Page 28 of Ready or Not
Letting out a sigh, I grabbed the items off the nightstand and started dressing.
Time for the fairytale to end, I suppose.
14 /SOLÈNE
“Let me get this right,”Naomi’s voice cracked slightly as she raised an incredulous eyebrow. “You just left… after everything that you told us happened last night?”
Propping my phone against my bedroom’s large brown dresser, I chewed on my bottom lip. “Yeah…”
“This bitch—” Naomi sighed, dragging her palm down her face dramatically. “I—” she sighed. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Allie, Lizzy,” I looked at my other friends on the FaceTime call as I slipped into my dark blue sportswear for pilates. “Am I wrong for leaving?”
Before Alexandra or Elizabeth could reply, Naomi screamed. “Yes!”
“But–”
“You assumed and then left!” She jabbed a finger at the screen like she could physically smack some sense into me through our FaceTime call. “You didn’t even have a talk with him. You didn’t get any kind of closure, nor did you even try to understand what the hell was going on!”
Alexandra leaned closer on her end, tucking a strand of her jet black hair behind her ear. “You know I never side with Naomibuuuuuuut it’s a little dramatic to just leave without saying anything instead of waiting for an explanation?—”
“What explanation justifies that?” Elizabeth interrupted, her sharp tone cutting across Alexandra’s calm reasoning. Her perfectly arched brow furrowed as she stared into the camera. “You wake up to clothes folded neatly? No thanks. I’d be out too.”
Naomi sucked her teeth. “Liz, you’ve never had a one-night stand, nor have you ever woken up to anything less than sunshine and daisies ‘cause your boyfriend gives you the world. Your opinion doesn’t count here.”
“It does if I know that girl code 101 is that if you find your clothes likethat,”Elizabeth shot back. “It’s clear as day that you needa gooooo. Your stay has been overextended, sis. You gotta bounce. No questions asked. No need to stick around for the awkward conversation. Plus, he’s a Dominican man from the Bronx… that’s a red flag right there,” she finished, crossing her arms triumphantly.
“Oh lord,” Alexandra groaned. “Not this again…”
Naomi groaned, throwing both hands in the air. “Oh my God, Liz, not this Bronx slander again! One time—literally one time—a Bronx guy ghosted you, and now they’re all villains?”
“Yes,” Elizabeth nodded. “I stand ten toes on what I said.”
Naomi grimaced, throwing her head back dramatically before snapping forward again to glare at the screen.
“So he can’t be considerate?!” She jabbed her finger once more. “Thoughtful?!”
“You know what?” Alexandra pursed her red lips. “Tony did have a thing for folding y’all's clothes which I found weird buuuut… that was his thing. Remember that time he folded all your laundry while waiting for you to get ready?”
Naomi clapped her hands together in disbelief, leaning closer to the screen. “Exactly! Thank you, Allie! That’s what I’m saying.What if he was just being NICE? Like, 'Hey, let me make sure she doesn’t wake up in a pile of random-ass clothes'. Besides, what kind of man nowadays goes out of their way to fold clothes for a woman he doesn’t like? Most men would have your ass out as soon as he nutted. Or he’ll have your shit in a plastic bag."
“Wait…” I tilted my head, pointing at Naomi. “Aren’t you the same person who loves to enforce ‘the clothes’ rule? It’s the whole reason why I left in the first place.”
“Context matters!” she huffed, throwing her hands up. “The rule applies to ain’t shit men who couldn’t remember your name during sex or those who don’t bother to wash AND dry your clothes after inviting your ass over! This man let you stay the night and cuddled with you. He told you he wanted to talk to you in the morning.”
“He kind of said ‘later?—”
“Semantics, semantics,” she rolled her eyes. “Anyways, there's a difference between folded clothes because they’re shoving you out the door and folded clothes because maybe they’re, I don’t know, trying to acknowledge you as a human being with basic decency.”
“Okay, but?—”
“Nah,” she shook her head. “Don’t ‘okay but’ me. You’re telling me you didn’t even wait for an explanation of what the hell happened this morning? Not even a text? Why didn’t you call me so I could've told your ass to wait until he got back?”
I hesitated, chewing on my lip again because I could’ve called her, but I chickened out. That pause was enough for Naomi to throw her hands up again, looking like she was about to reach through the screen and throttle me.
“Ooooop,” Elizabeth leaned back in her chair with a smirk, pointing knowingly at Naomi. "There it is. Naomi patented the ‘I’m so done with you’face. She’s about two seconds fromblowing up your phone with voice notes ranting for the next hour."
“Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable,” Naomi shook her head in mock defeat. “You better not have blocked his number, too.”
