Page 22 of Always There Bayou
“I get that, but…”
“Nope,” she cuts me off, shaking her head. “I don’t wanna hear some tired excuse about how it’s embarrassing or whatever. You are surrounded by people who love you and want nothing but the best for you. Cory, you have your moments, and there have been plenty of times where I wanted to bat the fuck outta you, but I know that it’s just your emotions and anxiety getting the better of you. Look at me.”
I huff, looking up at her. She smiles softly, taking my hand in hers. I jumped a bit because I wasn’t used to being all mushy with her or Harley. She chuckles, shaking her head.
“You gotta chill out, dude,” she says. “You’re one of my best friends, Cory, and all I ever want is what’s best for you. It’s all Harley ever wants for you. It’s all your family wants for you. And it’s damn sure what Denny wants for you.”
“Yeah, I know,” I mumble, slowly relaxing, letting my guard fall.
“Furthermore, Denny is grown, and who they fuck is none of your concern if y’all aren’t dating,” she points out, and I nod, slowly accepting that fact. “However, it’s clear from the reaction you had that it bothers you. I mean, I plan on taking every bottle up out this bitch once I leave, but I’m sure you’ve learned your lesson by now, right?”
“Oh, don’t worry. I have,” I wince, the memory of last night swirling around in my head once again. “I’ll never do no dumb shit like that again.”
“Great!” she says, letting my hand go before hopping up from the couch. “Now, since that’s covered, how about we go do something fun?”
“Something fun like what?” I ask skeptically. “I thought you were going back to cuddle with Nala?”
“Nala is spending the day with her cousin-in-law, Iysis,” she informs me. “So, we’re not meeting until later to decorate the tree we picked up yesterday. Speaking of which, where is your tree?”
“Uh, at my dad’s house,” I say, standing up as well. “I don’t see the point in having one when I’m not gonna be here for Christmas anyway. Sounds like a waste of money.”
“Don’t you have a whole secret bank account with hundreds of thousands of dollars in it that you don’t touch just so you can gift it to Denny one day?” she asks, and I roll my eyes. “Also, I still can’t believe you went this long without realizing you were in love with them. You’re domestic as hell when it comes to them.”
“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to take care of mybest friend.”
“Lord, shut that shit up, Cory, and come on,” she groans. “I refuse to listen to you being in denial all day. Let’s go get your mind off all of this, and then you can finally go see them later tonight and confess your feelings.”
I try to argue with her, but she waves me off, telling me to meet her downstairs in 10 minutes. With that, she leaves me standing there alone in my apartment. My thoughts were all over the place once again, but I decided to shake them off so I could enjoy whatever bullshit Simone had thought up. I grab my keys, wallet, and phone before exiting my apartment and locking the door behind me.
8:34 PM
“That was the dumbest fucking movie I’ve ever seen,” I say as Simone and I exit the theater. A few people stopped to take pictures because they recognized us, but I ignored them. I was not in the mood to talk to people. I was ready to go home. My social battery was at zero. “Next time, please pick a movie that I’d enjoy. I hate all that singing and shit.”
“Aww, so there will be a next time!” Simone asks, making her voice higher. My face scrunches up in disgust, and she doubles over in laughter. “What? You aren’t enjoying our date? Oh, wait, you’d rather it was Denny, huh?”
“Simone, I swear to God, I’m bouta beat yo ass right here in front of all of these people,” I tell her, but it only causes her to laugh harder. I try to fight it, but soon I crack and laugh too. She looks soaccomplished as we walk back towards the parking garage. “You are so fucking annoying, Simi.”
“Hey, but I cheered you up, didn’t I?”
“Yeah, yeah,” I wave her off as we round the corner. We stop in our tracks when we see about four women standing there. “What the hell…”
“Oh, my god! It is y’all!” One of them squeals as they run up to us. “Can you take pictures with us, please?”
I’m about to tell them no, but before I can, they crowd around us. I was instantly uncomfortable because if there was one thing I hated, it was having people all up in my space. Don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful for my fans, but I wasn’t the type who liked to take pictures and stuff like that. I preferred to sign something for them and keep it kicking.
I didn’t like people touching me without my consent or bombarding me with questions. It makes me panic every time. Again, it had nothing to do with them per se; I just knew my boundaries, and I wasn’t a fan of them being crossed like this. It was always too much.
However, I didn’t say anything as I posed for pictures. The whole time, I was counting down the seconds until this was over. As soon as the last woman was finished, they thanked us, and I nodded before walking off. I was almost to the entrance of the parking garage when one of them said something that had me turning around.
“Cory, why did you and Christie break up? Y’all were so cute together.”
I glance over at Simone, and she shakes her head, signaling for me to let it go. I turned back towards the group of women, and afew of them seemed to be recording, no doubt wanting something to post about on IG. I sighed and shrugged before turning around.
“Wait! Is it true that she broke up with you because you’re in love with your best friend?”
My head whipped around so fast that I swear I heard something crack. By now, there was a growing crowd of onlookers stopping to see what was going on. I heard a few people gasp as they laid eyes on us, and I groaned internally. The woman was inching closer to me, still waiting for me to answer, but I backed up with every step she took.
“So, is it true?” she probed as I made it back to Simone. “Did you cheat on her or something?”
