Reina Reina

Reunited

   I stayed at a hotel for the next couple of days then I got my own studio apartment downtown near my salon. After five days of moping around, I decided to finally open the shop back up. I couldn't let myself go and fall off my business because of them.

     The other girls from the shop had been blowing my phone up for days. I finally called them all back apologizing and telling them to come in today. When they got there they all had the same expression when they noticed I had cleaned up Taniya's booth and put a sign in the window for an open booth. I'm sure they put two and two together because none of them asked any questions.

     Before the week was even out, I had already hired a new girl at the salon. She was a makeup artist. Her name was Camille. She was from New Orleans but she was attending college in Atlanta. Camille was 19 years old and was a pretty cool chick. We got along well and even sometimes hung out outside of work.

***THREE MONTHS LATER***

      "Hey boo. We still going to the nail salon after we close up?" Camille asked as I was walking in from lunch.

     "Yeah. I want to go to Angie's so Ima close up a little early." Angie's was my favorite nail salon and was always packed, not to mention all the way on the other side of town so we would need to get there at least an hour before they close.

     "Okay. After this face I got one more appointment. It's been kinda slow today so if you want we can leave after that." Camille said. She had a thick Louisiana accent so she naturally talked with sass but she was a real sweet girl, nice to everyone and had a very calm demeanor. I admired that about her because I was a firecracker. I wasn't obnoxious or anything but I always spoke my mind and I didn't take shit from anyone. Maybe that's why we clicked so well..they say opposites attract.

After closing the salon, Camille followed me to Angie's Nail Bar. She parked next to me in her Red Hyundai Genesis. Surprisingly they weren't packed and we got seated as soon as we walked in. While getting our pedicures I turned on the massage chair and started to relax. My mind started drifting to Zy. He had just left me his third voicemail this week and he's been on my mind a lot lately. I had pretty much gotten used to being by myself, but sometimes I did get lonely and missed my life before the bullshit that went down with Zy and Taniya.

     I didn't talk to Zy for about three months after the incident. He had reached out to me a lot after I first left, but I ignored him time after time. He still hit me up every now and then but not everyday. I can't lie I do miss him, but it took me a long time to get over what happened. I dot even know if I was over. I just know I wasn't angry anymore, but the trust was definitely all gone.

"Cami can I ask you a question?" I turned to her.

"Sure girl, what's up?"

"Would you forgive someone you love if they hurt you?"

I had talked to her about Zy before and told her we broke up but never really went into detail. After my "best friend" of 10 years betrayed me, I wasn't so quick to put my trust into another so I was usually pretty vague about my life, but I'm sure Camille knew I was referring to him.

"Well I'll tell you what my mom told me after my first heartbreak. If you want to give someone a second chance and you feel they have good intentions, then follow your heart. Everyone makes mistakes, but don't allow someone to continue to hurt you over and over. That's not someone that cares about you."

She made sense. I did love Zy. He was my first love and he and Taniya had been my only friends all my life. So I decided to hit him back up and agree to meet him. I'll forgive him, but I'll never forget how he hurt me.