A Storm Brews

-(The Voice in My Head – Part Three)-

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My alter ego was everything I had hoped for… tall, beautiful, fun, adventurous, brave and uninhibited. Sequoia Storm was able to do the things that I never had the courage to do, and she did them with ease. 

She came forth immediately when I summoned her that day at the Pizza Shack, and – with complete confidence – Sequoia asked Armando to sit with us. She talked with him the entire time, until our beer and slices were long gone.  

Correction. It wasn’t talking that she did… it was flirting. Big time. It was hard not to try and rein her in, because I never behaved that way myself. I’m not saying it was bad! I’m just saying that it took some getting used to. 

All I know is that… by the time Coco and I walked out of the shack… I had me a date for Saturday night. Coco couldn’t get over it. 

“Girl, I don’t know what you’ve been smoking,” she said, checking out my eyes like she was looking for evidence, “but you were killing it in there!”

Then I told Coco the truth. It wasn’t me that was killing it, it was my alter ego. That she had paid for! We laughed so hard that we probably looked like we really were high. It was such a gas!

Sequoia was very reliable, and I learned that I could always count on her. She showed up each time that I summoned her, no matter what… no questions asked. 

She went on the date with Armando that Saturday evening, to a club of all places, and Sequoia turned out to be the queen of the dance floor. I didn’t know where she got the skills – I was a terrible dancer. 

Then I thought about Beyoncé and Sasha Fierce, and I realized that it had more to do with confidence than with skill. I had those moves in me somewhere, I just didn’t believe I could use them.

Weekends with Armando went on and on. It was exhausting, but Sequoia somehow possessed all of the energy that I lacked. It seemed like the relationship with was really going somewhere, but -as it turned out – Armando had a wandering eye. 

Thank God for Sequoia. I don’t pay attention too well, so I didn’t even notice. Even if I had, I probably would have ignored it. The voice in my head would have said it was my fault, and I would have listened. 

Sequoia wasn’t like that at all. She saw it right away, the minute that Armando turned his head to watch the waitress walk away. Then she kicked him to the curb – just like that. End of story. I loved that about her. In my mind, she really was the queen.

I called on Sequoia more and more after that, so she was living the life that I’d always dreamed of, and my old pathetic existence was fading away. Like a dying star.

Life was good, my social life was solid, and Coco was happy about the return on her investment. But something felt wrong.

One evening, after a late night at the club, I just couldn’t fall asleep. My body was fatigued, but Sequoia refused to wind down. Then she scrolled wildly through my contacts… and she made a booty call!

I had never been like that. Ever. And I didn’t want to start. It was the first time that something like this happened. Normally, Sequoia would fade away at home, and she’d leave me in charge, but this particular night was different. She was uncontrollable.

Sequoia starts chatting it up with some guy I hardly knew, and I was just lying there, flipping out. Then, without any warning, the voice in my head began to shout, “That Diva needs to go!” 

That totally freaked me out and I had no idea how to respond. But I didn’t need to – because Sequoia suddenly chimed in.

“Quiet you coward,” she snapped. “Now go put your big girl panties on… because I’m not going anywhere.” 

I didn’t sleep a wink. 

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TO BE CONTINUED

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Nothing new to report here. I’ve got a very big paper to write for school and it’s really conflicting with my story. Haha! I may need to take a week off… so consider this a cliff-hanger for now. We’ll see.

Anyway, that’s all for now I think. Thank you so much for reading…

I hope you are enjoying it so far!