You're All I Need

Eight

*January 1997*

For two days, Sydney stayed with Max in her massive apartment suite. Sydney arrived just as Max was packing for a casino trip to Atlantic City, but she didn't mind unpacking when she saw the look on her face. Sydney told her straight up she didn't know what to do and that she needed Max. She was welcomed with open arms.

Sydney purposely left her beeper and car at the parking garage so that he couldn't trace her steps but after two days had passed without her talking to him, she knew that he had to know where she was by now. While with Max getting advice on having a disagreement with your significant other, Sydney baked peach cobbler, made her grandmother's vegetable soup and finally learned how to make macaroni and cheese JUST like Max. It took her years to perfect it and she finally got it down.

"Now you can make it on Thanksgiving when I come visit." She said to Sydney smiling. Currently they were folding her clothes and bed sheets while watching episodes of Fanily Feud and The Price Is Right.

"Yeah." Sydney mumbled, picking up an old looking flower sweater. It was warm though and Sydney's worn it some times back when her and Max lived together.

"Mom Mom what do I do about Amani? Kai clearly doesn't like her but she's my best friend."

"Does he think she's going to have you out here looking at multiple guys like her?"

Well she didn't give Max the full story. That would mean she had to tell her about the argument at the club.

"He just told me to be careful around her. He also doesn't want me mentioning him around her."

"Well what did she do?"

Sydney nervously gnawed on the corner of her bottom lip knowing Max wasn't going to like what she heard next, "She's friends with some girl Tanji who has a past with Kai."

Max's eyes widened and she shook her head. "That's not something you wanna get in the middle of Sydney. I didn't hear it from Kai himself but Lavinia told me about that Tanji girl since she knows his family and all." Max put down the sheet she was about to fold. "Tanji allegedly slept with another man but everybody knew about that. But the other thing she did to him? Even more unforgivable."

"What did she do?"

"She had him thinking the baby she was pregnant with was his."

Sydney's jaw dropped and she truly had no words. It made her think about Kyle revealing that Kai also didn't want kids because of what he experienced from their own father. Knowing this piece of information was a heavy load on her shoulder and if she didn't talk to Kai about it, she knew that her mood change without a true explanation would only worry him and cause issues between them.

"I'll have to talk to him about that separately. But what do I do about Amani?"

"Be stern with Amani about your relationship. Tell her you can't and won't be around that girl. And don't mention Kai like he asked. If she asks about him, tell him y'all are okay and keep it moving with the conversation. It sounds too fishy that she just so happens to be friends with Kai's ex-girlfriend."

"I don't think she knew before hand though. She looked just as shocked as me."

"Or maybe she just did some good acting." And that made Sydney wonder if Amani was being truthful. "You wanna go check and see if the last load is done? Then we can sit and relax."

"Sure." Sydney got up and left her room heading for the laundry room on her floor. As she was coming back down the hallway, she heard voices coming from her grandma's apartment.