What We Had Before

Chapter 2

"10 minutes?", he repeated.

"Yes. 10 minutes"

"Hm. I'm not even sure what to say..."

"Well you better start saying something, you have about 9 minutes and 55 seconds left".

"You're counting??", he chuckled.

"Yup! Now it's 9 minutes and 52 seconds".

"Ok, Ok ummm...". There was a pause from before he spoke again. "How is your new job going? My sister told me that's why you came back to California".

"Well I haven't really been here long enough yet but it seems like a great fit so far"

"That's good. I hope to be able to read what you write one day. What's the name of the magazine?"

"You're not gonna read it" I scoffed. "You're busy according to 'Toya"

"Yes I will. I'm not that busy. Even if I was I'd still read it"

"Okay if you say so. It's Angel Beats Magazine".

"Ohhhh ok. I think Janet and LaToya reads that. And now I'm gonna read it because I know you're a terrific writer".

This made me smile, even though I think he was just saying that to make me feel good.

"And how do you know that I'm a terrific writer, sir?"

"Because I've read some of your stories before. Remember?"

"Oh right... I guess I remember. Speaking of Janet, I can't believe she's a teenager now"

"Oh yes, in every way too. Her mouth has gotten worse".

"Haha don't say it like that! You probably just annoy her".

He sucked his teeth. "I do not".

"Yes, you do. You definitely used to annoy me".

"Really?".

"Yes, really".

"Well I couldn't have been that annoying. You stuck to me like glue for four years".

This made me smile. I really was stuck to him like glue all those years ago. I even went to most of him and his brother's concert - though I had to sort of sneak in there as to not be bombarded by his fans. He was my first serious relationship and I was his. And as such, I became a huge part of his family and that's probably why they act like I'm an honorary Jackson. But I couldn't stay smiling for long. I remembered why I didn't really want to talk to him.

"Yeah I was. Until you broke my heart".

I could tell he was frowning.

"You were leaving me..."

"To go to college", I stressed. "You know I wanted to go to the top school in New York. And not only did you break up with me, you couldn't do it face to face! I had to hear from someone else that you didn't want to talk to me".

"I'm sorry", he said in a soft voice. "The funny thing is I was actually in New York for The Wiz soon after that"

"And yet...you still broke it off with me".

"I regretted it though, trust me. I wanted to come visit you but-"

"No sir", I interrupted.  "You can't just...visit me after doing that. After being friends for five years and dating for four, that was a slap in the face. And you and your brothers travel all the time! What was stopping you from us just being long distance for a little bit".

There was a moment of silence before he responded to me.

"I know. I overreacted".

"Yeah what you did was just dumb, there were many solutions to that issue".