By the time she reached me, tears were flowing from her eyes and her mouth hung open to release hard sobs. She stopped inches before me and wept from the grounds of her belly. It took me some time to raise my weighty arms to hold her. As my arms ascended, I felt a gentle touch on my back that, oddly, willed me strength to comfort her. I knew it was Rayna. I didn't have to see her with my eyes. I had become that familiar with her touch. Though I didn't know until that moment that she had possessed so much strength.
I had held my mother for what seemed like an eternity. Momma D brought over a glass of water and Rayna handed Yazmine a few napkins to help with her tears and mucous. We must have gained attraction because out of nowhere, I heard Momma D telling her customers to look the other way, nothing bad was going on there.
Yazmine eventually found the rhythm to her breathing and broke our embrace.
“Perhaps we should go some place more private,” I suggested.
“You guys can have my office in the back,” Momma D suggested.
By this time, Rayna was giving me short comforting strokes on my back.
“Nah, that's alright, beloved. We good here. Im’ma calm down,” Yazmine assured while wiping her face as she turned to sit.
“Im’ma get y'all some coffee. Just sit and relax,” Momma D commanded.
Suddenly, I felt soft tugs at the hem of my T-shirt. I turned to see Rayna with a look of strong regard.
“Azmir, I'm going to have the driver take me back to the hotel. Marcus can stay here with you and I'll be fine alone there,” she whispered. Her eyes shifted with concern and I knew she was pleading with me.
I wasn't expecting that. “Are you sure?”
As the words left my mouth, common sense hit that Yazmine and I would likely discuss sensitive matters concerning Big D and our business that should not be done in front of Rayna.
I didn’t want distance from Rayna. I’d grown that dependent on her energy. My manners kicked in amongst the myriad of emotions that I was experiencing.
“Before you leave, let me introduce you,” I whispered before I turned to Yazmine and said, “This is a friend of mine, Rayna. Rayna, meet my mother, Yazmine Jacobs.”
Rayna’s brown round eyes slowly left mine and traveled over to my mother’s with a polite smile in tow. She appeared discomposed.
“Hi, beloved,” Yazmine greeted. She looked up at me and asked, “Is she your girlfriend?”
“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Jacobs. The resemblance is amazing,” Rayna abruptly greeted, not giving me an opportunity to answer, as they shook hands. Suddenly, I'd wished that we were in a perfect world and Rayna knew every detail of my life, eliminating the need for her to leave. I wanted her next to me.
“She's beautiful, Mir!” Yazmine beamed.
Damn. Do I know.
Coincidentally, my mother knew that Rayna and I shared an intimate relationship. This shit was crazy. I was feeling emotions that were so unfamiliar to me and I didn't know the protocol. I had my Earth, whom I hadn't seen since I was sixteen years old, here before me. Then I had this frustrating woman who suddenly showed more substance, support and grace than I thought she was capable of and thought I'd ever need in my corner at such a vital time. It was something to behold.
“Thanks,” I responded to Yazmine as my gaze was pinned to Rayna who begged me through her eyes not to fight her on this.
I turned to face Rayna, as an act of privacy, “Okay. But if you need anything just pick up the phone,” I heeded.
“Agreed. Go have your moment,” she bade before leaving me alone with Yazmine.
I turned to watch Rayna’s gait out of the restaurant. On her way out she paid rave reviews to Momma D on her culinary talents and told her she had hoped to be back soon. My chest squeezed as she hit the door and walked out to the car. Rayna frustrated me like none other, but the lowliness I felt from watching her leave me at this critical time scared the shit out of me. It spoke things that I could no longer deny or defer to time. Time had caught up and I could no longer refute the fact that she owned my heart. Suddenly, I had desperately wanted her to be in my destiny as well.
Fuck!
“Just a friend?”