Saving my Own Soul

XIII

Hi guys, the school has been kicking my butt for the past several weeks and Ive been just trying to manage all the constant changes. I want to break Chapter 13 in two parts because I realized how long it was going to be, so, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it.

And since it's my birthday, I thought why not surprise you all with a gift too! Enjoy.

I stood there, waiting for him to initiate a conversation, still feeling unsettling energy between us. I noticed his tense shoulders and slightly clenched fists.

"Hey, you good?" I asked him.

"Yeah, yeah, the bank playing with my money, and this is the fourth time in a row that I'm having to call em. I'm just tired man." he shook his head, pacing the floor a bit.

"Ah...yeah, I completely understand," I said subtly trailing off, not believing him at all. This man lied right through his teeth, and he played it off well. But why though?

"So..." he trailed off

"Oh, right, lunch! Actually, while you walked out, Sumayyah told me she ordered me lunch for the day" I said, hoping he would believe me.

Which wasn't totally a lie, every Thursday we have Willy's Mexican Grill preordered and delivered to the office. I've gone there so many times, I think they just have my name and order programmed in the system because I don't even have to call them anymore unless I'm calling to cancel my order.

"Oh, that's cool, we can just eat lunch here" he offered, stepping closer to my side, expecting I had already agreed to his pressed offer. Where in that sentence did I say I still wanted to each with him?

I politely nudged him over, so that he couldn't touch me "Honestly, now that I'm thinking about it, I might not even have time to have a proper lunch. There's still so much that needs to get done by the end of this workday." trying to find any excuse to keep my distance from him. I glanced down at my wrist, casually checking the time, on my Apple Watch.

"Matter of fact, Sumayyah just text me about having a last-minute shoot for the day, before our operational run-through tomorrow. So you better hop to it, she doesn't like her models to be late."

He sensed my uncertainty, my fear, I even felt it. "Yo, Sayria, we straight?"

"Yeah, we're fine" I gave a weak smile, quickly seeking to bolt away before he caught onto my skeptics.

"As long as "we're" good.." he smirked, briskly walking in the direction of the studio room.

Lord...I've had enough drama for one week, I didn't want to deal with any more. But I had a feeling that wouldn't be the last of it. I tried to distract myself throughout the day by keeping myself as busy as possible. Today we were testing out a few of the last-minute outfits that I had finished designing last week. Normally I create a few of the designs on my own and then have the rest mass-produced. I remember those days I used hand stitch and sew my mass production, designing each piece of clothing by hand.

We decided this year, we would transition to an outside fashion show. Probably the worst idea we've ever come up with, but the vibes were so nice outside, we couldn't resist. And our photos in preparation for the Summer/Fall Fashion show have come out magnificent. This year I wanted to intertwine a mixture of subtle smooth creamy browns, with a hint of spring color accents. The photos turned out great if I do say so myself.

As I scrolled through a few of the photos taken, on my iPad, I began reminiscing about how we started. Growing up, they weren't many models that even remotely resembled me, and so, when we established SMS Designs, we all agreed to have more black representation in a variety of shades, and sizes.