Page 42 of Fast Lane
As I head to my car, I realize how dumb I was to come here. I should have just told Riverlyn I couldn’t because I was moving and to send me a picture. Putting my heart through this was unnecessary. When I get in the car, I blast the music and pull away praying I pull myself together before I get to JamesTown.
Thirty-Seven
Roscoe
For a moment we all awkwardly stand in the living room of my childhood home. My father and Riverlyn stare at me. They both seem to think I’m crazy and maybe I am. Letting Kosi go would definitely fall under that category. The anger I felt the day of the Free Fall grand re-opening has died out. The hurt is still there but she did tell me we needed to talk the moment she got out of the car. I’m man enough to admit when I’ve overreacted, and that day I definitely did. Kosi deserves an apology. I just had the opportunity to give it to her, but I just stood here, frozen and mute.
“I think you need to go after her, son,” my father tells me. I look at him then to Riverlyn who nods her head vigorously. My feet start to move towards the door and as soon as the fresh air hits me I run for my car. I’m not sure where she was going so I do the only thing I can. The moment my car is started I dial Bowie. He doesn’t even get to say hello before I say, “I need you to find out where Kosi is right now.”
“Why don’t you just call her?” he asks.
I sigh as I drive, too fast, down my childhood street. “She won’t answer.”
“Roscoe, give her some credit. Try to call her. I’ll try to find out where she is,” Bowie tells me.
His words play in my head over and over. I’m about to pull over and take a chance on calling her when I spot her car. She parked by one of the local beaches. Instantly, I cut across lanes and whip into the parking area. My eyes scan the area in a desperate attempt to find her. Then it hits me. This is the beach we came to on our date. I run past people as I try to get to the area where we had sat and talked. Suddenly, the air is knocked out of me.
There she is standing in the spot, shoes in her hands—breeze from the ocean causing her hair to dance. It’s wavy and slightly wild today. The blonde glistens under the setting sun. I take a few deep breaths before heading towards her. She looks so simple, no makeup, soft pink tank top and denim capris. Her arms are wrapped around herself. I’ve missed her. My heart has darted across the sand and is groveling at her feet.
As if she can sense my presence, she turns her head slightly in my direction. Her cobalt blue eyes widen in surprise. My hands hide in the pockets of my jeans and slowly I close the distance between us. Kosi turns to face me. She shakes her head slightly. Her face looks so sad. “What are you doing here?”
Here goes nothing. “I was looking for you.”
“Why?” she asks as her eyebrows knit together.
Taking a deep breath, I dive in. “Because I’m an idiot. Because I’m sorry for how I acted the last time I saw you. Because I miss you so damn much, Kosi. I shouldn’t have treated you the way I did at Free Fall. I saw Colby and that little green monster called jealousy reared its head. I turned into a total caveman. Then hearing him say he knew you were moving before I did. I don’t know, it hurt, and I know that’s not your fault but I took it out on you.” I stop for a moment and run a hand through my hair. “I’ve done a really good job of never needing anyone. I never let anyone in and then somehow the girl that I had spent years thinking was too uptight wormed her way into my heart and changed me. I want you in my life, Kosi Scott. The job is in San Francisco so I know you have to go but we can make it work if you’ll forgive me.”
Tears run down her face. She shakes her head. My heart sinks. “Maybe, we were fooling ourselves. We’ve always been on opposite ends of the sword. How would this ever work?”
“I don’t know how it works. All I know is that when I’m with you everything in this world feels right.” I pull her into me and kiss her. Her lips are soft and sweet just like I remember. It’s only been a week but it’s felt like a lifetime. When I pull away, I rest my forehead against hers. “Give us a chance. Give me a chance. It’ll work. I know it.”
Kosi closes her eyes and ever so slightly nods her head. “Okay.”
My heart sighs. “Are you leaving tonight for San Francisco?” I ask.
She nods again. “I’m going to meet my brothers and Ace at JamesTown before I leave. Do you want to come with me?”
The thought of her living anywhere but here sucks, but I’ll take what I can get, so I take her free hand in mine and tell her, “I’d love to.”
Epilogue
Kosi
“Will you come on?” I whine to Roscoe. “Mushu and I are getting very impatient!”
Roscoe chuckles from the kitchen of his apartment. “Mushu is named after a movie. Mushu has seen the movie. You’re the only one who hasn’t seen it so just hold your horses. We can’t watch Mulan and not have an array of Chinese takeout.”
I sigh. “I’m hungry and impatient now,” I tease him. I watch him from my spot on the couch where Mushu is curled up in my lap. Roscoe fixes a serving platter with pretty much the entire menu of takeout. I smile to myself. It took me all of two months to realize I wanted to be back in Los Angeles with my family, Roscoe, and friends, then to work in the corporate world again. The once determined drive I had was gone. My soul yearned to design so I gave my notice and moved back. Thankfully, Baylor had never rented out my room. So, I moved back in with her. I took a job at Free Fall for the receptionist position and worked on getting my interior design and event planning business off the ground. Planning the grand re-opening of Free Fall made me realize how much event planning could be. It’s been a slow go but it’s starting to pick up some.
It’s been three months since I got back to Los Angeles. My father will probably never forgive me for leaving the job I had at Sharp and Wester but it just wasn’t for me. To him, though, that doesn’t matter. I’ve disappointed him like my brothers. It’s something I’m having to learn to live with. It helps that I’m happier now than I have ever been.
Colby called off his engagement. He showed up in San Francisco shortly after I moved. He wanted to have another chance, butmy heart no longer wanted the life I once dreamed about. For so long all I wanted was to be a marketing executive and to marry Colby. Then everything turned upside down in my life and I thought I had lost everything. I actually ended up finding myself. I found a passion I had long forgotten. I found love in the least likely place.
Roscoe said it best when he said he wasn’t sure why it worked between us, but it did. He was one hundred percent right. It makes no sense on paper but it works. We still bicker like an old married couple but that’s half of our charm.
I’ve learned that life is a fast lane. You can’t predict what will happen. No matter what you do you won't’ be able to control it. When obstacles hit, you just have to figure out a way to deal with them or go around them. The life you have pictured or planned may never be, and that’s okay because there’s always another lane. There’s always another way to achieve your goals. I was so uptight, so determined to live up to expectations, to be a piece of perfection… that for a long time I forgot myself. Now, I know myself. I know what makes me happy and I intend to fight for it.
Finally, Roscoe comes out of the kitchen and back to the living room. Mulan is already sitting on the screen ready for me to hit play. The food smells amazing. Roscoe smiles at me. “See, patience is a virtue, little one.”
“Bite me,” I tell him as I stick my tongue out at him.
He shrugs. “Maybe later, for now the only thing I’m biting is an egg roll.” Roscoe grabs an eggroll and bites into it as he takes a seat beside me. We sit there for a minute before he turns to me. “Well, are you going to start the movie or what?”
I laugh. “Now, who is the impatient one.?”
Roscoe reaches over and nuzzles my neck. “I am but this is also my favorite movie so for the love of god please hit play!”
We’re halfway through the movie. Stomachs are full. I’ve learned that Roscoe sings along to every song. Mushu is asleep beside my thigh. Roscoe is asleep beside me and I’m curled up next to him but I’ve never seen the movie so I’m focused on it. Roscoe snores lightly and my heart sighs with contentment. This is the life I wanted and somehow I got lucky enough to live it.