Page 106 of Don Caselli

Like he was his second in command or something. I watched the live while watching him going off on the phone. His vein on the side of his neck bulged as he hollered. Beans was back at the villa with Greene. They were going to attempt to make the snapper again, with Gera’s guidance.

“Don’t even worry about it. I’ll handle it when I touch back down,” I heard him say, as he ended the call and walked back over toward me.

Although he was calm when he said those words, his eyes told me everything wasn’t going to be alright when he touched down.

He checked his watch, then sat back down on the edge of my lounge chair. “Ready to head back?”

I put my phone down and smiled. “Thanks for this. I really enjoyed myself today.”

“We didn’t do shit except sit on the beach and read. I had a few shots, and you sucked down three smoothies.”

I laughed. “First of all, don’t clock how many smoothies I had… they were so good. Plus, we didn’t need to do anything, Landon. There’s beauty in doing nothing sometimes. It’s a privilege that not too many people get extended to them.”

He nodded his head. “You right, Pooh.”

There was always something happening, always something to do. Even when you planned not to do anything, something always had to get done. When I was younger, I used to hate to sit in the house doing nothing. As an adult, I realized that not too many got that option. I watched my father, on his days off, getdressed because he and my uncles had some contracting job in another part of the city.

There wasn’t such a thing as doing nothing and enjoying the stillness of the world. Today, as I read my book on the most beautiful beach, I stared up at the sky and could actually see the clouds move. The sun beating down on my legs, and the smell of sea water, were small luxuries of the day that I didn’t take for granted.

Inhaling a healthy dose of sea water while a crisp page from a book sat between your fingers was the perfect day for me. “Somebody said they wanted me to be sexy, so I need time to do that.”

“Don’t need that much time.” He helped me up and grabbed my beach bag as we trekked across the beach to the Jeep holding hands.

I looked at him as he stared straight ahead with a dark pair of sunglasses on. His facial expression was tense, and when he briefly looked over at me, he smiled. “Everything okay?”

Opening the door for me, I climbed in, and he sat the beach bag in the backseat. “Yeah.”

“You’re lying to me, and I understand. There are things that you cannot tell me. Greene has already been a vault.”

He chuckled. “It’s your birthday… none of that shit matters.”

“Okay.”

Soon as we got back to the villa, Don and Beans went somewhere to talk while I went to shower. When he had me speed packing, I had grabbed the dress I planned to wear on the trip with London.

A yellow V-neck crochet maxi dress with gold accessories and my mini knockoff Hermes bag. I lathered my body up with Demosea’s Urban Romance body oil, then used the matching perfume. It was a small woman owned business I found online and became obsessed with her things, especially this collectionbeing named after my favorite things: books. Spritzing some on my neck, behind my knees, and then my ankles, I stood up and tied my robe tighter so I could start my makeup and hair.

“Knock, knock, birthday girl!” Greene stood in the doorway with her arms folded, smiling at me.

Our moms really ate when they decided to have children around the same time. Greene had been my built in best friend, and no matter what happened, or where we went, we always spilled our deepest secrets to each other.

“Hey… I was just thinking about you.”

“As you spray your ankles with perfume… yeah, sure,” she cackled, sounding exactly like her mother, my aunt, whenever she laughed.

“You crazy if you don’t think I’m ending this birthday on his high.” I snorted at my own joke and started on my makeup.

“Just wanted to check in with you. How did the convo go with the whole abortion thing?”

“He’s supportive of what I want to do. Neither of us are ready for a child right now. It would be dumb to have one just because we can afford one.”

Greene nodded her head in agreement. “No offense, but babies ruin everything.”

“Greene!”

“I’m being real. They are blessings, but let’s be real… having one right now as you both are getting to know each other sounds like a disaster.”

“Girl, I live for a pregnancy troupe in a book, but in real life, I am crying on the inside. When that doctor told me, I flashed out.”

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