'Til Sun Beams Find You [COMPLETED]

Nine (Part 1)

Nico rushed into the coffee shop, let her eyes scan over the bustling room before they zeroed in on the brownskin girl in the corner with a coffee in hand and a pissed expression on her face.

"I'm so sorry I'm late. But I got you something to make up for it," Nico reached into her bag and shuffled around. There was a box wrapped with a bow, her iPad and the granola bar she'd been saving for her lunch.

She offered the bar out to her best friend.

Jada stared at it before smacking her hand away. "I've been waiting for 15 minutes. I only have 15 minutes left."

Nico laughed as she threw her arms around her friend. "I know. I'm sorry, traffic. I missed you," she said as she kissed her cheek and then went to sit down. She glanced around at the empty table that separated them. "You didn't get my text?"

She'd asked for a caramel latte.

"Oh no, I did. I decided to drink it to make up for my time lost," Jada said as she took another sip of the coffee in her hand.

Nico reached for the cup.

"So, long time no see," Jada announced.

"Girl, it's not my fault you over here going camping out in the forest and leaving us behind in the city," Nico retorted as she placed the cup down on the table. "On your girl's scout shit."

"It was not camping, it was a family wellness retreat," Jada corrected matter-of-factly. "It was nice to bond, especially with everyone's busy schedule finally aligning, and just the hectic ness of Lena's upcoming wedding next month and Reggie coming in from San Francisco... almost a week away from civilization was needed for the Green family."

Nico smiled. "How is Reggie?"

Jada's older brother had always been a blur in the memories she had of her teenaged years, because he was never around. She supposed that was the case of all brothers to exist around their sisters and their sisters' friends, and then he was off to college and then medical school, and Nico didn't see much of him until he started dating her sister Emi.

"Looks like shit as always," Jada retorted in her sisterly tone. "I don't think he gets much sleep so he's all... wound up."

"He's almost finished his residency?

She nodded. "Damn near. I think this is his last year before he moves back here for his new job. But you could never get that many years of working me like a dog all to become some fancy smancy neurosurgeon? Hard pass," Jada raised her hand. "Anyways, I was telling him he needs a girlfriend because how is Lena getting married before him?"

Nico didn't say anything.

"It's been too long that he's single... how long has it been? Almost two years? I'm worried he's all lonely over there on his own. Mom agreed with me... Dad said I should shut up... how rude," Jada shook her head.

Then she exhaled and smiled.

"What about you? What have I missed?"

The question made Nico laugh. It was Wednesday and in the middle of the work day. Jada arrived late last night and got up for work before Nico woke up, so meeting for coffee at noon was the only opportunity for the two best friends to catch up. Nico had a lot to catch her up on, as she had a very eventful last few days while Jada was without connection.

"Where do I start?" Nico retorted as she pushed her hair back from her face.

"How about you start with your date?" Jada was excited to hear about it, mostly because through a little birdie named Lena, she had dropped the suggestion to Gabriel to take Nico to Solferino's since that was all Nico mentioned wanting to try.