The Art of Falling : The Prelude cont’d.

Love Jones

“What up, Dric,” Hendric heard upon stepping into Henry’s to grab dinner before heading home for the night. As he craned his neck to see who’d addressed him, his scowl eased when his eyes landed on Sevin, one of the newly assigned soldiers to Shameek’s crew.

Technically, they were all on the same crew since they worked under Polo, but Shameek and Hendric were distributors over their own territories and tried not to step on each other’s toes.

“What up, Sev?” Hendric extended his hand. “You just the man I wanted to see.”

Sevin’s brow dipped as he and Hendric’s hands connected. “Oh yeah? Why is that?”

“I hear you and Meek’s assignments got swapped at the last minute.”

“If you looking for a reason why, I can’t call it,” Sevin shrugged. “That was all Polo. I figured he trusted Meek more than me since Meek’s been around longer and left it where it was.”

Hendric had been so busy considering that Polo was making an underhanded move that he hadn’t viewed the situation through that lens. Now that Sevin offered it as an option, it made sense.

“Don’t take it personally,” he suggested, moving toward the budding line to get to the counter.

Sevin shrugged. “I’m not. I haven’t been around as long as y’all, so it is what it is. I appreciate having the extra time to spend with my girl,” he said as a woman behind the counter called a number. “That’s me. I’ll get at you later, Dric.”

“Bet. See you around, lil bro.”

As Sevin left him alone, Hendric focused his attention on his phone, trying to determine what he could line up for the night. However, while scrolling through his contacts, another voice found its way to his ears—one he hadn’t heard in years.

“Yes, I understand that,” the woman a few spots ahead of him said. “But seeing as how you couldn’t meet your client’s needs, they—”

“Ella?” he called, moving around the people separating them to enter her orbit. Her plump lips formed the same of an O as she froze, her tawny eyes meeting his. Amused by her surprise, Hendric grinned. “You gon finish your call?”

“Are you going to get back in your spot in the line?” the man behind them grumbled, shifting uncomfortably.

“Yeah, when you make me,” Hendric quickly challenged him.

“Dric, stop,” Gabriella pressed one hand to his chest while hanging up her call with the other, pushing him out of the line and losing her spot while doing so. “It’s not that serious.”

“Still playing Captain Save-a-Hoe, huh, Ella?”

“Gabriella,” she corrected. “And I have to, seeing as how your answer to everything is to use your fists.”

“I don’t remember you complaining when I whooped that nigga’s ass for spraying ‘nerd’ on your locker when we were in the eleventh grade. When he wasn’t wrong, mind you.”

“Dric, go to hell,” she snickered.

“Seriously though, what you doing in town?” he inquired. “I haven’t seen you since…” a dent appeared in his forehead as he thought back to the last time he’d laid eyes on her. “Damn. You’ve been gone since you left for college after graduation.”

“I have,” she confirmed. “So nice of you to have noticed.”

Ignoring her attitude, Hendric offered a lopsided grin. “Don’t do that. You’ve been way too busy achieving major shit to even think about me.”

Gabriella folded her arms under her breasts, “And how would you know what I’ve been up to? For all you know, I could be a bum.”

“Yeah,” he snorted. “Imagine that. 4.0 GPA having, valedictorian, head of the school paper and yearbook club, motor-mouthing having ass Gabriella being a bum.”

Dropping her arms, she poked him in his chest. “Who you calling a motor-mouth?”

Hendric’s grin widened. “Out of everything I said, that’s all you heard?”

“That’s all that matters,” she rolled her eyes, returning to the line.

He was right behind her. “You never answered my question. What you doing around this way?”

“Business, Dric,” she sassed. “And speaking of which, you need to mind yours.”

Closing the gap between them, he dipped his head, his lips hovering above her ear. “You are my business, Ella.”

“Whatever, negro,” she muttered, brushing him off.

Chuckling, Hendric stepped back, admiring the curve of her hips from behind. Time had done Gabriella well, and he felt he’d be a fool not to acknowledge that.

“How long you plan on hanging around?”

“All my client work is wrapped. I’m heading back to my city in the morning.”

“A quick exit sounds like a good reason to spend the night having dinner with an old friend. We can take the food to go and eat at my spot.”

“Dric, please,” Gabriella tossed over her shoulder. “I’m sure you have several women to have dinner with.”

He quickly lifted and then tilted his head. “True,” he confirmed. “But I want to have dinner with you.”

She whirled around, her eyes sparkling with curiosity while asking, “Why?”

Hendric didn’t have an answer to her question. He was well aware that Gabriella had been attracted to him for years. While he had also always attracted to her, he knew it was better to keep her at arm’s length so she had the potential to be everything she was meant to be instead of potentially being wrapped up in his drama. Still, something inside him felt that running into her wasn’t a coincidence, and his desire to capitalize on the moment overrode his common sense.

“I don’t know,” he openly admitted. “I guess I’d rather spend the night in the company of a familiar face.”

“Please,” Gabriella rolled her eyes, but Hendric didn’t miss the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

“The Ell—Gabriella,” he corrected himself upon seeing her expression. “That I know would never turn down a free meal.”

“Eh,” she poked his chest. “Maybe you do still know me a little bit.”

“You never did like giving credit where it was due,” he smirked, slipping his hands into the pockets of his shorts.

“Whatever, just get me my chicken, man. And I’m not staying long, Dric. I have things to do in the morning.”

“What time are you hitting the road?”

“7 AM.”

“Bet. I’ll make sure you leave early enough to be gone by 6:45. Scout’s honor.”

***

It was a good thing Hendric had never been a Boy Scout because the following morning, instead of being on the highway, Gabriella was in his bed, draped across his lap as he thrust his hips upward and tried to think of something, anything, to keep him from finishing quicker than he wanted to.

Sleeping with Gabriella hadn’t been on his list of things to do when he asked her to have dinner at his place. He wasn’t even sure how it happened. One minute, they were eating and reminiscing about high school, and the next, they were wrapped up in his sheets, exploring each other in ways they never had.

Gabriella sunk her nails into his chest and rolled her waist, pulling a hiss from Hendric as his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

“Fuck, Ella,” he grunted, gripping her hips as she bounced fiercely, sending him over the edge.

Grunting, he filled the barrier between them and slapped her ass. Gabriella’s legs quaked as she clenched her muscles around his length, capitalizing on her own orgasm. Her short, shaky breaths made Hendric smile as she rolled off him and clung to the sheets.

“That was not supposed to happen,” she whined as he climbed out of bed.

“Which time?” Hendric smirked, bending to kiss her shoulder before heading to the bathroom to remove and flush the condom.

“It’s not funny, Dric,” he heard her fuss. “Now my whole schedule is off and—”

“If you have enough energy to fuss and stress over shit that doesn’t matter right now, I clearly didn’t do my job right,” Hendric returned to the room and climbed into the bed. “Either time.”

“Shut up, asshole,” Gabriella smacked his shoulder before flinging the covers from her body. “And you’re taking me to breakfast for this inconvenience.”

“Long as you know I plan on taking a nap first,” he yawned, admiring her naked frame as she trekked into the bathroom.

She’d just closed the bathroom door when his phone vibrated on the dresser, flashing his sister’s name. Sighing heavily, he retrieved it, thinking that Cersi was lucky she was one of his favorite people, or else he’d have a few choice words for her for calling him so early in the morning.

“What, Sisi?” he grumbled.

“Henny,” she whispered into the phone. “I need you.”

Hendric sat up, instantly on alert. “Where the fuck are you and why are you whispering?”

“I just ... got into a mess last night and need you to come pick me up. I’m sending the address now.”

“You better tell me right now that you’re good, or I’m lighting that bitch up when I get there.”

“I’m fine,” she insisted. “Just please come as soon as you can.”

“Bet. I’m on my way.”

Tossing the covers aside, Hendric climbed out of the bed and quickly dressed before retrieving his gun from the nightstand drawer beside his bed. Gabriella returned from the bathroom just as he tucked it into his waist.

His stomach clenched as he watched her face fall.

“You’re leaving?”

“Yeah, something came up. If you want to chill for a while, you can. Just lock the bottom lock when you leave.”

Approaching her, he attempted to plant a kiss on her forehead—a kiss she dodged. “You’re not serious?”

Deciding that getting to Cersi as soon as possible trumped pacifying her feelings, Hendric backed off. “I’ll talk to you soon, Ella.”

“No, actually, you won’t,” she sneered, bumping his shoulder as she blew past him to collect her clothes.

Without another word, he left his bedroom and home, barely reaching the car before his phone rang again, signaling another incoming call.

“What the fuck is going on this morning, man,” he fussed, noticing it was Sevin. “What?”

“Bruh, you’re not going to fucking believe this. Meek got pinched last night.”

Climbing into his car, Hendric slammed the door. “Please tell me he’d already unloaded first.”

“Nah. He got caught with everything and it’s not looking good.”

Hendric sent his fist into the steering wheel so hard that the horn beeped. “Fuck!”