Just Friends

Meeting him.

Imani -
"Melanie? Did August leave his number? I wanted to call him up and thank him."

"Mhm. Is that all you wanted to say to him? I think an email would suffice if you only wanted to thank him," she said with a smirk.

I rolled my eyes in response. "Do you have his number or not?" I replied sassily. She was right of course, I didn't want to just thank him for the donation, a part of me wanted to catch up with him for old time sakes, and the other part of of me got butterflies when what he tweeted.

"Imani, you don't need his number, he's gonna be here in like 2 minutes." Melanie informed me.

"What?! And you didn't tell me!" I said frantically. I walked around office in a hurry making sure everything looked nice and neat.

"Imani, look at you. Your freaking out because your seeing someone that's basically a stranger. Honestly, if you didn't ask for his number I wouldn't have told you that he was coming. You need to chill because you are doing the most right now. Plus, He told me not to tell you, so take a breather. Your acting like your seeing Obama or someone actually relevant." Melanie said sternly. 

I rolled my eyes at her comment. I knew she was right about me freaking out , but I also know she was trying to play matchmaker. I haven't been romantically involved with anyone since my last boyfriend, which was a little less than a year ago. She was always pestering me to get a guy, but no one interested me anymore. I know I was overreacting for no reason but goddamn August Alsina was coming to visit me! It honestly couldn't get any better than that. I nodded in response, staring off to space and reminiscing about all the times we had together during high school. Those memories were short-lived when I heard her pager go off, alerting her that someone important has entered the building. Melanie looked down at the device, a smile slowly spreading across her lips.

"Hey by the way Imani, I'm taking my lunch break now. I hope you don't mind. You don't have any meetings the rest of the day, So call your mom and thank her for the present." She said, rushing her words so she can leave. I nodded in response, trying to take in the information she gave me.
"Thanks, can you get me Starbucks on your way back?" I yelled through the door.
"Sure!" She yelled back as she was on her way to the elevator.

I looked at my phone screen. It was 12:43... Didnt she say that August was coming soon?. When was he coming? I hopped up onto the top of my desk, scrolling through my Instagram feed. I didnt really feel like doing work at this moment. Today was a lazy day after that interview.

"Well im glad you finally learned what a break was."
I snapped my head up at the sound of his voice. I could recognize the New Orleans accent from anywhere. "AUGUST!" I exclaimed. I ran up to him and giving him a huge hug. I felt his arms slowly wrap around my waist and I enjoyed his embrace. We stayed like that for a couple moments, just holding each other. He always gave amazing hugs.

" lil mama, you look amazing." He whispered in my ear, slowly pulling away to get a better look at me. I could feel the heat rushing to my cheeks as he complimented me. August was the only guy that could make me blush throughout high school, and it's crazy that he still has the same effect on me.

"Damn, ma, Aug already got you blushing and all huh?" He said with at cocky smile dancing across his lips.

"Don't talk in third person, it's weird." I said, lightly shoving him away. I turned around to guide him to the sofa chairs in my office so we could talk and I could feel him staring at my ass.

"I hope you haven't had lunch yet, " He started. " I was wondering if we can go out and grab lunch? I mean it's cool if you alrea- "

"August why are you nervous?" I asked him confused. He was rambling and avoiding eye contact with me and I know he only did that when he was nervous.

"Me? Pshhh I'm not nervous." He said, trying to act cool.

"I would love to go grab lunch with you, " I started. "Let me just-"

"I'm sorry Lil Ma, but Melanie gave me specific orders saying that if you said 'let me just' I was suppose to, and I quote 'personally drag her ass out of the office.' August said, looking down at his phone to avoid eye contact with me. I laughed at that, knowing it was a direct order from Melanie and god knows what she threatened him with.

"Okay, okay" I said, putting my hands up in mock surrender. "Do you want to go now or..?"
August patted his thigh, signaling me to come sit on his lap. I did so, cuddling into his shoulder as he wrapped his arm around my waist.

"Are you hungry now?" He asked me, tracing patterns on my thigh right below the hem of my dress.

"Not really.." I mumbled distracted by what he was doing. I snuggled closer into him and i heard him chuckle slightly.

"Whats so funny?" I asked him, confused.

"You" he replied, poking my nose. "you would always do this back in high school."
i laughed at that. When we were in high school he always promised that he would protect me, and I always felt the safest in his arms. It feels so cliché to say that, but its true and plus he was always warm and comfy.
"August?" i asked, after a moments pause. I looked up at him to see him looking at me in confusion. "I'm kinda hungry now." I finished with a smile. He laughed lightly as i hopped off his lap.

"Aight, Lets go."
After locking up my office, I followed August down to where he parked his car. Right in front of the building was a beautiful matte Range Rover.

"Holy Shit.." i muttered, completely awestruck. Aug simply laughed at my response, opening the door for me like a gentlemen. The inside of his car was almost as nice as the outside. Black leather seats complimented the dark wood that covered part of the middle. He connected his phone to the aux cord and handed it to me.
"Pick a song." He said, focusing on the road.
I scrolled through his music library, trying to find a song that I actually enjoyed. I mean his music was okay, but I wasn't in the mood to listen to rap music right now. I unplugged his phone from the and cord, grabbing mine from my bag and replacing it.
"Oh okay Ma, go ahead and take the aux cord." He said sarcastically. I rolled my eyes playfully and tapped on Jhene Aiko's album, listening to July by her.

"You had to change up the game
Oh the weather is not the same
Now there's only cloudy days
I can't stand the rain in July
Oh July
There were fireworks exploding (exploding)
But now it's getting colder
The leaves are turning colors
Why, it's just not our season
The one and only reason
Baby oh baby oh
Oh, summer turned into fall.."

I sang along softly, swaying to the music with my eyes closed. I enjoyed moments like these, but I didn't get them a lot. "Your have an amazing voice Mani" August said. I turned to face him only to see him staring at me in awe.

"What?" I asked confused. He just shook his head in response and focused back on driving. I just shrugged my shoulders and focused back on the music.

"Do you still play piano?" He asked, referring to my silly high school competitions that I always dragged him to. August hated going because he would have to sit through hours if classical music but he always was my biggest supporter through everything.

"Ehh.. Not as much.." I said truthfully. "I kinda stopped after high school."

"But do you still remember?" He asked, with a hopeful gleam in his eyes. I nodded, as he continued talking. "Cuh I need an instrumental that matches my new single if you want... I mean I know how much you loved to play.."

"Really?!" I exclaimed, stunned by his offer. I have the chance to work with August Alsina in a fucking studio.. a real studio! I have always wanted to get into music, but reality got in the way. There was little to no chance I could have made it big in the studio, especially since I was kind of a nobody and had no connections growing up.

"Yea baybeh" he said in his cute little accent. "Anyways, we're here."

I looked up to see that we were at Palominos, he must of pulled some strings to get into this restaurant at such a short notice.
"After you baby girl."