The Friend

Alicia

After picking up her tote bag out of her small locker, Alicia made her way over to the elevator and pressed the button. It was time for her to go home. She tapped her foot impatiently, hoping she wouldn't run into Dezzi. It'd been a week since she slept with him and she was doing a good job of avoiding him at her internship. He had said that he was quitting soon, but she wondered if he had changed his mind.

The door opened and out came her manager, Ana, dressed stylishly in black coveralls and red lipstick. Her green eyes sparkled when she noticed Alicia standing there.

"Great job hooking up Electric's anniversary with that venue. It looked fantastic," Ana said.

"Thank you."

"You know, I wouldn't know what we'd do without you, Alicia. You're so young and in the know. You know all the coolest places, caterers and DJs. The board loved every second of the event. We really appreciate you," she said.

"Thanks Ana," Alicia nodded.

"So, got any plans today?" she asked.

"Nah, just heading home. You?" Alicia asked.

"Yeah, Nathan's picking me up and we're gonna go to our favorite Italian spot," Ana smiled.

Alicia smiled back before studying the floor. Nathan was Ana's boyfriend of 3 years. He recently proposed to her when they vacationed in Versailles. Alicia wondered what it was like to be dating a man for so long and everything be perfect. She knew she shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but she never had a boyfriend before so she didn't know what it felt like. Maxine was the only person she could look to for examples and she couldn't really do that either. Maxine tended to jump into relationships quickly but after a month or two, she always had a falling out with her partner. But here was Ana, engaged and seemingly happy. And she was only 26. Alicia couldn't imagine having a fiancé at such a young age. But she guessed people like her often got hitched young. Ana was slim, had pale skin, green eyes, perfect teeth, slender nose—men flocked to women like that and anything that was close to it.

Alicia hated thinking about things like that, but she was old enough to know that it was true. Her college years taught her that. Guys loved Maxine because she was light skin. Guys loved Alicia's old friend Suzette because she had hazel eyes and soft hair. Or Mindy because she was mixed. Anything close to whiteness, certain men adored and worshipped. That's probably what Rodney was like too. That's why he went after Maxine; she fit that aesthetic.

But lately, whenever she ran into him, he was always trying to hang around her and if she had to be honest...she did enjoy the time they spent together. They hadn't argued in a while. She guessed he really meant it when he apologized to her. Perhaps they were friends. She thought about last Friday night and how they kinda slow danced and her face became hot. She kept thinking about that moment a couple of times a day. When he first embraced her, her eyes rolled back into her head. It felt heaven. She had hide her face in his chest to keep from having a meltdown.

He must've been really drunk to have danced with her like that. But his fresh scent made her fingers weak and his broad shoulders felt so good to hold on to. He had to have been the sweetest, funniest man to have as a friend.

Some woman will surely be lucky to have him eventually. He couldn't have been the type to stay single for long. Yes, any day now...

She ignored the ache in her chest as she opened her front door. Maxine was in the kitchen coating some turkey legs with her secret sauce. Alicia sat down at their small dining table and watched her.

"Hi hi hi," Maxine flashed her gap-toothed grin.

"Hey," Alicia said.

She glanced at her phone, but didn't have any messages. Lately, she couldn't stop looking at it though. Friends had each other's phone numbers and social media accounts, but she and Rodney didn't have any form of contact at all. Yet she kept looking at her phone wistfully as if he would magically appear on the screen somehow. She chuckled sadly. Was she losing it?