Finally Together

Chapter Twenty-Seven

"Hello?" Her voice greeted.

"Hey, Kiana. You talk to Khadijah lately?" I asked. I wanted to get straight to the point.

"Not really. Why?"

"Can you just text her or call her and see if she's okay?"

"Why don't you do that shit? You're her boyfriend, ain't you?" Kiana retorted.

"Just do it!" I yelled.

Kiana sucked her teeth but replied with, "Fine, I will."

I hung up and placed my phone down. I anxiously bit my lip waiting for a call back. After 20 minutes, I jumped up as the phone rang loudly.

"You talk to her?" I questioned immediately.

"She's fine," Kiana answered.

I let out a sigh of relief that I didn't know I was even holding.

"Where is she?"

"She's staying at the Hollywood Inn Express North."

That was all I need to hear. I hung up again. Sure, it was rude but I had better things to do than converse with her. I grabbed all of the suitcases and ran to the car where I put them in and drove off to see Khadijah.
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The hotel looked nice. It was covered by murals of celebrities. But I quickly realized that it wasn't in a nice area. There were needles all over the ground, random shopping carts, and a large population of homeless people. I ignored all the begs for money as I went into the lobby. The front lady seemed to be barely awake. Her eyes were closed as she leaned onto her bent arm for support.

"Can I have Khadijah Williams room number?" I asked. I knew it was against policy to give away people's rooms so this might take a while.

"She's in room 7 on the 2nd floor," The lady said which followed by a yawn. Well, that was easier than expected.

The stairs were covered by an ugly, moss-colored carpet. It wasn't even clean. There were hundreds of stains on food, gum, and what looked to be semen. The air reeked of urine, cigarettes, and alcohol. Why is Khadijah staying at a place like this?

I approached the door and knocked lightly. No answer. I knocked a little harder. No answer. I kept on knocking. After what seemed like forever, I saw Khadijah.

Khadijah's POV

I peeped through the little hole to see Chris aggressively knocking on the door. I was hoping to put this situation off for as long as possible. God, I can only imagine how terribly awkward this will be. After giving myself a few words of encouragement, I finally opened the door. The first thing I noticed about Chris was the light purple bruise that was surrounding his eye. I wonder who hit him? Well, I'm not complaining. I haven't forgotten about when he slapped me.

"Hey," Chris said. He sent me a small, toothless smile.

I tried to do it back but I couldn't. I had no reason to smile at Chris.

"Hi," I responded.

"I got your stuff," He stated.

"Thank you," I said.

Chris nodded his head but didn't say anything. He stood there, rubbing the back of his neck and glancing around. I stood in front of him, motionless. What was there to say? Absolutely nothing. He and I no longer had anything to do with eachother.

"This isn't a good place to live," Chris said.

I knew that. The first hotel I went to was $500 a night which was way too expensive. I moved to this hotel which is only $75 a night. I was getting what I was paying for. It was nasty and in a bad area but it was cheap.

I shrugged my shoulders at Chris. "Yeah, I know."

Chris began moving all of my suitcases into the room. After he was done, he looked at me one last time.

"Well, I guess I'll see you around," Chris said.

No. I don't want to see you ever again.

"Mhm," I hummed.

Chris turned around and walked away. After closing the door, I felt like I could breath again. The awkwardness was too much to handle. After Chris left, I went back to my regular schedule. I sat down on the scratchy bed and continued to read some random novel that I found in the nightstand. I tried to read some more but my mind was dying of boredom. I eventually threw it to the side and stood up, not knowing what to do.

Right now, it was approaching 9 o'clock. I went to the window to see what kind of night it would be. I pulled the curtain of the window to the side a bit. The sun was gone. The streets were already starting to get packed. Not only is there a ton of homeless people around here but the area is also by a lot of bars and clubs. Hundreds of people walk by every night. I really, really hated when the streets were bustling with people. If it was quiet, I could get lost in a book or do a random Pintrest project or something like that. On crowded nights, it was too distracting to do any of those things. Also, it reminded me of how lonely I was. Everyone was out with their friends or partner having a good time while I sat in a dirty hotel all by myself. God, I really hate my life right now.

I heard my phone ringing so I removed myself from the window and went to grab it. I knew who it was without even looking at the screen. James calls at the same time every single day. I never answer but he keeps on trying. I don't want to be mean but right now I need to focus on me, myself, and I. I'm a mess and I need to fix it. I had sex with James and him being in my life will cause more unnecessary drama.

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Hey everyone! Sorry for all the boring chapters lately. It'll get interesting again soon. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. -Khadijah