On the eve of their wedding, Beyoncé discovers her girlfriend Nicki has some second thoughts of marriage, life, and aging. Even after ten years together, Nicki still doesn't know what she wants from her relationship.
Can Beyoncé remind her of the r...
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The last of the rain trickled down the kitchen window before dripping into a ceramic pot. Beyonce wiped the condensation away with her dishrag and peered at the cloud covered sky. A sliver of moonlight fell through the city -- no snow for now.
She finished cleaning the kitchen and stole into the living area, where the t.v. blared a romantic drama and a newspaper littered the table. Beyoncé muttered about "messy roommates" before opening the hot water panel and preparing a shower. The drama ended with a chaste kiss as she turned off the t.v. and went upstairs. "Nicki," she called down the hallway, "Do you want to shower together?"
A frosty chill grabbed her the moment she walked into the bedroom. Beyoncé shook her head and glanced at the space heater, dutifully pumping warm air. Where her eye wandered next revealed the source of her discomfort.
Th sliding glass door leading out to the balcony was ajar, and beyond it stood Nicki, Beyonce's partner of ten years. She leaned against the railing, still in her slacks and blazer, a trail of smoke riding away on the wind.
"What are you doing out there?" Beyonce opened the sliding door and shivered. The December night air was colder then the inside of her refrigerator.
Nicki tapped her cigarette into a ashtray. "I wanted a smoke, so I came out here. The air is really crisp tonight."
Crisp! Freezing, more like it! Beyoncé's hands fumbled beneath the long sleeves of her blouse. "Hurry up and get in here! You're letting all the warm air out."
"Join me."
"What?"
Nicki leaned against the balcony again. "Ever since the rain stopped it's become really clear. "You can see the lights of the city."
Beyonce hesitated on the threshold of the door. After a moment's contemplation she put on the extra pair of outdoor slippers and joined her girlfriend by the railing.
"It's cold out here."
Nicki offered the rest of her cigarette.
The cigarette dissapeared and was replaced by an arm rapping around Beyonce's shapely frame. "See, over that way."
Nicki pointed over the neighbors roof towards the south. "You can see buildings from here."
Beyonce squinted through the "crisp" air and strained to see anything more than the bright lights on the horizon. Most of the lights belonged to the people the city, but she failed to make out any defining features of the buildings, even the tallest building. When at home, Beyoncé preferred to pretend they lived in a piece of suburbia, far away from the chaos of downtown life. "Can we go inside? It's time to take a shower."
Her girlfriends hand squeezed her shoulder, and the cigarette departed for a final time into the ashtray. "I've been thinking a lot lately."
"What about?" Beyoncé's teeth chattered.
Lights from the neighbours house flickered on and off; shadows danced in a window. Nicki looked over the railing and into the tiny flower garden, now dormant for winter. "About everything. About my birthday. About our wedding."
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•This story will be broken up into parts. That's why this chapter is short.
