— • —
I love Selena, no matter how weird our relationship is. She was my big sister, someone I went to for everything. For instance, when I got my period, I cried to Selena about it, thinking I broke something. And she does the same to me. Like when her husband, Robert, proposed, she ran all the way to my apartment so we could call our mom together. No matter what happened between us, we were always going to be each other's go to. So you could imagine my horror when I answered a call from Selena, just to be greeted by screaming.
I swear, I thought my soul left my body when I answered the call, just for Selena to scream and cry in response. And when she was finally able to form a coherent sentence, she wished my soul left my body, because I was pissed.
"You scared the hell out of me," I hissed, ignoring the odd looks I got from passing people. "Selena–Selena–Selena, stop crying!" I rolled my eyes as her crying only grew louder at my request, I can practically see my sister pacing back and fourth in her luxury apartment, her cleaning lady watching in both concern and confusion. "Selena, ya para!"
That seemed to do the trick, Selena's crying calming down a bit. "You sound like mom," she mumbled, the statement almost going unheard, had I not been paying close attention. "Okay, okay, I'm good now. Can you come over?"
"Not until you tell me what the hell is going on," I scoffed, glaring as someone pushed past me. I was five minutes away from work, and for once, I was actually early. I'm starting to believe God doesn't want me to be early for work ever, seeing as now he made Selena call me for whatever reason. He's clearly working hard to get me fired. Jokes on him, I can't be fired.
Selena's sharp intake of breathe brought me out of my thoughts. "I think I'm pregnant."
I don't know how the hell I did it, but somehow I got to Selena's apartment in fifteen minutes, despite it being a good twenty-five minutes away. The doorman didn't even bat an eye at my disheveled appearance, a result of my running, wordlessly opening the door for me, and acknowledging my thank you with a nod of his head. Once again, I tapped relentlessly on the button to my sister's floor, begging the elevator to begin moving.
'"I'm here!" I shouted as I stepped out of the elevator, alerting Selena of my arrival. Only a second passed before Selena came sliding into the room, immediately taking the bag from my hand, and running in the direction of the bathroom. I stood awkwardly in the center of the room for a moment before shrugging to myself, making my way to her kitchen. If she's making me late for work, she can at least give me breakfast.
"Why did you buy five?" Selena's voice rang from down the hall.
"Some work, some don't, so best of five!" I called back, eyes closing in on the waffle maker situated in the corner. I was so focused on the waffle, that I failed to notice my sister dragging herself into the room. She let out a huff, making me jump, quickly whirling around to face her. "All done?"
"Two minutes," she muttered, features laced with worry. "Thanks for coming so fast, Vee. You know you're my go to." A smile tugged at my lips at her words, and I didn't hesitate to move forward, wrapping my arms around my sister.
" As annoying as you are," Selena scoffed, "I'll always be here if you need me."
"Want me to get Alia to make you a waffle?"
"Yes!" I all but yelled, Selena snickering in response. In the time Alia made her way to the kitchen, two minutes have passed, meaning it was time for the big reveal. "Need me to hold your hand?" Selena didn't appreciate my sarcastic question, instantly snapping her head to glare at me. I mockingly put my hands up in surrender, waiting for her to finally step into the bathroom.
"What if he doesn't want kids now?" I couldn't help but let my lips fall into a frown, the outcome never occurring to me. For a moment, I forgot that this possible kid was not just Selena's, but also Rob's.
While I did like Rob, I never paid much mind to him, as did he with me. There was a silent agreement of some sort between us to keep to ourselves, avoiding the whole in-laws feud that most people never found a way to get around. That's how it's always been between us, but somehow I knew that if Selena is pregnant, the silent agreement would fall apart. I knew he loved my sister to pieces, he had the numbers to prove it, but to me, he had a weird way of showing it.
Selena explained it to me, and still, I am baffled by their idea of love. Rob did everything and anything for Selena, meaning he worked his ass off for her. I appreciated it, he allowed my sister to live a wealthy lifestyle that she'd always dreamed of, but I didn't understand. He spent so much time away from her, away from the woman he was spending the rest of his life with, so how was he going to be with a baby around? She certainly can't raise the child on her own, I wouldn't allow it, so was he willing to change his lifestyle for their kid?
"Let's just look at the test first," I spoke softly, mind racing with all sorts of new thoughts, most of them having to do with Rob. Accepting my previous offer, Selena slipped her hand into mine, before opening the bathroom door.
What happened next was far beyond my comfort zone, involving a lot of Selena crying and me being entirely too close to her pee stick. When it came to the point where I couldn't distinguish her happy tears from her sad tears, I knew it was time for me to leave. So I led a teary eyed Selena to her living room, wrapped her in a throw and turned on Gossip Girl before grabbing my waffle and slipping out of the apartment.
I was way past late by now. Selena is lucky that her being pregnant is an excuse I have yet to use. "You alright now?"
I turned to the doorman, his concerned gaze settled on me, smiling slightly. "Yeah, all is good. Thanks for caring."
"You're one of the only people to say thank you to me, I felt it was right," he shrugged, and I couldn't lie, my heart hurt just a little.
Before I could respond, he was back to work, holding open the door for someone else. "Thank you," the person said, my lips quirking up. A non-stuck up rich person that lives in this building? Shocking. My breathe hitched when the person lifted their head, locking eyes with me. "Venus?"
"Tom," I breathed out, cheeks reddening as he approached me. "W–What are you doing here?" Stupid question, Vee.
Tom's lips tilted up into a half smile. "I live here, actually. What about you? I think I would have noticed if someone like you lived here."
Before I could even think to answer his question, I was asking my own question. "Someone like me?"
Either I was completely losing it after being around a crying Selena for so long, or Tom was blushing. "You know... talented... gorgeous. I'm sure we would have crossed paths by now."
Gorgeous. I mean, talented too, but gorgeous. I let out a breathy chuckle as my eyes darted down to my feet, heat consuming me. "Wow, uh, thanks." Swallowing my nerves, I raised my head, daring to lock eyes with him once more. "Actually, my sister lives here and she kinda had an emergency, so I was... seeing her."
He nodded slowly. "Well, I should get going. It was nice to see you again, hopefully we run into each other again."
"You too," I rushed out.
His smile widened. "See ya, Vee." A lump caught in my throat as he passed, barely brushing hands with me. I waited until I heard the familiar ding of the elevator before letting out a breathe, cheeks a new shade of red.
"He is good," the doorman breathed out slowly, making me nod my head rapidly in agreement. He is very good.
— • —
i am vee
vee is me
we are one