What He's Been Missing Read Free

couldn’t stand not being in love. I think she called me when she wanted to remember what it was like before she found it.
    â€œHe can’t marry her, Journey! Not Scarlet. Scarlet? Not Scarlet! No. He can’t.” I collapsed and banged my head on my desk to add a little drama.
    â€œWell. Why?” Journey asked. She was sitting before a backdrop of finger paintings and family photos. Since the wedding two years before, Dame and Journey actually had the twins—two little boys (Jessie and Justin)—and a baby girl, Apache. Journey released her first album, Black Warriors , and it became an instant classic, but she wanted to take time off to raise the children around their father. That meant that they basically lived in hotels. She tried to keep some semblance of regularity by hanging the children’s artwork and pictures everywhere they went.
    â€œI told you before, she’s a faker. A phony. She’s trying to . . . I don’t know . . . get Ian to marry her,” I said.
    â€œSo you don’t think she loves him?” Journey asked.
    â€œNo. I don’t know . . . Maybe.”
    â€œDoes he love her?” She leaned in with a little more interest.
    â€œNo!” I sucked my teeth. “I don’t know . . . Yes? But only because he doesn’t know who she really is.”
    â€œAnd you do?” Journey reached down to pick up Apache, who’d just started walking and was grabbing for the keyboard. “Look, you keep saying how much you don’t like her, but you can’t say why and you haven’t even told Ian how you feel about her.”
    â€œBecause I can’t—”
    â€œYou can’t find anything really wrong with her.”
    â€œIt’s just a feeling in my gut that this is wrong. That she’s wrong. That she’s wrong for him.”
    One of the twins showed up beside Journey at the laptop. They both looked just like Dame.
    â€œThen who’s right for him, Rachel?” Journey flashed an accusing frown.
    â€œDon’t get on that again. There’s nothing between Ian and me. He’s my best friend.”
    â€œWell, you be his best friend and just support him. Be there for him. Instead of being all suspicious about this being the worst thing for him, help him make it the best thing for him. Can you do that?”
    â€œWhatever. Yes. I mean, if this is what he wants . . . whatever,” I said. “Marry the fake-ass Angela Davis.”
    The little boy climbed on the desk in front of Journey and peered into the camera at me. He came in so close all I could see was his mouth.
    â€œBoy, back up from the camera,” I heard Journey order before she pulled him back. Then the other twin showed up.
    â€œI hungry, Mama,” he said as Journey hustled him back into her lap.
    â€œOh heavens!” Journey said, trying to manage both of them at the computer and not looking like she was going to be successful. With all of her responsibilities literally mounting up in front of her, my emergency seemed so trivial. “Look, Rachel, duty calls. I need to feed these little people.”
    â€œOK.”
    â€œBut listen, before I go, there’s something else I want you to consider.”
    â€œWhat?” I asked.
    â€œWhy this bothers you so much.”
    â€œHe’s my best—”
    â€œNo, no, no,” Journey said. “I don’t mean that. I mean, maybe this is less about Ian getting married and more about you not getting married. You said it yourself last week. Another year alone. Another Christmas. Another New Year’s. Just be certain that you’re not trying to stop your friend from getting engaged simply because you’re not the friend who’s getting engaged.”
    Â 
    The lobby of the midtown hotel where Ian had reserved the suite for Scarlet’s birthday party was so full it looked like it was the spectacular New Year’s Eve celebration I’d missed the night