Circle of Life

"There's far too much to take in here
More to find than can ever be found
But the sun rolling high through the sapphire sky
Keeps great and small on the endless round
In the circle of life
It's the wheel of fortune
It's the leap of faith
It's the band of hope
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the circle, the circle of life" Circle of Life by Elton John

As promised, Richard sent over a contract Monday detailing the cost for materials and labor for my backyard. I signed and returned it the same day. During the week, he began to bring over the material and started to construct the bar. By Thursday, it was completed and looked amazing.

"I can put in cabinet doors if you want storage space." He explained as I walked around inside, taking pictures and videos of the interior on my phone.

"Sounds good... Do me a favor. Film this for me?" I asked, handing over my phone.

"Sure. I also left a space right here for you to put a grill- what are you doing?" He stopped abruptly as I climbed on the bar.

"I've always wanted to do this." I shot him a sly grin, standing up on the bar. I channeled my inner Coyote Ugly girl and started dancing. I strutted the length of the bar, swinging my hips like Tyra Banks before dropping down low to the bar and dancing back up. When Richard laughed, I broke character, laughing too. As I hopped down from the bar, Richard tapped away on my phone.

"I would have never built you a bar if I knew this is what you were going to do." Richard commented with a smile as I approached him.

"Stop hating." I said as he handed back my phone. "Eric is still waiting for a shipment of palms, but he said they should be here in a week or so." I updated him on my plants.

"I have a couple of guys available next week to do the patio and pergola if that works for you."

"Whenever y'all are available, I'm fine."

"You're not fine. As long as you stay off bars, you're alright." He teased me.

"You can't be a hater all your life Richard." I smiled as he got ready to leave.


Later that night, I called Christian to congratulate him. His single Three's Company hit platinum status in sales. I faced time and he thanked me, telling me he couldn't wait to celebrate together in Miami. When he asked me how many people were coming with me to Miami, I told him Amber and Staci.

"That's it?" He asked.

"Yeah. Rocky's 7 months pregnant so she's definitely out. That's basically all my friends." I said lightly.

"What about your friends that came to Mexico? Sammy and the blond?"

"Sammy... Can't make it." I couldn't help frowning up as I thought about her attitude towards Christian. "Jordan is newly engaged and goes nowhere without her fiance now." I added, moving on.

"Tell her she can invite her fiance."

"I will."

"Sammy doesn't like me right?" Christian asked out of nowhere.

I bit my lip. "She doesn't know you well enough to have an opinion on you." I answered diplomatically.

"But she does. I felt it when I came to visit you and I'm sure she sub-tweeted me a few times."

I sighed. "It has nothing to do with you personally. Just ignore it her. She's just like this-" I tried to explain, but he cut me off.

"Alright. It's cool. Just let me know when you know the final head count for Miami."

We talked a little while longer, mostly discussing everything that happened in the past week. I told him about remodeling my backyard and he told me about Straight Outta Fucks music video finally having a set release date.

After we got off the phone, I saw I had notifications on my Instagram. Richard posted a video of me dancing on the bar and tagged me in it. He had the song "Practice" by Drake added and captioned it:

I built her a bar and this is what she does...

I read through the comments, his friends left message saying "she's the one" and "marry her". He commented back saying: "Nah, she's offbeat"

I quickly wrote back to defend myself.


Me: First of all, there was no music playing...

Richard: Second of all, you were stiff {eye wink emoji}

I said nothing more but I had a good laugh reading through the comments as most of his friends defended me and my friends playfully mocked my dance before I went to bed.

The next day during my biweekly Friday appointment with Dr. Pereira, we talked about my trip to New York. I explained to her how I began a sexual relationship with Christian and how I couldn't orgasm with him. She asked me questions about my sex life prior to Christian and if I had problems having orgasms in the past. I told her no and even explained how I could get off during phone sex, but not in person. She asked me why I thought that was. I explained over the phone it felt like role playing, but in real life I couldn't let myself go enough to enjoy being with him.

"Moving on is a process. You've healed yourself mentally and emotionally. You now posses the self awareness to see what you need and want in a relationship. If you feel ready, putting yourself out there is the next step-" Dr. Pereira tried to explain before I interrupted.

"That's exactly what I'm doing- I'm putting myself out there and dating. Christian is a great guy and he's good to me. I don't understand why I'm making it so hard to just be with him." I questioned.

"Putting yourself out there does not mean rushing into a relationship. It's opening yourself up to new possibilities and being patient to wait for the right partner. Christian may be a great guy, but only you know if he's your great guy. Slow down and figure that out first." She instructed me.

I thought about it on my way to work. Dr. Pereira's words were right along the lines of Rocky's suggestion that I was rushing things to get over Trevor. I was so sick of everything revolving back to him- like a stupid endless cycle I couldn't break. He definitely wasn't thinking or concerned about me; why couldn't I do the same? I put it out of my mind the best I could while I was at work. When I got off, I saw that my brother called me so I returned his phone call. He was just calling to check in because he hadn't heard from me in awhile.

"Do I need to book a flight out there?" He asked me after I told him I was ok. He thought something was wrong because I didn't sound like myself.

"No. I'm just tried from work and I had therapy today. I always need a weekend to digest what we talk about, but I'm good. It's not even that deep." I assured him.

"If you say so. What are you digesting?"

"Um, this week we talked about me dating again. My therapist said I should be putting myself out there and shit." I replied simply.

"Aren't you doing that with that Christian guy?"

"It doesn't matter who I'm dating." I deflected. "It's about me not only being ready to be in a relationship, but having the patience to wait for the right person."

"You have to give it some time. If Richard is good enough for you, he'll wait for you to figure it out.

"Nice try; but I'm not telling you who I'm dating until it's official." I shot him down. "And the only thing I figure out is how to fuck things up like I normally do." I confided, only partially joking.

"You're gonna fuck up. I met my wife at her anger management class and I fucked that up. The right person will accept everything about you like Jenna did for me. Wait for that person, whoever he is."

"Alright Cam. Thanks for the advice, although I think Jenna has made you soft..." I teased.

"Yeah, not soft enough to not come down there and kick that vet's teeth in if he hurts you." Cam threatened menacingly.

Vet?

"Ohmygod, you think I'm dating Dr. Chapman?" I squealed with laughter.

"He likes almost all of your pictures. You comment on his all the time."

"That's what you do on Instagram! I'm not dating him! Stop being creepy before I defriend you Cam!"

We both laughed before we said our goodbyes and hung up.


I got off the phone, feeling much better after talking to my brother. Between him and Dr. Pereira, I realized my need to rush things with Christian showed I wasn't ready for a relationship. I didn't matter why I wasn't ready, just realizing I wasn't was enough. I recommitted myself to my own personal growth and focused on bettering myself mentally, physically and emotionally so when I knew I found the right person, I would be ready.


Saturday morning, I woke up and saw that I had a text and a missed call from Sammy. The text read:

Sammy: Tell your bf my page gets plenty of hits without his help.

It included a screen shot of Christian Twitter page from the last night. His tweet read:

Shout out to all the Honey Bees! Respect ur hustle ladies. Check em out if you're in Austin, Dallas, or Miami. 

The tweet including the link to the Honey Bees' YouTube Channel. Thoroughly annoyed by Sammy need to be spiteful and Christian not listening to me when I said to ignore Sammy, I didn't bother to respond or call her back. I put my phone away and threw myself into hosting a kick ass movie night with EJ. I got dressed and went to the store to pick up supplies for The Lion King night.


I bought meat, cheese, vegetables and fruits for skewers, flaming hot Cheetos (EJ's favorite), animal crackers, zebra snack cakes, bug shaped candies, animal shaped chicken nuggets, and different drinks to make a jungle juice. When I got back to my house, I marinated the meat and texted Ethan to confirm what time he was dropping EJ off.

Ethan: We should be over around 4 if that works for you

Me: Works perfectly. See y'all later.

I reached out to Rocky to see if she had plans. When she didn't, I invited her and Forrest over for the movie night. I also extended the invitation to Staci, Amber and Amanda. Amanda said she would stop by after she got off work and Staci had plans with her daughter. I figured Amber would be sleep, but she called me back to let me know her kids were spending the night at their grandma's house.

"Will is going out with Ethan tonight so next weekend I'm getting a night out. Girl's night!" Amber proclaimed, excitedly.

After I promised to leave that weekend open, I got to work transforming my living room into a jungle. I then started to put the skewers together. When the skewers were in the oven, I got changed into a high low cheetah maxi print dress. A little before 4, Rocky and Forrest arrived, eyeing my dress when I let them in.

"I know. It's too much but this is the only animal print I have that fits the theme." I explained as we walked through the living room. I had it decked out in jungle and animal themed decorations and a folding card table set up for the jungle juice and snacks.

"Try this." I commanded them, handing them both a skewer. I made fajita chicken and beef kabobs that I thought turned out great. I watched them as they dug in.

"Delicious." Forrest complimented them, finishing his bite first.

"Thank you." I smiled proudly.

"It's so good, I'm not going to comment on your Jersey-licious dress." Rocky said, wiping her mouth with a napkin.

"Good. Don't say anything about this either." I said, turning on the Internet station I found on my phone called Afro beats. When a song with a heavy drum beat streamed through my speaker, I started to dance around to the music.

"Hell no." Rocky covered her face while Forrest laughed. When the doorbell rang, Rocky took it as her sign to leave. "See why I can't with deal with her? She always takes it too far." She announced on her way to get the door.

"Mama-say, mama-sa, ma-ma-ko-ssa." I chanted along with the music, ignoring her.

As soon as Rocky was out of sight, Forrest joined me dancing, doing an imitation of a tribal dance.

"Teach me that move." I asked Forrest, before mimicking him. We were both swinging our arms to the music rhythmically when Ethan, EJ and Rocky joined us.

"What are y'all doing?" EJ smirked at us.

"Setting the mood for our movie night! You're definitely not going to forget Lion King again!" I said, grabbing his arms and making him dance with me.

"Let me go!" He protested, laughing. I made him dance with me for a few more seconds before I let him go. I smiled at Ethan as he handed me a bag.

"What's this?" I said, looking in the grocery bag.

"I bought over some of EJ snacks but I should have known you would have it covered." He motioned to the snack table EJ and Rocky were currently making plates at.

"That's the one thing I'm good for: snacks." I smiled, heading to the kitchen to put the food away. "A little birdie told me you and Will are going out tonight. Doing something new? Meeting new people?" I asked.

"Possibly." He answered.

"Don't be enigmatic. You're one of the most direct person I know. Is he introducing you to someone?"

"It's a group outing. Women will be included." He revealed. "Why are you so interested?"

"I don't know. I guess because I'm at the putting myself out there stage in the moving on cycle. Just comparing to see if I'm doing it right." I admitted.

"I don't know about doing it right. It's like you said: what I was doing before wasn't working so I might as well try something new. I'll let you know how it works out." Ethan said honestly.

"Ok." I grinned. "When did you start taking my advice?"

"When you learned tribal dances." He smirked.

"Shut up." I playfully pushed him.


Ethan had some time before he had to met Will so he watched Lion King with us. I was sure he was regretting that choice as he listen to Forrest and I debated which song was the best from the soundtrack. He argued for Hakuna Matata for teaching him a new language. I countered with Can You Feel The Love Tonight as the song I was walking down the aisle to. Rocky voted for us both to shut up, which EJ seconded. Being out voted, Forrest and I quieted down to watch the movie.

Amanda arrived at the end on Lion King so we made it a double feature with Tarzan. We discussed Disney fan theories like Tarzan being related to Elisa and Anna before Ethan had to go. During Tarzan, EJ got bored and got up to play on the Hooverboard. Rocky fell asleep, so Amanda, Forrest and I watched the rest without them, free to debate and sing along. After the movie ended, Forrest and Rocky left. EJ got on Xbox live upstairs and showed us some gamer Youtubers he liked to watch. EJ was showing Amanda some videos he uploaded with his friend Jayden while I tried to stay interested. By 1am, I fell asleep on the couch.


I woke up sometime Sunday morning to the doorbell ringing. I opened my eyes and looked over at EJ, his limbs hanging off the loveseat as he slept. I got up, my back aching from being curled up on the couch and headed downstairs.

Amanda had opened the door for Richard and another guy. When Richard saw the living room decorations and my cheetah dress, he started singing.

"Welcome to the jungle. We got fun and games..."

"Don't start Richard." I laughed at him. "What are you doing here again anyway? Don't you have a life?"

"I guess I don't have a life considering I didn't get an invite to the party last night." He replied.

"It wasn't a party it was a movie night. Once my backyard is done, you'll get an invite to my first luau."

"That's why I'm here. This is my cousin Alvaro. He's the electrician to see if we can get you some power on your deck."

"Oh ok." I said, reaching out to shake his hand. "I'm Lily. Thanks so much for coming out."

"No problem." He shook my hand. As I led them to the backyard, Richard asked me, "Are you gonna dress up in a little grass skirt and coconut bra at your luau?"

"Is there any other way to dress up at a luau?" I opened the backdoor for them.

"A bikini... But I'll settle for the coconut bra." He replied as he walked outside. I shook my head and closed the door.


I went and changed into jeans and a t-shirt before joining Amanda in the kitchen to make breakfast. I decided on a huge breakfast scramble with the leftover meat, cheese and veggies I had from the skewers. Amanda loved to bake, so she made biscuits and muffins.

While I was finishing up cooking, Richard came inside and asked me for my speaker. I directed him to the hallway closet where I kept it. When breakfast was done, I went upstairs to wake up EJ. EJ got up and joined us down the stairs. I went outside to see if Alvaro and Richard wanted to break for brunch. EJ followed me outside with a muffin.

Outside, Alvaro already had electricity to the deck: music was playing from the speaker.

"As happy as I am to have electricity out here, can you change the song?" I asked, motioning over to EJ.

Richard nodded his understanding before he reached for his phone.

"I know this song!" EJ interjected, before he sang along. "All she wanna do is smoke my broccoli."

"Uh-huh. And what does that mean?" I questioned him.

"Weed!" He exclaimed with a smirk and a smoking hand gesture. My mouth dropped, Alvaro laughed and Richard quickly changed the song to Watch Me by Silento.

"What do you know about this though?" Richard said, turning the speaker up.

I laughed as they had a dance off. I pulled out my phone and recorded EJ hitting every move while Richard encouraged and battled him. When My Boo came on and EJ started to do the running man, Richard scoffed.

"That is not the running man."

"Yes it is!" EJ exclaimed.

"No it's not new school. This is the original running man." Richard demonstrated the old school dance of running in place. He threw in some other old school moves that had me laughing as I recorded him.

"Whose was right?" EJ asked me.

"I'm gonna go with you EJ." I decided.

"What?" Richard exclaimed playfully as EJ celebrated.

"Old school has to make room for the new. Sorry." I told him with a grin before ending the video.


After their impromptu dance battle, we went inside to eat brunch. After they eat, Richard, Alvaro and Amanda left. EJ busted out his Monopoly game and we set up to play. We were about 30 minutes into the game when Ethan called to say he was on his way. When I told him his dad was on the way, he wanted to quit the game so he can have more time on the Hooverboard.

We were in the front yard, EJ playing on the board while I sat on the step watching Justine run around after him when Ethan pulled up. He got out of the car, said a few words to EJ, before grabbing Justine's leash and bringing her to me on the steps.

"How was last night?" I asked him as he sat down beside me.

"It was nice. We went to a lounge in Uptown. You ever go out there?"

"No. Not at all. That's the neighborhood Brandon lives in right?"

"For now. He's seriously considering breaking his lease to be closer to Ace." Ethan stated, gripping the leash tight as Justine tried to run.

"You can let her go. She won't run off."

"Something could happen if you don't have control of her leash. Why aren't y'all in the backyard?"

"It's under construction. I'm remodeling it."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Richard is fixing a few things for me and I ordered plants from Eric. It should be done next month. I'm having a luau slash unveil party." I smiled at him.

"Luau?"

"Yep. It's a tropical oasis backyard. Grass skirts are a requirement. You better dress appropriately."

"I'm busy that weekend."

"I didn't even tell you what weekend!" I giggled.

"Any weekend requiring grass skirts I can't be there."

I laughed harder. "Speaking of weekends, the next one EJ has available will be Aladdin." I told him. "Has he tried Indian food before?"

"No. He can't get over the smell. I told him it smells stronger than it tastes, but he refuses to try it."

"We'll see if I can change that." I pulled out my phone to show him the video of Richard and EJ dancing. "I wanted to show you this before I posted it."

He watch the video. "Go ahead. I don't know how your friends going to feel about it, but I'm fine with it."

"Oh. Don't worry about him, he has it coming. Are you on Instagram?"I asked.

"No. Facebook and rarely that."

"I'm gonna have EJ make you a profile."

"EJ doesn't have a profile."

"He should. All Youtubers need an Instagram and Snapchat."

"Don't encourage that. I told him that was not a plausible career path."

"See, normally I would agree with you, but some of these YouTubes are millionaires!"

"That's a shame."

"Again, I agree but it is what it is." I pointed out as he shook his head with a small smile. "I've only seen a few of his videos on Youtube-"

I stopped when the smile fell off his face. "Who's videos on Youtube?" He looked at me, seriously.

"Um, now that I think of it, it's his friend Jayden's channel." I cleaned up

"But EJ is on them?" Ethan questioned.

"It's gameplay. The only thing on the video is his voice." I explained.

"I told him he couldn't post videos at all." Ethan frowned.

"Technically he didn't."

Ethan looked at me incredulously, his frown deepening.

"I know. I know. He's wrong." I started. "I'm saying talk to him. Maybe see why it's so important to him to post videos online-"

"I already know why. Jayden. Jayden rides the bus to school, now he wants to. Jayden plays club basketball, now he wants to try out. Jayden post videos on Youtube, now he thinks he can too. He wants to do everything that Jayden does." Ethan listed.

"I mean, none of those are really bad things..."

"It is if I told him he couldn't and he did it anyway." He countered.

"I know that. I'm just saying it's hard for a kid to understand why his friend can do something and he can't. Maybe some type of compromise can be made." I argued.

"We'll see." He said, shortly. "Thanks for letting me know." He stood up, waiving EJ over. I stood up too, taking the leash from him, holding his hand to get his attention.

"I have no problem being a spy for you, he'll never suspect it..." I said, secretly, only partially kidding.

He looked over at me, my hands over his, then back to my face. "A spy?" He clarified.

I nodded. "He thinks I'm on his side. As long as he thinks that, I can get you information." I suggested to him. "Their videos literally put me to sleep, but I'll watch them. Think about it." I finished. As EJ joined us, I let go of his hand.

Ethan turned to EJ, a hint of a smirk on his face. "Let's get ready to go. Tell Lily thank you for letting you come over."

"Thank you Lily." He said.

"You're very welcome." I said, pulling him in for a hug. "And you're welcomed anytime." I told him, but I looked up at Ethan and gave him an exaggerated wink.

A smile finally crossed Ethan's face. He put his head down to hide it, but I caught his eye and smiled back at him.

"Get your bag EJ. We need to get going." Ethan told him.

"Bye Lily."

"Bye EJ. Bye Ethan." I waved


As soon as they left, I grabbed my phone and posted the video of EJ and Richard dancing on Instagram and Facebook so Ethan could see. I tagged Richard in both, captioning:

@Richard got out danced by a 8 year old. New school for the win, Richard takes a L for the old school! #Whip #NaeNae   #RunningManChallenge #NeverMyBoo #MoreRhythm

Richard commented right away.

Richard: You know I killed that. It's Sunday. Why are you telling lies boo? {Salsa dancer, Praise hands, 100, and Crying Laughing Emoji}

I stayed online, going back and forth in the comments. Some how me dissing Richard became an amusing debate about old school versus new school that gave me a good laugh. My good mood was killed by Sammy's new Twitter post.

It was an interview with Christian and Keosha. Keosha's song that Christian produced "Lover Tonight" cracked the top 100 billboard and they were talking about the song's success. She was super flirty, taking about how much chemistry she and Christian have whenever they work together. That led to the DJ interviewing them to ask if the chemistry left the recording booth. Keosha claimed she doesn't talk about her personal life while Christian said they kept it in the recording booth. The DJ  made a crude comment about what all happened in the recording booth while they laid down the sexy track. He then followed it up by singing some of the raunchy lyrics from the song. Christian and Keosha both laughed before Christian spoke up.

"But for real, I'm married to my music and my album is my kid. Anything or anyone else in my life right now can only be a side chick. Keosha's too good for that. Look at her. Talented, beautiful... She's wife material. You'll definitely see all of that in the 3rd single for my album, Nomadic. We're going to be shooting the video for it soon-"

The rest of the interview was more of the same, promoting the music, with flirty bantering in between. Sammy's captioned the clip:

Respect your hustle @Christian. Definitely understand being married to your work- I'm married to The Honey Bees and each video is my baby. Even with 25k new subscribers this week, I always find time for my main tho! #MakeTimeForTheReal #NoSideBish #MainsOnly #LoverEveryNight


I like the video to let Sammy know I saw it and was unbothered. And truthfully, the video itself didn't upset me. The flirting was just that. He wasn't my boyfriend, so why should I care? The side chick stuff didn't bother me either. We hadn't defined our relationship and I was nowhere near ready to. It was just the way Christian came off in the video- completely real and sincere. He said he hated the fakeness of reality t.v. and selling himself, but he was a fucking pro at it. Like, was he that good of an actor? Why couldn't I tell the difference with him selling a product and him being real with me? How did I know he wasn't acting with me?

I told myself I was reading too much into it and that it was just his job but it irked me to no end.


Monday morning I arrived at work, still irritated but ready to put the stupid interview behind me. I was surprised when I saw that Dr. Fahri was there. He pulled me and Dr. Clayton into the team lead office as soon as I arrived. I was relieved, hoping he was there to tell us he finally hired a new therapist.

"I thought we were all on the same page regarding Paul Bolen's treatment." He started in immediately.

"We're not. You know Clyde Dennison wanted it accelerated but we decided against it." I answered, looking at Adil, confused. He looked at Dr. Clayton, pointedly.

Dr. Clayton looked over at me before responding. "I looked over the chart and I agreed with Clyde. There's no reason why we can't speed up the recovery."

I was still lost until Adil continued.

"Is there a reason you couldn't come to me with your concerns before going to Dr. Tran?"

My mouth dropped open before I could stop it. Dr. Tran was Adil's boss. Chain of command meant that any problems we have, we go to Adil. To go over his head was wrong. To go over his head, with one of my clients, after Adil and I already decided the course of action, was majorly fucked up.

"I didn't go to Dr. Tran, Clyde did. He asked me for my opinion and I gave it to him." Dr. Clayton stated, plainly.

I turned to Dr. Clayton now, my shock giving way to indignation. "Why didn't you consult me first before giving your opinion? I've worked with Paul Bolen last week. I did a stress and range of motion test-"

"I know. I read your notes in the chart and my opinion was based off them. I don't believe there's a reason to delay his return." Dr. Clayton verified.

Adil must have saw the outrage in my face, because he spoke before I could. "Lily, I need a team lead on the floor; do you mind going back?"

"Not at all." I said between my teeth before leaving. I had to go through all my self affirmations to calm myself down. I was pissed off that Dr. Clayton had the audacity not only make a comment about the rehabilitation plan that I approved, but to back up the athletic trainer that he knew I was having issues with behind my back... to my boss's boss.

I went back on the floor, but I used the phone to call Monica. She was an athletic trainer and had to work with Dennison. Maybe she knew what was going on, or at the very least could give me some insight on Dennison's character. When she didn't answer, I left a voicemail to call me back on my cell. My phone vibrated away little, but it was Christian. I ignored it and got back to work.

Dr. Clayton came back to finish his shift after another 25 minutes with
Adil. As soon as I could get away, I sought out Adil and found out he left immediately after the meeting. Dr. Clayton spoke to me before he left for the evening.

"I was overly cautious at the beginning of my career too but I don't believe accelerating the plan is going to put our client in danger of re-injury." He explained to me. "That's my honest opinion and that's all I told Clyde.

"You're entailed to your opinion. In the future, I would appreciate it if you shared your opinions on my decisions with me." I somehow mustered calmly.

"Sure thing. Let me know if you need any help in the evenings. I know you're spread thin. I can stay later anytime you ask." He said, patting me on the back. I shuddered in disgust after he left.

At the end of the night while I updated the huddle board, Monica finally called me back. I immediately asked her about her take on Dennison.

"I don't work with him that often. I stay more in the training room with treatments than one on one with the players like he does. Why? What happened?" Monica replied

I didn't give her any details considering I had no idea of the outcome of Dennison's talk with Dr. Tran. I didn't know if her loyalty would automatically be with Dennison because he was a trainer too.

"We have to work together on a rehab plan for one of the players. Just trying to get an idea of how to cooperate with him." I supplied.

Monica snorted. "It's his way or no way. He's impossible to work with. Good luck with that." Monica informed me.

"Thanks." I sighed, defeated, fearing this wasn't the last of the rehab debate but having no idea what to do.

"Hey, what are you doing tonight?" Monica quickly switched gears.

"Nothing..."

"Why don't you come over? I'm making a pot of chili. We can have some wine and brainstorm some solutions to whatever issue you're having with the dinosaur."

"The dinosaur?"

"Clyde. That's what we call him. Just old and mean for no reason. I promise, whatever said will stay between us. If I can't help, at least I can tell you some stories so you know what you're up against." Monica enticed me.

I was sold at chili and wine. There was no point stressing about Dennison when I had no idea what would happen next.

"Ok. Sounds good."

"Ok! See you later tonight"


Before I left work, I took a shower and changed into a clean white tank and leggings I had in my workout bag. I rebraided my side braid before placing a purple knit beanie on top of my hair. The leather jacket and Nike hi-tops I wore to work completed my outfit. I saw I had another call and text from Christian, but I didn't respond. I figured he saw Sammy's tweet but I was in no mood to get into her, him or the interview tonight.

I arrived at the house Monica and Trent shared in 40 minutes. The chili was already simmering, and I explained to Monica what happened as she chopped cilantro.

"Adil left before I could even ask what the plan was. I really don't know how this will play out." I explained while I assisted slicing avocados.

"I mean, only one of two things might happen: they go with your recommendation or Clayton's." Monica said bluntly.

"Smells good in here!" Monica and I both looked up to see Trent entering the kitchen, a smile on his face. He didn't look surprised to see me in the kitchen with his wife, but Uriel sure did. The smile on his face momentarily froze when he saw me, but he quickly recovered when Trent waved hello to me.

"Hi. Sorry. I'm totally crashing y'alls dinner." I said, with a small smile.

"Nonsense. The more the merrier." Trent assured me.

"Besides, Uriel was already crashing. He always comes over when I make chili." Monica added.

"If you would make it for me, I wouldn't have to crash." Uriel said, pushing his thick hair that fell to his neck behind his ear, making his face free for perusal. I admired his dark, almost black eyes, narrow nose, full lips and his strong jaw covered in stubble before he caught me checking him out.

"Hi Lilac." He said with a knowing grin.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "You know my name is Lily."

"Lily. Right. It's the purple hat." He said, unapologetic.

I crossed my arms under my chest. "Sure."

"What brings you here?" Uriel asked me, eyeing Monica and me suspiciously.

"Lily had some drama at work that she was filling me in on but food's ready so let's eat!" Monica instructed us.

We all fixed our bowls of chili with the toppings Monica set out. When I placed jalapenos on my chili, Monica pointed out, "So you like spicy food? So does Uriel."

It was turn to look at Monica suspiciously as I replied "Nice."

We all went into the dinning room to eat. Uriel brought Modelo which would have been perfect with the food, but since he was still playing the I don't know you game, I stuck with the red wine Monica poured me. By the 2nd time she topped me up, I was 100% certain Monica was trying to set me and Uriel up. Maybe (and that's a big maybe) it was a coincidence that we were both over for dinner, but she was definitely taking advantage of it.

Monica kept pointing out things we had in common and trying to get us to talk. I politely engaged without encouraging her while Uriel flat out ignored her attempts. I should have been offended by his dismissal of her and in turn, me, but I was highly impressed by how efficiently he ignored Monica. When Monica mentioned how we both lived in Plano, Uriel cut her off.

"Excuse me, I'm going to get more chili." He said.

Before he could move, Monica was up, grabbing his bowl. "I got it. Stay put. Tell Lily where about in Plano you stay. You probably frequent the same places."

As soon as she left, Uriel turned to me.

"So what places do you frequent, Uriel?" I asked, sarcastically.

"Did you have anything to do with Monica trying to set us up?"

"No. I have your number if I wanted to talk to you. Why would I need to set this up?" I asked him, raising an eyebrow.

Trent snorted out a laugh, but covered his mouth when Uriel gave him a look. Monica breezed back in the dinning room, setting a bowl of chili in front of Uriel.

"So, what were y'all chatting about?" Monica asked.

"My work dilemma. The reason I came over." I quickly said. "I didn't tell you about Dr. Clayton."

I retold the whole story, adding in what Dr. Clayton told me before he left. "Then he patted me on the back and left." I finished.

"He touched you inappropriately?" Monica gasped.

"No... Not like that. Like he was saying good girl." I explained.

"The only time I tell a woman good girl is in the bedroom." Uriel stated before taking another sip of his beer.

I couldn't help the flush that hit my face when he mentioned the bedroom. I reached for my wine glass, only to find it was empty.

"Should I open another bottle?" Monica asked.

"No, it's ok." I declined. "Anyway, it was more like attagirl. The way you would pet a dog for behaving. It felt like he was putting me in my place. Super condescending. He knew I was having issues with this trainer and he went behind my back to plot with Dennison. That's the part that gets me."

"That's shady, but you don't have anything to worry about. You and he are on the same level. Your boss should be the one watching his back. He went over his head right?" Trent mentioned

"That's so true." I said, thoughtfully.

"Has anyone asked what Bolen wants?" Monica asked me.

I rolled my eyes. "Of course he wants to play. Which I could understand if he was Dirk and the Mavericks had a playoff chance-"

"Whoa!"

"Hey!" Uriel and Trent both exclaimed, cutting me off.

"We do have a playoff chance. We could still finish the 6th seed!" Trent pointed out enthusiastically.

"Oh C'mon. Even if the Mavericks get in the playoffs, they are not beating the Spurs, or Oklahoma, or Houston and especially not Golden State." I said.

"You're not a Mavericks fan?" Uriel questioned me.

"Can't I be a realistic one?"

"You didn't answer the question." Uriel pressed.

"You know what, no. Not really. I'm from California so-" I began.

Uriel smiled and Trent groaned. "Monica, you do not have a Warriors fan in my house!"

"No she doesn't. Lakers all day." I revealed proudly.

Trent proclaimed, "That's even worse!"

"Lakers are last in the league and you're talking about the Mavericks." Uriel challenged me.

"Whatever, we weren't talking about the Lakers, but ok. Neither the Lakers nor the Mavericks will be wining a title this year." I declared, haughty.

Uriel laughed while Trent stood up. "Nice seeing you Lilac. You know the way to the door." He said, pretending like he was highly offended as he gathered our bowls. Monica smiled and helped him pick up the dishes to take in the kitchen.

When I looked over at Uriel, he was watching me, intently. I stared back at him, but he had no qualms about me catching him checking me out. His appreciative gaze both aroused and disturbed me.

"What?" I asked him, fidgeting in my chair, feeling the heat growing in my face and other places...

"Nothing." He replied, grabbing his beer and draining the last of it.

Staring at his lips caressing the bottle of his beer suddenly made my mouth super dry. I reached for my glass again before I realized I turned down a refill.

"Still empty." Uriel informed me, matter of factly.

"I know..." I said, standing up and following Monica and Trent in the kitchen. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him smile as he watched me leave the room.


Monica and Trent invited us both to stay and watch the game that was about to come on. Seeing as I had to be at work the next morning and my hormones apparently were on overdrive, I declined. Uriel did as well and we both got ready to go.

We said goodbye and on the walk to my car, Uriel asked,

"You still have my number?"

"Somewhere..." I said cryptically, knowing his card was still in my purse at home.

"Still waiting on you to use it so I can take you out for dessert." Uriel informed me as we stopped in front of my car.

"Why? You made it very clear you didn't want Monica to set us up." I crossed my arms.

"You're right. I don't want Monica setting us up. I've always wanted to take you out for dessert." He said suggestively. Goosebumps ran up my arms that had nothing to do with the cool air.

"Why does Monica think she needs to set you up?" I changed the subject, rubbing my arms.

"She doesn't like the women I date."  He answered nonchalantly.

"Why not?"

"She says they're not good matches for me."

"Ok...why does she think that?"

"Because they're not."

"So why do you date them?"

"Because I'm not looking for a relationship."

"Commitment problems? Too many women to settle with one?" "

"No." He said, shortly, looking around, running his fingers through his hair. When he looked back at me, his eyes were even darker.

"Well, why aren't you looking for a relationship? Don't want to fall in love or don't believe in it?" I interrogated him, knowing I hit a nerve. I could tell he was uncomfortable, but since he enjoyed making me uncomfortable I decided to return the favor.

"I don't want love. I'm still trying to forget it." He admitted.

The sincerity in his voice had me starring in his eyes. He put his hand through his hair again and looked away, but I could still feel the vulnerable pouring off him in waves. I knew exactly what he meant; I didn't know I felt the same exact way until he said it out loud. It had me in a trance until he spoke up.

"Goodnight Lily." He said, turning away.

"Cake!" I blurted out.

He turned back around with a puzzled look on his face.

"Um, we didn't have dessert and you owe me cake. Let's go get some." I invited him.

"I doubt any bakery is open right now." He mentioned.

"You're right." I said, embarrassed by how desperate I must sound. I willed my cheeks not to burn, as I searched for my keys in my purse.

"Your cousin said you weren't picky about cake. I probably have something at my place if that's true."

I met his eyes. I knew what I was doing was impulsive and potentially a horrible idea, but the connection I felt with him was too strong to resist. No, that wasn't true. I could have resisted. I just didn't want to. "That's true."

"Follow me." He told me, giving me one last glance before walking to his car.

I got in my car. As I started it up, I placed my phone on the charger. I noticed the missed calls as Uriel started his car. When he took off, I followed right behind.

I ignored my phone for the rest of the night.