Nicki sighed softly as she took a sip from the foam cup, hoping the coffee would help her focus.
Swallowing hard to get the strong, burnt-tasting liquid down her throat, she looked up at Robyn with a weak smile.
"I think we're almost done."
She had already identified the two suspects from mug shots, the angry gunmen who had stormed the clinic that morning, demanding drugs.
Robyn had been in an exam room and hadn't seen the men, but Nicki had gotten an up close and personal look.
Grimacing, she wished to hell that she hadn't.
Alone in the waiting room, watching over a child whose sibling and mother were in the exam room with Robyn, Nicki would probably never forget the dead look in the men's eyes and their haggard faces that told the story of years of drug abuse.
She knew the look, had seen it often in her youth, but she hadn't had a gun in her face at the time.
That moment, that terrifying instance of not knowing whether the next few seconds would be her last, had been enough to scare the bejesus out of her.
She had scooped up the child and raced around the corner, hitting the alarm button under the desk as she tucked the child behind her.
The alarm wasn't silent and the ruckus had been enough to bring Robyn running out and the men to scatter.
One of the men had a twitchy trigger finger and his firearm had exploded at the sound of the alarm, the path of the bullet coming so close to Nicki's head that she had felt the air ripple at the side of her face.
Shuddering, she wrapped her arms around herself, not really cold, but remembering with more than a touch of unease the faces of the men and their final brutal comment as they escaped through the clinic door.
"We'll get you later, bitch!"
Robyn had only seen their exit, arriving seconds after they had turned to run.
Thankfully, everyone had escaped unharmed.
"The nice detective should be back soon and we can affirm the police reports and get the hell out of here," Robyn responded grimly, her eyes focused on Nicki.
"Are you sure you're okay? You look a little pale." Nicki shrugged, trying to look unaffected.
"A little shaken up is all. I'm...good."
Terrified.
Scared shitless.
But otherwise, just fine.
The last thing she wanted was to alarm her friend, knowing Robyn already felt responsible for Nicki nearly getting shot.
Robyn reached across the table and grabbed her hand, squeezing it until almost all of the blood left the extremity.
"They shot at you. It's normal to be upset. That was a damn close call. I'm so sorry, Nicki."
"Robyn, it isn't your fault-"
"Who the hell shot at her!"
A bellowing female voice came from the door, and Nicki didn't even have to turn around to know exactly who stood there.
She recognized Beyonce's blustering tone immediately.
The woman might not yell often, but she made up for it in quality.
No one could roar more ferociously than Beyonce when her temper flared.
"What in the fuck is going on? The police said you got attacked at some clinic-"
"My clinic," Robyn interrupted, standing to confront Beyonce.
"Who the hell are you?"
Uh-oh.
Nicki stood, ready to jump into the fight.
Robyn might have the face of an angel, with dark brown corkscrew curls that surrounded her perfect features, but she could be a furious foe when she wanted to be.
Not that people saw that side of her often.
Her patients, young and old, adored her and her usually sunny personality.
But when Robyn was fighting for a cause or something she believed in, she could be a dangerous enemy.
Nicki watched as her friend threw back her shoulders, her white physician's coat floating around generous curves that complemented her angelic features.
She forced back a grin as Robyn straightened to try to compensate for her five foot eight height, in preparation for battle.
"I'm Nicki's..." Beyonce stopped abruptly, as though not quite sure what to say, before finishing hesitantly, "friend. And I want to know why the hell someone shot at her."
"Helloooo. I'm right here, Beyonce." Reaching out her hand, she gripped her jaw, forcing her to look at her.
"I am able to answer for myself."
Her face transformed, the anger draining from her features as her still-hot eyes met hers.
Reaching out to grasp her shoulders, Beyonce demanded,
"What happened? Are you okay? Did they hurt you?"
Her hands ran over her arms before landing again on her shoulders. Explaining what happened turned into an exhausting event.
Beyonce interrupted, swearing like a sailor and asking what felt like a million freaking questions.
Nicki tried to answer them patiently to calm him down.
They all took a seat on the flimsy, uncomfortable chairs at the enormous table.
Nicki talked, first introducing Beyonce and Robyn, and then going on to answer more questions that were flowing from the furious woman in front of her, almost faster than she could answer them.
Beyonce cursed throughout her explanation.
And Robyn just watched with a dumbfounded, perplexed expression.
"Did they catch them?" Beyonce asked, her voice rough, as though she had been through hell herself.
"No. And Nicki needs to be careful since they threatened her."
Robyn finally jumped in, her voice protective.
"You neglected to mention that." Beyonce shot Nicki a dark look.
Their conversation was interrupted by a plainclothes detective, a very nice, youngish blond man who had identified himself as Detective Harris.
He dropped papers in front of both Nicki and Robyn, asking quietly, "Can you look at the reports and see if you have anything to add?"
He put a casual hand on the back of Nicki's chair and leaned over her shoulder, perusing the report with her.
A low, reverberating sound came from Beyonce's throat and Nicki pulled her eyes away from the report to look at her.
But she wasn't looking at her.
Her eyes were shooting fire at Detective Harris, a threatening look that start led her.
Obviously, the detective wasn't the least bit intimidated.
"Girlfriend?" he asked quietly, quietly enough that Beyonce couldn't detect the words.
"Friend," she mumbled back, hating herself for wishing she could confirm the question with a simple "yes" answer.
She read the report quickly, with enough haste to get through it fast, but not so rapidly that she wasn't accurate.
After the official paperwork was finished, she stood, stretching her back as she got to her feet, feeling slightly unsteady.
"Careful!" The detective took her arm to steady her slightly swaying body.
"You've had a tough day," he stated kindly.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out two business cards and handed one to both her and Robyn.
"My card. Call me anytime. My cell phone number is on the back just in case you need it."
"Is that really necessary?" Beyonce snarled, her arm curling around Nicki's waist, pulling her body against her protectively.
The detective shrugged.
"Yeah. It is. Nicki was threatened. I want these ladies to be able to reach me any time."
"Thank you, Detective Harris. You've been very kind."
Smiling softly, Nicki shook the detective's hand.
Robyn did the same, before all three of them exited the building together.
Nicki took a deep breath, letting the crisp, refreshing air of the outdoors enter her lungs.
"It's a good day to be alive," she muttered to herself, thankful to just be among the living and healthy.
As the three of them descended the stairs, approaching the sidewalk, Robyn asked Beyonce quietly, "You wouldn't happen to be related to Solange Knowles? I know the last name is pretty common, but I was just wondering."
Stopping at the bottom of the stairs, Beyonce looked at Robyn with surprise.
"Yeah... she's my sister. Why do you ask? Do you know her?"
Robyn frowned.
"Oh, God."
She let out a heavy breath.
"Uh...yeah...I did. A long time ago."
"Were you friends?" Beyonce asked curiously, looking at Robyn expectantly.
"No! Not really!" Robyn answered abruptly, her face turning as red as a tomato.
"Ah...I see," Beyonce answered.
Not ready to let the subject drop, she added, "Bad experience with my sister?"
"She's a complete and total snake."
Robyn reached up to rake the curls from her face.
The wind was brisk and errant spirals were whipping around her head.
Nicki jumped as a harsh bark of laughter escaped from Beyonce's mouth.
"Believe me, you aren't the first woman to feel that way. I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault that your sister is a slimy reptile. I just hope the twoof you aren't similar in some regards," she replied awkwardly.
"Take care of Nicki."
"With pleasure, Robyn," she replied smoothly, reaching out her available hand.
"Bad circumstances, but nice to meet you."
"You too. I think," she answered as she grudgingly shook Beyonce's outstretched hand.
"I know I can't judge one sister by the other, but I hate anything that reminds me of Solange Knwoles."
Shuddering, she released her hand and hugged Nicki.
"Take care of yourself. I'll call you. Don't do anything stupid," she warned Nicki fiercely in a whisper low enough that only Nicki could catch her adamant advice.
Nicki threw herself into Robyn's arms and hugged her tightly, well aware of the danger that both she and her friend had been in and how easily things could have turned out differently.
She loved Robyn to death.
Although she could be prickly on the outside at times, her friend was a complete marshmallow on the inside.
"You too. I'll talk to you soon." Beyonce reclaimed her, slipping her arm around her waist and leading her to her car as Robyn crossed the parking lot to her own vehicle.
God, what a horrible day.
Tired, shaken, her mind on the events of the day, she didn't even balk as Beyonce led her to her ridiculously expensive Veyron and seated her in the passenger side before climbing behind the wheel herself.
They were both silent, lost in their own thoughts, as they made the journey home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks for reading the Book 1 of Mine for Tonight!
I'll try to update quickly for the Book 2.
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