Monday
"Last but not least, social media, you said you had an idea for me?"
"Yes, we want to do a weekly La Sienne's best dressed. We'll post two to three of the best outfits in the office that week every Friday
Normani grinned, "you just want an excuse to post me all the time don't you?"
"Challenge accepted," Beck said with a laugh.
"Alright I like that idea, maybe we can expand it and every Wednesday you post New York's best dressed. Could be some random person on the street, could be a celebrity, or it could be me, who knows?"
Raina laughed, "I can't tell if you're bragging or campaigning to be posted."
"I'm definitely bragging," Normani laughed. "Alright, meeting adjourned, let's get back to work beautiful people."
I was the last to leave, and Normani was still seated at the head of the table. "Hey—wait am I allowed to talk to the best dressed woman in the whole world?"
She rolled her eyes, "I'm sorry who are you peasant?"
"You're lucky I'm in a good mood today," I laughed. "Are you free tonight? I was thinking we could go out and grab dinner—"
Normani's phone buzzed and she frowned as she looked at the message. Her eyes snapped up, and she stood as she looked around the office.
"Mani, dinner?"
"Uhm," she frowned as she finally refocused on me. "I have to work late tonight, the issue needs to be done soon and I've got articles to edit and things to approve so rain check for tomorrow?"
"Yeah it's fine. I need to go and finish my article in that case."
She smiled, "yeah I need it by lunch. If these walls weren't made of glass I'd probably kiss you right now."
"I know a place where you can kiss me," I murmured as I walked away from her.
When I got to my desk, Normani still hadn't left the meeting room, and she was looking down at her phone again, a crease in her brow so deep that it seemed permanently etched in. I figured it was work, and she was about to have a bad day, so I sent her one of the pictures I'd taken last night.
A smile instantly made its way to her face, and the text I received back was a detailed description of everything she'd do to me when we were alone.
"Stop sexting at work," Lauren whispered as she lid past my desk in her chair.
"You're a child!" I whispered yelled back before putting my phone away.
Wednesday
Normani looked confused when I walked into her office. I narrowed my eyes in suspicion, "why do you seem surprised to see me?"
Her desk was unusually messy, I noticed a picture of her peeking out from underneath a stack of papers and I picked it up, smiling when I saw that it was actually one of us. "When did we take this?"
"I don't even remember, I just had it and I decided to print it," Normani answered quickly, she stood, jaw clenched and eyebrows furrowed as she held her hand out for the picture. I handed it to her and she placed it inside a drawer that she locked. Odd. "I have to work late again, plus I'm waiting for a call from LA. Why don't you go to my place, here's my card, order whatever you want and I'll be home soon?".
"Whatever I want?" I asked with a smile.
Normani laughed, "whatever you want beautiful."
"Normani I've got those articles for you," Paige said as she walked in immediately without knocking. "Oh hi Dinah Jane. You look really nice today."
"Thanks Paige so do you, I love those shoes." I turned back to Normani. "So I have an interview tomorrow morning, and I should have the article for you before the end of the day if that's okay?"
"Sounds good. Have a good night."
"You too, goodnight Paige."
"Bye Dinah.
Jax frowned when he saw that it was just me coming downstairs. "She's working late."
"I'm sorry Miss Dinah, great thing about Lo Scoglio is you can reschedule if you can't make it."
"I guess so."
He looked at me through the rearview mirror. "Is something else bothering you Miss Dinah?"
I shook my head, "I'm probably just reading too much into the situation. It's nothing."
"My mother always told me that if a woman's gut is telling her something, she's usually right. What's on your mind?"
"Something's going on with her Jax. She's jumpy and weird, and I feel like she's avoiding being out in public with me. Which is stupid because we don't go out much specifically because we don't want our relationship getting out yet, but she wouldn't let me walk her out the other day, it's weird as hell. I don't know, like I'm starting to wonder if she's tired of being with just me."
Jax looked at me briefly before his eyes went back to the road. "She loves you very much."
"Yeah, but what if we're just delaying the inevitable? I want to be monogamous and she hasn't been for so long that it might just be something that she doesn't want anymore."
"Have you tried talking to her about it?"
I sighed, "I did, she told me she's very happy with just me." And showed me.
"But your gut still says otherwise?"
"Yeah... maybe it's us not spending much time together lately. I'll give it a week, maybe two and bring it up again."
He frowned as we came to a red light. "You know I hadn't even asked you where I'm taking you yet."
"Oh Mani's place please Jax."
Thursday
"I thought I said I didn't want to be— you are not my assistant."
"A 130 pound, fabulous, black man? No I most definitely am not. Gold star for being perceptive."
Normani leaned back in her chair as I shut her blinds, "I like your coat, it's a little hot for one though."
"You're right it is," I murmured as I took it off, revealing the lacy, black corset and thong that I wore underneath and tossed it onto her couch. "Much better."
"Sweet baby—wow...uhm, I don't know what to say."
"It's a good thing I didn't come here to talk, close your eyes."
Normani quirked an eyebrow, "what?"
I walked around and sat on the edge of her desk, smiling when her eyes flicked down to my legs as I crossed them. "Close your eyes Normani."
Once she had done as I asked, I moved behind her chair and turned it around to face me. I brushed my lips across hers before moving them to her neck, while holding her hands down with my own. Her eyes snapped open at the sound of the knock at the door and she gestured to the space underneath her desk.
Normani cleared her throat, "uhm come in."
"Hey, you're still here?"
"Yeah, why are you here though Aunt G?"
She sighed and I heard her sit down, "I like this coat. I've been thinking about the August issue. And I know I'm getting ahead of myself because the July one isn't even out yet, but I want it to mean something you know?"
"I do, I've got some really good ideas too, but I'm not telling you till tomorrow."
I spread her legs slowly and after working her skirt up as far as I could from my position, I caressed her inner thighs; Normani stood suddenly and pulled her skirt down before sitting back down, "sorry, I needed to stretch."
"Normal people don't announce that but okay. How are things with you and Dinah?"
"They're good, we're uhm... in a really good place," Normani shuddered when I touched a particularly sensitive part of her body. "We should do dinner sometime."
"That would be nice, plus the twins miss you."
"We'll do it soon."
Normani gripped my hands to stop me from moving. "I kind of still have a lot to get done before I leave and Dinah's waiting for me."
"Girl leave now, you've got a whole pretty ass woman waiting for you at home."
"I will really soon. You got a whole uncle Mike waiting for you at home Aunt G, you should leave too."
"Steven should be here by now so I will actually. Don't stay too late Mani."
"I will try not to. See you tomorrow Aunt G."
"Goodnight."
We both waited a minute or so before I pushed her chair and came out from underneath. Normani made a face, "were you trying to get us caught."
"Your aunt probably thinks we've fucked in this office multiple times. Speaking of which, have you ever—"
"–I've made out in an office, never had sex though."
"Another first," I murmured as I stood and walked over to the door to lock it before going to sit on the couch.
"I want you on my desk."
I frowned, "You literally have a really couch right there."
"I know, but my mother always told me to eat at the table."
Saturday
Normani|16:30:
I'm still at work trying to get some stuff done, but I'll try and make it later. Tell Tia I'm not trying to Avoid Eli.
Dinah|16:30:
Okay babe, I'll order dinner for you. You have no excuse to forget to eat.
Also it's not as awkward as I thought it would be.
Normani|16:34:
Thank you babe, You're the best!
Also it wouldn't be, he's an okay human being.
"Is she on her way?" Tia asked quietly.
I shook my head, "she's at work."
"On a Saturday? Your girlfriend's a workaholic."
"Yeah she usually gets this busy when a new issue's about to be released. Things should go back to normal after."
Tia frowned, "are you trying to convince me or yourself?"
"Both, mostly me though. Has she said anything to you lately?"
"Just some cryptic stuff about it being okay to choose my happiness. Otherwise she's been okay, a little jittery but okay."
"Where's Mani?" Zoe asked tiredly.
"She's still at work baby, but we can FaceTime her tomorrow if you like? You two can set up an official play date?"
Zoe grinned, immediately placated for the time being.
"How is she doing?"
"A lot better now that she's out of the hospital, but there's still along way to go. She's really good about most stuff though you know? And JJ's been so sweet. They can't run around and mess up my house, so they find other ways to drive me insane. And he wears a mask whenever they leave so she won't feel weird about having to wear one when she's not at home."
"You're an amazing mother, I hope you know that."
Tia shrugged, her eyes flicked briefly to where Zoe and JJ were playing with Eli as a smile made its way onto her face briefly, "I have a lot of help. I'm sorry, I know this is probably really weird for you. This was kind of impromptu and he's staying here while Ana figures her stuff out."
"I'm confused."
"They're divorced." When she saw the surprise on my face, she laughed. "I know, it took me by surprise too for the record. But Mani didn't tell you? Sam said he told her and she told him to tell me."
"No she didn't," I frowned. "She didn't really tell me what they talked about so that's probably why. The whole thing with her friends kind of took center stage and I just haven't brought it up since."
"I don't think I should be the one to tell you but I will say I was wrong and I'm glad I was. I think talking to each other did them a lot of good and it's now in the past."
"I'm glad she talked to him. I was a little worried though."
"Me too," she mumbled.
"Mama I won!" JJ shouted excitedly.
"Well done baby," Tia high fived her. She looked up at Eli as he walked towards us, Zoe clinging to his back and giggling as she told him to 'giddy-up'. Her smile was so genuinely sweet, with just the right touch of shyness; as though butterflies were escaping from inside her and the sun had given her a piece of itself so it could call her heart home.
When I looked back at Eli, I noticed his smile wasn't just the upward curve of his lips, or the hint of laughter in his eyes, it came from deep inside him and spread into every part of his body.
"I totally let him win."
"No fair, I beat you fair and square old man!"
Eli laughed, "Mom said not to worry about dinner, she's making it right now and she'll come over later with Dad. Do you want anything from the store?"
"Are you going?"
"Yeah I'm taking your car to get washed, I'll stop by on my way back."
"I don't think I want anything. Ooooh wait actually hot Cheetos, Dinah likes those. And chocolate please and thank you."
"Alright, come on guys. Let's go get your masks, then we can go to the store!"
"Louis never stood a chance did he?" I asked once Eli and the kids were gone.
Tia frowned as she took a sip of her wine, "what are you talking about Dinah Jane?"
"Nothing," I mumbled after a while.
Normani
Did you have fun?
I took another sip of whiskey, sighing as it turned down the volume of my thoughts and brought me memories of good times that I allowed myself to dwell in to avoid my thoughts.
I shut my eyes as I lifted the glass to my lips, enjoying the slight burn on my throat. The first time I tasted alcohol, I decided I'd never drink again because the taste made me recoil. Now I relished the burn every now and then, I gladly accepted the reprieve it gave me even if for a few moments.
Did you bend her over your desk and fuck her until she begged you to let her come?
"Shut up," I mumbled, smacking my forehead with the palm of my hand. "Shut up!"
You think he would have wanted you how you were.
I hadn't even realized that I had moved until the glass in my hand was shattered on the floor and its contents covered part of the wall and the floor. I started picking up the pieces of glass, and in my haste I ended up cutting myself.
"Shit," I mumbled tiredly as I sat down, not caring where I sat. After a moment, I stood, ignoring the glass and picked up my phone. There was only one person I wanted to call. My hand hovered over the button as I debated whether to call my best friend or not. Ex best friend.
You don't have to deal with me or my stuff anymore.
I tossed my phone on the couch and went upstairs to go and get the first aid kit. The cut wasn't deep, but it bled enough that I would probably have have felt sick at the sight and scent of blood if my senses weren't so dulled. Once I had cleaned it and put a plaster on it, I went downstairs and cleaned the glass up before cleaning the whiskey off the floor and the wall. I took another glass and took the bottle to my office.
I know your secret.
"Please stop!" I mumbled, pleading with no one in particular. Finally the alcohol started to take it's effect as a haze set in, dulling my senses and making the world seem like a much kinder place. I could see everything clearly, and at the same time, everything retreated to the recesses of my mind.
I had no clue how much time had passed when the front door opened much later. "Mani?" Dinah called out.
I could have answered, but I didn't. She'd eventually see that the light in my office was on. It took her two minutes to figure out that I was in my office, at least I assumed that's how long it was. I stopped counting when I got to 5.
Dinah
"Dinah Jane Hansen," she slurred. "A vision of beauty."
"You're drunk."
Normani started laughing, "gold star for perceptiveness baby."
"Did you even go to work?"
"I did, but I came back here," she answered honestly. "You see I wasn't really in a sociable mood."
"Zoe was really excited to see you," I mumbled, "you let her down."
She shrugged as she stood, holding onto the table to keep her balance, "yeah well that's how life goes sometimes. D'you have fun hanging out with Tia and Eli?"
"What's going on with you?"
"Nothing, I just wanted to take the edge off. I've had a difficult day. But the issue's done and it'll be up on Monday. Can we leave it at that?"
"I don't think we can Mani. Something's going on with you."
"I'm fine, I'm going to bed."
"Normani," I said, grabbing her hand which she promptly pulled away from me.
"I said I'm fucking fine Dinah Jane. Leave me alone."
Tuesday
"Okay give me your phone," Kamila held her hand out. "Hand it over."
"Why?"
She stood as she typed something into it. "We're going to see what Normani's really up to."
"She's at work, I already told you—"
"–actually she's at Lo Scoglio," Kamila answered, showing me her location on find my friends. "We're going to see who she's meeting with."
Ally frowned, "she said she's working, so it's probably a work dinner. Give her the benefit of the doubt."
"Yeah but Dinah's not going to be able to rest or think about anything else until she sees for herself. So come on, let's go. Ally you drove right?"
"Yeah but—"
"–amazing, let's go."
The five of us piled into Ally's car, and despite the older woman's protests and insistence that there was probably nothing nefarious happening, she ended up driving us to the restaurant that Mani was at.
"We can't even see anything, Ally park over there."
"I can't, it says no parking—"
"–we're not leaving the car, we can just drive off if someone wants to come in or leave. Park the damn car there. Beck you've got the binoculars right? I knew that camping stuff would come in handy at some point."
"Yes," he handed them to Kamila who handed them to me. "You wanna know if something's going on with her, now's your chance to find out. If you don't want to know, then we go home and you trust that she's telling you the truth. Either way, it's up to you."
I took the binoculars from her, and after a moment of deliberation I decided to look. I could see her, between the two couples that sat by the window, sitting across from Eli. She was picking at her food as she spoke. Eli responded with something that made Normani almost spit out her drink as she laughed.
"DJ?" Lauren asked softly, "let me see."
I handed her the binoculars and leaned back in my seat.
"Is that Eli?"
"Yeah..."
Ally frowned, "let's just go home, maybe there's an explanation Dinah, just—"
I opened the car door, but Beck moved with lightning speed and he was standing in front of me before I could cross the road. "What you want to do right now, it's only going to make things worse."
"Things can't get any worse than they already are," I mumbled.
"I know, but you really want to go in there and cause a scene?" He asked quickly. "Especially with Normani."
"She can dump me if she wants to, but I'm not about to let myself be made a fool."
Beck sighed, "if you go in there now, you'll say things that you don't mean, things that you might not be able to come back from. Just stop and think for a second Dinah Jane. It's just dinner."
"With her fucking ex boyfriend! Her first love, the man who broke her heart. The man who she just recently found out, left because he loved her and wanted to be better, for her and their baby. I can't compete with that. I shouldn't have to."
"You don't even know that you actually are."
"She lied to me, again and who's she with? Him. The last two times she was with him, she told me she had to work."
"I know but still DJ," Lauren chimed in, "you don't want to do this. Not like this."
Normani
"Do you think they're okay? They've been gone a while."
Eli laughed, "I thought taking a long ass time in bathrooms was a thing that women do."
"If we go in groups maybe, but what could they possibly be gossiping about in the bathroom. Should I go and check on them?"
"Give them another five minutes then we'll see." Eli leaned forward, "so what's going on with you? I overheard Dinah and Tia talking on Saturday. They're both worried about you."
I shook my head, "nothing much, just work shit. You know how it goes."
"Normani," Eli mumbled in the way that he always used to when I was lying to him. "You don't have to tell me, but talk to someone. Even if it's a therapist."
I started picking at my food with my fork. "It's not really something that a therapist can help me with, but it'll be okay. I'll fix it, Dinah and I will be fine. In any case we're not here to talk about all that. Distract me."
"Remember the time we went on that double date and they dined and dashed on us?"
I almost spit out my drink, "I was in the bathroom and I found you sitting there like a deer caught in headlights with the bill."
"I was not a deer caught in headlights," he mumbled petulantly.
"Elijah you were sitting there with your big ass eyes all wide and watery, just looking at the bill."
"Because they ordered expensive ass wine! My heart has never been so broken." Eli and I both looked out at the same time that everyone else did at the sound the commotion. Not that I could see because I wasn't wearing my contacts, it was dark and they were across the road.
"What do you think's going on there?"
"They're probably fighting about what they want to eat. She told him to pick and he picked wrong. I don't why y'all never just decide the first time. Why's it always gotta be a fight?"
I put my hand over my chest, "I am not like that."
"You were bad, every woman in my life is indecisive about what they want to eat. The other day Tia tells me to order her favorite and I did, when it comes she's mad because she wanted Italian not ribs. Mom chimes in and she's all, 'you know damn well she meant her current favorite not her overall favorite.'"
I couldn't help my smile. "Hey she's right though, you misunderstood, that's why you got caught slipping."
"Why are you smiling like that Normani?"
"Like what?" I asked innocently. "I'm just smiling because you're telling me a cute ass story about the women in your life."
Eli frowned, "what?"
"You really want me to spell it out for you?" I asked quietly.
"Yes, I don' t get it."
"Okay Elijah Humphrey. You married the wrong sister," I answered, just as our mothers came back to the table.
"Is everything good? You were gone a while."
Mom nodded, "yes, I just had to make a call and Loretta was nice enough to wait for me. Where were we?"