More Than Business

Chapter 103

Nicki POV

Back at home, I don't think any of us ever got over the whole threesome fiasco. And since none of us bothered to actually talk about it as a group, we all pretended to ignore the awkward tension between the four of us. Two weeks went by before Lydia brought it up to me in private.

We were working on a new piece, alone in her office. We were silently focusing on the detail of the piece which was tedious work.

"That... thing that happened in Canada, are we ever going to talk about that?" she asked, breaking the silence.

"Lydia, I can barely focus on my breathing right now, let alone a conversation. Can we talk about this after-" I was interrupted by my needle pricking my finger. "Damn it!" I scowled as I wiped the blood with a tissue.

"Here," she gave me a bandaid, "Take a break."

"I don't know." I answered her question as I put the bandaid on.

"How do you feel about it?" she questioned, "I mean, now that some time has passed.."

"Honestly, it was a stupid drunk mistake.. yeah, in a perfect world something like this would've happened with all of us sober and actively consenting to it, but unfortunately we weren't." I exhaled, "On the bright side, we all know each other so none of us were in any position of danger.. and personally, I'm just glad that it happened with 2 people I trust more than anything."

"Thats cute, now tell me what you're really thinking." She was unconvinced.

"You know what I really think."

"I know, but I want you to say it nonetheless. Because you aren't gonna accept those feelings fully unless you vocalize them." she coached.

"You go first." I insisted.

She shook her head, "I don't want to accept mine."

"Look at me then." I place her hands in mine.

She stared into my eyes, it was all there. I nodded, letting her know I understood.

"I'll see where Aubrey stands... We can't ignore what happened. We should at least talk about it, put it out there and decide what to do from there." I stated.

"That- seems fair." she nodded.

"I have a question for you."

"Yeah?"

"Why'd it take you this long to bring it up?" I questioned.

"I was waiting for the right moment Nicki." she sighed.

"You were just going to let it eat you up inside? Thats not how it works. Thats not how we have ever handled anything." I raised my voice.

"Well, a lot has changed." she shrugged.

"But we haven't." I assured her.

There was silence as we just stared into each other's eyes, letting the words resonate.

My phone chimed with a text from Aaliyah:

A: Are you like super busy this week?

"Its Liyah." I flashed my phone screen at Lydia.

"What did she say?" She asked going back to work on the piece.

"Wants to know if I'm busy this week." I replied.

"Oh why?"

"Lemme find out." I started texting Aaliyah, vocalizing the conversation to keep Lydia updated.