January 5th 2023
Dallas, Texas
2:24 pm
Amina fell deep into her thoughts as she swept the floors of her suite. After seeing her layers, her clients immediately began to request the same hairstyle. Which meant her shears were being put to use, having her sweep more fallen hair than usual. Jill Scott's "Comes to light" played lowly in the background, which ironically fit her mood.
A knock on her opened door caught her attention, she looked up to see Pharaoh standing in the frame of her door. "You ate yet?" He questioned.
Amina shook her head no, "What you planning on getting?" She questioned as she dumped the dust pan's debris into the trash. Within the past couple of days the two began to eat lunch together. A side of Ro's marketing for his photography was taking photos at local restaurants, occasionally he'd review the food as well for his instagram page that he had pretty good traction on thanks to a few of his videos reaching Twitter.
"This soul food spot I found yesterday." He replied. Soul food always sounded good to her, so she was down. "Alright—just get me whatever you're getting." Amina spoke as she grabbed her phone and sat in her waiting area.
"Bet...you gon' do the video with me?" He questioned. Amina slightly twisted her face up before chuckling, "Oh, I don't know about that—I'm best behind the camera." She replied as she stuck a piece of her hair behind her ear.
Ro chuckled, "C'mon Amina." He spoke, "I'll think about it while you're gone." Amina replied. She looked down at her phone and noticed it was ringing with a call from Melo, the two reconciled on New Year's Eve when he texted her happy new year. She continued her conversation with Ro and made a mental note to call Melo back in a second.
"Alright and you drinking sweet tea, right?" He questioned, "Yeah, but if they have red Kool aid, I'll do that." Amina replied. Pharaoh nodded his head before stepping out of the doorframe and leaving the building. Meanwhile, Amina grabbed her phone out of her lap and pressed the missed call notification to call Melo back. A few rings in, he answered the call.
"Wassup." He greeted, "Nothing...at work." Amina replied as she toyed with her thumb ring that read blessed on it.
"My in law told me she scheduled an appointment with you." Melo announced, Amina lightly smiled. "Yeah, she comes tomorrow." She replied.
"She good people, I think y'all gon' mesh." Melo replied. Amina didn't doubt that Allure was good people, especially after the short interactions they had at her home last month. "What you doing?" Amina questioned, changing the subject.
"I just left a meeting...I'm finna see if I can get me a fade real quick." Melo explained, Amina nodded her head as if he could see her. Melo was always in and out of meetings, since his job required it. Being an angel investor meant he was always listening to people's business plans and deciding on if he wanted to fund the business in exchange for equity.
"What's the business plan?" Amina questioned. She was always curious to hear the ideas people came up with. Some were smart and some were...creative to say the least. "A drive through beauty supply store." Melo replied.
"That's nice—you should invest in it, I know for a fact it would go crazy in the right location." Amina replied. "I know—I'm definitely leaning towards it." Melo spoke.
"I don't think it would take long to get customers either." Amina spoke as she held her hand out in front of her, it was definitely time to stop at the nail shop. She planned on inviting Chalyn out for a little nail date sometime this week. "What color should I get on my nails?" Amina questioned as she eyed her other hand, a few moments passed before she realized that he hadn't replied.
"Hello? Rasha—" Amina quickly cut herself off once she noticed what she said. "Fuck you just call me?" Melo instantly replied, causing Amina to grow hot. She couldn't believe she fucked up like that. She was speaking to Melo, but Rashad was heavily on her mind since they hadn't spoken since she left the club that night.
"My fault...I was thinking about something else." Amina spoke, attempting not show that she fucked up. "Who the fuck is Rashad, Amina?" Melo questioned, causing her to sigh.
"Somebody that I know." Amina honestly replied, "Nigga dry on your mind—I guess though." Melo angrily chuckled. Amina wasn't studying Melo's ass, Rashad was heavy on her mind now that she spoke him up. Her phone made a slight beeping noise, which caused her to look down. Ro was calling her on Instagram.
"What the hell—let me call you back." Amina spoke, she abruptly ended the call without waiting for Melo's response. "Hello?" She answered Ro's call.
"Amina." He called out, speaking into the speaker before pushing the phone into his ear. "Yeah?" Amina questioned.
"They don't have red Kool aid—they got purple though, or you still want the sweet tea?" Ro questioned, loud enough to be heard over the music playing in the restaurant. "Purple is fine." Amina answered.
"Alright—oh, and I know only weirdos be calling people on instagram, I just ain't wanna bring you the wrong drink." Ro explained. Amina let out a small chuckle before replying, "It's fine."
"I'll be back in a second." He announced. Amina nodded her head before ending the call, she went a few spots down her call log and pressed Chalyn's contact. Instead of pushing the phone to her ear, she put the phone on speaker.
"MiMi!" Chalyn exclaimed, causing Amina to chuckle. "You at the suite?" She followed up.
"Yeah—girl why I justcalled Melo Rashad." Amina announced, not being able to contain what happened to herself. "Bitchhhh." Chalyn chuckled.
"And what his cry baby ass say?" She questioned, Amina sighed as she ran her fingers through her hair. "Girl, he was like what the fuck you just call me." She spoke.
"And what you say?" Chalyn asked, "I told him Rashad is somebody I know." Amina explained.
"Well...I mean, that is true—the real question is why is Rashad so heavy on your mind." Chalyn spoke, Amina could picture the smirk her friend was doing and it made her chuckle. As of right now, Chalyn still didn't know about anything that was going on between her and Rashad. Chalyn was an open book when it came to Amina and on top of that she wore her heart on her sleeve. Amina loved Chalyn as a friend, and didn't want her to think that Amina wasn't reciprocating.
"Are you sitting down Chalyn?" Amina dramatically questioned. Chalyn let out a small chuckle, "Yes—let's not do the theatrics MiMi, my blood pressure been up for the past two weeks." She replied, causing Amina to laugh.
"Okay—I went to New York with Rashad for Christmas." Amina started until Chalyn cut her off, "Oh, I figured that." She voiced.
Amina furrowed her eyebrows together, "How?" She glanced out the window and noticed Ro's Dodge Challenger pulling up, right next to her Audi. "I went to Blue's on Christmas Eve and overheard the niggas behind the bar talking about how Rashad was in New York...I don't know how but I put the pieces together when you told me you were outta town, it clicked foreal when you started posting shit from New York a week later." Chalyn explained.
"So how was it?" Chalyn asked. Amina figured she would hold out on telling her friend about the intimacy she had with Rashad, one step at a time was fine for now. And sharing the details of her sex life was still taboo for her. "It was nice...he showed me around Harlem and stuff." Amins replied. Soon, Pharaoh walked through the door with their food and drinks.
"Imma call you when I get off, alright?" Amina voiced, "Alright." Chalyn replied.
"Wait! Let me know when you wanna go to the nail shop." Amina rushed to speak before Chalyn could end the call, "We can go Wednesday." Chalyn spoke.
"Alright." Amina nodded her head. The girls said their goodbyes once more before hanging up. Ro sat a black styrofoam container in front of her, along with a clear to go cup. Amina wasted 0 time opening the plate to reveal her food. Inside the plate was catfish, chicken tetrazzini, and collard greens. Interesting mix of foods, but Amina wasn't complaining.
"Let me see what I'm looking like before I get on this camera." Amina mumbled as she got up and headed toward the mirror. She was dressed casually in a bathing ape jacket, a pair of leggings, and a pair of tall sunburst uggs on her feet. Amina quickly toyed with her hair before joining Ro back in her waiting area.
"You straight? You seem a lil down." Ro voiced as he set up his phone on the tripod. "I'm good...I just fucked up and called this nigga another nigga name." Amina replied.
"Damn." Ro chuckled, "A real P ain't posed to mix they folks up." He added. Once his phone was propped up, he started taking a few shots with his cannon.
"So which one is more important?" He questioned, Amina sighed. "The one who's name I called." She truthfully answered, Ro nodded his head.
"Happens to the best of us—you can't help who's on your mind." He replied. Amina half shrugged as she nodded her head. "Call him." Ro suggested, causing Amina to furrow her eyebrows together.
"I have a theory that when somebody's on your mind, it's for a reason." Ro added. Amina slowly nodded her head, "I agree." She reached for her straw and poked it into the top of the to go cup, she gently swirled it around before taking a few short sips. The Kool aid had the perfect balance of sweet, Amina hated drinks that were super sweet, so this worked.
"It's a function kinda kickback thing I'm fading this weekend—you should stop by, get yourself outta this lil funk." Ro suggested. Amina slightly made her face up, "I'm not really a kickback kinda girl Ro." She replied, taking another sip of her drink.
Ro nodded his head, "it won't hurt to try again, with some new people." He spoke as he adjusted his ring light. "You ready?" He questioned.
"I'm ready." Amina replied as she toyed with her hair for the last time.
January 5th 2023
Dallas, Texas
3:15 pm
Rashad watched as the water hit the plant as he poured it from the ceramic plant watering can he recently purchased. By now, he could eyeball the amounts. So once he deemed the water amount as enough, he moved onto the next plant.
A knock on his door caught his attention. He wasn't expecting any guests, so it was a surprise to him. After brief thought, he only imagined it to be Amina, so he sat the watering can down and marched over to the door before swinging it open. Only to not see Amina, instead it was Cass. "I was wondering if you got the pdf I sent you...I know I gave you the actual book, but you said you're busy...so." Cass announced, slyly trying to get a peek inside of his apartment.
"You wanted to know if I got the pdf...so you popped up at my house?" Rashad raised his eyebrow. He watched as nervousness flushed Cass' face, her cheeks turned red as she licked her lips.
"I can admit I missed you—can I come in?" She questioned, inching closer to him. "Look Cass, we can be friends, but I'm not fuckin you." Rashad announed, already knowing where her head was—or in this case, wanted to be.
Cass knit her eyebrows together as her face fell into a grimace. "W-why not? What's changed so..suddenly?" She questioned.
Rashad shrugged, "I just can't." He replied in a monotone manner.
Cass laughed as she shook her head, "I don't wanna be your friend Rashad!" She screamed, "Yo—chillout, I got neighbors." Rashad attempted to quiet her down.
"I settled for being a piece of ass because I wanted to be your girlfriend Rashad! You shitting on me again!" She fussed, Rashad stood there watching her carry on. "I just wanna be friends Cass..respect that." He finally replied.
"We been friends, friends that fuck. You never had any intentions on being with me." She shook her head, a single tear dropped from her eye, causing her to wipe it away. "So it shouldn't be much for you to adjust then." Rashad replied.
Cass looked at him in disbelief, "How can you sit in my face and treat me like this? Like I mean nothing?" She spoke, "I love you Rashad and I'd never treat you like this." She added.
"You doing all this cause I don't wanna fuck you? You deadass feenin'. Sittin here tight over some dick, shit dumb." Rashad replied, clearly very irritated.
"Because I know what that means." Cass sniffled, Rashad ran his tongue over his top row of teeth. "We cool, Aight? We just not fuckin no more. I'll still slide you a synopsis of your book though." He voiced. Rashad knew he handled his in bed, but damn. Cass was putting on a full on play, he figured that was the poet in her.
Cass sniffled once again, "Thanks." She spoke as she toyed with her fingers. "I really love you Rashad." She assured once more, Rashad nodded his head.
"I'll see you Cass." He replied. He could tell she had much more to say, but decided against it. She turned around and walked down the hall. Meanwhile, Rashad walked back into his home and continued doing what he was doing.
January 5th 2022
Dallas, Texas
9:38 pm
A feeling of relief came over Amina as she slid into her bed. She had to admit this was her favorite part of the day. Her clean body hitting her sheets, right after finishing dinner. She knew she wasn't supposed to lay down exactly after eating, but she couldn't help it. Itis always hit hard.
The lingering smell of Rashad hit her nose from her sheets. It was a mix of whatever laundry detergent he used, and also one of his go to fragrances, Creed Aventus. Much like him, the scent made her feel comfortable. Giving her memories of him laying beside her, occasionally pulling her closer throughout the night.
Reaching out first or at all wasnt an issue for Amina, she was just contemplating what to say. The fear on the man's face was very unsettling to her, it was clear that Rashad was very cutthroat when it came to that line of work, but to see it in action had her taken back. This was a situation that she never saw herself being in, so she wasn't really sure on how to handle it.
Damn, Amina thought to herself. She was very firm on not letting a hood nigga come near her about six months ago, now here she was, very involved with a hood nigga. Before she knew it, she was slowly drifting to sleep. She unknowingly held her large throw pillow allowing it to take the place of Rashad.
January 6th 2023
Dallas, Texas
11:58 am
Amina held an engrossed look as she threaded the needles for her next appointment, which happened to be a traditional sew in. Threading needles always caused for her full attention, pushing the thread through the needle was always a task—mainly because of how thin both items were.
"GoodMorning." A voice called out, causing Amina to look up. In front of her was Allure, wearing a big smile on her face. "GoodMorning." Amina smiled back as she removed the cape off of her seat.
"I'm sorry I'm a little late, I got caught up with work." Allure explained as she sat in the chair. Once Amina realized her hair was was free from any ponytail holders, she tapped her shoulder twice and motioned over toward the wash bowl. Once at the bowl, Amina snapped the cape around Allure's neck and eased her back, so her head would be in the wash bowl.
"What do you do for work?" Amina questioned, she realized that never came up at their house last month. "I own two businesses with my best friend, Maiya. A candle company and a kids clothing store—before then, I was a registered nurse." Allure explained, Amina nodded her head. She figured it had to be something along those lines due to how luxurious her lifestyle was.
"That's amazing, I don't have kids. But I'd really like to support the candles." Amina replied as she worked the shampoo through Allure's natural tresses. "It's called Asear—located in Highland Park." Allure replied.
"Now that I think about it, I feel like I've been. Y'all offer custom candle making, right?" Amina furrowed her eyebrows together, "Yea." Allure answered.
"Oh yeah, I've been before—small world." Amina chuckled, causing Allure to do the same. Soon, Allure's phone began to ring. She extended her arms up so she could see and answer the call while she was laid back. "Babe." A deep voice called out from the other side of the phone, Amina couldn't help but to slightly look up. She caught a glimpse of both Melo's best friend and Allure's youngest baby, who appeared to be about 4 months old.
"Yeah." Allure replied, "Look at Snooks outfit." Kyren chuckled, causing Allure to do the same.
"My baby look so cute." Allure cooed, "Don't forget her coat." She added.
"Never—you know I do this daddy shit." He replied. Amina smiled at that comment, she loved seeing men be genuinely happy about being fathers. "Y'all going to the office?" Allure questioned, Kyren nodded his head no.
"We got some business to handle—a special lady in our life birthday coming up." Kyren replied, Allure chuckled. "Did Klo tell you what I wanted for my birthday?" She asked. Amina was all smiles listening to the conversation, she didn't know too many married couples, so this was a delight for her. Their conversation ceased and Amina finished off washing and conditioning Allure's hair before they returned to Amina's chair.
Amina decided to blow dry Allure's hair, rather than sitting her under the dryer since her hair wasn't super thick. She sectioned it off in four sections before starting the blow drying process. Once she was done, she began to braid Allure's hair down in a beehive pattern.
To Amina's surprise, Allure was very quiet. She didn't know if she expected them to talk the whole time, but that wasn't the case. She barely looked at her phone either, Amina at the very least was expecting some Melo questions, but they never came. She just assumed Allure was a quiet client, and that was fine with her. Amina had her hair neatly braided down in under 30 minutes, leaving room for her middle part leave out. Allure would switch her attention between her phone and the episode of married to medicine that Amina had playing on the TV.
Allure's phone sounded, causing her to pull it from under the cape. She let out a small chuckle as she began to type, her acrylic nails sounded against the glass screen as she typed. "Why Melo just text me and ask me if I'm getting my hair done." She announced.
"Call him." Amina suggested. She hadn't spoken to Melo since she accidentally called him Rashad, throughout their short time being acquainted, she learned that he didn't stay mad for long—so he was probably over it by now.
Allure pressed the FaceTime icon and watched as the phone ring. Shortly, Melo appeared on the screen. "Look who I'm with!" Allure exclaimed in a sing song tone.
"Damn in law, you wasn't gon' warn me or nothing—got me in the camera looking crazy." Melo spoke, causing the girls to chuckle.
"I thought you was going to get a fade yesterday." Amina spoke up, attempting to see if he was still mad. "The line was too long and I ain't feel like waiting." Melo replied as he brushed his hand over his grown out waves, Amina nodded her head.
"Don't let that sweet shit fool you Lu—she be doing me wrong." Melo replied, Amina dramatically gapped her mouth open before chuckling. "I don't believe it, She's literally the sweetest." Allure replied.
"Thank you." Amina continued to chuckle, Melo jokingly shook his head. "I ain't trynna hold y'all up, I'll call you later Amina." He spoke.
"Alright." Amina quickly freed her hand to send him a wave that was paired with a smile. "Alright Melo." Allure spoke before ending the call, her attention immediately went back to the TV. A hour and a half later, Amina had Allure's bundles sew in and prepared for styling. She planned on giving Allure some bombshell curls since she voiced that styling was in Amina's hands. Amina figured you couldn't go wrong with curls.
Amina worked her babyliss flat iron through the brand new virgin bundles, setting them with silver clips as she went along. About 15 minutes later, the styling was complete. Amina removed the silver clips and used a wide tooth comb to separate the curls. She topped it off with some hairspray before removing the cape from Allure's neck and turned her toward the mirror.
"Oh yeah." Allure spoke as she toyed with her fresh curls, Amina simply smiled, knowing that she was feeling herself. "I found me a new stylist!" She exclaimed, making Amina chuckle. Of course Amina couldn't let her go without getting content for her hair page. Allure expressed her gratitude verbally and with a tip before leaving the suite. Regardless of her relationship or lack there of with Melo, Amina still could appreciate Allure as a client.