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“Keep on, smart ass.”
I didn’t regret my decision in the least bit. I’d rather be wrong and her safe than right and have harm come to her that I could have prevented. She got into my car while I started hers up, before joining her.
“How was the rest of the night?”
“Quiet. And I know that I’m giving you hell, but thank you for doing this. I get it, and I’m glad to have someone looking out for me.”
“You’re welcome, and it’s no problem.”
“As much as I love this job sometimes, nights like this are a reminder that it’s not where I want to be.”
“And where’s that?”
Nyx grew quiet, almost as if she were spacing out, staring at nothing as she answered. “Have you ever had a dream and were so close to achieving it that you could almost taste it?”
“I can’t say I have.”
“Well,” she smacked her hands against her thighs. “I did. I wanted to have a small, dim, poetry bar where people feel comfortable exposing the rawest parts of them. Art is painful but also the essence of who we are. I wanted to create a safe space for creatives, and I was right freakin’ there.”
“What happened?” I inquired, to which Nyx laughed humorlessly.
“Life,” she shrugged. “I don’t even know why I’m rambling on about this. I’m sorry, I guess it’s just all my frustration boiling over. You don’t have to listen to my pro—”
“Nyx,” I interrupted with a laugh. “It’s cool. Sometimes you just need to get that shit out. I don’t mind listening.”
“It’s three in the morning, and you’re fine with sitting in the car listening to me talk about my problems?”
“You have a better idea as to what we could be doing at three in the morning?”
“Sleeping,” she answered quickly, her face morphing into a mask of embarrassment as she added on. “Separately. In our own beds, respectively.”
The laughter she triggered came from the pit of my stomach.
“You had to add that in, huh?”
“Of course. These things matter, you know? Got to be specific.”
“If you say so, stubborn ass. But getting back to the subject, if you were that close to things taking off for you, what’s stopping you from trying again?”
“A number of things. It’s complicated,” Nyx’s shoulders sagged as she shook her head. “I made a really stupid decision, and I’m paying for it.”
“So, all that means is that you have to go to plan B. If that’s what you’re destined to do, then it’s going to happen the way it’s supposed to. Sometimes that’s not the way we expect. I think the idea is dope, though. I didn’t peg you to be a poetry girl.”
“Yeah, that’s my first love. I used to hide it initially. Especially in school. I was so terrified about people finding out and teasing me.”
“So what changed?”
“A conversation I had with my brother. No matter what I’m interested in, he’s always my number one cheerleader. Lincoln always encourages me to just dive off the cliff and go for it. I did.”
“Sounds like my brother, funny enough.”
“Do you take his advice?”
“Let’s stick to the subject, which is you.”
“Right,” Nyx rolled her eyes. “Anyway, I’m glad he pushed me into it. I’ve met a lot of incredible people and achieved so many things on the journey.”
“You didn’t get stuck wondering if people wouldn’t like what you bring to the table?”
