Grey Matter

Chapter Six - Surrender

I had no appetite tonight. I picked at my shrimp fried rice and egg rolls and after twenty minutes I tossed my plate in the trash. By the time Sebastian was out of the shower, I'd made my way back to his bedroom. A light grey towel hung low on his hips and he smelled of expensive body wash.

"Did you eat?" He asks as he pads across the room to his drawers and pulls out a pair of black boxer briefs.

"Yea. I'm not that hungry though." I admitted, watching him as he snatches the towel off his naked body and steps into the briefs.

His dark eyes move to me and he studies my face.

"I'm okay." I assure him. "And I'm sorry for snapping at you like that. That wasn't right." I sigh.

"Forget it." He shrugs and crawls into the bed next to me.

He pulls the comforter over his legs and pulls me to his chest. I breathe him in and smile. I did love this man. So much, it hurt. He was my other half and I knew I was his. We balanced each other.

"Goodnight, love." He grunts in my ear.

"Goodnight." I smile and slightly squeeze him as I say it.

My eyes were closed for so long, I hadn't realized I'd slipped into my subconscious and dream state:

"I mean really, Serena. Is he really worth it?" Larsa Abonna, my roommate and best friend's voice sounds when I open my eyes again. I realize I'm sitting at a table in The Dancing Bean.

Larsa is sitting across from me with Asha seated next to her. I knew I had to be dreaming because Larsa and Asha had never met. And why were we at the The Dancing Bean?

"Did you hear me, girl?" Larsa's voice sounds again and I turn to look at her. Her dark, mahogany skin seems to be iridescent under the light of the coffee shop. Her hair was styled into a sleek, blunt bob at her shoulders and her face is wearing a concerned pout.

"What?" My dream self asks.

"I asked you if he's worth it?" She asks again.

"Is who worth it?" I frown.

"Sebastian? You love him, right?" Asha chimes in now.

"Of course I do." I nod at my other best friend.

"But, you still have feelings for Adrian. I thought you said he was the one? You even went so far as to say yes to his marriage proposal but he was leaving here." Larsa objects.

What the hell was this? A relationship intervention?

"Adrian is my past, Lars." I shake my head.

"Don't lie, Renie. A love like that doesn't just fade into black." Larsa says as she taps a perfectly manicured finger against her blue coffee mug.

"It does when you meet the right one." Asha disagrees with Larsa and Larsa rolls her eyes at her.

"Why don't we let her choose, ladies?" A husk, familiar voice sounds behind me.

I turn around in my chair to find the back of the coffee shop had morphed into dim lit speakeasy. The dazzling film noir setting made me gasp.

"Hello, gorgeous." Adrian Xantoni appears at my side dressed in a well-tailored tuxedo. His hair was gelled into a bouffant and his intense blue gaze made my heart skitter.

"You're under dressed, love." His eyes brief over the grey sweater, dark jeans and ankle boots I'm wearing, and he holds his hand out to me. "Let me help with that."

I take his and stand from my chair. He smiles and twirls me around him. Mid-spin, my grey sweater and jeans melt away, replaced with a gold, liquid-like fabric. I gasp again and look down at myself. I'm wearing a cowl-neck gold gown that pools at my feet. I catch sight of my reflection in a mirror that seems to show up beside me and I almost mistake the Dorothy Dandridge look alike for someone else. My hair was styled into sleek finger waves and the makeup was heavier than what I was use to.