Page 31 of So This Is Love

I had a long day, I’ve been trying to put the finishing touches on this collection.

A second later another text comes in.

laila

Sorry for the late reply, I’m a terrible texter.

Since that first message I sent to Laila, we have consistently kept up a conversation. This afternoon I had asked her how her day was going, but she hadn’t replied until now. I pick up my phone, unlocking it and opening the message. I start to type out a response but then change my mind, deleting the words I previously typed and instead initiating a FaceTime. It’s a risky decision to start an unprompted FaceTime especially at this time of night and with someone that you don’t know super well, but I silently pray it works in my favor.

The call rings for a while and I am sure that it’s going to go unanswered until at the last moment the call connects. The camera is pointed towards the ceiling of a dimly lit room.

“You know it’s rude to FaceTime someone out of nowhere,” Laila says from somewhere off the screen.

“My bad,” I apologize. “You said you were a bad texter, so I thought this would be easier for you.

Laila picks up the phone and her face comes on to the screen. Her hair is wrapped in a bonnet and her face is bare, but she’s no less beautiful than any other time that I’ve seen her.

“I guess that’s fair,” Laila says, her tone softer than before. “I wasn’t expecting you to be up.”

I run a hand over my hair. “I had some trouble sleeping so I was playing around on the piano for a bit.”

“Working on something in particular?”

“Trying to,” I say with a chuckle. “It hasn’t been going so well.”

“I’m sure it’ll come to you,” Laila replies. “Maybe it’s just not the right time for it.”

I nod in understanding, knowing that she’s probably right, even though it’s not the answer that I want to hear.

“You weren’t up late working this whole time were you?” I ask knowing that she was probably doing just that.

In the small time that I’ve known Laila, she’s expressed just how important her career is to her and she works hard at it because of it.

“No, I was watching TV and then I remembered I needed to fix something on the website before it goes live. I was doing that when I remembered I never responded to your message.”

“Left a nigga on delivered all day,” I say joking.

Laila rolls her eyes, but a small smile peaks out of her annoyance.

“In all seriousness, I can tell how much you care about the brand, I just hope you’re taking care of yourself as well,” I say.

“It’s our first launch of the year and it’s also the biggest one we’ve ever done, so I want to make sure it’s perfect. But now that’s done and I’m watching tv.”

I stand from the piano, knowing that I’m not going to get any further with the song and walk back towards my bedroom. “I didn’t mean to bother you, I don’t want to get in the way of your show.”

In my room I turn on the lamp on my bedside table and climb back into my bed, sitting with my back against the headboard.

“It’s not a bother,” Laila says. “I’ve seen this show a bunch of times, this is the state championship episode.”

“Wait, why are you watching it if you’ve already seen it before?” I ask.

“It’s comforting, I like knowing what’s going to happen. And I already know I like the show so I don’t have to watch a bunch of episodes just for the writers to ruin it in the last season.”

Laila flips the screen on her phone so I can see the episode she’s watching. She starts telling me about each of the characters and the premise of the show until eventually we’re just watching the episode together.

***

“Mannn look who finally brought his ass back to town.”

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