Queens Court

Chapter 12

"You know you gotta stop, right?" Keira asked Gabrielle as she bent over the pool table with stick in hand, preparing to make her shot. After ladies night at Gabrielle's house, the ladies decided to go shoot some pool at the sports bar around the corner.

"I know." Gabrielle hated to admit it.

Keira looked over at her best friend. "No, for real, girl."

"I hear you," Gabrielle said, then under her breath mumbled, "Like you ain't never done it."

"I haven't," Keira said. "Now, Alonzo got it a few times at the office, but I've never slept with a patient."

"TMI. I don't need to hear anymore. I'll stop, for real," Gabrielle said. "But I don't wanna hear nothing if you catch me and one of my men messing around at the office."

"I won't say a word, as long as he's not a patient. For all I care, he can put you on your desk. It's sturdy enough." Keira bent down again to take her shot.

Gabrielle watched curiously as a question popped in her head. "Wait. How do you know that my desk is sturdy enough to . . ."

Keira gave Gabrielle a mischievous look and then took her shot.

Gabrielle scrunched her face up. "You and Alonzo . . . on my desk . . . I eat off that desk!" Even though Keira had missed her shot, she stood up with a proud look on her face. "Me too," she said. "Me too."

"You so wrong, girl." Gabrielle shook her head. "That's why you missed your shot." Gabrielle leaned in to take her own shot, which landed in the pocket. She stood up as tall as her big ego required her to. "You owe me ten bucks, girl."

"So what." Keira shrugged. "I still had sex on your desk. And I better not catch you on mine with anyone."

The two women shared a laugh as they prepared for another game of pool. Keira reached in her pocket and laid a twenty-dollar bill on the pool table.

"Oh, so we betting twenty instead of the usual ten?" Gabrielle questioned as she chalked her pool stick. "Guess you mad I just won your money. You trying to win your ten back plus make a come-up?" Gabrielle asked.

"Girl, just put your money up," Keira snapped. Her attitude revealed that Gabrielle was right in her assumption.

Keira and Gabrielle played their game, and Keira won the second one. They played until they lost count of the number of games that had gone by, like they always did. Afterward, they sat at the bar, watching some college hoop and talking.

"I don't know how regular people do it," Keira said.

"Regular people?" Gabrielle questioned, taking a sip of her Hennessy. "What do you mean?"

"I've studied the mind. I've treated the mind. I know how to take control of it when it wants to run wild. I know better. I can weigh the consequences." Keira took a sip of her Hennessy. She frowned as it burned down her throat. Once her throat had cooled down, she spoke. "Never thought I'd find myself in the same position as some of my clients."

"Yeah, well, like you said," Gabrielle reasoned as she sipped from her cup,"life happens—to regular folks and to us." Gabrielle's mind seemed to wander off to a personal space.

Keira sensed in Gabrielle's voice that her mind was consumed with issues of her own. "You good over there, girl?" She elbowed Gabrielle.

"Huh? Yeah." Gabrielle snapped out of her daze. She cleared her throat. "So, uh, still no word from Alonzo?"

Keira shook her head.

"You thought about calling him?"

"Ha! Have I?" Keira said. "I was this close to calling him the other day." She held a small space between her thumb and index finger. "And I even . . ." Keira's words trailed off as she thought about whether she wanted to continue. She looked at Gabrielle, who didn't seem to be in one of her jokey-jokey moods. Perhaps she could vent without being hit by one of her smartass comments. She took her chances. "I even drove to his condo Saturday after I left your place."