Quarantine and Chill (AMBW standalone Romance)

by Kenya Wright

  “Well, it could have been more the afternoon because I wake up late—”

  “Did he really hit you?”

  She scowled. “I didn’t hit myself!”

  Wait. I didn’t say that.

  Stunned, I stared at her. “Did you hit yourself?”

  “How dare you ask me something like that?”

  Jade backed up. “Sorry, but I’m going to give you two space to talk.”

  My annoyance with Amber now mixed with embarrassment. I’d just kissed Jade and then brought a full-out play to her doorstep—complete with a psychotic, crying ex-girlfriend.

  Jade will never let me kiss her again. I look like an idiot to her.

  Jade left. Ganesha trotted after her. When both were in the bedroom, the door closed.

  Amber mumbled, “I-I didn’t hit myself. Why. . .why would I do that?”

  Because it’s clear that you’re crazy and would do anything to get me back.

  I studied her eye. While it was bruised, I wasn’t so sure she’d been punched in it after all. In fact. . .I stepped closer and squinted my eyes. “Is that makeup?”

  She covered it. “How dare you?”

  Horrified, I shook my head. “That’s makeup. You used to do black eyes in that play. I remember that.”

  “It’s not.”

  “Then why are you covering it?”

  “Okay.” She dropped her hands. “I needed you to give me time to talk and I knew that if—”

  “That was low, Amber, even for you.” I put my back to her and dialed the one person that would get her in line.

  I should have done this yesterday.

  Amber widened her eyes. “What are you doing?”

  The phone rang.

  Mr. Cruise picked up. A jolly expression laced his voice which told me he hadn’t been updated on his daughter’s present situation. “Hello, Kamal. How are you?”

  “Hello, Mr. Cruise. I hope I’m not bothering you this evening.”

  Amber rushed to me. “No. Wait. I’ll leave.”

  “It’s always a pleasure to hear from you, Kamal. How can I help?”

  “Have you talked to your daughter about recent events?”

  “No.” Concern covered the word. “Is she sick?”

  Amber tried to get the phone, but I was too tall.

  I headed out of the apartment. “No. At least not with the coronavirus.”

  “Is this about her pill. . .situation?”

  “That and other things.” I cleared my throat.

  “I can’t believe you right now!” Amber hit my back.

  “Is that her?” Mr. Cruise asked on the other line.

  “Yes. I caught her in a. . .compromising situation with another man in my condo yesterday.”

  “No.” Amber cried. “Why would you tell him?”

  Mr. Cruise muttered, “Dear God.”

  I entered the hallway. “I’ve given her seven days to leave my condo. I don’t know if she will be able to leave New York or—”

  “Get off the phone with him now!” Amber jumped in front of me.

  “Please, put her on the phone, Kamal.”

  I held the phone out to her.

  Her bottom lip quivered. “You told on me?”

  I kept my voice low. “Better than giving you a black eye or calling the cops.”

  She stepped back. “I’m not talking to him.”

  “This is your only help. As you can see, I’m not playing around with you. We’re done.”

  She took my phone, hung it up, and handed it back to me. “I’ll never forgive you for telling my father.”

  “I’ll be writing that in my journal of feelings this evening and I’ll add that I don’t give a fuck.”

  She stormed off.

  “You have three days now.”

  She whipped around and shook her head. “Wait. No. I had five days.”

  “Until you came over here, then you lost two days. Personally, I feel like a jack ass for giving you three days, but I won’t let you give me any bad karma.”

  “Fuck you, Kamal!” She screamed. “You never loved me.”

  “Maybe, you’re right.” I left her in the hallway and shut the door.

  “Fuck you!” she screamed on the outside.

  Damn it! I just want this shit with her to end.

  My phone rang.

  I answered, “Hello?”

  Mr. Cruise came on the line. “Did she hang up?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I. . .I apologize, Kamal. This is not how I raised her.”

  “I know.”

  “I will get in touch with Amber and then work on her getting back to California. Thank you for giving her the time.” Mr. Cruise sighed. “It’s the pills. She wasn’t always like this.”

  Pain throbbed at my temples.

  Mr. Cruise continued, “And then, maybe this is. . .in her DNA.”

  “What do you mean?” I went over to the fridge and grabbed a beer.

  “Her mother battled with depression. She was a basket case all of Amber’s childhood. Did you know that Amber was the one that found her mother?”

  The headache increased. I held the cold beer up to my forehead. “I didn’t know.”

  “Yes. Amber walked in the bedroom and there her mother lay on the floor with a cut open wrist. Amber used to have nightmares about it.”

  I closed my eyes and took in the coldness of the glass. “I’m sorry to hear that, sir.”

  “A doctor prescribed Amber pills to help her sleep after that. Then, he gave her pills to brighten her mood. Next, it was pills to help her pay attention in school. An addiction was liable to come.”

  I opened my eyes and moved the beer from my head.

  Mr. Cruise continued, “Amber went back and forth with the pill addiction, but when she met you in college. . .I thought that finally, my little girl would have a happy ending.”

  “I had no idea she had a pill problem.”

  “After college, you two were long distance. It’s easy to hide things.” Mr. Cruise coughed. “Well, that’s her calling on the other line. Thank you for letting me know. You shouldn’t have any more problems out of her.”

  “Okay, but call me if you need me, sir.”

  “I will, Kamal, I will.”

  I hung up and pocketed my phone, not sure of what I would do with all the information on Amber. It was a sad story and also confirmation that I had no idea who she was the whole time. We’d basically had a superficial relationship—one furthered by the long distance. But, when I brought her to New York, the reality came to light.

  I headed over to the bedroom and knocked. “Jade, she’s gone now.”

  Jade opened the door.

  Ganesha came out with her and then proceeded to explore the living room with his nose as if trying to track Amber.

  Jade walked over to the table and picked up her glass of wine.

  I took off the top of my beer and took a swig.

  She turned my way. “That was. . .”

  “Toxic. Insane. Unhealthy to participate and even witness.”

  She gave me a weak smile. “I was going to say unexpected.”

  And what should I say to Jade? I shouldn’t have brought that filth her way.

  Unsure of how to deal with it, I drank more of the beer.

  She finished her wine, carried it over to the kitchen, and washed the glass. “I’m going to head to bed.”

  “We should talk first.”

  She shook her head. “You don’t have to explain. . .all of it. Breakups can be messy.”

  I held in my groan. “Yes, but I’m not messy.”

  “Well, sometimes we all must deal with a little crazy.” She put the glass in the dryer and wiped her hands off on the towel. When she was done, she left the kitchen and began to walk past me. “It doesn’t matter.”

  I tenderly caught her arm to stop her. “It does matter.”

  She paused and turned my way. “Does it?”

  “We kissed.”


  She looked down at her feet. “We shouldn’t have. You’re still dealing with your ex.”

  Damn it.

  “Forget Amber.” I slipped my fingers down her arm and then moved it away. “I’m enjoying our time together. I want to explore it.”

  “Maybe, we can do that when Amber and you are officially done.”

  I gritted my teeth. “We are done.”

  “Yeah, but. . .she’s crazy. To the point where I might get involved and start—”

  “No. I wouldn’t let any of this touch you.”

  “She was just in the living room talking to me.” Jade stepped back. “But even more. . .you just broke up with her yesterday because she cheated on you. That’s a lot of pain and confusion.”

  “Wait.” I set my beer on the table. “Are you saying that when I kissed you it was because I was confused?”

  “I’m saying that we have no business kissing right now with all the stuff that’s going on. You just needed to be comforted or—”

  “Bullshit, Jade. This isn’t about my need to be comforted. You’re fucking attractive and sexy. I wanted you bad. And by the way, this isn’t something new. I’ve always found you gorgeous.”

  “But you never acted on it.”

  “Because you’re Zora’s best friend—”

  “I still am.”

  “That means nothing now. Not after tasting you.”

  “I’m not kissing you again.” She frowned. “So. . .that’s that.”

  I closed the distance between us.

  Although she widened her eyes, she didn’t move away.

  “You don’t want to kiss again tonight? That’s fine. Not tomorrow either? Maybe, that’s okay. But you don’t decide that we will never kiss in the future.”

  She whispered, “You know what I meant.”

  I licked my lips. Every part of me yearned to touch her. But I wouldn’t push this for now. Although Amber’s toxic clock block wasn’t my fault, it was fair for Jade to use caution in dealing with me.

  I leaned forward, leaving a few inches between us. “I’ll respect the fact that we can’t kiss right now.”

  She blinked.

  “I’m sorry about Amber this evening. It wasn’t cool.”

  “You couldn’t help it.”

  “I could have by being harder with her.”

  “It’s still walking a tight rope. You don’t want to be a complete asshole, but you don’t want to be a punk either.”

  “Perfect metaphor.”

  “Which is why you should focus all your attention on cleaning that up.”

  I kept my growl to myself. “And what if all I want to do is kiss you?”

  “Then you should stop yourself from doing it.”

  I drank her in, unable to help myself.

  “So. . .” She stepped back. “I’m heading to bed.”

  “Okay.” I nodded, taking note of her hard nipples dotting the shirt. “I’ll be in bed soon.”

  “What?” She quirked her brows.

  “Remember? It was your idea.” Wicked thoughts swirled in my mind. “We’re sharing the bed.”

  “Oh yeah.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll be sure to stay on my side.”

  “Of course.” She backed up again.

  “See you then, roommate.”

  She rolled her eyes, turned, and twisted away. The whole time, I watched the jiggle of her ass.

  Jade was correct. I needed to get control of my shit before trying to kiss her again. That meant getting Amber far out of my condo and life immediately.

  I’m on it, Jade. But when Amber is gone, you and I have a lot to talk about.

  Chapter 11

  Jade

  Dreams

  Kamal remained out in the living room, watching the sports channel.

  I sat on the bed, utterly confused. I enjoyed kissing him, but I couldn’t anymore. This had to be the best thing to do in this situation. Amber coming over was crazy. There was no way I would involve myself in that.

  Yeah. He has to take care of that, before coming over here.

  This wasn’t a conversation I could have with Zora. I wasn’t even ready to tell her that I’d kissed her brother.

  Would she be fine with it or not?

  I took out my phone and dialed my other bestie.

  Karen answered on the first ring, “Girl? I thought you might have had the virus.”

  “What?”

  “We always talk every day.”

  “Sorry. Things became busy. Kamal is staying here.”

  “Your friend Zora’s brother?”

  “Yes.”

  “The fine ass one?”

  “You’ve only seen him once.”

  “That was enough. With his tall, fine ass. Girl. . .I need something like that over here—”

  “Anyway. I’ve got a problem.”

  “You fucked him?”

  “No.”

  “Shit. Then, sent him over here.”

  “Whatever, Karen.”

  “Oh. That’s wrong.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “You’re doing the meme!”

  “I’m not. You’re being paranoid. It’s a regular expression and your name is Karen.” I sighed. “Anyway. . .I kissed him.”

  “Yes, girl. Hold on. Let me get my popcorn. This is going to be good.”

  I kept my voice low. “That was really it. Besides the fact that his ex-girlfriend came by.”

  “Oh shit. So, wait. Why did they break up?”

  “She cheated.”

  “And now she wants to bring her trifling ass over. Forget her.”

  “Either way, she came in acting crazy. Her left eye was messed up. But I came to find out she put makeup on it—”

  “Oh, this bitch is crazy?”

  “Yes. After she left, I told Kamal that we shouldn’t kiss anymore—”

  “Good. Send him over here. Put his ass in a box, stamp that shit first class, and deliver it to D.C. I need a quarantine boo thang.”

  “Karen. . .”

  “I’m serious. If you don’t want to kiss him, then I will.”

  “He just broke up with her pretty much two days ago.”

  “And?”

  “She’s crazy. It’s a hot mess. He has to get that together—”

  “Look. I will pay for the shipping.”

  I let out a long breath. “I’m being serious.”

  “No. You’re not. Because you called me so I would tell you to relax and kiss him again.”

  “I. . .didn’t.”

  “You did. You’re like R-Kelly.” She started to sing, “My mind is telling me no! But my body! My body is telling me yes!”

  I frowned.

  She continued, “A relationship doesn’t always start off perfect, Jade.”

  “True, but—”

  “You’re overthinking this. It was just a kiss. Damn.”

  Smiling, I shook my head. “I’ll have to see what will happen next with us.”

  “Well. . .until then, you have my address, if you don’t want to pull your big girl panties up and give him some ass.”

  “Whatever, Karen.”

  “That was intentional. You are doing the meme.”

  “Yes, it was.” I giggled. “Please, don’t call my manager.”

  She laughed with me. “You bitch.”

  “So, did you go on a date with that guy?”

  “Girl, no. Every damn restaurant was closed. He said I could still come over. Fuck that. I told him to save his money and take me out when the state opens up again. You’ve got to pay to play.”

  I lay back on the bed and continued to catch up with my friend. While Karen was more forward than me, I understood her point. Perhaps I was overthinking. The most I could do was simply take each day at a time.

  We yapped on the phone for close to an hour, complaining about the government’s handling of the pandemic and catching each other up on our families. When we finished, exhaustion took me over. I set my phone on the nig
htstand and closed my eyes.

  Maybe, Kamal and that kiss will make more sense tomorrow.

  In my nightmare, I stood in the center of a grocery store that I’ve never been in. People packed the place. Everyone kept six feet.

  “What did I come for?” I pulled out my shopping list. Nothing was written on the paper.

  “That’s okay. I’ll get it.” I crumbled the paper up and moved forward. “Where is it?”

  Nothing sat on the shelves.

  “Where is it?” I searched aisle after empty aisle.

  Other customers glanced my way, holding the same panic on their faces that I felt in my chest.

  I continued walking around, hoping to find what I had come for.

  And then a glow came from the corner of my eye.

  I turned that way and spotted a pack of toilet paper. “There it is!”

  But I said it too loud.

  Others saw what I was looking for. Several raced forward.

  “No!” I increased my pace. My legs burned. My heartbeat fast in my chest. “It’s mine! You can’t have it!”

  Luckily, I got to the toilet paper first and dove for it, crashing to the floor and shoving an old woman out of the way. Pain exploded on my side. It didn’t matter. The toilet paper lay within my arms.

  “I did it!” I rose from the ground, dusted my butt off, and stood to catch my breath.

  But, the people who had been running for the tissue continued.

  My voice went shaky. “It’s mine.”

  They continued my way.

  “No.” I spun around and raced off in the other direction. “Get away from me!”

  A man yelled in a dark voice, “Catch her!”

  “Get her!” another woman tried to grab me on my right.

  Twisting around, I screamed and picked up my speed. “Leave me alone! Get away from me!”

  “We’ve got her!” a woman yelled.

  Sprinting, I checked over my shoulder. Over forty angry people raced my way. And they were so close. Fury covered their faces. Some had red eyes.

  “No! Please!” I woke up, screaming into the darkness and sitting up in bed. “Leave me alone! It’s mine!”

  “What’s wrong, Jade?” On my other side, Kamal jolted awake and instantly pulled me into his arms. Shirtless, his warm muscle wrapped around me, comforting and pushing my fear away.

  Panting, I hugged him close. “Oh my God. That was a stupid nightmare.”

  “It was.” Kamal ran his fingers through my hair. “You’re here with me. No one is going to get you.”