There's some comfort sitting on the black bench, warm from the steady sun. It's a place to absorb and observe the beauty of Central Park, the beauty of the children laughing. There was Jim, playing basketball with the children, all sweaty just the way we wanted. We had taken the B-roll footage and now it was time for his speech. To be honest, the camera loved Jim. He has great awareness of where the lense is it all time, a fantastic intuition when it comes to turning on the charm, and a face that will certainly make heads turn.
I stood from my cozy spot on the bench and walked over to Caleb, the cameraman who was also the director of the shoot.
"Alright, places everyone!" he shouted, getting the kids and Jim in position, "And, action!"
"C'mon. C'mon. Get on him! Post up!" Jim said to his little league. One of the boys with goggles on tossed the ball in the air, effortlessly making the shot. Wow, that wasn't even scripted, "Good shot Ron. Okay now take it out! You're guarding him…move a little a bit. Nice!" Jim blew the whistle, turning around to face the camera with his award winning smile, "I'm Jim Vanguard, police chief and coach of Manhattan's little league basketball team. There was a time when you could send your kids to the park. Before sex and drugs were available on every street corner. As a crime fighter and a coach I'd like to see those times again and I know you would too. So, vote me for mayor and let's make New York City family-friendly once more." And he jogged back on the court.
"And cut!"
"Keep rolling, keep rolling, keep rolling." I whispered to Caleb just as Jim slipped off his shirt, popped open his water bottle, and chugged it down. He used the last little bit to pour it over his hair, running his hand through it afterwards. "Did you get that?" I lowly asked.
"Yup I got it." He sent me a smile as he shut the camera down.
"Emma, how did I do?"
"Well Jim, if I didn't know any better, I'd swear you were Christian Bale."
He wrapped me in a hug, getting his sweat all over my very expensive blouse. But as I was being tightly squeezed a petite figure moved across the path and then picked up pace as they power walked through the wet, dewy grass. Straight brown hair was parted at an angle with a tight white t shirt and some ripped mom jeans. Fuck me. Is that Regina? Dressed…casually?
Jim finally let me go in time for me to see his sweat stains imprinted on my shirt. Motherfucker. This shit probably costs more than his monthly car payments. Saturday Atlas threw-up all over my Versace shirt and I get it, he's a baby and that's babies do, but I really don't want to get rid of two nice shirts in a span of three days.
"Thanks Emma. I hope this works, I'm so low in the polls…" he trailed off, the worry lines appearing in his face and for whatever reason I felt the need to comfort him.
"This will work. Trust me." I urged, patting his sticky shoulder. Yuck. Soon a slender hand slid across his abs and he jumped then smiled when he realized who it was.
"Hey baby." Lifting his arm he draped it across Regina's shoulders, pulling her into his side. They kissed deeply as always, and I adverted my gaze feeling the creepy crawly of jealousy trickle in. It frustrates the hell out of me that I can't quite pinpoint why it's happening. Yes Regina is hot, but so are a lot of other women in this city. Maybe it a want what I can't have type of situation? But even when I've come across that with other women that either turn me down or are committed to their marriage I've never felt…like this.
When at last I heard their wet kisses cease I took a minute to gather my thoughts, straightened my shirt and glanced up to meet Regina's piercing brown eyes. I suddenly felt very nervous. Why was she already watching me? She quickly lowered her gaze and a faint blush crept on her cheeks causing a soft smile to appear on my lips as I pretended not to notice.
"Oof, that was hot," Jim whispered in her ear but she jerked ahead away slightly as if the gruff noise was startling, "We just wrapped up the commercial. Ready for lunch?" but she sure as fuck wasn't paying attention to him, instead drifted her gaze back to me, where it should be. We all stood there awkwardly before Jim's ringtone brought some life to silence, "Oh I have to take this…" he politely excused himself and walked away.
I rocked back and forth on the tips of my toes as she lightly cleared her throat. Okay so are we just going to stand here in silence?
"Was it good?" She suddenly asked.
"Umm…" Turning to her I raised an eyebrow, confused as fuck.
"The commercial."
"Oh, right." Duh, what else would she be talking about, "Yea, your boy is a natural."
She nodded, tucking some hair behind her ear, "You look nice, today." It just slipped out of my mouth before I had time to sensor it.
Her eyelids blinked slowly while her mouth pulled into a tight grin, "I was shopping with Neal earlier and you have to look good when you go shopping. You never know who you might run into there." Her eyes glittered with flirtatious confidence and I smiled once again, "It was only two miles away but the traffic is nuts. Nobody knows how to drive here."
"It takes some getting used to, but once you do it's just like 'oh traffic'." I chuckled out, "So, you were in the area?" Yes dipshit, she literally just said that.
"Yea but more so for a client and then they cancelled on me." She rolled her eyes and sighed, "New York people are so flaky."
I scoffed, pretending to be offended, "No we're not." And it was at this moment that I realized how easygoing it felt to be around her. Sure, I'd second guess myself and whatnot but overall I didn't have to be so 'on' around Regina.
"Hey ladies. Sorry to interrupt." Motherfucking fuck, you fuck. Jim quickly stepped beside his wife and smiled at her, "I have to go, honey."
"What? Why?" Regina asked, frowning when she heard the news.
"I'm sorry, it's an emergency but hey, why don't you two spend some time together. Get to know each other a little more." Oh no bro, bad idea. Bad fucking idea, but I couldn't bring myself to say those words out loud and instead dumbly nodded. After all, this was the only thing on my schedule, well, this and the baths.
Jim though didn't wait for an answer, quickly kissing his wife's forehead and jogged or rather sprinted to his car. Hm, curious. Something didn't seem right with him but hey, not my problem.
"I was going to grab some Caribbean food from a spot around the corner. Do you want to come?" I bit my lip, noticing how her gaze flickered to that and moved just as quickly.
"Yea. Sure." Her smile wasn't the same, it felt forced as she glanced back at Jim's car speeding out of the lot. She moved her eyes to the grass and somehow I could literally feel how upset she was, feeling some sympathy when subtle disappointment briefly flashed across her unblemished features.
I started to walk, with Regina a step behind me as I racked my brain with ways to cheer her up, to comfort her. The same way I comforted Jim a little bit ago. But it was accompanied by the same feelings of uncertainty. Why did I feel the need to make the Vanguard's feel better? Jesus, I've never been so personally attached to a client before. Lunch definitely isn't a good idea.
We quickly jogged through the crosswalk and reached my hand back, feeling her soft palm encompass mine. The energy shot through my body like a canon, ending in an explosion of soft vibrations that felt like it numbed all of my senses. We stopped right in front of the restaurant's order window with the smell of good food making my stomach growl. Faintly I heard Regina's voice when the numbness finally wore off and when I landed back on Earth not only were we still holding hands but she was arguing with a woman off to the side.
"…Okay but I was here first!" The random lady shouted. She had one leg in a boot and a cane to help her balance.
"Then maybe you should've been, I don't know, in the actual line." Regina quipped back, frustration coating her words.
"You know, you go ahead," I quickly jumped in, pulling Regina back so we can leave space for the grumpy lady, "We're still deciding what we want."
I felt the brown eyes snap towards me, studying my profile as the woman mumbled under her breath and stand in front of us, "What are you doing?" she hissed in my ear, causing another round of shivers to hit my spine, "I was defending your honor."
Laughing, like genuinely laughing I drifted my eyes towards her, only inches apart from her lips, "Well that's a waste of time. I have no honor."
Her chuckle was the sweetest of melodies, a description you will never hear me use often or ever. Yea, I don't think I've ever said that. Unless I was trying to get in somebody's pants, I've never really stuck around long enough to get close to anyone, outside my usual suspects.
After the grumpy lady placed her order we stepped up to the counter and I let go of her hand, frowning when the cold nipped at my skin.
"Can I get the Curry Prawns with Fried Plantain Chips and a Pepsi." Regina said, which impressed me. She was not the type of woman who was afraid to go all in.
"And for you ma'am?"
I raised my head which was suddenly feeling very heavy, seeing an older woman who I never knew to work here and smiled, "Can I get the Jerk Chicken Wrap, steamed rice, garlic fries, and an Irish moss to drink."
"Together or separate?"
Once again I glanced at Regina seeing a flicker of something pass quickly over her, before she quietly said "Together, please." I narrowed my eyelids at her wondering why she was suddenly weird, it was just a simple question…
"Okay, that'd be thirty-eight sixty."
She quickly shuffled in purse but I was faster, handing the casher two twenties and holding a five for tip, "I got it."
"No, it's okay Emma, let me…" But when she looked up, realization crossed her face that I had already paid.
The cashier gave us a curious gaze, before she rolled her eyes, punched in some numbers on the POS system and then handed me back the change which I quickly dumped in the tip jar while Regina grabbed our drinks.
"Can I get the phone number; it's going to be at least an hour to an hour and a half."
"What?" Regina all but shouted, "See this is another one of those extra New York type things." She stuck her hands in her pockets, taking a step out of line for a moment.
"I promise it's worth the wait." I gave Regina my best smile then proceeded to give the cashier my number and stepped out of the way, lowering my hands to my pockets.
"So what do we do now?" she asked, sending me a crooked grin, "Get lunch while we wait for lunch?"
"Oh you got jokes: 'Get lunch while we wait for lunch'." I mimicked poorly, earning a hearty laugh from her, "Well we could go to Central Park."
"Is that walkable, because you New York people say some locations are walkable when it's really not."
"Okay look," I held up my hand as I faced her head on, "You are not going to keep talking shit about my city like that."
Regina raised her eyebrow at my comment, stepping close, challenging me as she bit her lip, "Well, what are you going to do about it?" She whispered, pushing up on the tips of her toes, her attention completely and utterly devoted to me.
She was almost intimidating right now, seeming to toy with me and guess what I'm not that bitch who backs down. I leaned forward as well, not inappropriately close but enough that if I focused I could see the details of her eyes. And if I wanted to think clearly while appearing cool, calm, and collected I could not do that.
"Blow your fucking mind." I whispered, seeing her eyes momentarily glaze over then quickly get covered up as I interlocked our fingers and pulled her across the street.
The path that led around Central Park was both light and deep, the sun interwoven with the shelter of trees. We kept up idle chatter as we wandered the winding cement road and I could tell that minute by minute she was being sold on the dopeness of Manhattan. A couple street performers played Tom Misch's "It Runs Through Me" and I heard Regina softly hum the tune beside me.
"It's okay. You can sing." I said, then glanced over my shoulder to see her smile and shake her head.
"Oh no. I don't really know the words but Neal has played it a few times."
"Nah, don't be modest. You know the words…" I trailed off, and as we closed in on the group an idea popped in my head, "I dare you to go over there and sing."
Without hesitation she confidently strode to the group, whispering something to the fellas. But I was not prepared for what came out of her mouth, "She told me that the groove is mine, It will take us through the night. And where I'll go…Can't explain I'll never know, but it's beautiful. You can't take this away from me. The way I hear the melody. The waves bring clarity. Running through me." My goodness, her voice was like velvet and silk wrapped in chocolate. I was so impressed that I even dropped a twenty in the money bucket. She smiled sweetly at the guys and hopped over to me.
"What? What is it?" she asked while lightly giggling, easily falling into step with me.
"Nothing."
She furrowed her brow and pretended to be offended, nudging her shoulder against mine, "Are you making fun of my singing?"
I smiled and laughed softly, "Yes, I think I am."
She scoffed, shaking her head slowly, "I'm a fantastic singer, thank you very much." Regina picked up in speed to get in front of me and walk backwards while I walked forwards and very seriously looked me in the eye while she sang at the top of her lungs. All I could do was smile and watch her try to remain serious throughout the whole thing. Regina, of course, sounded amazing. And though I don't know her too well it'd be hard to expect anything less.
I couldn't hold in my laughter for too long and eventually broke, subsequently so did she. We laughed until we cried, not even stopping after that or when the people walking by gave us strange faces. After what felt like forever we calmed down to chuckling in intervals.
"So since you want to dare somebody," Regina teased as I took deep breaths, trying to give my abs a break, "Truth or Dare." She fell back inline with my shoulder and I could feel her stare study the side of my face.
"Truth."
"Aww, boo!"
"Nope," I said, shaking my head, "You will not shame me. I'm picking Truth."
"All right. When was your last relationship?" The mood shifted from the intensity surrounding her words. The warmth began to rush to my face which didn't make sense. I have no problem voicing my stance on relationships so why did it feel weird now? "I would ask you about marriage but I already know how you feel about that." She chuckled like she were trying to lighten the mood.
I took a moment, trying to think back in the long list of women I've been with over the years, "My longest relationship was about six days…" Sliding my gaze to her I expected to see a negative expression but Regina showed no signs of judgement, "And then I cheated. She didn't deserve it. Nobody deserves it. But it made me realize that I don't do relationships. I believe in fucking not love. Fucking is real."
"How so?"
"Because there's nothing more real than showing your barest self to someone, physically and mentally," Turning to the right I stopped dead in my tracks, staring into her brown eyes like my life depended on it, "Because in that moment there's nothing more real than me wanting her and her wanting me."
Regina nodded as her tongue swiped along her bottom lip and her eyes were hard on me. My throat burned with want. What it would be like to kiss her, to touch her, to taste her. I hope Jim knows how lucky he is.
"Truth or Dare?" Now it was my turn.
"Truth." Regina answered, picking up our stroll.
"Have you ever been intimately involved with a woman?"
"No." She answered quickly.
"Never? Not even in your younger years." I don't why I was pushing this.
She playfully pushed me to the side before wrapping her hand around my bicep to pull me back in. I didn't fail to notice that she kept it there, "What are you trying to say? That I'm old?" Her light tone erased any worry that I may have offended her, "I've been with Jim since high school. We took some time apart when I went to college but even then, I dated my brother's best friend."
"How many siblings do you have?"
"Two. Neal, who you already met and my sister Zelena."
"And you're close with all of them?"
"Very. Even though I'm adopted it feels like they're my own blood." I slowed, pulling us off to the side. There was a nice grassy area that looked dry enough to sit. Without asking I led us there and sat down, Regina followed without even questioning it. "Do you want to hear the story?"
Learn more about her? Hell fucking yes I would gladly listen to her speak. I wouldn't even mind if she just talked the entire time. But I hid my excitement and nodded, leaning back on my elbows.
"Well my mom was very young; too inexperienced to care for me at the age of sixteen. Another issue was that her body wasn't ready to birth a child. My adoptive father Henry was her doctor when she went into labor. It was rough, the umbilical cord was wrapped around my neck and he told her that he couldn't save both of us." A smile tugged on her lips. "She said very quickly without an ounce of hesitation to save me. She died during my birth and since there was nobody there to claim me, not her the guy who knocked her up, not even her mother." Regina took in a slow deep breath before continuing. "My adoptive mother Cora sadly couldn't have any children and so they adopted me."
Shit. That is some heavy shit to work through. And here I am complaining because my dad is a drunk and my mom is too stuck in her old ways to accept me as I am. That feels so miniscule in comparison to what she's been through.
"I'm sorry you never got to know your parents."
"I'm sure she was amazing. How could she not be, she gave up her life for me. This may sound insensitive but I don't know if I could be that selfless."
"No, it's not insensitive at all. But I think we never really know how any of us would react in life-or-death situations until you're in it. Maybe you would be that selfless."
"Yea. I guess that's true." Cocking her head in my direction a bit hair fell in front of her eyes and she quickly ran a hand through her brown locks, looking at me with those beautiful eyes of hers.
My phone buzzed loudly, interrupting our heart-to-heart. Shimmying it out of my pocket I checked it and couldn't help but frown, "We're up." I stood, dusting the dirt off my pants and reached my hand down, pulling Regina up to her feet. I saw a frown tug on her lips too, at least I think I did. Maybe she's feeling just as disappointed as I am. Or maybe that's just wishful thinking.
Luckily we didn't walk too far into Central Park and got back to the counter in less than fifteen minutes. The food wasn't even cold. Regina and I made our way to one of the metal picnic tables outside and I watched as she uncovered the prawns, ripping the wrapping off her plastic fork. Stabbing one she brought it to her mouth and I waited to see her reaction.
"So…?" I pressed, holding my wrap in my hands as she chewed.
"I mean…" She trailed off, before nodding, "It's alright."
"No, stop lying. You are looking all happy and satisfied." I teased, seeing her now nod her head in big motions.
"Okay, yea I'm lying. It's delicious."
"See. You'll learn quick not to doubt me. Which is good for you because I'm always right."
"Always?" Regina raised an eyebrow.
"Always right. Every time."
Her eyelids closed fully while she laughed in complete pleasure, "Okay. We'll see. Just so you know my memory is long."
We stayed quiet as we enjoyed our food, only making awkward eye contact every now and then. So you could say the silence was comfortable but yet not so. There was a tense energy that vibrated between us that seemed to be the case whenever we were in each other's presence. Again this was another thing that I wasn't used to but in a strange way found it comforting. Regina finished first and I was soon after, the sun was shining down in all its glory, it felt like it took an extra liking to the woman sitting across from me. I stared at her for a couple seconds and she smiled softly.
"What?" she whispered, smiling softly.
Oh you know, I'm just trying really hard not to kiss you right now.
But I said nothing and just continued to stare. Her smile stretched in a shy, embarrassed grin from my heavy eyes and then dissipated soon after. She bit her lip then leaned forward, placing her elbows on the table making a fist with one hand and rested her chin on top of it with the other lazily resting against her cheek. Her grin was now mischievous and a playful twinkle glistened in her eyes as she focused all her attention on me. Did she think this was a staring contest. Giving in I copied her movements, and now it was on.
"I'll win." She confidently said and I shook my head.
Her eyes were truly gorgeous. From the few times we met they were an oak brown, but even in the sun they seemed much darker. Tiny specks of gold were sprinkled around her widening pupils. I didn't know what but there was something else effecting her mood. My heart thumped against my ribcage in the most erratic and inconsistent way. It'll be sweet death if I drop right now from a heart attack.
Well worth it.
Her phone chirped loudly next to us on the table and because it was sitting on metal and vibrated, it obnoxiously broke our tense staring contest.
I swear if that's Jim I'm going to make him look foolish during this campaign as retaliation.
Regina sat back in her chair so quickly it was like she had been burned, breathing somewhat heavily as she checked her phone. Deciding to give her space, I picked up our empty food containers and tossed them in trash, needing a breather myself. When I walked back over, she had her purse strap on her shoulder.
"Oh, do you have to go?" I asked, hearing the disappointment in my voice.
"Not yet. Looks like the rest of my day is open," And even though she was smiling, something was up and it wasn't good, "Where to next tour guide?"
I laughed as I shrugged my shoulders, really at a loss. There are too many things to choose from.
"Did you grow up around here?" She stood, scooting in the chair and then rested her hand on the back of it.
"Nah, I grew up in Inwood. All the way on the other side of Manhattan.
"Really?" Her eyebrows, raised in intrigue, "Let's go."
God this woman was really up for anything.
And I fucking loved it.
"This is it." I announced as we walked down the middle of the empty neighborhood. Not because it was abandoned but because most of the cars were gone for the day.
"Wow. This is a nice suburban area." Regina gazed around, mouth slightly open at the two-story white and beige contemporary house.
"Yea. My mom scraped up every penny so they could afford it." I was feeling a little reminiscent of the past, remembering how Eliot and I used to play in the front yard. "I miss this place."
"When did you move out?"
"I actually left when I was fifteen. Right after that they got a pool." Yea, I'm definitely still salty about that.
"Oh, there's a pool here?" Drifting my eyes to her I noticed a crooked smile forming on her lips. Oh boy, what is she thinking now? "I think I'm up. Truth or Dare?"
"Dare." I said, wondering where she's going with this.
"I dare you to break in." I scoffed, playfully rolling my eyes. We walked up to the gate that led to the backyard and I tossed a look over my shoulder. "Really? You're going to jump the gate?" She asked, astonishment and surprise legible on her features.
I smiled widely, reached over the fence to flick up the latch and the gate popped open. Her face fell flat, and I couldn't help but cackle at the expression.
"No. That was too easy. I wanna re-do." Not to self…make Regina pout more often.
"Sorry you already used your dare."
I led to us to the back. The pool was glistening as it rippled from the light breeze that blew around us. I miss the sunrises over the Hudson River the most.
"Wow what a nice view." She murmured, taking in the scene.
Something in me felt bad that her dare wasn't a real dare, so being the nice person that I am I decided to give her another go. "Okay you get one re-do." At this she raised her eyebrows and bit her lip like she were considering her options.
"Okay. I got it. I dare you to jump in the pool." Psh, what is this? Elementary level. "Naked." She finished and now she's got my interest. Okay, so little miss innocent isn't playing so innocent.
"Whoa!"
"No whoa. You have me out here being all felonious and you can't jump in the pool." Okay now wait a minute.
"It was literally your dare to break in." I said as I slowly unbuttoned my blouse. She quickly turned around but the reflection of the sliding glass door in the living room still showed everything. I took off my bra, then slid my pants down, yea no underwear. It's just so fucking uncomfortable sometimes. Jumping in with a canon ball Regina only turned back around when she heard the splash then darted her gaze to my folded up clothes.
"It's nice." I murmured, narrowing my eyelids at her, "Now I dare you to come in with me."
"Na-uh I'm choosing Truth." She immediately quipped.
"Your truth is that you're about to jump in this pool." We stared at each other once again, but with each second that passed her lips tugged upwards. "Well…?" I pushed.
"Fine. Avert your gaze."
"But we're both women." I tried, but she wasn't falling for it.
Using her pointer finger Regina made a circle with it as she said, "Turn. Around." Sighing dramatically I kicked my legs, spinning around to face the river, soon after hearing a splash. "Motherfuckin' shit fuck!" Regina screeched.
Laughter bubbled up from my chest while I spun to face her again, this time I was genuinely making fun of her. She splashed some water at me and I returned the favor with a bigger one, getting her hair all wet.
"You did not tell me it was cold." She whined, shivering so loud her teeth began to chatter, "How are you not freezing?"
"Oh no I'm cold. I just wanted to get you in here."
Now it was Regina's turn to chuckle, quickly dunking her head under water and then came back up, "How did you get the scar on your chest."
A little thrown by the sudden question I looked down to see what she was talking about. The clean line was lighter than the rest of my skin. No I don't want to go there. It's too fucking depressing, "Uh, I've had that for a while."
She gazed at me with obvious doubt, letting her lips fall before she covered it up, "Okay look, I'm over telling you everything about me and you barely saying a word. So we're going to play a new game. It's called Truth or Truth." Her tone was stern, a little distant but not enough to seem too pissed off.
"Okay…" Bossy Regina is nice, "Truth I guess."
"Are you close with your family?" Ah, jumping right in to the deep, but I suppose it's only fair since she opened up to me about her family.
"No. Not at all. I rarely see them now. I used to be closer with my father but after I grew up I stopped seeing the best in both of them and started seeing the truth. My mother is a frigid bitch, my father an abusive drunk and they had a hateful marriage."
"Oh." It was quiet for a moment, "Don't you miss seeing them?"
"Why should I? Just because my pops got my mother pregnant doesn't mean we're suppose to have some special bond. He served his purpose and it was all he was good for and my mother, well…she spends her time regretting the day I was born." Once again I waited for her face of judgement but instead I got one filled with pity.
"But what happens when you just need someone, ya know. Who do you turn to?"
"Myself." I coolly responded. "I'm the only one I need because at the end of the day I'm the only one I've got."
I took in how my words had affected Regina as she gazed in the pool. Unfortunately while the pool was clear the wind was blowing in such a way that shielded her goodies from me. Fuck. She went to open her mouth but light shined from inside. Oh fuck, the front door is open.
"Shit it's time to go." I whispered, nudging my head towards the door. She whipped her head around, cursing under her breath. We swam back to the ledge, pushing ourselves out of the water to change, the same way Superman used to change fast as fuck in the telephone booth, and sprinted out of the yard, not stopping until we were a few blocks away laughing the entire time. My face actually hurt around my mouth from the non-stop laughter we've had.
"Emma, I can't remember the last time I laughed this much." Regina said while she giggled, reaching up to fix the collar of my blouse. "So, what do we do now? What's next?" She gazed at me with excitement, like a child on an Easter Egg Hunt, ready for the next adventure.
How about we-" The sound of my ringtone cut me off, both of us jumping at the sudden ringing. What the fuck. Who the fuck was calling me. Not bothering to check the caller ID, I answered with a tight grip around my phone, "What?!"
"Emma, it's Eliot." He sounded in distress, breathless, and was sniffling like he had been crying.
Uh oh.
"What's wrong?"
"It's Atlas…he's-he's, I don't know. He has a fever of 104 and can't keep anything down so we're at Mount Sinai Children's Hospital." I felt the ground drop from beneath me taking my heart along with it. My stomach twisted as my head began to spin and I had to grip the phone even tighter to cling on to something solid.
"Mount Sinai? I'm on my way."
I hung up the phone noticing that Regina had her own phone out, typing with urgency, "I heard everything," she started, "I just called a ride. They're turning down the street now."
Just as she said it a black BMW SUV came into view with an Uber sticker on the front window. Regina popped the car door open letting me slide in first and then she followed. Bouncing my foot up and down I stared out the window as we pulled out of my old neighborhood.
Warmth circled my knee and when I glanced down Regina's hand was there, giving me a comforting squeeze.