Calling Out For You

Epilogue

                              One Year Later                 

"You ready, baby?"

My hands covered Kayla's eyes as I made sure she wasn't peeking. She nodded, nibbling into her bottom lip nervously, signaling that I only had a small window before she became impatient with me. I was damn near more excited than her when we awoke that morning knowing it was my baby's big day, where she got to show everyone just how hard she had been working over the past year.

"Yeah, ready as I'll ever be." She flashed a faint smile, and I removed my hands to allow her to see the final result of SLAM - an old ass abandoned church that now looked like the hottest new spot in Philly. I couldn't let my baby settle for the inconsistent and unprofessional contractor that had been doing more harm than good, so we came up with a plan to ensure we could afford the works and the works we got.

Kayla was so stunned, she turned to me with an unbelievable expression, "I-I can't believe this is mine. I own this?"

"You own it." I laughed, reassuring her that the decked-out spot was indeed hers.

My personal favorite was the color scheme, a mix of sarcoline and Viridian that you could spot in a lot of the decor - the stage curtains, table coverings, even down to the area rugs that were under every booth that lined the walls opposite of the long, fully stocked bar. On the stage sat a painting easel and a live band set up, all sitting beneath a coqueliot spotlight that I couldn't wait to see my baby perform under. Music was already slipping through the surround sound speakers, Floetry's say yes bringing the entire vibe of the place together.

"And do I hear Floetry?" Kayla squinted her eyes at me as her ears perked up.

"Yup, I made sure to set up the sound last night once the decorator was finished." I told her as I brought her into a slow dance with me, "Hooked it up didn't I?"

She smiled with a shrug, "I mean I guess."

"You're very hard to impress, do you know that?" I half-joked, since I gladly accepted all of the complexities that came with Kayla.

"It's hard to be surprised when I have you, you do everything so...effortlessly."

I smirked, "I'll take that, now let me see you up on that stage." My pat on her butt summoned a devilish grin my way, but she did as I said and hurried up towards the stage. I took my place front row and center, feeling like I had the golden ticket to a private show. As I watched Kayla snap photos of herself up there, I couldn't help but snicker and think about the course of time that had passed.

Within a year so much had changed. I had finally graduated, a victory that I would forever be proud of since I was never a model student. I had a new job in my field as a risk manager, making a healthy salary at one hundred and fifty thousand a year. On the weekends I trained with Ron and Nico, and in the next few months I would have my first official match. Just like I had promised myself, I stuck through it, hell, I stuck through a lot of shit.

Like the relationship with my mother for example. While at first I was hesitant, I had to admit that rebuilding the Maisonet family had been a blessing - I now felt the love and support pouring in from both sides of my family, something I never knew I needed until now. We had began to create our own traditions - church on Sunday mornings followed by lunch at Jay's, shared holiday's, even on Mother's Day we celebrated, something I had never done unless it was a celebration to Marley. Things had changed once I came home for good, and that included in my relationship department.

We were still living in the townhouse and had actually just renewed our lease for the new year. I worked a day job, coming home while Kayla was leaving right back out to host at The Dove, but now that her spot was finally finished I was grateful we would have something we could do together. SLAM was her spot, but there was no doubt that I would be behind the scenes helping any way that I could.

Aside from our busy schedules, we made sure to dedicate a lot of our free time to making up the time that we lost. That meant a lot of date nights, great sex, and plenty of petty arguments about things around the house - like my shoes that I never placed on the rack correctly or her period underwear she left handing over the bathroom door after a hand wash. Now that shit grinded my gears.

We had our good days too. Days when I came home early to her beautiful face after being stressed at the office where she would run her hands through my hair as we laid back watching our favorite TV show reruns. Living with Kayla was a different experience every day.

And Yeah...we had a lot to work on. It was evident that us falling back in love had come sudden, too sudden for us to ever sit down and really discuss how so many things had changed since we were kids.

Fundamentally, we were the same people, but due to a lot of experiences that we had gone through separately, we sometimes didn't get each other as well as we use to. But that wasn't anywhere enough to make me run from the only woman I was sure I was destined to be with. My sweet Kayla, the one who would catch me staring in the middle of art class and stare right back, neither of us choosing to look away.

Even now, as I watched her dance in all of her glory on that stage, I couldn't look away.