Page 14 of Milo

In an instant, her palm slid against my fingers as I redirected her hand from the door she was attempting to open and flee from me.

“If you touch that door, Nature, I’m going to be very fucking offended.”

“I-I…” she stuttered, tripping over her words. “I wasn’t.”

It was refreshing knowing that she hadn’t forgotten. Instead of admitting as much, I peered down at her, waiting for her to look up at me. And when she did, she cracked my chest right open and gutted me of my heart. It was hers.

She owned it. Always had. Always would. Ownership had never been questioned, and as my orbs focused on the golden-colored beauty inches beneath me, I knew it never would be a question of mine.

Finally, she gave me those honey-drizzled rounds. Gnawing on her bottom lip, revealing her array of emotions and feelings as well as their displacement, she looked up at me. She didn’t bat a single lash while waiting for me to say something, anything. She clung to the breath she’d taken, not letting go until words surfaced.

“Fix your face.”

“Milo,” she huffed.

“Fix it before you get in this car, Nay. I don’t give a fuck what happened before I showed up. From this moment forward, you are only to feel good things. Shit that makes your lips stretch for your eyes and that heart of yours beat so hard against your chest that you think you need to see a cardiologist. I’m not accepting anything less and neither should you. So, fix your face. I’m here. Whatever it is, I’m going to make it better now.”

Slowly, she released a long stream of air, ridding herself of everything that was hindering her happiness on such a special day. It wasn’t until I saw her ears lift and cheeks rise slightly that I opened the door and allowed her to slide into the passenger seat where she belonged.

Enclosed in the small space with her, the scent of her perfume ignited my senses. Closing my eyes, momentarily, I tried hard to define the moment and the value it carried but failed. Nature Dupree, a college graduate at the age of eighteen and the youngest OB/GYN Berkeley had ever known, was once again, my passenger.

“You really don’t have to,” politely, she responded to my outstretched hand with the box in the center.

“But I did.”

She accepted the Rolex-branded box with the softest of smiles spreading her lips across her entire face.

“How’d you know?”

“Homework. You’re a subject I’ll study until the death of me. It’s detrimental to stay up to date on all things Nature as much as I pray for our reunion.”

“Pray?” She chuckled, pulling the top of the box backward.

“Yes. I saw a few weeks ago that you’d misplaced your favorite watch.”

“My Datejust.”

“Your Datejust. I ordered an upgrade, immediately, and included a few customizations. Within a week, it was at my doorstep. I wasn’t sure when I’d have the chance, but there was just something warning me against sending it here to your parents’ home. I’m happy I didn’t fight that feeling and followed it, instead.”

“Why?” She chuckled. “My arm wouldn’t have been so bare for so long.”

“Because I wouldn’t have gotten to see this look on your face.”

“Milo.” She was amused, covering her face, but not before I got a peek at the redness of her cheeks and all those pearly white teeth. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

She wasn’t a good liar. That hadn’t changed, either. But instead of calling her on her shit, I pulled out of the driveway as “Misunderstood” by Lucky Daye began on the stereo.

Thank you, she mouthed while we exited the driveway.

Twice, I tapped the middle of my chest with my palm with a nod. As the soundtrack of our night poured through the speakers, I pressed the pedal. Nature occupying my passenger seat was paramount to my week. I couldn’t imagine a better way to end it.

As college kids, we hardly had much of anything to our names. Long walks to classes and labs felt much different from the buttery seats of the Aston, but just as good. Watching her hair fight the wind and get stuck in the lip gloss she’d painted her lips with was as comical as it was heartwarming, reminding me of the windy days we struggled to keep our bodies from flying in the opposite direction as we trekked the campus to our next destination.

The diamonds that circled her watch glistened under the light that bounced off her brown skin every other second.Flawless. Perfectly made. Nature was such a beautiful creature, unlike anything I’d ever seen. Her cinnamon-colored hair, honey-drizzled eyes, and sandy skin tone were only a few of my favorite things about her. The list was almost never-ending.

Bobbing her head, she matched the beat of the stereo. Somehow, someway, Kehlani’s voice had made it into the mix. Because Nature was so enthralled in the record playing, I decided against changing it and listened to the words she seemed to know quite well.

Her sentiments included taking turns being grown, being accountable, feeling crazy for missing someone, being problematic, feeling addicted to someone, putting the pussy up and waiting for someone, and an array of other things. But the ones that stood out most were the lines she felt it necessary to harmonize.

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