The Personal Trainer's Ex-Girlfriend

Hot Light, Spotlight

Kehlani

Just after I pull my car on the parking lot of the restaurant that Mrs. O'Brien requested, my eyes shift from one side to the other to see if the cars are going while I am holding the girls' hands. With one car passing us by, the three of us enter the restaurant to have our ears awakened to various people chattering and soft music playing in the background. We go to the hostess and she leads us to our table when a female calls me by my name, turning my head to face the O'Brien's. "My husband and I will watch your daughter for you and don't worry about the money. It is all paid for." Patricia notifies me and I thank her and her husband. Tessa walks to Chester and while the O'Brien family is walking to their table, which is a booth beside us on our left; I remind Tessa that I will come to their table to pick her up after the kids' first date. Harper and I sit at our assigned booth, waiting for Blake and his children until I hear a casual baritone voice, calling me by my nickname. Therefore, I turn to meet face to face with him smiling at me as the three of them join our table.

"Where's our big girl?" Blake queries and I nod my head at their table, gesturing my head at the left direction. Blake slumps his shoulders in relief prior to me picking up my menu. I discover some of the food that I would like to have for the afternoon. "So, Kelly and Theo, what would you two like to have?" I ask them.

"I want to have some cupcake pancakes because they look pretty." Kelly answers.

"Yeah and I want to have French toast with the chocolate snake on it." Theo describes. "You mean, French toast with Nutella? That is not a chocolate snake, silly," I giggle, "It's a drizzle."

I face Harper to ask her what she wants to eat. "I want to try chicken and waffles." Harper replies, pointing her finger onto the image of the dish. "Oh, you want some soul food?" I joke, even though Harper is an aficionado of soul food all thanks to her parents' nightly soul cuisine.

"Hello," I look over my shoulder as the waiter greets us. "Welcome to IHOP, may I take your order?" Blake and I order our food, including the kids and the waiter takes our menus, departing from our booth. I glance over to see how Tessa and Chester are doing on their first date to see Chester draping his arm around Tessa while he scoots closer to her side.

"This is my cue." Blake eventually sighs and I peer at him as he is about to stand up from his seat, but I grasp onto his to compose himself. As our hands touch, the warmness of the temperature of his hand below my soft as velvet hand begins to reignite its spark that we once shared. His gunmetal blue gazes at my dark brown orbs that are known to be my weakness since his eyes are so damn bright and cold.

Blake sits back down and I turn my phone to check the weather of this week. While I am on my phone, I don't hear Blake calling my name due to the employees clapping past our booth as they stand beside the booth behind us along with singing Happy Birthday. One of the employees carries a plate of Funfetti pancakes with the garnish of whipped cream and a little lollipop.

I turn to face Theodore's curly mane with his head lowering at his lap. "What's wrong, buddy?" I ask him audibly so he can hear me and he slowly lift his head up, facing me with the saddest pout on his face. "I wish today is my birthday." Theodore frowns and the weight of sympathy becomes heavy on my shoulders because no mother or mother figure does not want to see a child sad. Even though Blake and I have been spending time at work and outside of work lately for Tessa's sake, his son has grown attached to me. I appreciate him for looking at me as the mother of his and Kelly's big half-sister as well as the mother figure, but his mother is his mother and I can never take the place of his mother. It's none of my concern because I lived past that and I'm over Blake for the past seven years. He's moved on with Phe-Whora and so did I.

"Key!" Blake calls, cutting me out of my trance. Blinking owlishly, I notice the waiter is placing our beverages on the table. "Huh," I respond.

"You were dozing, like you were in a trance or something." Blake reasons and I take a straw, ripping the soft paper by hammering it against the table. Once the paper is shed, I put the straw into my glass of orange juice and take a sip of my beverage for a brief second.

"When is your birthday, Theo?" I question him.

With the shrug of his shoulders, a giddy smirk plays on his small lips. "I don't know," he replies with an ingenious tone.

"Yes, you do. Your birthday is on December 3rd, which makes you a Sagittarius." Blake elucidates.

Theodore furrows his eyebrows. "Vegetarian," he questions with doubt lacing in his voice. "No way! I'm a meat lover." Theo waves his hands in a disapproving manner, causing both Blake and I sharing our laughter before the kids join in.

"I did not say 'vegetarian;' I said 'Sagittarius.'" Blake chuckles and I look over my shoulder to stare at the O'Brien's, who already have their food on the table as well as observing him feeding Tessa his pancakes. I beam at the young couple and begin watching our daughter having the time of her life on her first date with Chester as the unexpected memory of her father's and my first date that involved popcorn.

I turn to Blake and tap my finger against the flesh of his wrist. He faces me with concern and I tell him to look at his right. He does what I say and the corners of his mouth turn up. "That reminds me of our first date." He smiles just before he turns his face to me. Oh, gosh! There go his eyes again!

"Remember that, Key?"

"Yeah," I nod frankly.

Blake

Kehlani's hand grasps onto the doorknob of her bedroom door, opening it wide enough for us to come in and closing the door shut in addition to her turning the TV as the black screen fades in the Vonage commercial. I take a seat on the edge of Kehlani's bed and she scoots two spaces from me. "So, the movie is not bad at all. They remind me of the Supremes." I mention, breaking the silence between us.

"That's what I was telling you. Jennifer Hudson nailed the part of Effie, including that song and I like the part when Eddie Murphy dropped his pants in the middle of his performance," she giggles nervously while her fingers rake through her thick flat-ironed tailbone length mane with such sleek and shine. I wonder how she grows her hair so fast when she wore her glory of curls.

"How did you make your that long?" I query and Kehlani's head moves to my direction, facing me with a confused expression. "What do you mean?"

"It's just that I've seen you with long hair and short hair sometimes. I thought you had a haircut." I reason. She laughs generously.

"It's called shrinkage. In the natural hair community, shrinkage indicates healthy hair. I learned that from my mom because she does my brother's and my hair." Kehlani explains.

"When your hair is in its original state, your hair looks puffy, like... Like the Jackson Five." By the time I say that, my face gets smacked by a soft and plush material, now realizing that I've been smacked in the face with a pillow. "No, it doesn't!" She giggles and slaps me in the arm.

"Ow!" I laugh and the tips of my fingers begin tickling her on the left side of her stomach as it cause her to roll her stomach in as well as falling on her back and reacts with the yell of her laugh while my finger tips dance from from the side of her stomach to above her navel. "Blake, stop!" Kehlani giggles and it is not long before I get caught up staring at her toffee complexion with some dark spots freckling on her cheek. My fingers cease tickling her and make their way to the fringe of her bangs. Just as my fingers brush her bangs to see both of her eyes, she t***s my my hand away from her and I shake my hand to relieve the stinging.

"What's wrong?" I question and my fingers try to brush her side bangs away from her eye, but she warns, "Blake, no." Kehlani fixes her side-sweeping bangs and I immediately discover why.

"Kehlani, they are just dark spots. You can get rid of them in different ways. I even had a couple of pimples previously and currently, like, on the right side of my jaw line," I trace my finger to where the diminishing pimple is.

"It's normal, Kehlani." She beams at me. I smile back at her and my hand cups her cheek just as my thumb stroke her lower lashes that are as soft as the petal of a flower.

"Kehlani, is it okay if I can kiss you? I know we met six months ago, but I already like almost everything about you. I like how you taught me to do my homework in the bus and lunch. And I like how you and your friends communicate with Gracie since she didn't really have friends, who can hear because some kids taunted her for being unable to hear at her old school. I like seeing my little sister happy with you guys understanding her." I state and I watch the corners of her mouth lifting.

"Can I kiss you," I ask. If she says no, I will accept it and I do not want to force something that she's not ready yet. I'd rather be consistent than be aggressive towards her.

"I don't want your breath smelling like buttered popcorn." Kehlani asserts.

"Don't worry; I used some Tic Tacs when we were in the car." I remind her.

"Oh, thank goodness!" She exclaims in relief. The back of her hand wipes against her forehead. "Is that a yes?"

"Yes," she nods and I lean my face towards her just before my lips softly meet with her supple ones. My eyes close shut as a hand runs through my hair and the two of us swift motion with me positioning myself hovering over her along with my hand caressing her cheek. Midway through the kiss, Kehlani has given me granted access with her warm breath tasting like those breath strips from Listerine. Regrettably, I break the kiss. Not because of our breath smelling minty fresh, but because this is my first kiss with her. Yeah, I was with a different girl before I met Kehlani, but I never kissed the other girl. Kehlani is the first girl.

Her hand lies on top of her chest and I glance at her widening her eyes at me, observing her lopsided grin morph into grinning from ear to ear. "My heart's beating faster!" Kehlani laughs. I situate my hand over my chest and indeed sense my heart pounding speedily against my chest. "So is mine." I chuckle. Her arms wrap around my neck. On the other hand, my finger lifts her chin up prior to leaning forward in addition to angling to prevent our noses bump into each other. Without hesitation, my lips brush against hers before they seal. Our mouths move in sync while we breathe through our noses and my fingers find their way to her hair, running through the silky, soft tresses just as I listen to the creak and the door opening from behind. s**t! I break the kiss and pulling myself away and position myself stting as Kevin's head peeks through the door.

"Kehlani, keep the damn door open!" He then glowers at me and departs, leaving the door completely ajar. I face Kehlani, who is also peering at me with a smirk on her face. And the both of us begin guffawing.

"Big brothers know best," I joke after the memory as the waiter hands us our entrees. I arrange the plates for the kids while Kehlani giggles, "Oh, yeah," while she picks up her knife and fork, piercing the two silverware through her short stack buttermilk pancakes. Those three pancakes are stacked on the fork and she leans forward over her plate as she chews her food with her mouth closed and her cheeks puff as she chews. I have forgotten that she always chew and burp with her mouth closed. She still looks cute, though.

I pick up my utensils, slicing the French toast and use the fork to put the food in my mouth. "Daddy?" I look over to Theo Bear. "Yeah, buddy?"

"Can I have beans, greens, potatoes, tomatoes--" I stare at my young son with my head tilting to the side and I can feel my eyebrow raising. Kehlani giggles, covering her mouth with her own hand.

"Theodore Sean Davis, they don't serve that here." I tell him while I'm trying not to laugh, yet it didn't go successfully.

"You name it!" Harper sings before she picks up her fork and takes a bite of her waffle. Kelly, Theo Bear, and Key laugh before they are eating their food. "Who taught you to sing that song?" I question to Theodore while I chuckle.

"YouTube." Theo Bear answers and picks up his carton of apple juice, putting the straw to his lips. I continue eating my food while I sneak glances at Tessa and her date, Chester having a conversation with him and his parents.

I turn my head back at my plate of French toast and glace at Kehlani. "So, Key," I begin and put a piece of French toast in my mouth, chewing it.

"Yeah, Blake?" Kehlani queries.

"Do you have a profile on i********:?" I question. Call me possessive, but I am not. I'm just asking her, so I can see what she post about. What if she has some posts that feature other men or does #ManCrushMonday?

"Yeah, why'd you ask?" She queries with her brows knitting. "I'm just letting you know that I also have Instagram... on my phone." I mention.

"Okay," she says and I turn on my phone to go on the app. Tapping my finger on the magnifying glass icon, I search for her name by typing her name until I notice a white check in the blue spiky circle beside her name. My finger presses on her profile picture and I go through from image to image and from row to row. It's her accurate profile. The last thing I do is tapping the 'follow' button before I exit the app to continue eating my meal.

"I usually don't like to go through my friends' profiles on i********:," Kehlani addresses. I look up to face her. "Why not?" I inquiry.

"Because I somewhat find that stalker-ish." She answers. I begin chortling at her answer. "It's not stalker-ish."

"For you it isn't, but it is to me." Kehlani snickers.

Phedora

"Hey, you!" I begin. "Where are Blake and the kids?"

"Do I look like I know where they are? I just got out of work," Charlotte argues cruelly and rolls her eyes before she exits the apartment, leaving me in the voiceless apartment.

"f**k you, too then, b***h," I mumble and pick up my purse as well as my keys, leading myself to the door and gripping on the door knob as the door spreads open along with closing it shut behind me before I walk to my car. Placing my purse on the passenger seat, I start the car when I receive a text message. Reading the message, I reply that I will be on my way. I put my seatbelt on as the radio plays hip hop songs on Hot 97 just as I am driving to the destination.

Fifteen minutes after I park my vehicle on the destination's parking lot that are filled with crowded vehicles, I pick up my phone and put it on silence before putting it in my purse in addition to cutting the engine off by removing the keys from the ignition. Now that I have gathered my objects, I exit my car and walk from the entrance to the room; I change from my normal clothes into something new. Into something that I have wanted to wear for some time. Lifting my head to peer at my reflective twin in a platinum blonde bob haircut with some blunt bangs framing my face and a pair of red lips that are as red as an apple.

"Psss!" I hear a person calling me and I turn my face that the guy is signaling me that it's my time. Standing up from the chair, I pick up some perfume as the chilling and enticing mist hits my neck. I place the perfume down on the vanity and walk from the room to the hallway that leads me behind the curtains. This is my time to unleash my alter ego and she is ready to make her debut outside of home.

"This next guest we're having right now is sticky, yet sweet and she is a blonde. Fellas, please help me welcome the new girl to the stage; Candy Platinum!"