𝐂𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐖 𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐓; nipsey hussle

𝟏𝟓.𝟓 | 𝐈𝐓'𝐒 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄, 𝐑𝐄𝐍

          LAUREN'S ADRENALINE WAS STILL at an all-time high. She was on edge as her mind flashed back and forth between the unthinkable— the moaning while her husband pleased another woman, the way she arched back when he gripped her ass, the look in his eyes while he enjoyed every second of his affair. Her head pounded with an extreme migraine and her eyes maintained swelling from crying for the past hours.

"Here's a water for you," Adam spoke kindly, grasping onto a clear glass cup and bottled water in one hand. He continued, "And ibuprofen for your headache."

"You are a lifesaver," Lauren groaned with her palms covering her eyes from the grand lighting that complimented the dining room area. She placed the capsule in her mouth at once followed by the water.

As much Lauren hoped for the medication to start working as soon as possible, she new that it was not. Her head felt heavier than normal. With her eyes gently closed, she swayed her head from side to side to help subside the throbbing sensation.

"What's got your mind racing over there?" Adam asked reclaiming his seat that was just inches away.

"Who says my mind is racing?"

He nods his head in the direction of Lauren's hands as if her eyes were still open.

"Your fingers," he said. "They uh— they do this little fiddle when you're in deep thought of something."

Lauren folds her arms. Adam chuckles at her actions, "It's okay," he smiles.

He places a hand over her palms with the intent of gradually separating them. He interlaced their fingers together for a short moment before turning his gaze back to a wearied Lauren who didn't attempt to reciprocate.

"I see you finally decided to come visit. How long has it been anyways? What, a year now?"

"Yeahhh, about that," Lauren draggingly agrees.

"I hear you're doing great things with this being on t.v. stuff and all. How are you liking it?" Adam smiles as he takes a sip of his dark liquor.

"Excuse you, but I do believe the proper title for that is an actress and I happen to like it very well."

"Very well? I see... then why is that I hear you're stepping out of the spotlight?"

"I've been thinking about finishing where I left off in school," Lauren nods at the thought.

"I guess being an actress... isn't fun for me anymore. I feel like I'm missing out on what my life could be."

Adam begin to sit upright and more comfortably in seat with interest, "Which consists of what?"

"You know, building a better relationship with my father, finding out why my mother left, becoming a mother myself," she explained.

"Does being a happy wife fall into that category?"

Lauren and Adam's eyes locked for a short moment. Her soft brown eyes found their way of reading Adam— a second nature act is what she liked to label it.

"Yes, it does."

If Adam could give himself a pat on the back for being accurate, he would do it a hundred times. The soft spot Adam had for Lauren seemingly grew fonder over the years, nearly leaving him to be the most vulnerable he's ever been with a woman who wasn't the love of his life, his wife.

"¿Sin anillo?" no ring? Adam questioned.

Lauren chuckles gazing down at her freshly-manicured nails, "I'm afraid not."

"Maybe it's better this way," she shrugs, feeling defeated.

"Ooh, so that's what brings you to my doorstep at 2 o'clock in the morning," he cooed.

Lauren kiddingly rolls her eyes.

"Trouble in paradise?" Adam asks as he manages to push Lauren's loose tresses away from her face and behind her ear.

"More like hell," she said.

"Mhm," Adam mumbles with interest. He began refilling his third glass of Don Julio 1942— this time pouring it slightly above halfway.

There was a long, exaggerating moment of silence between the two.

"I finally got a chance to take a look at your new movie," said Adam with a tone filled with smiles.

"And?"

"And... I think you were phenomenal. Beautiful even," he complimented calmly.

The innocent look of a broken-hearted man pierced through Lauren's soul as if a piece of paper was being lit on fire— that easy.

"I caught him having an affair with another woman tonight." she blurted nonchalantly.

Lauren continued, "And she's p—pregnant."

Adam pinches the bridge of his nose, not expecting the sudden damper of news. Her exhales began to crack. Deeply, there was a part of him that wanted to comfort and consolidate Lauren in this moment, but the other part also wanted to say, "I told you so."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Have at it, Dr. Rodriguez," Lauren voiced with emphasis in the midst of taking a sip of Adam's liquor.

"Oh, okay. Someone's got all the jokes," he chuckles. "But in all seriousness, what made you decide you wanted to get married?"

The look of ponder displayed upon Lauren's stale-feeling face, "At the time, I thought it something I needed to move on for good from my past, but apparently that wasn't the best thing to do."

"You mean move on from your friend Ermias?"

Lauren didn't respond, instead she stared off into open space.

"Hey, look at me," he spoke to a near whisper. With his palm flat upon the table top, Adam carefully pulled Lauren from her seat to sit on his lap— all with the look of concern on his face. The gentleness of his touch allowed his thumb to caress along her jawline before cuffing her chin to look up at him.

"You deserve to be happy. You deserve whatever it is you want out of this life," said Adam. He continued, "If going back home is what's going to make you happy and bring you peace, then go home, Ren."

Fighting back tears, Lauren smiles, "That wouldn't be fair because then I'll be leaving a good friend behind in New York."

Adam begins to blush, "I'll always be around. I'm not going anywhere."

✗

he's so sweet and patient with her.