Southern Comfort (9781622863747) Read online

  “Devon, I am blown away. Everything is just . . . I don’t know how to repay you.”

  Devon smiled. She loved helping her friends and Katrina was the best friend she had.

  Katrina’s face dropped. “Dee, what if I can’t make this work? All this hard work goes down the drain—”

  “No, Tree, you aren’t allowed to think like that. Don’t worry about any of this stuff. All you worry about is making excellent food. You could have none of the things outside, but if the food is good people will come. And your food is superb.”

  The friends hugged. Everything was coming together. After all the years of school and being a chef for other upscale restaurants now Katrina was the head of her own place. Devon showed Katrina how to turn everything off and set the alarm system for the restaurant before leaving.

  “So I invited Willow to come here for the opening,” Katrina said as she locked the door to the restaurant.

  “That’s cool. I probably should try to find a date somewhere.” Devon frowned. The idea of dating was exhausting for her. She openly identified as bisexual, which was her downfall. Lesbians didn’t want to date her because they didn’t like the idea of coming after a man. Men wanted to date her in hopes of a threesome happening at some point. This caused the breakup with her most recent ex, Thomas, who just couldn’t handle her having two lesbians as best friends.

  “Willow has this friend named Piper; she is crazy but a super hot white girl. She kind of makes me think of Serena from Gossip Girl.” Katrina looked at Devon whose look of disapproval said it all.

  “Last thing I need is crazy.”

  There was a silence between them. Katrina unlocked her door and turned back around to see Devon staring at her with a worried expression on her face.

  “Dee, what is it?”

  Devon stared at the ground while she fidgeted with her fingers.

  “Devon?”

  “Shanice called me.” Devon turned her face but could still see the disapproval etched across Katrina’s face.

  “Dee.”

  “I haven’t done anything. I just said that she called.”

  “How many times has she called? And the better question is how many times have you answered?”

  Devon didn’t want to answer the question. If there was one person she needed to stay away from, it was her ex-girlfriend Shanice. Katrina wanted to strangle her best friend. Shanice was like a drug to Devon. She was the first girl she ever slept with back in high school. She then proceeded to walk in and out of Devon’s life whenever something better came along. Time would pass and when she felt like it was time to come back, Shanice would pop back up and Devon would always take her back. They had gone through the same thing from senior year until Devon’s final years in grad school. The final breakup was three years ago, when Shanice left Devon completely broken. Since then Devon hadn’t seriously dated a single person, only Thomas, which Teri and Katrina both knew never was going to last.

  “We talked once, maybe twice. She wanted to apologize for—”

  “Whoa, let me guess, she wanted to apologize for breaking your heart again. And now she’s in a much better place. What is she doing now? Is she deep into a new church or has she become Buddhist?” Katrina scowled.

  “She meditates.”

  Katrina threw her hands in the air and let out a loud sigh.

  “I am not going back, Tree. I just wanted to let you know.”

  “Devon, please, for the love of all things do not go back to that girl. She isn’t worth it. Never has been. You know you deserve so much better.” Katrina held her friend’s hand.

  “I know.” Devon lowered her head.

  “Good, now block that ass and let’s find you someone else. There is someone perfect out there, I know it.”

  “Easy for you to say, you have had an amazing relationship and hell you go overseas and meet another freaking perfect woman. Stop taking all the women, Tree!” Devon pushed her friend.

  “Maybe that’s the problem, we have exhausted all possibilities in Memphis. Maybe you should do your Eat, Pray, Love thang somewhere.”

  “I have always wanted me an Australian.” Devon smiled.

  Devon and Katrina hugged again before getting in their separate cars. Katrina thought about what Devon said. Her relationship with Saura was amazing but she couldn’t help but hold resentment for the way she left her. Then she met Willow, which was blowing her mind all over again. Neither Teri nor Devon had had meaningful relationships in years. Teri was happy living like a bachelor where Devon craved love, but the right one hadn’t come along. Katrina never cared if she had love, but somehow she found two. She only could pray her friends experienced the feelings she had sometime soon.

  Katrina was happy to open the door to her house. In the darkness she noticed the red light flashing on her cordless phone. She didn’t think to check her home phone voicemail while she was gone because everyone of any importance knew to call her cell phone. She pressed the voicemail button, which alerted her of two missed messages.

  “Hey, um, hi, Tree. I know you are probably in Europe right now. I didn’t want to bother you on your trip. I just wanted to let you know that I was thinking of you.”

  Saura’s voice was haunting. Katrina held the phone as the machine’s voice asked if she wanted to delete the message. Katrina’s body was frozen; she didn’t know what to push. As the female’s voice repeated the various options Katrina pressed seven to save the message. The next message began to play.

  “Hey, Katrina, it’s me again. I’m sure you are wondering why I am calling again. I just . . . Well things aren’t as perfect as I imagined. I can almost hear you telling me that things aren’t always going to be perfect. I guess that’s why I’m calling. As much as I want to talk to you, I know I don’t need to. I just wanted to hear your voice. Anyway, I’ll go now. I hope your trip is everything you expected it to be.”

  Katrina hadn’t heard Saura sound so sad before. She pressed the caller ID to see if there was a phone number, but all she saw was a bunch of unknown number messages. Panic set in; she wondered if Saura was all right.

  Katrina ran to her bedroom and unpacked her carryon backpack. She grabbed her iPad and pulled up Facebook. She typed in Saura’s name. Saura had a new profile photo. It was obviously a professional photo in black and white that was absolutely stunning. Katrina stared at the photo that made Saura look like an old Hollywood starlet. Katrina began to scroll through her profile. She saw photos of what had to be the house she was living in and some of the women she was with.

  Katrina noticed a familiar face in all the photos. A stud with a short Mohawk seemed to be very close to Saura in all of the photos. Even in group photos the stud was always near Saura, usually with her arm on her in some kind of way. Katrina got an uneasy feeling. Most of the photos seemed to have one person liking them. She clicked on the name, which took her to the stud’s profile.

  Katrina’s blood began to boil. Her photos weren’t nearly as innocent as Saura’s. In photos she saw Saura hugging the stud. The girl had captions on photos calling Saura the bae, or boo. She scrolled through her timeline until one status caught her attention:

  Picking bae up from the airport, so happy she is finally here.

  Katrina noticed the time stamp. It was the day that Saura left.

  Katrina’s hands were trembling. She wanted to stop herself but she couldn’t. She looked at more photos until one slapped her in her face. A photo of Saura kissing the stud, dated just days after she made it to Los Angeles, covered Katrina’s iPad screen. Katrina dropped the iPad on the bed. Her eyes lost focus, as the images played over and over in her mind. Saura not only left, but had lined up a new chick to take her place. The missing puzzle pieces were suddenly coming in to place. Saura left because she didn’t want Katrina to consider coming to L.A.

  Everything was red. She wanted to fly to Los Angeles just to slap the shit out of Saura. Suddenly Katrina was questioning everything. How long did she know the girl? Had
she been cheating on her the whole time? Katrina jumped up off her bed and ran to the living room. She didn’t want anything reminding her of the dirty bitch. She grabbed a Rubbermaid container and began pulling all the photos off the wall and bookshelves. She pulled the comforter set off the bed along with the sheets and curtains that Saura had picked out. Saura had small traces of her Asian heritage throughout the house. Katrina went through grabbing Buddha statues and Asian portraits, throwing them in the box until it was too heavy to hold anymore.

  Katrina went to grab her keys to take the trash out when she heard a faint beeping. She walked in her room to see her iPad was making the noise. She pressed the button and noticed that she had missed a call from Willow on Skype and had a voicemail. She pressed the play and Willow’s face appeared on the screen with Piper in the background.

  “Hey you, I know you are probably out with your friends,” Willow said in her bubbly voice. Piper was waving and making funny faces in the background. “I just wanted to let you know that I was thinking about you. Piper says hi. Okay, talk to you later,” Willow blew a kiss before the message closed.

  Katrina fell to her bed. The red she was seeing quickly turned back to regular colors. Emotions flooded through her. The pain she never truly allowed herself to feel was trying to break through the wall she had carefully built up. Even with someone as amazing as Willow wanting to be with her, she realized she didn’t have time to heal from Saura. She noticed the room she had destroyed in less than five minutes. If Saura had that type of effect on her she knew that she wasn’t over her.

  Katrina started regretting her decision. Was it right to have Willow in America if she was still in love with another woman? She wanted to call her back and tell her that it wasn’t a good idea but something stopped her. If Saura can be with someone else why should she ruin a good thing because of her? Katrina shook her head.

  “Fuck you, Saura!” Katrina yelled at the top of her lungs. She wasn’t going to let her feelings for Saura ruin anything she could have with Willow or anyone else. It was obvious that Saura never deserved her love to begin with.

  Katrina took all of Saura’s leftovers out and threw them away. She grabbed some of her old sheets and put them on the bed. Her first night home and the bed actually felt like it used to, before someone occupied the other half. Katrina knew one thing: the way to get over one is to get under another. Suddenly she couldn’t wait for Willow’s arrival.

  Chapter 11

  The doorbell woke Devon out of her sleep. She slowly made her way through her house, squinting her eyes at the sunlight coming in through her windows. She opened the door to find an Edible Arrangements delivery person standing there.

  “I am looking for Devon Livingston,” the delivery person said staring at the note on the arrangement.

  “That is me. What is this?” Devon said as she signed the clipboard.

  The delivery person handed the large box to her and quickly walked away. Devon stared at the box as she closed the door. She set the heavy package on the bar and pulled the card off of the package.

  Just to say sorry again.

  There was no name on the card, but she didn’t need a name to know who it was from. Devon opened the box to find a lavish spread of strawberries and pineapples, her two favorite fruits. Some of the fruit was dipped in white and dark chocolate where the majority was left normal. The pineapples were cut in various shapes from hearts to daisies while the strawberries were on cabob sticks in between pineapple balls.

  Devon knew she shouldn’t but she couldn’t resist. She took a bite out of one of the pineapple stars. The juice ran down the side of her mouth. She wiped the pineapple juice off her chin and licked her finger. There was one thing she knew: Shanice still knew the things to make her smile.

  Devon grabbed her phone as she munched on another pineapple star. She scrolled in her caller ID until she saw her ex’s name. The phone rang twice before Shanice picked up.

  “Pineapples and strawberries huh?” Devon said smacking in the phone.

  “Well I had to do something to get your attention.” Shanice’s smooth voice gave Devon chills.

  “It was very nice, but help me understand why you feel the need to get my attention?”

  There was a brief pause. “Maybe I am trying to make up for my bad behavior.”

  Devon held the phone. She knew this act very well. Shanice, also coming from a very wealthy family, had no problem showering Devon with expensive gifts. Devon was always left with those gifts to haunt her whenever Shanice broke her heart again. Katrina’s voice rang through her head. She was right; Shanice was doing the exact same thing that she always did.

  “Look, Shanice, as nice as the arrangement is, please do not think that you are going to be able to throw a few gifts my way and magically appear back in my life. This is not that anymore.”

  “Devon, trust me, I know there is no need to come to you the way I might have done in the past. We are thirty now. I know that I can’t come at you with some twenty-year-old bullshit.”

  “Has it crossed your mind that you can’t come to me at all anymore?” Devon sat on her sofa. Memories of sitting on that same couch, crying her eyes out the last time Shanice left, were locked in her brain. Shanice was her drug; she had to stay clean this time.

  “Dev, I am not trying to date you again. I know that ship has sailed. Honestly I just really miss the friendship we had. No matter all the mess you were always one of my closest friends. I trust you more than I’ve ever trusted anyone. It’s part of the reason I always came back to you.”

  Shanice’s low, smoky voice always turned Devon on. She knew how to speak just to make Devon’s body respond.

  “Well.” Devon’s voice quavered. “You should have probably thought about that before you left me for, oh what’s her name again? Peaches, Apple, Plum?”

  “It was Hershey,” Shanice replied.

  “Oh that’s right, the dumbest name in history.”

  There was another brief silence between them. Devon felt her body betraying her. She had a mix of anger, hurt, and arousal. Shanice was the only person who could make her mad and turn her on at the same time.

  “Devon, I don’t want to hurt you anymore. I know I’m asking for a lot but I don’t want us to be like this with each other. I just hope one day we can work on friendship, or at least be acquaintances.”

  Devon was at a loss of words. She remembered the good times they had. Shanice made her laugh just as much as she made her cry. Devon didn’t know if with their history if any kind of relationship could be possible.

  “I have to go, Shanice. Thank you for the fruit.”

  Devon paused while waiting on a response from Shanice. She could hear her breathing on the line, but she wouldn’t say anything.

  “Shanice? Did you hear me?”

  “Yeah,” her voice finally echoed through the speaker. “If you need anything, Devon, know that I am always here. No matter what.”

  A smile crept up on Devon’s face. She hung the phone up feeling a sense of accomplishment. She didn’t let Shanice back in, and from the way she sounded she knew Shanice knew it wasn’t going to be the way things used to be.

  Chapter 12

  The days seemed to be going by so slowly. Willow was anxious about her trip. Not only was she going to a country she had never been to, but she would be with the woman she couldn’t stop thinking about.

  She spent her days creating dresses just for her trip. She wanted to look special for Katrina. She played around with different prints she got from the fashion district in London. Piper gushed over the garments always finding a way to try them on.

  Willow and Katrina couldn’t talk as much as she wanted due to Katrina’s busy schedule. She was creating dishes and training her kitchen so that it would run as efficiently as possible on opening day. There was going to be a huge pre-opening party where press and special guests were able to try the food before the actual opening. Willow designed a flowing dress that was perfect with a
beautiful charcoal fabric with a blue abstract print on the bottom of it. Willow fit the dress perfectly to her body. She knew she would stand out in the creation.

  Willow spent her free time researching Memphis and surrounding areas. The only thing she knew about the city was it was where Elvis was from. She remembered there being a big stir when the royal princes attended a wedding there once, but besides that she was clueless. She watched movies based in Memphis on Redbox. Katrina got a kick out of her watching Hustle & Flow for the first time.

  Willow made lists of all the things she wanted to experience with Katrina. She wanted to ride the River Queen and get drunk on Beale Street. She wanted to check out the zoo and go to local lesbian clubs, even though Katrina said she didn’t even go to the lesbian and gay clubs in the city.

  Katrina seemed more interested in showing her other parts of the South. She talked about going to New Orleans and Atlanta, and seeing an arch in St. Louis. Willow knew in the end there was only one place she was craving to see, and that was Katrina’s house, particularly her bed. If she never saw a piece of the city she would be okay with it as long as she was lying next to Katrina.

  “So yeah, I need a dress to wear out with Corrie tonight; can I borrow one of these?” Piper walked in the room holding two of the short skater dresses Willow had created.

  “No,” Willow said as she pinned the hem of her newest creation.

  “Oh come on, what is the purpose of me having a fashion designer friend if she never lets me wear any of the fashions? Come on, Willow, use me as your personal business card. These legs should be in this dress.”

  Piper held up the red skater dress. She poked her bottom lip out and batted her fake eyelashes.

  “Oh okay, fine, but get one thing on that dress and I’m going to kill you.”

  Piper squealed her normal high-pitched squeal as she ran out of the room. Willow continued to hem until Piper appeared in the doorway completely transformed. She put on a pair of high-heeled boots with the short dress. She had to admit Piper made her clothes look amazing.