Short Story: What Do I Do Now? {Part 2}

“We should invite your mother over and have a welcome back dinner! I’ll call Carol now,” Sandi hopped to her feet. Silence filled the room as Nicki and Drake kept staring at each other.

“So are y’all gonna stare at each other all day?” Abel looked between them. Nicki snapped out of it and hopped to her feet.

“I need to go,” she tried to rush out but Drake grabbed her arm.

“We need to talk Nic,” he looked at her.

“We have nothing to talk about,” she shook her head before leaving. Lauren and Cassie rushed after her as Drake sat down next to Abel.

“I think that went well,” he smiled and Drake just groaned.

“She’ll never talk to me now,” he couldn’t believe that this just went down.

“Your mom is planning a dinner for tonight so she’ll have to come unless she has a good excuse,” he pointed out.

Nicki paced around in her room as Cassie and Lauren sat on her bed. “Nic, it’s not that big of a deal,” Cassie tried to convince her but Nicki turned and glared at her.

“I slept with Aubrey! I can’t believe that I slept with him. I’m like a damn rapist!” She plopped down on the bed.

“He’s twenty one so it’s not rape,” Lauren looked at Nicki weirdly.

“It’s like rape in my head. He’s Aubrey, that little fourteen year old boy. I just feel disgusted with myself,” she shook her head.

“Nic,” Lauren rubbed her back.

“I don’t wanna talk about this anymore,” she sighed. She stayed up in her room for most of the day until her mom told her that they were having dinner at Sandi's house. “I don’t feel well,” she lied and her mom shot her a look.

“I’m not taking that as an excuse. You can try to get out of this for whatever reason you have but you’re not going to. You haven’t been home in seven years and I think it’ll be nice to do dinner at Sandi’s so get your ass up,” she snapped before leaving the room. Nicki reluctantly got up and walked downstairs. They walked to her house and Sandi welcomed them in with a wide smile. Somehow she got stuck in front of Aubrey as they ate. She wasn’t hungry so she kept pushing her food around.

“Is something wrong Onika?” Her mom looked over at her.

“I’m just not feeling too well,” she shrugged then a thought popped into her head. “Actually can I go to the bathroom?” She wanted to take a break from this little reunion.

“Of course, Aubrey go show her where the bathroom is. Our toilet in the hallway is broken so you can just use the one in Aubrey’s room,” Sandi shot her a smile.

“Um I’m good,” she did not need to be alone with him.

“Don’t be silly Onika,” her mom narrowed her eyes on her. Nicki knew that her mom could sense that something happened between them. She stood and walked out of the dining room with Aubrey following her.

“It’s down here,” he led her to the basement.

“I know where your room is Aubrey,” she walked down the stairs and looked around. It still looked like his room but not as childish.

“Can we talk?” He begged knowing that she was trying to avoid this conversation.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she shook her head.

“Why are you acting like you did something so horrible? We slept together, it’s not that big of a deal,” he couldn’t understand her.

“It is a big deal. If I would’ve known that it was you, god I’m so stupid. You had that grin on your face the whole night. I knew that I’ve seen it before,” she ran her hand through her hair in frustration.

“Look Onika, I’m not the same little boy that you remember, I’m a grown ass man,” she snapped her head over to him.

“Don’t you think I know that? It’s not about your age, it’s just who you are to me. I’ve known you for years and watched you grow up. The fact that we slept together just changes all of my memories of you,” she huffed.

“We can just make new memories,” he let out a grin.

“Can we just forget that we slept together?” She pleaded.

“I can’t do that Nic. You know that I’ve always had a thing for you and now that I know that you’re you, I can’t act like it didn’t happen,” he moved closer to her.

“Aubrey,” she warned him and he just moved closer. She backed away but her back hit the wall and he caged her in.

“You can’t tell me that you don’t feel something. Forget who I am for a minute and tell me that you don’t feel what I feel right now,” he looked down at her.

“I can’t feel something Aubrey, it’s wrong,” she looked down. He lifted her chin and made her look at him.

“It’s not wrong at all. You felt something that night and you feel something now,” he leaned close to her face. “Do you feel something?” He moved so his lips hovered hers.

Yes,” she whispered before he connected their lips. She kissed him back while wrapping her arms around his neck. He deepened the kiss and gripped her waist.

“Lauren, can you see if everything is okay down there?” Sandi asked her. She nodded before walking downstairs.

“Nika,” she called out and stepped into the room. “Oh my god!” Nicki pushed Drake off of her and buttoned her shirt back up. He sighed before picking his shirt off of the floor. “What the hell was that?” Lauren was mortified. Nicki shook her head and walked up the stairs. Lauren eyed Drake once he put his shirt back on. “So is someone gonna explain that?” She questioned him.

“I don’t even know what that was,” he sighed.

“Well then,” she turned and went upstairs with Drake. They went back to the table and everyone could feel the tension. Lauren noticed Mama Carol looking at Nicki a little too hard. Her eyes widen when she followed her eyes. “Nic,” Lauren kicked her. Nicki looked up and Lauren pointed to her neck. She quickly moved her hair to cover her neck but it was too late.

“Is that a hickey Onika?” Mama Carol eyed her. Everyone went silent while eyeing Nicki’s neck. She had more than one so it was obvious.

“Now that I’m looking at you, is that lipstick on your lips Aubrey?” Mama Sandi looked at his lips. He quickly picked up a napkin and wiped her lipstick off of him. Nicki groaned and held her head in her hands.

“Okay, one of you better start talking,” both moms looked at their children.

“It’s not what it looks like,” Nicki spoke.

“Really? Then what is it?” Abel cut in and Drake glared at him.

“You two have been acting weird ever since you’ve seen each other and now you hooked up with each other?” Mama Carol still couldn’t believe her daughter. She didn’t mind that she might be with Aubrey but still questioned if she was truly done with Zamir. She knew how messy that could get. Nicki used to tell her all about him on the phone.

“We did not hook up,” she defended herself.

“I mean you have more than one hickey and he had your lipstick all over his lips. I think I even see some of you lipstick leading down his neck. I don’t even wanna know how far down you went,” Cassie scrunched up her face.

“May I be excused?” Nicki hopped to her feet.

“No you may not; we haven’t even gotten to desert. You’ll have to suck it up missy,” her mom denied.

“I’m a grown woman Mom. I don’t have to deal with all of these questions,” she sat back down.

“Yes you are and you don’t have to answer any questions. You can just leave us to assume the worst,” she shrugged.

“What are you assuming?” Nicki didn’t want her to think more of the situation than what it was.

“You live out in LA and so does Aubrey. You came home after seeing him again and it looked like you saw a ghost. You were avoiding looking at Aubrey all night while he couldn’t keep his eyes off of you. You two just came back up here with all these marks. I’m assuming that this isn’t the first time you’ve seen each other in seven years. Matter of fact, I’m gonna go as far as assuming that this isn’t the first time you’ve hooked up with him,” she sat back with her arms crossed as everyone’s mouth dropped except for Sandi who was thinking the same thing.

“Wow she’s good,” Abel nodded at her.

“Can you shut up idiot?” Drake shoved him.

“So she’s right?” Sandi eyed them.

“I can't deal with this,” Nicki got up and left. All eyes were on Drake and he just stayed quiet.

“She’s not just some girl that you can hook up with Aubrey,” Sandi knew how her son went through girls.

“I know that Ma, it ain’t even like that. Everyone knows I love that girl,” he sighed. He’s been in love with her ever since he turned thirteen.

“Then why aren’t you going after her?” Carol looked at Aubrey.

“She needs some space and I’ll give that to her,” he knew that she needed to run everything through her mind.

Nicki took a shower and just sat on her bed. She couldn’t believe that she let him kiss her and go a little further. Everything was so complicated with Zamir and she didn’t want Aubrey in the middle of that. It would kill her if she hurt him. A knock disturbed her out of her thoughts and she saw her mom standing in the doorway.

“Can we talk now?” She looked at her daughter. Nicki nodded and Carol sat next to her. “What happened Onika?” She didn’t fully understand everything.

“I slept with him Mom,” Nicki cried. “I slept with him and I didn’t even know that it was him,” Carol pulled her daughter into her arms.

“Onika,” she sighed. “Did you do it to get Zamir back for sleeping with that girl?”

“I didn’t know it was him Mom. I swear I didn’t know or I wouldn’t have used him like that,” she broke down.

“Do you have feelings for him?”

“I don’t even wanna think about that. I can’t think about that while I’m going through all of this with Zamir,” she sighed.

“I’m not gonna tell you what to do but you should at least explain this situation to Aubrey instead of leading him on,” she eyed her daughter’s neck again.

“I didn’t mean to lead him on but when I look into his eyes, it’s hard to say no to him. He means a lot to me and he always has,” she admitted.

“Talk to Aubrey tomorrow but get some rest tonight,” she kissed her head before leaving out. Nicki was about to lay down but she heard her phone ringing. She knew that it was Zamir by the ringtone and reached over to grab it.

“Hey,” she said lowly.

“Hey,” he never knew how to fully apologize to her. “Look Nic, I’m sorry,” he apologized.

“I don’t get how you could sleep with her. We might have been on a break but since when was it okay to sleep with someone else?” She was more hurt than angry.

“I was drunk and jealous. You were doing that extra bullshit with that guy from the game and I wanted to make you jealous. I didn’t know that I would go that far,” he sighed.

“I’m not completely innocent either,” she knew that it was now or never.

“You slept with someone else?”

“Yeah and I did it out of spite,” she said.

“I guess I deserve that huh? Can we just start over with a clean slate?” He pleaded.

“Zamir, we’ve been going back and forth for seven years. Don’t you think that our hearts have suffered enough? Maybe this is a sign,” she didn’t want to do this but she knew that it was best.

“You want to break up? I can’t do that baby. I love you and we can’t just throw away seven years,” Nicki was torn between her heart and mind.

“I just need some space, is that too much to ask for?” She needed a rest for today. Between Aubrey and Zamir, she was confused.

“Nah, I should give that to you. I love you Onika, don’t forget that,” he spoke sincerely.

“I love you too Zamir,” she replied before they hung up.

~~~

Nicki took a deep breath before knocking on Mama Sandi’s door. She knew what she had to do but she was scared to do it. Aubrey answered it and looked at her in shock. “Um hey, what are you doing here?” He questioned.

“We need to talk,” she said simply. He nodded and he suggested going for a walk and she agreed. They walked down the sidewalk in silence at first. “Aubrey, you know how much you mean to me,” she started off. He nodded and knew that this wasn’t gonna go the way he wanted. “You mean a lot to mean which is why we can’t do whatever this is. I can’t hurt you like that, I refuse to hurt you,” she shook her head.

“I’m not some little boy Onika,” he wanted her to get that through her head.

“I know you aren’t but there’s someone else. I’ve been with him since I started college. We’re on and off a lot but I love him. He was my first everything but he also caused me a lot of pain. That night at the club, I wanted to get him back for sleeping with someone else. If I would’ve known that it was you then I wouldn’t have used you like that,” she sighed.

“So that night meant nothing to you?” He wasn’t mad but he was hurt.

“That’s where everything went left. I wasn’t supposed to catch feelings for you. It just makes things so much more complicated,” she couldn’t believe that she caught feelings for him.

“It does but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t give me a chance. Give me a chance to show you how I would treat you if you were mine. I promise that I can love you better than him,” he stopped walking and turned to face her. She looked up him debating if she wanted to take this chance with him.

“Aubrey,” she started but he cut her off.

“Drop all of the I don’t wanna hurt you bullshit. I’m old enough to be able to handle this. Stop imaging me as some little boy with a crush on you. I’m a grown man and I’m in love with you,” he locked his eyes with hers. She stood frozen at his confession.

“You can’t be in love with me Aubrey. I haven’t even been back in your life for that long,” she thought that he was just caught in his feelings.

“I’ve been in love with you since I was thirteen. I never forgot about you Onika, I never could. You’re the only girl that I have ever loved,” he confessed.

“See, when you say stuff like that it makes me not wanna hurt you even more. I can’t handle seeing you hurt Aubrey. I know that you’re old enough to handle it but I won’t be able to handle it. You’re an amazing guy and you can make any woman happy,” she reached out and rubbed his cheek.

“And I want you to be that woman. All I’m asking for is a chance Nic. If you choose him then there won’t be any hard feelings. I’ll still treat you the same and I won’t be hurt,” he grabbed her hand off of his cheek and kissed it.

“You really wanna do this?” She was still hesitant.

“I just want a chance and I can promise that you won’t regret it,” he promised her.

“Please don’t make me regret this. I can’t handle losing you this way,” she was slowly giving in.

“You’ll never lose me. I’ll always be here for you even if it’s as just a friend,” he loved her too much to ever push her away.

“Alright, I’ll give this a chance,” she agreed.

“You’re serious?” Those words were what he was waiting to hear for years. She nodded with a smile and he returned it. He pulled her close by her waist and kissed her.

~~~

“So you’re giving him a chance?” Lauren asked as she sat on Nicki’s bed with Cassie.

“Yeah, I kind of owe that to him. It’s not like I don’t have feelings for him so I’ll take a risk and try this out,” she shrugged.

“What about Zamir?” Cassie looked at her.

“I told him that I needed space. I think taking this risk with Aubrey will show me if I’m truly willing to give up seven years. We’ve been together for seven years yet we’re back at square one,” she sighed. Zamir wasn’t the type to fully commit to one girl but Nicki changed him. She knew that he was scared because he hadn’t felt this way about someone but she couldn’t take anymore of his games. If he couldn’t get over that fear for seven years then maybe he isn’t worth it.

“You know that Aubrey’s in love with you,” Lauren pointed out.

“Deep down, I’ve always known that. I remember one day when I was babysitting him, he suddenly changed. He started to spend more time with me than outside. He would ask questions about my life and try to get to know me. I thought that it was just a silly crush but when I kissed him, I knew that look in his eyes,” she said.

“Wait, you kissed him!?” Cassie snapped her head towards Nicki.

“He told me that he was saving his first kiss for me. It was just a harmless peck,” she spoke her defense.

“That’s so adorable. Now I want to know something. You had sex with Zamir and Aubrey so who’s better?” Lauren smirked.

“I don’t think that matters,” she shook her head.

“Just answer it Nic,” Cassie encouraged her.

“With Zamir, I know that he loves me and it’s beyond sex when I’m with him. Then there’s Aubrey, his touch felt familiar and I just felt comfortable with him. I knew that I could fully let go and he definitely knew how to please me. He found all of my weak spots and Zamir hasn’t even found all of them. Plus it does help that he’s blessed down there,” Nicki blushed.

“So you’re saying Aubrey,” Lauren eyed her and Nicki nodded.

“I don’t it will be that hard for you to pick between them,” Cassie grinned.

“It will be because it’s my heart vs. my mind. I know that I should let Zamir go but he still has this hold on my heart. I keep thinking that I shouldn’t go there with Aubrey but he means so much to me. I don’t wanna hurt either one of them,” she huffed out of frustration.

“Give Aubrey a true chance and give him your all. Don’t hold back just because you’re scared. I think you’re scared because you know that he can love you better. You won’t believe it until he proves it and in order for him to do that, you have to try,” Lauren gave her a look.

“You’re right, he deserves a fair shot,” Nicki nodded.

“Are you sure that you’re ready to try this with him?”

“Positive,” she let out a smile.