Page 1 of Love Me in the Light

DADDY

Thank you for helping me understand that, no matter how dim at the time, I had a light in me.

Are You Serious Right Now . . .

Memoree Layne’s arms stretched over her head. Life as a junior architectural lighting designer was kicking her ass. It wasn’t so much the job. It was more that the job was in New York City. To her, it seemed like New York amplified everything times one hundred. At twenty-five, she worked hard to be where she was.

She was a country girl from Charlotte, North Carolina. That was what the people in New York called her, although she didn’t feel like she was a country girl. After all, Charlotte was a major city. Memoree Layne graduated with her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interior Architecture and Design from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro. One of her professors was highly impressed with her ability to identify detrimental lighting elements—like shadows, glares, poor contrast, as well as many other elements, before anyone else. He pushed her toward lighting design as her concentration.

After she obtained her bachelor’s, she worked for a year before she made a location change to New York City to attend Parsons School of Design at The New School. There, she entered their Master of Fine Arts in the Lighting Design program. Her studies in graduate school explored the aesthetic, environmental, technical, and human dimensions of lighting. These were all things that mattered when lighting was concerned that most never thought about. Most people thought you figured whether you wanted them bright or not, then go with God. There was so much more.

After the completion of her master’s program, she was offered a full-time position with the architecture lighting firm that she interned with during her studies. She was happy they did because life in New York wasn’t cheap. It helped that she lived with her sister, who helped with bills, but that came with its drawbacks.

Her sister, Milan Renee, had no issues with bills, but as a twenty-one-year-old beauty, social media influencer, she was always in the spotlight. She was also four years younger than Memoree Layne. At that age, with a job title of beauty influencer, New York was an oyster for her.

When Milan Renee broached the idea with her parents about moving to New York, she thought they would be against it, but they weren’t. Malcom Smith and Dr. Renee Layne-Smith were parents who wanted their only two children to know that anything that they wanted, they could have if they worked for it. They did have reservations about the entire influencer career. Milan Renee worked hard, and it showed. She also had a thriving esthetician business as well. Her clientele grew daily.

Memoree Layne glanced at the clock on her living room wall when she heard the alarm from the front door sound. It was still early, so she didn’t expect her sister home any time soon. There was only one other person who had the access code to get into her place.

When her head turned toward the heavy footsteps that moved toward her, she smiled. Her man was fine as hell, and he knew it. She stood to receive him. “Hey, baby. I didn’t expect to see you today.”

Nathan didn’t expect to see her today either, but life had other plans. “What’s up, Memoree? I had work, but we needed to talk, so I made a detour.”

His tone was filled with annoyance. She wasn’t sure why, because they both were non-problematic. They had been together for almost two years now. Memoree Layne loved him, and he had love for her. “What’s going on? Is everything alright?”

He sat down on the couch, and she followed his lead. When his hand rubbed down his face, her worry built in her chest. Is he breaking up with me?

Nathan took a breath before he turned his head toward her. “Yo, what was one of the first things I told you that I cherished about my life? I want to make sure we are still on the same page because with the shit that just popped off, I don’t think we’re in the same book.”

Memoree Layne’s head tilted to the side with a tightened jaw. She was confused about what happened, but she knew the answer to his question. “You cherish a quiet, private life. What does that have to do with anything? I cherish the same, Nathan. You know that.”

He chuckled lowly as he pulled his phone out of his pant pocket. She sat there with angst on her chest. His fingers tapped his screen to get to whatever he wanted to be seen. “If you cherish it, then what is this shit?”

She took the phone out of his hand and glared at the screen. It was a candid photo of them at a cookout that was at her parent’s house a few weekends prior. Nathan sat on a lounge chair that was partially submerged in the water of her parents’ backyard pool. Memoree Layne lay between his legs, and his lips were on her neck. Overall, it was a great photo.

“Nathan, it’s a picture of us. A very nice, candid photo of us. I’m sorry. What is the problem?” she asked. She didn’t understand what the big deal was. It was one photo.

His eyes bucked. “I don’t remember giving your sister permission to damn post me on her social media. I don’t have social media. You don’t post me on social media, so why would it be alright for your sister to do it, Memoree?”

Nathan was the only one who called her just Memoree. Her first name was actually Memoree Layne, but he always felt like that was a lot to say. He resorted to just Memoree as a nickname of sorts. It annoyed her, but she didn’t feel like it was a battle worth fighting.

She sighed, then rolled her eyes before she stood. “Nathan, it’s one damn photo. You act like she did a picture slide show or something.”

He could have gone to work and bothered her another day about this dumb shit for all she cared. In two years, that was the first public photo of them. Did they have photos of them coupled up in their phones? Of course, they did. Nathan, however, made it clear that he was not a man who liked people in his business. Memoree Layne didn’t have a thought about it either way because of her semi-recluse nature.

She walked over to her kitchen to grab water from the refrigerator. Nathan’s mind was blown at her dismissive attitude. This was a first for him. He jumped up and was on her heels. “Memoree, what the fuck do you mean, it’s just a photo? I don’t give a fuck if it were a damn thumbnail. Your fuck-ass sister is out of line.”

The hairs on Memoree Layne’s neck rose. She spun around and lifted her finger. It was perfectly aligned to Nathan’s face. “I don’t give a damn what we have going on. What you will never do is disrespect my sister. We were at one of my family functions, and you knew there were cameras out. If you didn’t want to be on camera, you should have stayed your ass in New York.”

“Shit, I’ll remember to do that shit. Your sister thinks because she’s a fake-ass influencer that she can impose on people’s lives. You think that shit is alright?” His handsome face was tight.

Memoree Layne glared at him for a strong minute. Her mind raced about what this was really about because there was no way that he could be this upset about one damn photo. Like a wrecking ball, it hit her. “Are you ashamed of me or cheating on me? Is that why you don’t want the photo out there?”

The bridge of Nathan’s nose scrunched. He waved her off, then said, “I’m not even gonna address that shit. I wouldn’t be with you if I was ashamed of you.” He huffed then took a step back. “Look. I don’t like being blindsided about shit that I didn’t know about and didn’t give permission to. You need to get your sister together, or this shit might not work. I can’t be around you if I think every time I am, we have a secret cameraman.”

The ringing in her ears was deafening. There was no way this man was serious. “All of this because of one photo? That seems a little extreme. Oh, and don’t think I missed that you didn’t answer the cheating part of the question. I have things to do, so you can leave.”

Tonight was filled with a lot of firsts. It was the first time that she had been so dismissive of him and definitely the first time that she had ever outright told him to leave. It was also the first time that his faux armor cracked in front of her. A single posted picture sent to him by his cousin had brought the bitch right up out of him.