Page 41 of Verse Two
I told them about my conversation with Dy, about her run-in with LaShontae, and my intentions of going toMelonearlier. I let them know that the kiss caught me off guard, but that I did end it, and I walked out of the restaurant shortly after that.
“I messed up because I should have left my conversation with LaShontae at a phone call, but I promise I don’t want that girl. I want your daughter, and all I was trying to do today was make that clear to my ex.”
For a long time, they both stared me down silently. I respected them, so I wanted to give them an opportunity to say what they wanted, but my mind was working overtime on how to fix this shit. I was already behind the eight ball because she was likely already in the air. I needed a flight and a plan immediately, because life without Dy wasn’t happening.
“I believe you,” Reggie eventually said.
“’Preciate that.”
“I don’t think you’re lying either,” Miss Dana said. “I told Dylan the girl was lying when we saw her at the store, so pulling something like this is probably not too far-fetched.”
Reggie cleared his throat. “So, . . . what you gon’ do?”
“I’ma fix this.”
“How?” he pressed.
“By any means necessary.”
Sitting up slightly, Miss Dana clasped her hands together. “You say you love my baby?”
“I do,” I said quickly. “So much.”
She chuckled. “How much issomuch?”
Sliding my hands in my pockets, I said, “So much that I’m on the next flight to Paris. I gotta believe that me and Dy runnin’ into each other at that airport was a God thing. We’re supposed to be together, and I’ma make that happen, Miss Dana. Ain’t no way I’m letting her get away from me again.”
She resumed watching me silently. After a while, she said, “Okay, then.”
Reggie kissed her cheek, then nodded at me.
“I appreciate y’all,” I said, turning to leave. Then I thought of something and turned back.
“Could you give me her best friend’s number? Wilder?”
Miss Dana’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, but she laughed.
“Sure. You’ll probably need her to crack through my baby girl’s shell.”
She pulled her phone out and recited Wilder’s number to me. A plan was formulating as I saved it.
“Whatever you do,” she said as I was about to leave, “you better make it count, Brixton Ellis.”
She gave me a small smile, and her confidence in me gave me a little hope.
“No doubt. Dy deserves the world, and I’ma bring it to her doorstep.”
Fourteen
Dy
“Thank you,” I said as the cab driver pulled up in front of my apartment.
“De rien!”
Although I had my international driving permit, I wasn’t yet comfortable driving in Paris. I had only been here a week, and I had barely seen the inside of my new place because of how much I had been working. Maria was recommitted to making my daily life hell now that we were reunited, and I was beyond over it already.
Luckily for me, though, she met a man a week earlier, and he had asked her to be his Valentine. That meant I had a night to myself. I considered taking myself on a solo Valentine’s date, but I was going to curl up on my sofa, order food, and watch rom coms.
