“How’s that going?” I wanted to know.
“How’s what going?” Her brow climbed up her forehead as she tucked a pen in her pile of braids, “I ain’t thinking about that man, but anybody who wants to buy me food is alright with me.” She placed a shipping label on a box and tossed it in a pile with others. Then she picked up her green juice again.
“Oh, right.” I knew a woman in denial when I saw one and wasn’t gonna burst her little bubble.
Not yet.
“I don’t have an appetite,” I told her when she offered me half of her salad.
“Hmm, suit yourself.” She dabbed at dressing on the corner of her mouth with a napkin and took another bite of her lunch. “Tell me more about this hometown project you emailed me about.”
Better With You Than Without
Monday, July 14, 2025
Nobody said a word at the breakfast table this morning. Next to Rico, Christian sat across from me, pushing scrambled eggs around his plate. He was never awake this early, but I had a feeling he hadn’t come to bed after he got home last night.
There was a common thread pulling us all taut to the point of breaking, and she was out on the water instead of sitting here with us.
“We really finna let Harlow decide if we have a good day or not?”
Christian cocked his head at me like I was talking out the side of my neck. Because I was. I knew that and doubled down.
“We sitting here like teenagers who just got in trouble for cheating on a test, and now the woman we claim to love is giving us the silent treatment while we?—”
“Aye, watch out, Soul.”
Rico dropped his fork and pinned me with a hard glare.
“Or what?”
Rico scoffed, then his chair was dragging against the tile as he pushed back from the table.
“You acting flaw as hell right now because the issue ain’t fixed the second you want it to be.” An angry groove appeared in the space between his brows. “Ain’t that the same shit you usually get on me about?”
Christian cleared his throat, looking at me while he twisted his bottom lip. “I don’t claim to love Harlow. Just like I don’t claim to love you or Rico. Ido. Ain’t nothing hypothetical about it.”
His voice was softer than I expected. Gentler than I deserved.
“It’s been adayand she’s trying to get through hurt she never had to deal with before. You acting like she packed her shit and left us in the middle of the night.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time,” I mumbled, still reeling, still refusing to look at this rationally. I was always the peacemaker. Always the one who looked at everything from all sides before jumping to conclusions. But something about this felt too familiar for me to take it as calmly as they wanted me to.
Rico stood up and scowled. “We got enough going on, so I won’t say what I want to right now.”
Those words lingered over the breakfast table even after he slammed his office door behind him.
“You okay?” Christian’s hand was on top of mine. Firm. Reassuring.
Looking up from my half-eaten plate, I met his gaze and shook my head. “We supposed to be okay with being disposable if she up and leaves again?”
“I—” his jaw worked as his voice abandoned him. “That’s not what we meant. Why you jumping to a scenario where she leaves?”
“Because she has before.”
“That’s bullshit, and you know it.” His hand on mine didn’t budge. “Harlow has never left us on bad terms. Ever. We agreed to everything that happened that summer, and she went back to traveling after. That’s it. You can be upset about it because we caught feelings, but let’s not act like we weren’t the ones who dropped her off at the airport.”
I kissed my teeth.
