Ch 𝟷𝟼:
Liquor Night - part one
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11:38pm
SATURDAY
𝙷𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚗, 𝚃𝚇
"I don't even think I can hear myself breathe son." Eli slurred, resting his head on Mari's shoulder as the noise of the club rang heavily through his ears.
"That's not how it works," Mari rolled her eyes and gently moved Eli's head off of her, letting him lean on the back of the couch instead. "Fucking idiot." She mumbled to herself, making Savior chuckle from next to her.
Mari rested her head on Savior's shoulder, taking his cup and taking a little sip of whatever he was drinking before placing it back in his hand. His free hand gently caressed up and down her bare thigh drawing little circles with his fingertips. "I missed you." She mumbled, turning her head to kiss his cheek.
Savior chuckled because he could tell by Mari's slightly slurred words and slower dialogue that she was already tipsy and on the road to being off-the-wall drunk. "Missed you too, beautiful." He turned his head to kiss her lips and felt her smile against his mouth.
Mari stayed in that position, her lips hovering next to Savior's as she stared into his eyes. There was something so intriguing about him that even after all this time of getting to know him, she still couldn't put her finger on. And right now, in a club full of people she considered family, loud music, flowing drinks, and distractions, Savior was the only one who held her undivided attention.
Until someone cleared their throat, causing Mari to whip her head around. Zion was approaching the section with Samiron not too far behind, and he gave her a look that seemed more like a friendly warning. When she looked behind him and saw that Samiron's eyes were already narrowed on her and Savior, she understood Zion's subtle warning.
Mari considered scooting slightly over and unhooking her arm from around Savior's because she knew how irritated Samiron got seeing her all lovey dovey in his face, but she immediately tossed the idea away in her head. After all, Savior is who she's in a relationship with and Samiron has to get used to that one way or another — and trying to spare him wasn't the way to do that.
"Having fun?" Samiron jerked his chin at the couple, obviously being petty. Judging by the few chuckles heard from around the section, everyone could sense his passive aggressiveness.
Savior scoffed in response. He shook his head and looked away, taking a sip of his drink before turning towards Samiron again. "Most definitely." He answered smugly.
Samiron himself let out a little scoff. He looked at Mari who had busied herself by staring off the balcony and he mentally cursed himself for telling her to bring her man. He was just trying to be petty when he had told her to bring her "lil' boyfriend" to his club a few days ago after dropping Sani off. But in his defense, he didn't think she'd actually take him up on his offer to bring Savior along, yet here they are.
Without another word to either of them, he walked past them and took a seat on the other side of the C-Shaped couch that was occupied by what seemed like everyone. The upstairs portion of the club was just as lively as the bottom, but it definitely wasn't as hectic in the sense that you weren't bumping into dancing people everywhere you turned.
"Well, anyways!" Aijah cleared her throat, causing Samiron to roll his eyes at how dramatic she is. She turned towards him and glared. "I should smack you for making Trini work tonight. That's fucked up!"
He sucked his teeth, rolling his eyes again. "I didn't make her work tonight so shut up. Rell told her she could have the night off and once she got here she said something 'bout all the rich hood niggas being here and wanting to make some money."
"And judging by the fact that one of her coworkers just told me some nigga tipped her $3k for blowing him a kiss, I'd say she's doing perfectly fine." Samiron turned away from Aijah, not bothering to hear her response.
"$3k? For blowing him a kiss?" Tasia jerked her head back, stealing the words right out of Aijah's mouth. "Now what if she actually gave him a kiss?"
"He would've gave her his house." Duck joked from next to her, taking a sip of whatever the bottle girls were bringing to the table. He quickly spit it back into the glass when he tasted a mixture of car gasoline and vinegar. He figured one of the bottle girls had brought up some random, nasty, overpriced alcohol to impress Samiron and Rell.
Being in the club owner's section meant unlimited drinks and top tier service. At this point, everyone in the section had lost track of how many bottles they'd went through already and it wasn't even 1 o'clock yet.
"There she go right there." Samiron leaned over and spoke to Aijah as Trini approached their section. She hadn't even came to the club tonight with the intention of working, but once she saw how much the other bottle girl's were making, she rushed into the dressing room and put on whatever she could find in her locker.
She wore some black high-waisted spandex underwear that pushed her butt up perfectly, and she wore a sparkly top that resembled a bikini that looked two sizes too small. She made it work and despite being somewhat uncomfortable, the tips she was receiving were definitely worth it.
"Damn, get me a job too!" Aijah smartly commented when Trini stood in front of her, the pockets of her spandex shorts nearly ripping from the wads of cash that were stuffed inside. Her bra and the edge of the spandex were also lined with countless $100 bills.
Trini laughed and plopped down next to Aijah on the couch, letting out a tired breath. She gave Samiron a casual head nod which he returned. Like she'd told Aijah a few days ago, Trini quickly learned that Samiron is a man of few words. But he hasn't gotten rude or made any advances towards her in the few days she's known him, like past bosses have at clubs she used to work at, so she thinks he's chill for the most part. After all, being quiet didn't necessarily mean being rude. Samiron stays out of Trini's way and lets her do her job in peace, only stepping in when necessary, and she appreciates that.
"I'm glad I decided to work tonight. I would've missed out for sure. This is by far the best night I've worked so far and it's not even over yet." Trini gave Rell who was sitting across from her a friendly wink since he was the one who'd suggested she work tonight. Trini took the rolls of cash out of her pockets and stacked them up in her hand.
"Mari, should we work part time?"Aijah joked.
Mari playfully rolled her eyes before turning to bury her face in Savior's neck again. The more time went on, the heavier the alcohol would weigh in her system. So Mari was able to completely ignore the distasteful glares Samiron was sending her as she cuddled up with Savior, occasionally grabbing his face to sing the lyrics of a song to him while they continued to share drinks.
Trini noticed the empty bottles of alcohol lining the glass table in front of her and shook her head. She stood up and walked over to the balcony, waving her hand to signal someone up. When she turned around she immediately noticed Samiron resting his elbows on his knees and shooting daggers with his eyes at the couple across from him.
Everything Mari had told Trini about her and Samiron's history made so much sense now that she's actually seen it first-hand. Samiron was head over heels for Mari and even though Mari has brushed off every one of his advances, it was obvious he still wanted her. Bad. There was still a lot of things Trini didn't understand about the two but she didn't pry.
She walked back over and took her seat next to Aijah who was singing the lyrics to Right On by Lil Baby as it played loudly through the club. Eli, who was now resting his head on the back of the couch next to Trini, suddenly wrapped an arm around her and placed a kiss to the back of her head. Trini turned around and looked at him weirdly, but his eyes were still closed.
"He's drunk as hell. Ignore him." Duck told Trini, waving his hand dismissively in the air. She just laughed in response. It was clear that Eli craved intimacy when he got drunk.
Samiron tore his eyes away from the balcony when three bottle girls approached the section, each holding up a tray with a variety of different alcohol bottles on each. He immediately recognized one of them to be Malika and he couldn't help but admire the way the blue and red club lights looked against the skin on her face.
Malika was in between a bottle girl and a stripper at this point. She'd work whatever her managers scheduled her to work because she was good at both. She was doing bottle service for the first half of the night but she'd already planned to claim her stage back and start stripping soon. The bottle girls were allowed to wear whatever they wanted as long as it was all black, and included some type of shorts as bottoms.
The black spandex shorts and V-neck bodysuit with an extremely low neckline that Malika wore was doing her body wonders. The black lace-up corset that hugged her waist also contributed to her coke-bottle shape, accentuating her hips. Samiron licked his bottom lip subconsciously and eyed her up and down.
He ignored the little reminder in the back of his mind that Malika was the first girl in years that he's even found remotely attractive since meeting Mari. But with a face like that and a body to match, Malika was hard to miss. Even now, standing amongst two other bottle girls that looked like they could be Instagram models, Malika still looked 10x better.
"Can I get you anything else? Or are you just going to keep staring?" Malika's voice brought Samiron's attention back to her face. Her hand was on her hip and her brows were raised expectantly as she stared at him like a kid who had just got caught stealing.
Samiron rolled his eyes at her. "Don't flatter yourself." He mumbled, glancing away briefly just to see Zion, Kai, Duck and even Tasia were all staring at the two of them wide eyed. Clearly shocked from him openly ogling the girl like that.
Even Mari curiously watched the two interact, recognizing the lustful look in Samiron's eyes as he stared at the girl doing her job. She didn't know how to feel, but it did feel kind of weird. But Mari couldn't lie to her subconscious and say the girl wasn't gorgeous, she just doesn't seem like Samiron's type. But then again, Samiron's "type" has solely been Amari Kaylene Browne for years. Until now it seems.
"Yeah alright." Malika mumbled in response as she collected the empty glass bottles and put them on her tray.
She looked to her side with furrowed eyebrows to find the two other bottle girls who came up with her in two dude's faces. She rolled her eyes, flipping her long, wavy black hair over her shoulder and continued picking up all the empty glasses herself.
Trini, who was getting ready to head back downstairs herself, offered to help Malika but she politely declined. Samiron watched as Malika picked up the tray and steadied herself. She gave him a final glance before making her way out of the section, her hips naturally swaying and catching the attention of a few other boys in neighboring sections. Samiron watched her until she was out of sight and turned towards the group who were all giving one another 'I know you saw that too' looks.
"Nigga!" Kai shoved his older brother's shoulder playfully, "Who the hell was that?"
"A bottle girl." Samiron responded dryly, looking at Kai with a blank expression on his face.
"Obviously," Zion responded for Kai, rolling his eyes, "We wanna know why you were eye-fucking her. You got something going on with her? I mean we're not gon-"
"I wasn't eye-fucking anyone. If she looks good, she looks good." Samiron cut Zion off. Aijah glanced at Mari to see her reaction but the expression on her face was unreadable as she watched Samiron's brothers interrogate him. Aijah wondered to herself if Mari felt some type of way about Samiron's little interaction with Malika, or if Savior was enough of a distraction for her.
Zion and Kai laughed to themselves at how worked up their brother was getting, something that was fairly easy to achieve. "So are you fuckin' with her or nah?" Duck asked as he worked open a bottle of Hpnotiq.
"No, damn! I look at a girl once and I have to be fucking her?" Samiron squinted at the boys who just shrugged. The real question they wanted to ask was "are you finally ready to move on from Mari?" but they kept it to themselves.
"They just wann- know if you finally m..moving on from, um... Mariiiii," Eli slurred with his eyes still closed and in his drunken state, "Not tryin' to make y-you uncomfa-able or nun', Mari." He waved his hand in her direction. Mari just rolled her eyes, part of her wanting to slap Eli for not being able to hold his tongue or his liquor. Now she was uncomfortable and awkward either way.
"That ain't y'all business. Fuck." Samiron spoke, his eyes glued to the clear liquid in his glass as he swirled it around. This wasn't the time, place or situation to be bringing him and Mari up in but he couldn't be mad at Eli for speaking while he was barely conscious.
"Eli really has no filter when he's drunk." Trini giggled and shook her head, swatting his hand away when he tried to throw it over her shoulder.
Savior stood up, pulling his sagging black Purple Brand jeans up. "Don't you think it would be in your best interest to move on though?" He made eye contact with Samiron who instantly looked up and narrowed his eyes at him.
Savior ignored Mari yanking his arm down, trying to stop him from going any further. "I mean, you're sitting here staring at my girl openly, not even tryin' to hide the fact that you want her even though she's made it clear she doesn't want you. She's been over you for a while now, why can't you be over her?" Savior spat.
"Savior!" Mari whisper-yelled, yanking his tattooed arm down.
Samiron was eerily calm and even though music continued to boom through the club and people's voices were so loud that you couldn't even hear your own unless you yelled, it was as if the section got completely silent waiting for his reaction. If there was one thing everyone quickly learned about Samiron after they met him was that you don't push his buttons, and unless you're teasing, you don't pry for information — and Savior had carelessly done both because he felt fed up with him.
"I don't gotta explain myself to you 'cause at the end of the day, who are you to me? Nobody. Whatever happened between me and Mari is just that; me and Mari. Boyfriend or not, I don't give a fuck to be honest with you. I'll tell you to your face that I still love her and I'm positive that I always will." Samiron leaned forward and placed his glass on the table, resting his elbows on his knees.
"And now what are you going to do 'bout that? Not shit. Take this as a reminder that no matter how badly you wanna be, you're not the nigga she fell in love with. You wanna be that nigga so bad because her saying "I love you" gives you stability in y'all little relationship," Samiron scoffed and shook his head, "but that's never gonna happen and that makes you miserable."
In the blink of an eye, Savior had pulled out of Mari's grasp and was rushing Samiron. Zion and a few other boys in the section were quick to shoot up off of the couch and rush up to both men. Samiron was calm for the most part but the adrenaline along with the alcohol that was pumping through Savior's body made this feel like the perfect opportunity to get back at Samiron for the disrespect he's shown him and his relationship since he got out of prison.
"Mmcht, watch out." Savior nudged one of Eli's homeboys out of his way. Samiron just shook his head, moving around both of his brother's bodies to sit back down. Zion still stood next to him, knowing how unpredictable his brother is.
"Y'all chill. This ain't the time to be discussing this shit." Zion spoke with a frown on his face.
"On a serious note, I hope you go to sleep tonight knowing that I had her shaking and moaning my name every single day at one point — every single morning and night. In the bedroom, over and on the kitchen counter, in the bathroom, on the couch, on the floor, in the backseat of both of our cars — just remember that, clown ass nigga." Samiron spoke to Savior, trying to get into his head.
Samiron heard a few of the girls' gasps and whispers from next to him and he felt when Aijah swatted his shoulder, giving him a disapproving look.
Savior just chuckled and shook his head, picking his keys up from the couch. He held his hand out to Mari who took it and stood up, looking every bit of uncomfortable. "And I hope you lay your head at night knowing she stopped loving your ass a while ago. That love that she has for you that you like throwin' in my face? It doesn't exist anymore. You're two years too late."
"Let's just go." Mari yanked Savior's arm and he finally obliged. She didn't turn around once as they made their way out of the section and down the stairs. Embarrassed was an understatement and she couldn't fathom how something like that could come out of Samiron's mouth. Savior mouthing off certainly didn't help but add fuel to the fire.
As soon as they got outside, Mari made a beeline for Savior's black Tesla Model S, not stopping once when he called her name multiple times.
"Please not right now. Let's just go Savior." She sighed, cutting him off and sounding exasperated. He sighed as well, knowing he shouldn't have went off at the mouth like that but he just couldn't help it.
Samiron had been disrespectful since day one, whereas Savior had been trying to be cordial with him. A friendship or even any sort of relationship period wasn't something he was looking for — Savior was just hoping that Samiron could grow up and be mature about everything, and that included leaving the past in the past.
But Samiron clearly had a different mindset about it all. Even going as far as making slick comments towards Savior when they were both at the barber shop. Everyone has their breaking point and it seemed like Samiron had been provoking Savior and testing his limits since day one.
It became clear that Samiron resented the hell out of Savior for having both Mari and a close-knit relationship with his son. But it wasn't Savior's fault that Samiron got himself sent to prison. He deprived himself of the opportunity to have both of the relationships he desperately wanted and was trying so hard to mend.
Without another word, Savior walked to Mari's side and opened the passenger door for her. Once she was seated comfortably on the white leather seats, he closed the door and walked to the driver's side. Mari sat silently with her eyes closed, her elbow perched up on the door and her forehead resting in her palm. Her body could barely handle the amounts of alcohol she'd pumped into it over the past two hours, and this argument hadn't helped that whatsoever.
Savior instantly felt bad for not keeping her in mind. But he felt like he said what needed to be said, regardless of if it was the wrong time and place or not. He rested his hand on her thigh, soothingly massaging the exposed skin there as he backed out of the parking lot and he was thankful that Mari didn't nudge his hand off.
"I'm sorry ma," he spoke after a beat of silence, keeping his eyes glued to the street in front of him, "I'm not sorry I said the shit, but I get why you're upset."
Mari nodded, still staring out the window. "I get why you said it. It's just a time and place for everything. Then again, I can't really be mad at you for telling him how you really feel."
Ever since Samiron got out, Mari peeped the shady remarks and comments that would conveniently slip out of his mouth every time Savior was around. She knew Samiron well enough to know that he was trying to be on his bully shit with Savior, but he just wasn't going for it.
But what neither of the men realized was that they were only hurting Mari in the process. And someone who was already trying to heal and be at peace from a lifetime's worth of trauma didn't need any more negativity in their life.
* * *
"Why would you say that?" Aijah turned to Samiron with a glare as soon as Mari and Savior disappeared down the steps. "I mean, out of all the shit you could've said?"
Samiron shrugged in response, taking a sip of the Patron in his glass. He really had no idea why he just said that but all he knows is that Savior was pushing every last one of his buttons and he had to say something that he knew was bound to set him off. And he achieved exactly that.
"Yea you didn't have to say that wild ass shit." Zion shook his head with a disappointed chuckle as he made his way back to his seat, maneuvering around the dancing drunk females around him.
Samiron sucked his teeth. "He was trying to bitch me out. Y'all should know I'm not gon' go like that, especially from him of all people. He could've kept all that shit to himself because I really didn't even ask in the first place. Lil' pussy ass nigga."
"To be fair, it's not like you be holdin' your tongue when you're around him either." Kai butted in, earning an eye roll from his older brother who knew he was right.
"Man, shut up Kai. Where Nia at?" He raised his eyebrows. Kai scratched the back of his head before standing up. Samiron shook his head and watched his younger brother make his way downstairs to the main section of the club where Nia and her best friend were dancing and taking all the free drinks they could get from the bartender whom Nia gave a fake number to. Samiron often found himself having to mentally remind himself that the twins weren't kids anymore.
"Let me get my ass down there too." Trini stood up, pulling her spandex down. She excused herself past Tasia, Aijah and Samiron, but stopped in her tracks after she got past Samiron.
"Kadin?" She furrowed her eyebrows as Thirty walked towards the busy section with Ry and Ju not too far behind him as usual.
"Oh shit. What's up Trin'." Thirty spoke, flashing his perfect smile. He had completely forgotten she worked at this club before gladly taking Samiron's invite tonight without a second thought.
"Um excuse me," Aijah stood up, bringing everyones attention to her, "y'all know each other?" She pointed her finger between the two with an expression of utter confusion on her face. Aijah didn't like the way Trini was looking at Thirty and she's seen that same look before — like they were a little too familiar with each other.
Trini glanced between Thirty and Aijah confusedly. The thought of them being siblings was the first that came to her mind. But there was absolutely no resemblance between the two. "I mean, yea... we know each other."
Aijah bent down and placed her glass cup on the table before standing back up and placing her hand on her hip. "How do y'all know each other though? That's what I want to know."
"Wait wait wait," Trini waved her hands around and shook her head from side to side, "What are you talking about? You know him?"
"Oh lord.." Tasia mumbled, already seeing the direction this was heading. Thirty rubbed his temple with his fingers as everything clicked at the same time. He didn't need either of the girls to break things down because it was becoming clear to him that he had royally fucked up.
"Do I know him? This is my ex. The ex." Aijah looked between the two. "Hold on.. please tell me— Trinity." She shot her a glare.
"Oh my god." Trini mumbled to herself and took a deep breath. There was just no way the same man she'd spent hours in bed with was the same ex Aijah had spent hours sulking and venting about.
"Did you fuck him?" Aijah asked as she pointed at Thirty, her eyes damn near bugging out of her head. "Trinity, literally answer me. Please don't play with me right now."
"How was I supposed to know he was your ex Aijah? I never met the man!" Trini waved her hands in front of her, confirming Aijah's initial thought.
"Really Trinity? How many times have I said the name "Thirty" around you? How many people names "Thirty" do you know?" Aijah looked at her like she was dumb and snatched her hand away from Duck's grasp when he tried to get her to sit back down.
"He told me his name was Kadin! He never said the name "Thirty" to me not once. Come on now Aijah I wouldn't do that! You know this."
Aijah turned to look at her ex with the same look he's seen too many times before. That same look she'd give him during one of their many arguments when he was actually the one in the wrong and they both knew it. "And you just don't have shit to say for yourself huh? Why is that not surprising at all?"
"I didn't know she was your friend either, Aijah. You think I would've fucked her if I knew y'all were close? Our relationship was back-and-forth as fuck, but I would never do you like that and you know that." Thirty tried reasoning but he could tell that Aijah wasn't going for it, the result of her usual hardheadedness.
"How many times?" Aijah crossed her arms over her chest and sat back down, still burning a hole into Trini and Thirty with her eyes.
"Do you really want to know?" Thirty asked her truthfully, letting her know without actually answering that it was one too many times. Aijah bit the inside of her cheek and looked away from them, the feeling of betrayal weighing heavier on her chest.
Even if Trinity or Thirty didn't know one another's relationship to Aijah, that didn't change the fact that she felt betrayed by it. A part of her brain was telling her that there was no way they hadn't seen not even a post of each other and put the pieces together. But another part of her, the reasonable part, tried to see things from their point of view. But that was hard to do when she was blinded by betrayal from an ex she had too much history with and someone who she had just recently started looking at as a sister.
Aijah just couldn't fathom that Trinity, someone she's grown so close to in the past year, has had sex with the same boy she was in a situationship with for so long. Aijah and Thirty were on and off for a while, but they had years on their relationship, whether you count the times they broke up or not. Aijah knew it was going to be hard for her to just look past this and not view Thirty or Trinity differently, and that was if she even wanted to look past it.
"Aijah.. say something." Trinity pressed. Even though she had no idea who Thirty was to Aijah before she laid down with him, she couldn't help but to feel disgusted with herself.
She's had the same thing happen to her before — when she dated a boy and he cheated on her with one of her stripper friends — but this wasn't that. Trinity genuinely didn't know. But the guilt she felt now was no different than if she did.
"I don't know. I just can't right now." Aijah shook her head, sitting up on the couch and waving a dismissive hand towards the two.
Trinity looked to Tasia for some sort of guidance but all Tasia could do was give her an empathetic look and nod her head towards the stairs. She knew Aijah needed her space from both of them right now. So without another word, Trini made her way out of the section and downstairs, swallowing the tears down. Thirty stood there speechless and shaking his head, looking at both of his cousins who had no words for him either.
"This shit really is crazy." Aijah mumbled, pouring herself an overflowing glass of liquor, much to Tasia's dismay. Eli got up and led Thirty downstairs and away from Aijah.
"I break up with him to avoid drama, and he still manages to bring it into my life even though we're not even fucking together." Aijah spat, throwing back almost the entire glass of liquor and cringing at the burning feeling as it went down her throat.
"Woah woah," Tasia tried reaching for Aijah's almost-empty glass of alcohol but she moved her hand out of the way, pouring another glass full.
"I fucking hate him," Aijah spoke, taking another large gulp of liquor.
"And fuck Trinity for not only fucking him, but not sparing me the details either. This whole time.." she shook her head, taking another drink, "this whole time, that was the sneaky link she was going on about. My ex was her sneaky link!"
"She didn't know babe," Tasia tried reasoning and once again reaching for Aijah's glass but missing it, "she's not like that. We know Trini.."
"Do I?" Aijah gave her a pointed look that made Tasia slightly slouch back in her seat defeatedly. Just as Aijah was pouring her third glass, a familiar laugh filled the section and she felt like banging her head against the wall.
"Just what I fucking need." She scoffed to herself, looking up and seeing Rell dapping some boys who stood near Samiron up. His eyes met hers and he immediately recognized the hurt in her face and he wondered who inflicted it on her. But before she could get too lost in thought, he looked away casually, going around the section and greeting everyone.
"Where Mari at? And Savior" Rell asked, looking around like they were going to magically appear.
"Both of 'em left." Duck spoke with his arm hooked around Tasia's neck. Rell's eyebrows raised at his response and he look at Samiron for some type of explanation, but he was too busy staring off the balcony to notice him.
"Hm." Rell mumbled to himself, deciding he'd ask questions later. He took a seat across from Samiron, leaning forward on his knees and picking up one of the glasses of Negroni that the bottle girls had brought up.
Bringing the glass to his lips, Rell looked up and couldn't miss Aijah pouring what seemed like the 10th glass of liquor he's seen her have since he stepped foot upstairs. Samiron kept moving the bottles away from her, but there were so many laid out across the table that she'd just take another one and pour herself a new glass, not carrying about the fact that all of the drinks were starting to taste the same.
Rell quirked an eyebrow and studied Aijah as the citrusy taste of Gin filled his mouth. Aijah was never a reckless drinker. Being the party animal she is, she'd never pass up a drink. But usually by her fifth or sixth drink, the increasingly bitter taste of alcohol would make her call it quits. But that wasn't the case right now. She was being reckless and Rell could tell by the way she kept pausing her movements and zoning out, she was close to hitting the edge.
"Aijah don't you think that's enough?" Tasia grabbed the almost empty bottle of Bacardi and slid it across the table from them. Rell caught it, watching Aijah's eyes follow the bottle as he moved it safely on the other side of him.
"Come on Tasia." Aj pouted and slightly slurred. When Tasia gave her a hard look she let out an annoyed breath and leaned back onto the couch. She followed the smoke with her eyes as it left Samiron's parted lips and floated upwards. She looked back down and found Rell studying her again. But when she caught him, he instantly looked away with the glass to his lips making her roll her eyes.
"Let's dance." Aijah shot up from the couch so quick that Samiron had to put his arm out to make sure she didn't crash right into the glass table in front of them. Aijah giggled and steadied herself before grabbing Tasia's hand and walking them out of the section.
Rell turned his head to the side, following the pair with his eyes until they safely got to the bottom of the staircase before turning back around. He and Samiron locked eyes, and all he could do was shake his head with the blunt resting between his lips.
"Is someone gon' explain anything to me? Why Thirty look so mad downstairs? And why is Mari gone? And why is Aijah about to crash out?" Rell shot out question after question.
Duck leaned forward, taking the blunt Samiron was handing him before leaning back onto the couch again. "Savior finally stood up to Samiron and they went back and forth over it. Savior tried to fight but it didn't happen and Mari basically had to drag him out of the club."
Rell jerked his head back. "He finally tried to beat your ass?" He asked Samiron who felt like the shock on his face wasn't necessary. "What did you say to him? I would've punched the fuck out of you a long time ago if I was him. He's definitely better than me."
"All I told him was the truth; that he needed to humble himself and remember that Mari was moaning my name religiously at one point. Nigga likes to act like he's the only man that ever had her when in reality, whatever the fuck they got goin' on doesn't amount to what we shared, and he knows that for a fact." Samiron shrugged, standing on everything he told Savior.
It was so easy for Samiron to throw shots at Savior and his "relationship" because he simply didn't consider it to be one. Mari and Samiron had a love and a relationship that's so hard to find nowadays. They weren't consumed with their image, and instead, were consumed with each other. They shared a love that couldn't be tainted no matter what they went through or how close to death they both got.
Over time, Samiron's love for Mari only grew and vice versa. It was so easy for him to declare that Mari would one day carry his last name because he really couldn't see himself growing old with anyone else.
Mari was his endgame and he truly believed that god put him through obstacle after obstacle, trial after trial, so that he could finally find her.
It was obvious in Samiron's eyes that Savior and Mari didn't share the same love he once shared with her and it was impossible for her to ever share that with anyone else. So that knowledge that Savior's relationship with Mari was weaker than the one he had with her? It gave him all the confidence he didn't need to talk his shit to Savior whenever and wherever.
"Damn." Rell spoke with a chuckle, taking a sip of his drink. He wasn't surprised with his best friend's actions because Samiron was never one to not speak his mind. And when it came to Mari? Samiron always vocalized his feelings. Whether that be about how much he loved her, how he felt about her relationship — everyone knows how Samiron felt, they just didn't know what was going on in his head.
"And don't forget to mention the bottle girl you were flirting with in front of everyone's face." Duck gave Samiron a knowing look before leaning over and holding the blunt out to Rell.
Rell laughed aloud, taking the blunt from Duck. "Oh y'all better not be talking 'bout who I think y'all talking 'bout." He snickered.
Samiron just rolled his eyes, briefly looking up when Eli stumbled back towards the couches. "It's Malika ain't it?" Rell smirked at Samiron who just looked back towards the balcony in response.
Rell laughed at his reaction and followed his eyes to see what he was staring at. A one-person stage lit up with purple and blue lights could be seen off the balcony. He wasn't surprised to see that Malika was the one on the stage. She was in different attire than the bottle girl uniform he saw her in about 30 minutes ago. Her back faced the audience as she held onto the pole and squatted down, flipping her long hair and giving the men near the stage an eye-full.
"I can't blame you. She's fine as hell." Rell spoke after looking away from the stage to watch Samiron's eyes.
Samiron raised his eyebrows and pursed his lips to the side, silently agreeing with Rell's statement as he brought the blunt to his lips for the second time. There was no denying that not only was Malika beautiful, but her personality and the way she carried herself was intriguing to him.
Duck stared at the two and chuckled under his breath before looking up to see Tasia climbing the stairs as quick as she could in her black Bottega Veneta stretch heels.
"Aijah is down there going off. Me and the twins are trying to calm her down but she's just going off." Tasia spoke in between breaths.
Samiron and Duck sighed to themselves and stood up. Duck walked to Tasia and told her to lead the way but Samiron paused when he saw that Rell was still seated.
"Get up." Samiron looked at him stupidly. Rell shook his head in response, avoiding his eyes. "What are you shaking your head for nigga?"
"That's y'all problem to deal with. I told Aijah I was getting up off her and I can't do that if I'm at her side every time something happens." Rell tried to reason but Samiron wasn't going for it.
"You can still be there for her and do all that "loving at a distant" shit you were telling her about. Now get up because you know her better than us, I don't know how to deal with Aijah."
❦
whew
w/c; 6699