Pleasurable Expectations

f o r t y - s i x

"How's Jeremiah doing, Ki?" Hannah asked one afternoon at brunch.

This had been a common question I'd gotten for the past month or so. Sienna had filled our friends in on the whole "Jeremiah and King shooting" situation as soon as she touched down in Seattle, and I didn't blame her at all. She struggled with supporting King and herself, and I could only offer so much comfort over the phone.

"He's..." I trailed as I took a sip of my mimosa, unsure of how to respond.

Was Jeremiah still waking up with nightmares? No. But that's only because he barely slept at all these days. He claimed he stayed awake through all hours of the night because he had a lot of work he needed to catch up on, but I knew better. He was annoyed by the nightmares as soon as he started having them, so I could only imagine how he felt when he realized they were here to stay, at least for now. In addition to his recurring nightmares, Jeremiah was paranoid. Coming up behind him was a sure way to trigger him, and any loud noises caused him to jump.

"Better," I said after a pause.

Desiree set down her mimosa. "You sure 'bout that?"

"Dez." Hannah fixed her with a look.

Her eyes widened as she innocently asked, "What? It took her like five minutes to answer you."

"Maybe because she doesn't want to talk about her traumatized boyfriend on her birthday," Sienna said.

"Okay, well, that's not helping either, Si," Hannah said as her attention pulled to her.

I sipped my mimosa as I watched the three of them squabble about what was and wasn't helpful when in reality, none of them were. The most helpful person was Sienna, but she could have phrased her response better. I understood that Hannah was just trying to be supportive, but I didn't want to talk about it. And I saw how Desiree pressing me could come from a place of concern after my less than convincing answer, but it wasn't my business to tell in the first place.

"It's not my birthday, Si," I said as I attempted to redirect the conversation.

"I know, but it is your birthday brunch," she said as her attention pulled from the other two girls.

I tipped my glass towards her. "Notice how that's not my birthday, though."

"Ara, please," Sienna said with a scoff. "It's your birthday celebration, so it's close enough."

"Yeah, but—"

"Anyways, I'm ready for another mimosa if y'all are," Desiree said as she cut in.

"You've already had one too many," Hannah said with a laugh. She grabbed Desiree's glass and downed the last of her drink.

Desiree snatched her glass back. "No such thing as one too many when your man is coming to pick you up."

"Mm, that's not how it works," Hannah countered.

"It is," Desiree said with a firm nod. "Besides, Sean knows mimosa time equals nasty drunk sex, so he prefers when I have one too many."

I snickered and said, "Not if you fall asleep."

"Kiara's right," Sienna said with a smile. "You get a few drinks in you and you're knocked out before you can even say "one too many.""

"Y'all are just some haters," she said as another drink was placed in front of her.

"Yeah, I'm taking that." Hannah grabbed the full glass, which earned a protest and a pout from Desiree.

I grabbed the mimosa from Hannah and she squinted at me. "You have to drive, and my man is picking me up. I'm doing you a favor."