Found | Shuri (Searchin' Sequel)

| S I X T E E N |

| Shuri |

I sat in my lab, trying to find something useful to do, but of course, I couldn't focus.

Everything was annoying me and every time I made one little mistake it would send me over the edge.

I looked at the clock, realizing how much time had passed and knowing that Hazel had probably made it back home by now.

"Griot, did Hazel make it to her destination?" I called out.

I figured she was still wearing the kimoyo beads that I had given her.

"Here are her coordinates."

The screen lit up showing the location of her bracelet.

I let out a sigh of relief, seeing that she had made it back home safely.

There was nothing that I wanted more than to be there with her. She made me feel happiness that I hadn't felt in a long time.

I walked out of the lab and into the bedroom, not preparing myself enough for the absence of her.

Her side of the closet was now empty and all of her things that once filled my bathroom countertop was no longer there.

A sense of sadness took over, realizing that it was actually the end for us.

I laid on the bed, allowing her scent from her side of the bed to fill my nose. I pulled one of the pillows closer, inhaling deeply.

This scent that I had become immune to. That I had come to love was now gone. Forever.

A knock on the door broke me from my thoughts.

"I wasn't expecting to find you like this." Nakia's voice filled the room.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, sitting up in the bed.

She was the last person that I was expecting to see today.

"I heard about you and Hazel."

I wasn't sure how she found out, being that I hadn't even told anyone.

"I have my ways." She stated, reading the confused expression on my face. "I brought you this."

"Ice cream?" I chuckled as she handed me the bowl, sitting down beside me.

"What? That's what they do in the American movies when someone is going through a breakup." She shrugged.

"Thanks."

"I thought you would be in your lab."

"I couldn't focus."

My mind was too occupied with thoughts of Hazel..

"I've never seen you cope like this. Usually you're stuck in your lab, using it as a distraction. What is this about?"

I didn't realize it until she pointed it out. For the first time ever, I wanted to sit with my feelings and understand why I was feeling them.

I'm pretty sure it was a page I had taken from Hazel's book.

I shrugged, playing with the spoon that sat in the bowl.

"I guess I needed it."

"Hmm. No this is different."

"What?" I asked confused as she stared at me intensely.

"This break up. This is different for you."

It was.. I assumed it was because of the timing of her coming into my life, and the way that we ended. I just knew it didn't feel like a heartbreak I had experienced before.