Between Friends

Chapter 2

"Alexa play  my 90's R&B playlist." I spoke loudly to my speaker. I checked on the pasta I was making when a message came in on my phone. It was Sienna, telling me she was just pulling in. I went to the door and opened it eager to greet her. "Hey beautiful." I said kissing her cheek. "Hi." She said while blushing and handing me 2 bottles of wine. She made her way in removing her overcoat revealing her curves in a all black dress. "You look amazing. " I told her. "This old thing." She said slyly. "It smells so good in here, what are you making me?" She asked. "Chicken Florentine"

I took the liberty of taking a fork and dipping it into the pasta so she could taste it. "Wow." She said once all the flavors hit her pallet.  "That's amazing, where did you learn to cook like that?" "You know here and there." I boasted. She poured both of us a glass of wine. "Here and there?" She laughed. 

"Its amazing what you could learn when you just let people do them and you sit back and watch." "True." She said. She took a sip. I watched as she bopped her head to SWV's Right Here. "Omg 90's R&B really has this way of taking you and putting you back in a place where sometimes you dont wanna be." She said as she sighed. She looked like she was in deep thought. I took the pot from the burner, it was done anyway. I walked over to her grabbing her hand, and the wine and lead her to the living room.

We both say on the couch. "What's going on in the beautiful head of yours?" I asked. "Its nothing. I don't wanna ruin the moment. " she said. "Nothing will ruin this moment, say what's on your mind." "You ever regret anything?" She asked. I looked down.  I hope she's not talking about me.

"Honestly, no. Why do you regret getting involved with me?" "Of course not." She grabbed my hand and smiled. "I was gonna say I regret ever meeting Malcolm, I wish I would have met you first." " You shouldn't regret that. Meeting Malcolm was apart of the universe's plan for us to meet at the moment we did." She smiled. I was glad I could make her happy. She grabbed my hand. "So tell me 5 things I don't know about you yet." I thought about it, what should I tell her, we already went over the basics.

Should I tell her that the girl who is Malcolm's fiancee now is a friend of mine and I paid her to keep seeing and get pregnant from him. I want to, but, I don't want to ruin what we have. "Just ask me a question, I'll tell you." I said quickly. "Okay but we may need more wine for this." She said pulling herself from the couch and going to the kitchen. She came back quickly. "Okay, if this house caught on fire and you saved me from it, if you had to come back in to save any one item what would it be?" "Damn that's a little dark?" She sipped her wine. "I would save my memory box, it had things from my childhood, highschool, and college. Pictures of my family. Everything." She answered. I guess I was taking too long. "Okay, I got it." I went over to the mantle pulling down a gold box. I brought it over to the couch. I opened it, taking out a picture of my dad and I. He was holding my son for the first time and last time.  "I would save this. " I handed the picture to her. She looked at it confused. "Is he your dad?" "Yea." "And the baby?" "My son."

"Rico, I'm confused." "My dad passed away the day after we took this picture. He had brain cancer. My son passed away 3 months later from SIDS." The room was eerily silent. I felt tears building up behind my eyes and I tried so hard to not let them fall but they did. "I'm so sorry Rico." "Its okay, nothing that therapy can't fix."

Sienna

"Maybe we should eat something." I said trying hard to change the subject. "I got it, relax." He said getting up from the couch. I placed the picture back in the gold box and took it back to its place on the mantle.  I stood there for a while. He was being so transparent.  Malcolm would never open up like that. I could see him in the kitchen from where I stood. His broad shoulders so tense now. He stood over the stove, with his hands at his waist, like at any moment he would break down.