February 14th 2023
Dallas, Texas
10:17 am
Amina adjusted her purse as she walked into the building. She didn't intend on working on Valentine's Day, but one of her valuable clients called and asked if she could be squeezed in. She offered to add $200 to the price of her service and who was Amina to turn that down? Amina grabbed the key to her suite from the pocket of her letterman jacket and unlocked her door. She took a step inside and turned on the light before going any further. Everything was just how she left it, clean and in its correct spot.
She connected to her speaker and pressed a random playlist to fill in the silence. Next, Amina started to prep for her one and only client. She was getting a wig install, so Amina laid out her glue, a melt band,and a bald cap. She plugged in her hot comb and set it to its hottest setting.
"GoodMorning." A voice called from behind her, causing her to turn around. There stood her client, Khloe. She held her wig in a satin bag in one hand and in her other hand was her phone and a can of Celsius. "GoodMorning." Amina smiled. Once Khloe sat down, Amina buttoned the cape around her neck.
"I was gonna ask if you can still customize my wig even though my appointment was so out the blue." Khloe spoke, Amina nodded her head yes. "Of course—I wouldn't have you walking around with no uncustomized wig on your head." She chuckled at the thought of it.
Khloe chuckled as she handed her the satin bag, "Thought I was gon' have to walk around like I threw the wig in the air and caught it with my head." She spoke.
Amina laughed a bit harder, "Girl." She spoke as she began to mix her bleach and developer. She always had a little voice in her head reminding her to make sure the bleach mixture was thick instead of the normal consistency. "Awww." Khloe sang, Amina turned around and laid eyes on what Khloe was fawning over. There stood Rashad with a large bouquet of flowers, a large bear, and a small James Avery bag. A smile fell onto Amina's lips as she dropped what she was doing and walked closer to him.
"Thank you baby." Amina spoke as Rashad pulled her into an embrace, she slightly stood on her toes to place a kiss on his lips. "How many roses is this?" Amina questioned, overtaken with how big the arrangement was.
"200." Rashad proudly answered, causing Amina to lightly chuckle. "Thank you Suge—I really wasn't expecting anything." Amina spoke. Rashad furrowed his eyebrows together before kissing his teeth and slightly moving his head back.
"Trippin—it's more stuff at the crib too, read the card mama." Rashad spoke. Amina used her free hand to grab the small white card that was tucked into the roses.
Happy Valentine's Day mama
You + Me
Tonight at 8:30
Love,
Suge
Amina held a smile as she stuck the card back into the flower arrangement, she leaned in and kissed his lips once more. Amina honestly wasn't expecting anything out of fear of not receiving anything, she quickly realized it was only a case of her bring wrapped in her anxieties."Thank you again." Amina spoke, she watched him with a soft smirk. Her eyes were filled with lasciviousness. Rashad was dressed very comfortably in a Palace racer jacket and a pair of cargos. Amina could tell he was going home after he left, and going straight to sleep. Since he was wearing his Birkenstock Boston clogs—he only wore those when he wasn't gonna be out long.
"My bad miss—imma give her back in a second." Rashad announced to Khloe, she chuckled and slightly waved her hand, indicating that it was okay. "Let me see you open up the James Avery before I go." Rashad instructed. Amina sat down the flowers and grabbed the small orange shopping bag that Rashad was handing to her. She removed the box from the bag and slowly removed the top. In the small dust bag was a brand new bracelet with two charms. The floral bouquet charm and the two peas in a pod charm.
"Awww." Amina sang as she chuckled, "I love it." She announced, causing Rashad to smile. "I know you said your other bracelet filled, so I got you a new one and imma fill it up with charms that represent us." Rashad explained.
"That's so sweet." Amina spoke as she watched Rashad connect the bracelet to her wrist. "Bling bling bling, bitches is mad." Amina joked as she held up her wrist, quoting her favorite housewife Nene Leaks.
"Imma let you get back to work, Aight mama?" Rashad announced, Amina nodded her head. The two shared one more kiss before Rashad departed the suite and Amina stepped back over to her client.
"I hate my nigga." Khloe randomly announced, Amina furrowed her eyebrows together before bursting into laughter. "Come on, so I can wash your hair." Amina instructed as she traveled over to the wash bowl. A smile was fixed onto her face as she thought about the start of her Valentine's Day. She couldn't help but to wonder what was to come, where they were going, and what was the other stuff he got for her.
All the Valentine's Day thoughts reminded Amina to check on the delivery that she had in route for Chalyn. She knew holidays like this one could highlight whatever issue you had pertaining to the holiday. She didn't want her friend to spiral into being sad about Dell or the situation that they left off on. Valentine's Day wasn't exclusive to lovers, everybody deserved a little pick me up today.
Once Khloe's hair was washed and conditioned, Amina sat her under the dryer so she could work on customizing the wig. She rinsed the bleach off the lace and toned it before giving it a moderate dry with her blow dryer, following by sitting the wig on the mannequin head and plucking to closely mimic Khloe's hair line.
February 15th 2023
Dallas, Texas
2:05 am
Amina eyes rolled to the back of her head as Rashad plunged in and out of her, soft moans escaped from her mouth as the pleasure roamed all over her body, even making her toes tingle. They'd been going at it since they got back home, for hours on end Rashad filled Amina up and drained her, aiding her in having multiple orgasms. Rashad sat Amina's legs on his shoulders, making the feeling even more fervent.
Amina mindlessly sat her hand on Rashad's lower stomach, he pinned her down and buried his face in the crook of her neck, giving it a slow passionate kiss and he continued to stroke in and out of her. Amina sunk her nails into Rashad's chiseled back, in attempt to combat the elation. Her mouth gapped open and her body began to tremble as she reached her climax. Rashad's strokes slowed down as he reached his, he pulled his face out of Amina's neck and placed his eyes on her.
Oddly, as Amina's euphoric high came down, she began to fall into a realization. She figured Rashad noticed, because he pushed his lips onto hers, pulling them into a French kiss. He placed his hand around Amina's neck, allowing his pointer finger to rest on her chin. "I love you." He announced, causing Amina to weakly smile. "I love you too." She replied before giving his lips a peck. They stared at each other, without saying a word. Only assuming what was going through each other's minds.
"I gotta pee." Amina announced as she lightly tapped his bicep. Signaling for him to get up. Rashad removed himself from on top of her, freeing her from his hold. Amina went into the bathroom without bothering to turn on the light. She sat on the toilet and stared into the darkness in front of her. Before she knew it, a cluster of tears began to roll down her face. She wiped them away, attempting to sniffle quiet enough to not alarm Rashad. As quiet as she tried to keep herself, the harder she began to cry. She sat her head in her hands and quietly sobbed, causing her shoulders to move up and down in the process.
A few moments later, Amina pulled herself together the best way she could. She finished her business before standing at the sink to wash her hands. She wiped her eyes and let out a melancholy sigh as she returned to the bed. It seemed as if as soon as Amina's body hit the sheets, Rashad sat his head on her chest. Amina tucked her bottom lip as she stared into space. A single tear fell from her eye, coincidentally falling right onto Rashad's head.
February 16th 2023
Dallas, Texas
2:14 am
"We playing this next one for the boss man!" The DJ called out. Shortly, thong song by Sisqó began to play, causing Rashad to laugh. He stuck up his middle finger before the words "Fuck you." Flew out of his mouth. His new blonde tips created an ongoing joke at the club, that had the staff comparing him to Sisqó.
Rashad downed the last of his cranberry juice before dropping the cup off at the bar. He was in route to his office until his body collided with another body. Once they pulled away, he realized it was Cass. She held a grimace on her face as she grilled him. "My fault." Rashad spoke as he continued to near his office door. The footsteps behind him indicated that she was following him.
"Rashad." She sneered. Rashad had no intentions of turning around, he opened the door to his office and attempted to close it behind him but Cass put her foot in way of the opening. "What Cassidy, damn." Rashad fussed. She ran her tongue over her top row of teeth as her eyes started to get misty.
"Why are you doing this to me? It's like I don't exist." She spoke as she folded her arms across her chest. "I'm not doing anything to you—I haven't seen you in months." Rashad replied.
"That whole be friends bullshit was because you started messing with that girl, huh?" She questioned, not bothering to let Rashad speak before she started again. "You take her out, but you never did that for me—what do she have that I don't, why does she get a side of you that I didn't, despite me loving you more." Rashad remained silent as he eyed Cass. In his eyes, this was mad crazy and dramatic. He was starting to realize how a lot of women set themselves up for heartbreak. How could you feel so deeply about a man that never took you out?
"And you don't have nothing to say?" She sniffled as she wiped her eyes. Rashad shook his head no, "Sorry to say Cass, but I just don't see where you coming from. You talking like I betrayed you, but I told you what it was when we first met—you only started this after I met Amina." He finally spoke.
"Look at how you're treating me because of her Rashad! You think that shit is right!" She screamed. "Cmon yo, you doing too much with all this screaming." Rashad slightly made up his face as he shook his head.
"Aye Shad—we need change at the bar." One of the bartenders announced as he came around the corner, "Aight, I got you." Rashad replied, slightly nodding his head. He fixed his attention on Cass, who was continuously wiping her eyes.
"It don't even matter." She spoke as she shook her head in disbelief, "You don't care." Cass softly shrugged her shoulders. She began to walk away, but briefly stopped and turned on her heels. "Did you even ever care, or was I just a piece of ass?" She questioned.
"Care about what Cass? I wasn't with you—this telenovela shit you doing got you forgetting facts." Rashad spoke, now fully irritated. He turned around his headed into his office to get the chance for the bar. Once he came back out, he was relieved to see that Cass was no longer there.
February 19th 2023
Dallas, Texas
11:45 am
Amina zipped up her coat before draping the strap to her small Chanel classic over her body, "You coming with us Ro?" Amina questioned to Ro who's attention was all into the banana pudding that he was eating from the barbecue place they ate for lunch. Them being Amina, Chalyn, and Ro. These days, Chalyn was stopping by more often to have lunch with them.
"Naw—I'm good." Ro replied as he scraped the side of the small plastic container with his spoon. Amina furrowed her eyebrows together, "Why not?" She questioned.
"Cause...y'all be doing girly shit. I ain't trynna walk around Ulta for hours." He answered, causing both Amina and Chalyn to laugh. "It's worse for us—the hoes be looking at us funny thinking one of us is with you." Amina spoke. She stepped into the mirror and toyed with her hair.
"He can't go where we're going anyway." Chalyn chimed in. Hearing her say that made Amina realize that Chalyn never stated where they were going, so she asked. "Where we going?"
"It's a secret." Chalyn giddily replied. Amina grabbed her phone off of the charger before heading back over to her waiting area. "I'll see y'all—be safe." Pharaoh spoke as the trio headed out of the door.
"You too Roro." Amina spoke. While Ro went to the right, Chalyn and Amina went to the left and out of the building. A few steps later, they were hopping into Chalyn's vehicle. The fragrant smell of a bath and body works car fragrance hit Amina's nose. Amina wasn't a big fan of these kinds of things since they were major endocrine disrupters, but she had to admit that this one smelt good. She was easily picking up a floral and a powdery note.
"Ugh—I'm so mad I ate that fuckin food. I hate people that smell that brisket." Chalyn randomly voiced, causing Amina to laugh. "It's people that smell like syrup for me." Amina chimed in.
"Shit remind me of when my mama used to send me and brothers to the country for the summer." Chalyn spoke, her face was turned up in disgust, which was comical to Amina. "You looked real cute on your story yesterday." Amina voiced, smiling at her friend.
"Thanks darling—I had just left court." Chalyn replied. "Hit this car and imma show you something." She added, getting into a bit of road range. Amina could tell her friend was fresh out of court in the photos she put on her Instagram story. Just as discussed, she had sickening Edna bob, a Marina Rinaldi pantsuit, and the Saint Laurent brief case that Amina gifted her for Valentine's Day.
"Mimi on the bob." Chalyn boasted, shaking her head, making Amina jest as she watched. "What's your name b.o.b, so they calling you bob?" Amina recited the Nicki Minaj lyric.
"Stop playing nigga, you know that I'm known for the bob." Chalyn finished the lyric. The girls continued to prattle all the way to their destination. They were so deep into conversation, Amina didn't realize how far out they were until just so happened to glance up at the traffic sign.
"Chalyn, where the hell are we going?" Amina questioned. She placed her eyes back on her friend to see her smiling. "I'll tell you since we're close now—I'm gonna freeze my eggs." Chalyn announced.
Amina furrowed her eyebrows together, "Freeze your eggs..why?" She questioned, curiously wondering. "Because Mina—my birthday kinda sparked something in me. I'm 29 and biological clocks usually stop ticking at 35, I'm not sure what those 5 years have in store for me, so I rather be safe than sorry." Chalyn explained. Amina nodded her head as she listened, she had to admit it was a pretty logical thing to do.
"That's actually really smart Cha. How many are you freezing?" Amina questioned. "They say 20 eggs gives you an 85% chance of having at least one child, so I'll do 40." Chalyn answered.
"Wow...I'm considering it now too." Amina spoke. She heard plenty stories of women who waited to have their children and ended up unable to conceive, but she also heard plenty stories of women had conceived while damn near in their 50s and had healthy babies. All in all, she figured the safest thing to do was freeze your eggs.
"Really? I still feel like Harlem gon' take you out the game." Chalyn spoke, calling Rashad by the sobriquet she'd randomly given him after seeing the Harlem mural in Blue's. Amina lowly sighed, not sure how she felt about that statement. "How was Valentine's Day?" Chalyn quizzed, making a smile fall onto Amina's face.
"It was nice—he got me this bracelet." Amina spoke as she held up her wrist. "He brought me a bouquet and a bear to my suite when he gave me the bracelet. Later that night we ended up riding in a gondola to this French restaurant for dinner. After dinner we went back to his place and he got me a new MacBook since I mentioned to him that mine kept overheating and turning off." Amina explicated.
"Awww." Chalyn cooed, "A gondola? That's so romantic." She added, causing Amina to lightly smile.
"I thought you knew since he got the cookie cake from you." Amina spoke, Chalyn shook her head no. "We actually didn't talk at all when he came to get it." Chalyn spoke.
Amina briefly chuckled, "Really?" She questioned. "Yeah, the bakery was busy and besides...imma lil scared of him." Chalyn replied.
"Girl—why?" Amina continued to chuckle. "It seems like he's only nice to you. He must've been a Sargent in his past life cause he so serious, like ain't shit funny to him." Chalyn spoke. Although Amina was laughing, it dawned on her that nobody really knew Rashad how she did. To know him was to truly love him and she was glad that she was able to do both.
February 20th 2023
Dallas, Texas
4:44 pm
"My ear tingling—somebody talking shit about me." Amina randomly announced, causing Rashad to lightly chuckle. At this point, Rashad was used to her country ass superstitions by now. "You a hillbilly son." Rashad spoke.
"How?" Amina raised her eyebrow as she kept her eyes on Rashad's phone, she went through each of his playlists in search of one for them to listen to. "All these country ass superstitions you got—like when you see cows sitting down and say it's boutta rain." Rashad answered.
Amina briefly chuckled, "it's true though, country people only know because they farm. Cows can sense the moisture so they like to reserve an area of dry grass." She explained.
"Damn...that make a lot of sense—you still a hillbilly though." Rashad replied, Amina jokingly kissed her teeth before laughing. "I know you not calling me country and you got this song on yo phone." Amina spoke, she used her thumb to click the song, a few seconds later Knee Deep by Jay Morris Group traveled through the speakers of Rashad's Cadillac.
Rashad chuckled, "I like it—the Dj at Blue's played it one night." He explained. "I gotta take you to a trail ride one day." Amina spoke as she sat his phone back in the cup holder, Rashad immediately shook his head no, causing Amina to laugh.
"Why not? Cause you from Harlem?" She questioned, attempting to emulate his accent. "That's exactly why." He replied.
"Well, you in the south, so you gotta do as the southerners." Amina teased, reaching over to playfully squeeze his face.
"Imma Harlem nigga—forever." Rashad spoke. After the conversation with his mother on his birthday, he was feeling like visiting back home more than ever. "You booked up this week?" Rashad questioned as he pulled into his usual parking space at his complex.
"Yeah. Today and tomorrow my only chill days." Amina answered as she unfastened her seatbelt. Rashad eyed her, making a quick mental note to take a picture of her. She claimed she just threw an outfit together, but she looked fire. Amina was wearing an oversized Dallas stars hockey jersey that fit her like a dress. On her feet were a pair super earth adidas, and she tied it together with her blue Goyard Cap-vert pm bag.
"Let's go to New York." Rashad suggested. Amina furrowed her eyebrows together before chuckling, "When?" Amina questioned, her body language showed zero signs of apprehension. A keen smile dressed her face as she looked at Rashad while awaiting his response.
"Tonight—quick lil 24 hours." Rashad announced, Amina nodded her head. "Okay." She enthusiastically gave in.
"We'll be back before your appointments, I know you don't like canceling on your clients." Rashad assured. He knew how serious Amina took her job, and he didn't want to get in the way of that. "I gotta fix my hair—I gotta pack." Amina spoke all at once as she jumped out the car. In one hand was her phone and in the other was the food that they just picked up from a local catfish restaurant.
"What made you wanna visit so impromptu?" Amina questioned as they walked toward the elevator. Rashad shrugged his shoulders despite knowing why, which was a bad habit he had. "Honestly, I'm missing the food—bad. Think imma stop and see my moms too." Rashad answered as they stepped onto the elevator. After the lengthy elevator ride up to Rashad's apartment, they finally made it. Rashad unlocked the door and allowed Amina to go in before him. He stepped out of his shoes and went to grab his MacBook before joining Amina at the island.
"This yours Suge." Amina announced, sitting the container in front on him. "Preciate it mama." He replied as he used one hand to type and the other to open up the container.
"You got mustard?" Amina questioned, causing Rashad to raise his eyebrows. "Nah...but for what?" He asked.
"My fish." Amina replied in a Duh tone as she continued to look through the plastic thank you bag. Her eyes lit up once she came up on two small packets of mustard. "Mustard on catfish is crazy." Rashad spoke, letting out a brief chuckle.
"Crazy? That's the best way to eat it." Amina argued. "You take this white bread, your fish, and...some mustard." She spoke as she assembled a sandwich with the ingredients listed.
"Shit so good." She spoke before taking a bite and nodding her head in approval. Rashad shook his head as he let out a light laugh. "Try it Suge."Amina suggested, Rashad shook his head no.
"Thank you mama, but I'm good with the cocktail sauce and the tartar." Rashad replied. He helped himself to a fry before fixing his attention on his laptop. "I just want the blue cheese and the thousand islands." Rashad mindlessly rapped to himself as he typed.
"Let's make a list so we won't forget anything." Amina announced, she slid off the bar chair and grabbed a napkin for her hands. Amina wasn't Amina if she wasn't planning something. She claimed it had something to do with her having Virgo in her chart—whatever that meant.
"I wanna try this place call joe and the juice." Amina voiced. "What's that?" Rashad questioned. He grabbed his phone and eyed the confirmation email. Out of habit, he took a screen shot.
"This little place—I saw it on TikTok. They make smoothies, teas, and shit. But they went viral for this lil tuna sandwich." Amina explained.
"Never heard of em." Rashad truthfully replied. There was an influx of new restaurants popping up in New York, and Rashad didn't care for them. He was good with his old faithfuls, the shit he grew up on. Once they were done eating, they moved into Rashad's bedroom, where he began to pack and Amina helped.