Lonely Together

36

VALENTINO

"Do we have to go?" I whined as I sat in Mariah's living room, waiting for her to finish getting ready.

We were meeting our friends for dinner and then would go to a club later in the night since we hadn't all hung out together in a while. Still, I wasn't in the mood and would much rather just stay with Mariah—she was completely against it.

"Yes, Valentino. You don't want to see Elijah? He's your best friend and you've barely seen him since we've been back," she remarked as she stepped into the living room, picking out her hair after taking out her braids a couple days prior.

"True. Just get ready...we're already on track to be late."

Wrong choice of words. She scoffed and rolled her eyes, marching angrily back to her room to do the finish touches. Finally, she came back out looking gorgeous as always, a jacket thrown over the dress she was wearing since it was so cold out.

"You look beautiful," I reminded her as we stepped into the elevator, hoping to get back into her good graces. I knew that my lack of patience got on her last nerve.

"I know," she remarked, ignoring me and instead putting lip gloss on her plump lips. "We don't have time to talk if we're gonna be late."

That struck a nerve with me. "Okay, you're being a little dramatic," I scoffed as we stepped out of the elevator and out towards my car.

"Dramatic? Seriously?" She hissed, pausing on the sidewalk and holding up a hand at me. "You sound just like..."

She paused, not continuing with what she was saying even though I knew who. My blood practically boiled at the fact that she even considered saying it—but I wanted her to say it since she so clearly thought I was acting like my brother.

"Say it."

"No. I'm not that type of person...I'm not gonna hurt your feelings like that," she replied, quietly, reaching her hand out to me. "Let me drive, I know where the place is."

Knowing that another round of bickering would probably ensue if I didn't hand over the keys, I dropped them in her hand and still opened the driver's side door for her.

"Be careful, please," I told her once she started the car, praying that my beautiful, new Aston Martin would survive the ride.

She didn't respond and instead pulled off of the curb, driving at a respectable speed down the road.

"Watch out!" I shouted as she passed into another lane, getting a little too close for my comfort to the car in front of us.

"What is with you today?" she snapped, turning to look at me for a second with anger clouding her eyes. "Did I do something to piss you off?"

"You're the one who got all offended when I made one little comment about you getting ready. I understand you don't like my patience, but I can't change it overnight."

"You've had almost five months."

"You're joking, right?" I asked incredulously, unable to believe how irrational she was being. I never vocalized them, but there were things she did that got on my last nerve—yet I understood that they were just who she was. "Unbelievable, Mariah."

"Can we both just agree to not speak until we get there? Please?"

"Whatever."

We remained in silence for the rest of the ride, the tension between us so thick it felt suffocating. It was easy for me to stay quiet, but I knew that Mariah was too chatty to last. I could tell she wanted to say something else so badly, but her pride was in the way.