didn't proofread so sorry in advance for typos!
My blood was boiling, making my mind fire and skin hot to the touch. I was speeding through the streets with no destination in mind, just a racing heart and blurry vision.
I wasn't concerned about quitting on a whim like I just did. I had enough in savings to sustain me the next six months, at least, if I didn't overdo my spending. I didn't regret my decision. I wasn't going to be a part of something where my value wasn't acknowledged. Work, school, relationships—anything.
My foot, heavy on the petal made me feel like my renaissance was emerging. Like I had just turned a new leaf in the next chapter in my life. It almost felt exhilarating to cut off the dead branch from the tree that was blooming inside me.
I switched my eyes from the road to the screen in my car in an attempt to find Charlie's contact. I pressed her picture, then the phone icon, the sound of ringing echoing through my domed roof. I adjusted the volume and waited for her to answer.
"Indica??" she asked with surprise in her voice.
"Do you wanna meet or not? I'm two minutes away from your house so you need to let me know right now." There was a hint of attitude in my voice that wasn't intentional. She deserved it, yes, but my current irration was still from Meech.
"Uh, yeah, I'm on my way to the house right now. Use the key under the pot to let yourself in."
I hung up the phone, not having anything further to say.
When I got to her house, I did as she said and let myself in.
Her apartment was perfectly clean as she always had it. A sudden wave of nostalgia washed over me as I looked at the yellow decor peppered all throughout the first floor. We had established years ago that yellow was the color that calmed me down the most during my episodes, and she still had all of it up.
There was a foreign aroma in the air, though. Almost like perfume. It wasn't mine, and it wasn't Charlie's, because she preferred cologne. It was women's perfume—floral and sweet, a scent I had smelled each time I walked into Tabitha's firm. It was Ayanna's.
I mentally rolled my eyes and shook the anger away that tried to rise inside me. I was honestly tempted to leave right then and there, but the Indica in her right mind didn't want to end her relationship with Charlie without one last conversation.
I plopped down on the couch I had sat in so many times before. I felt betrayed. In my opinion, it was weird as fuck to get back in a relationship with the woman that almost cost me my job, after crossing a huge boundary with me. Like a double homicide. I couldn't help but to think this was who she was the entire time I've known her, but I was too infatuated with having a friend to pick apart the red flags.
I sat at the edge of the couch with my hands in between my legs, waiting. I heard her key finicking with the lock and she appeared through the door with plastic grocery bags in her hands.
She shot me a weak smile and shuffled to the kitchen, placing her bags on the countertop. I kept my head straight ahead but heard as she walked behind me around the couch and sat a few spaces away at the other end.
We sat in uncomfortable silence for what seemed like an eternity before she broke the silence.
"What made you call?"
"Does it matter?" I squinted at her.
She pushed her fingertips across her forehead with a heavy sigh, realizing that I didn't come with an open, understanding mind.
"Let me be honest with you. I'm about to do some major readjusting so what you tell me during this conversation will determine your place in my life, or out of it. I want you to be honest but keep that in mind."
