She missed him..
She'd been off for the past two days so other than the hospital, she hadn't been anywhere. She felt insane missing a man she barely knew. She seen him commit murder in the first degree, she had been kidnapped her with a knife to the throat by him but the wave of serenity that washed over her in his presence?? It was irreplaceable, she could never find it no where else and she wasn't searching for it either.
She had expressed her thoughts to no one, no knew he followed her around watching over her shoulder every damn day. No one else seemed to see him but Gaia felt him every damn second of the day. His gaze was penetrating in the best and worst way. How could a man's gaze give you chills and comfort at the same time?
Gaia didn't understand but she wasn't looking to understand if, she just wanted to feel it and him.
Insane didn't cut it..baby girl was hallucinating but she didn't want help, she wanted him.
She had no way of calling him, she had no way of contacting him period but her soul felt connected to him. She felt anxious to the point her stomach was in knots sitting in the comfort of her own home when she should have been relaxed.
The way Gaia felt wasn't normal, she was tripping beyond measure. She just didn't care enough to do anything about it.
These days comfort didn't find her much. She was so out of her element that a little bit of comfort was heaven on earth to her.
She couldn't talk about it to her friends, they'd find out the truth that this dangerous man she should have been running away from had her mental gone something serious.
Gaia tapped her chin with her index finger anxiously.. the silence inside of her home normally would relax her but she was stunned that she couldn't even mediate. Two blunts to the face normally would have her mellowed and laid out somewhere in the clouds but she didn't even feel high at the moment...
Her uneasiness was definitely a sickness that could only be cured by one thing and she couldn't have it.
The sultry sounds of Body and Soul cascaded throughout the speakers around her home. Anita Baker could smooth your heartbreak, your spirit and soul yet Gaia was unmoved.
She's never felt anything like this before.
I never met him before and never meet another..
She thought to herself.
The sounds of someone knocking on the door snapped her out of her thoughts. For the first time since she'd gotten out of bed she looked over her attire. Her hair was a raggedy mess on top of her head, she had polka dots on her shorts and rainbow stripes on her shift and down to the mismatch socks she wore she was a hot ass mess.
She paid to mind to how she was dressed, she glanced out of the peephole and proceeded to open the door. Her landlord stood before her on her stoop.
Gaia has paid him all of the back-pay and she was making her monthly payments on time, thanks to the club. Mr. Joe never made an appearance unless he was about to evict you or ask where the fuck his money was.
"Mr. Joe?" Gaia greeted him with apprehension. Never mind the fact that he smiled back at her as if he wasn't the grumpiest old man she'd ever came across. "Am I missing something? I owe you?"
She'd only been going by what the bills he'd delivered monthly if the rent had changed she wasn't aware.
"None sense, child. You done paid me more money than I'd seen at once" he waved her off but also confused her. Gaia was paying him in lump sums but nothing crazy. Whatever total she accumulated from the club at the end of the week, she's split it down the middle and pay him with it. She was doing good so far but never more than a thousand a week like the strippers.
The less clothing you wore the more money you made and Gaia stayed in her uniform,not showing an inch more skin.
He pulled an envelope from his pocket, handing it to her. The envelope was addressed to her, personally instead of her mother's name.
"With that amount of money, I had to provide you a receipt. Your boyfriend said he had to go but to drop the receipt drop to you. I'm glad you're doing good for yourself now because I would have hated to kick you out with your circumstances but you know business is business" he explained weaselly and shrugged his shoulders as if he's had said nothing. Her mother was laid up in a hospital bed in a coma but business was business? Gaia wanted to slam the damn door in his face and never give him a penny again but this was her mother's house. This was the house that became home when Gaia and her mother were forced to leave the mansion Big Gee called home. "Everybody got problems if I let you slide then I have to let everyone. Then I'm running some homeless shelters with no income." He laughed at his own attempt at a joke.
Gaia blinked rapidly at him, trying to decide if he was truly a piece of shit or if she was just hallucinating.
"Anyway Gaia, have a nice day and again thanks for lump sum" Mr. Joe bid his farewell, leaving Gaia standing on her own doorstep even more confused than before.
Once he'd driven off Gaia opened the envelope carefully. She unfolded the letter that was inside, her jaw damn near hitting the ground once she saw the total amount of money that Mr. Joe received which definitely didn't come from her.
Twenty thousand dollars had been dropped off to the man in her name.
He said a boyfriend dropped it off?? I don't even have make friends.
She pondered but her curiosity cake to an end quickly. No one ha that type of money to ya s away except her father. He had taken care of her mother's hospital expenses and now he had to have paid the rent up for months to come.
While Gaia still felt a way about her father magically thinking he could just pop back up into her life like he didn't pretend like her or her mother didn't exist for years. She'd let him try to buy his guilt away.. she has pride, sure but she threw that the side when she resulted to working at a strip club for money.
If her sperm donor wanted to drop twenty racks so she could have a roof over her head then she'd let him. It was one less bill hanging over her head and a weight lifted off her already tired shoulders.
No one understood how heavy she felt walking around this place called Earth without her Earth.. Gaia always felt like an elephant was sitting on her chest. Day, night, sunshine or rain; she felt the ache in her chest constantly. She already had a hole begging to be filled that her father created years ago but the uncertainty of knowing whether her mother would ever return back to her? It just didn't create another hole, her heart got ripped out.
She was like a car with the gas tank on E; gas light blinking with a hundred miles to the nearest gas station but only enough fuel to last the next ten. Gaia was on her last leg; nobody in her life could do nothing about it.
Nobody could change the way emptiness she walked around with.. only God could do Gaia prayed harder than the average preacher. Every second of the day she was awake was a moment to be grateful for the Lord's grace and to pray for her mother's return.
Gaia tucked in feelings into her back-pocket before she cries on her own stoop. She'd done it before, quite a few times actually and she knew it was only a matter of time before the cops came knocking. She played in the street when it rained, she cried and prayed to herself regardless of if someone was watching. She has always been a loner, her only friendship being with Mesha. She barely engaged in conversation unless she wanted to which was rare. For a long time, people really thought she was a mute because she never spoke around others. Her mother and Mesha were all she knew and spoke to freely until Gaia got comfortable around you. It would nothing for one of her neighbors to get her checked into an asylum.
She glanced up and down the street quickly before she traveled back into her home. She took another look at herself in the mirror that lined the wall of her foyer. She needed to get a grip on her life and fast, she was spiraling despite the fact that she placed a nice front up.
Once showered and dressed, she headed out the door. She had to visit her mother. The morning were reserved for her father. She let him have that time because she didn't want to see him. He insisted that he wasn't going another day without seeing his wife even going as far as to swore on his life.. Big Gee never swore on his life because he felt like doing so placed a target on your back. He was paranoid and suspicious beyond measure yet no one ever survived in the game for twenty plus years without a little paranoia.
Someone was always after you especially when you're the king.. FEDS, DEA, local cops, enemies, the past, and even the future. It could all make even the most sane man into an animal that never slept without an eye open.
His word meant very little to Gaia on historical context however she had very little fight left in her so she let it slide. He took the morning shift and she could have the afternoon, he stayed out of her way and out of her face.
As soon as she stepped back outside and hit the sidewalk, a small bit of excitement and eagerness shot through her.
He'd find me..
But as soon as it crossed her mind, she reminded herself that since the first occurrence at the hospital he never followed her there again. It was the one place she never felt his presence. Each day she visited she could pinpoint the exact time when he left her. A coldness would chill her body suddenly as if the wind whipped around her but when he was around she felt like she was standing in the sun.
His eye contact changed the body temperature like it had control over the seasons and was even more of reason why Gaia needed to know more about him. Why he he have such an effect on her? Why was their connection so strong? Why did the two strangers even have this connection that stirred her soul? And why did fate bring them together in the first place?
She wanted answers to questions that both scared and excited her at the same time.
She made it to her mother's hospital floor, dazed and out of it. She should have been waiting for surroundings more carefully. Even as a child she was taught to have her head on a swivel because her last name made her a target always. But years of wishing you weren't your fathers daughter, you forget you actually are a Carter.. she could regret it one day.
The room door was opened telling her at someone was visiting. The staff never left the door open unless someone else was inside. Without thought, Gaia rolled her eyes immediately knowing it was her father inside, only once she crossed the threshold she found her best friend inside instead.
"Hey sis" Mesha greeted her as soon as her eyes landed on Gaia. She looked over her life long best friend carefully knowing something was wrong with her. Naturally Gaia was always going through it emotionally because of her mother condition yet her sorrow never reached the outside world. Gaia would cry herself to sleep every night and walked outside like her works was perfect. Yet to know Gaia was how to read her, she was an introvert at heart but her eyes and body language spoke volumes at her mouth never would.
Gaia briefly looked from her mother's bed; eyes landing on Mesha. She quickly diverted her attention away from her because she didn't want to talk about her feelings, she didn't want to hear some advice that only made her feel worst, she didn't need to hear how her sadness was taking a toll on her appearance nor did she need to know Mesha thought she should internalize her pain.
Although Mesha looked at Gaia's mother as her second earth; she didn't get how real that agony tore through chest felt because her mother was breathing on her own. Her mother was alive and well; most importantly.
Gaia loves Mesha like the sister she never had but she could be pushy and Gaia didn't need that. She'd distanced herself subconsciously over the pass months because Mesha tried her best to cheer her up but that mission was dead. Gaia would be sunshine and rainbows when her mother woke up and not a second earlier.
Mesha could shove her attempts to cheer her up right up her ass.
"Hey.." Gaia greeted meekly and then tucked her bottom lip into her mouth. These days she soak solace in her prayers with her mother. It was the highlight of her day, night and everything in between. She liked to be alone. Nah scratch that she needed to do it alone. Mesha was interfering with that. "You has the today off?" She asked Mesha, furrowing her brows realizing the time of day.
Her best friends chair at he salon stayed packed so much clients booked a month in advance. The son definitely has other stylists but people loves Mesha. She was generally drama-free unlike most stylists, minded her own business and could slay a lace, make a unicorn jealous with her color jobs and tend to natural hair the way it should be. Versatility was the name of the game and Mesha was killing it. Rarely did she ever sneak off in the middle of the day to do much other than eat here or there.
"Client cancelled. It's been a while since I saw momma or you so I'm here." Mesha replied folding her arms over her chest. She worked hard, harder than anyone she knew. A young boss in the making was what she was and she wasn't gonna stop until she was wealthy. Rich wasn't the damn goal, wealthy status was. Niggas been has it twisted.
Hair was her hustle and like the streets the dope boys hugged day in and day out, she trapped with a hitta to the left and right her: a flatiron and needle/ thread combo.
Mesha eyed her best friend sensing the discomfort Gaia tries to hide easily. Since the day Gaia busted into the shop looking for Yaya she knew that Gaia would distance herself for a while. What she didn't know was exactly how long Gaia would go missing in action. A month was a long time to not hear from your best friend especially when she was the only person who knew you inside and out. Unlike Gaia, Mesha was an extrovert and proud. She had a phone full of homegirls that kept her in the loop of drama and all the gossip the streets held largely due in part to her being a stylist but also because she was social butterfly.
But none of the girls Mesha hung out with from time to time ever compared to the bond she had with Gaia. That was her sister, fuck a best friend.
"I've been having a hard time. You know how I get, sorry." Gaia stated, offering an apology right off the bat. She distanced herself from her only confidant because it was her natural when things got tough to isolate herself. But she did miss her friend. Nahla from the club had quickly made her way into Gaia's life or at least her work life. Gaia wouldn't call them friends but she likes Nahla. Her energy was pure and her vibe never came off as manipulative or deceitful like a lot of the other girls women she worked with did. No one was Mesha though. From childhood barbecue parties to high school graduation into adulthood, thick as thieves didn't do their friendship justice. "Some things have happened that had me all over the place, half the time I didn't know whether I was coming or going... still don't. But I think I'm finding some type of footing."
"I heard."Mesha nodded and sighed deeply. She stood to her feet and made her way towards Gaia. Once she was close enough she wrapped her arms around Gaia like she didn't seen her in years instead of a month. Gaia welcomes the embrace and actually held onto Mesha tighter than expected. She needed that hug. "You know half of them hoes only come to the shop to pop their gums and be messy. So how's the club? You like it?"
Gaia tapped her foot softly, sliding her tongue to the left side of her mouth. This wasn't a conversation she was prepared to have. "It pays the bills, Me. It's just me out here by my lonesome now."
Mesha could feel the tears at the backs of her eyeballs start to flow forward as she watches Gaia's eyes get watery as well. As vulnerable as a woman cousin be when she trusted you, Gaia still hated to cry in front of others. She's lay her heart on the table in front of you but she always tried to do so without tears.
"Don't say that GiGi. I'm always here and you know your mother is still he-"
"Physically, yes but spiritually? Soulfully? " Gaia choked on her own emotion for a minute before she composed herself. She had cried enough tears. Crying didn't change things, prayer did. "No, sis she's been gone for a while. I just can't do it and I won't unless I'm forced to."
"How long until you have to be back?"
" I don't. I knew I wasn't gonna feel like going back to so nobody's head after this so I cancelled my appointments for the rest of day. Tomorrow was supposed to be a rest day so I just rescheduled and cut a small percentage off my price. Momma has done a million things that I could never repay her for in my life sooo missing a couple of dollars wasn't a big decision. I needed to see her today, it had been way too long. I didn't even know she had been moved."
Gaia only nodded to her last statement. Mesha knew exactly who Gaia's father was, being the only person she ever told. So it was safe to let her know what he'd done but she just held it inside. She without a doubt trusted her but once she told one part of her father chronicles she'd have to tell the rest which lead her into how Slim made her feel as she wasn't about to speak a word about him.
A part of her believed he was some type of fantasy. Regardless of that, he was her fantasy and she wasn't with sharing him for shit. Even if it was only in name or conversation sake.
"I need to pray with my mama"
Mesha gathered her things quickly, heading for the door but not before leaving Gaia with a message.
"I'll be in the waiting room, I hope you're free afterwards because we have a lot to catch up on. Drinks on me."
---
One drink turned into two and two turned into four and so on until Gaia lost count. Her eyelids were beginning to feel heavy and although she had a high tolerance for alcohol, the potent liquid courage was taking its toll on her body.
Gaia only drank when in the presence of Mesha. She was always around alcohol at work but never indulged because she took all her business when intoxicated. Her mind which was usually under lock, key and top secret password became an open book once that brown came off the shelf.
White got you right but that brown got you sloppy so wherever the two got together to drink they were off some brown liquor. Whether it was Hennessy, Jack and Jim or some Rémy.. it was like her, sun kissed and melanin blessed.
"Gaia, when we gone find our soulmates? You know like damn it's plenty of chicks with nothing to offer with mad niggas chasing behind them, hell I do most of them hoes hair." Mesha smacked her teeth and propped her elbows on the table of the booth they were sitting in. Aces of Clubs was a lowkey spot that was a hidden treasure in the city. Emerald city had a glamour to it similar to Vegas but only in the south. Most of its money clearly came from illegal doings but as long as it was another club, barbershop, salon or restaurant to clean that money, it was gravy.
You had to live under a rock to be unaware of the fact that the city government was handpicked by the Mafia and funded too. A fool would think it would be hard for the Mafia to find some dreams for some black folk and in return, Big Gee got to clean that bloody money up.
But Ace of Clubs was legit, always had been. A quick look at the books would tell you, all of its money was squeaky clean without a spot dirt, all earned the legal way. It was owned by a old man named Papa ironically and if even thought one of his employees was in the streets doing anything you were fired. The bar was for clean fun, no fights, no guns and no dope dealers, scammers or shooters. It was a haven for the 9 to 5 types who wanted a drink and a good time without the club drama.
Since eighteen Mesha and Gaia has locked it down as their spot before they ever had their first "legal" drink.
"We some popping ass women, periodt. But somehow we both single."
"Me yo phone been going off since we got here. All texts from niggas, what you mean?"
"Ion want them niggas tho." She pouted. "They either corny as fuck, lame, some car jacking, purse snatching or some anyone can have the dick slanging bitch ass niggas." Mesha spat seriously whereas Gaia couldn't help but laugh.
"It's the nature of Emerald city sis. A criminal breeding ground." She said and shrugged her shoulders, still looking around the dim light bar. She knew this would be the last place she saw Slim because of the rules but a full day had passed again and he hadn't made his appearance.
Did he not know he was making me a fiend? How could he be so cruel to leave without warning?
"It's home though, Gee. Where else we gone go?"
Gaia stayed silent not only became she had no answer to that question but because she felt the same way. Emerald City was her home, she never thought about leaving even before her mother got sick.
Bad things happened no matter where you were, it didn't matter how far from home you ran. Troubles could always follow.
The bass and tremble of Yes Indeed knocked the place hard. Although Mesha was spilling her thoughts a minute ago, the second she felt that beat drop she was up and gone. Gaia nodded her head to the beat of the song, sitting back comfortably in the seats of the booth while keeping an eye out on Mesha.
Just because these niggas inside the bar made their money the clean way didn't mean that morally they were.. straight collar niggas could do females dirtier than a street nigga could.
The vibration of her phone in her pocket grabbed her attention. As she slid her hand into her pants, her eyes widened once she saw that Mesha had hooked line and sunk another dude in her grasp that would probably be ignored once Mesha figured out he wasn't the one she really wanted to spend time with.
Come outside.
Her eyes left Mesha and landed on the message that attracted her attention. With furrowed brows and a slight frown, she replied.
sorry, wrong number.
Gaia couldn't even blink before a response came through.
Nah love, I don't.
You already know who this is, you feel me?
You supposed to feel me from a mile away, my baby. Am I right?
Gaia didn't dare tear her eyes away from the phone screen as the three responses came in. The butterflies that lined her stomach at the moment were what she missed for the past two days. Her back straightened instantly and it felt like it was easier to breathe.
She made her way out of the booth, grabbing both her purse and Mesha's. After informing Mesha that she was heading outside for a moment for fresh air and placing the bags inside the safety of Mesha's car.
As she leaned against the side of the car with her back to the outside of the bar, she sent out a message.
Wya?
Come on, brown eyes. How you always find me?
Her top row of teeth sunk into the plushness of her bottom lip before she looked up. With the exception of a few street lights that lined the parking lot it was dark out. So instead of using her eyes to direct her moves, she closed them and focused on her other senses... the ones that came live whenever he was around.
The chills and goosebumps, the steadiness of her heartbeat, the magnetic attraction that always pointed his presence out.
In seconds, her eyes were open and she followed the path her soul lied out to a black Escalade parked on the west side of the club. The lights flashed as she approached and once they did, she saw she saw the brightness of his teeth flashing even in the darkness.
That chocolate skin and white teeth were a match made in heaven that brought many a girl to their knees.
Usually this would be the part where caution would be brought into the forefront of Gaia's mind but it was thrown in the wind. The alcohol in her bloodstream wasn't helping and she would surely blame her actions on the liquor tomorrow. However if she was honest with herself, she'd admit that it was her infatuation, her growing dependency on how this man made her feel that fueled her actions.
She hopped inside of the passenger side of the car immediately like she'd been doing so for years as if this man wasn't still a stranger to her, a dangerous one at that.
Strangers on earth but equal parts of a whole when it came down to their souls..
"Brown eyes" Slim greeted her calmly as she closed the door behind her. The lack of light didn't stop the chillness at went down his spine tingling once he laid eyes on her. Although if he'd been another shorty with the same fit he probably wouldn't have looked twice, it was just something about her that made everything look better.
A pair of medium washed distressed jeans that once she sat down in the passenger her thick thighs spread magically making him grit his teeth in response. A simple black tee tucked into her jeans, her infamous bun sat on top of her head and her pretty face was free of makeup.
Her freckles were out to play like he craved..
Before he even realized what he was doing, his fingers had found their way to brush against his favorite feature of hers. Gaia wasn't even alarmed, she just melted into the cushion of the seat, watching him intently.
Slim came back to reality when he felt her eyelashes brushing softly against his fingertips.
"I missed them" He confessed, not giving into the constant battle he had with his self to keep his distance from her. The past two days were hard for him. He'd snapped on a nigga too many and he knew it was because he hadn't had his daily dose of Gaia Alena Carter.
Her off days she mainly stayed in the house doing God knows what but he could tell whatever she did, it made her content. Her spirit was always lifted whenever she had a string of off days before she went back to the club.
Her staying inside the house gave him no reason to watch her, he had niggas always posted her in block but he didn't have to fulfill his duties when she wasn't out in the world. The issue with him being able to stay away because that he didn't want to.
His mother's words were ringing in his words, leaving them hot. All in all along with his strange cosmic appeal he was finding it hell to stay away.
He almost thanked the man above once he got the call that after the visit to her mom, she had headed to Ace of Clubs. He knew he couldn't go inside out of respect for Papa, the owner but he damn sure could be outside. Her number was already inside his contact list of his personal phone that only held total of four numbers with her being number four. Nobody had access to her personal cell except his mother, Looney, Big Gee and now her.
It seemed like forever he waited for her to dip out of the bar and like an impatient little boy on Christmas he couldn't wait any longer, he had to see his present earlier.
"I missed you." Gaia replied, her low eyes widening a bit once she figured out her thought was vocally expressed. Her heart dropped a little when she saw him smirk a little as he withdraw his closeness to her.
"I smell that henny on you my baby.. what's up? I thought you was in there tryna forget me."
"How could I ever?" Gaia stated and looked out the window of the truck, fighting the strong urge to look at him. Again she bit into her bottom lip but this time out of anxiousness. "A million lifetimes can pass and I'd never meet another that feels like you."
And that's what scares me..
Slim cleared his throat trying to ignore the way his heart damn near leaped out of his chest. Instead the sound of the him clearing his throat made Gaia turn around; her eyes landing on him almost instantly.
In the only way the universe would have it; the constriction of his heart both the physical and emotional only got worse.
"You feel that too." Gaia said softly, smiling a bit. Her hands down to his chest off center and to the left right over his heart. She didn't know if it was the liquor playing tricks on her but she could feel his heartbeat through his chest against her hand.
Slim nodded silently, simply watching her.
"Can't be natural"
"Yet can't be faked" He finished for her.
"I thought you left for good."
"Nah brown eyes.. you know better than that and even if you don't, your body does." Slim noticed the small hairs on her forearm standing straight up. He knew what he felt wasn't natural, he knew that this wasn't normal yet he was glad that he had that effect on her. Women loved him but ain't no woman ever got chills from the presence of him and vice versa.
The logical part of Gaia wanted to deny it but the truth was in the pudding, how could you lie when the proof was right before someone's eyes?
In response Gaia removed her hand back to her side of the car. The sensations that ran through the both of them decreased but they didn't go away.
Silence became the language of connection between the two as they struggled to express but also compose their selves. For two very introverted people that only let the outside world know only be small bits of who they really were it was beyond difficult and out of this world for them to be ramble off their deepest thoughts.
Slim made the first move placing his large hand over the exposed skin of his thigh that was peeping out from the rips in her jeans. Electricity shot through his body like black lightning was his name. Gaia reacted according placing her hand on top of his.
Inch by inch, small movements between the two were made until they were nearly face to face over the center console. A quick movement from either of them would lead to the connecting of their lips that would surely shatter any fight the two had left in them against one another.
Being close to each other forced them to engage in an eye contact so deep, each felt like they were looking into their souls that somehow mirrored one another.
Neither dared to look away although the intensity would make mountains crumbled..
It had to be a moment in time that would go down in history..
Only it never happened.. at least not yet.
His business cell rang making him break the connection before he made the made that would forever change his life. Because of his status, he had to answer in the streets one phone call would be the difference between life or death and freedom or jail time.
He answered the call, quickly addressing the issue at hand trying to his hardest to get his focus back on Gaia. However by the time, he hung up the call Gaia too was engaged into her phone.
"I gotta go." She basically whispered to him the words came out so softly.
He cursed beneath his breathe, mad at the sequence of events taking place as she exited his whip. His body had a mind of it's own as he jumped out the truck behind her.
"Ayee brown eyes" He called out to her, not caring if someone saw him or her together. He was acting completely out of character.
Gaia turned around, stopping her walk to Mesha's car.
For the second time tonight, their eyes met and breathing was hitched.
"Sweet dreams love"
"And pray to God for a better tomorrow." As the words flowed from his mouth, Gaia mouthed them in sync with him.
With one last look she smiled a smile to bright that she showed him magic in all its glory. She then turned and walked away towards the car that her friend was standing by watching the exchange.
As Gaia and Mesha entered her car, Gaia could still feel the remnants of his gaze over body which meant he was still watching.
"Girl, who the hell was that?" Mesha asked as she whipped out of the parking lot.
"Just a friend"
Until he became something different...
Hey KeKe, are you riding l? Do you like it? Lmaooo anyway let me know what y'all think. I had some technical difficulties with my computer within the last week so update is a little later than I wanted but here y'all are, Another long one ☝🏾