A.N. Hey, y'all. Long time no see. I started writing this in late 2016/early 2017 and here it is, damn near the end of 2018. I don't watch the show anymore but Boo Boo Cookie will forever be one of my television OTPs. This was sitting in my drive and I decided to finish it. I have a few more that remain unfinished and although I don't know if they'll ever be posted, I knew I had to finish this one and complete the Warmth series. Hope you enjoy.
-ED
They were bound to cool off sometime.
It's painful to think of how much she's invested in this thing with Anika. No, her relationship with Anika. It's about time she calls it what it is now that it's over.
She feels pathetic.
It would've been less painful if she had been the one to pull away instead of Anika. It would've been less painful had she not come to love the feeling of having Anika in her arms and in her heart. Anika snuck up on her like the stealthy kitten she was and clung to her heart with that vice grip, just like that first night.
Part of her is furious that she'd even let Anika in. She remembers Anika telling her that she was so scared of Cookie rejecting her that she'd tried to preempt Cookie via avoidance. Cookie never shared how she had the same fears, that Anika would realize that their relationship wasn't what she wanted and she'd leave.
Spoken into existence or not, it didn't matter now. Anika still left.
The verbal sparring was nothing new; that was their dynamic. Though they hadn't put their hands on each other since that day where Cookie threw her drink in Anika's face and got in that cheap shot, their verbal sparring always remained. Though the malice behind her words hadn't completely faded (Cookie was Cookie, regardless), she recognized when she'd pushed too far and would at least attempt to compromise. Progress was progress, no matter how slow.
But the progress wasn't enough, she guesses.
The worst part is that Cookie feels like a fool. She couldn't pinpoint a singular event that caused their demise. Everything was the same except the cuddling and fucking. Perhaps that was the issue?
She should've known nothing with Anika would last. She tells herself that as she climbs into her bed and under the covers, alone again.
As Cookie turns her back to Anika's empty side of the bed (she can't bring herself to sleep on that side, it still smells like her) and wraps the covers around herself, she can't help but imagine that the covers are Anika's arms and that her side of the bed isn't cold.
She guesses that this is what becomes of the broken hearted.
Stupid.
If she believed in fate then Cookie would've thought that she and Anika sharing a room again was a sign that they were meant to reunite. But Cookie didn't believe in fate just like she couldn't believe that nearly every hotel in Chicago was booked because of some convention.
If she were able, she would've booked a Red-Eye back to New York but they both needed to fly to LA for another meeting. She never thought she'd see the day where literally throwing money at someone didn't solve the problem at hand. The manager of the hotel simply gathered Cookie's Black Card and handed it back to her, not flinching when she snatched it back. The hotel was booked solid and the only room available was a suite with a single bed, the room Anika booked. It irked Cookie even more that it was her room that wasn't booked, not Anika's. She needed an assistant who wasn't Porsha. Someone who actually assisted.
It was hard enough working at LD and having to see Anika daily, though, by the tension between them in the office, she didn't know if that would soon no longer be an issue. Prior to leaving on their current trip, they'd had a major blowout in Anika's office and Cookie had basically told her that they couldn't work together anymore. Anika didn't disagree. She said that she couldn't work with Cookie without it being awkward and painful. She wanted to tell her that it was her fault that working together was awkward and painful but she knew that that ultimately wasn't the case. It seemed their fire had burned out and Anika simply stomped out the embers.
Cookie was going back and forth with the manager when Anika spoke.
"Take the room, Cookie! I don't want to room with you just as much as you don't want to room with me. I'll find somewhere else to stay."
"You didn't hear the man? Every hotel in the area is booked solid."
"Then I'll sleep in the car, I don't care!"
Cookie is tempted to let her go and do just that but as much as she can't stand Anika at the moment, she wouldn't dare risk having her potentially be harmed over some petty bullshit.
She sighs, "It's...look, it's fine. We can share the room. Besides, your bougie ass wouldn't have slept in the car anyway."
Anika rolls her eyes. "Whatever, Cookie," she says before turning back to the manager and taking her room key. Arguing with Cookie regarding whether or not she would've actually slept in the car would be pointless. Bags in tow, she heads to the bar, reminiscent of their first night together. Cookie thinks about following her, drinking, and convincing the bartender to give them a bottle of rum before they go back to their room and ultimately fall into bed next to each other.
She turns back to the manager and takes the other waiting card, not quite snatching it but still forceful enough to let him know that she's unhappy with the situation. She doesn't look back at the bar before heading to their room.
Cookie was lying on the bed flicking through the television channels when she heard the door unlock. She looked over and watched as Anika brought her things in, no errant rum bottle to be found. Anika sat at the bar for three hours and as each hour passed, Cookie found herself going through the motions. Part of her wanted to go down, order a shot, and try to work things out with her but her pride wouldn't let her.
Anika chose to end their relationship, not Cookie. If anyone should've been waving their white flag it should be her.
Cookie watched as Anika purposely didn't make eye contact with her while she took off her shoes, jewelry, and pulled out some pajamas before making her way to the bathroom. Cookie had changed around hour two that Anika was downstairs. The bathroom door opened and Anika walked out. Cookie noticed that her face was splotchy and she began to feel an all too familiar ache in her chest. She wanted to know why she was crying though she already knew the answer. More importantly, she wanted to know why Anika walked away. Instead, she watched as Anika slid under the covers and basically hugged the edge of the bed to keep from making contact with her.
Cookie turns off the tv and then the lamp on her side of the bed and proceeds to hug her own edge of the bed. It's silent and still in the room and Cookie is about to close her eyes when she feels the bed tremble just the slightest bit. She turns her head and sees Anika's shoulders shaking as she buries her head in her pillow. Her first instinct is to reach out for her but she stops herself before she can make contact.
Her hand hovers in the air as she thinks about how much she hates the current state of their relationship. As if her hand had a mind of its own, it falls to the small of Anika's back. Anika immediately tenses but Cookie is undeterred. Cookie scoots towards the middle of the bed and lets her fingers crawl up and down Anika's back in a soothing motion. The motions are almost lulling her to sleep when she feels Anika grab her wrist, stopping her motions. Anika holds Cookie's hand away from her for a moment and Cookie thinks Anika is going to push her away, maybe even leave the bed entirely.
She's wrong.
Anika does neither of those things. Cookie is still as Anika wraps Cookie's arm around her waist and scoots until her back is firmly against Cookie's front. Anika's legs find Cookie's and she tangles them together.
Damn koala.
But she welcomes it all the same. Just before Anika drifts off to sleep, she pulls Cookie's arm tighter around her before she finally goes to sleep.
Cookie's eyes are closed and just before sleep claims her as well, she can't help but notice that she's warm.
She's missed it.