Evander opened the door. His face still told the story of conflict.
“She’s not speaking to me,” he said. Desperation sifted through his words. “She locked herself in the bathroom, called me disgusting and now she won’t come out. How the fuck did I let this happen, Xari?” I stepped into the room and rubbed his back.
“You didn’t do it by yourself, Evander.” I wrapped my arms timidly around him to see if he’d hug me back. When he returned my squeeze, I pushed out a pent-up breath. “Let me try talking to her.” I wrung my hands and moved to the bathroom. I felt every ounce of tension bleeding through the closed door.
“Frankie?” I knocked and pressed my ear to the door.
“Leave me alone. I don’t ever want to talk to you again.” I chewed on my bottom lip and tried to sidestep the blow. It still caught me though.
“Well, that’s not how best friends work,” I told her.
“Yeah. I know. We’re not best friends though.”
Another blow.
“Please open the door so we can talk. I’m sorry you walked in on that.”
Nothing.
Silence.
Ice.
I dropped my head and stretched my hand out over the cool door. Evander tugged me backward and shook his head. “She needs time. She won’t stay in there forever.” His words did little to calm my aching heart.
“I feel like shit,” I told him.
“Yeah. Same here.” He walked over to the couch and sat on the arm, letting his elbows rest on his knees. When I stood in front of him, he reached out and pulled me into the V of his long legs.
“Don’t beat yourself up over this, Xari. I see it in your eyes.”
“I can’t help it. She shouldn’t have walked in on us fucking, Evander. I should have talked to her a little bit before we came to DC.”
“There’s nothing we could have talked to her about. We just discovered our feelings a couple of days ago. What were we going to say? Should we have told her were having sex? Is that an appropriate conversation?”
“No, but…I don’t know. I’m not good with kids,” I fussed.
“You’re good with Frankie and that’s why I chose you to be her nanny. Now, we have to tackle the fact that you’ve turned into something else. Something more.” He paused to fix a lock of sleek hair that slipped out of my bun. I’d straightened my hair for the wedding and wore it in a loose bun on top of my head. “You’re a part of our family, Xari and that’s not changing. Frankie is pissed now but she’ll start to open up again soon.”
“I don’t know, Evander she seemed more than pissed. She seemed hurt. She’s growing up now and she has different feelings and emotions running through her. Being pissed is way less offensive than being hurt. She might lash out if she’s hurt.”
“Let’s just give her space to breathe, okay? We’ll figure everything out tonight. You have to get ready for the wedding.”
Fuck. He was right. I nodded and left the comfort of his arms and went to the bathroom door.
“Hey, Frankie…I gotta go perform but when I’m done for the night, can we please talk? There’s so much you don’t understand and…”
“Leave me alone.” Her voice was muffled behind the door but loud and clear in my brain.
Leave her alone.
I pressed my lips into a line and nodded curtly before going back to my room. Evander stayed behind, trying to talk to her through the door but I had to get ready for my first paid performance. The performance that was supposed to boost my career and gain exposure.
Now, my mind was going to be preoccupied with Frankie and how hurt and confused she was. I could deal with her being pissed but I didn’t know how to ease the hurt and betrayal I knew she felt.
I barely focused throughout the wedding. I couldn’t stop staring at Evander and Frankie. She was all folded arms and cold stares. I wanted to run over and talk to her when I took a break but I knew I wouldn’t get anywhere with her.
I played all my notes flawlessly and didn’t miss a beat but my heart wasn’t in it. I was just a body. My heart and mind were scattered. I hoped the Phillips couldn’t tell I was playing on autopilot.
The reception came and went, and I barely noticed any of it. I was too busy watching Evander try to coax a conversation out of Frankie while she