Page 1 of Pulse of True Soulmates
Exhaustion had taken over Aeon’s body after being up since five that morning. She was in the process of completing a data science bootcamp at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. The bootcamp was a great addition to her Bachelor of Science in Data Analytics. Although she was good with numbers, data analytics was not the original career path that she planned for. Her desire in high school was to be a preschool teacher. She loved children, but God seemed to have a different plan for her life. A life-changing diagnosis at nineteen years old pivoted just about every plan that she had for her life.
She was diagnosed with Hyperadrenergic POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome). POTS was a condition where your heart rate abnormally increased when a personstood and did other normal activities most considered daily activities. One of the main symptoms of the condition was a significant heart rate increase within minutes of standing. Your heart rate could increase 30 beats per minute. A person could go from a heart rate of 78 beats per minute to 148 within a few minutes of standing, which was abnormal. Because of this fact, dizziness, long-lasting fatigue, lightheadedness that could result in fainting, headaches, blurred vision, palpitation, and a host of other things could accompany the increased heart rate. Aeon’s life had changed drastically since her diagnosis.
Now at twenty-four, she hadn’t gotten a handle on how to fully function with her condition. When she was diagnosed, she lived with her father, Vernon, who was a fire fighter. Last year, she and her best friend purchased a duplex so they could live closely, but separately; therefore, she moved out of her father’s house. His protective nature as a father was not happy with her decision, but he also knew that she had to learn how to independently live her life as an adult. Her condition even affected her property purchase. She had her eyes set on the three-level townhouse, but her father and best friend shot that dream down because of the stairs. Stairs were not the friend of a POTS girlie.
The buzz of her phone on the table caught her attention. She stepped into a coffee shop to take a rest. It was a warm day which could trigger her condition. Aeon’s cheeks rose at the notification of her boyfriend, Troy, video calling. She fluffed her fresh twist out before she propped her phone to take the call.“Hey, baby,”she greeted with her bright, beautiful smile.
“Hey, baby. Where are you?”Troy asked with a bright smile to match hers. This was his first time speaking to her today.
Aeon held up a textbook.“I just got out of my bootcamp class. I had to come into a coffee shop to sit down for a second. I said I might as well stay here for a bit to get some work done. What are you up to today? I haven’t talked to you all day.”
“I’ve been at work in meetings all day. This is my first break. I just wanted to check in with you to make sure you were okay,”he told her.
Troy and Aeon met when they both attended Queens University and had been together for almost four years. When they started dating, she was sure to rip the Band-Aid off about her condition early. She didn’t want to waste her time with a man that didn’t want to deal with a person who suffered with a disability. Troy didn’t understand her condition fully and still didn’t, for that matter. If you asked him to explain it, his simplistic answer was ‘she faints a lot.’ Although he didn’t understand it, he said that he wanted to be with her and be supportive. Well, supportive was an extremely subjective concept.
“They’re keeping you busy I see. I miss you. Are you coming over tonight?”She hadn’t seen him in almost a week because of work. When the duplex was purchased by the best friends, Aeon assumed that Troy would move in with her. Troy quickly put that assumption to rest.
As a graduation gift, Troy and two of his best friends’ parents purchased them a home. They wanted their children to get ahead in life. The home was in all three of the friends’ names, but the parents split the mortgage. Troy spent most of his time at her house at her request. She didn’t like being crowded by his roommates who knew no boundaries. They would walk into his bedroom without so much as a knock.
“I miss you too, baby. I’m going to really try. I’m supposed to meet Scott and Jordan after work.There’s a cornhole competition that we wanted to check out. I’m not sure what time that is supposed to end.”He put on his soft eyes that told her that his presence at her house more than likely would not happen.
If there was anything that she disliked about their relationship was how much time he spent with his best friends. Troy, Scott, and Jordan had been best friends since they were young kids. Aeon tried to be considerate of that fact, but it was hard. It would be one thing if she could participate in the activities that they enjoyed, but most of them were outside during the warmer part of the year. The one big argument that the couple had in their relationship was about his consideration for her when it came to the activities and events that he went to. She wanted to be included. Scott’s and Jordan’s girlfriends were heavily involved with their men.
When Aeon brought it up to Troy, he had an extremely cavalier attitude about the discussion. He declared that he would not ask his friends to adjust for her condition. They were not obligated to do so, and he refused to ask them to. If there were activities that she could attend, she was free to. That was the first time that he hurt her feelings. It was also the day her best friend decided that he was a fuck boy.
“Troy, can’t you go for a little while and still come over? I haven’t seen you all week,”Aeon whined. She felt that she shouldn’t have to beg to see her man.
Troy wanted to roll his eyes, but he held his composure. Over time, he felt like she’d become needy, clingy, and more difficult to be around. The few times in the beginning of their relationship that he did take her with him to hang out with his circle of friends, she either had an episode or they had to leave. It was annoying as fuck.“Aeon, I’ll see what I can do, but I won’t make any promises.”
She was officially over this conversation.“Alright, Troy. You do the best you can. I think I’m going to pop in on my dad before I head home. If you come over, I’ll probably be in my room, so just use your key.”
His annoyance was obvious, but Aeon didn’t care. If he was annoyed because she wanted to spend time with him, he could stay annoyed. He told her that he had a meeting to get to before he abruptly disconnected the call. She picked her phone up to put it into her crossbody. Her movement stopped and face scrunched when she heard Troy’s voice. When she looked at her phone screen, she realized that he didn’t hang up. Instead, the call had switched from a video to a regular call. She started to disconnect the call, but the sound of a female’s voice halted her action.
Who the fuck is that?“Troy, I thought you said that you were going to break up with her. I don’t understand why it’s taking so long,” the female shrieked. Aeon didn’t recognize her voice, but why would she?
“Baby, I am. You have to be a little more patient. The timing needs to be right for both of us, and you know that. We don’t want to move prematurely. Our apartment won’t be ready for another two weeks.” Aeon’s eyes bucked to Troy’s confession.What the hell?
The sounds of kissing could be heard for a few seconds. “I know, I know. I just hate all this sneaking around. Do you have time today to fuck me?” the woman asked. Aeon’s heart felt like it was literally breaking.
“No, baby, I have meetings. Tomorrow, Aeon has classes all day, and her best friend is out of town until Friday. We can go over there,” Troy told the woman that he really wanted to be with. He didn’t mean for their friendship to turn into something deeper, but it did.
Did he just say that he was going to bring her to my house? No, that’s not what he said.Aeon sat there and listened to her boyfriend make plans with another woman to come to her house and do only God knows what. After she’d heard enough, she disconnected the call. She felt her heart rate increasing. Stress and anxiety were also triggers of her condition. She long pressed three on the screen of her phone.
The line began to ring. Fatima picked up on the second ring.“What’s up, best friend?”
“Troy is cheating on me. I just heard him making plans with another bitch to come to my house to fuck her,”Aeon blurted out.“He’s planning to break up with me soon. Their apartment will be ready in two weeks.”
There was shuffling on the other end, then silence. After a few beats, Fatima spoke.“Now, did you just tell me that Troy is cheating on you and using your house to do so?”After Aeon confirmed the playback that was given, Fatima huffed.“Best friend, I love you, but I told your ass a long time ago that something was up with his bitch ass. Your ass should have gone black girl crazy on that white boy a long time ago. You said they were coming to your house, when?”
Fatima was undone. There was no way that she would let Troy play her best friend. They met their freshman year of college when they were roomed together. They’d been locked in since then. When she first met Troy, she didn’t care for him, but she tried to overlook her own prejudice. Fatima didn’t have an issue overall about interracial dating, but Troy was a different kind of white boy. She felt like he dated Aeon to rebel against his uppity ass parents.
Aeon was the first black girl that Troy dated. When he introduced her to his friend circle, they made her feel like a fishout of water. His parents weren’t happy with his relationship with Aeon, but they didn’t want to come across as racist. Troy ambushed his parents with the news of his relationship when he brought her as his date to a gala that their country club hosted. Aeon wasn’t the only black person in the room, but her economic status paled in comparison to the others in the room.
“He said tomorrow since I have classes all day and you’re out of town.”The tears started to fall against Aeon’s wishes.“I can’t believe he’s cheating on me. What kind of man uses his girlfriend’s house to cheat on her?”
“A bitch, that’s who. He’s not a damn man.”Fatima took a minute to finish the task that she was in the middle of before she spoke again.“Pick me up at the airport at six.”
“What? I thought the conference wasn’t over until Friday,”Aeon said in disbelief.“Don’t leave the conference because of this.”
