One year later...
Diamond
Diamond listened to the woman's snoring as she stared at the ceiling. Jasmine? No, that couldn't have been right. Diamond looked over at her sleeping face, which included a gaping mouth and thin, twitching eyebrows. Perhaps, Nicole? No, Nicole was a couple weeks ago.
The unnamed woman turned onto her side, exposing her bare chest, one covered by countless hickeys thanks to an overly excited Diamond. "Chika?" There was a sleepy noise of confirmation at the sound of that name. Chika, it is.
Diamond checked her phone to see it was two in the morning. She unlocked her phone only to be confronted by Renata's cheesing face, revealing her almost straight teeth. Diamond remembered taking the picture, the morning after the first time they spent the night, the first moments they spent together that broke past the boundaries of platonic—years ago at this point. She decided to check their messages.
DIAMOND: Hey ren where u been?
DIAMOND: I miss you, and I know you're busy
DIAMOND: We should get dinner or breakfast or do something soon
Five minutes after the latest text...
DIAMOND: What do you think?
Diamond had sent those texts around ten hours ago, and there was still no response from Renata. It may or may not have been what led to her getting drunk and fucking Chika's brains out.
In around seven days, it was going to be one year to the exact day since the incident.
Diamond tried to do everything in her power to support Renata during the fallout.
Initially, Diamond had been so confident that Renata was going to bounce back, even if it meant taking a bit of time to heal from the attack. How wrong Diamond had been...
Renata had done her best to showcase a brave face during the first couple of weeks, but this kind of effort faded until Diamond watched that light wane in Renata's gaze. The bags underneath Renata's eyes darkened, her shoulders turned just a bit more inward. But that wasn't the end of it. Something else grew in the place of what had been lost. Something darker. Bitter. More violent. It was difficult to recognize Renata as each month passed by—not that they saw each other often after three months.
They used to talk every single day, with 'good morning' and 'sweet dreams'. Now? Diamond was happy to just get a text here and there. More than one call a week left her heart feeling just a little bit more uplifted and hopeful.
And since she still felt the effects of alcohol on her body, she was feeling feisty. So, she pressed the call button. It rang a couple of times, and regret began to sink into her skin once it was dawning on her that she was calling Renata in the earliest hours of the day, slightly drunk, with a naked woman lying in the bed next to her.
She was about to hit the 'end call' button when a familiar, tired, though mildly alarmed, voice answered, "Diamond?" She felt her throat dry up, words subsequently dying right along with the drought inside her mouth.
"Diamond, what's going on?"
Diamond scrambled out of the bed and into her bathroom, closing the door behind her with a silent shove. "I hope I didn't wake you..." She began nibbling on the side of her pointer finger.
Renata sighed on the other end of the line. "I haven't been getting much sleep recently. Dr. Johnson," So, she was still seeing her therapist? This was a good sign. "says my brain is going crazy because of the anniversary coming up." She highly doubted Dr. Johnson used the word 'crazy'.
Diamond expected a 'yes' or 'no', not anything honest in any measure—she wasn't exactly relieved by the answer. "I was going to ask you how you're doing, but that might be a dumb question now..."
"Did you need something?"
Diamond was still startled that she needed a reason to talk to her best friend in this whole, entire universe. She yearned for a time when she could have bothered Renata whenever and however many times she pleased. "Uh, did you get my texts?"
"Oh, yeah, I did. I meant to respond, sorry."
"So...?"
Renata exhaled heavily. "Of course, Diamond. I didn't even realize how long it's been, to be honest... Is that really why you called at two in the morning?"
Diamond felt like she was being admonished by a parent. "I'm sorry, I just needed to hear your voice." She didn't mean to let the desperation in her heart slip into her voice, but it was too late. "I really, really miss you."
Heavy pause. "I miss you too."
Diamond felt her nose burn. "Really?"
"Diamond, what's wrong? Is everything okay?"
Diamond sniffled, wiping underneath her eyes. "Yeah, Ren. When can we see each other? I don't care when, just tell me where and I'll be there."
"Oh, uh. I'm not really sure...How about this Thursday?"
"Done. I'll let you go... Sweet dreams."
"Goodnight, Diamond."
Renata
Renata left her front room area and walked into her bedroom to see the frustrated face of Tiana. Her incredulous, brown eyes flickered toward Renata's gaze, then down her naked body. Her breath was still erratic. " I can't believe you answered a phone call in the middle of that."
Renata said nothing in response and climbed into the bed. She kissed Tiana, looked into her eyes and kissed her again. "Where were we?" Renata murmured as she trailed her lips downward.
Tiana thankfully dropped it and relaxed. This woman was particularly vocal during sex, Renata learned during their first time together. She hadn't decided if she enjoyed the volume or not, but Tiana was gorgeous and had an even prettier smile, the reason they'd made it back to Renata's place instead of a hotel room.
I'm sorry, I just needed to hear your voice. I really, really miss you.
Renata focused on the soft, brown skin beneath her mouth. Tiana was trembling, hands fisted in the sheets. "Fuck, baby. Just like that." She finally made it back between Tiana's legs and even though Diamond's face was flashing through her thoughts, she began lapping in between Tiana's folds before returning to her clit.
Sweet dreams.
**********
Tiana lingered in her doorway and against Renata's lips. Tiana was smiling, the softness of it reaching her eyes as she finally pulled away. Must have been nice to really feel that smile. "That was amazing. Definitely call me again." Tiana took another step into the hallway.
Renata nodded as she held her robe closed. "So were you...I'll call you." Would she? Renata tended not to fuck the same person more than two or three times...this was their third. Tiana nodded, and her gaze became disappointed as though she sensed Renata's line of thought.
"See you around." With that, Tiana was gone.
Renata closed the door and dropped her robe. She got into the bathroom and turned on the shower. As she peed, she listened to the sound of the water hitting the tub. It created a calming effect on her nerves. Once she flushed the toilet, she put her fresh braids up into a bun on top of her head. This time around, she kept it black but chopped it to medium length, cutting her natural hair as she did this as well.
When she was underneath the warm embrace of the water, her muscles relaxed. Renata made sure to clean her most intimate parts before just standing there in the quietude. She sighed, remembering how she was going to have to wake in five hours. Not that she would be sleeping.
A year is all I will give, but we will meet again.
Renata couldn't stop the shudder that coursed through her. That warning had played in her head most moments until the point of fixation. His face, the pressure of the blade against her stomach right before piercing. The details were dulled after a year, but her torment still felt fresh, as though she'd just awakened from the nightmare moments ago instead of months.
If the monster was being honest, they'd be reuniting sooner than what she had hoped for: never.
Flashback (six months ago)...
Renata sobbed as she stayed balled up on her kitchen floor. She held the gun against her temple, rocking forward and backward.
She just couldn't take it anymore.
This was her third time. But the end refused to accept her. Even if she did pull the trigger, she'd return however long later. She couldn't die.
Renata just wanted it all to stop, the coldness clinging to her skin, taunting her. All of the pain swirled around until there was nothing left. Until she was nothing but a body that just wouldn't stay dead.
Something about her existence felt so cruel, like one long punishment. Someone else's amusement. The problem was, Renata didn't want forever, not if it was going to feel like this.
She pulled the trigger.
Renata shot up in the bed, gasping and looking around with pure terror in her heart. She reached for her weapon and calmed some after feeling the coolness of the metal. She checked her phone to see she was up half an hour before her alarm.
Not wanting to revisit her countless suicide attempts, she decided to start getting ready for the day, one closer to her dreaded reunion.
A year is all I will give, but we will meet again.
Fuck me.