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6
“So, how’s Ryan?” I asked, as I sifted through the nail polish on Nicky’s dresser. She must’ve had a hundred bottles neatly lined up next to about two hundred bottles of perfume.
“Good,” Angie said from her seat on the floor. “He’s supposed to be editing some videos.”
I glanced at her. “Supposed to be?”
She nodded. “Yeah, but I keep getting notifications that he’s posting stuff on social media. I swear he’s addicted.”
“Ryan has a huge following,” Nicky offered. “He’s got to keep his fans happy.”
“Ryan has a huge following because he’s Ryan, not because of the memes he posts,” Angie said.
“Yeah, but you have to admit, he shares some funny stuff,” Nicky said.
Angie rolled her eyes. “Your ass is just one of his groupies.”
“I sure am.”
Angie threw her nail file at Nicky who was digging through a drawer in her nightstand, presumably trying to find some CD her latest potential husband had given her.
“Why you gotta be so violent?” Nicky asked through a giggle.
“I’ma do more than throw stuff at you if you keep crushing on my husband.”
“First of all, I’m not crushing on Ryan. He’s my brother-in-law, and I love him as such. But shit, I ain’t blind. Your man is fine, big sis. Exceptionally fine. Hell, I do believe he’s the finest man—”
“Speaking of fine men,” I said, interrupting Nicky before an all-out bloodbath ensued, because although Nicky’s loose behind was playing, I knew Angie would lay her out about Ryan. “I went out on a date last week.”
“Aw, shit. With Robert’s homely ass?” Angie asked, in a tone coated in disgust.
“Fuck,” Nicky mumbled.
“No! Damn, can you two give me a little credit for having an ounce of sense?”
Silence.
I sighed and reclaimed my seat on the floor with a bottle of canary yellow nail polish in my hand. “Whatever.”
“I mean, look at your track record, Nay,” Angie offered. “How can you blame us for thinking you’d go back to him?”
“We’ve been separated for over a year. I filed for divorce. I’ve changed. What he did to me changed me, and I’m not just talking about the twenty-two pounds I lost. I’m not Robert Mattison’s fool anymore. Can’t you two see that?” I tried to keep the tremor out of my voice but failed. My voice almost always revealed my true emotions, and even on those rare occasions when I was able to control my voice, my face would undoubtedly give me away.
I blinked back tears, determined not to cry this time. I was so tired of crying…
“We’re sorry, Nay. We really are,” Angie said, with Nicky quickly agreeing. “You have changed. We know that.”
I nodded. “Do y’all wanna hear about the date or what?”
“I do, and I also wanna know how I missed the fact that you met a man and we live in the same house,” Nicky said.
I stared at her. “Have you gained invisibility or something? When are you ever here, Nicky?”
She heaved a sigh. “I’m here now, aren’t I?”
“And I’m telling you now. Goodness! Anyway…” I gave them the details on Lorenzo Higgs from my first encounter with him at his home to our lunch “date.”
“So he’s rich?” Nicky asked. It wasn’t surprising that she’d home in on that part.
