Page 16 of Exit: Us
To the left of me, there was a single sink beneath a large mirror. There were neatly folded towels resting on a shelf beside the sink. They appeared to be clean, but I would just use the towel that Gemini gave to me. Straight ahead, there was a private bathroom, and it had its own toilet and trash can. Next to that, you could see the shower. It really wasn’t that bad. It had a smell lingering in here of disinfectant spray. You could even smell just a little bit of the Clorox that was used to mop the floors.
I went over to the counter, where I sat my shower bag. I dug inside, grabbing my charger, along with my phone. Seeing the outlet, I plugged the charger up, immediately inserting the charging cable into my dying phone. I haven’t been on my phone that much today, but my battery was still on 20%. There were text messages from my mom, and Gianna. Multiple messages from them. Really just checking on me, wanting to know how everything was going.
My mom had zero understanding as to why I had gotten on the road with Gemini. You could tell that she didn’t agree with it, but at the same time, she knew that I wasn’t in the right state of mind for her to try to voice that to me. I think the only thing that gave her a peace of mind with me getting on the truck with him was knowing that he wasn’t a complete stranger. My mom knew Gemini’s mom, along with his step- father. If that wasn’t the case, she would have probably left London and flew to Miami to literally ban me from getting on the truck with him. I was grown, but my mom was very protective over me.
I had messages from Gianna. Gianna knew I was safe because I’m sure she’s been in contact with her brother. I didn’t have too much to say to them, so I just let them both know that we’d made it to Tallahassee and that we were going to call it a night there. My mom probably wouldn’t see my message untilshe woke up. London was five hours ahead, so I knew that she was sleeping right now.
After sending the messages to them, I tossed my phone on the counter and looked at myself in the mirror. Looking at myself, all I could think was that the heartbreak that I was feeling was beginning to show. It was one of those looks where I couldn’t even lie to someone and pretend that I was okay. Seeing myself, I felt like I didn’t look anything like the woman that I was two months ago. Tilting my head, getting a better look, I was still beautiful nonetheless, but knowing myself the way that I did, I could easily spot the changes.
My braids had been pulled up into a bun all day, so I quickly pulled them down, allowing the long knotless plaits to frame my face. I could literally feel the tension leaving my scalp once the braids were no longer in the bun. Loving the release that the braids gave my scalp, I rolled my neck around a couple of times, allowing the braids to settle down. From there, I dug into the shower bag, grabbing my microfiber headband. I was going to need it to keep my braids pushed back, as I washed my face, and tended to my skin care.
While on this trip, I had to make sure that I was on top of my skin care because I already knew how my skin could get when I was stressed out, and I was trying to avoid that from happening.
It took about ten minutes to finish with my skin care. After that, I pulled out my soap, and bodywash. I grabbed the washcloth that Gemini had given me, along with my loofah. I picked up my shower cap as well, and the towel.
I took all those things over to the shower. Forgetting that I needed the shower shoes as well that Gemini gave to me, I went back for them. I placed one of the towels down on the floor, using it as a bathmat for when I stepped out. I started the water, putting it on its hottest setting, and while it warmed up to myliking, I quickly protected my braids with the shower cap, and I started removing my clothes.
I kept my clothes folded, stepped into the shower shoes, and I was in. I really was at this truck stop, taking a damn shower. The water was burning hot though, just like I liked it.
For at least the first five minutes, I chose to just stand up under the water, allowing it to beat against my skin. I started cleaning my body shortly after. I was one of those people that could stay inside of a shower all day if you allowed me to. The only reason why I ended up getting out is because I felt like I had been in here too long, and I’m sure that Gemini was waiting for me to hurry the hell up. I knew he was tired. His eyes were a little red.
I stepped out, wrapping the towel around me. I went back over to the sink, so that I could brush my teeth, and rinse my mouth. I removed the towel, wiped off the lingering specs of water that were on my body, and then I applied the lotion and oil to my body.
I reached into the shower bag, where I pulled out a pair of lace underwear, along with my silk pajamas. After putting deodorant on, I slipped into the pajamas and removed the shower cap from my head. I was going to continue to let my braids hang. I slid my feet into my slides, straightened up the bathroom, allowing it to look exactly how it did when I arrived.
I placed all my things back into the shower bag, tossed my charger in the bag, grabbed my phone, and once I had everything, I opened the door. I jumped, getting startled when I saw that Gemini was standing on the other side of the door. I didn’t expect him to be standing right there. I thought that he would have waited for me out front, where the little siting area was.
I hated that I couldn’t stand him, but at the same time, I couldn’t deny that he was a very overly attractive man. To befully transparent, and blunt about it, Gemini was fine as hell. Completely opposite of Jacob. I’m not saying that Jacob wasn’t fine himself, but the two of them were like night and day. Jacob was a white guy. He was the first white guy that I’ve ever dated in my life. It was how soft he was with me. His compassion, his corny ass jokes, the way he uplifted me, and poured into me is what won me over. I’ve always been drawn to a person’s character more than anything else, and that’s how it was with Jacob.
There were so many things about Gemini that made him out to be this fine guy that I was saying he was. His built was out of this world. I’ve never been attracted to a man with a bunch of tattoos, but for some reason, the full tattoo sleeves that he had were beautiful to me. He removed the durag from his head, so you could see the fine hair, and those beautiful waves. He was sporting a sleeveless orange shirt, with green lettering across the front that said, ‘FAMU’. I knew that Gemini attended FAMU for college from Gianna. That’s all I know. I didn’t know what he studied or anything like that.
He wore black joggers and they hung off his waist a little bit. White socks and black slides completed his look.
He had to do a skin care routine just as I did because his face was shining. His arms even had a glow. I could smell him from where I was standing. Cocoa butter is what I smelt on him.
“You ready?” he wanted to know.
“Yeah,” I said, and he stepped back, allowing me to fully walk out, and get on the side of him.
“Your Zaxby’s still in the car that I got you earlier. You want that, or you want to grab something to eat from here?” he asked me.
“It’s okay. I’m not hungry,” I let him know.
“But you haven’t eaten anything all day,” he said.
“I’m not hungry,” I told him again, and he nodded.
“Aight. Let’s walk over here right quick. Ima grab a sub. It’s a Subway over here,” he said.
You could tell that he’s stopped at this specific truck stop plenty of times because he knew his way around.
We did a little walking, which landed us into the main area of the truck stop. Per the signs, I guess we were standing in the travel center. The entire atmosphere of this place changed. It was livelier over here. Because it was so late at night, it wasn’t that many people, but you could tell that this place could get pretty busy. It wasn’t just truck drivers. You had families. Families that were probably on road trips, just stopping in right quick to grab something to eat.
“It’s all kinds of food spots in here. You sure you don’t want anything?” Gemini asked me again.
“I’m sure. Go ahead. I’ll just wait right here,” I let him know.
He nodded, and he walked off, going for Subway. I found an empty table and settled into one of the chairs. I sat my shower bag down on the empty chair next to me. Crossing my legs, I kept my eyes on Gemini, watching him as he ordered. From where I was sitting, I had the perfect view of him, and I could even hear a little bit of what he was ordering. I heard this man ask for two subs. Hearing that, caused just a small smile to appear on my face because I was steady telling this man one thing, but he would do another.
