Page 98 of The Love of Priest 2

Chapter Twenty

Surrounded by a stack of printed drafts of the first issue of her magazine, Britain let out a light sigh. She was a bit overwhelmed emotionally after enduring her first session with Havani, so she had begun over working herself in an effort to think less about how she was feeling.

She sat with her legs tucked underneath her while her hands rested on her lap as she looked over the different pages that were lined up on the floor of the bedroom she shared with Priest. She managed to work her way up to their bedroom from the study because she just didn't have enough space down there to lay out all the pages she completed.

Truth be told, she had worked her ass off over the years to cultivate different stories and keep “Humans of New York” alive past college.

Seeing her work semi-finalized before her felt revitalizing, and it only made her want to do the same thing over and over again.

As she was looking over the pages and making sure they were ordered correctly, she heard the sound of the bedroom door. Her orbs drifted up from the pages and onto Priest, who was busy having a conversation on the phone.

"P, watch your step," she called out for his attention a little too late, and he unknowingly ended up planting his Prada sneaker right in the center of one of the portraits she was using for her magazine.

Despite being so invested in the conversation he was having over the phone, he realized what he had done, which caused him to quickly lift his foot off the portrait. He pulled the phone away from his ear, shooting Britain an apologetic look.

"My fault. I thought you were working downstairs in the study," he apologized while crouching down to grab the portrait so he could hand it over to her.

Britain inspected the portrait with a sigh once she saw his shoe print had tarnished it. Luckily, it was a draft, but it still annoyed her immensely since she was such a perfectionist. She waved him off, signaling that he was fine and that he should continue his phone conversation.

Now paying much more attention, he cautiously made his way toward the other side of the bedroom to the gliding doors of the balcony that overlooked the land in the rear of their estate. He shut the door behind him so he could continue his phone conversation in private.

Things had been a little distant between Britain and Priest. They were being pulled in two different directions due to them working.

Britain had thrown herself into her magazine, while Priest was trying his best to figure out how to get product out to New York.

He had done some side work with Suzette and Matteo to get product that had no ties to Suzette’s sister.

Finding a crew that could not only generate good quality shit but provide it at such a grand level as well was a very time-consuming job.

Things were also getting a little heated between Priest, J'Ru and Kaymen.

They were all at odds. The guys back in New York were trying their best to trust that Priest would have shit figured out soon, but they also had a business to maintain without him present.

Britain had overheard multiple spats between the three men during all hours of the day and night.

The men were all frustrated with carrying their load of the business, and it didn't help that Priest had relocated all the way to Italy.

J'Ru and Kaymen were both very vocal about how they felt and explained that Priest restricting them from finding product within the city or anywhere else was just a selfish and ego-driven move.

In his own defense, he disagreed, which drove Kaymen and J'Ru up the wall.

The men decided that if he didn't have shit figured out by the end of the week, they would be flying out to Italy themselves to see how far he had really gotten with securing some product.

If shit wasn't up to par, they would be taking matters into their own hands by making the executive decision to find product anywhere but Italy, not caring how it would make the business look as long as they kept shit afloat.

Priest was outnumbered, so of course he was scrambling like a chicken with its head cut off in hopes of getting shit figured out by the end of the week.

Truth be told, he knew they were going to show up in Italy regardless and decide to cop product elsewhere, but that wasn't changing the fact that he was going to bust his ass trying to make shit right on his end.

After a short while, Britain heard the sliding door of the balcony open, and Priest stepped inside.

He was now off the phone. She looked over her shoulder, noticing the vexed look that plastered his chiseled face.

His jaws flexed in frustration as he ran his hand down his face.

He navigated around the bedroom without saying a word to Britain, mostly just in his own thoughts.

Her orbs hawked his stature, eyeing him as he retrieved his rolling tray.

Luckily, he managed to think ahead and roll up a few of his blunts earlier in the morning so he wouldn't have to go through the process while he was annoyed.

The sound of the lighter sparking snaked into Britain's ears before she witnessed him exhale a cloud of smoke.

Despite taking a moment to smoke his worries away, she could tell his mind was still filled with thoughts of how to get things straightened out.

"You're gonna figure it out," she encouraged him as her eyes finally drifted away from him and returned their focus back to the pages before her.

He grabbed a seat behind Britain on the couch at the other end of the bedroom. "‘Preciate it," he expressed his gratitude for her encouragement. "How's everything coming along?" he asked as he gestured toward the work she had laid out on the floor.

Britain shrugged her shoulders. "Going good. Just trying to spot any minor mistakes and any changes I need to make.”

He nodded, liking what he was hearing from her. "I'm proud of you,Gioia. In the midst of all this change and chaos, you still found the will to follow your dream," he praised her.

Britain turned herself around to face him, a smile canvassing her face. "Thanks for backing me through this," she expressed her gratitude for his support.

"Always," he asserted while placing his hand over his heart like he always would. "We good now?"

Britain furrowed her brows. "We were never bad," she stated with some confusion.

"I know that, but I was giving you your space. I knew your first session with Havani was pretty hard on your spirit."

Britain let out a light sigh. "It was, but it was also needed, which I appreciate."

Priest agreed with Britain as he took another drag of his blunt. "I'm glad you're doing it. I know we're so used to running to each other when it comes to our mental, but that too can be unknowingly exhausting for the both of us."

Britain rose to her feet, sauntering over to where he was seated.

Once he realized she had made her way over to him, he leaned back, opening his arms and inviting her to take a seat on his lap.

Without any exchange of words, she planted herself on his lap, resting her head on his chest. "I want to apologize," she said to him.

He blew out a stream of smoke, followed by a light chuckle. "I don't hear that often," he teased.

Britain laughed with him as she reached up to toy with the chains that laced his neck.

"Seriously, though, I've realized that I spent a good portion of this relationship being emotionally unavailable to you but also expecting you to comfort me how I want to be comforted. Luckily for me, you were patient and understanding, but it was still wrong of me.”

After going into detail with Havani about how she dealt with her trauma, Britain realized how difficult it could be to make such a deep connection with her like Priest had when she was so disconnected from her emotions.

She suppressed and buried everything, and when she finally let it out, it was filled with turmoil and anger.

It wasn't healthy for her, and it definitely wasn't something that was easy for Priest to deal with.

Priest pressed the burning tip of his joint against his rolling tray, putting it out.

Transitioning his attention to her, he cupped her hand in his, intertwining their fingers.

"I appreciate the apology,Gioia," he said as he applied a light kiss to her forehead.

"But I want to be clear. In no way have you been a burden or a stressor in my life.

You've been through more than most, and I get that.

And I know for a fact I haven't been the easiest to deal with either, so in a way, it was a fair exchange," he admitted as he shrugged his broad shoulders lightly.

Britain readjusted herself on his lap, now straddling him while her hands cupped the sides of his face. Her thumbs caressed the trimmed and lined hairs of his beard as her orbs bore into his. "Then we're even," she jested, causing him to agree with a nod of his head and some shared laughter.

He wrapped his arms around her, resting his hands on her rear.

It was nice having her close, especially since they spent the last few days unintentionally avoiding each other until it was time for bed.

They sat in that position for a short while, mostly just basking in each other's presence, trying their best to find ways to alleviate themselves of the stress they had going on in their lives.

After a moment, Priest broke the silence as he sparked a conversation with Britain. "Y'know, I realized in that line up you got over there," Priest mentioned as he gestured toward the prints she had laid out on the floor. "I'm no longer a part of it.”