Page 9 of Cooly

I looked away first. Seven years, and apparently there was still some shit I hadn't worked through.

"I need a drink for the rest of this conversation." She pulled on my hand. "And you're paying."

I laughed, letting her drag me to my feet. "You got a hundred dollars in your bra from me already."

"That's for my services." She started walking toward the street. "This is for my pain and suffering. Two different things."

I followed her, shaking my head.

The liquor store was a small, cramped spot on the corner of Fulton and something, with faded signs and a buzzer at the door. The fluorescents inside cast everything in that sickly yellow glow that made everyone look like they needed sleep.

Ayo pulled open the door, and a little bell jingled above us.

She immediately went to the liquor shelf, grabbing a bottle of Hennessy from the shelf.

"Get the good one," I said. "The XO."

She looked at the price tag and whistled. "You got richer. Taking money from your daddy now?"

"No. I own an IT firm."

She nodded. "So we’re both living the dream."

"Yes." I walked past her, grabbing a bottle of Macallan 18 for myself.

Ayo grabbed the bottle from my hand and placed both on the counter in front of the clerk.

"He's paying," she said, pointing at me.

"I know," the clerk laughed. "You got the look of a woman who knows her worth."

She smiled, and for a second, she looked like the girl I remembered.

I paid the clerk and we walked back out into the cool night air.

"You're quiet," she said as we walked.

"I'm thinking."

"About?"

I was thinking about Indigo back in that warehouse, but I said, "About your ex-fiancé," before opening my bottle and taking a swig.

"He left me," she said.

That caught my attention. "He left you? I thought you said he was boring to you. How'd you end up alone?"

"You don't have to sound so pleased about me being alone."

I chuckled.

"I cheated on him."

The words hung in the air between us.

"With who?"

"Doesn't matter." She shook her head. "What matters is I did it. In our bed. While he was at the hospital working a double shift. I had the man in my house, in my bed, on my sheets. And I didn't even feel guilty about it. Not until after. Not until I saw his face when he found out."