Lethal

Chapter Thirty.

After a few days apart and a steady stream of red roses, Jibri and I were on good terms again. This came just in time for him to be reintroduced to my family. I'd apologized to everyone for being dismissive and promised that I would take their concerns into consideration in the future and though skeptical, they accepted my apologies. My sister was the least convinced of the three and had seen my sulking up close and personal while we worked on Pardison's video shoot together. I, however, had learned from my previous mistakes and promised not to mention any of my relationship problems to her, Jericho or Mari in the future. My problems with Jibri were for he and I to sort out- no one else. 

Aisha had insisted on properly sitting down with Jibri and having what she described as a "heart-to-heart", but I knew better. Without much thought, our intimate gathering had expanded to accommodate the presence of Mari and Jericho; or as Aisha called them, the "buffers". Aisha wasn't Jibri's biggest fan, and I couldn't blame her for that, however I'd been through so much during the past week that I hoped things could remain civil. Jibri and I were in a good place, slowly building up the trust that had been broken, and I was content with our situation. Our last fight had uncovered a lot of underlying issues and we'd both promised to be more mindful of each other's feelings in the future.

 "I'm not sure about this." I whined as Mari and I helped Aisha to get her apartment ready for the gathering.

Mari nudged me softly, "Just relax, Aisha won't fly off the rails." She attempted to reassure me, then turned to my sister. "You won't fly off the rails, right Aisha?" She asked Aisha, sounding less than convinced.

My sister shrugged, "I'm allowing him into my space, we'll see how it goes." Was the response that she gave us. The closer it came to lunch time, the more I wanted to call off the whole thing.

"Don't be too hard on him A, please." I begged her, "We've been doing really well."

Aisha tutted loudly, "And I was there when you were at rock bottom; I'm gonna look him in the eyes and make sure that something genuine is looking back at me." Her tone was firm, unwavering. I softened just a fraction, trying to remember that we'd had each other's backs for our whole lives.

I gave her a nod of understanding, then continued to set the table, stopping shortly only to send a quick text to Jibri. On the brighter side of things, it made me happy to see that Mari and Aisha were getting along; though in that moment I couldn't quite tell if they were getting along or just bonding over their shared dislike for my boyfriend. Though I was sure that they all felt the same way, I knew that Aisha was the only one who would voice her true opinions. So, I hoped that having Mari's jovial energy around would help to keep my sister calm, while I knew that Jericho would step in if things went awry. Jericho arrived a short while later with bags of food and I happily offered to help him, anything to further distract myself.

The nervous knot in my stomach loosened and contracted with every second that passed; Jibri was due to arrive any minute and I couldn't quite gauge how he would be received by my nearest and dearest. Jericho tried to reassure me that everything would be fine, but I wasn't convinced. Aisha was seething, I could feel it without even looking in her direction. I could only imagine what she'd do if she knew about how things had really been going.

"I need a drink." I groaned as the room began to feel smaller than before. My palms became slick with sweat as the walls closed in on me.

Jericho sighed and grabbed me by the arm, before pulling me outside and shouting a "We'll be back." over his shoulder.

I let him pull me down the stairs and outside into fresh air while trying to control my breathing.

"You need to chill out. Nothing wild is gonna happen with me there." Jericho rested his hands atop my shoulders. "And get the fuck outta here with that needing a drink talk, you don't need shit but fresh air." He shook me lightly.