New York City, New York, 8:35 PM

Hair done, nails did, makeup nailed to perfection, I looked gorgeous.

"You look truly amazing, June. Seriously, I'm so happy for you," said my stylist.

"Thanks, Coco," I replied with a smile.

I looked at myself, proudly in the mirror, to see my dark brown curls styled in a half-up half-down. More specifically, the front part of my hair was slicked back with gel, with a few curly strands left out, leaving the middle and the back of my hair in a half-up half-down. Truly, I didn't know what I would do without Coco.

Coco was a petite Venezuelan lady, dressed in a silver sheer dress that reached her thighs, and in these huge shimmery silver hoops that reached her wavy, shoulder-length hair. Her olive skin was covered in a light green necklace that her Abuelá gifted her for her 21st birthday (two years ago), matching her pastel heels, and she held a green clutch that laid beside the disarray of makeup products plastered on the glass table.

Although she was my hair-stylist - and a good one at that - she was also my biggest confidante, which is why she was the perfect person to style my hair for this occasion.

To compliment my dewy makeup paired with a dark red lip, I wore a long, heart-shaped-neckline brown dress that accentuated my curvy hip dips. The short train of my dress kissed the dark brown floor of my New York City apartment. Coco switched the music playing to "Cuff It" by Beyonce, one of my favorites. Then, she aided me in putting on my silver dangle earrings, paired with a silver Swarovski collar necklace to match.

Coco squealed as she perfected the curly edges of my hair. "You are truly a piece of art, June, crafted from the blessings of the Lord."

I smiled and hugged Coco. "I do look pretty amazing, and it's all thanks to you," I replied.

Coco grabbed me by the shoulders and looked me seriously in the eyes.

"You know, Juniper, it's never too late to abandon Jamaal for me. I'd make such a better partner, anyway." She flipped her hair backwards and we both laughed.

"Valeria, I'm sure your girlfriend, Raleigh, wouldn't want to hear that you're thinking of abandoning her for me," I said, addressing Coco by her first name, and not her middle name.

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, whatever. Maybe it'll shake her up a bit, since she's been really testing my patience lately." I raised an eyebrow, signaling for Coco to elaborate, but she simply shrugged.

Not wanting to press her for answers, I playfully shoved her, and then stole a glance at my cell phone. There, I saw that I had three missed calls.

Julian: 7:28

Julian: 7:31

Julian: 7:33

I immediately switched off my phone. It was my half-sister Julian, who I assumed was calling me to smooth things over. She and I had gotten into a small argument earlier this morning. But, I couldn't be bothered to pick up the phone. Tonight was my night; the two-year anniversary of my boyfriend, Jamaal, and I. There was no way in hell that I was going to let her bitchy attitude ruin our night.

I'll call her back later, I thought. I let out a soft sigh and did final touch-ups to my makeup. Adjacent to where I was seated, my white Pomeranian, Oreo, lay asleep, leaning against the white cushion on the pink-and-white couch.

The walls of my apartment were all white, filled with splotches of pink, yellow, and green hues. Outside, lay a vast city eager for me to explore, despite me moving to New York City four years ago, abandoning my home in Boston to study at my dream school, New York University Steinhardt.

The tip of my lips curved upwards, as I thought about how much my hard labor had paid off. Right now, I was in one of the hottest girl groups in the U.S., PEACH GIRLS, and we'd just hit Billboard #1 with our last single titled, "A Guide To Daydreaming." And within the next couple of years, I'd attend the Grammys with my members, Julian (a.k.a my annoying half-sister) and Reneé, and we'd even win a Grammy of our own - that was our shared dream. As for now, I was more than content with my career.

My fingers twitched and I almost put highlighter in my eye.

Damn, that was a close one.

I moved a small mirror closer to my eye, as I applied highlighter on the bridge of my nose. Despite the current success of my career, I was more than aware that it was time that I focused more on my personal relationships, especially the relationship between my boyfriend and I.

Our relationship had been rocky for the past couple of months, but we'd figure out our difficulties like we always did - just not today.

Today, we would put aside our differences and simply enjoy each other's company, like we used to before we got all busy with our careers - my singing career and his acting career. My phone buzzed and I immediately put down my highlighter stick.

"It's Jamaal," I whispered to Coco.

"Go." She smiled.

Almost immediately after, I snatched my silver clutch from the table and answered the phone.

"Hey, I'm outside. Are you finally ready to come out?" Jamaal said, with an attitude that I willingly chose to ignore.

"Hey baby, I'm coming down now. You said to be done by 8:00 pm, so you should've known it would take at least an extra 30 minutes," I said.

"Yeah, that's why I came at 8:45, not at 8:00 pm," he replied.

That's more like Jamaal.

I laughed and rushed downstairs to see him. He was dressed in a loose white button-up with cream dress pants and a black-and-cream patterned dress blazer. Jamaal's black beard was shaped to highlight the deep dimples close to his clean-cut jaw, just how I like it, and his haircut was nice and clean.

My lips formed a wide smile when I saw the gold chain I bought him across his rich, russet brown skin. I cupped his cheeks and pulled him into an intimate kiss, like the many we'd shared in this same spot, outside of my apartment - although those kisses typically led us tumbling inside my bed.

Jamaal kissed me back, but his body tensed at my touch. I pulled my full, oval lips from his and searched his eyes, for something - anything. When I couldn't find what I was searching for, I simply smiled and intertwined our fingers. Uneasiness filled my stomach, leaving me with a bitter sense of distaste, but I brushed it off.

Today is going to be a good night, June. You both will have a good time chatting and will end the night wrapped up in each other's arms, I reassured myself with my thoughts.

"Let's go," I said.

Jamaal nodded and we hit the road.

~

The trip to the restaurant was relatively silent. I tried engaging with Jamaal every chance I could, but he only replied in short responses and rubbed his thighs in nervousness the entire time. Thankfully, the distance from my apartment to the restaurant was only twenty minutes, and Jamaal was a fast driver; that was one of the things I liked about him.

The restaurant was called "L'Effet" - it was French for "the effect." Jamaal requested our table to be the farthest in the back, specifically the window seat, also right where I liked it. I sat comfortably in the chair, feeling a mixture of uncertainty and reassurance.

Taking the lead, I began, "So, how has your acti-"

"What would you like to eat?" he asked, cutting me off.

I blinked. "Oh, uhm . . . sure."

I picked up the menu and scanned my eyes through the items, until I found the most mouth-watering dish.

"I want the Tiger Prawn Dumplings to start me off. It honestly sounds amazing."

Jamaal averted my eyes. "It sure does," he said, forming a tight smile.

I passed him the menu. "What about you?"

"Mhmm . . . I want the Crepe au fromage et au jambon," he replied.

"Sounds even better than mine."

"I'm sure it is," he replied, again.

"Now, what I want to ask you while we wait for the waiter, is how has your indie film, Bleeding In the Sun, been going? I know you guys finished filming, but I want you to properly tell me all about it," I said.

"What do you want to know?"

I pursed my lips. "Anything and everything."

"Well, to be honest, there isn't much to tell. We just filmed the movie and that's it." He sighed, clearly annoyed.

Now . . . this boy had three seconds to answer my next question before I would give his ass something to tell.

"Well then, what other roles are you thinking of auditioning for?" I questioned, with an attitude.

A notification rang from Jamaal's phone, and he turned his entire attention to his phone.

One.

Two.

Two-and-a-half.

Two-and-three-quarters.

Three damn seconds.

My eyes closed in distress, and I massaged my temples in defeat. I'd had enough of his bullshit.

"Jamaal, what exactly is your problem? This is our two-year anniversary, can't you at least put in a bit of effort into this conversation? And if you don't want to converse, at least have the decency to put your phone down when I'm speaking to you. I feel like I'm giving you my one-hundred percent and you're giving me absolutely nothing," I said.

He said nothing.

"If you have some shit to tell me, then spit it out," I demanded, in frustration.

Jamaal looked me in the eyes, for the first time this entire night and said, "It's time for us to break-up, June."

I almost laughed. "I'm not in the mood for this bullshit, Jamaal."

"June, I am dead serious when I say that I want to end our relationship," he said, flatly.

A rush of anger rose to my cheeks, and I slowly shook my head in disbelief.

He must have noticed my quivering lips. "Juniper," he said, softly.

"Don't freaking Juniper me, Jamaal Quavario Martin. This is our two-year anniversary!" I yelled.

"Two-years. We've been together for two years! I asked you six months ago if you were sure that we could make this relationship work amidst our busy schedules, and you were the one who insisted that we could make it work. So, why now? Why on our two-year anniversary?!" I asked him.

He refused to face me. "Because I feel guilty. I don't want to sit here and keep pretending like everything's okay, when it's not!" he said, raising his voice.

"Look at me when you speak like a real man. Dammit, Jamaal!" I screamed in anger.

Jamaal faced me, but all I could see was pity in his eyes; it made me want to rip him into pieces, make him feel what I felt.

"I'm in love with your half-sister, June. And I'm taking responsibility for my feelings. I can't keep pretending to love you, when I love Julian!"

"Julian?" I asked myself in a whisper.

Julian?

My half-sister, Julian?

He's been cheating on me with freaking Julian?!

I pursed my lips in disbelief. "How long?"

"What?" he asked.

"Dammit, Jamaal! How long has your cheating-ass been having sex with my sister?" I yelled in anger.

People around us started to openly stare, but I didn't give a damn.

"Five months," he said, quietly.

"Five months?" I repeated, baffled.

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, me too," I replied, bitterly.

I took my clutch and stood up, but he took my hand. "Please don't tell anybody about this. If the news gets out, it could ruin both Julian and I's careers, June please."

A tear threatened to escape my left eye - damn that eye of mine. I shoved Jamaal off of me, and he lost his balance, and tumbled onto the floor.

"You're seriously a piece of shit," I sneered.

I walked out of the restaurant, my tears finally catching up to me, streaming down all of my face. Coco was out partying with her girlfriend, Raleigh, and I didn't want to get Ranee involved in this entire fiasco. Besides them, the rest of my friends were either scrambled across the country, abroad, or wouldn't return to New York for the next couple of weeks.

As for Julian, given how she'd called me three times, she'd probably prepared a speech in advance for me at my apartment. And our parents' house wasn't even an option; I didn't feel like dealing with my Mamá's questions. With my house off-limits, and no one in mind to call, I took a cab to the only place I could go to after balling my eyes out: Essence; it was a bar that sold both alcohol and ice-cream - perfect for self-pitying and drinking alone.

For the next forty-eight hours, I'd make myself completely unavailable - not until I was ready to face the consequences of a futile thing called love.

~

Thank you for reading! Be sure to comment your thoughts on the chapter!

See you next week! 

C. :)