Page 107 of Falling Into Gravity

“Your Daddy gon’ love him the moment Malik says, ‘Yes, sir’ and opens the car door for you.”

“Nah,” Niah said. “He gon’ love him the moment he see Malik cry over Aku.”

Aku smiled faintly at that, rolling her lips inward. “I don’t even know what we are right now.”

“Something real,” Noodle said. “Just walk it down, bestie. One moment at a time.”

Aku looked around the space—her racks, her wigs, her women, her life—and felt the ache of having everything in orderexceptthe one thing that mattered most.

But today?

Today she was standing in the beauty of her mess, surrounded by people who saw her, loved her, and reminded her that softness could still survive—even here.

Aku didn’t say anything for a long second, just nodded like she was listening, even though her chest had gone tight again. She craved love as a safe space, love that filled. Love that didn’t ask her to bleed for it…she wanted that, she really did.

But wanting something andgettingit were two different beasts.

Her gaze drifted toward the oversized window overlooking the city—the sun just starting to melt into the skyline, casting gold across the hardwood floors and glass tables. This view was everything she dreamed about at seventeen. She used to sit on her bedroom floor back in Emerald City, clipping photos out ofBlack Excellence Magazineand drawing out her imaginary office space on notebook paper. Big windows, messy inspirationboards, racks of couture. A place where dreams and business could co-exist…and here she was - living it.

But she hadn’t expected it to feelthislonely.

She rubbed her thumb over her knuckle where Malik had kissed her hand that one night like she was his most valued prayer.

She still hadn’t washed off that feeling.

“Aku,” Noodle said, watching her closely now, “don’t let your ambition drown your softness.”

Aku looked over. “What you mean?”

“You got this big ass life. Lights, cameras, clients, racks full of proof you made it. But baby…if you gon’ keep loving men like Malik—and I mean therealkind, not the polished package—then you gotta let your soft live too.”

Her throat tightened. “I just don’t wanna make myself small to fit into somebody’s trauma.”

“You don’t gotta shrink,” Noodle said, standing to pick through a shoe bin. “Just gotta stretch your patience. That’s what I did with Bu. He ain’t meet me at the altar with emotional intelligence. That shit cameafterthe hard conversations, the ego bruises.”

Aku swallowed hard and whispered, “What if he don’t ever show up the way I need him to?”

Noodle turned and looked her dead in the eyes. “Then you keep being whole. You ain’t made from pieces no more.”

That hit different.

Niah, sensing the heaviness in the air, rolled the clothing rack back toward the window and lit one of the “We Ain’t Begging” affirmation candles from the shelf. The scent of amber and cedarwood filled the room with intention.

Aku stood up slowly, running her hands across one of the garment bags. She didn’t say anything right away, just focused on adjusting tags, rearranging the shoes, fluffing the sleeves ona Marc Jacobs trench like it hadn’t just reminded her of Malik’s hoodie—the one she swore still smelled like weed and cologne.

“I love this shit,” she finally said. “Like,reallylove it. The styling. The rush. The transformations. I love watching women see themselves in the mirror and smile like they just discovered a new power. I love picking out textures and imagining stories behind the fabric. I love the mess. I love the motion. I love thework.”

She turned to Niah and Noodle, chest rising. “And it scares me…’cause I’ve worked so hard to build a life that feels like mine—not the one handed to me by my parents. But when I love people, I do it with my whole chest. I don’t know how to be soft in halves.”

Noodle smiled, her voice low but solid. “Then stop tryin’ to be less of you to make him more of him.”

Niah clapped softly. “Bars.”

Aku cracked a faint smile. She dropped her hands to her side and sat back down on the couch. “Y’all gon’ make me cry in this damn Fenty bronzer.”

Noodle walked over and hugged her from the side, head on her shoulder. “Cry in it. We still taking pics for the gram later. Tears hit different in highlighter.”

The three of them laughed.

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