— chair, keepin’ it ‘tween us both. A necessary barrier fa’ wha’ I’m feelin’.)

“Y’a mind passin’ me y’a towels f’a washin’, Ms. West?”

| Souls Intertwined |

— loud in m’a ear, makin’ gooseskin prickle long m’a exposed arms. I bite back th’a chills runnin’ down m’a spine an’ try t’a keep it mo’ professional. Thas what I wanted right?

Professional. Boundaries.

Th’a question’s loud in m’a thoughts wit’ disingenuousness.

Stoppin’ on th’a side of ha —

— takin’ m’a tools t’a th’a steriliz’a an’ collectin’ th’a towels around each station. Th’a tasks remindin’ me I need’a hire someone t’a help wit’ much of th’a day’s end wrap work. When I get t’a y’a, I feel th’a energy that nev’a really dissipates between us. So many near misses. Th’a buzzin’s —

“It’s no problem, Ms. West. I’ll be he’a a li’l while cleanin’ up an’ finishin’ some work. Take y’a time. No rush. I’m sorry y’a friends left y’a wit’ |me.| No one want t’a stick ‘round th’a boss.”

(I put th’a broom back in th’a cabinet bu’h go t’a wipe down m’a seat an’ station, followin’ wit’ —

— @essenceofavirgo.bsky.social — She’s out befo’ I’m done sweepin’. Haze ai’n far behind ha.)

| Souls Intertwined |

— @essenceofavirgo.bsky.social — Haze intercepts, grabbin’ me an’ huggin’ an’ kissin’ me wit’ ha loud ‘thanks, Mr. Rafa!’)

“Y’a welcome, darlin’.”

(Toni packed up t’a, thankin’ me an’ lettin’ me kno’ she’d text me th’a day she chooses bu’h she ai’n hold on ceremony. —

— @essenceofavirgo.bsky.social — hooded eyes.)

“Thank y’a, thank y’a all f’a stayin’ an’ helpin’ me today. I ‘preciate y’a. Please, take off, I’ll clean an’ lock up he’a. Choose a day this week o’ next t’a take off. Paid.”

(It’s th’a least I could do f’a all the’a help. I go grab th’a broom bu’h —

— @essenceofavirgo.bsky.social — All day, y’a ai’n look at me f’a mo’ than a few seconds. Like y’a t’a embarrassed t’a do so. I feel it. In m’a bones. In m’a blood. Ju’h like I feel m’a magic buzz whenev’a y’a get closed bu’h it’s somethin’ else. I ai’n so sho’ what bu’h I see it in y’a —

— @essenceofavirgo.bsky.social — t’a make sho’ ai’n no broken promises in D’s. An’ befo’ I get th’a chance t’a tell Haze t’a cle’a m’a schedule an’ fit in e’rrybody elses, y’a an’ Toni stayed long’a t’a help me get all th’a heads in e’en though I ai’n asked y’a t’a.

Bu’h y’a ai’n look at me. —

— @essenceofavirgo.bsky.social — me.)

“Ffion…”

(Th’a next day, work, an’ a nonstop train of clients cu’h so many of our stylists are out sick today. Many clients Haze was able t’a reschedule bu’h many fought t’a keep th’a day’s appointment. An’ I planned t’a take on e’rry single one I could ju’h —

— @essenceofavirgo.bsky.social — seen kiss y’a cheeks. F’a a split second, I see images, callin’ t’a me lik’a broken movie reel. A reflection flashin’ back at me, covered in blood, an’ not m’a own. Fear, deep, an’ sentimented. As deep an’ connected as th’a green eyes lookin’ back at —

— @essenceofavirgo.bsky.social — long, bu’h has made m’a magic awaken wit’ th’a ocean depths I’ve not excavated in decades.

I’m awakened, shocked out of m’a sleep. M’a sheets drenched and stickin’ t’a m’a flesh. If m’a skin was not th’a shade of coffee beans, I would be as red as th’a blush I’ve —

— @essenceofavirgo.bsky.social — alight with magic I’ve not felt in so long.

I’ve not allowed me’self t’a be adorned in, or walked confidently int’a until th’a green eyed woman who walked int’a D’s shop came an’ nev’a left. Y’a very essence an’ existence makes me ache in ways I’ve not known in so —

— @essenceofavirgo.bsky.social — ways I hide so deeply an’ effortlessly from me’self dulls ma’ senses at times. Makes me vulnerable t’a th’a whims of men that I shouldn’t be fallin’ f’a.

Yet, I’m he’a wakin’ up from’a dream so vivid I could’a sweared on th’a bible it happened. Th’a fiery flesh —