AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Something like?” Rashida prompts, lifting an eyebrow.
“Like one day I won’t have to work so hard, and someday soon I’ll have my hands full with our children, and there’ll be no time for my business.”
“So, what’re you saying? He wants you to sell your shop and give up your life’s work?”
I nod slowly. “I think he might eventually ask me to.”
“And?”
“And what?”
“What’s your response? I mean, you love what you do, P.”
Inhaling deeply, I reply, “I do.”
“Why the hell am I hearing a ‘but,’ Piper? I’d better not be hearing a ‘but’! His ass put that ‘but’ there, didn’t he?” she says, getting louder with each question.
Her nail tech taps her on the back of her hand and frowns.
“Sorry,” she says and then turns back to me. “No ‘but,’ Piper,” she comments sternly.
“Look, I’m not about to close my shop if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“Good!”
“I may take a sabbatical though.”
“For what?”
Shrugging, I reply, “Not right away, but there will come a time when I need to dedicate myself to helping Kenneth on the campaign trail. I want to be there by his side helping his dreams come true.”
“What about your dreams, P? You’ve dreamt of owning your own shop and being a tattoo artist since Mrs. Foster-Martin caught you spray painting the side of the gym and took you under her wing in fifth grade.”
I smile at the memory of my old fifth-grade teacher. She was so loving and patient when I struggled in school after my leukemia diagnosis. I missed weeks from school at the end of my fourth-grade year and a couple of months at the start of my fifth-grade year. Mrs. Foster-Martin helped me catch up and stay on track so I wasn’t kept back. She was an artist too who painted at night when she didn’t have classwork to grade.
“Dreams change, Rah. I want to be a wife and mother and...maybe do my part in the community.”
She lifts an eyebrow and says, “This is news to me.”
“Yeah.”
“Since when have you been a ‘do my part in the community sort of person’?”
“I’m growing and maturing,” I defend.
“Mm-hm.”
“What? I am!”
“I’m not saying that you aren’t. I’m just saying that be sure the change in you is manifested by a sincere desire to grow and develop as a person not because someone is forcing you to.”
“I know. I think that together he and I can do great things.”
She shakes her head and mutters, “Okay, I guess.”
I reach across the armrests of our chairs and grab her free hand with mine. Giving it a gentle squeeze, I offer her a smile and say, “This isn’t only about him. I know what I’m doing, and I won’t get hurt. Okay?”
She forces a smile to her lips, nods her head, and says, “Okay.”
