Heaven Right Here by Lutishia Lovely

kissed the top of her head and left his dressing room.
    “Do you want breakfast?” Hope asked, following him as he walked through their master suite and into his office.
    “No, baby, I’m running late already. My meeting is at eleven, and you know how unpredictable the 405 is.”
    Hope eyed the clock on the wall. “It’s not even nine o’clock.”
    Cy placed a final folder in his briefcase and snapped it shut. “My meeting is in San Diego.”
    Hope’s heart skipped a beat. “With who?”
    Cy hesitated just a fraction of a second before he answered. “Jack Kirtz.”
    Hope tried and failed to keep her voice light and nonchalant. “Why are you meeting with him?”
    “Remember the home we rented last year, the oceanfront property in La Jolla? Jack owns land in that area, the same area I’ve been trying without success to get a piece of. Word has it he’s ready to sell.” He left out the details of how he’d gotten this information.
    Hope wondered if Millicent had had anything to do with this knowledge. She tried to remember that it no longer mattered, that there was no ill will or hard feelings, no jealousy or anger where Millicent was concerned. So why was her heart beating faster? And why, out of all the land in California and all the Realtors in the world, did the property Cy want belong to Millicent’s husband?
    Cy saw her discomfort. He stopped, put down his briefcase, and walked over to her. “If you have a problem with me doing business with him, just say the word, and it’s over,” he said softly.
    “No, it’s okay,” Hope lied. But what else could she say? That he couldn’t potentially make millions of dollars with Jack because of her insecurities? She took a deep breath, reached up, and kissed her husband. “It’s okay, Cy,” she said, with more conviction this time. “I hope the meeting goes well.”
    A few minutes later, Hope stood on the balcony with a cup of tea, watching choppy waves that resembled her emotions. She recalled the conversation when Stacy had told her to “bless that woman and her baby and then focus on Cy, and creating a family of your own.”
    Hope realized that’s exactly what she needed to do. “Bless Millicent, God,” she said to the ocean. “Bless her child and her husband and bless the business deal between Cy and Jack.”
    The phone rang, and Hope answered it. “It’s about time you called,” she said when she saw it was her cousin. “You’ve got some Monday morning ’splainin’ to do.”
    “Look, I haven’t let him hit it yet,” Frieda began.
    “Well, thank God for small miracles,” Hope responded.
    “But I let him, you know, dibble-dabble a bit, take a dive at the Y.”
    “That sounds like some hittin’ going on to me,” Hope said in response to Frieda’s reference to oral sex. “How’d you meet him anyway?”
    “That party I went to with Joe on Wednesday, after Giorgio left.”
    “Frieda, what are you going to do with all these men?”
    “What do you mean ‘all these’? There are only two!”
    “Uh, are we forgetting Jonathan?”
    “I’m sure trying to. We broke up. He got mad because I was with Giorgio.”
    “And you’re surprised?”
    “It’s not like we were exclusive. Men get on my nerves. It’s all right for them to play the field, but when a woman does it, they can’t stand it. He wasn’t that good anyway. Had a little dick.”
    “Girl, shut up.”
    “It’s the truth,” Frieda said, laughing. “You know I can’t do nothing with a number-two pencil! I mean, really, when you have to ask if it’s in yet . . .”
    Hope’s phone beeped. She looked at the caller ID. “Hold on, it’s Stacy.” She clicked over. “What’s up, Stacy? I’ve got Frieda on the other line.”
    “Darius is what’s up,” Stacy said. “I think he wants to get back with me.”
    “Hang up,” Hope said, not trying to hide the chagrin in her voice. “So I can do a three-way.”
    “Look, hussies, unlike y’all ladies of leisure, I’m