That was six hours ago.
It was now well after one a.m.
He was probably in bed asleep, but I wanted to hear his voice. He calmed me. Made shaky ground feel settled. And even though I had just seen him earlier, I already missed him. I placed my AirPods in and pressed call. The phone rang three times. When his voice came on, that feeling of warmth settled over me.
"Hey, beautiful." I could hear the smile in his voice.
"Hey. Sorry for calling so late, " I apologized. "I didn't wake you, did I?"
"Not at all. I was actually wondering when I would hear from you."
I smiled, turning on my side as I stared at his contact photo. "Sorry. Things were kinda shitty tonight."
"Really? Wanna talk about it?"
I paused. "You don't want to hear about that place, Remy."
"If something is bothering you, regardless of anything, I wanna know, Gianna."
Another pause from me. "Are you sure?"
"I can handle it," he assured me calmly.
I exhaled sharply. "Well…there's this woman there. She has it out for me. Has since day one. She's making it a lot more difficult for me. We almost got into a fight."
"Wow—" he breathed out. "Have you tried talking to her—seeing what the issue is?"
I snorted a laugh. "You can't talk to a woman like that. She's vindictive and jealous. Anyway, at this point we're beyond talking."
Remy was quiet for a second on the other end and I could hear him shifting—probably sitting up, fully alert now. “I don’t like that,” he said finally, his tone calm but edged concern. “Not just the fighting part, but you being in an environment where somebody feels comfortable playing with you like that.”
I closed my eyes, letting his voice settle over me. “I know,” I murmured. “Me either.”
“You safe though?” he asked.
His concern softened me. “Yeah,” I said. “I’m good. Security stepped in before anything could really pop off.”
“Aight,” he exhaled. “Good.”
There was a brief silence. “I don’t want you dealing with that,” he added, quieter now. “You don’t deserve that kind of energy around you.”
“Comes with the territory, Remy.”
“Doesn’t mean you gotta accept it,” he replied.
I didn’t answer right away. That truth felt a little heavier than I wanted to deal with tonight.
“I’m working on it,” I said instead. “I told Ronnie I’m starting to plan my exit.”
“Really?” he said. I could hear the shift in his tone—careful but hopeful.
“Yeah,” I breathed. “Slowly. I got a number in mind. Once I hit it, I’m out.”
“I like that,” he said. “A plan.”
I smiled faintly. “Of course you do, Mr. Structured.”
He chuckled softly. “Somebody's gotta be.”
