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Ren sucked her teeth. “Of course not. Chad loves me.”
“And you love to take that for granted,” I said, grinning as she flipped me off.
“Whatever. Q, your timing is actually perfect. I was just about to remind Chad of the story of how you reacted to finding out I was the mystery girl you’d been chatting online with for all those years.”
Quentin’s face blanked. “Oh, shit. You know what? I think I hear somebody call—”
“Uh-uh,” Ren laughed, pulling him into the doorway. “You bring your butt in here and tell him how much you regretted being mean to me.”
“I wasn’tmean, it was more like—”
“Quentin.”
He pushed out a sigh. “Aiight, cherie. I wasn’t necessarily Prince Charming at first, but you have to understandwhyI was angry.”
“I do,” she assured him, planting her hands against her chest. “And, I understand why Chad is so upset with the Monica situation. But it’s just that – the situation. Yes, the video was a mistake, but the police would’ve wanted to question you anyway. You’re blaming her, but this isn’t her fault. None of it is.”
“I get that, but it doesn’t change the fact that I don’t want anything to do with the drama of that whole situation.”
“What about once it’s over?” Quentin asked, apparently surprising both of us, from the way Ren’s lips parted. But then she turned to me too, waiting for me to answer the question.
I shrugged. “What do you mean?”
“I mean… once the drama has passed. Because, itwillpass. And then what do you do, when you miss your friend, and the shit that seemed so big in the moment… you realize it wasn’t even worth a damn – let alone worth the loss of that friend.”
“Listen,” I started, shaking my head. “I get what y’all are saying… Ido. But it’s really not that simple. Honestly, I’m not even pissed anymore – I just can’t be a part of this.”
For several seconds, neither of them said anything. When Renata did start to speak, Quentin hushed her, kissing her on the forehead.
“Babe… let me talk to Chad alone real quick, aiight?”
“Yeah,” she nodded, then slipped out of the room as Quentin dropped into the chair across from me at the desk.
“Aiight man… not to be on any sappy shit, but… you want to tell me what’sreallygoing on? Because you say you’re not pissed anymore – cool. You say you’re not trying to have unwanted attention or scrutiny on you – understandable. But webothknow that you could help Renata help Monica without your name even being involved if you wanted it that way. What I think is that you… don’t want to be involved with Monica at all, and it has nothing to do with this murder shit. So… what’s up?” he asked, propping his hands behind his head.
I shook my head. “There’s nothing up. You pegged it – I just don’t want to be involved.”
“But you wereveryinvolved before all this shit went down. I wasn’t trying to be all in your business, but Ren gave a little background. What’s different now vs a week ago?”
“Proximity,” I answered. “A week ago, I thought she was halfway across the country. Now she… hell, she may as well be next door.”
“So?”
My eyes widened. “So? You say that like everything can just flip back to normal.”
“No, I’m saying it like… why does it matter? You care about this woman, right? So, why wouldn’t it be a good thing to learn that instead of being hundreds of miles away, she’s right here where you can see her, touch her, in real life? I don’t get how that’s not abettersituation.”
I let out a dry chuckle. “Because you’re thinking like a man who’s been married for five years. Like a man who doesn’t have certain countries he can’t step foot in. A settled man. One who doesn’t need to be able to get up and go at the drop of a dime.”
“You don’t live that life anymore though, bruh. You keep saying how you don’t want to get dragged back into it, but it sounds to me like you’re keeping yourself there. It’s okay to settle in and make a life for yourself. I mean… who, besides all the former law enforcement and government agents that you work with at Five Star, do you even talk to?”
“Kayla.”
He laughed. “Comeon, man. She don’t count.”
“Fine. Monica. Well,Sandy.”
“Okay then! So you’re gonna throw away your one – relatively – normal human interaction… for what? Actually… while we’re here, I need you to explain how thefuckyour former-CIA ass ended up in a damn anonymous whatever-the-fuck-y’all-call-it in the first place?”
