“What was he doing here? It’s so random.”
Ephrem busied himself removing tissue paper from the bag, but she knew he heard her ass.
“Helloooo? What was he doing here?”
“Who Cairo?”
Nina rolled her eyes. “Yes Cairo.”
“What about him?”
“I didn’t know y'all were friends.”
“We’re not.”
Nina laughed. “Uhhh, I couldn’t tell. Y’all were in your office.”
Ephrem adjusted his glasses without looking up. “He stopped by.”
“For a book?”
“...Among other things.”
She tilted her head. “What other things?”
Ephrem finally looked up from his gift.
“The book, Nina.” His smile helped redirect the conversation.
She considered asking another question but decided to let it go. If her best friend was gay, she would’ve known. Instead, she watched him carefully remove the first edition from its wrapping paper. She tried to focus on him being excited about the book, but all she could do was hone in on his mannerisms. She hadn’t overlooked anything… had she?
η
Leaving New York felt like a deep exhale that she didn’t even realize she needed until the city disappeared behind her.
Nina loved New York.
She truly did.
New York raised folks in a way that, in her opinion, no other city could do. New York showed you how to walk fast, speakclearly, keep your head up no matter what, and also to never look too impressed. She’d grown in so many different ways this year and one of them was learning that balance was important. She had to keep making time to enjoy life. Work would be there. As they crossed over the state lines, she leftMarcelle & Co. back in Manhattan.
She sat curled in the passenger seat of Jio’s truck with her sandals kicked off, one leg tucked beneath her and her sunglasses pushed into her hair. Her oversized tote rested at her feet, stuffed with a weekend’s worth of unnecessary things and the book she’d brought along even though she knew she probably wouldn’t read a single page. Packing a book for a trip was less about practicality and more about identity. Nina felt spiritually unprepared arriving anywhere without reading material; even if the book never left her bag, it was there if needed.
Jio drove with one hand on the wheel and the other resting on her thigh. It was his usual stature whenever she was his passenger princess. Every now and then he would say, “I love you”and reach for a kiss, smoothly keeping his eyes on the road. It was those five second gestures and three word phrases that kept her head in the clouds.
By the time they crossed deeper into Long Island, the air seemed different even through the tinted windows. There was evidence that people were allowed to have lawns large enough to require equipment instead of superintendents controlling everything.
Nina watched the scenery change with the quiet fascination of someone who had been out east plenty of times but never with Jio.
She knew that this weekend would be the complete opposite of the ones she’d had her entire childhood. Her family had done Hamptons weekends when she was younger. They didn’tgo every summer, but she’d been enough to be attached to a few memories.
To Nina, the Hamptons had always been associated with quiet wealth. It was like being invited to a big playground and only being allowed to hop on because her family knew the right people that knew people that knew other rich folks. This weekend, as a grown woman in a healthy committed relationship with a man who didn’t go to private school or was a part of Jack and Jill, this trip didn’t feel so intimidating.
Jio hadn’t said much since they started the drive, leaving her with her own thoughts that never slowed down. The silence didn’t bother her. She appreciated their time no matter how they were spending it. As long as he wasn’t being silent because he was tense or frustrated about something, she was cool. These days, silence represented comfort between the two. He knew when his baby needed rest and he didn’t feel the need to talk a mile a minute just to prove to her that he was present. Jio wasn’t doing that shit and she wasn’t either.
Nina glanced over at him. His shades hid his eyes, annoying her because his eyes were how she read him sometimes.
“You good, babe?”
