Page 7 of Soft On Her
“Yeah, you can slide through.”
“Do you mind if I bring a plus one? My future sister-in-law is moving to town this weekend, and I already promised AC I’ll host her for the weekend because he won’t be around.”
“Ion mind. I’ll put y’all on the list if y’all are really going to pull up.”
“I’m going to come for real. My parents are picking Ariel up from school, so I won’t have any reason to flake on you,” Deja confirmed.
“I thought your brother’s fiancée called off the wedding? The last time I saw him, he was frantic about his thirtieth birthday being around the corner and still being unwed.”
“My family has always had contingency plans for the men,” she clarified.
“That’s what’s up. I just hope the marriage contract includes a subscription of Truvada for the duration of the marriage. Y’all only moved to the area a year ago, and he already fucked half the city,” I talked shit.
“Not my business. My focus is on seeing if we can build something,” Deja flirted, licking her bottom lip.
As much as I would’ve loved to delve into Deja’s world, it would take more than the show she was putting on this morning to convince me this new attitude wasn’t an act.
The obnoxious rumble of an approaching engine made both of our heads swivel towards the street. Quinn’s sleek black Hellcat Redeye Challenger sped down the street. I knew my mama was going to come curse her out as soon as she could make it down here. Quinn’s car was barely in park before she hopped out and ran over to me with her laptop clasped in her hand. She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it when she saw Deja seated next to me.
“I need to speak with you in private,” Quinn insisted.
Whatever Quinn wanted to discuss was urgent, hence her appearance on my family’s estate, while dressed in floral pajama pants and a tank top she slept in the night before. Her hair was still concealed beneath the silk scarf on her head, clear signs that she hopped out of the bed and ran straight over here.
“I guess that’s her way of telling me to get the hell on,” Deja huffed, leaning over to peck my cheek again. “See you later on tonight at Flamingos.”
“Yeah, I’ll believe it when I see it,” I nodded, happy that she was walking off.
“You might want to stop getting so cozy with Deja because you’ll never believe what I found this morning,” Quinn sputtered, plopping down on the seat next to me and pulling her laptop open.
“What?”
“I’m pretty sure I found her,” Quinn blurted, and I froze. “Snap out of it bitch. I’m for real,” she patted my chest, then plopped the laptop onto my lap.
Pictures from Oland International Airport’s security system stared back at me when I peered at the screen. It couldn’t possibly be Milani. A few counties over, happy, healthy, and with a fucking phone pressed to her ear. I scanned the looped video intently, noticing the red crocodile Birkin bag clasped in her left hand, the blue Miu Miu track jacket and skirt set with a red stripe on the sides that hugged her body, and the matching baseball cap. It definitely looked like Milani, but her hair was cut into a cute shoulder length style, vastly different from the back length hair she usually sported. My eyes narrowed, and I scanned the woman again. Her frame was also thicker than I remembered. The brief far off clip made it difficult to get a good look to be certain. Someone bumped into the woman in question, sending her low baseball cap tumbling to the ground. She bent over to retrieve it and pulled the oversized shades off for a moment to scratch her eyelid before sliding them back on.
Over the years, I’d imagined myself being gleeful with any sign of Milani. Now that I had it, that was not the case. My blood boiled, and my heart shattered again. All the time, money, and energy I spent searching for Milani, only for her to be fine. The nights I lay in my bed wondering if something nefarious happened to her, and the times I wondered if my father was lying to me about what happened that day, were all for nothing. If that was her, I had a horse sized pill to swallow. Milani was just fine, and although my number never changed, she never bothered to call or text. Maybe I never meant shit to her like I thought I did.
Jumping to my feet, anger surged through me. I threw the laptop down, cracking it in half upon impact. Lifting my right foot, I brought my heel down again and again until the casingwas the only thing left standing. Quinn wrapped her arms around me and pulled me away from the mangled device.
“Where is this woman? We can’t tell it’s her from the footage alone,” My chest heaved, and my vision blurred from frustration.
“I don’t know,” Quinn faltered, releasing her grip on me. “The facial recognition system I created still has some kinks to work out because it no longer recognized her face once she put her glasses back on. I’m going to comb through the rest of the security footage, but so far, I don’t know where she went. However, I’m sure it’s Milani. She even flew under her own name.”
“Ain’t no way after all of these years she just pops up like ain’t shit happen,” I mumbled, falling back down onto the wicker bench.
“That’s what it’s looking like.”
“My bad about the computer. I’ll buy you a replacement. Just add it onto my next invoice,” I requested.
“Already ahead of you. I knew your crazy ass might pull some shit like that, so I brought the cheapest laptop I own. But even that one cost a bag,” Quinn complained.
“I said I got you,” I reiterated, standing to my feet again. “I got some business to handle. I’m going to head straight to Oland when I get done and get dressed at my condo up there. My parents are going to be questioning me about why I just spazzed out on the porch, and I want to keep the possible Milani sighting between us. Plus, I’m not leaving Oland until we confirm that’s Milani, and if it is, where could I find her? If she flew into that airport, she can’t be too far, so bring your computer shit and some clothes. We in the O with it.”
“I got you,” Quinn detailed, gathering a few pieces of her laptop.
“Bet.”
Approaching the wrought iron gates with the large C in the middle, I couldn’t believe I was really back in Florida after all these years. The home on the property was cute, not quite as massive as the home I grew up in, but it was definitely a step up from the home we’d lived in after my father’s untimely death. There wasn’t nearly as much security either. No armed guards at the gate, just a clicker above the driver’s head to grant us entry. Even with that said, I could definitely appreciate my new home.
