Trial & Error

19 | Joie

               The thought of sweet Zephyr made me smile. "Did he?"

               "He does, all the time. I mean, photos of you, us, are still there." Goldie let me know. "You were a big part of our lives, and you left."

               "You know why I left."

               "You could've stayed."

               "But I didn't and I wasn't." I took a sip of the Dom, "And I have no intentions of coming back. I love where I'm at right now."

               "Hmm, and where are you?"

               "A free woman with no attachments to nobody," I said.

               "And?"

               "And raising my brother and sister, running JNC."

               "Hmm. You felt you didn't have freedom with me?" Goldie asked.

               I chuckled a little. "You know I didn't have the freedom I have now when I was with you. You were controlling, wanting things to go your way. You were Kut in female form."

               "Kut? Really? I never put my hands on you."

               "You didn't have to."

               Goldie glanced off to the side. "My love for you was just...deep." She looked me back in the eyes, "I didn't want anyone else to have you."

               "And that was the main issue with you and Kut." A soft chuckle crept between my lips. "I'm not this doll you can just hide in the toy bin and control who plays with me. I'm a grown ass woman that's going to do what she wants. You and Kut still saw me as that young girl. I'm not her anymore."

               "No, you are not." Goldie smirked, moving closer to me. She took my hand and caressed it gently. "I do miss you. And I do love you."

               "Goldie.."

               She was close to me, caressing my arm and chin. I can tell what she wanted, so I switch topics. "Andi, so, the conversation went well?"

               Goldie chuckled a little, recognizing my convo switch as I swallowed more champagne. "The conversation went great. She's great and I'm going to fund her program."

               "And how do you feel about the program?"

               "Well, at first I was just going to do it for you." Goldie admitted and I gave her a look. "But, I was actually interested once she told me about it. She had her business plan ready for me. She's clearly great with money."

               "She is. She used to be a bank manager at Gordon Bank."

               "Interesting."