A beautiful thing is never perfect.
~Egyptian Proverb
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The next two days were the longest and most awkward days of my life. I don't know if it was because I was making it that way, but to say that I was avoiding him was a real understatement this time. I kept all conversations to a minimum and when it came to us going to sleep, I'd always sleep at the furthest end of the bed; but somehow always find my way in the middle of it with my leg around his.
Erik was in the bathroom now and was getting dressed to go out, again. This time it was because he had a friend here in New York and insisted on us going out to see him; he said it was someone he became pretty cool with while he was in M.I.T, so I got dragged into going since he claimed that his friends girlfriend would be there, and I'd have someone I could 'talk to' like I was a lonely kid.
I don't know if he was avoiding me to the same extent that I was avoiding him, but you could easily cut the awkwardness down the middle of the room. I sat on the bed and slid on the heels that I bought yesterday, along with one of the outfit that I bought from the stores yesterday.
He finally came out of the bathroom and cleaned his throat, gaining my attention. I looked up at him and saw that we were both wearing black, and noticed that he hadn't had his hair touched up in a while. "You just couldn't pick another color, huh?" He smirked, breaking the silence that was in the room.
"First of all, I didn't know what you were wearing. You've been in the bathroom for hours; I got ready within minutes. Are you ready?" I stood up and grabbed my bag and kimoyo beads. "You kept mentioning that your friend has a girlfriend that I could talk to, how would you even know if I'd like her?"
"Trust me, you'd like Sage. You both have something in common: this bad bitch personality that you both never let die." He mumbled as we walked towards the door. He stopped with his hand in the knob and turned to look me up and down again, making me feel a little small.
"What?"
He sighed and walked back towards the room, coming back with another one of his black jackets, but it was denim compared to his leather one. "Put this on, cause I'm not about to deal with niggas looking at you and me having to spaz tonight."
I rolled my eyes and took the jacket, folding it over my arm. "You make that choice every time because you always think someone has an issue, but okay, Erik." I huffed and closed the door to the penthouse and walked towards the elevator while the awkward silence fell again.
After what happened that night after the auction, we didn't even discuss what happened, so I knew this was the cause of everything. The morning after it happened, we both treated it like it was nothing, but his reactions toward it were a little different than mine.
I tapped my nails against the wall of the elevator and waited for us to reach the main floor while he looked down at the phone he had in his hand. "How long do you plan on being out tonight?" I asked.
"Why?" He smirked. "It's not like you have a curfew." A sigh came from his lips before he licked them. "A few hours probably."
I nodded and the doors to the elevator opened and we headed outside to where the car was parked.
New York at night was probably my favorite compared to New York in the morning or afternoon. It looked way more appealing because of the lights, and he drive around the city was more relaxing even though the cars were still out. I watched Erik while he drove and I still couldn't put my finger on what his deal was.
"What?"
"Okay, I'm not gonna beat around the bush because we're gonna have to talk about what happened between us eventually." I turned in the seat to look at him and crossed my arms. "Because us trying to avoid it is only gonna make this even worse."
He shrugged his shoulders and his jaw clenched a little. "We has sex. That's it."
I swear I could feel my eye twitch.
Was it just me who was making this into something bigger than it actually was? Did he always do this to the girls he messed around with and was I just new to it? I don't know. But one thing he isn't gonna do is pretend like it was nothing when it was something that he was stressing me over at one point.
"That's it?! So you're really not gonna talk about this—"
"Cause it's nothing to talk about. We said we were gonna pretend like it never happened, so that's what I'm doing. You can turn it into something it's not if you want. Why are you so pressed right now?"
My eyes widened and a chuckle came from my lips. "Alright, N'Jadaka. This is what you're gonna do? Fine with me. Keep this same 'I don't give a fuck' energy for the rest on the night." I tossed his jacket that he gave me into his lap. "Why are you so pressed right now?" I mocked him and rolled my eyes. "I'm pressed because this tension is awkward."
"You're the main one making it awkward, Mbali. It's nothing more or nothing less to what happened. We both got what we needed for the night, and we said we weren't gonna talk about it. Can I just enjoy tonight without you being all up my ass?"
"Wow." I nodded my head. "Sure, N'Jadaka. Whatever you want. Go in there and meet whoever you wanna meet, bring them back with you; be great. I just wanted the tension to be sorted out but you're obviously fine with it."
The rest of the ride was silent. When we made it to the club, the music was loud and the line was long. Thankfully we didn't have to wait in it. As soon as we got inside, I was following behind Erik like a lost puppy to meet his friend. We said absolutely nothing to each other from the time the conversation ended in the car, all the way up until this point.
I knew there had to be something more to the way he was acting, but he wasn't saying anything about it and it was gonna drive me crazy because I knew it involved me.
We reached a spot by the bar and a guy a few shades darker than him stood at the bar with a girl that was a lighter complexion. "Aye, bitch." His friend smiled at him; he had pretty nice teeth and a beard that was almost similar to Erik's.
"Watch that bitch word, man." Erik pointed at him but chuckled, pulling him into a hug. "How you been?"
"Good, man. Good. I'm not complaining one bit. I should be asking you seeing as though you're a prince now and shit." He turned to look at me before raising his eyebrow at Erik. "And who's this?"
"This is Mbali; she's from Wakanda. Mbali this is Y'lan. We were cool back in M.I.T."
"You told me." I rolled my eyes at him but shook Y'Lan's hand and smiled. "It's nice to meet you though."
"Likewise, likewise. About time Erik got a girl and started settling—"
"We're not together." Erik and I said at the same time, making Y'lan hold his hands up.
"Okay, chill. My bad." He chuckled.
"Where's you're crazy ass girlfriend?" Erik looked around the crowded club but rolled his eyes when he saw who he was looking for.
"Hello, hoe." Her voice was soothing as she came from behind Y'lan and held his arm. "I'd say that I missed you too, but I'm not trying to go to hell for your sake." She smiled before walking up to Erik. His eyes rolled again before smiling and pulling the thick haired girl into a hug.
"Whatever, Sage; this is Mbali, Mbali... Sage. Y'all have a lot in common: y'all like to talk a lot of shit." He mumbled and she turned to me and smiled. Her lips were full and her face was decorated with little beauty marks. She was a few inches taller than me; and I could tell that it was with and without both of us wearing heels.
"Nice to meet you! How do you put up with this nigga?" She hugged me, catching me off guard. "I would've killed him by now."
"Trust me, I thought he was gone the first time. But he's on the brink of death as we speak." I glared at him making Y'lan chuckle and Erik return my glare.
Sage laughed and shook her head. "I'm the same way with Y'lan. Every other day I threaten to cut him because he likes to get beside himself like I'm one of his little friends." She scoffed and glared at him. He quickly kissed her cheek.
"I like living on edge with your crazy ass. It keeps things exciting. But anyway, let's get some drinks and catch up while I still got you in America." He said to Erik but his eyes were on some girl who walked past in a tight suede dress.
I rolled my eyes at him and felt Sage pull me to where her and Y'lan were sitting: a sectioned off area away from everyone else. "You drink, right?"
"Depending on what you have." I laughed and sat next to her. She talked about how she loved the lingerie bodysuit that I had on and how she'd want to wear one similar, but her breast were too big and that Y'lan would be too protective. She ordered us a round of shot glasses filled with vodka— her favorite drink.
"So, what do you do in Wakanda with Erik?" She asked and pushed her thick hair from her face.
"I'm in command of the tribe that he's over; so he give the tribe orders; and I work to help protect him and it." I kept my eyes on Erik and Y'lan while they still talked at the bar. Even though he was pissing me off, I still was obligated to protect his disrespectful ass.
"Whew, girl. I don't know how you do it with him. I couldn't handle both him and Y'lan while they were in M.I.T— they were some little hoes. I had to get Y'lan sorted out quick though; lined his ass up with some crystals while he was sleeping to purge that hoe spirit from his body, and a few beatings later? We were good." She laughed and downed her shot while I took one of the others. "And you and Erik aren't together?"
"Not at all." I put the glass down and shook my head.
"But you messed around." She pointed out, making me frown. "Erik's always been a emotionless nigga. But the way he was looking at you a few minutes ago? I never seen him look at somebody like that." She smirked. "If you two did, I don't judge... maybe that's what it takes to get him to relax a little—" She was cut off by some guy walking up to her and taking her hand that she had on the couch, trying to talk to her.
She looked him up and down before snatching her hand away. "My boyfriend will kill me and you. Please don't." She glared at him and he walked away.
I laughed at her and she groaned, running her hands through her hair. "These men in New York are reckless! I could actually be sitting here with Y'lan and they'd still try to walk up and flirt— do you know how many clubs we've been kicked out of because of him spazzing?"
"Well, him and Erik must be related because spazzing is something that he does best." I looked back over at them and saw Erik holding the girl that he saw earlier by her waist, laughing at whatever he was saying that I knew wasn't that damn funny because his jokes were never that funny. Y'lan was making his way back over to us and took a seat next to Sage, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and kissed her cheek.
"What's the fuckboy doing?"
Y'lan rolled his eyes and her and shook his head. "Erik is enjoying his time in New York, chill on my bro, Sage. Let him be great."
"He could've been great while being right over here with us and Bali— I can call you that right?" She looked at me and I nodded. She turned to her boyfriend again and hit him upside the head. "You so damn stupid, if I can see it I know you can." They went back and forth arguing over Sage's theory about Erik and I, but I decided to go to the bar instead.
The drinks here in America didn't hit like the ones in Wakanda did; except for their darker drinks: like Hennessy. It made every inch of my body feel sluggish; but I knew I wasn't drunk since I've had something way worse before. I was still functional, just a little out of it. I leaned against the bar and watched everybody dance or drink to the music that was playing when I felt someone's presence next to me, and it wasn't Erik's.
"You okay? You look like you ready to kill someone." The guy chuckled and sat on the stool next to me. He was the same skin complexion as Erik, but his hair was faded and he didn't have any of Erik's features; especially not his dimples.
"I'm okay, just thinking." I smiled kindly at him and turned back to watch Erik and the girl who was dancing on him. Even though we were in public; I still didn't know these people that well to feel comfortable with taking my eyes off of him completely.
"Well, can you think and dance at the same time? Maybe it'll help the process out a little. One dance, sweetheart?" I instantly cringed at how it said the name; it didn't sound right coming from him. I looked back over at Erik one last time and saw that his lips were now on the girl that he was dancing with.
I wasn't going to keep tying to talk about what happened that night if he was over it; and if he was gonna have fun tonight; why couldn't I? I mean, he could take of himself anyway. "Or you can let me buy you a drink and we can sit and talk about whatever you're thinking about. How about that?" He smirked.
"You're not gonna quit until I say yes?" I rolled my eyes and smiled.
"Probably not." He chuckled.
I turned to face the bartender and asked him for another drink; I knew better than to have someone I don't even know order it for me, I've seen to many movies. He ordered his right before turning to look at me.
"What's your name, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Mbali, but you can call me Bali. Yours?"
"Cain." He smiled. "You don't look like you're from here or sound like you're from here... I don't wanna say you sound and look exotic, so... I'll say unique."
He was a coy flirt. Way different from Erik's straight to the point flirting techniques.
"That's because I'm not. And I've heard about you New York men... really reckless."
He held his hands up and chuckled. "I can't speak for anybody else but myself. I'm not reckless; I'm just determined if I see woman that might be worth my time."
"And what are you implying?"
"That maybe I'm determined to get to know you a little better and find out, Bali." He smirked and the bartender brought back our drinks, putting them in front of us.
"Trust me, I'm probably a little bit too much for you to handle."
"Well, I guess we can talk a little and find out."
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Omniscient
Mbali found herself dancing with Cain after leaving the bar, and Erik was the last person in her mind. She was actually having fun for the night and could care less about the conversation she tried to have with him earlier.
She was dancing a few feet away from Y'lan and Sage while Cain had his arms around her waist as she grinned against him. Sage watched, egging Mbali on.
She reminded Mbali of Sanaa; just an American version of her based off of her personality. Y'lan looked around the crowded club while Erik sat a few inches away from him with the girl on his lap, watching Mbali closely. He didn't know if he was furious or irritated with how they were dancing in each other, but he knew he was seconds away from pulling Mbali off of him and beating his ass.
Maybe she was trying to get back at him for acting like he didn't care about anything earlier— even though he argued with himself that she shouldn't even be so upset because the weren't together, but he knew why he was trying to distance himself from her and act like what happened was nothing.
He felt something different when he slept with her versus any of the other girls he's been with, and it made him feel off. It was a different urge to be with her than any of the others; almost like a certain sent that she was giving off to him: a sweet one. It kept pulling him into her ever since that night, so the best way he could cope with whatever head head was doing to him was to act like it was nothing— and that wasn't easy for him.
No matter what she did, he smelled it. She could be changing, eating, talking, or even watching tv and he smelled it and it was mouthwatering and sending off alerts in his head. And the way that she looked tonight wasn't making anything any better for him. So, he found a girl to distract him from her scent and her in general... even though it didn't work. He smelled nothing on the girl but her overly sweet perfume, and the mix of body sweat from the club and candy smells didn't mix well.
Her hand stayed around his neck as she laughed and placed kisses on the other side of it. Y'lan looked at his friend and laughed, shaking his head. "You alright? This has always been your type of atmosphere but I never seen you look bored with it until now." He yelled over the music and looked in the direction that Erik was looking in. "Is it her?" He asked, referring to Mbali who was now chest to chest with Cain. Y'lan's eyes widened and his hand went to his mouth. "What did you do? Cause your chipmunk cheeked ass never looked this pressed before. Y'all messing around."
Erik rolled his eyes and leaned back against the couch. "Shut up, nigga. It's not that serious."
"Apparently it is if you've been eyeing my good sis since you saw her with that guy." Sage sang and shook her head. Erik frowned and his lips twisted.
"Your 'good sis'? Y'all just met and she's your good sis, now?"
"I like her." Sage shrugged her shoulders. "She's cool people and she can apparently keep your bobble head ass in check."
The girl sitting on Erik's lap pulled away from his neck and cupped his cheeks in her hands. He knew that she was drunk because her eyes were starting to gloss over. She kissed every inch of his face and ran her hands down his chest, stopping at his jeans. Erik quickly shook the thoughts of Mbali out of his head again and kissed her, pulling her closer to his chest.
"Apparently ol' dude likes her too, by the way he's touching and kissing up on her." Y'lan looked over at Mbali and pulled Sage to his lap to straddle him. She instantly glared down at him and rolled her eyes.
"Let her be great! Damn, y'all are really annoying."
Erik pulled away, looking to see Mbali kissing the stranger. Her hands were wrapped around his neck while his fell to her butt. She pulled away and they both laughed before he could cup her chin and smile at her, pulling her towards him again.
Erik saw red. He was instantly like a bull being taunted. His jaw clenched as he pushed the girl from his lap, letting her hit the couch with a small Yelp.
"Look what you did. Keep you damn mouth closed next time, damn!" Sage groaned at Y'lan who had a gentle grip on her ass. "One, they're not together anyway; and two, if he can have fun, why can't she?" She hit him in the shoulder for each number she said.
"Damn, chill!" He winced and held his shoulder. "For you to be all about them damn crystals and being cleansed, you need to ask them damn things to cleanse you from all this aggression you got in your body."
Erik ignored the two while they argued back and forth, moving through the crowd to make his way towards Mbali and the stranger. His heart was beating faster than its normal rate and his hands were clenched.
He was finally in eyesight of the pair and wasted no time pulling Mbali away from him by her waist and sending a punch straight to the mans face. He fell to the ground as everyone started moving back.
"Erik!" Mbali yelled at him and covered her mouth. "What the hell is wrong with—"
"Let's go." He cut her off, grabbing her wrist. Frowning, she pulled away from his grip and pushed against his chest when he didn't let go.
"I'm not going anywhere with you! What was that about?! He didn't even do anything!"
"Mbali I said let's go, now. I don't give a damn if I gotta carry your ass of here kicking and screaming; but we're leaving this damn club." He bent down to her level, looking her dead in the eye and mumbled loud enough so the both of them could hear.
Her eye widened before her frown came back to her face. "Fuck you. I'm not going anywhere with you!"
Erik's jaw clenched one last time before he grabbed Mbali by her waist, and put her over his shoulder. One of his arms wrapped around her waist while the other held onto her feet so that she wouldn't kick him in the face like he knew she'd try to do because she was that pissed.
"Put me down!" She beat her hands against his back. It wasn't until she felt the cool air from outside hit her back and heard the noise from the club die down, that she completely let loose. Each time she tried to push herself off of his body, he'd easily push her back down without saying a word. They got to the car and he quickly opened the door, putting her inside and buckling her in.
Her arms crossed against her chest as he slammed the door, walking over to his side and getting in. Erik started the engine and quickly pulled off. "What the fuck was that! Huh? You just punched somebody in the face, Erik!"
"What the fuck were you doing?" He chuckled darkly and shook his head. "You deadass met that nigga less than an hour ago and you shoving your damn tongue down his throat and letting him touch all on you?"
"Like you weren't doing the same thing tonight! Let me explain to you, that we are not together. I'm not your damn property, I can do whatever the hell I wanna do!" Mbali yelled as he kept driving, turning to face him. "You've had this shitty mentality for the past few days, I don't know what's gotten into you, but you better figure it out soon, N'Jadaka. He did nothing to you!"
Even though he was there physically, mentally? Erik was gone. He zoned out the moment he started driving and was pissed enough go back to the club and fight the guy.
Mbali took his silence as him trying to make her even more upset, so she sat in her seat fuming. If it was one thing she had issues with, it was being controlled and being told what to do; and Erik knew how to push those buttons of hers in two ways: a way to either arouse her or piss her off. And right now, she was pissed.
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They made their way back into the hotel and Mbali shammed the door behind her without saying a word to Erik, changing from out of her heels and sliding on a pair of black vans before grabbing the room key and heading back out towards the door.
"Where you going?" He frowned and grabbed her arm. She jerked away from him and threw his jacket at him. She rolled her eyes at him because now he wanted to speak. He didn't do much of it in the car.
"I'm going away from you." She spat.
"You're not going out this late by yourself. You don't even fully know your way around New York."
"Aw, now you wanna talk to me and be calm? Fuck you, Erik." She pulled her hair into a bun and slid the room key into her back pocket. "I can handle myself. Go back to the club and meet back up with some more girls that you can bring back here so you can turn it into a brothel." She walked out the front door and slammed it, leaving Erik in the penthouse by himself with only his thoughts and raging ego.
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Erik - N'Jadaka
It's been at least two hours since Mbali slammed out the door, and I couldn't sleep. I tried sleeping in the dark, listening to that boring ass classical music channel on the tv that she played often; everything, and it didn't work.
When she left out, I went back out to the club with Sage and Y'lan; mainly to see if the guy was still there but at that point, I wasn't feeling it. I spent at least thirty more minutes with them before coming back here. Sage made sure to give me a full speech about how I was wrong for hitting the nigga, but I didn't care.
I wasn't gonna call her or anything; she wanted to act like she knew where she was going? I was gonna let her. I laid in the dark with my hands covering my eyes when I heard the front door close shut.
It was 1:47 am.
The bedroom door opened and Mbali walked in with her back facing me; probably still thinking that I was sleeping. She went into the bathroom and closed the door and the shower went off.
I was tripping. Normally, I'm not fighting over any woman if it wasn't my mom; but she was gone now so there was no need. Seeing them two kiss just pissed me off, and I couldn't handle anything. But k don't regret shit.
Minutes passed and she came out of the bathroom in her favorite— silk white pajamas pants and a spaghetti strap top to match. She laid against the bed, facing the opposite side of me, but each time she turned, she'd wince and hiss a little; and me already not being able to sleep along with her grunting wasn't gonna help. She kept going for the next few minutes before sitting up on the bed and turning on the light by her table. She lifted up the side of her top and looked at the column of keloids going down her rib cage, running her thumb against a specific one— one that's bleeding lightly.
She huffed and her head fell back, noticing the trickles of red blood that was now staining her top. I sat up quietly and ran my hands against my face. I guess she could tell that I was up because she sighed and turned her head so that I could see her side profile. She quickly pulled her shirt back down.
"I thought you were sleeping." She mumbled.
"Couldn't sleep, and you doing at that wincing didn't make it any better." I stretched and turned on my desk light. "What is it?" I asked, mainly talking about her scars. Even though I knew what it was; I wanted to know if she was gonna tell me.
"Don't know what you're talking—" she started, but stopped when she felt me lift up the side of her shirt and the keloid was viewable by the both of us.
I rubbed my thing against it and looked her in the eyes. Hers stayed on mine before falling to the scar again. I grabbed my bag that was at the end of the bed and grabbed some ointment, rubbing it against the scar. She winced at the pressure I accidentally put on it and sighed when it lightened up and the scar started to form more.
"I know we got into some shit earlier." I cleared my throat and she picked at her fingernails. I put the cap back on the ointment and lifted her head so that she'd look at me fully. Her doe-like brown eyes trying to look everywhere else but at me. "But, are you gonna finally explain this shit to me now?"
She said nothing.
"Mbali." I called her name again and got not response. "Mnandi." Sweetheart. I said with a little more authority and her eyes finally met mine. She huffed and ran her fingers against the stray hairs that were coming from her now ponytail.
"Ku lungile." Fine. She mumbled and chewed at her lip. "But don't tell anyone back home."
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CHAPTER UNEDITED
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FIRST
WE REACHED 30K READS !!!
SECOND
THIS CHAPTER HONESTLY SHOULD NOT HAVE TAKEN THIS LONG TO POST/WRITE BUT IT DID SO I TRIED TO MAKE IT A LITTLE LONGER 😭
Y'LAN AND SAGE WILL BE IN THE NEXT CHAPTER CAUSE I LIKE THEM.
THIRD
I got asked about the face reveal again and I was gonna post it here but I didn't want it to take away from the chapter, so I didn't post it... you feel me? 😂
So instead, I'm gonna just put my @'s to my socials and if you wanna follow you can. BUT I'm making it known that I'm 21 so if you're 18+ we're in the clear (even if you're not 18+ we can still love each other and follow but 🤷🏾♀️). 😂😂
ig: @mochahontvs
sc: @mandatheepanda (I was deadass 18 or 19 when I made it and thought that the name was cute and I'm pissed that sc won't let me be great and change it) 😂
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