The sun warmed my face as I breathed in the polluted air of downtown. Polluted or not, it tasted a million times better than the filtered to the point of surrealism air in the Heavenly household.
The concrete bench beneath me was cool to the touch. To my left loomed the Heavenly Building, a massive high-rise. The lower six floors were made up of mall shops. The top floors housed the Heavenly conglomerate.
I'd been up to the apex once, back when I was engaged to King. Before the wedding. Before he turned off his humanity.
Never again.
I wouldn't go up today, either.
"Teela!"
Bea. She was here.
My best friend sported a short afro and rose-tinted sunglasses. Her psychedelic crop top summed up her personality—peace, love, and happiness. Her copper-tanned skin glistened in the sunlight.
In my eyes, she was a beautiful angel and my salvation. I collapsed in her arms, letting all my anguish pour out of me right there on the street. A passerby would assume I was grieving the loss of a loved one instead of a loss of self, I'm sure. But I was found. Bea had found me.
Bea knew me as well as I knew myself. With her help, I could figure out where I had taken a wrong turn in my life and get me back on the right path to happiness. It niggled in the back of my head that I'd still like King to join me on the path, and that confused me.
King wasn't a nice guy. He'd let me know in so many ways. What would possess me to want him on any level still.
"Oh, baby, what is it?"
"It's all wrong, Bea. Everything. My entire life is off track. It's killing me."
I sobbed onto her shoulder, oblivious of the people walking by, until a firm hand grasped my shoulder.
"What's going on here?"
I turned to find King standing beside me with an entourage made up of a half dozen men. I recognized Min. He was King's assistant and personal bodyguard. The rest were suited strangers.
I took a step back while wiping away my tears with my sleeve.
"Nothing. I'm fine."
King looked from me to Bea and back to me. "Why are you here?"
"Errands. Mom knows. She sent me."
"Does she know you're making a scene in public?"
Only then did I think about what Bea and I must have looked like.
"Sorry. It won't happen again."
King assessed Bea without saying anything.
"This is Bea. My best friend since we were kids. We ran into each other here. It wasn't planned."
It was planned, but he didn't need to know that. I wasn't sure how he would feel about it or if it was allowed since Lettie hadn't sanctioned it.
They exchanged stoic nods.
"Bea, this is King Heavenly, my husband."
"Your husband?" Bea asked. "When did that happen?"
"Three years ago, right before Mom died."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"You were doing that trip around the world thing with the drummer. I didn't want to bother you."
Bea leaned toward me, cupping my ear as she spoke. "Is he the reason you're crying?"
She must not have spoken softly enough because fire lit behind King's eyes.
"My relationship with my wife is private."
Bea, who wasn't afraid of anyone, snapped back, "Your wife is upset, and your privacy is your first concern? What kind of husband are you?"
King gave Bea a long, assessing glare. I could tell the second he dismissed her as irrelevant, just like he had me.
"Min, take Mrs. Heavenly home."
Unthinking, I grabbed King's arm. "I can't. I've not completed the errands Mom assigned me. She'll never let me out again if I go home now."
That may have been an exaggeration. I wasn't a total prisoner in the Heavenly household, but it certainly felt that way. This was my one opportunity to talk to Bea, and I dearly needed that more than anything right now.
King stared at my hand as if it were covered in filth.
I quickly removed the offense from his arm, clasping my hands behind my back.
"Call your driver. I'll explain to Mom."
"I can't."
"Why?"
"No cell service. I told him to pick me up in two hours, though. Right here."
"You don't even provide your woman a cell phone? What the hell?" Bea said.
I said, "I can finish the errands before then." I clung to Bea. "Bea can help. Okay?"
King studied his watch. "Min, go with them."
With that, King left with the entourage, walking briskly as if he had places to be. He probably did. A man didn't get as successful as King without putting in a lot of work hours.
Min was tall. He had a swimmer's build and a boy band haircut. His expression was stoic. As escorts went, he was attractive, but I didn't want another set of ears around while I spoke with Bea. I had no doubt Min would report everything to King should King show any interest in hearing it.
But it wasn't like I had a choice, so I made the best of it.
We set off for the mall, Min walking a couple of paces behind. He took our packages as we shopped, but otherwise, he was almost forgettable. In the meantime, Bea and I talked as best as we could in hushed voices.
"Teela, what's up? Why haven't I heard from you in so long? I tried calling your mom, but she's gone, right?"
I nodded. "Yes, she died right after I married King. It was as if she were waiting to hand me off to someone who would care for me before she rested."
"I'm so sorry, Teela. I wish I'd known. I would have been there for you. You know that, right?"
"I know. I know. But I had King, and you were off chasing your own romance, so I thought it would be alright."
"But it's not?"
I looked back at Min. Bea followed my gaze and nodded in understanding.
"Let's say it isn't what I expected. I mean, I'm okay. No one beats me or anything."
And that was true, but physically abused or not, I felt beaten down, and every day was incrementally a little harder to endure than the last.
"Okay. I think I get it," Bea said. "Reality can often be different than our expectations. I know I never expect to be doing what I am." She did a twirl. "I was going to be a fairy princess in a pink tutu, married to Prince Charming, and I'd have a dozen handmaidens to do my bidding.
"Instead, I work twelve-hour days trying to make sure a staff of twenty still have a job tomorrow, and I can still make payroll."
"Oh, you started your own business? What about the drummer? What was his name?"
"The drummer?" Bea waved me off. "Oh, hun, he didn't last as far as Copenhagen before I lost interest."
She held two fingers close together and whispered, "Tiny penis. In his case, size did matter."
For the first time in a long time, I giggled. It felt strange, foreign, like something I should feel guilty for doing.
"What about the business? That is new. What industry?"
"Hmm, something you would get into, for sure."
"Really, tell me about it."
"Maybe later when the walls don't have ears."
"Maybe later."
We stopped at a cellphone shop. My cellphone was a relic compared to the phones featured there. AI, folding, cameras that rivaled anything a traditional camera could produce, language translation, air quality sensors. The list went on. I'd be happy if I just had cell service so when I had to left Bea, I could contact her again.
Maybe I could afford a cheap pay-as-you-go phone plan, but without a way to replace the funds in my dwindling savings, it felt like an extravagance I could ill afford.
Sooner or later, I would have to speak with Lettie or King about funds or I wouldn't be able to take care of basic needs. I dreaded the day. Lettie would make me feel like a bigger burden than I already was. King would what? Ignore me? Send me off to Lettie without listening?
I didn't realize Bea was making a purchase until I turned from a rack of cellphone cases to find her smiling and holding out a bag to me.
"Happy-merry-just-because-I-love-you-girl Day!"
I looked from the bag to Bea and back again. She bought me a gift?
"Bea, no, I didn't get you anything."
"Can't I buy my friend a gift just because?"
"Yeah, but still."
I opened the bag to find a cell phone and case. "Bea, no. This is too much."
"It's not too much. If that man of yours won't provide you with the essentials of life, leave it to me." Bea tapped her chest with her fist twice.
"Bea, really, I can't pay you back." I lowered my voice to a whisper. "I can't afford to pay for service."
Bea whispered back, "You don't have to. I added you to my plan. I don't want to lose touch with you again. I miss you."
We hugged as if the world was ending.
Her lips brushed across my ear as Bea whispered. "When you're alone, call me. We've got a lot to catch up on."
Easier said than done, but I nodded. I would find a way.