No Coincidence Read online

  Pressing the down button on the elevator, I mentally went over everything I had to ensure I hadn’t forgotten anything.

  “Oh, excuse me!” I blurted out when I walked right into the chest of my next door neighbor as he attempted to exit the open doors of the elevator.

  My head rose and the way his lips spread into a familiar smile made my insides groan.

  “Not a problem at all, little lady.”

  I bit the inside of my cheek hard to keep from rolling my eyes. “Excuse me, Jarvis,” I muttered, not wanting to get entangled in any drawn out conversation.

  “In a rush? It seems like I’ve barely seen you in the last few weeks.” His smile was meant to be charming, I assumed, but all I saw was the chipped front tooth of his and the fact that he obviously wasn’t a regular when it came to exfoliating.

  “No, I guess you haven’t.” Stepping around him, onto the elevator, I punched the button to the garage level of our building.

  Spinning around, I looked one final time at Jarvis. “Been working. You know how it is.” I plastered a fake smile on my face just as the doors closed on him saying something that I couldn’t and didn’t want to discern.

  I shook my head. Jarvis was nice and all, but since the day he moved in two years ago he gave me creepy vibes. I could never quite put my finger on it, but I always felt the desire to get as far away from him as possible. Unfortunately for me, Jarvis seemed to want the opposite, always making it a point to stop and talk to me whenever we encountered one another in the hallway or elevator.

  Brushing thoughts of my weird neighbor aside, I stepped free of the elevator and headed toward my pride and joy. My wine-colored Lexus RX 350. She was a 2018 and I paid for her in cold, hard cash, at the insistence of my cousin, Destiny, of course. She was a stickler when it came to finances in general, and avoiding debt, specifically. If she’d had things her way, I would’ve gotten an older model to save even more money, but I wasn’t about that life. I worked hard and had the money. I got what I wanted.

  But this day, instead of feeling the usual pride I felt as I strolled closer to my car, a warning feeling began in the pit of my stomach. I paused a foot away from my car, swinging my head from left to right to see who, if anyone, was around. There was no one. Regardless, my spine tingled, the hair on my arms standing as the feeling that I was being watched filled my body.

  Without another thought, I raced to my car, yanking the door open, and practically threw myself inside, slamming the door shut door and locking it behind me. I moved so fast I was breathing heavy by the time I fully settled inside. The breathing hard may’ve also had something to do with the fear combined with adrenaline coursing through me as well. All I could think of was the email from that morning. There was another message in my Instagram DMs. A sickening feeling overcame me, as my knees started feeling weak.

  Wrapping both of my hands around the steering wheel and trying to steady my breathing, I worked hard to not freak the hell out.

  “It’s nothing, Resh. Don’t make a big deal out a few messages,” I told myself. It was just some messages from a stranger on the internet. They could be halfway across the country, or hell, living in an entirely different country while I was imagining they were hiding out in my building’s garage, secretly watching me.

  “That’s it. No big deal,” I whispered repeatedly as I pulled out of my parking spot and started the drive to the community center.

  ****

  “You’re late.”

  My eyes rolled without any direct communication from my brain to do so. It was an automatic response.

  “Don’t act like you don’t know me by now,” I retorted to my cousin even as I widened my arms to pull her into a hug. “Ouch! Damn you!” I grunted from her pinching my arm as we pulled apart.

  Destiny placed her hands on her small hips—that had gotten slightly bigger since birthing triplets, but she was still naturally tiny.

  “I do know your ass, which is why I had that pinch waiting on your always late behind all morning.”

  I shook my head. “No faith in me.”

  “Oh, I have faith. Faith that you’re going to be at least fifteen minutes late.”

  “Ha!” I gasped and pointed at the clock high on the wall of the lobby behind Destiny. “According to the clock, I’m only twelve minutes late.”

  “Whatever.” Destiny waved her hand. “So what was it that kept you this time? Please say it was a man you were trying to get rid of this morning.”

  My mind immediately went back to messages from that morning. A fluttering of fear rose in my stomach. I shook my head. “There was an accident on the highway, reducing it to one lane for like three exits.”

  Destiny sighed. “I hope everyone’s okay.”

  I nodded, thankful she hadn’t picked up on the lie. There was an accident, but if I’d left at the time I intended I would’ve made it on time. It was all the other happenings of the morning that had me running behind schedule. However, I wasn’t up for sharing that right then.

  “Well, you made it. That’s what matters,” a voice stated from behind Destiny.

  I look over my cousin’s shoulder to see Patience, one of her sisters-in-law, headed toward us.

  “Patience, good to see you.” I pulled her into a hug, which she warmly received before pulling back, smiling as she cupped my arms in her hands.

  “We’re glad you made it. This place isn’t the same when you’re not around.”

  My insides warmed because she was genuine when she said that. It was as if when Destiny became a part of this family, I did as well. Instead of responding directly, I looked back at Destiny and stuck my tongue out at her.

  “See, at least someone is happy to see me.”

  Patience giggled.

  “We’re all happy to see you,” came another voice. That was Kayla, another sister-in-law of Destiny’s.

  Soon enough, Kayla, Patience, Destiny, as well as their mother-in-law, Deborah Townsend, were greeting me and showing me into one of the large conference turned dressing rooms.

  “Resha, I ordered breakfast since the likelihood that all of us have eaten before getting out of the door this morning was slim to none.” All the women, including myself, laughed because she was right. “Please help, yourself.”

  All the other women had at least one child, but Patience had five and Destiny had three. I was certain their mornings were crazy and getting time to eat before making it into the office was a near impossibility.

  “And, Resha, just doesn’t eat breakfast,” Destiny added.

  I frowned, playfully, because she was right. Typically, I wasn’t a breakfast eater but seeing as how it was nearing eleven thirty, my stomach started to growl. Picking up a chocolate chip scones, I placed it on one of the porcelain plates along with some sliced strawberries and green grapes.

  I took a bite of the scone. “Oh, this is good,” I moaned, looking at Deborah.

  She smiled. “It’s from this new little bakery down the street. They have all kinds of things. One of our girls actually works there.”

  Kayla nodded. “Yeah, Suzette. She’s been there for what? Three months now?” she asked, her head turning to ask the other women.

  Patience nodded. “I think so. About a month after it opened.”

  “Suzette,” I repeated. “The one with the two-year-old little boy, right?”

  “That’s her,” Destiny answered.

  “I remember giving her some makeup tips. How’s she doing?”

  “Really well,” Deborah responded. “She started taking classes at the community college for culinary arts. She loves baking.”

  “Good for her.” I remembered Suzette as being incredibly withdrawn and reticent upon first meeting her. There was a heaviness in her eyes that was so familiar it almost pained me just to see. Honestly, most of the women, who came through the doors of this center, had that look. That forlornness was something I recognized in just about all of them.

  “So,” I began, clapping my
hands, ready to think of something else, “I brought more clothes and makeup, and some accessories I think will work with some of the other clothes that have been donated. It should only take me a few minutes to get set up, and then I can start working with the ladies.”

  “Great,” Kayla replied. “As you can see, we’ve rearranged the conference room since you were here last to make this the changing room. It offers so much more space than the last room.”

  I nodded in agreement, looking around at the racks of clothes that were neatly lined on one side of the room, and the partitions that had been set up on the other side, allowing privacy for dressing.

  “And you even have a few vanities. Perfect.”

  “Naturally. We want the ladies who come here to be equipped with the basics to help them go out and conquer the world. That starts from the inside, of course, but helping them look good on the outside doesn’t hurt, either,” Deborah chimed in.

  “I couldn’t agree more.”

  There was little conversation after that as I busied myself with setting up all the items I’d brought and making sure there was an assortment of outfits for the women to choose from. The purpose of this fashion session was to get the women who have never been in the working world, or who’d had an extended period away, to feel comfortable dressing up for interviews and their first days at a new job.

  “Welcome!” I gushed as a timid looking woman entered. “What’s your name?”

  “Emily.”

  “Nice to meet you, Emily. Please, come in.” I noted the blonde tresses that would look much better after a trim. And my mind immediately went to the perfect foundation for her skin tone.

  I greeted three more women as they entered with Kayla.

  “This is Charlotte, Mary, and Tammy,” Kayla introduced.

  I shook hands with all of the women and began asking some basic questions on what it was they were looking for. Two of the women had job interviews later that week, one would be starting a new temp position the following week, and Emily was just starting out in pursuit of a career, and had no idea what style of clothing worked for her.

  After giving the women a quick introduction of myself, I taught them some basics of dressing for success before taking them over to the racks of clothes to begin searching for items they liked and that looked good on them.

  “Also, remember, if you see something you like, but it might not fit quite right, consider tailoring.”

  “Tailoring?” Emily appeared befuddled.

  “Yes. It just means having your clothes cut or sewn to fit your body. Most clothes are made according to whatever standard the manufacturer deems right. There isn’t even a standard of sizing across the board. It’s why you can walk into one retail store and fit perfectly into a size twelve jeans, but then go in another and be able to fit a size ten, or even go up to a fourteen in another retailer’s clothing. It’s a mess. Just remember, it’s not a reflection of your body. And please don’t get me started on why so many retailers refuse to put actual pockets in women’s jeans.”

  “Right?” Tammy gasped. “I thought it was only me who noticed that.”

  I shook my head along with Kayla.

  “You are certainly not alone. My favorite pair of jeans that hugs me in all the right places is perfect, except …”

  “They don’t have any damn pockets,” I finished.

  “That! They have the little sewn part that looks like a pocket but it’s just a design.”

  “And who the heck needs a designer pocket? Give me a real pocket.”

  “Please!” Tammy added, causing all of us to giggle at the shared frustration.

  That little tangent broke any of the remaining ice, and all of the women opened up more and more, feeling comfortable sharing their struggles in dressing for their body types. I got lost in the conversation, answering questions and applauding when each woman found the perfect outfit for them. I visibly saw how each woman’s confidence became more pronounced as they began to shake off the assumptions that their bodies were wrong or improperly built for the clothes.

  “You were so great with them,” Kayla noted after the women left and I started packing up my belongings to head over to my afternoon meeting.

  I smiled wide as I placed a few items in my briefcase. “I love doing this. I learned from Aunt Donna that clothes are meant to adorn what we already have. They don’t make us.”

  “I love that. Wish most girls grew up learning that. Oh, speaking of raising daughters, you’re coming to Victoria’s birthday party this Saturday, right?”

  I stopped short in the hallway, having forgotten all about the one-year-old girl’s birthday party I RSVP’d to. Why the hell a one year old needed an RSVP to her birthday party was beyond me.

  “Yeah, I’ll be there.”

  “Good. Remember, it starts at three. Don’t feel obligated to bring anything either. That little girl has everything she could ever want.” She playfully rolled her eyes.

  “I wouldn’t think of showing up to anyone’s home without a gift. Aunt Donna raised me better than that.”

  Kayla chuckled. “If you insist. See you there. I have to go help Patience with something before leaving. Thanks again for coming.” She gave me another hug and turned, heading in the opposite direction just as Destiny rounded the corner.

  She frowned. “Were you trying to sneak out without saying good-bye?”

  I wrinkled my forehead. “Of course not,” I lied because that’s exactly what I was planning on doing.

  “Better not had. Where are you headed to now?”

  “Have a meeting with a major retailer. To possibly be one of the new faces of their new plus size line.”

  “That’s awesome, Resh! Who is it?”

  I shook my head. “I’m not saying yet just in case this doesn’t go through.”

  Destiny paused as we came to the entrance of the center, turning to me and frowning. “Since when do we keep things from each other?”

  I lifted an eyebrow. “You mean like getting married?”

  Raising her hands and face heavenward, Destiny sighed. “I can’t believe you’re still bringing that up. I told you, Tyler and I—”

  “Didn’t tell anyone … yeah, yeah, yeah. You’ve said it all before,” I chided. Truth was, I wasn’t as pissed about Destiny and Tyler’s elopement anymore. I just used it to throw in her face for some petty reason.

  “Resha, you know—” Destiny started, taking my hand in hers.

  “D, I’m just playing. Relax. I’m not keeping anything from you. I just don’t want to jinx it, or get too excited about this opportunity, so I’m playing it close to the chest. I promise if it goes through you will be the first to know about it.”

  She paused, looking me in the eye.

  I held firm in my conviction, not allowing myself to be swayed by the spark of sadness I caught in her brown eyes.

  “Okay, I understand. Hey, you’ll be at the party on Saturday, right? Mama’s coming, too.”

  I nodded. “I just confirmed with Kayla.”

  “Good. Maybe you’ll bring a date. Oh,” Destiny snapped. “Better yet, maybe I can hook you up with one of the guys who’ll be there.”

  “Don’t!” I warned. “First of all, I’m pretty damn sure all of the men there are married with children of their own. Shit, at one pathetic time in my life I may have been down to be some man’s mistress, but at thirty-seven I am not about that life—”

  “Resha, you know damn well I would never hook you up with someone like that—”

  Holding up my hand, I cut her off. “And second of all, I can find my own date.”

  “Good then bring someone.”

  “I’m celibate for a reason.”

  “Which is?”

  “I’m finding myself.”

  I laughed at the bitch stop playing look on my cousin’s face.

  “Yeah, just make sure you find your ass to Kayla and Josh’s this Saturday at three for Victoria’s birthday party. No, better yet, how about
you pick up Mama early and come over my house at noon to have lunch together before the party. The kids have been dying to see you.”

  I didn’t bother telling my cousin that her barely one year old children probably didn’t even remember me from one day to the next, although we FaceTimed often when I was away.

  “Okay, I’ll come over early,” I conceded. “I gotta go.” I didn’t wait for Destiny’s response. I gave her a hug and moved passed her to the door, toward the elevator.

  Sadly, on my way out, I reflected on how distant I felt from my closest friend in the world. Destiny’s life had changed so much in the past couple of years, as it should’ve. The free time she used to have was now eaten up by family obligation, which I understood. But it left me having to figure out where I stood sometimes. Not to mention, seeing her so happy and full, at times, reminded me of what my life was still lacking.

  And now, nearing forty, I wondered if my happily ever after would happen.

  Chapter Two

  Resha

  “Hey, Auntie Donna,” I gushed as soon as she opened the door to her apartment. Bending low, I let her wrap her arms around me for a hug. I sighed a little as my face nuzzled against her shoulder before taking a step back.

  “I don’t understand why you don’t just use your key, girl,” she chided.

  I laughed, shutting the door behind me as I fully stepped inside. “You know I don’t want to interrupt what you may have going on up in here, Auntie.”

  “Girl, you know I’ll still put you over my knee. Talking fresh like that. Don’t think I don’t know what you meant.”

  I laughed again because the idea of my sixty-nine-year-old aunt with Parkinson’s disease putting me over her knee was laughable, even though I knew she’d try if she could.

  “I was just kidding. You look cute,” I told her, staring down at the cobalt blue dress she wore. “Did the aide help you put that on?”

  “She sure did. Left about five minutes before you got here.”

  I nodded, knowing full well the schedule of the aides who worked with my auntie. “She could’ve stayed until I arrived,” I stated, not liking the idea of my aunt being left alone, if only for a short period of time.