“What that got to do with us?” I asked, annoyed.
“I work with her. We actually contrast really well together and are making you and Free a lot of money. She’s with him, she’s having his baby. You act like you can just wipe that shit away.” Chevy accused, neck jerking, so I knew she was defensive as fuck. “He’s supposed to be your friend, your brother, right?”
“Shit changes. People grow apart, priorities shift.”
“Frequency doesn’t change.” Chevy was so sure in her words that I couldn’t help but study her closely before giving my attention back to the road.
“We might not always get along, but he has never switched up on you in the time that he has known you, Ledge. That means something. He’s solid, and he finally has a woman on his team just as hard as he is. You need to give her a chance.”
“A chance to what? To get close to me, find out all the shit I don’t tell nobody so she can use that shit against me?—”
“Harbor isn’t like that?—”
“You don’t even know her like that to make that call.” I shut her down.
“No, you don’t know her like that. You don’t take the time to get to know people.”
“So if it come down to it, you choosing Harbor over me?” I demanded, not liking where this conversation was going.
“Is that what I said?” Chevy snapped on me. “You are tripping. And you so paranoid about someone doing something to you that yo’ stupid ass won’t even let somebody close enough to you. You know what, just drop me off at the office so I can grab some paperwork and then take me back home. I’m not about to do this with you tonight.” She grumbled, fixing her eyes on the streets passing us by just outside the car.
The fuck was her problem? Was she really fucking tripping with me about letting another bitch close to me? Kind of shit was that?“You for real right now?”
“I am.” She quipped, eyes darting in my direction before her brows dipped and her forehead wrinkled indignantly. “You kept that bitch Kitana around and don’t want to give Harbor the benefit of the doubt, instead of being happy for your cold-hearted ass friend who doesn’t let people in to begin with. Just admit that you’re jealous of her position in his life.”
“Jealous? That sounds like some bitch shit.” I scoffed, shaking my head.
“Yeah, but it’s some real shit.” Chevy divulged. “You were good with him not having anybody in the past. You have this odddependency with Frequency that I don’t even think you realize. As long as he’s single and living that life, you can too. You started bugging when he wanted more than this life. And you do that shit every single time. People grow up and change. They want more out of life. Just because you don’t doesn’t mean the rest of the world should be put on hold.”
“You know what, I’ll drop you off and keep it pushing. You seem to be more concerned about Frequency and Harbor than you are about us any fucking way.” This shit was blowing me.
The fuck was becoming of my life and the people in it? How did this night that we were supposed to be spending together turn into more than that? I didn’t like when Chevy was right about some shit, and I damned sure wasn’t some self-reflecting type of nigga. The way she left me second guessing myself only agitated me as I wheeled my car in front of her office building and parked.
“You don’t have to wait. I’ll catch a Lyft.” She assured me, reaching for the door handle.
Harbor
Later that evening…
I usually wouldn’t stick around the office this late, but I had some contracts from a buyer that had come through and we were officially locking in commercial properties as well. Snacking on Ruffles and French onion dip, with a side of chocolate covered pretzels and ginger ale, I was in heaven while I smacked away. Taking a glance at my watch, I saw that it was pushing nine pm.
“Is it time to go yet?” Ivy was curled up on the sofa taking a nap and had been for the last hour or so.
She came here after school to hang with me, we ordered dinner and had been chilling ever since. It was odd, the attachment she had grown to me and vice versa. Our bondwas some authentic shit though. She had become my best little friend, outside of her father and Chevy. I didn’t know I could be so close to a child that wasn’t mine, but I loved Ivy with my whole heart. She was stubborn and resilient, and like her father, she didn’t back down from anything that she felt strongly about.
She was actually a pretty admirable little lady, and I was looking forward to watching her grow into a self-assured young woman. There were so many things I wanted to teach her and let her know about life and her relationships with people. Anything I could do to make her road easier is what would make me sleep better at night. It was crazy, but I did start thinking of her as my child, a piece of me that I was highly protective over. She fell asleep watching something on her tablet and now was looking at me with the pout face. I was ready to go as well. It had been a long day.
“Mmm, just a second. Let me countersign these papers so that they can get sent off in the morning.” I crunched on a pretzel while squinting at the computer screen just as Chevy appeared in the doorway. Showing out in the Vera Wang dress and matching shoes. Her hair was pinned up, exposing her face and neck. Resting her hand on the frame of the door, she leaned against it.
“Hey, what are you still doing here?” She queried.
“Just wrapping a few things up. What are you doing here?” I nodded, shoving the rest of the pretzel into my mouth. “It’s getting late. I thought you had a date… with that villain you call a man.” My sarcasm seemed to humor her, but only briefly as her somber eyes wandered to the ground.
“I needed to grab something before I headed home. Ledge’s stupid ass pissed me off.” Chevy held up a business folder.
I scooted my chair from the table and adjusted my shirt. Officially in my second trimester, which was crazy to me because at first I wasn’t able to tell I was even pregnant, growing life wasstarting to really sink in for me. My everyday routine was slowed down and I couldn’t do anything but roll with it. I was doing my best not to let it get the best of me. Overnight I had a small bump, and now it was turning into a full-on basketball under my attire. It was getting harder to hide it, but I was still nervous as fuck about telling Ivy. Frequency insisted she would be fine, but I was too paranoid. We had built a great relationship over the last few months. I was attending her performances at basketball games and doing all the cool mom stuff. In a nutshell, things were perfect, and I was scared to jinx that shit.
“Ivy, go ahead and get yourself together. I’ll meet you in the lobby so I can lock up and we can go.”
