For However Long

“Can’t change who I am, I just try to get better. So in the meantime, keep it moving or accept that.”

Paris

“Wait!” I yelled, dropping my keys and my camera bag into my new oversized Louis tote. “Can you hold that please?” Throwing my duffle bag across my shoulder and grabbing the handle on my suitcase, I made my way to the elevator. “Thank you.” I leaned against the wall, catching my breath. My eyes connected with my neighbor’s. We had not spoken more than a few greetings to each other since I moved in six months ago. Granted, I was never home. I was always at a shoot or out of town. Today wasn’t any different.

“It’s all good.” He replied, letting a light chuckle leave his lips. I sat the bag on the ground with a small groan. “Summer trip?”

“Mhm. I’m about to spend the next three months in Atlanta. I’ll be back in September to get on your nerves.” My eyes traveled over his face. He was tall, dark skinned, and very handsome. I hadn’t really paid him any attention before but he was very attractive.

“I’m definitely gonna miss wakin’ up to Where the Bag At.” It wasn’t hard to detect the sarcasm in his voice. I started dying laughing.

“I’m sorry but that’s the first song on my motivation playlist. It gets my blood flowing.”

His tongue swiped across his bottom lip as he nodded his head. “I feel that. You need a nigga that’s gon swipe them visas?”

“Let me find out.” My head jumped back a little as the elevator opened to the lobby of our building. “What you know about the City Girls?” He bent down and grabbed my bag for me. “Thank you.” I led the way to my waiting Uber.

“My girl is obsessed with them.” He sat my luggage in the trunk for me before helping me pick up my suitcase. “She’s not allowed to touch the aux anymore.”

“Ya girl is a real one. Period.”

He started chuckling. “Nah. Y’all need a new word. Say exclamation or some shit. That really gets the point across.”

“Bye.” Small smiles graced both of our faces. All of this time we could have been friends but of course I find out how cool he is when I’m flying to the other side of the country. “You’re out of pocket.” I playfully shook my head. “Thanks for your help.”

“See you later, neighbor. Have fun and be safe.”

“My name’s Paris.”

“Luke.” He held his hand out. I shook it and smiled.

“Okay. Let me go. I’m already on time. So in my best friend’s mind, I’m late. Bye, neighbor.” I got in the car, spoke to my driver and pulled out my phone, letting my best friend, Justine know I was on the way to the airport. I was about to hop on a flight to spend the summer with her in Georgia. An entire year had passed since the last time we spent time with each other. So I cleared my schedule to get my mind right and to play catch up with one of my favorite people.

“So where are you traveling to? I see we’re heading to the airport.” The driver, Leslie asked. Her blonde hair flowed down her back as she looked at me through the rearview mirror.

“To Atlanta.” I got so excited every single time I talked about it.

“Ooh. That sounds fun.”

“Hopefully. I’m going out there to spend time with my best friend but I definitely plan on doin’ a little work while I’m down there.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that. You’re young. People that glamorize all work, no play are miserable. People that glamorize all play and no work are people you need to steer away from.”

“Girl,” I waved my hand in the air. “You better preach. I work to enjoy the fruit of my labor. But my career is my passion. So even when I’m not tryin’ to work it just happens.” That was the honest truth. My camera was around my neck most times. Everywhere I went, it accompanied me. It didn’t take much to get inspired and capture the moment.

Leslie and I talked the entire way to my destination. She made the trip a lot more comfortable. I would have been perfectly fine listening to music but having a conversation helped the time fly by just as fast. I thanked her and grabbed my bags off of the curb. “Have fun.” After waving one final time, I walked through LAX to get to my terminal.

After checking in, going through the security check, and boarding the flight, I was finally in my first class seat. I texted both my mom, Selena and Justine informing them that I was actually on time and had my ass in a seat on this plane. There was no time to wait for a response. I put my phone on airplane mode, turned on the playlist I created last night and dozed off.

Four and a half hours later, I was rubbing the sleep out of my eyes as I stood in baggage claim waiting for my things. “Paris!” I smiled hearing my best friend’s loud mouth. “You cut ya hair again?” Her hand smacked my arm before she pulled me into a hug.

“It’s the summer time. You know I don’t like things on my neck.” I teased as I eyed my things coming around. I grabbed the duffle while she wheeled the suitcase. “You look good. You’re glowing actually. What’s tea?”

Justine couldn’t stop smiling. “I have a man now.”

“Excuse me?!” A few people in Hartsfield-Jackson stared at my dramatics. “I know damn well you didn’t keep this from me.” I shook my head and continued to head for the exit. “I’m not here to be a third wheel and I’m definitely not here to get set up with one of his ugly ass friends.”

She started laughing, leading the way to an all white Audi. “His friends aren’t ugly and they can’t wait to meet you. They’re throwing a house party tomorrow. I was definitely hopin’ you would want to slide.”

“I’m on vacation. So I’m definitely down for all events that involve alcohol and ass shaking.” Justine popped the trunk and stared at me with her mouth tooted.

“Unless you’ve become a new person in LA fuckin’ round with them white supermodels, I know you’re probably gonna have one drink and be ready to go to bed. You’re a damn grandma.”

We placed my things inside before I finally made myself comfortable in the passenger seat. “Justine, I smoke weed now, sis. I’ve dated Ferg for the past two years. You should have seen this coming.” After we graduated from Spelman, I moved across the country for my career while my best friend opted to stay in the south.

She started the car and side eyed me. “How are things with y’all? Is it really over?”

Letting out a deep breath, I looked out of the window. Ferg had been a big part of my life. I loved that man with every single part of me. Then one day he revealed that he wasn’t happy or in love anymore. That had broken me for a while because I was questioning myself for days, weeks...hell months. Six had already gone by and I was still wondering why I wasn’t good enough for him. “We still talk from time to time. We’re still cool. There aren’t any hard feelings.” I shrugged and looked down at my phone, taking it off airplane mode.

“I’m glad you’re in high spirits. I know that wasn’t easy.”

“It wasn’t. Soon as the sentence left his lips, I just packed my things and moved into a new apartment the same day. I wasn’t about to scream, cry, and beg. I had a feeling it was ending. The vibe was different. I’m glad he didn’t stay out of obligation. If I wasn’t making him happy then he deserves for someone else to have the chance.” Even saying this hurt my feelings but I wasn’t about to keep a man that didn’t want to be kept. That wasn’t my style. Time meant nothing. Nothing or no one was going to damper my spirit no matter how long we were together. I learned a long time ago to stay away from people that radiated negative energy. Shit with Ferg was getting bad, so we needed to end before we started hating each other. It was the right call.

“One day I want to be as mature as you are.” Justine spoke, smiling over at me. “You really inspire me. Throughout my day, I have random moments of ‘What would Paris do?’ Because you know I’m always ready to slap somebody.”

“Because you are crazy. But we both know it took a long road for me to get here.”

“That’s very true. You were right by my side followin’ right along with my shenanigans in D.C.” I smiled at the memories because she was right. I was down to ride. Between the two of us, I was the reasonable and rational one. Justine was always ready to beat ass and ask questions later. It was the opposite with me. I liked a little understanding before I handed out fades. “Exactly.”

“Whatever.” I laughed as we pulled into this gated community. She punched the code in and parked in front of some condos. We got out, grabbed my things, and headed inside. My eyes surveyed the space as she gave me a tour.

“This is where you’ll be staying. Your bathroom is through that door. I put new towels and toiletries in there.” I fell face first onto the queen size bed. My body was tired. Yesterday I was busy at a shoot until about two in the morning. Right after, I went home, finished packing, and slept for maybe three hours before jumping up and hopping on my flight. “I am probably going to be in the studio really late. Your set of keys are right here.” I heard her sit them down on the nightstand. “I should be back around midnight.” It was damn near five in the afternoon now but I wasn’t surprised. I knew how those studio sessions could be.

“Okay.” I groaned out. “I might walk around and shoot for a little while.” I turned my head in her direction.

Justine nodded, heading out of the room. “You can drop me off and get the car if you want.”

“No.” I let out a deep breath. “I’ll get a rental soon but right now, I really just want to relax for a few days. I’ll order food through Grub Hub. I’ll be good.”

“You sure?” She walked back into the room wearing sweats. I nodded and watched as she threw her purple hair up into a bun. “Okay. There’s groceries in there by the way, so you don’t need to do that. Just call me if you need anything.” With that she left out, leaving me alone with my thoughts. After sleeping for about an hour, I got up, handled my hygiene, grabbed my keys and my camera before finally making my way out of the door. This was a nice neighborhood but I definitely preferred to be in the middle of everything. Seclusion wasn’t my thing. I liked to people watch. They gave me the best inspiration.

I wondered around for a while. Eventually I stumbled upon a park. I took a seat on the bench and continued to snap every little thing that caught my eye. “Uncle Aug, can we go to the mall tomorrow?” I wasn’t trying to be a creep but the interaction between the young girls and their uncle was so honest and adorable. I snapped a few pictures before reviewing them. When I looked up, his head was turned in my direction as the girls continued to play. I couldn’t tell if his eyes were really on me because of the shades that graced his face but I was pretty certain by the scowl he wore.

“I’m sorry.” Sighing, I made my way over to him. My eyes took in his facial features as I made my way over. He had the nicest cheekbones I had ever seen on a man that connected to this pointy ass chin. His plump, pink lips were covered by a nicely trimmed goatee. “Um,” I let out a deep breath and finally got my sentence together. “I’m a photographer and I capture everyday, real moments.” I pulled up the pictures and handed my camera over. “Totally innocent. I can delete them. It’s no problem.” His eyes were locked on my camera before he finally accepted it and looked through the flicks.

“You should ask permission before just takin’ pictures of strangers.” I didn’t even react because he wasn’t wrong. “These are low key dope tho.” He nodded his head as he continued to click through everything I had shot today at the park. “You have a nice eye.”

“Thank you.” I flashed a small smile as the youngest of his nieces stood in front of us.

“Hey,” she waved. “Do you know my uncle?”

I quickly shook my head. “No. I don’t.”

“Oh.” She shrugged. “You’re really pretty.”

“Thank you.” I blushed as he handed my device back over. “So are you.”

“Are you single?”

“Aight Kay. Relax. You’re doin’ a bit much.” He spoke up.

“Well if she is. You can ask her out on a date.” Kay then faced me. “He’s single.”

“Aight come on Chay and Maiya, let’s go. It’s gettin’ dark.” The girls groaned as I excused myself and walked back over to the bench, continuing to look over my pictures.

“Uncle Aug, she is pretty. Go ask her out on a date like you always tell us boys should do.” It was taking everything in me not to laugh because it was clear as day he wasn’t interested and she was not letting up.

“She has a boyfriend. Now let’s go.” This time I did chuckle as they finally made their way from the playground. Kay looked back at me and waved. I returned the gesture and continued on with my day.

Once I was satisfied with my captures for the day, I made my way back to Justine’s. I hopped in the shower and made myself comfortable on the couch, turning on the television. I went straight to on demand and caught up on the new episode of Insecure. “No he didn’t.” My jaw was damn near to the floor when I noticed Issa on the couch and Daniel having sex with some other chick like she wasn’t ten fucking feet away. “Now the dick might be that good but I’m sure she’s doin’ all of that moaning to be petty.” I continued to make my way through the episode with my usual commentary before switching to my other favorite show, Love Is. These were hands down two of the best shows on television right now.

It didn’t take long for my stomach to start growling. So I hit pause and walked into the kitchen to see ground beef in the fridge. I smiled because I knew Justine’s ass did that on purpose. Spaghetti was her favorite food. Shaking my head, I grabbed the noodles and went ahead and started whipping up the quick meal. It hadn’t even registered in my mind that I only ate oatmeal early this morning before I left Los Angeles until the smell of the meat hit my nose. After mixing the ingredients together, I fixed myself a plate with a glass of wine and continued to watch my shows.

I couldn’t remember the last time I was just in the house, relaxing. In LA, I was always on the go. This time away from everything couldn’t have happened at a more perfect time. No distractions. Just time to work on myself, rekindle my friendship with my best friend, and focus on my craft. It seemed like this trip to Atlanta was exactly what I needed.