What Brought Us Together

Hard Truths (Part 2)

Virtue smiles at the couple as they were seated across from her. They already yelled surprise and they already served the food. Now they were chowing down and mixing and mingling but for some reason, she wasn't in the mixing and mingling mood.

Her energy was off, she was having anxiety, and something felt off. She kept calling and texting Exodus, in which, she thought about him. When she thinks about him, she gets a bad feeling and that's what's throwing her off. She kept calling and texting when she gets a chance and he just wasn't answering and that doesn't sit right with her.

To distract her from the feeling, she throws herself into the mingling and interaction. She just walked over to Mama Carryn because she doesn't to talk to someone else. Mama Carryn pulled her on the dance floor and they danced to a couple of songs. While dancing through the songs, Mama Carryn told her that Tarryn is rescheduling the bridal brunch a week before the wedding. To Tarryn, it makes sense to her because a week from now, it was Thanksgiving and she's sure that her bridal party would be busy doing things around that time. Virtue understood it.

Thinking about Tarryn, she realizes that she has to start looking for a birthday gift. Her birthday was November 31st and that was soon. She'll be turning 26 and of course that was an occasion too.

Since Tarryn rented out an event space, the elongated table was near the exits so that left the open space for the dance floor and she invited all of Ephraim's friends, favorite co-workers, friends they have together and the slew of his cousins and her cousins as well. Apparently there were a lot more of cousins that were on Ephraim's side that she didn't know about and that sucked for her. Because now, she was currently on the dance floor talking to his older male cousins and a select few of his female cousins. Ephraim didn't talk about them.

The only thing that stands between him and his cousins were his Aunt Glory.

These cousins are the ones that are from out of town. These were his South Carolina cousins, on his father's side. Tarryn knew why he didn't talk about them or invite them to anything because of his father Slick. He didn't want anything remotely attached to him but Tarryn understands that. Now she invited them and now they were here but Ephraim didn't say a peep to them.

After chatting it up with them, she went in search of Ephraim because she has an announcement. He was talking to Senator George St. Claire, who was also First Lady DeLoach's nephew. They were are close in age and they are inner-city kids so conversation was easy. She was about to walk over to him to get him down but her eyes traveled over to her mother and Virtue. Virtue's head was in her shoulder and Tarryn's eyebrow raised.

She made her way over to them were Virtue's phone was to her ear and Mama Carryn was hugging her as they sway to the song.

"What's wrong with her?" She asks as she placed a hand on Virtue's shoulder.

"She said that she has a bad feeling about Exodus. She explained to me that he's been going through something for a while but she never gotten a feeling this strong." Mama Carryn explains.

"Try calling him boo," She rubs her shoulder for comfort.

"He's not answering." She lifts her head up from Mama Carryn's shoulder so she can get herself out of the slump. She was trying not to think about it because this dinner is supposed to exude love and happiness.

Since Tarryn had her phone in her hand, she composes a text and sent it to Virtue. "I sent you a secured number. Call him off that number and if he picks up on that number, it just means that either he doesn't have his phone and someone is declining for him and they have his phone or because he sees you're calling and he doesn't want to speak to you. Either way of he picks up on the secured line, you'll have your answer either way."