Shea went to the door in a heartbeat. She wasn’t accustomed to Kayla seeming so fragile. She opened the door.
“Kayla?”
Kayla was disheveled. Her eyes were puffy, red, and tears were flowing down her cheeks, her breathing heavily labored.
“Oh my goodness.” Shea said.
“Shea…I’m..I’m..”
“Take a breath Kayla,” Shea said brows furrowed. “What is going on?”
Kayla began hyperventilating, skin pale and clammy, beads of sweat forming on her forehead.
“Kayla, I need you to breathe, you’re scaring me.”
Shea ran to the kitchen to grab a cold pack and a glass
Of water. This wasn’t how she imagined spending her night.
She placed the cool pack against the back of Kayla’s neck, handed her the water.
“Here take a few sips between breaths.” She instructed.
Slowly, Kayla’s breathing slowed. Her body was returning to its normal state, but she was still an emotional wreck.
“I think I may lose my job.”
Shea’s eyes bulged and her jaw dropped.
“WHAT?”
“Yeah, today was a shit show.” Kayla explained between sobs.
“I’m sure you’re overthinking it Kayla, slow down, and tell me what happened.”
Kayla sighed while wiping her face with the back of her hand, taking whatever was left of her mascara with her.
“Remember the big project I was going to be filming I told you about a few weeks back?” She began.
“Yeah.. Been There Done That.”
“Well the meeting with the execs and the writers was today.”
“Ohhh snap! Congrats…”
“Hold off on the congrats, let me finish.”
Shea looked confused.
Kayla stared down at the floor nervously.
“I basically humiliated myself, well no, technically the executive did.”
“Humiliated you? I’m lost, I thought this was supposed to be a good meeting?”
“The exec that was there kind of heard me chew out Taylor this morning.”
“Aw shucks Kay.”
Kayla swallowed hard.
“Turns out, he’s her Father.”
Shea’s jaw dropped yet again, this time when her jaw reconnected with its top half, a smirk caught her face.
“Interesting.”
“What the hell you mean interesting?” Kayla asked appalled at her friends lack of empathy. “I’m on suspension Shea!” She sobbed face in her hands.”
“Well.” Shea started.
“Well what Shea?”
“Kayla, you kinda asked for it.”
“The hell you mean I asked for it Shea?”
“Let’s not act like your mouth isn’t reckless and your arrogance doesn’t exist.”
Kayla gasped.
“You want me to coddle you or be real?”
“Nah keep going.”
“You have to stop talking down to people Kay. How long do
you think that would go without consequence?”
“I’m not that bad,” she asked. “Am I ?”
“Kay, you argue with Jason and I daily. We deal with it because we love you, but it’s time for you to grow up sis.”
“Well tell me how you really feel.” Kayla said rolling her eyes.
“I just did.” Shea shrugged.
Kayla stared at Shea for a moment.
The attitude she usually wore like armor flickered… then faded.
Her shoulders dropped.
“You really think I’m that awful?” she asked quietly.
Shea softened immediately.
“I didn’t say you were awful.”
Kayla laughed weakly.
“You didn’t have to.”
She leaned back against the couch, staring up at the ceiling.
“I don’t even know why I talk to people the way I do sometimes.”
Shea watched her carefully.
“Defense mechanism,” she said simply.
Kayla turned her head.
“What?”
“You lead with aggression so nobody gets close enough to hurt you.”
Kayla blinked.
That answer landed somewhere deeper than she expected.
“I’m not afraid of anybody,” Kayla muttered.
Shea shook her head slowly.
“Kay, that’s not what I said.”
Silence filled the room.
Kayla swallowed hard.
“I worked my ass off to get where I am, Shea,” she whispered. “And today… it felt like everything I built just fell apart in ten minutes.”
Shea reached over and placed a hand on her knee.
“Then you fix it.”
Kayla frowned.
“You think they’ll let me?”
“I don’t know,” Shea admitted. “But I do know one thing.”
Kayla looked at her.
“You can’t keep burning bridges and then be shocked when you need to cross one.”
Kayla exhaled slowly.
For the first time that night, the fight drained out of her completely.
“Damn,” she muttered.
Shea raised a brow.
“What?”
Kayla shook her head.
“You and Jason been talking about me behind my back?”
Shea smirked slightly.
“No.”
Kayla squinted.
“Lies.”
Despite everything, Shea laughed.
So did Kayla.
Xavièr laid across the bed scrolling through the emails of potential contracts Lux had lined up for him. He was well on his way to living his dreams.
He realized he hadn’t heard back from Shea about booking for the outdoor images he needed before next week.
He glanced at the time and realized just how much of the day had slipped away from him.
He opened the to-do list on his phone to add a reminder to contact her when a message appeared at the top of the screen.
Unknown: I miss you. Can we talk?
Although there wasn’t a name, he knew all to well who it was. He had finally gotten to a place where he was happy with her absence and had no interest in whatever chaos she represented.
He ignored the message.
Peace was something he had fought too hard to reclaim. Until there was a knock at his door.
Jason made it home safely. Physically, at least.
Luther was no help in clearing his mind.
He dragged himself straight to the bathroom. Undressed, turned on the shower.
He stepped inside the car-wash styled shower designed for full body spray.
The water rained down on him from every angle.
For a moment, he let it pretend to be therapy.
After his shower, he decided to distract himself with work.
Anything was better than thinking about Ava.
He opened the documents Shea had asked him to review from her grandfather’s will.
He poured himself a cup of coffee, hoping it might sober him up a little.
As he continued reading, the words on the page sobered him far faster than the coffee ever could.
Jason leaned closer to the document.
“Wait… what?”
He grabbed his phone and texted Shea immediately.
Jason: YOU UP?! 👀
He stared back down at the paperwork.
“There’s no way she saw this,” he muttered aloud.
When she didn’t respond fast enough, he hit the call button.
“Hey Jay?” Shea answered.
“Girl, are you sitting down?”
“Uhm, yes I am. Why what’s wrong?”
Kayla’s voice cut through the background.
“Hey Jason.”
Jason’s brows twisted in confusion.
“What’s she doing there?”
Shea sighed. “Long story.”
“Interesting,” he replied. “Well, we’re all about to have story time. I’m coming over.”
“Jay—”
But before she could say anything more.
Silence.
He had already disconnected.
Jason gathered the papers, took one last sip of coffee, grabbed his keys, and headed for the door.
“What’s going on?” Kayla asked.
“I’m not sure. He just said he’s on his way here.”
Kayla leaned back against the couch, defeated.
“Can we not tell him what happened?”
Shea chuckled.
“If you scared, say you scared.”
Kayla rolled her eyes mid-laugh.
“I just don’t feel like explaining all of this again. I’m not scared of him.”
Shea sucked her teeth.
“Yeah… uh huh.”
“Whatever, Shea. I’ll tell him when I’m ready.”
“Your battle to face, not mine.”
A knock sounded at the door.
Then it opened.
Jason stepped inside using his key.
Kayla shot both of them a look.
“How he got a key and I had to wait to be let in?”
Shea sighed.
“Please don’t start.”
“Nah, I want to know,” Kayla said, sitting forward. “Y’all sure like leaving me as the oddball.”
Jason tilted his head at her.
“Kay… your green is showing.”
Shea burst out laughing.
Jason followed.
Kayla looked between them.
“Oh, I’mma show both of you green.”
“Girl, pipe down,” Jason said. “When Shea came back home, you were too busy running the streets of LA.”
Kayla paused.
“Oh.”
Shea shook her head.
“You gotta get it together, Kay.”
Jason nodded.
“Mhmm.”
Kayla rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.
“I’m not crazy. Y’all have some kind of secret bond.”
Shea waved her off.
“Okay Jason,” she said. “Why are you here?”
Jason’s expression shifted.
He swallowed.
“These papers.”
He pulled the documents from his bag.
“There’s a clause in here I don’t think you noticed.”
Shea frowned.
“What clause, Jay?”
Kayla watched the exchange, irritation creeping across her face.
“Once again,” she muttered.
Both Shea and Jason turned toward her at the same time.
“Kay… please.”
She rolled her eyes, her leg bouncing restlessly.
“Shea,” Jason began, rubbing the back of his neck, “we’re going to need a stiff drink for this.”
Kayla chuckled.
“Miss Bougie Water over here definitely won’t have a stiff drink in this house.”
Jason couldn’t hold it anymore. Laughter spilled straight from his soul.
Shea gasped.
“I have wine, thank you.”
Jason and Kayla looked at each other and burst out laughing again.
Shea narrowed her eyes.
“Oh. Now who has the secret bond?” she said sarcastically.
Kayla grabbed an accent pillow and launched it straight at Shea’s head.
“For real though,” Jason said, regaining his composure. “This clause… better yet, this stipulation…”
He stopped.
Shea’s jaw dropped for the third time tonight.
Silence.
Kayla slowly sat up, clutching imaginary pearls to her chest.
“My flabbers are about to be gasted.”
Kae Jaye The Writer 