Forever Doesn't Last

XIV | Sweetest Secret

ꨄꨄꨄꨄꨄ

"Ten stacks." Izzy threw a bundle of cash on the floor, a blunt between his lips. "Eleven."

They were in his hotel room, separating their shares, their bags packed and waiting by the door, their bellies full.

Chiko had grown tired of the cold in less than 36 hours, and decided to move his flight up. Of course, Izzy followed suit. The day was pretty much over anyway, and both brothers missed their own beds back home.

They weren't waiting until morning.

"I got fifteen." Chiko gathered his winnings, sneezing from the pungent perfume lingering in the air. "I wanna deposit some of it before we get to the airport though."

"Bless you. That's what it smells like when somebody actually gets some pussy." He flicked his lighter again and inhaled.

"Did you fuck Miss Gladys from the diner? 'Cause that's what it smells like." Chiko wriggled his nose.

"Shut up." Izzy choked on the smoke. When he calmed down, he took another hit and put it out.

With their money predominantly stashed in their luggage, they grabbed their things and entered the hallway, where Izzy flashed a flirtatious smile at the maid. She blushed, holding her head down to grab a spray bottle off the cleaning cart.

Chiko was swift at the ATM in the lobby, shoveling bills as fast as the machine would accept them before he got in the back of a cab. They traveled uphill until they reached the drop-off zone at the airport, and tipped their driver well.

Getting through TSA was a bit of a challenge, but they were seated by their terminal with an hour to kill before boarding. So they went to the bar.

"Spiced rum'll do." Izzy nodded at the ginger-haired bartender.

Chiko took the empty seat between Izzy and a stranger wearing a wrinkled button up. His face was pink, and there was a thin layer of sweat coating his bald head.

"Another round for me," the man slurred.

"Sure you can handle it?" The woman asked, concerned with his physical well-being.

"Ah, what does it matter?" he grumbled. "I'll be dead soon anyway. Turns out, dad's cancer was hereditary."

He met Chiko's eyes, and a flash of recognition crossed both men's features.

Wolfe Gainey. Former employee of Cesar Alvarez. Illness had reduced a lot of his muscle mass, so his expensive clothing no longer fit him right.

Tears welled up in Wolfe's sunken eyes as he downed his next shot. "Boss went down and so did my money. They always told me it would catch up to me. Why didn't I listen?"

"God bless you, sir." The bartender wiped down the counter, shaking her head.

"I'm... gonna go back to our gate." Chiko tapped his brother on the shoulder, his mood soured.

"Alright." Izzy waved him off, too busy courting the woman sitting next to him.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket, trying to shake the sadness that had crept into his heart over the man at the bar. He pressed Halle's contact, and it rang for what seemed to be eternity before she picked up.

"What do you want?" she snipped.

The sun had gone down, and he watched the twinkling stars through the massive windows, as he zigzagged through the traveling families.

Chiko smirked, allowing a moment of silence to evade the line. "I thought dick was supposed to make a woman happy."

"Dick maybe." She lowered her tone. "But not acknowledging someone afterwards doesn't."

"You wanted me to tell the whole world how wet your pussy was?"

Muffled movement could be heard as she shifted, decreasing the volume with urgency. She parted her lips to speak, but nothing came out.

"Hmm?" Chiko hummed, an eyebrow raised. He knew that she wasn't going to answer.

"I need you to make another decision for me, Halle. If this was just an impulsive thing, let it die. If this is really what you want, something that you want to feel again... meet me."

Halle was baffled. She had planned to give him a piece of her mind, but here she was again, a passenger in a conversation that Chiko was driving. Right now, he was giving her the option to get out of the car.

But did she really want to?

"You think I don't know that you were afraid of me speaking to you in front of Sage? You can't fool me, Halle. You wanted me to touch that shit when nobody was looking, and I can do that. You just need to tell me that you're in."

Halle sighed, pulling her robe tighter as she scurried away from Sage's speaker whose tunes filled their suite.

"I can meet you at six tomorrow."

"AM or PM?" He bit his bottom lip to withhold his victorious grin.

"PM. Who wants to link that early."

He shrugged, spotting an empty seat in his gate. "I would, for another taste."

"Really? I'm going to the sauna one last time. I'm kind of disappointed that you won't be there."

"You want me to turn around?"

"No!" Halle giggled. "Sage is coming with me this time so it wouldn't be the same."

The two kept talking until everyone in his gate lined up to board the flight, and Izzy came jogging over at the last second.  Chiko hung up the phone feeling invincible over the fact that Halle had chosen to buckle her seatbelt, instead of hopping out. This was going to be his most exhilarating ride yet, and only they would know.

Their sweetest secret.

~

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