Harlow

"Do you find it odd if I say I find him extremely attractive right now?" Sal asks standing next to me. I touch her small growing belly, turning my head toward her and give her a reminding eye.

She rolls hers, "I'm not talking about Tate, I'm talking about my husband, standing there."

I look and see my brother Lance, walking by the crowd wearing a chino pants and black button shirt. It's like 60 degrees Celsius, and he chose to wear black.

Lance looked like my dad, big broad shoulders, a solid frame, slightly tanned skin, rough exterior that made many men scram when he glared at them. He wasn't the handsomest of the three but women flocked to him like he was candy in a bottle.

"You married him, what more do you want?" I say in all sarcasm.

"A lot more than a ring I assure you." She leaves me and I watch her walk across the small road to the park on the other side where Lance is now standing next to my mama.

"How long are you going to be pissed at her? It's been 2 years now. She loves him." Eddy is right but when Sal hooked up with my brother I felt betrayed. She never mentioned she had any feelings for him and I've known her since we were in kindergarten.

"Until the baby is born."

"Guess who just caught sight of you?"

I turn my head and look Tate dead in the eyes, I expect to feel something but nothing. It is strange how time can change a person.

He was once my destiny, I was sure of it but turns out he was just a passing phase in my life. A sweet and sour memory. I don't even think he was my first love.

He greets Sandy, another old friend of mine and leaves the crowd walking toward Eddy and myself.

Eddy squeezes my shoulder and drop his hand to his side. I hold Tates gaze as he does the same. I am not sure if it is a standoff to see who will break first but as the time passes he get nearer, but my heart doesn't beat faster.

"Eddy Malcolm, it's been a while," Tate says as he extends his hand.

My brother takes it, "Tate, it has. How does it feel to be home?"

"Great, I am glad to finally see some old faces," He says as his gaze tracks to me.

I give him a tight smile aware the towns folk are all staring at me.

"How are you doing Harlow, you filled out pretty well. Taller than I remember for sure." He moves from my brother and walks the step to give me a hug but Eddy places his arm over my shoulder stopping Tate in his tracks. From my pereferal vision I see Lance, Sal and mama coming toward us.

"Hello Tate, I'm good, glad you alive and well."

"Would you like to talk later?" Tate asks and there it is, his small deepset eyes twinkle and the slight tilt of his lips lift up and I am taken back for a split second to when the two of us were younger and he would give me that look and I would just melt.

"Harlow has a flight to catch." Lance is the one who nips his effort of even talking to me. Did I want to talk to him? No, not really. I thought I did but now when I look at him, I actually feel a sense of overwhelming peace. This is enough, just seeing him one last time.

"Lance is right, I just stopped by for a few days to see my mama, but it was good to see you Tate. You take care of yourself." I tough his arm, turn around and walk away. I don't turn back to see the look of dread in his gaze or the confusion painted on his face.

This is my goodbye, my end of him and I.

Sometimes our past needed to just remain in the past and not be brought up. Sometimes the seeds we sow are just meant to be seeds, that die and stay in the soil.

I finally understood Tates part in my life and as I walk away I know for a fact that we were just seeds put together for a time not meant to be anything more than just seeds.

I don't turn back, or give him a last look, he would always be the guy who I once almost had a baby with, but almost isn't going to change the facts, we didn't have a baby.

A part of me was glad I had to leave and get out of here.

It takes me a ten minute walk to our ranch and once I get in the gates, Buster and Keels come running toward me. I love our dogs, they've been around since I was 10. I remember getting the German dogs, my dad said they were the best guards man could ask for and they were.

They follow me to the house and I enter, already smelling the bread and stew my mama cooked earlier. I head through the front door and up the staircase to my bedroom which is the same room I slept in for the 1st 17 years of my life.

I hear my family enter the house and as I pull my black suitcase out from under my bed.

A few minutes later my white door opens and Eddy enters.

"Are you going to say it or am I ?" He questions.

I turn to face him, he scratches his dark dark stubble with his left hand and arches his brow.

"What do you want me to say?"

"That you are realized I was right and you have no feelings for him."

I smile, shaking my head.

"You are right, and I do have no feelings for him."

"Also, I'm coming back with you, I have a big case to prepare for."

"Have you told mama yet?" That was a question I wanted answered since Eddy was moving to Washington, we were 7 years apart in age but there was no one in the world I was closer to than Eddy. He was my brother and best friend and his job took him to Washington more often than not that it made sense he stayed with me.

"I'm going to tonight."

I hit him with the Jean in my hand.

"Ow."

"Eddy Malcolm don't lie to me. You have no intention of telling her tonight do you?"

He scrunches his face, and sighs before scratching his stubble.

"She's going to fuss and you know how she gets when she fusses."

"Mama needs to know, and you need to stop lying to your mama, lawyer or not Eddy."

He puts his hands up, "You right, I will tell her soon I promise."

"Okay, let's eat and hit the road, that flight isn't going to catch itself."

After dinner we say our goodbyes to the family and leave with Lance. The drive is a good hour and we talk about nothing and everything at the same time.

Lance promises to visit soon and Eddy and I head to check in.

The flight is long and my back is killing me by the time we finally get to the apartment I rented near the University. Eddy goes straight to his room to work and I head to the kitchen to whip us up some pancakes and tea.

My mind goes to Tate again and I nod my head to myself. I did good.

My phone pings and I check the time is already after 7 in the evening. The email is my invitation to the pre-meet tomorrow.

I send my 'Going' response, and mentally go through my wardrobe to see if there was a black and white outfit I could wear tomorrow that was an in-between casual and formal.

A message pops up and I frown because the number isn't one I recognize.

646 552 ****: You have been added to the group. Please check your WhatsApp.

me: What group is this?

I don't get a response but my curiosity wins and I check my WhatsApp to see it is the Kanese Group, titled Interns.

I smile and check to see all the names. There are 12 interns. Half of them are going to be in Marketing and the other half in Development then we would switch.

We weren't assigned as yet, but I really wanted to go into the marketing first.

For the first time since I heard I was getting the internship my stomach tightens as my nerves dance through my body. The feeling of elation. I smile huge for the rest of the evening, silently imagining myself greeting our seniors and how I was going to make lots of friends.