The high and the high roller

13

*Beyoncé*

"She said yesss !" I announced excitedly as I entered Natalie's office.

Natalie and Angela were lounging on the couch, Natalie was eating a taco, and Angela was scrolling through her phone with her feet propped up on the coffee table.

Mind you that woman was eating a damn taco at 10 pm. Black people..

"Who said yes? And yes to what ?" Angela asked, barely looking up from her phone.

I dropped onto the couch between them before answering. "Nicki, she said yes to Paris."

"We tol chu she'd say yea." Natalie replied, her words muffled by a mouthful taco.

I shot her a look. "Didn't your mama ever teach you not to talk with your mouth full ? Where she at ?"

Angela snickered. "Probably too busy talking shit about her to all her aunties. And honestly, she's no wrong for doing it."

"Bitch, fuck you!" Natalie mumbled, looking offended, which only made Angela and me laugh harder.

"Anyway," Angela said, recovering. "So you and Businesswoman are on a nickname basis now, huh?"

"Yup, you know how it is. She's my new bestie now." I replied, smiling smugly.

Natalie raised an eyebrow. "Does Kelly know you're out here trying to replace her ?"

I gave her a playful blink. "That's our little secret. I'm counting on both of you to keep it quiet."

Angela snorted. "Bey, you know that bitch over there is a well known snitch. She will spill it the first chance she gets."

"Excuse me, bitch ?" Natalie shot back. "Didn't you snitch on Emily at Crystal for lying about being on sick leave ? All because she was actually on vacation in Bali with her boyfriend, and you were mad as hell ?? You got that poor woman fired."

Angela rolled her eyes. "First of all, that woman wasn't no 'poor innocent soul'. And I had a reason. That hoe made us believe she was dealing with lungs problems and even went as far as saying she had cancer ! Health issues are not something to play about, so I did what I had to do. That's what her nasty ass gets."

I laughed, shaking my head. "Damn, did you really have to call her nasty, though ??"

"She really was nasty!" Angela insisted. "Plus, she wasn't doing a damn thing around here."

I raised an eyebrow. "You do know we don't do shit around here either, right ?"

She shrugged. "That's different."

We kept talking for a while until we realized it was time to start doing something, so Angela and I headed to our own offices. We loved staying in Natalie's office because it was close to the bathroom and the cafeteria, plus it was the biggest office. Priorities, you know ?

As soon as I walked into my own office, I dropped into my chair with a heavy sigh. I needed to get high like right now but, of course, I couldn't and that fact pissed me off. Not that it would've made much of a difference, I wasn't particularly useful when I was sober either. The self-awareness was there, but it didn't make me any less annoyed.

Still, I tried to focus on my work. It was a struggle, as usual, but somehow, I managed to get everything done that I needed to. For once, I felt a little proud of myself, even though my inner critic kept reminding me it wasn't that impressive.

When lunch break came around, I wasn't hungry, so I stayed in my office and decided to call Kelly to bother her. I had nothing better to do, and harassing my best friend was always on the menu. I wasn't sure she'd answer, but after the third ring, she finally picked up. Her voice sounded exhausted, though I didn't think much about it, Kelly was always tired after her long hospital shifts. My hardworking, doctor bestie.

"I need a good ass sleep right now." She said as soon as she answered. "I'm so tired of working my ass off like this. I'm not even a real doctor yet, and they got me out there like this?"

I rolled my eyes, even though she couldn't see me. "Girl don't piss me off. You are a doctor. That's what all those patients of yours call you, isn't it ? You just don't have the 'Neurosurgeon' title yet."

She let out a long, dramatic sigh. "This shit's too long. Honestly, I should just quit and start doing striptease. I'm pretty and my ass is cute."

I snorted. "Yeah, you could but you won't. And if you do, I'll beat your ass. Stop playing."

"You can't even fight." She shot back, without missing a beat.

I raised an eyebrow, even though she couldn't see that either. "Bitch, I literally fought the shit outta you back in high school ?? Your face was full of bruises, or did you forget ?"

"Now you know damn well that's not what happened." She said, deadpan. "My sperm donor was mad at me for some reason and beat me that same day. Plus, you didn't win this fight anyway , considering you ended up at the hospital."

"Because I literally had to get a vaccine ??" I retorted, exasperated. "Don't act like you weren't catching these hands."

"Yeah, whatever, Beyoncé." She said, dismissively. "Why are you even calling me?"

"A girl can't call her bestie just because she misses her now ?" I said, my voice turning playful

"If you miss me so much, then come see me." She replied.

"I came to see you not too long ago, it's your turn to come see me now." I argued.

"You didn't stay long enough."

"Bitch, I got a job ??" I shot back, knowing full well that argument was weak.

"A job you don't even give a shit about." She said with a laugh. "How come they still haven't fired you and your two fellow clowns ?"

I shrugged, even though she couldn't see me. "I really don't know. I think they're keeping us for diversity or something."

"Are y'all the only black people in there?"

"No, there's this other guy. His name's Liam." I replied casually

"That is a white ass name." She said with zero hesitation.

I chuckled. "He's mixed and his mother is the white one."

"You can always tell." She said knowingly. "Names first, and if not that, it's the way they act."

"Exactly," I said laughing.

"Oh by the way, what did businesswoman said about Paris ?"

"Oh I didn't tell you ? She said yes !"

"See? I told you she'd say yes."

"Yeah. You don't even know how hyped I am! I can't wait to go!" I said, practically buzzing through the phone.

Kelly let out a small laugh. "I can hear it in your voice. But listen, don't you dare come back with some boring ass Eiffel tower pictures like everybody else. At least give us some content."

"You know I got you." I said with a grin. "You know I'm gonna be giving fashion, eating all the croissants, and probably flirting with French women. This is a once in a lifetime trip, I'm not holding back. I think I might even impregnate a French woman with my baby."

"Girl, don't piss me off. You're so unpredictable that you might as well do it for real."

"I'll keep you in touch, bae!" I laughed.

Kelly sighed wistfully. "Take me with you. I need me a damn vacation. My brain is fried out here."

"Quit crying and just come." I teased. "You've got plenty of vacation days saved up, don't you ? Tell the hospital you've got an urgent case of French fever."

She burst out laughing. "French fever ? You're so dumb. You know I can't just leave like that."

"Kelly," I said, smirking. "You've got one foot out the door every time I talk to you. Just rip off the Band-Aid and come. Paris is calling, bitch!"

We laughed and joked some more before she had to hung up, but the excitement in my chest only grew. Paris was happening, and it was going to be everything.