Ethic turned to the small group. “Let’s keep the volume down. Her ears are sensitive to loud noises and she isn’t comfortable speaking yet, so we’re just taking this whole thing slow, a’ight?” he said.

Her eyes fell on Messiah and then over to Nish, who came rushing up to her. “Oh my God! Congrats, girl! I can’t believe you didn’t tell me! I know we’ve been distant, but when Ethic called, I had to come. You’re my best friend, Mo. I had to be here for this,” Nish said.

Morgan was grateful when Lily announced that the chef had set the table and it was time to eat.

As Morgan walked by Messiah, she could feel his eyes on her. She couldn’t look at him. She was certain Ethic had invited him, but the sight of him with Nish made her stomach turn. He wore his locs in cornrows to the back, and he was dressed in hood rich attire: a Gucci sweat suit with fresh J’s. She didn’t acknowledge him. She was so angry, that if she did, she was sure she would cry. She just wanted to go to bed. She was emotionally exhausted, and she couldn’t sit through an entire dinner with Nish sitting next to Messiah. She wasn’t too proud to admit she was jealous and she wouldn’t give herself an opportunity to show it. She walked into the dining room and stood next to the table.

“Thank you, everyone, for coming, but I’m in a little bit of pain and I really just want to get some sleep. I’m sorry. May I be excused?” she looked at Ethic, who nodded. She, instantly, fled to her room. She didn’t have the energy to handle this tonight. She couldn’t put on a poker face and bear through it. She had been through too much and she just wanted to retreat to the privacy of her room. Her head was spinning, and she didn’t have the emotional moxie to pretend like seeing Messiah with Nish didn’t bother her.

“Poor thing,” Dolce said. “Thank you for inviting me. I’ve known Morgan since she was 11. I’m glad I could be here for this. I’m sorry how we left things,” Dolce stated.

“Yeah, me too,” Ethic answered. “I thought you deserved to be here. Mo likes you and you’ve been in her life for a while now so…”

“And what about you? Do you like me, Ethic?” Dolce asked.

Ethic rubbed the top of his head with both hands, feeling the waves under his fingertips. He didn’t know how to answer that. Honesty was his policy; but with Dolce, she preferred the lies. The only time she blew up at him was when he was truthful about his inability to give her the affection she wanted from him.