Afterglow ❃ l.m.j

• chapter thirty two •

I opened my eyes the next morning to another phone call.

"Hello?"

"Good morning."

My heart instantly thumped in my chest. I couldn't help the smile that came to my lips. Even though I just spoke to her yesterday, it felt nice hearing her voice again.

"Oh, hi. I mean, good morning." I stumbled sheepishly. Normani giggled.

"How did you sleep? At least up until now. It sounds like I woke you up."

"No." I feigned. Meanwhile, I placed the phone on speaker and snuggled back into my covers. "Sleeping fine. What time is it?"

"A little after twelve."

"In the morning?" I picked my head up. She laughed again.

"No, in the afternoon."

I plopped my head back down with a grumble.

"I just wanted to talk to you again. Check in on how you're doing." She started.

"Like seriously?"

I imagined her shrugging. "It could be serious or not. I just want to hear you talk."

"Okay." My bed felt so good, I almost lost focus. "Um...  Cherry confronted me about the video, and I opened up to my girls about it. I also think I'm gonna talk to Ally soon. Like a real sit down conversation, not just five to ten minutes in her office."

She hummed. "What do you think you're gonna say to her?"

"I don't know... Mainly just how weary I've been feeling in the club since it all. I'm still working my way around my speech."

"Okay... Well, if you need someone to run anything by, I'm here."

I grinned. "Thanks."

I could hear the smile in her own voice. "Of course. So, anything else?"

I racked my brain, turning over in bed to face the ceiling. I stretched with a yawn.

"I danced last night. It went really really well, I haven't done a set in a few weeks."

"Really? I'm happy for you, how did it feel? I can't believe I missed it."

"It felt great! It sucks that you couldn't see it. But if you're home for New Year's Eve, I'm dancing that night too. You know, in case you did want to see it."

She thought for a moment. "Don't think I'm going out of town, no."

"Yeah, me either."

"I see that."

I closed my eyes and wrapped my comforter tighter around my body. It felt so warm in my room and in my bed, it was insane. Normani's voice carried away from the receiver to talk to someone in the background softly. I couldn't help but ear hustle since there was nothing else to listen to. She laughed, her voice light. It sounded like she was talking to a little kid. Maybe her niece. The last thing I heard her say to them was, "I'll be there in like ten minutes, okay? I'm on the phone, close the door." Then she sounded closer to the phone. "Sorry, hello?"