Los Angeles, California
It was the middle of August and Nicki and Meek were in California. Over the past few months they had grown as people and as a couple. Nicki was doing more photoshoots, bringing in more money, and Meek was even more serious about basketball. He was in the gym almost every day, and he had even gotten himself a side hustle as a basketball camp counselor.
"This is a two bedroom, one bathroom apartment with brand new flooring, a remodeled kitchen, and new utilities," the realtor said.
Meek looked around, licking his lips.
"I like it. It's a nice amount of space. Everything brand new. It looks good in here. What you think, baby?" He asked Nicki.
"I love it," she smiled. "It has a fireplace, built in microwave and refrigerator. Everything is so perfect."
The realtor smiled. "If you really like it, I'll give you guys another day to think it over, check the apartment out, then we can start on the lease and deposit."
"Aight. How much we gotta put down for deposit?" Meek asked.
"$500. That's the deposit. Since there's brand new utilities, piping, and wiring, that won't go towards your rent."
Meek nodded.
"You guys are actually very lucky. Since that isn't going towards your rent, you'll only have to pay $700 a month instead of $1,000."
"That's amazing," Nicki smiled.
The realtor nodded. "So what do you guys think?"
"You feeling it?" Meek asked.
"Yesss."
Meek nodded. "Aight, we'll take it. Can we put the money down today and sign the lease and everything?"
"Of course! I'll go get everything from my car."
She walked out and Nicki smiled.
"We have our own placeeee," she smiled.
"This shit dope. A lot of space in here. We ain't gotta worry about it being too small or uncomfortable in here. We got a big kitchen, big bedrooms, big bathroom."
He smiled and Nicki hugged him.
"I love you so much, Rihmeek."
"I love you too."
He kissed her forehead, then pecked her lips. The realtor came in and they handled everything. Once they were done, the realtor gave them the keys and they thanked her before she left.
"It's really ours!" Nicki smiled.
Meek chuckled. "We gotta get some furniture up in this bitch. What you think?"
"Hmm... maybe all black furniture. Leather, so it won't stain if anything spills."
He nodded. "Aight. I got you. We got a room together, and the second room?"
"It can be a guest room. If family wants to visit. It's big enough for two full sized beds to goin there and a dresser."
"What about a TV in there?"
Nicki shrugged. "It depends. We need to create a budget. I don't want to spend too much or buy unnecessary things. We only need TVs for the front room and our room."
"Aight. I like how you think."
She giggled. "What should we hang up on the walls?"
"One of those transparent stickers that say family. A big one. Right in the living room. Then, I want pictures of you all throughout the house."
"Why me?" She giggled.
He licked his lips. "Cause you beautiful."
"Thank you."
"We need one of those big gray rugs for the living room. You know those super fluffy ones?"
Nicki nodded. "Yes. And we need black or gray lamps, some big furry bean bag chairs."
"Our shit about to be decked out," he smirked.
Nicki nodded. "Of course. I can start ordering everything from Amazon tomorrow."
"Aight. I'll look at the big stuff like furniture. We getting a king size bed for our room."
Nicki nodded. "Okay. I'm kind of hungry."
"Where you tryna eat at?"
"Um.. I'm not sure. I want chicken nuggets."
Meek nodded. "You wanna go to Chic-Fil-A?"
"Ooh, yes. I also want a smoothie from Tropical Smoothie Cafe," she told him.
"Aight. Come on."
They left and headed out into the LA traffic. Nicki scrolled through her Instagram. She went to her profile and clicked on her recent photo. Going through the comments, she responded to a few people.
"Ew, some guys are being thirsty under my pics," Nicki laughed.
"What they saying?"
Nicki looked at the comments.
"One guy is talking about my ass. Another guy is asking me to have his baby and this last guy is talking about how good he would treat me if I was his wife," she said.
"Those niggas tripping," Meek said, shaking his head. "All on my shorty."
Nicki giggled. "Don't worry. There are girls under here being thirsty too."
"That's sexy, but I still don't want nobody checking for you. Girl or boy, I don't care."
"Well, I don't care if they're checking for me, because guess what? I'm not checking for them. I have all I need right here."
She grabbed his chin, turning his face, kissing him. She let him go and he smirked.
"You gone make me crash, baby."
"We're not even moving," she laughed.
He chuckled. "This one of the disadvantages of living out here. All this fucking traffic."
"If you take 8 am classes, you'll have to leave early."
"I was thinking of doing that anyways. Waking up early, getting ready, leaving out. I can get breakfast on campus. They got hella food spots."
She nodded. "You'll most likely be gone when I wake up. I have to get up almost every day at 8:30 and leave out by 9:30 so that I can go to my photoshoots and fittings."
"Boss moves, baby."
"You too. I see how hard you work in the gym and at the basketball camp. You're really good."
Meek smiled. "Thank you, baby. That reminded me.. I might actually get scouted and drafted earlier than we think."
"Why so you say that?"
"I was on Instagram the other night, and you know all I really post on my page is me at my games and shit. I got a DM. I opened it and guess who it was from?" Meek smiled.
Nicki looked at him. "Who?"
"LeBron."
"You're lying," she said with wide eyes.
He shook his head. "I'm deadass. You can go check. He said he always see me on the explore page and who I play for and shit. I told him I played for my school and I'm about to do college basketball. He offered to help me with training and recommend me."
"This is big!" Nicki smiled. "I'm so proud of you!"
"Thank you. This shit is a dream come true."
Nicki smiled harder. "I'm really so proud of you, babe. You don't even understand."
"I understand. This shit crazy."
They pulled into the Chic-Fil-A drive thru and waited. Meek licked his lips.
"Oh shit. Look in the glove department. Some mail came before we left Texas. Ya mom told me to give it to you, but you were sleep."
Nicki nodded and got her mail out. She opened the first envelope.
"Oh it's an acceptance letter from Harvard."
"Damn, baby. That's a good ass college."
Nicki nodded. "It really is. I'll read it later and look into online classes."
"That's smart."
She opened the second envelope and read the paper.
"This is from Caiah's school. It's a re-enrollment form. I'll fill this out when we get back to the hotel."
She put the envelopes in her purse and looked at the last one. It was light pink and sparkly.
"Damn, who is that from? They got custom envelopes and shit," Meek said, making Nicki laugh.
She opened it and pulled out a folded piece of paper. She started reading and her eyes widened.
"Oh my god. Oh my god," she said.
"What's wrong?"
She looked up as her mouth dropped.
"Th-They want me to become a Victoria's Secret Angel!" She said, followed by a high pitched scream.
"Meeeek! Do you know how huge that is?!"
Meek looked at her.
"It must be real big, baby. Explain it to me."
"Babeeee. Victoria's Secret is a very very famous... hm... lingerie line really. They sell bras, panties, lingerie, and other beauty necessities. In order to become an Angel, you have to be at least 5'7, very slim, and VERY experienced in modeling. In this letter, it says that although I don't meet all of the requirements, they couldn't pass up an opportunity to have me with their company. This is huge!"
Meek smiled. "Oh shit, congrats, baby. I told you that you really got this modeling shit, down. You really good at it. Perfect, actually."
"Thank you so much. I think I'm going to cry."
"Don't cry, baby. I'm proud of you."
She smiled as they pulled up to the ordering machine. He ordered their food and when they got it, they went to Tropical Smoothie Cafe and got smoothies.
"Thank you for everything, Rihmeek."
"You welcome, baby. Thank you, too. You bring out the best in me."
She smiled and sat back.
--
chay 🍍