Full Circle (Urban Books)

by Skyy

  “Oh.” Lena couldn’t hide her disappointment. “Well, just hit me up.” Lena tried to turn, but Danni’s hand pulled her close.

  “Don’t act like that.”

  “Act like what?” Lena pouted.

  “Like that.”

  “Sorry. I’m not used to anyone doing what you did to me last night, then not knowing when I will be able to have it happen again.” Lena smiled.

  “Oh, so you are only using me for my body.”

  “And your lips and your mouth and your tongue . . .” Before Lena could finish her playful line, Danni’s lips were against hers. The passionate kiss told Lena all she needed to know.

  “Trust me. I won’t be able to stay away from you for too long,” Danni whispered in Lena’s ear.

  “I’m going to hold you to that.” Lena finally forced herself to pull away. “Ugh, this is going to suck. You are leaving, and so is my daughter. Talk about boredom,” Lena said as she put her shoes on.

  Danni closed her computer. “Well, if you get too bored, give me a call. Maybe you can meet me somewhere.”

  Lena wanted to jump for joy, but she just smiled and nodded her head. “I might do that.”

  They said their final good-byes before Lena walked out the door. Lena pressed the button for the elevator. She turned when she heard Danni yell her name. She saw Danni rushing toward her. Lena dropped her bag as Danni wrapped her arms around Lena. They kissed passion into each other.

  “I needed one more.” Danni held Lena. Lena’s lace panties were instantly soaked.

  They parted once more, and as Lena made her way down to the lobby, she hoped that when the elevator doors opened, she’d find Danni standing there for more, but she didn’t. Lena skipped out of the W, fully sexed, but craving more.

  Chapter 21

  Denise walked into her new Atlanta condo. The walls were still bare. Farih and Denise were still practically living out of boxes. Denise could hear Farih’s stilettos clicking on their hardwood floor.

  “Hey, baby.” Farih smiled. Denise had to admit that Farih looked stunning. Her high-waisted, black, pin-striped pants hung off her slender frame. Her hair was pulled back into a perfect bun, which was the way most models wore their hair. “What do you think? With or without the hat?” Farih put a black floppy hat on her head. The whole ensemble gave her a classic, elegant look that was guaranteed to turn heads.

  “You look stunning.” Denise felt uneasy when Farih kissed her cheek.

  Farih felt Denise tug at her arm when she tried to walk away. She turned to see a worried expression on Denise’s face. “What’s wrong, honey?”

  “We need to talk.” Denise sighed.

  She knew the moment she saw her old teammates that she didn’t want to be with Farih anymore. There was no denying it. She was no longer in love. She didn’t know when they fell out of sync, but no matter how well they worked together, or how amazing the sex was, there was no denying it. Denise wasn’t happy in her relationship.

  Farih sat across from Denise at their new dining room table. She knew what was coming. Denise struggled to find the words. Farih’s mind raced. How she could talk Denise out of it this time?

  “You know we have been having some issues for a while.”

  “Denise, I know we had issues, but things have been amazing lately.”

  “Have they?” Denise looked at Farih. “Farih, it’s like we’re on two different paths. We haven’t been on the same page for a long time.”

  “But we can get back.” Farih was prepared to do anything necessary to stop the train wreck happening in front of them.

  “I don’t think we can.”

  “No!” Farih stood up. She was pissed. Denise was about to ruin not only their relationship but also everything she had been working so hard for. “I’m not going to let you do this.”

  “Let me?” Denise couldn’t believe Farih’s words.

  “Four years, Denise. We are coming up on four years. You don’t just throw that away because we’ve had some issues.”

  “Farih—”

  “No, listen to me. I know we haven’t been in sync. You think that doesn’t happen in relationships?”

  Denise sat and listened as Farih’s stilettos clicked as she paced the floor.

  Farih’s African accent was pronounced. “You don’t just do that. You don’t get to do that.”

  “Farih, we’ve been trying for how long now?” Denise stood up.

  “Where is this coming from?” Farih threw her hands up. “We haven’t argued in God knows how long. And might I say, our sex has been outstanding.”

  “It’s not always about sex.”

  “I’m not saying it is!” Farih had to catch herself before she exploded. She sighed. Farih walked closer to Denise. She held her hands. “Denise, this is me. You can’t do this to me, to us.”

  The tears forming in Farih’s eyes were breaking Denise down. She had expected Farih to scream, yell, and possibly throw things, but this was unexpected. Farih stood in front of her, begging her not to give up on them.

  Denise stared into Farih’s oval-shaped eyes. She was stunning, but was beauty enough to stay in a relationship? Denise’s mind raced as she thought about all the things she would be giving up. She had a woman standing in front of her that loved her enough to beg her not to leave. Who would she have if she left? Denise thought about Lena.

  Lena was always there, looming in the background. Denise still couldn’t shake the feelings she had for Lena. But even though Brandon wasn’t a factor, there were other things that could keep them apart. Lena was young and still didn’t know if she preferred women or men. Not to mention that she had a baby now, which could be a recipe for disaster. Lena had turned away from Denise on more than one occasion, so who was to say it wouldn’t happen again?

  “Is it someone else?” Farih’s voice lowered.

  The question caused Denise’s heart to skip a beat. “No. I just . . . Farih, I’m just not happy.”

  Denise’s statement broke Farih’s heart. It would have been easy to process Denise leaving her because of another woman, but to know she wanted to leave just because Farih wasn’t making her happy hurt more than she could imagine. “Denise, please, whatever I’m doing wrong, just tell me.”

  “You aren’t doing anything wrong. You just want things I’m not interested in.” Denise sat on the couch arm.

  “Like what?”

  “This.” Denise threw her hands up, waving them at the lavish condo. “You want to be Hollywood. I don’t.”

  Farih sighed. “Denise, whether you want to believe this or not, you are Hollywood. Hell, you’re more Hollywood than me. You are an actress, for goodness’ sakes.”

  “Yeah, but I don’t want to live the Hollywood life. Farih, I would have been happy in a small crib. You had to have this oversize place.”

  “So it’s because I want us to have nice things? This place is just as nice as our place in SoHo.”

  “It’s not just the apartment, Farih.” Denise walked into the kitchen.

  Farih followed, kicking her shoes off.

  Denise turned toward Farih. “Remember when we first were dating and we used to go play ball at the community center? I was so impressed by you and your basketball skills. That was fun.”

  “I loved it too, but we both have busy schedules.”

  “And remember how we used to just order in and spend the night watching movies?” Denise held Farih’s hands. “I miss that about us. Now it’s all about going out and being seen.”

  Farih wanted to hit herself. She realized it was all her fault. She had forgotten the type of person she was with. Denise wasn’t the type who liked publicity, which posed a problem. Farih loved the fame she was gaining, and being seen was only helping her to grow.

  Farih dropped her head. “Denise, please. I’m begging you. Don’t give up on us so easily.” She raised her head. Tears ran down her cheeks, creating streaks in her perfect makeup. “I love you, and I’m so sorry. I realize now that w
hile I was just trying to make us both become the superstars we deserve to be, the way I was going about it wasn’t the right way. I can change. I will change. Just don’t give up on what we have built together.”

  Denise could feel Farih’s hands trembling as she held on to Denise. Denise’s plan unraveled in front of her. She knew Farih was right. Denise thought about her grandmother Mema, who had always told her that relationships took understanding, communication, and hard work. Denise realized she wasn’t following her grandmother’s advice, which was not like her.

  Tears continued to flow down Farih’s face. Denise couldn’t take it anymore. She inhaled. “Come here.” Denise pulled Farih close.

  Farih wrapped her arms around Denise and held on for dear life. She knew she had won the battle, but she had a feeling the real war was still to come.

  Carmen walked into her guest bedroom. She wanted to turn the light on but didn’t want Cooley to rip her a new one for doing so. The only light in the room came from the sides of the bamboo window blinds, which Cooley had closed as tight as she could. Cooley sat with her headphones on, staring at her computer screen. Carmen put her hand on Cooley’s shoulder. Cooley looked at her worried friend and took off one of the earpieces of the headphones.

  “Are you hungry, Carla?” Carmen asked as she placed a bottle of Simply Orange on the nightstand.

  “Nah.”

  “Are you sure? You haven’t eaten anything since you got here.”

  “I said no,” Cooley snapped. She sighed. “I’m sorry, C, but no, I’m not hungry.”

  Carmen took the cue and headed out of the room.

  Cooley had left the theater in L.A., driven straight to the airport, and taken the first flight back to Atlanta. She didn’t sleep on the flight. She couldn’t seem to close her eyes and not think of what had just happened. She had turned her cell phone on when the flight attendant made the announcement that it was okay to do so, and had been met by the instant ringing of missed calls and text messages. She’d looked down to see Sahara’s face and cut her phone back off.

  Walking through the Atlanta airport, she’d realized she would have to face Sahara. She knew Sahara had probably caught a flight back since the tour was over. She probably would be at their place within a few hours. Anger set in; Cooley wasn’t ready to see her. She had to get out of Atlanta, and there was only one place she could think of.

  Carmen thought she was dreaming when she received the phone call from Cooley asking her to pick her up from the Memphis airport. Before she could question why, Cooley said, “Can you pick me up or not? And don’t tell anyone.” Worry had set in when Carmen saw Cooley sitting on the concrete bench outside the airport terminal. Carmen had never seen Cooley look the way she did. She stared at the ground like she was in her own world. Her face was pale, and she looked like she hadn’t slept in days. Carmen did the best friend thing: she honked her horn and smiled. Cooley looked up at Carmen, walked to the car, and threw her bag in the backseat. Before Carmen could say anything, Cooley had her headphones on and had closed her eyes.

  Cooley hadn’t turned her phone on in two days. Carmen and Nic both worried as she made their guest room her own little dungeon. Cooley didn’t talk about what was going on. Carmen was beyond worried. Cooley gave strict instructions not to tell Sahara where she was. Carmen could tell after first frantic call from Sahara that it obviously had something to do with their relationship, but she knew better than to pry. Cooley would open up when she was ready to.

  Denise and Farih arrived three hours later. Carmen loved that Denise was in Atlanta now because there was always a seat available from Atlanta to Memphis on AirTran flights. Farih had decided to come with Denise. She wanted to show her support for her girlfriend and wondered what was bringing her back to Memphis just a few days after she made it back to Atlanta.

  “What’s going on?” Denise whispered.

  “I have no idea,” Carmen said as she and Nic walked outside with Denise and Farih. Carmen closed the front door. “She won’t talk to me or Nic. She hasn’t left her room. Sahara has called a few times. I could tell by her voice something has happened with them.”

  “Man, Dee, she looks bad. She just does work and listens to music. She hasn’t eaten since she got here, and that was two days ago.” Nic added.

  “All right.” Denise opened the front door and headed to the guest bedroom.

  Denise turned the light on, causing Cooley to yell. Cooley took off her headphones and turned to see her best friend standing in the doorway.

  “I swear, Carmen can’t listen for shit.” Cooley put her headphones back on. Denise quickly snatched them off her ears, causing Cooley to growl.

  “Look, I’m not going to ask you anything. I’m just gonna tell you to get ya ass up. We’re going for a walk.” Denise’s straight-faced expression let Cooley know she wasn’t taking no for an answer.

  Cooley and Denise walked in silence. The Mississippi River was calming. Denise followed as Cooley walked down the large white rocks on the bank of the Mississippi. Cooley picked up a small rock.

  “Sahara cheated on me.” Cooley chucked the rock into the muddy water.

  Denise was shocked. She watched Cooley’s face; it was devoid of emotion. Cooley stood staring at the water.

  “When did this happen?”

  “On tour. She said it was one time, by mistake. Right.” Cooley threw another rock into the water.

  Denise walked closer to her friend. She had never seen Cooley this way and was at a loss as to what to do or say. She stood next to her. Various phrases ran through her head, but they all sounded corny for this situation.

  “Okay, so what are you going to do about it?” Denise felt the direct approach was best.

  Cooley shrugged her shoulders. “I haven’t figured that much out yet.”

  “Well, the torture approach you’re taking right now can’t go on for forever. You have to face it sometime.”

  “I know.” Cooley turned around. “I just needed some time to figure out my feelings right now.” She began to walk back up the rocks, and Denise followed.

  “I remember that time when Lena was all pissed about Brandon, and I told her fucking isn’t the same thing as cheating.” Cooley stopped. She turned back around toward Denise. “It’s like a piece of me feels that way now, but another piece is telling me she was dead wrong. This emotional shit is for the birds.” Cooley started to walk again.

  “Yeah, but at the same time it feels so good to have someone that loves you in your corner.” Denise put her hand on Cooley’s shoulder. “I know what she did was fucked up, but think about it. Sahara has accepted you from day one for who you are. It’s not like you haven’t had your share of indiscretions. Even when you tried to push her away, she was still there.” Denise thought about her situation with Farih.

  Cooley couldn’t argue with Denise. She knew that she was right. No matter what the situation, Sahara had been there for her. Sahara had accepted Cooley with all her flaws, and so maybe she did deserve a pass.

  “You know, the only completely functional and long-lasting relationship in my life has been with yo’ ass.” Cooley laughed. It was the first time she’d felt like laughing in two days.

  Denise smiled. “Talk about opposites attracting.” They both laughed.

  Carmen jumped off of her couch when she heard the front door open. Denise and Cooley walked in, still laughing about their bromance.

  “Carla?”

  “I’m cool, C.” Cooley hugged her worried friend. “I’m gonna get my shit together and head out.”

  “Why the rush? I mean, how often do I get my two favorite people in my apartment at the same time? Let’s go out and get something to eat or something.” Carmen bounced around in anticipation. Cooley knew she wouldn’t take no for an answer.

  Cooley walked back into Carmen’s guest room. Her phone was buzzing. She picked it up.

  Please don’t do this.

  Cooley stared at the text message. She pressed DELETE.
She knew she had to deal with it, but now wasn’t the time.

  Lena tried to hold back her tears, but the river began to flow. She hugged her daughter for dear life as they stood in front of the airport security. She knew it was going to be hard, but she didn’t expect it to be this hard. Bria’s grip loosened.

  “Why are you crying, Mommy?” Bria’s eyes watered.

  Lena knew she didn’t need to make Bria panic. “Mommy’s just really happy that you are going to get to spend time with Yaya and Papi in some really beautiful places.”

  “I get to go on an airplane!” Bria’s excitement helped Lena relax.

  She knew her daughter was in excellent hands. Jessica had jumped at the opportunity to go on a two-month paid vacation to some places she had only dreamed about.

  “Don’t worry, honey. We will check in daily.” Karen hugged her worried daughter. “If you want to join us at any time, feel free.”

  Lena hugged her mother and father. She gave her daughter another long hug and kiss. She stood frozen as they walked through security. She knew she couldn’t break down until she made it back to her car.

  Lena couldn’t crank the car. She sat in the parking lot of the airport, watching as the flights took off. She knew it was too early to be one of their flights, but she couldn’t help but think about her daughter being on a plane without her.

  Lena’s blaring phone snapped her back into the real world. She pressed her Bluetooth button.

  “Are you a blubbering mess yet?”

  The sound of Danni’s deep voice was soothing to Lena.

  “Not completely, but close.”

  Danni stood on her terrace. “Well, I just wanted to call and check on you. Where are you now?”

  “Sitting in the airport parking lot, trying not to run inside and buy a ticket to go with her.” Lena fixed her makeup in her mirror.

  Danni stared out at the ocean. “Well, I think the ‘buying a ticket’ thing sounds pretty good.” She smiled.