?” 

  “I know you didn’t, you’re too smart.” 

  “I used to steal shit,” he muttered under his breath and dropped his pencil. “Haven’t heard you say I’m too smart for that.” 

  Beth slipped his test into her folder to return to at a later time, right now focusing on Rick. 

  “Hey, that’s not fair.” When Rick wouldn’t meet her eyes, she leaned in closer. “Look at me.” 

  Rick did. 

  “You know you deserved a good grade. And you’ve done what you did to get by.” She glanced at the vandalism briefly. “There are people here who know you’re better than what the majority of the town thinks.” She lowered her voice to keep her next words between them. “You’re a hero. You’ve helped save everyone in this town. So show them who you really are.” 

  She smiled when he let out a small huff, she knew he was listening. “I’ll go to the principal’s office with you, and we can get Pat to vouch for us. We both know that for Chem you should be in AP.” 

  “It’s really not that big of a deal,” he lied, shifting uncomfortably from all her nice words. 

  “If it weren’t a big deal, you wouldn’t have done that.” She pointed at the roughened mess he’d made of the school desk. “I know you better than you think.” 

  Act of Service 

  “Has anyone seen Beth?” 

  Rick walked around the main area of Pat’s cabin. It was after 2 AM. Barbara and Jennie were making late-night comfort food in the kitchen. Pat was manning the first aid station, tending to Mike, Jakeem and Yolanda’s injuries from Sportsmaster. Courtney was bonding or something with the staff in some strange ritual she had after a life-threatening mission. Rick just stepped out of the shower, washing the grime from his arms and face. 

  “She’s upstairs, I think!” Yolanda called, holding her ribs from her seat on top of the table. Rick shook his head when Pat admonished her not to yell. Rick made it up the stairs two at a time, stopping when he found Beth with her packed school bag on the floor in front of the couch. She was searching through papers, openly crying. She hadn’t even taken her cape off yet. 

  Rick crouched down beside her. “Hey,” he said softly. She looked utterly exhausted. “Are you okay? You said you didn’t get hurt.” 

“I’m not hurt.” She hiccuped, flipping through more papers, a little hysterical. It looked like it was for school. “I can’t find my math assignment. It’s due tomorrow morning.”

  “Did you finish it?” he asked. 

  “I don’t remember.” She wiped at her tears as she cried harder. “I might’ve left it at home, I can’t find it. I’m too tired, I can’t think.” 

  “Yeah,” Rick agreed. His bones were weary but he had always felt the least affected after battling it out with the ISA. He suffered plenty of superficial cuts and bruises, but he hardly felt them because his hourglass really protected him. He couldn’t imagine the hit the night must’ve taken on Beth’s body. Pat was going to be driving them back to main Blue Valley at 4 or 5 o’clock in the morning to get them back to school. It wasn’t ideal, but it was a random Wednesday. It’s not like they had a choice. 

  “Did you ask Chuck?” 

  “No.” Her lip wobbled, face contorting into another sob. Rick regretted asking. It was clear she was far too drained. It would’ve been simple to have asked Chuck to scan her bag to find out, but she hadn’t thought of it. 

  “Okay, okay,” Rick said. “Go to bed. You’re not going to be able to do the homework now even if you found it.” Rick got up to get to the top of the stairs, calling down for Barbara. 

  When he returned, he helped her up and managed to get her to let go of her school bag. “We’ll look for it before we leave, okay?” Rick ran a hand through his damp hair, his own eyelids started to droop. “I promise you’ll get it done before school.” 

  Barb joined them upstairs and coaxed Beth to change out of her suit, leading her downstairs with her regular clothes and a promise of a warm bed and tea. 

  Rick followed to grab Chuck when Beth wasn’t looking, turning him on once alone to help identify if this alleged math homework was even in her bag. Together they found what she was talking about. Ten problems of pre-calc. She was right. It was rushed and not done. 

  Rick sighed, tucking it under his arm. He said goodnight to the rest and retired to his assigned room. He turned on the lamp on the desk where he first solved the code of his father’s journal, spreading out the assignment and using Chuck as a calculator. It dawned on him an hour later as he rubbed at his tired eyes how he would be staying up all night to finish homework that wasn’t even his. 

  Gifts 

  Beth was immersed in her book when two hands landed on her collarbone. She looked down, touching the skin at the opening of her shirt when she felt the weight of something new at the base of her throat.

  “What’s this?”

  Rick murmured in her ear from behind. “An early birthday present.”

  She let out a soft gasp when he finished with the clasp. A tiny brass hourglass pendant with sand just like Hourman’s trickled steadily beside her rainbow pendant. 

  “Woah.” She glanced up at him. “You got me an hourglass?” She bit down on her lip, dread creeping into her mind when she realized this had to be expensive. She struggled to voice what she was feeling out loud, but Rick must’ve caught the complicated expression on her face. He smoothed his hand along the sleeve of her cardigan and reassured her the cost didn’t push him into any kind of financial ruin. 

  “Did you not realize I’ve been working for Pat before school? I had some spare cash. Trust me, there’s nothing better I’d spend my money on.” 

  The puzzle clicked into place. Beth had been meeting Rick at the Pit Stop every morning before school for what felt like months now. It made sense he was there to work on the cars. Beth felt her face heat up at his implicit soft-spoken confession. “Thank you,” she said in a whisper, still in awe. The necklace was beautiful and she felt fuzzy ever since his hands were on her neck. “I love it.”

  His eyes, usually hardened and defensive, skilled at warding off unwanted attention, now creased at the corners. Gentle, quiet, yearning, he watched her accept his gift. “I’m glad.”

  Impulsively she asked, “Could you unclasp the rainbow one?”

  Rick did. The chain pooled in her palm. She shook her head, pushing it to his chest. “You should have it.”

  His brows furrowed in response. “You want to give me your... rainbow necklace?”

  She flushed when he said it like that. She toyed with her new one, looking at him from beneath her lashes. “Well…” she said. “I have something of you, now you can have a symbol of me.”

  Rick let out a small laugh. Beth was pretty sure if this were anyone else he’d say it was stupid, so she couldn’t help the surge of pride when he nestled her necklace around his own neck. 

  “How does it look?” 

  It was actually twisted. She flattened it so it would look the way it was supposed to over the collar of his shirt. Rick didn’t complain, but it was bright and cheery and clashed with his entire self. Beth bit her lip, withholding another laugh, and took pity on him, changing her mind to tuck the necklace underneath. “Perfect now.” 

  “Beth, I hate to interrupt this moment but you will be late for school if you don’t leave the Pit Stop in the next five minutes.”

  Chuck broke them out of their weird double transfixion. They both found themselves smiling shyly at each other, neither truly wanting to move. 

  “Come on,” he said after another few moments of them smiling at each other without moving. “Put your bike in my trunk. I’ll drive you.”

  Quality Time

  When Rick stopped by at Beth’s locker, she was talking to Charity, a new close friend she made over the summer volunteering at the Blue Valley Community Centre. 

  “Hey,” Rick greeted, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, waiting for Beth to visit. 

  “Hey,” Charity said back. She swept her blonde bangs out of her face to continue their conversation. 

  “Charity had a great idea that we should enter for the sustainability case competition,” Beth filled in.  

  “We’re going to need at least a month to prepare. I was thinking we could meet Tuesdays and Thursdays after school?” 

  Rick stuck a hand in his pocket, sullen. Thursdays were their days, unofficially. Not that they’ve ever said so out loud, but with JSA training afternoons the rest of the week, Beth working on a case competition their days off basically meant not getting to see her. Which was fine. It happened. Rick just wishes it didn’t have to. 

  “I can’t on Thursdays,” Beth told her. She glanced up at Rick to give him a smile. He straightened up, meeting her gaze with obvious surprise. “Those are our nights.” 

  Charity paused, watching the two with curious eyes. 

  “We can cancel,” Rick found himself saying and actually meaning it. “You don’t have to stay on my account.” 

  Beth’s nose scrunched up as she shook her head, mind already made. “Nah. Sorry Charity, Thursday doesn’t work for me. Take out your schedule, maybe we have a shared free period somewhere.” 

  “Oh, yeah, sure! Okay!” 

  Rick ducked his head to hide his smile as Charity fished through her bag for her agenda.

  Touch 

  When Beth stumbled out of the cell she’d been bound in, she hadn’t realized just how long she’d been gone. She was hungry and exhausted and felt horrifically dirty in her soiled Dr. Mid-Nite suit, but then she got a glimpse of Hourman nearly pushing the others in his rush to get to her all she could feel was relief. 

  Rick cupped her face, eyes squeezed shut as he held her close, his thumbs brushed along her cheeks, under her dry eyes. She felt the buzz of adrenaline rushing through him just by being so near, but the way he touched her was gentle, so gentle.

  “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” he whispered, a startling unfamiliar word to fall in succession like that, coming from Rick. His hands flew to the crown of her cowl, tugging it down to kiss her forehead again and again. “Thank you.” 

  I’m okay now, she tried to comfort him, though her words were choked, smothered out by the crushing weight of it all. He was crying as his lips brushed over her face. It wasn’t his stamina. The buzz, she felt. Rick was shaking. It hit her then, that maybe he wasn’t sure Beth was ever going to come back. Beth had scared him. He was scared.  

Beth vaulted with her tired, numb legs, reaching to wrap her arms around his neck. Her mind went calm for the first time since before they left home, muscles relaxing as she let Rick scoop her up. 

  She was safe. She was home.

Beth was loved. 

[eyez-ff-blog]

○○ eyez | twenty-nine

Beija sat at the table in the backyard of the older woman that lived across the street from she and Jermaine. The woman had to be at least 75, but she lived on her own and was still pretty active. She was one of five black people on the street—the other four would be Beija and Jermaine, and an older couple that lived some houses down. Beija had met the women her age but they were all white housewives who spent their days spending their doctor or lawyer husbands’ money and going to yoga classes. Beija just felt more comfortable being around people who looked like her.

Ms. Yolanda was one of the livelier older women on the block. She was a spitfire who was tall, slender and fit; she more than likely was one of those beautiful ‘yellow bones’ back in her day. Even with how intimidating she could look at times, she was probably one of the nicest people and was so welcoming when Beija and Jermaine first came to live on the street. It had been a couple of months since Beija moved out to North Carolina, and Ms. Yolanda had become something like a mother figure for her.

The two were sitting out in the backyard, talking over tea and snacks—it was a nice day out, and Ms. Yolanda had just finished maintaining her yard as a means to get her physical needs up. “So how has everything been? I know you haven’t been doing much since you’re about to burst,” The older woman gestured to Beija’s stomach, and the girl chuckled.

“Yeah, Jermaine won’t let me do too much these days. He says he wants me stress-free at whatever cost,” She explained. “So right now all I’m doing is planning my wedding,” She glanced down at her engagement ring and she let out a deep breath.

“I meant to tell you congratulations! I know you’re so excited,” Yolanda chuckled softly before she ran a hand over her silver hair. “I remember when my husband—well, my first husband—proposed to me,” She nodded as Beija laughed softly.

“Yeah, I still can’t believe I’m actually getting married,” Beija sighed as she shook her head.

Beija was blindsided by Jermaine’s proposal but from the moment he had got down on the knee, she knew what her answer would be. Lately it seemed that her fears seemed to diminish a little more with the time that she spent with him—he had done his best to keep his promises of staying with her through the winding road of her emotions as they traveled through life together. He did his best to balance out his life and try not to be so focused on the things that were temporary. And now, after so many years of being skeptical about the idea of love, Beija was becoming the woman she never thought possible. She’d be a mother any day now, and a wife somewhere within the near future. Even with her thoughts and ‘what ifs,’ there was this sense of happiness that she couldn’t brush away even if she wanted to.

“I believe it. I see how that man looks at you—that’s some real love,” Yolanda chuckled as she poured some honey into her tea. “Not like these other women your age. They married career men who don’t know how to balance a household. You got lucky,” She said.

“I don’t see it as luck, honestly,” Beija looked up at the sky for a moment. “I believe it was for a reason. I don’t know what reason it is, but I’ve learned to stop questioning why and just going with it. That’s so weird to think of, because I used to be super neurotic about stuff like this,” She chuckled.

“Oh—gotta be in control of everything, huh?” The older woman assumed, and B nodded quickly. “That’s God’s will; he will amaze and turn skeptics into believers. That’s beautiful, though. I wish I knew what you know when I was your age. Took me four husbands to realize I had to stop trying to make a way and just go with the way I was given,” Yolanda chuckled to herself. “I know Frank was happy when he realized he was going to be the last husband, God rest his soul.”

“Ha! I’m sure Jermaine is glad I’m his last wife, shoot,” The women began to laugh for a bit before Beija took another sip of her tea, gazing out at the garden that Yolanda had been managing. “When did you start gardening?” She asked.

“Oh, maybe about a year or so ago,” The woman looked back at the garden before grabbing a cookie off of the tray of snacks. “It’s good therapy, and plus—I hate all these modified fruits and vegetables. I wanted to grow my own stuff,” She said.

“Hm...I kinda want to learn how to garden and start my own. Because you do have a point about the fresh vegetables and fruit. Then maybe I can learn to make baby food,” Beija began to brainstorm.

“That’s a good idea! And also, there’s a good meat market downtown—they get their meats fresh from different farms, and that’s as organic as you can get. I’ll go and get you their phone number,” Yolanda went into the house to retrieve the information, and Beija smiled as she looked down and rubbed her stomach.

“You’re gonna be one spoiled somethin’,” She mumbled before smiling to herself. “Gotta make sure you grow nice and strong though. You’ll appreciate it,” She nodded.

After spending some more time at Ms. Yolanda’s home, Beija returned home and waddled inside, closing the door behind her before she heard some soft snoring. She rolled her eyes and chuckled to herself before she walked down the hallway to peek in the master bedroom—as she assumed, Jermaine was sprawled across the bed, sleeping deeply and soundly. She smiled before she headed down the hallway towards the nursery. She walked inside and headed to the bookshelf before grabbing the book she was reading before. “Let’s read some more. You ready?” She walked over to the chair in the corner and slowly sat down before she opened to the last page she had left off. She began to read out loud, smiling a bit when she felt the subtle movements of the baby from within.

March 12, 2017 – New York City – 8:30am

Beija groaned softly in her sleep as she rolled over in the bed, the sun’s rays blinding her vision as soon as she opened her eyes. “Jesus,” She mumbled before she slowly got out of the semi-familiar bed. Her feet pressed against the soft carpeted floor and she let out a soft yawn as she rubbed her hand over her stomach briefly. “Hungry,” She mumbled to herself before she looked back and to her surprise, Jermaine was gone.

Even with everything they had at home, business was business and since she was due to consult with Zeus and Whitney along with handle a meeting with Ibrahim, she had to come back to New York. J refused to let her go alone, so he had tagged along and they bummed a guest room at Ib and Nicole’s house. But seeing as she was usually the early bird, she was surprised that she actually slept ‘late.’

She figured out her outfit for the day before she went to take a shower and wash up, and once she got herself dried off and dressed, she fixed her hair and decided on some balm instead of her usual face full of make-up. She cleaned the bathroom as best she could before she put her bag back into the room, and grabbed her things before heading out of the room and carefully making her way to the front of the house.

“Oh, good you’re up. You ready to go?” Ibrahim was the only one sitting in the living room, and Beija nodded quickly before the two of them headed out to his car. He helped her in before getting into the driver’s seat, and they were off to their first meeting.

“Where’s our people? You were the only one in the house,” B asked as she glanced out the window, taking in the familiar sights as she noticed the multitude of suited individuals that were making their way through the crowds to get to work.

“Jermaine’s already at the studio, and Nicole got called into work today,” Ib kept his eyes on the road as he tried to successfully maneuver the traffic. “Okay now, I need your game face today—we’re meeting up with these social developers,” He revealed.

“Oh...fuck, about the app deal that they offered?” Beija asked, and Ib nodded slowly.

“You have the plans we mapped out last night, yeah?” He asked, and Beija quickly pulled them up on her phone before showing the plans to him. “Cool. I meant to thank you for going with me—I knew J couldn’t be in two places at once, otherwise I would have brought him,” He said before he rubbed his chin slowly.

“No problem at all. Just happy to help,” She said before she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She noticed the incoming text message from Nicole: “So apparently, Mel wants to meet you for lunch.” Beija raised an eyebrow before her face began to slowly twist in confusion.

“Why?”

”I have no clue. I’m just the messenger, sadly. All she said was to meet her at Abraço.”

“You look irritated,” Ib joked, and Beija looked up from her phone before she shrugged gently, exiting the message thread before returning to the plans that were reserved for the meeting ahead. She’d deal with the problem sat before her after the business was finished.

Once the duo got to the office building where they’d have their meeting, Ib parked the car before helping Beija out of the car and passing his keys to the valet. They headed inside and slowly made their way across the foyer to the set of elevators. Getting into the next empty one, Beija pressed the button for the appropriate floor before the doors shut. She let out a slow breath before she stood up straight, her stomach slightly leading her. “I look so fat,” She chuckled lowly.

“Nah, pregnant. Pregnant and focused,” Ib reassured her before he slid his hands into the pocket of his slacks. “We’re gonna rock this shit,” He nodded.

“We better. I need for something about this day to go right,” She paused as the elevator made it’s creep up the ascending floors.

Once the elevator doors parted, they stepped off and headed through the hallways before they reached the proper office. Ib knocked on the door, and saw that the developers were already in the office as they walked in. He and Beija stepped inside the office and seemed to get into game mode.

The app proposal was a social hub space for Dreamville—they wanted a place where fans could connect with one another and the artists themselves, slowly clearing the foggy boundary between them and the public. It would consist of behind the scenes trinkets, chats and live video feeds, music videos and streaming, photos, and more. The developers were initially skeptical about taking on such a ‘big’ idea with a label so seemingly small, but once Beija began to talk numbers concerning sales and concert attendance, things seemed to take a better turn. The ball got to rolling, and the contract was dealt with and signed within the course of two hours.

They headed out of the building with all smiles, but Melissa’s message still seemed to be in the back of Beija’s mind. She was contemplating whether or not to even go; the two hadn’t spoken but once or twice and she knew that whatever Mel had to say to her wasn’t anything positive anyway. She just didn’t feel comfortable, but she did feel this sense of guilt that was guiding her towards actually showing up. Even though she knew she didn’t do anything in theory, maybe the woman was looking for some answers that Jermaine couldn’t or wouldn’t give. So, after she got back to Ib’s place, she was back in the city again via a cab, heading to the designated meeting spot.

The coffee shop was small and the scent of the caffeinated bean was enough to make Beija nauseous—she quickly ordered some lemonade and a couple apple pastries, and sat outside in the small patio area to wait. Seeing that the winter snow was mostly melted and the day was actually a good cross between mildly warm and slightly chill, she didn’t mind waiting outside. The scents of the outdoor vendors were way more appealing anyway.

She had waited for a couple of minutes before seeing Melissa coming down the sidewalk towards the coffee shop. They locked eyes for a moment, and Beija watched her walk inside. She went back to watching the world around her until Melissa made her way out towards the patio with a cup of coffee in hand and a plate with a sandwich on it in the other. The two women were silent as Mel sat down across from Beija. It was quiet for a moment, and Beija took a sip of her lemonade. “So... talk to me. What are we here for?” Beija didn’t want formalities or small talk; it was time to hash out whatever there was to hash out.

“I just needed to see it for myself,” Melissa stared at the girl before she blew out a wad of air. “You’re really pregnant. Wow...” She sighed before she ran a hand over her head. “And you’re—is that an engagement ring?” Beija looked down at her ring before looking back at Melissa, who seemed to be nearly laughing with pain and anger. “I just—I want to understand all of this. I have been trying to figure out why for over a year now,” She began.

“Why, what? What is there to question...and why are you questioning me?” Beija couldn’t hide how defensive she was. “I wasn’t your wife.”

“But you have my ex-husband. That’s strength enough for you to be questioned,” Mel frowned softly. “I’m not here to argue with you; I had enough of that shit with Jermaine,” She glanced out at the passersby. “I just want to understand why I got left for the very person I was told to not worry about,” She said.

“That’s something Jermaine has to tell you. Melissa, if you’re thinking I intentionally manipulated him into leaving you, you can dead that. I went as far as talking to another guy thinking that I really liked him, when really I was pushing my feelings for Jermaine away. I even tried to stop talking to J when he told me that he liked me. I fought off everything my heart was trying to make me realize out of respect for you and your marriage,” Beija explained.

“And yet the minute he tells you he’s divorced you hopped right on him, so I call bullshit. Pregnant and engaged within the course of a year of him being divorced—do you understand how that looks: how it feels?” Beija watched as Melissa’s eyes began to water. “Do you know how it feels to one day have the one you loved suddenly say they don’t love you? Do you know how it feels to suddenly see him parading his new girlfriend around with the baby you were promised? You have my life. You have my love...my heart...and I don’t get why. I don’t understand. I did everything right, even at the expense of myself. I lost myself in him...for him,” Beija didn’t realize how much the woman was hurting. She didn’t know how to respond or what to say about the situation. She was quiet for a moment to try to collect her thoughts, wanting whatever she said next to hold some sense of sensitivity and compassion.

“I’m sorry, Melissa. I am. I’m sorry if it feels like I took that from you,” Beija sighed softly before she rubbed the bridge of her nose. “But I can’t sit here and act like I can take it back. This is out of my hands. When I tell you that the divorce and choosing me were his final choices, I mean that. Jermaine is his own man and he made the decisions he made. And you made decisions too—I love Jermaine, but if I were you, Iwould have left him if I had to deal with what I assume you did. It is becoming clear that you were out here letting yourself come second to his needs; so whose fault is that, really? Because it isn’t my own, and after a while it stops being Jermaine’s fault too,” Beija refused to coddle this woman; even if they had ever been friends, she would have kept it just as real as she was at the moment.

“So you’re saying it’s my fault I lost my husband?” Mel grew defensive and Beija expected that. It didn’t stop the woman from being irritated.

“Pay attention—I am telling you to take responsibility for yourself,” Beija sat up slowly as she spoke. “I can’t give you anything but my honest empathy and the advice to let this shit go. You and Jermaine haven’t spoken in nearly a year, as far as I know. And from what I can see you may never want to speak to him again. Your beef is with him, because he is the one who made promises to you that he could not keep. I was just as blindsided with this shit as you were, so please stop assuming I was plotting on your man. The heart wants what it wants and that’s not my doing, but that shit isn’t even the point of what I’m saying. What I’m saying is that you have got to realize that the moment you started giving up your life to fit into his was the day you lost your husband. It was long before I was even thought about. But the shit doesn’t matter anymore because he isn’t with you. Even if he wasn’t with me, and had gotten with someone else—it was never going to be you,” She said flatly.

The silence between them seemed to engulf them after Beija had finished, and it was justified. She knew that Mel wanted some type of explanation from her, some type of reasoning as to why things had become the way they were. While Beija couldn’t give her all of the answers she sought, she could only give the tough truth and some encouragement to venture out on her own. “How am I supposed to move on? I...gave up so much,” B could hear the pain in Mel’s tearful tone.

“You still alive though, right?” B shook her head as she looked at the other woman. “I don’t know what it’s like to lose a husband, but I lost my brother,” Beija was surprised that she was telling Mel this information, but she felt as if it would help her. “I wanted the world to stop for my mourning, my hurt, and my anger. But then I looked up and realized that the world was turning with or without me. So here’s what you gotta do—take it one day at a time. Focus on you and what makes you happy, and you rebuild. You can’t get those years back, but guess what? You’re living in this moment, right now. It’s not too late for you. You’re a beautiful woman, Melissa. And I’m sure that you have a personality that will draw a man in with ease. Someone out there wants to and will love you. But you gotta love yourself first,” She grabbed her napkin and passed it over to Mel, watching as the woman graciously took it. “When you put yourself first, all will align to what it needs to be within your life...trust me,” She said.

“I get it,” Mel sniffed as she wiped away her tears. “Why are you being so nice to me? All of the thoughts I’ve had of you...all the things I’ve said about you in private; I don’t deserve any type of kindness from you,” She explained.

“You are absolutely right; you don’t deserve my kindness. You didn’t earn it,” Beija continued with her truth. “But me being a bitch to you serves either of us any purpose. Things are what they are, and this isn’t about me having an upper hand, or anyone losing or winning anything. We’re two women—despite how we got entangled with J, I still feel a need to share what I know with you. I don’t want to see you suffering, and that’s the human in me,” She sighed as she slowly stood up to her feet. “I’m tired, and I need to go and do more work. Please take care of yourself. And one last thing...”

“Yeah?”

“I know you don’t like me. No matter what I’ve said today, you are going to think whatever you please of me. And that’s cool, but just know this—I’m through talking,” Beija shook her head as she grabbed her lemonade and the half-eaten pastry from the plate on the table. “So when my baby is born and I’m healed, if you still feel a way...I’m in North Carolina. You can come see me if it’s that pressing,” She took a sip of her lemonade before she grabbed her purse. “Goodbye,” She walked back through the main part of the shop before she exited onto the sidewalk, flagging down a cab. She slid inside, gave the cab driver Ib’s address, and she looked out the window as the cab pulled from the curb and passed by the coffee shop. She glanced at Melissa one last time before she sank back into her seat, letting out a loud sigh before she relaxed her body. She glanced up at the roof of the car before she closed her eyes. “That was a test. I know You’re not through with me yet,” She mumbled.