Southern Comfort (9781622863747) Read online

  “Are you going to try to get me liquored up?” Victoria smirked.

  “Do you want me to get you liquored up?” Teri threw professional out the window. She wanted this woman.

  “It doesn’t really matter.” Victoria leaned in toward Teri’s ear. “I plan on fucking you regardless.”

  The statement caught Teri off guard. She watched as Victoria held her hand up to get the bartender’s attention.

  Devon was in her element as she chatted with the mayor and his wife. She wanted to pat herself on the back. She managed to get everyone out to the event. It was going to be talked about for weeks. She wanted to treat herself to a drink but decided to wait ’til later in the night.

  Something caught her eye. She watched as Katrina walked out of the kitchen. Katrina wasn’t in her kitchen wear anymore. She traded her chef’s jacket for a pair of tailored pants, a shirt, and a vest. The bowtie finished off her look.

  “This is amazing.” Katrina wrapped her arms around Devon.

  “Katrina, meet the mayor and his wife.” Devon pulled away from Katrina; for some reason she didn’t want to be so close to her.

  Katrina shook hands with the mayor who congratulated her on the restaurant. Devon couldn’t take her eyes off of Katrina. Suddenly she wasn’t seeing her best friend anymore; it was something more. Devon noticed a familiar face standing at the front door. Before she could say anything another person began to tell her how amazing the place was.

  “Amazing!” Teri said as she walked up with Victoria. “Guys, this is Victoria Gold; she is the new chief of staff at my hospital.

  Devon and Katrina greeted Victoria. Both were shocked to see the gorgeous woman with Teri. Teri usually had horrible taste in women and always seemed to date ratchet women who were just so excited to date someone who didn’t ride the bus.

  “Holy shit is that your girl?” Teri said as she stared at a woman at the door.

  “What?” Katrina turned around. Her face dropped. “Oh my God.”

  Devon watched as Katrina made her way through the crowd. Willow and Katrina both looked like kids in a candy store.

  Katrina knew her eyes had to be deceiving her. Her heart pounded as she got closer and closer. Willow finally caught her eye and a huge smile covered her face. Katrina put her hands on Willow’s shoulders.

  “Is it really you?”

  Willow nodded her head. Katrina looked even better than she imagined.

  “What are you doing here?” Katrina couldn’t figure out what to say. She stared at Willow as if it was the first time seeing her.

  “I wanted to surprise you. Devon picked me up from the airport this morning. Are you surprised?”

  “Am I.” Katrina picked Willow up in her arms. The two hugged each other as if it had been years instead of a few weeks.

  Katrina took Willow by her hand and led her through the crowd. She joined her friends at the bar. Katrina picked Devon up, squeezing her tight.

  “I should kill you.” Katrina kissed Devon on her cheek.

  “Surprise!” Devon clapped her hands together.

  “Hey, Teri, this is my Willow,” Katrina said as she put her arm around Willow.

  Willow shook Teri’s and Victoria’s hands as Devon motioned for the bartender.

  “You guys, this night is better than anything I ever expected. And now it’s perfect.”

  Katrina grabbed her drink and Willow’s hand. She and Devon walked up on the stage as the band was finishing their rendition of “Let’s Get it On.” The singer handed Devon the microphone. Willow watched along with Teri as Devon introduced Katrina.

  The crowd gave a rousing round of applause for Katrina as she bowed to the crowd.

  “I just want to take a moment to thank everyone for coming out tonight. I know there are a million places you could be and I’m just glad you chose to be here with me tonight.”

  The crowd let out a loud round of applause. Katrina winked at Willow. Willow was so proud to be there with Katrina and her friends. Katrina held her hand out. Devon joined her in the middle of the stage.

  “I also want to thank this incredible woman right here. Devon has been my eyes and ears and honestly this place would not be where it is without her. You are more than my best friend; you are my sister.”

  Katrina hugged Devon as the crowd clapped. She handed the mic back to the singer as the band began to perform their rendition of “Celebration” by Kool & the Gang. Katrina and Devon walked off the stage. They shook the hands of people as they made it to the floor. Katrina couldn’t get back to Willow quick enough. The dress Willow was wearing was hanging off her curves, showing off her round butt and plump breasts. Katrina wrapped her arms around Willow. She kissed her on the nape of her neck as they danced to the music.

  The dance floor was packed. The friends danced together. Devon danced with Carlos and Ming while Victoria ground her ass against Teri. Willow and Katrina were in their own world, slow dancing even when a fast song was playing.

  “Have I told you how happy I am that you are here?” Katrina said after pecking Willow on her lips.

  “Yes, but you can say it as much as you like.”

  A tap on Katrina’s shoulder caused her to look away from Willow. Misty stood on the dance floor. “The mayor wants to get a photo with you before they leave and the sous chef needs to see you in the kitchen.”

  Katrina frowned. “Duty calls. Hey, Ming, will you dance with my girl until I get back?”

  “Of course I will,” Ming said as he twirled over to Willow.

  Katrina said her good-byes to the mayor and smiled for pictures with him and members of the city council. She checked in with the kitchen to make sure everything was running correctly. Katrina was flying. She went into her office to catch her breath. The night was years in the making but finally all her hard work looked like it was paying off. She sat in her desk chair just to take a moment to absorb everything that was happening.

  “Looks like the restaurant is a hit.”

  Katrina froze. She couldn’t stop staring at the wall. She didn’t want to turn around. She knew it couldn’t be who she thought it was. Against better judgment she slowly turned around to her desk. It seemed like she was staring at a ghost.

  There standing in the doorway of her office was Saura.

  Chapter 15

  “Congratulations, baby, you did it.”

  Saura took a few steps into the office. Katrina didn’t believe she was standing there. She looked amazing as usual. She looked like she had just stepped off the cover of a magazine in the long turquoise dress that dipped low in the front and hugged her thighs.

  “Saura, what are you doing here?”

  Katrina didn’t know what to make of the surprise. Saura closed the door behind her. She turned her head and her bouncy hair whipped around with her head.

  “I couldn’t miss your grand opening.” Saura smiled. She didn’t know what kind of reaction she was going to get but the silence wasn’t expected.

  Katrina didn’t know what to make of the moment. Out of nowhere the image of the spiky hair stud she was kissing on Facebook entered her face. Anger began to set in. “You really shouldn’t have.”

  “Tree, I know the way I left was difficult but I thought we were in a good space when we talked last.”

  “A good space.” Katrina stood up. “Yeah, we were, until I went on Facebook and saw your little girlfriend.”

  Saura looked like a deer caught in headlights. “Katrina, wait a moment.”

  “No, you wait!” Katrina walked from behind her desk. “How fucking dare you come here like nothing is wrong when you were fucking cheating on me with that bitch!”

  “I never cheated on you.” Saura took a step back.

  “Oh, so now I’m a fool too? You think I didn’t see the time stamps. The girl saying how she was excited to have her boo in town. The fuck, Saura, was all we had a fucking joke? How long were you fucking off with her?”

  “Katrina, I wasn’t fucking off with her. Sh
e was my ex-girlfriend and yes, she did pick me up from the airport because we were friends. The pictures you saw were from when we were together back in Atlanta, not from Los Angeles. Didn’t you notice that my hair was lighter?”

  Katrina tried to remember her hair in the photo.

  “Okay, so if that is the case why were they recently uploaded?”

  “Because she was trying to win me back, Katrina, you have to believe me. I haven’t messed with anyone while in Los Angeles. Hell, I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”

  Katrina felt her guard breaking down. Saura looked even better than she did when she was in Memphis. Katrina couldn’t help but wonder if she was telling the truth.

  “Katrina, I am miserable. I miss you so much that I can barely concentrate out there. I live with a bunch of ditsy models who starve themselves and fuck random men all the time. I found myself calling the house phone over and over just to hear your voice.”

  Katrina remembered how many times she saw the unavailable message on her phone. Saura walked closer. She grabbed Katrina’s hand.

  “I know that I messed up. I don’t know if you can forgive me. But, I love and miss you so much. I just want to be with you, in our home.”

  Katrina’s heart was beating fast. She felt her pulse racing. She felt herself drawn to Saura. Her exotic beauty was pleading to come back home. She didn’t realize how bad she missed her. Katrina felt the wall breaking completely down.

  Willow’s face entered her mind.

  Katrina quickly pulled away from Saura. She felt overwhelming guilt coming over her. Standing in her office was the woman she thought she was going to be with forever, and outside, on the dance floor was the woman she saw a new future with.

  “Tree, what the hell are you doing? Oh shit.” Devon froze as the door opened and she saw Saura standing in front of Katrina. “Saura, what are you doing here?”

  “I decided to come home. I missed Katrina too much. I had to come home.”

  “Welcome back.” Devon hugged Saura while her eyes widened toward Katrina. Katrina shook her head and hands silently at Devon.

  “It feels good to be back but, girl, you are squeezing me.” Saura pulled away from Devon.

  “Oh, sorry, girl. I’m just so surprised to see you, and as much as I hate to break this reunion up I need to talk to Katrina about some business stuff super quick. Can we have a moment? How about you go grab a drink from the bar?”

  “Oh, okay.” Saura was taken aback by the awkwardness of the two friends but she just shrugged her shoulders and walked out of the room.

  Devon closed the door behind her. “What the fuck!” Devon threw her hands up.

  “I have no idea. She just showed up,” Katrina said trying to whisper in case Willow was outside the door.

  Teri and Victoria were causing the temperature to rise on the dance floor. Victoria’s soft ass ground against pelvis as Teri’s hands held on to Victoria’s thighs as she stood there taking all that Victoria was throwing at her.

  “So was this your plan? Come here and try to turn me on?” Teri said in Victoria’s ear.

  “Well it was part of it.” Victoria turned around wrapping her arms around Teri’s neck. “I knew I wanted you the moment I stepped on the elevator.”

  “You know you could have just said something.”

  “I had to scope the scene first. That Carlos is one chatty man.”

  Teri looked at Carlos and Ming who were taking turns dancing with Willow. “Remind me to thank them later.” Teri winked. “So got any plans after this?”

  “I don’t know,” Victoria did a little dip as she slowly wound her body back up. “Do I?”

  “You most certainly do.”

  A face appeared in the crowd causing Teri to pause. She stopped holding Victoria’s thighs. Her mouth dropped open as she saw Saura standing at the bar.

  “Holy shit!” Teri yelled causing Victoria to give her an inquisitive look. “Baby, give me one minute, I will be right back. Don’t go anywhere.”

  Before Victoria could respond Teri disappeared into the crowd.

  Devon paced the floor. Her perfect night had just taken a major turn for the worse. She didn’t know what to do. Willow flew across the ocean to be with her and now Saura had flown across the States for the same thing.

  “Dude, you won’t believe who is outside.” Teri came storming into the office.

  By the looks on Devon and Katrina’s faces she knew they already knew.

  “What the fuck is she doing here?” Teri closed the door.

  “She said she missed me and wanted to come back home.”

  “For good?” Teri folded her arms.

  “Looks that way,” Devon replied.

  The three friends stared at each other in silence. Katrina was torn.

  “Okay, so let’s think about it like this. Saura left you to go to Los Angeles. You met someone else and you are moving on. That’s her damn fault for leaving in the first place.” Teri pointed at her friend.

  “And, Katrina, Willow flew all this way to be with you. It would be wrong to leave her out in the cold,” Devon added.

  Katrina knew her friends were making sense but she couldn’t deny the attraction that she felt the moment Saura walked into her office. She couldn’t treat Willow wrong, she was amazing and she had deep feelings for her, but Katrina knew a piece of her heart still belonged to Saura.

  “Saura and I have unfinished business. I can’t just ignore that,” Katrina said as she sat on the edge of her desk.

  “But it’s the past. Willow is out there hoping to be your future.” Teri walked closer to her torn friend.

  “But if Saura never left I never would have talked to Willow to begin with.”

  “It sounds to me like you are leaning more toward Saura.” Devon folded her arms. “What are you going to do with Willow?”

  “I am not leaning more to Saura, I am just . . . Fuck I don’t know what I am doing. What am I going to do?”

  “I say you tell Saura to kick rocks,” Teri exclaimed. “She left you dog. No notice, no nothing. You didn’t deserve that shit, just like Willow won’t deserve you leaving her high and dry now.”

  Katrina knew Teri was right. Saura left her; why should she be given a second chance when she had someone wonderful already there for her? Katrina took a deep breath.

  “Fuck this.” Katrina poured herself a shot of Patrón and took it to the head. She headed out the door with her two friends following.

  “You are just cute as can be,” Ming said to Willow as he twirled her around.

  “Thank you, so are you.” Willow smiled. A face at the bar caught her eye. She knew that face very well. It was Katrina’s ex. Willow’s body tensed up. She took two steps forward just to make sure she was seeing who she thought. There was no denying it. When Katrina left she found herself looking at photos on Katrina’s page. She saw the ex on a lot of them. She was gorgeous, even better looking than she remembered.

  “What are we looking at?” Ming said standing next to Willow.

  Suddenly Katrina appeared only steps away from the bar. She looked directly at Willow. Katrina rushed past Saura and toward Willow. Willow turned around but Katrina grabbed her arm.

  “Willow—”

  “Is that her? Is that Saura?”

  Katrina’s face lowered. She didn’t know what she was supposed to say.

  “Did you know she was going to be here?” Willow questioned trying to remain as calm as she could.

  “No, I had no idea she was going to be here. I don’t know what to say.”

  At the bar Saura watched the scene unfold with Katrina and the unfamiliar chick. She didn’t know who the girl was or why Katrina passed her to go talk to her. Saura could tell from the look on the girl’s face that she wasn’t happy.

  “Saura, funny seeing you here.” Teri walked up with the bottle of Patrón in her hand.

  “Hi, Teri. Who is that Katrina is talking to?”

  Teri let out a laugh. “You see th
is funny thing happened when you left.”

  “Oh really, what was that?”

  “Life kept moving on.” Teri poured a shot in the glass Saura was holding. “Here, I think you are going to need this.” Teri walked away laughing. She took Victoria by her hand and they walked out of the building.

  Saura’s face dropped. She knew that the girl was more than a friend.

  Willow listened as Katrina told her that Saura surprised her. She didn’t know what to think. She knew everything about the girl. She knew that they had only been broken up for a few weeks before she met Katrina. Katrina tried to assure her that she was there with her, but Willow couldn’t help but have an uneasy feeling. In the end they were not together and Saura was the love of Katrina’s life.

  “We don’t need to have this discussion here.” Willow mustered up the strength to remain rational.

  “Willow, I don’t want you to be worried. Please don’t be worried or upset,” Katrina pleaded. She could almost feel Saura’s eyes burning a hole in her back.

  “I’m okay, really I am.” Willow smiled. “You have things to do; don’t be worried about me. I am a big girl.”

  “You are an amazing woman.” Katrina hugged Willow. “I am going to finish up here and we can leave.”

  Willow smiled as she nodded her head. She forced herself not to look in the direction of Saura who she was sure was looking at them.

  Katrina walked back toward her office. Saura quickly followed. The moment she made it back in the office she heard the door slam behind her.

  “Who the fuck is that, Katrina?” Saura’s voice raised an octave.

  “Her name is Willow and I met her when I was in London.”

  “So you fucking meet some bitch in London and she comes back to Memphis. What the fuck, Katrina? Seriously? We hadn’t been apart a month and you’ve already moved some bitch here?”

  “You left me, Saura!” Katrina yelled. “Remember that? You left. And yes, I met someone who I really like while I was on the trip that we were supposed to take together.”