"I love you eternally. I love you as much as there are stars in the sky."
****
Anaya just moved into a new city to escape a mother. She meets her neighbour who makes her feel like everything is right in the world. Her life is only just beginning to...
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"LEAVE ME ALONE, OKAY?!"
"Jeez Annie, you don't have to be bitch to me," Amani sighed, flopping onto Anaya's bed, much to the older woman's disdain.
"I don't want you in my room, go away," Anaya groaned, flopping back onto the pillows around her, pulling her blanket over her head.
"First of all, it is midday, you look pathetic in bed, like get up," Amani sassed, her voice light. "Second of all, maybe an emergency came up, it's not like the world is ending."
Anaya tried her best to ignore Amani. Amani didn't get it. All week Malika had been blowing her off. Ever since Saturday, Malika has been 'busy', too busy to even visit. Anaya was sad, she felt...unwanted.
"But what has changed? She said she can't come today? Fridays are our thing, she can't do this," Anaya couldn't help but whine. She was attached.
"Girl, get up. We are going shopping, stop this annoying wallowing. I'm sick of dealing with your boring ass," Amani groaned, getting up.
Amani had seen Malika this week for crying out loud. It was unfair. Heck, even Ali had seen Malika this week. The two were like oil and water yet Malika could make time for her? Outrageous. A burst of anger shot through Anaya. What was she doing? This wasn't her, she was better than waiting for someone to reach out. She WOULD go shopping with Amani.
Resolutely, she got out of bed, heading to her bathroom to shower, ignoring her sister's celebrating in the background.
****
Malika gagged into the toilet bowl, her heart pounding. She was going crazy with anxiety.
"It's all okay, Amani approved, shit, she helped with everything. Annie's gonna like it, stop stressing yourself out," Jess sighed from her position on the bathroom counter.
Malika was trying, but she couldn't help it. What if Anaya hated everything she had done? What if Anaya didn't want to take the step forward? What if Anaya felt pressured? What if Malika wasn't good enough? At that thought, Malika was bent over the toilet again, bile rushing out of her mouth. She truly did bring the phrase 'sick with anxiety' to a whole other level.
"I don't know, J. What if she doesn't like it? What if it's too much? What if I'm-"
"Stop that, bear. You are good. She likes you; everyone can tell. Relax. If she doesn't like it or you, it's a her problem, not a you problem," Jess stated, her voice strong.
The ginger was worried, but she didn't want to let her sister know. She had never seen Malika like this, over anyone. On one hand she was happy, happy that Malika had found someone, but she was terrified about what would happen if Anaya hurt her. Malika would break, and Jess wasn't sure she'd be able to help pick up those pieces.
"Okay." With a sigh, Malika remembered something she ought to tell Jess, "I got another one today."
She had been getting threats in her mail, in her email inbox, across her social media, she had even found left with the front desk downstairs, and at her office. Malika wasn't sure what to do anymore, but what she had definitely done, was follow Anaya's instruction. She had handed copies over to the police, both in print and digitally. She had also gone a step further and sent copies to her dads, in case of anything. She had upped the ante on her private security, at that point, she wasn't even sure what more she could do.
