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Briyana
Things were movingat lightning speed.
From the second I’d signed my offer letter, there had been a constant stream of activity, from filling out employee paperwork, to finding an apartment online with the help of the relocation team, to finishing up all of my open orders with Kicks by Bri. And then there was all the planning I had to do in preparation for my actual departure from Houston, a trip both of my parents had somehow already called dibs on even though I hadn’t exactly invited either of them.
For my mother, I suppose it was her chance at redemption after missing out on my first move out of the city,amongst other things. And for my father, it was pretty much normal behavior since he’d been a part of everything. But the thought of having to handle them both at the same time still had me anxious, especially since I wasn’t completely convinced that our “family” dinner a few weeks back wasn’t a fluke.
It had been nice though.
I mean, the way my parents were getting along, sharing jokes, and reminiscing about old times was honestly something I never thought I’d see in my lifetime. And of course, having Lance there was like the icing on top of the cake, the memory of how well he’d handled the semi-unorthodox situation making me a little sad since I wasn’t sure if we’d ever be in a place to do it again.
He was so damn mad at me.
Obviously, I’d had a feeling that he wouldn’t be totally happy about the move, which was exactly why I’d waited to say anything until I got back to town so that I could share the news with him face-to-face. But unfortunately, what I thought would at least be an adult discussion about my decision had somehow dissolved into a petty back and forth that ended with me sleeping at my dad’s house, the fact that the one night I’d planned for had already turned into three making me sick even though I shouldn’t have been all that surprised.
I mean, Lance had gone a whole eight years without even as much of a peep my way, so I was sure three days had felt like nothing to him. But for me, they’d been the longest three days of my life; especially when compounded with all the stress surrounding my upcoming move which only reminded me that I still needed to go over Lance’s house to get the rest of my things.
Lance’s house.
For a moment, I’d truly believed that what was his, was ours. I’d even begun to envision us starting a family there and all the ways we’d have to change the space to accommodate our brood. But now, it was hard to see any of that -tofeelany of that- when I pulled into the driveway and timidly used my key to enter even though I knew Lance wasn’t there, the silence that filled my ears once I stepped inside almost sounding foreign since it had been anything but the last time I was here.
Prior to that, things had been damn near perfect though.
Passing the living room, it was hard not to smile as I thought about all the different moments we’d shared there even with the most recent one not exactly being a pleasant experience. And in the kitchen, the sight of the island alone was enough to make me a little weepy since that was where so many important conversations had happened, including the one that had turned into the birth of Kicks by Bri. But stepping into the bedroom was what really put me in my feelings, and not just because of the sex. More so because of the overall intimacy we’d established waking up to each other in the mornings and falling asleep together almost every night, the comfort from simply being in Lance’s arms or in one of his shirts that enveloped me in his scent a feeling I could only explain with one word.
Love.
I knew that hadn’t changed, and it wouldn’t change any time soon; if ever. But as far as our actual relationship was concerned, I honestly wasn’t sure where we stood moving forward, a predicament I tried not to think too hard about as I finally grabbed the boxes I’d brought over with me so that I could start packing up my things.
Because I had some music blasting to help pass the time, I’d totally missed anyone coming in the house, my heart practically leaping out of my chest when I saw Lance standing in the guest room doorway looking annoyingly good in the Skyhawks athleisure he had on. And even though I was beyond surprised to see him, I still somehow managed to play it cool when I finally acknowledged his presence with a simple, “Hey.”
“What’s up?” he responded with an upward nod, glancing around the space that probably looked like a huge mess to his naked eye. And while I knew I wasn’t wrong for being here -had even said I’d be back to do exactly this- I still, for whatever reason, felt inclined to tell him, “Sorry. I thought you’d still be at practice or something.”
“Nah, you’re good,” he insisted, catching me a bit off-guard when he asked, “You need some help?”
Considering the way things had gone the last time I was here, it was hard for me to believe he’d had a sudden change of heart about all of this. And since I didn’t even want to chance making the situation any more awkward than it had to be, I answered, “No, I think I got it.”
“Cool,” Lance replied in such a way that I assumed it was the end of our conversation. But when I got back to packing and realized he was still lingering in the doorway, it almost seemed like he was just waiting for me to ask, “Is there... something else you wanna talk about?”
“Yeah, you finally got some mail here the other day,” he responded. “It’s in the kitchen.”
It was such a trivial thing for him to share, making it easy for me to assume he was just using that as a reason to strike up a conversation. So instead of simply telling him,“Okay”like I could’ve, I said, “The post office is probably gonna think I’m crazy for submitting another change of address so soon.”
“Yeah, probably,” he agreed before asking, “When do you actually leave town?”
“A week from today.”
“Damn. They ain’t wasting no time, huh?”
“They’ve actually been taking really good care of me,” I admitted with a tiny grin, grateful that I at least had that going in my favor as Lance mumbled,“That’s the least they could do.”
He was right.
Thatwasthe least they could do.
And I was getting ready to agree with him outwardly until his phone started ringing with a call from his mother, putting a sudden end to our conversation that had honestly left me feeling a bit confused since it had been so incredibly regular in comparison to the last time we’d spoken.
Maybe there was actually some hope for us.
