Minnelli Love Stories

Crazy Things I Do

"You haven't been smiling lately, baby." Jai's grandmother teases her one day they were alone.

"You finish your oatmeal that you asked for and leave me alone, Grams."

"I'm old, not a child. Is the pretty green eyed man coming to see you?" the pair are whispering because Jai's mother is nearby in a room.

"No. He is gone with his family." Jai doesn't even notice the sad tone she has taken with that revelation. "And I probably won't see him for a while."

"Does he know about your...talent with cars?"

"No!" her eyes widened nervously. "And if I have anything to do with it, he never will."

"Never will what?" her mother walks in the kitchen with envelopes.

"Forget home." Jai doesn't even think about the lie before it slips from her lips. Her grandmother stuffs a spoonful in her mouth without a comment.

Late that night, Jai sat in her room scrolling through social media in her thoughts. A sudden tap on her window caught her attention. She stalls for a moment but decides it's just a bird. Another tap.

Who playing outside my window! She thinks to herself. Her bedroom is the only bedroom on the first floor.

"Open the window, Jai. It's cold as a bitch outchea." Greyson got as close to the window as possible. She opened the window and helped him inside. "Hold up, wait. Shit." He flopped on the wooden floor.

"Jai! You alright down there?" her mother yelled from upstairs.

"Yes, I dropped my iPad." her mother turns her light out and closed her door.

"What are you doing here!" she whispers.

"I wanted to see you before I left."

"You're thirty, not sixteen. FaceTime would've sufficed." She fusses. The warm cocoon that she'd been craving returned around her waist.

"Kiss me, Jai." He ignores her outburst totally.

"I ain't brushed my teeth yet." She lies. Greyson ignores her again and captures her lips while she is distracted. Her heart stirs against her chest. Sparks welcome her skin

"I'll see you in January." He promises her. They hold hands for a moment. He leans in for another kiss. This one much more intense, and wanting than the one before. Not so innocent, patient.

Jai opens her eyes with a sheen of something she hadn't felt in ten years or longer... "Okay." Her voice is squeaky, but low.

He opens the window and winks before disappearing in the night. Jai watches his car disappear in the night. Her heart is still beating wildly.

Her grandmother comes around the corner with her cane. "There's that smile."

Jai is jolted back to reality quickly. "Grams! What are you doing outta bed!"

"Hoping I'd catch the green-eyed stranger one more time. But I was a step too late." She sits on Jai's bed. "I just want you to be happy. You haven't smiled right since your grandfather passed."

She holds her head down. "And what makes you think Greyson Minnelli would make me smile?"

"Minnelli? I've heard that name somewhere...Thorne and Gemini Minnelli? Adonis Minnelli?"

"I don't remember all of the family members he told me about but yes, I remember Thorne Minnelli, his grandfather." Jai shrugged her shoulders.

Her grandmother gives a big, bright smile. "I dated Thorne Minnelli in high school. You know I'm from California. We dated for about two years it feels. But we broke it off because, we were just too different. And I couldn't be mad about that. I was too much of a free spirit for him. And, that same summer I met your grandfather, my soul mate."

"Did you ever think of what would've happened if you'd tried to work it out?" Jai is curious.

"You see how stubborn you are? That's not something from your mother. That's me all day every day. Eventually, I would've stepped anyway. Everybody wanted me to stay around because of the pedigree Thorne came from. But that means nothing when you're not compatible. Don't forget that." Grams stands up with her cane to leave. "If this 'thing' turns out to be nothing, live in the moment. You're young, extremely beautiful and capable. Not much would keep you here...except, maybe love."

Jai helps her grandmother up the stairs with her mind all over the place. Could I even open my heart up for all of this?

Meanwhile, Greyson listened to the finished product of his and Jay Lawyer's podcast before sending it out to the editor. It'll be another month before it drops officially.

"You look different, brutha." Royce and Stone stand at the bar on the private plane.

With the babies now all born, they were making their first trip to Miami to be integrated into the Minnelli Family. Sierra, Mia and Scarlett elected to go ahead of them so they could get settled in with Everest's mother and aunts.

"You went to see her." Everest isn't asking.

"I wish y'all would stop tryna clock me. Yes, I saw her." his bravado is fake. He breaks into a big ass smile.

"In love ass nigga. I feel that energy though bruh." Everest hands him a glass. Royce hands him a cigar. "So...babies?"

"No nigga. Damn, I just met her."

"I just met Mia too." Stone holds up his glass. "Midazwell. You know it's the Minnelli way."

Greyson rubs his temples in slight frustration. "I'll think about it."

"Ain't no thinking. Just don't pull out." Royce shrugs his shoulders.

On Christmas Day, a quick delivery startled the Lawson family. A lone bouquet of poinsettias sat on the porch. Grams remained quiet as Jai's mother drilled her.

"I don't know what this may be but, they are just flowers. Don't make this more than what it is." Because when he finds out, it's all gonna blow the hell up in my face.

Later on, after the Christmas feast, Greyson had a moment to himself. "Did you open the box in the bouquet?" he asked Jai.

"What box?"

"It's red. Open it." she follows his directions. "Do you like it?"

Jai is speechless. A stunning diamond brooch held in her hand. "I don't know if I'm supposed to accept it."

"I got it with you in mind...for you."

"Okay, then I love it. Where would I wear this?"

"If you were here with me, to dinner. With my family." He turns the camera to his cufflinks. A mirroring image of the brooch in her hand.

"Okay, maybe next year, I'll wear it." she promises. A big yawn catches her.

"Good night, Jai." Greyson hangs up the phone just as her eyes closed.