Hinged, Grown and Sexy

1. Problem Solver

DIVINE

I work too much. Or at least that's what Hyacinthe and Olivia have been telling me for the past few years.

I think it's really just code for "You need a man." But I can't help that I love what I do, and it's not like I've been purposely avoiding men. They just don't... fit.

In my world, hustling has been my only option. I didn't make it out of law school by slacking off, and now, my schedule won't bend—can't bend— for just any man off the street. I was a Black woman trying to make her way in the professional world and that didn't always fit the pretty picture some men had of a wife and home cooked meals every night.

Shit, I could barely feed myself these days.

"Divine?" Hyacinthe questioned, and I quickly focused my attention on the situation at hand.

My best friend's curly hair was free from its usual protective style and framed her face effortlessly as she tilted it in question. The honeyed tone of her skin was practically glowing, and her pouted lips were shiny with freshly applied lipgloss.

Justice often called her his flower, and I knew exactly what he meant.

Hyacinthe seemed to bloom under happiness and love, which made you appreciate it all around you. It also helped that she was as pretty as a rose in a forbidden garden. 

"My bad, I started to daydream a lil' bit. What did you ask?"

My best friend stared at me before purposefully glancing down the brunch table with the other women surrounding us. Hyacinthe had handed us all boxes just moments before, and my distracting thoughts almost made me miss the grand opening.

"I was saying that I got you all presents for coming to the engagement party, and I wanted you to open yours first." She gestured toward the beautiful gift box that had watercolor hyacinths painted in various colors.

Nervousness coiled in my stomach as everyone's attention turned to me as I broke the seal on the box and revealed the contents. In bold letters written across the top was a question that caused emotion to surge to the forefront as I fought back tears.

"WILL YOU BE MY MAID OF HONOR?"

In the box, Hyacinthe had three polaroid pictures of us that I didn't even remember she had, a small sized bottle of champagne, a card with the wedding colors and different bridesmaid dress styles, and an individualized candle with matches that had my name inscribed in them.

"Holy shit, yes!" I shouted, reaching across the table to wrap my laughing best friend into a hug as everyone else opens their boxes.

Everyone chatted excitedly amongst themselves, and Olivia nudged me to whisper "It's about damn time."

Olivia had been friends with Hyacinthe almost as long as I had, and we'd all become quick friends since they started rooming together our sophomore year. Despite the highs and lows, I still considered Olivia one of my closest friends.

We were a perfect gradient. Hyacinthe was patient in her rationality until you really rubbed her the wrong way; I was blunt to no fault, and I didn't hesitate to tell people how I felt; Olivia had a silent type of rage that promised shade, but everyone knew she was sensitive with her heart.

We even varied in skin tone from light (Hyacinthe) to dark (Olivia) with one of us always being some form of a perfect middle.

Our disagreements were almost as often as our agreements, but this time Olivia wasn't wrong that pretty much everyone was waiting for this wedding to happen.

She wasn't wrong either. Justice and Hyacinthe had probably been in love from the moment they met each other, and only they had been too caught up in their own fears to notice like the rest of us had.