Started From a Selfie

by Nicole Falls

  “You wanna hear how it went down or nah?”

  “Yes, please, now!”

  “All right so it’s not really a glamorous story. We were supposed to go out with last night with TJ and his wife, but one of their fifty kids got sick or something, idk, but it resulted in us just bumming around the house. Like…it was bad. My hair wasn’t combed. I was in a ratty pair of his old basketball shorts and one of his old t-shirts. Jay had been kinda…skittish all day, but I knew that he was preoccupied with some recent bs with Dude, Where’s My Bar? So, I figured his behavior had to do with that. Anyway, that’s not important to the story. So, we’re sitting in the basement, watching Russ n’em getting whooped and Jay’s like “do you need the ice in your drink refreshed?” And I looked over to give him the boy what look, and he was sitting there with the ring box opened and a stupid ass grin on his face.”

  “Oh my God he’s so corny and in the best of ways!” I gushed, “Then what happened?”

  “He got down on one knee, said a lot of really beautiful things that my brain still hasn't fully processed and asked me to be his wife. And the rest was history.”

  I sighed, damn near swooning out of my socks because that proposal was so Jay and NoNo. Low key, corny, no theatrics and filled with love. And for a moment, in the midst of my happiness, I felt a little put out. Now that Jay had finally popped the question? The Cheese stands alone. I was now the only unpartnered Holliday sister.

  “Uh oh, what’s that look?” Noelle asked.

  I brushed her off, not wanting my silly thoughts to mar what was supposed to be a happy moment. I’d work through my mess later. Now was the time to bask in my big sister’s glow.

  “It’s nothing. I’m happy for you, No. And for Jay, too. Y’all finally got it right!”

  “Excuse you?” Noelle scoffed.

  “I said what I said.”

  “But back to you, chica. Don’t think you’re slick! Honestly, how are you feeling about this guy…what’s his name again?”

  “Quincy.”

  “How are you feeling about Quincy?”

  “Honestly? Like I want to see him right now.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah. Is that weird?”

  “Does it feel weird?”

  “Kinda?”

  “You don’t sound sure, Junie B.”

  “I don’t know,” I whined sounding all of eight years old.

  “You know you sound like Jordie right now, right?”

  “Can you just tell me what to do? Please,” I begged which did nothing but garner another one of those infuriating peals of laughter from Noelle.

  “Do what makes you feel good, boo. That’s the only advice I got. Stop fighting it and lean into the good.”

  “But I don’t know if it makes me feel good?”

  “Trust me, sis, it does make you feel good. You’re just trying so hard to fight the feelings because they’re foreign. But that googly eyed twinkle in your eye from just simply saying his name? That lets me know everything I need to know about you and him and y’all.”

  “Which is?”

  Noelle just laughed again, shaking her head.

  “Call him and find out.”

  "Hello?"

  "Wow, he finally answers!" a peeved feminine voice crowed through my phone.

  "Here we go..."

  "Hey, daddy!"

  "Hey, babygirl."

  "It's so good to hear your voice. So glad you're alive over there. You sound well."

  "And you sound as dramatic as your mother."

  At her offended gasp, I chuckled. Babygirl was being dramatic though. I hadn't talked to her in maybe a couple of weeks and she was acting like it had been months. I called myself giving her and Charity the space to enjoy their annual mother daughter bonding trip to whatever island they went this year. I'd expected her to call me as soon as they'd touched back down in the states, but Quincey Junior and I had been playing the longest game of phone tag known to mankind.

  "Woooooow, somebody gets a lil girlfriend and now he's feeling himself," Junie laughed, "It be ya own daddies out here."

  "Tread lightly, little girl," I warned on a laugh.

  Juniper and I had fallen into a groove after our initial bumpy starts. We were in constant contact, making time to see each other when our schedules permitted, but also not super pressed when they didn't. In the few weeks that we'd been kicking it, I'd only seen her in person maybe four or five times, the last one I had to damn near threaten her to accept my invitation to take a break. She recently landed a job that involved a complete web presence overhaul for a chain of cupcake shops that were cropping up in our area and it had her working around the clock.

  Instead of working from home like she normally did, she was using the shared workspace that she and Joey rented for MYOP. I insisted that she at least take a break to eat before she ran herself completely ragged, which led to our first argument. She accused me of overstepping and I accused her of overreacting. It was a whole mess, hence why I was on my way to make it up to her now. A quick stop at the nursery to pick her up a nice, leafy green plant as a means of apology was stop one of my apology world tour.

  It was strange because any other woman I would have written off as being melodramatic and not worth the antics, but something about Juniper had me hooked. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but she had better get used to me being around because I didn't plan on going anywhere for quite a while, if at all.

  "Daddy, are you listening?" Junie yelled.

  "Sure am, babygirl."

  "You're a terrible liar, Senior. Now that you're actually listening, I asked when will I get to meet my new stepmommy?"

  "You know you gotta chill on calling her that before you slip up in front of her?"

  "Well how am I supposed to slip up if you never even introduce us?"

  "Quincey, please."

  She giggled at the exasperation in my tone. She knew she was working my nerves and delighted in the shit. I swear Ant was right, I really did need to enact some boundaries with this little girl, but I guess I might be about fifteen years too late on getting her to respect the enforcement of these boundaries.

  "I'm on my way to see Juniper now. She's been really busy the past few weeks, but I'll see what we can work out so y'all can finally meet."

  "This sounds like a lie, but okay, daddy."

  "Did you call to get on my nerves or did this call have a purpose?" I asked, clearly annoyed now.

  "Somebody's testy. I really was calling to check in since we hadn't had any daddy-daughter time in a minute. I miss you, old man."

  "Sounds like your pockets are getting light..."

  "Nooooo, for real daddy! I'm coming over this weekend, okay? We need to catch up on Walking Dead anyway...unless you're watching it with your little girlfriend."

  "Quincey." I said, my voice holding a note of censure.

  "Okay! Sorry dad! I really was just joking. And I was serious about wanting to meet her soon, too."

  "I hear you babygirl and I was serious about asking her if she was ready for all of that?"

  "All of that?"

  “You heard me.”

  I had finally made it to the nursery and didn't want to have to juggle being on the phone with trying to get some assistance from the people inside, so I rang off with Quincey after confirming that I would be picking her up on Friday as soon as she was done with drill team practice. I must've looked like a fish out of water as soon as I walked into the nursery a woman approached, enthusiastically offering to help me out. That enthusiasm waned slightly after I told her I was looking for a plant for my girl, but she did end up helping me find something perfect.

  The first time I went to the MYOP office space, I noticed that every bit of free space in their office was covered with greenery and I later found out that it was Juniper's doing. She'd read some article about the benefits of plants in office environments and, in Jonique's choice of words, "went OD on the plant shit." The result was a lushly decora
ted space with a Zen aura. I paid for the plant, with a promise to also leave a review on Google or Yelp and made my way to Juniper. I didn't call to let her know I was coming, a big risk since I was sure she was still pissed at me, but I also didn't want her to have an out and leave the joint before I had a chance to pop up.

  When I arrived at the workspace, I could see Juniper through the window, looking fine and stressed as hell at the same damn time. She ran a hand through her hair before bringing her forehead to rest in her palm. The slight up and down movements of her shoulders let me know that she was either employing a deep breathing exercise or Bankhead bouncing. I tapped on the window, lightly, to get her attention so that she could unlock the exterior door and allow my entry. The noise made her jump slightly, before her gaze focused on me grinning like a fool with a plant in one hand and a poke bowl from her favorite spot in the other. Stop two on my apology world tour was to Hoke Poke, her newest obsession.

  Juniper grinned in spite of herself, rolled her eyes and came to let me in.

  "You still mad?"

  "Dogs go mad, people get angry," she countered, words laced with warmth letting me know she definitely wasn't that upset.

  "Okay then," I nodded, moving across the threshold and right into her space, "Are you still angry?"

  "When was I angry?" she replied with a grin before turning and walking back into the MYOP workspace.

  I followed behind her, settling the plant in an empty space right in the middle of the large window that took up a quarter of the front of the room before walking over to her desk where she sat perched upon the edge. I nudged her knees apart, standing in the gap before lowering to speak directly in her ear.

  "So I'm not still an... What was it you called me? An overstepping boar who needs to mind his own God given business, I believe it was?"

  She tilted her head to the side, bringing her left hand to rest upon her chin.

  "Hmmm, I don't recall."

  I chuckled, placing a soft kiss right beneath her ear before trailing over to her mouth for a proper greeting kiss. Her body formed to mine immediately, legs tightening around me as she pulled me closer to get her fill. When we finally separated, her eyes remained closed for a second and the ghost of a dreamy smile graced her lips. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes, smile on full blast.

  "I owe you an apology."

  I reared back, surprised, "Oh word?"

  Juniper nodded, "Yeah, I was on one the other day. And Joey let me have it as soon as you left that day. I'd actually planned on surprising you today—the first day I've had any room to breathe—but you beat me to it."

  "You're all good, sweetheart."

  She shook her head, "Nah, I was out of line. And acting like a petulant child because I was overwhelmed. And instead of just letting you do what you were trying to do and take care of me, I went off the deep end because...Quincy..."

  I held up a hand to stop her, "We’re yet working on you. No further explanation needed."

  She rolled her eyes, laughing, "See, here you go being perfect."

  "Far from perfect, sweetheart, but definitely patient. Hell, I wouldn't be able to handle Junie if I wasn't patient."

  "Whaaaaat? You just called me Junie? You never call me anything but Juniper, despite my asking you several times to not."

  "Nah, I wasn't referring to you as Junie, babe. I was talking about Junior...speaking of her...she asked to meet you today."

  Juniper stiffened in my arms and attempted to put some space between us, but I wasn't letting that happen. I tightened my hold around her waist with one hand and used the other to tip her head up so that our eyes were meeting. She looked skittish, as if she was ready to cut and run for the nearest exit.

  "Relax," I said, "I told her I'd run it by you before we made any solid plans."

  Juniper and I had talking about Quincey Junior in the abstract—she knew that I had a teenage daughter, I'd shared funny stories or mentioned her when something in our conversations reminded me of her, but we'd never actually talked about the two of them meeting. I knew I needed to tread lightly with Juniper, as she was barely cemented in the fact that this thing between us wouldn't dissipate and disappear before she knew it. Bringing the kid into the mix before we'd gotten on solid ground would be a recipe for disaster.

  "I think...I think that would be nice. To finally meet her. I feel like I know her a bit after you've shared so much about her with me."

  "Oh perfect, she'll be over this weekend, you can come over Friday and kick it with us."

  Juniper's eyes widened to comically large proportions before I let my laughter go and assured her that I wasn't trying to bring them together that soon. I'd give her a couple weeks to get herself together and then we'd figure things out from there. I wasn't in a rush to make it happen because I knew once it happened I'd become the minority in my damn home and I wasn't ready to deal with any of that quite yet. Nicknames aside, my Junie and Juniper had way too much in common from their smart mouths to an inexplicable obsession with every single show in that love and hip-hop franchise. Once those two teamed up, it would be a wrap for my sanity.

  "You play too much," Juniper said, swatting me on the ass.

  "Aight, I gotta get outta here. Prent needs me to close up tonight, so I'm going in for a few hours. I'll call you later though."

  "Actually, you mind if I come by tonight?" Juniper asked, "I put together a little something for you...you know, for my apology?"

  "Now this, I have to see. Yeah, I should be done at the garage around nine thirty, is that too late?"

  "Nope, I'll be by your place by ten."

  "Aight babe," I said, leaning down to give her one last kiss before I headed into work, "See you then."

  I was almost out of the office when Juniper called out to me.

  "Q! The plant?"

  "Instructions on caretaking in the bag with your lunch."

  "You really do think of everything," she said, more to herself than to me, so I just grinned as I strolled on out the door without a reply.

  I was laid out on the couch, damn near asleep when the loud buzzing of my phone jarred me awake. I grabbed it with one hand while swiping the other down my face. I came home after work, took a quick shower and sat down to watch a lil SportsCenter while waiting for Juniper to arrive and slid into the quickest nod. The phone buzzed again, alerting me to two new text messages.

  On the way. You still up? – Juniper

  Sorry for the delay, unexpected stop for supplies. :) - Juniper

  I replied that I was awake, and the door was open, curious about what sort of supplies this whole apology situation she had put together required. Then I actually unlocked the door downstairs and my apartment door, so she could just come right on in. Settling back onto the couch, I gave my attention back to SportsCenter until she arrived. Actually staying awake, however, wasn’t in the plans as I dozed once again.

  I was awakened from my slumber by Juniper softly calling my name as she trailed her fingers all over my face, playing in my beard and booping my nose until I opened my eyes. I cracked them to see her leaning over me, grinning.

  “Wake up, sleepyhead,” she whispered briefly nuzzling my neck before walking away, “I worked really hard on this apology and I’ll lose my nerve if I have to wait ‘til morning to do it.”

  I sat up, yawning and stretching, running a hand through my locs before focusing my attention on where Juniper stood blocking the television. When my eyes finally focused on her form, they almost bugged out of my head.

  “Goddamn.”

  She was wearing some sort of…hell I don’t know what material this cat suit was made of, just that it molded to all her curves perfectly accentuating her high, perky breasts, shapely hips and all that ass. Her hair was splayed about her face, in wild waves cascading past her shoulders. She busied herself with turning off the television and connecting her phone to my Bluetooth sound bar before making her way back over to me. She pulled me up from the couch to sit in one of
the armless chairs flanking the sofa.

  “Can you behave, or will you need to be restrained?” she asked as she stood in front of me looking like a fantasy that was illegal in at least twenty-four of the forty-eight contiguous states.

  My answer was nonverbal as I reached out to grab her, which she quickly sidestepped.

  “Restraints it is,” she said, sauntering over to a bag she had placed on the floor near the television. She walked back over to me holding what appeared to be a red velvet rope and suddenly the music playing in the background clicked for me.

  “Yoooooo, no you didn’t.”

  Juniper didn’t respond, just smirked as she swaggered back over to me and tied my hands behind my back.

  During one of our marathon phone conversations, I told her that my sexual awakening as a very young teen came via Janet Jackson. One of my older cousins was a huge fan and was convinced that she was going to go on and dance for Janet. So, the entire summer that she was supposed to be babysitting me, she spent hella time watching and re-watching The Velvet Rope Live DVD trying in vain to teach herself the choreography so that when Janet called she’d be ready to go at the drop of a dime. Never mind the fact that we were in the middle of the country with no connections to any of the famous legion of choreographers that Janet employed to seek out new talent.

  As annoyed as I got with Tika for her incessant watching of that damn DVD, I was front and center for two segments. The first was when Janet performed “I Get Lonely” and ripped that button down open to showcase her fantastic rack, but the second and most important was when Janet performed a cut off the cd that was called “Rope Burn”. Janet was famous for bringing a nigga on stage and tying him down and torturing him to the sweetest death using sensual choreography and blatant sexuality to drive them insane. There were many nights that I fell asleep or woke up to a dream of being the dude that Janet tied down on stage. I shared this with Juniper in one of our earliest conversations, but she was clearly playing attention as not “Rope Burn”, but one of Janet’s other baby making tunes was piped through the speakers in my living room. As Janet sang about touching, teasing, licking and pleasing her man into submission, Juniper drove me insane with a combination of sensuality and blatant freak nasty that had me panting by the time the song ended.