Shattered | D'Angelo Russell

t w e n t y t w o

Two sugars , one creamer, and a half spoon of cinnamon. Sitting back in her seat , Zolee watched her client sip her customized dark roast while she waited for her photos to finish printing. It was a rare request to be honest , people hardly picked up photos anymore, everything was digital.

She told herself it wasn't the hum of the printer, or the jarring under tone to the woman's voice or even the scent of her coffee wafting into the air that was making her nauseous. It was rather her anxiety. In an hour she'd see D'Angelo again and she had really big news to share with him. Life changing news actually. After his last visit , the doctor had advised her that she needed to slow down and she took that advice to heart, D'Angelo wouldn't allow her to do otherwise, he called her incessantly to make sure of it.

In the month that had passed they'd been on theshaderoom multiple times. People had questioned their differing area codes and postulated that they'd broken up at least ten times since he posted that picture. The rumors only got worse with every other post he made pertaining to her. Jealousy was ugly and fame was even worse to her. She didn't ask for either.

As the printer came to a stop , she came back down to Earth and stood up to gather the headshots before placing them in a sleek black envelope and passing it to the client who beamed at her. Damaris Lewis was well known around the area and Zolee had to admit she was a gorgeous young woman.

"Thank you so much! My agent can finally get off my back." She rolled her eyes as she stood up , placing her white Hermes purse over her shoulder as if it were nothing of importance. That was someone's whole tuition.

"No problem , please do come again."

She felt the corners of her mouth raise and as the woman mirrored it , she realized that her social battery was tinkering out. That was one more side effect of carrying multiple humans, she was tired all the time and when she wasn't it didn't take much to make her that way.

Running her hand over her stomach , she smiled softly before gathering her things and shutting her office for the day. D'Angelo was on his way and that was all she cared about. She hated to admit it , but after carrying on their long distance romance her faith in him had been reaffirmed.

She still worried about her grandmother and Zara had been lost to the wind for a while but he remained her constant. She needed the stability and so she took matters into her own hands and took the plunge he'd wanted her to take. Yara had no problem letting her go to New York , she wanted Zolee to spread her wings and based on her own life drama and the way she came in and out, Zolee doubted that LA would still be home for Yara in a few months. Cosmopolitan hadn't come through but Buzzfeed did , they wanted her and even better she could work from home as an insight to a new series they were doing on the untold lives of black women.

It was everything she hoped for and she'd been battling with herself to keep it a secret each time she'd listen to the hum of his voice counting down the days until they'd be together again. Exiting the glass double doors at the company her childhood friend had managed to pioneer and expand , she couldn't help but to think about how much they'd changed. How different their lives were than what they'd projected?

Aya was supposed to be a supermodel before Destin made her practical and ambitious, now she was a certified business woman and not just the photographer she'd been. Yara was supposed to be a doctor but then she realized she liked arranging furniture and planning events more than she liked the sight of sick children and the looks of helplessness in patient's eyes. She didn't have the heart to stare tragedy in the face, so she found fortune in nightlife , something temporary and tailored to her every desire. Kaia was the only one who'd stayed firm , she wanted to be an actress then and she had an Emmy nod already for her breakthrough TV performance on American Crime.