Page 73 of Flawless

“Listen. I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of repercussions after what happened today. Pictures of you and Zee Zee, me punching the guy, and breaking his camera. I have no idea who all caught that on their camera phones. But I’m sure that social media is probably blowing up by now with stories and people’s perceptions. Are you going to be able to handle it?”

“It’s nothing new.”

“It is new. You don’t have the same coping mechanisms you once did to face this stuff. You will be facing this full-on and raw with nothing to chase the pain away. Can you handle it?”

I close my eyes and think about the post that I created when I first arrived here.

“I’m not sure. I would like to believe that I can, but I know that it will be hard.”

“Then don’t face it full-on.”

“What do I do?”

“Stay off your phone. Stay off the internet. Just accept this time for what it is; a time of reflection and peace. Let this be your hiatus from the world. We have an entire stretch of beach at this end that’s far removed from the rest of the beach. It’s private, and it’s ours. We can remain secluded if that’s what you’d like.”

Releasing a soft breath through my nose, I say, “The first night that I was here on the beach with you and the crew you met, I took a selfie. And I posted that selfie on my social media platforms. And I wrote a caption that I was taking a hiatus. Ironically, you used that exact term today.”

“That’s what it is. Your hiatus. You don’t have to be anywhere doing anything that you don’t want to do, Danica. You have a team of people to handle everything for you. Turn off your phone and turn off the world. I’m here, and I will handle whatever needs to be handled. Maybe call your family and let them knowthat you’re okay. Other than that, you don’t need to talk to anyone about anything.”

“What will I do?”

“Get to know Zee Zee. Get to know me again. But most importantly, get to know yourself, Dani.”

A small smile tilts my lips, and I say, “I once heard a wise man say that one of the hardest battles you’ll ever have to fight is the one that you fight with yourself.”

“He is a very wise man,” Zenon says. “Who is he?”

“A friend of my Cousin Kincaid. His name is Marvin Ramsey.”

“I suggest that you take that time now to begin fighting that battle while we’re here to support you. It’s still the beginning of summer. I don’t have anywhere I have to be while I map out my plans. You don’t have anywhere you need to be, and Zee Zee’s out for the summer.”

A smile turns up my lips.

“That sounds like a perfect summer to me,” I say.

“Where’s your phone?” he asks.

I point at the table behind him. “I set it over there when I first got back. It was ringing, but I wasn’t ready to talk to anyone, so I turned it on vibrate.”

“Smart girl.”

“Now. Let’s choose two people that you trust and call them. You call those two people only and let them know that you’re okay and what’s going on. They can let the rest of your family and friends know what's going on. I don’t want you overwhelmed, okay?”

My heart fills with joy. I’ve never had anyone to take care of me before, not like this. Sure, my team takes care of my physical and online appearance, they take care of my business, and they take care of my finances, but no one has ever taken care of my heart and my spirit this way.

I watch as Zenon stands, grabs the phone, and returns to me. He hands me the phone and says, “I’ll give you some privacy. We can eat sandwiches for lunch, but I’m going to start cooking something for an early dinner. How does that sound?”

“That sounds phenomenal,” I say.

When he heads to the kitchen, I walk into my bedroom and stare at my phone for several minutes. There are a number of people that I could call, but who do I want to call?

Fingering the contact list in my phone, I make the first call.

“Hey, Dani. You good, girl?”

Blowing out a long breath, I say, “Yes, big bro. I’m good for the first time in a very long time.”

“I saw some crap on social media about you being involved in a brawl. There were pictures of you and some kid in the back of a car. What’s going on?”

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