NEW ORLEANS , LOUISIANA
BRADLEY HUGHES ,
Allure has been buzzing with a boatload of new clientele and that was all from the exposure Bradley and the girls were getting from social media. The invasiveness of the blogs had its pros and cons. Although Bradley was thanking them for cushioning her and all the other stylists' pockets with all the free promotion they were getting, she wasn't too pleased to be woken up out of bed at 4 AM to come down to the shop.
This wasn't a hair emergency, nor was it one of her stylist in dire need. Instead Bradley was getting calls from the authorities telling her she needed to come by Allure immediately.
Bradley was stressed out and worried about the sake of her shop. She had never had any issues dealing with her shop. She opened up Allure in a fairly safe location that had a low crime rate and great foot traffic. Bradley trusted the place enough to leave Allure unlocks for a night. Luckily for her, tonight wasn't one of those nights. Allure was secured and locked up for the next morning, but Bradley still managed to get an urgent call.
"Baby slow down," Rashad eased her as she pressed on the gas of her Audi swerving through traffic. It baffled her how it was 4 AM and the streets were still busy. She just wanted to make it to Allure as soon as possible.
Bradley sighed as she kept her right hand at the top of the steering while. Her left hand was clenched closed in full concern. "Rashad I'm really not trying to hear any of that. Allure is like my damn baby, if it's as bad as they're making it seem then I'm screwed," The sadness in her voice made Rashad retract his stance in trying to calm her. He knew exactly how she was feeling at the moment and he knew he definitely wouldn't want to hear someone in his ear telling him to calm down.
For the rest of the ride To Allure, Bradley and Rashad kept silent. Bradley was webbed in her own thoughts. She prayed that whatever happened at Allure wasn't something severe. She couldn't afford putting her grind on a halt. That was just bad for business overall.
Rashad simply didn't know what to say to Bradley. He did not want to fill her head up with false hope. What if the condition of Allure wasn't as good as he promised her it would be? He knew how much blood, sweat, and tears Bradley put into that shop and it was a complete success. He hated how that all could be ruined if off one irrational and malicious action.
Upon arriving to Allure, Bradley could barely contain herself to park her car correctly. She drifted into a parking space carelessly stopping her car. She wasn't restrained by her seatbelt so she just slung her door open and jetted out of the car leaving it started. Rashad sighed. He took the keys out of the ignition and got out the car. He shut his door along with Bradley's before he tried to catch up with her on foot.
The sight of Allure wasn't one he was use to. The tall tampered glass windows that constructed the front of the shop were all shattered and accumulated on the floor both inside and outside of the shop. With the glass no longer serving as a barrier, the inside of the shop was exposed. It was no longer in the clean and organized state it usually was left in.
The reception desk was destroyed. The Mac computer that was use to keep up with the ladies appointment was shattered to no repair. All eight booths were vandalized and destructed making it almost impossible for Bradley to even remember how they looked before.
All the stylist equipment was broken or had the wires cut in half. Erica's nail station being destroyed caused a huge mess that contrasted with the white, black,and gold decor of the shop. Nail polish, acrylic and acetone was slain every where causing the stench of all of the chemicals to scorch the nose of anyone who stepped inside the destructed place.
Allure looked like it had been left abandoned for years. All of Bradley's hard work seemed to be washed away within an instant.
"What happened!?" Bradley demanded as she approached the group of officers that huddled at the entrance of Allure. They were all stepping over glass causing the shards to break into more pieces.
"Are you the owner, Bradley Hughes?" One officer looked at Bradley funny as he read over her name on the document he had in hand.
Bradley nodded swiftly. "Can someone just tell me what happened to my shop?" She spilled out in one panic breath. She couldn't even find it within herself to hold eye contact with anyone, her eyes just wandered the destruction of Allure.
Rashad stood behind her awaiting for an explanation as well. There was no possible way that someone would be able to do this much damage without the authorities coming while it was happened. Allure was armed with a protected security system. It would have silently dispatched to the police once the first glass window shattered.
"Well it looked like your security system wasn't armed before you left," The officer explained as he led the way towards the keypad of the security system. Although Bradley and Usiah were usually the ones who kept the keys to the shop, they made sure to train each of the women how to work the alarm and security system and locked the door. Yesterday after Bradley met up with Genovah, she stayed to the shop until closing. She seen with her own two eyes Usiah lock the door and arm the security system.
Bradley shook her head in protest of the officer's statement. "That's impossible. I seen with my own eyes these doors get locked and the system get armed," Bradley argued.
The officer shrugged before resting his hand onto his utility belt. "Ma'am you have a stellar security system, if it was armed we would have gotten here before the suspects got this far. We were called by someone who was passing by in traffic," He explained to Bradley. "There are no signs of forced entry or even the security system being tampered with,"
"My cameras?"
"The lenses were spray painted. We were able to catch just a glimpse of the person," He told her. "Would you be willing to try to identify them?"
"Yeah— sure— of course," Bradley breathed out shakily.
She let the officer lead the way to the back of her salon. It was like a bad to good transition. The entire front portion of the shop was trashed while the back remained neat and polished. In the back two other police officers huddled around on of their laptops that was now connected to the router of the security cameras that were installed all over Allure. "Do we have a clear shot yet?" Asked Officer Pensly. Rashad was able to eye the name that was stitched onto the breast of his uniform.
"Uh," Another officer strained out as she hovered her finger over the mouse pad of the laptop. "This is the best we could do," She rotates the laptop so Rashad, Bradley, and Officer Pensly could catch a view.
"Do you recognize this person ma'am?"Officer Pensly asked while pointing to the
Bradley gazed at the zoomed in still frame of the suspect. Absolutely nothing resurfaced in her mind causing her to shake her head now.
Averting over to Rashad, Officer Pensly asked him. "What about you sir?"
Rashad eyed the photo as well. Just like Bradley, he shook his head no as well. "Nah,"
The visual of the person was blurry and hinted to no one. Their face was concealed with a thick charcoal black ski-mask that matched their all black attire. There was absolutely no telling how many other people they brought along to assist thin with vandalizing and destroying Allure since all the other lenses were covered up.
"We're picking up fingerprints now and we'll go from there," Officer Pensly informed them both. "For your safety, we'll keep an officer on standby,"
Bradley had honestly tuned out. Her mind was too busy assessing how long it would take to get Allure back into perfect condition as it was before. She also was thinking how much money it would take to get it done immediately.
"Thank you, we appreciate it," Rashad shook Officer Pensly's hand before he and the other two officers wrapped up and exited the room.
Bradley had snapped back into reality and let out a long deep sigh. Within the exalted breath, Rashad knew there were cries and tear that were about to follow right after it.
He instantly wrapped his arms around Bradley and pulled her into his chest. Her head was buried into his chest where she just let her tears free. Rashad could feel her tears seep through his shirt as her cries rattled his ears. He consoled her by rubbing her back. "I'll help you through this Brad," Rashad assures her as he placed a kiss onto the top of her head. "No matter the cost, no matter the time, I got you,"
Those words were enough to induce more cries out of Bradley. She was glad that she had promised help from Rashad, however she couldn't help but to wish that this never happened in the first place.
After Rashad eased her, Bradley wiped the tears from her bare face. Hand in hand with one another, Bradley led the way to the front of the shop. In all angles, the damage was just horrific. "We have to start cleaning this place up," Bradley spoke in a hush tone. She couldn't muster up any of her strength to speak at a higher octave.
She felt defeated, alone, and lost. Allure was all she had— the first thing she ever had. This shop was her success story and her triumph story, now all of it was brought to the ground. Bradley honestly didn't know when she would recover from the under the belt blow of destroying Allure. It was all too much to take in at once.
Bradley and Rashad were in the middle of rounding up all of the glass that shattered around the place when Posh and Georgia arrived. "Oh my God," They both said under their breath at the sight of Allure.
Allure was their second home. This is where they made their money, but also grew as a family. Bradley made her way over to them, her tears quickly coming into play. She could control her emotions, she was currently all over the place.
Posh and Georgia engulfed her into both of their arms where they all just cried together. Allure was there's too, it hurt them just as much as it hurt Bradley. They witnessed the grind and the hustle Bradley had to put in to make her dream a reality. She didn't half ass anything so her shop was at the top of her standards, now it was all ruined. Bradley was determined to not let this be the end of Allure. Her business was successful and prosperous, nothing could stop it.
"I promise we're gonna he okay," Georgia vowed. "We get through everything,"
Rashad felt horrible that these ladies were all going through this. They were good people who were phenomenal at what they did. Allure was more than just a place of business, it was a home. That was proven just by the way Posh and Georgia scurried our of bed to be by Bradley's side at a time of need.
Soon enough, the entire shop was present. It was now 6 AM and everyone was pitching in to help clean up. They knew they wouldn't be able to do much, but if they already pick up all of the glass shards, Bradley would be able to get the glass windows and doors back to how they were by the end of the day.
Bradley wasn't going to change a thing about Allure. She absolutely loved how it look and there was nothing that could influence her to change how it looked. "Thank you guys for coming to help me out," Bradley thanked the entire shop.
From all the crying she had done a few hours she barely had the strength to speak over the octave she was set at. "Mami it's nothing, this is our shop too," Alta assures as she pulled Bradley into a hug.
Bradley just looked like she needed the comfort. Alta's hug resulted in Rome, Cinney, Posh, Georgia, Astel, Usiah and Erica to join in on the hug. They all huddled together comforting not only Bradley, but each other as well.
Rashad didn't really know where he would fit in at the moment so he just remained behind and continued cleaning. Rashad was gonna pick up every bill he could. He wasn't sure how he well Bradley would take of it, but he just felt like it was the right thing to do.
The ladies all took to social media to cancel their appointments and to alarm any customers who expected to get serviced as a walk in that Allure was currently closed. "I don't know what I'm gonna do," Bradley sighed.
Rashad peered down at her sympathizing with her. "We'll have this fixed up in a month or so Brad, I promise. I'm getting the doors and windows fixed in a few hours then we can worry about the interior later," Rashad assured her.
Bradley wrapped her arms around his torso and angled her head up to look at him. "Rashad I can handle it you don't have to,"
Rashad shook his head not trying to hear her go against his offers. "It's alright Brad, this is what I'm here for,"
"Rashad you're not here to take care of me," Bradley protested. "I can handle my own,"
"You can, but loving you comes with that responsibility. I'm helping you, no matter how bad you don't want me too,"
A few hours later, Rashad had a company out replacing the windows. He took initiative of taking the measurements of the spaces so the company could come with the right sizes. While Rashad stood out front making sure the job was done correctly, Bradley, and everyone else were cleaning their belongings from their booths. "This was a $300 flat iron, hating hoes always gotta ruin shit when they don't have shit," Posh scoffed as she trashed the damaged hair tool due to wire being cut.
"Welp I know what I'm getting you for Friendsgiving," Usiah laughed making a mental not to replace the flat iron.
"Thanks friend," Posh said over her shoulder with a smile.
Bradley sighed. She couldn't find it within herself to lighten up the mood like everyone else was. "I'm sorry you guys. I'll try to replace as much as possible," She assured them.
All of their faces contorted into a crazy expression. "Girl this was not your fault," Astel states.
Cinney nodded. "Exactly. I think we'll be pretty good with getting some new hair equipment,"
"Y'all must've forgot Friendsgiving coming. I ain't do no gift shopping anyways so keep on spilling what y'all need so I can make it easier on me," Usiah laughed finding this a great opportunity to get them the ideal gifts.
Bradley smiles lightly. She was so appreciative to have employees and friends like these. They dropped everything to be by her side and help her repair the shop that was left in shambles. "Thank you guys, seriously. Without y'all and Rashad I think I would've just ran into oncoming traffic with my eye clothes after seeing this," Bradley slowly twirled around to catch a full view of the shop. She and everyone else were able to clean up as much as they could so the floors were back to normal aside from the splattered nail polish that stained it.
Usiah and the ladies all averted their eyes to Rashad who was speaking to the window repair men and instructing them how he wanted the job to get done. He was running on four hours of sleep and was dressed in some casual sweats and a shirt. He look tired as hell, but he was pushing through for the sake of Bradley and everyone else at the shop. "Bitch you better drop some mean head when y'all get home," Rome advised Bradley.
Rashad was a good man and he seemed to amaze them all more and more everyday. "Here you go," Posh handed Bradley a Goody band from her wrist.
Bradley shook her head at her friends. "I'm talking about nasty ass head. Don't stop until your jaws get tired," Usiah encourages causing Bradley to immediately plug her ears with her fingers.
"I can't hear you, la la la la la," Bradley used the tactic Victoria and Rashad did often.
Usiah and the ladies all laughed. Posh swatted Bradley's hands from her ears. "You so childish,"
Bradley pouted. "You guys are nasty,"
"Seriously, that man is great."Alta added finally turning the conversation into something Bradley could bare to listen to.
Bradley nodded and a smile outstretched her face. She caught sight of Rashad through the glass the contractors finally put up. Like clock work, their eyes met and he shot her a wink. "I love him," Bradley admitted causing everyone to gasp.
"Since when!?" Georgia exclaimed.
Bradley put her head down sheepishly knowing she was about to catch some heat since she kept the secret from her friends for a couple of days now. "Oh my goodness, can we like not make it such a big deal?" Her face began to heat up while a short chortle escaped her lips.
"Oh friend, it's definitely a big deal! What happened to, we're not ready for that stage yet? You only said that about a couple of weeks ago. Where's that energy Brad?" Posh abrassively interrogates causing everyone to laugh.
Bradley let out a child like groan before stomping her foot. "It just happened okay. He said it, than I said it, and now we love each other,"
"Well I'll be damned," Usiah chuckled.
"Okay act normal he's coming in," Bradley swatted Usiah's arm as Rashad began to approach them.
Usiah and the ladies quit their snickering and reverted to a more militant manner causing Rashad to eye them skeptically. "So good news," He began while shifting his eyes throughout the circle Bradley and her friends all formed together. "The windows and doors are fixed," He stepped aside so they could all see the finished work that only took about two hours to do. Rashad made sure to get the glass tinted a bit darker and get a thicker cut of it to make it more difficult to break.
"You sound like you have bad news too," Rome muttered preparing herself for the worst.
"Bad news," Rashad redirected. "Y'all might be out of a shop for at least a month— the least,"
Bradley's face fell into a deep frown. For some reason, a part of her was expecting that time frame, while the other part of her didn't even want to hear that. "That's okay," Bradley let out shakily. "As long as we eventually get back open," Bradley was definitely saving face in front of her employees. Rashad could see right through her.
All the employees of the shop nodded in agreement.
Allure was temporarily shut down.
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANNA
RASHAD FAREWOOD,
"C'mon baby, it's Friendsgiving," Rashad desperately tries to cheer Bradley up. She was just in the spirit yesterday while she was prepping things to cook today, and now she was in a slump. This had been happening often now that the shop was closed.
Bradley had her good days and her bad days. It got worse once the blogs got ahold of the damage done to Allure. With nothing better to do since her job was on a halt, Bradley found herself scrolling through the comments of the post. Many people sympathized for her while many others were telling her it was karma over some shit that wasn't even relevant to the situation.
Rashad had to confiscate Bradley's phone away from her because he noticed that she was just digging herself into a pit of depression. "We gone have fun today," Rashad said as he leaned in and kissed her lips. "Posh is already on her way here to help you finish cooking,"
Bradley nodded her head before running her hands down her face. "Thanks babe, I'll be up in just a minute," She let out softly.
"Promise?" He held out his pinky finger.
Bradley nodded. "Promise," She interlocked her pinky with his.
Rashad got up from her bed and began exiting the room after they sealed the deal. Once he stepped into the living room, the door sounded off. He went to go retrieve it, opening up for Posh and surprisingly Duke as well.
"Well I'll be damned," Rashad smirked as he leaned against the threshold of the door with his arms folded across his chest.
Posh rolled her eyes. "You gone step aside or am I gonna have to run you over?" Posh asked with a raise of her brow.
Rashad quickly straightened out and stepped aside. He was not about to let Posh fuck up his face like she had done last time. Rashad shut the door behind Posh and Duke as they entered the kitchen to set down the extra groceries they brought with them.
Being annoying as always, Rashad took a seat at the bar eyeing as Duke assisted Posh with organizing the groceries. "So y'all rode together or in separate cars?" Rashad asked with a grin.
"You wanna get shanked with kitchen knife or a pocket knife? Cause I got both," Posh held up the kitchen knife from Bradley's drawer and a pocket knife she retried from her bag.
Rashad lifted both hands up in surrender. "When you got so aggressive, you use to be nice Posh,"
Posh placed her pocket knife back into her bag before setting the kitchen knife back into the drawer. "I'm still nice, I just don't like getting the third degree,"
"Man I asked two questions," Rashad chuckled.
Posh shrugged. "Which you aren't getting the answer to, now go get big booty Brad, I'm not cooking all this by myself,"
Rashad playfully mugged Posh as Duke snickered off to the side. "She coming out in a minute,"
"Bradley you better get your ass on out here or we gone be eating pizza on Friendsgiving!" Posh rushed Bradley.
"What's Friendsgiving, I thought today was thanksgiving?" Duke asked with a questioning look sprawled all over his face
Rashad sighed with a shake of his head. "This they tradition. It's like thanksgiving with gifts," Rashad was still catching the gist of the whole Friendsgiving thing. He had his gifts for the entire shop already stacked up in the corner of Bradley's condo. Usiah and the ladies had been dripping wrapped gifts off all week and Rashad was able to peep a good handful with his name on it.
Rashad was delegating timing as much as he could because he still had to go celebrate with his family around 4:00 PM.
"Damn, I ain't bring no gifts," Duke screwed up his face.
Posh looked over at him. "It's okay, cause you aren't getting any gifts," She assured him with a shrug causing Rashad to laugh.
Rashad was sure he got everyone something the liked so he wasn't really worried about the gifts he got. He was more so worried about the things Usiah and the ladies got him.
After a while, Bradley dragged herself out of bed. She had already gotten her hygiene together so she was set to start cooking. "Hello everybody," She greeted out in a light voice.
Duke greeted her back and Posh just mugged. "Brad, sis, cheer up,"
Bradley rolled her eyes as she adjusted Rashad's hood which she had on. "I am cheered up, yay it's Friendsgiving," Bradley clapped with her tone sounding sarcastic as ever.
"Brad remember what I said," Rashad reminded her.
Bradley exalted our a huff of air before reverting herself. "Hey everybody! It's Friendsgiving!" She jumped up using the skills she attained from cheering.
Posh, Duke and Rashad couldn't help but to laugh at her. "That's my girl," Rashad high fives her. "We'll let you ladies do all the cooking and we'll be on the balcony," Rashad smirked as he slipped out of his seat.
Bradley eyed him. "I don't want that smell in here Rashad," She warned him, knowing exactly why Rashad and Duke were going out to the balcony in the first place.
Rashad and Duke laughed. "I got you baby," Rashad assured.
Cutting through the living room, Rashad and Duke found themselves outside on the balcony. Bradley had it set up nice just like she had the interior of her condo. "This view slick nice," Duke admired.
Rashad nodded in agreement. He and Bradley did some real unspeakable things involving this view. Just reminiscing about it made him chuckle. "Her condo way better than mine," Rashad stated.
Duke agreed. "Her couches look more comfortable,"
"Don't come by my place no more since that's how you feel,"
"Light skin ass always in your feelings," Duke teased causing Rashad to stick him the finger.
The two rolled up in silence before they lighted their blunts and smoked. "So what's good with you and Posh, you know she crazy right?" Rashad just had to clarify that his friend knew that.
Duke shrugged with a light smirk. "I don't really know, we just kicking it. She funny as hell, and I like to laugh,"
Rashad took his best friend's word for it and just left it at that. He knew if Posh and Duke decided to go any further he would definitely support. Duke was definitely a relationship type guy. So if he invested time into a female it's because he seen a future with them in the long run.
"Posh was telling me about the shop, you ain't tryna look into it on your own?" Duke quirked. Everyone knew the police weren't gonna put much effort into finding the person who did that to the shop. After hearing Posh explain what happened Duke couldn't help but to consider the fact that it seemed like an inside job. He never brought it up to Posh because he did not want her telling Bradley, resulting in them questioning people's loyalty in the shop. And besides, it was just a theory.
Rashad exhaled some smoke out through his nostrils. "Not really. I'm just focused on getting the shop back running so Brad could feel better,"
Duke understood. "I feel you. She taking it hard?"
"Definitely. That shop is her livelihood. She grind day in and day out for it," Rashad definitely knew the pain Bradley was battling through, however he couldn't feel it. It was simply something Bradley alone was facing.
Duke sighed. "How much longer before it opens back up?"
"Three more weeks, hopefully. Lately she's been getting a lot of bad phone calls from the contractor," Bradley felt like she was getting more bad news than good news. She was beginning to feel defeated.
"Say," Duke started. "Your birthday coming up in a week and a half, why don't you take her on a trip to get her mind off of it," He suggested.
Rashad almost forgot about his birthday honestly. Now that Cedonni was gone, he didn't really find a good reason to celebrate. It always felt empty on that day without him. The two did everything together so it really wasn't a day to celebrate without his twin right by his side.
"I don't know," Rashad hesitates. "You know I don't like celebrating birthdays,"
Duke nudged his shoulder. "C'mon Shad, you turning 28, you need to celebrate,"
"I think I'm just gonna spend the day with Vic like I always do," Rashad settled.
Duke screwed his face up. "Son, you got a shorty now, she gone wanna be with you on your birthday too. Tell you what, we all going. You always said you wanted to go to Indonesia so let's go,"
"Nigga I said that shit when I was high as hell," Rashad laughed. "And my birthday is legit right around the corner, you sure you wanna plan a trip now?" Rashad warned him.
Stubborn as hell, Duke nodded his head. "It's gone be fun. Vic can come, Alex could come too. Your girl seems to need a distraction and you need to celebrate your birthday. It's a win-win," Duke concluded with a confident smile.
Rashad contemplated the trip for a moment. He never really did much for himself or his birthday so it was well deserved. Plus maybe this would get Bradley out of her little funk. "Ight fine, but you gotta bring Posh," Rashad smirked knowing his condition would make Duke squirm.
Duke ran his hand down his face, before he finally caved with a smirk. "That ain't no problem,"
A few hours bypassed and Bradley's condo was filled with all the stylists and the nail tech from Allure. Astel brought her son, Usiah brought Liam, and Rome and Cinney brought their damn puppy— Sparkle.
Like any other black folk, they made sure to dress up just to gather up and pig out. This year's friends giving was a bit more packed now that Duke, Rashad, Alex, Iris, and Victoria was in attendance. No one minded though, the more the merrier. Bradley was hoping that they would end up eating more food this year so she would have so many left overs in her fridge for weeks on end.
At the moment, everyone gathered on the couch— some sat on the floor, and their were all playing Heads-Up. Alex was up and he sucked at the game.
"Beyoncé made it popping!" Usiah shouted it out hoping it would give Alex a hint.
Alex kept the same dumbfounded expression in his face. "It's a restaurant!" Victoria added.
"They biscuits hit the spot bae!" Iris yelled doom as the time began counting down its final five seconds.
"Uh— Red Lobster," Alex let out skeptically.
"Yes!" Everyone clapped as he flipped the phone up indicating he got the right answer.
His round came to an end and his score was just sad. He only got three out of ten right. "Man y'all suck at this game," He blamed everyone for his lack of success in the game instead of taking accountability.
The entire group laughed before as he handed Posh back her phone. Alex was the last one to play and he definitely wasn't the best for last.
"Okay now can we get to what really matters, the damn gifts,"Posh groaned as she got up from her spot on the couch.
Bradley had been being the strict mom of the group and ordered everyone that they couldn't open gifts until after they've eaten and bonded.
After an explicit game of never have I have that involved rounds and rounds of alcohol, then an intense game of UNO, and lastly Heads Up, Bradley finally gave them the okay to charge towards the gifts.
Posh ended up pulling Rome back by the hoodie of her jacket so she could make first grabs on the gifts with her name on it.
"Okay we're definitely participating in this next year," Victoria laughed as she watched Rashad palm Georgia in the forehead so he could get to the pile before her.
Like always, Bradley stayed behind letting the chaos die down before she went to claim her gifts.
After a few more chaotic minutes, everyone returned to the living room area with all of their gifts. "Alright you eager kids," Bradley laughed as she grabbed up her gifts and headed to the couches. "To keep tradition, we will open one gift at time. Rashad since your new to this, everyone will open up your gift and you can stand up here," Bradley gestures to the spot she stood in. "and explain why you got everyone their gift,"
This was tradition and as much as everyone didn't like it, they went with the flow for the sake of Bradley. What they did notice though was as years went on, everyone's reasoning behind their gifts got a bit more detailed and sentimental.
Rashad swapped spots with Bradley and stood front and center of everyone. The group looked through their gifts until they found the ones that were marked, "From Uncle Shad," all except for Bradley's that was marked, "From Babe,"
With a confident smile on his face, he stood and watched them all unravel their gifts. "Oh bitch he got money!" Cinney exclaimed as she held up the Ross Simmons sterling silver charm bracelet. Everyone held up their gift before cheering once they realized they had all gotten the same thing.
Rashad has gifted Usiah and the ladies with charm bracelet that had a medium size 'A' charm on it to signify the unity within Allure. Everyone had a silver charm bracelet, while Bradley got a gold one. The gifts definitely caused him a grip of cash, but he thought it was definitely cheaper than purchasing expensive gifts for everyone each year. He planned on gifting them all with a different charm every year if they continued to keep the Friendsgiving tradition well and alive.
"Rashad this is beautiful," Alta marveled down at the charm bracelet. "Thank you,"
By then they all joined in. "Thank you Uncle Shad!" They said in unison. Over the past five months, Rashad definitely felt like Allure was a family to him now. They were nothing but welcoming and accepting of him.
"You're all welcome," He smirked in a cocky manner. He knew Bradley was doubting his gift giving skills since this was his first year, but he proved her wrong and started on a great foot. "So the reason I gifted everyone with this gift is because y'all are like a strong family unit. You all being together goes past just working with one another. I'm glad my girl has friends like you all because not a lot of people are as genuine as y'all are," Rashad concludes his explanation. Posh and Cinney couldn't contain themselves and went straight in for a hug.
Bradley laughed before getting up so she could end sitting on his lap. Posh was up next and the way she had a silly grin on her face had everyone second guessing on opening up their gifts. "Posh Ariana Franklin, if you bullshit me this year I'm smacking you," Rome warned her as she and everyone else began to unwrap their gifts slowly.
"Bitch you gone like it, I promise," Posh assured.
When everyone finally had the gifts open, they all let out a scream causing Posh to cackle in delight. "Posh what made you even think this was okay?" Bradley held up the light skin—realistic dildo.
Rashad has reached over and covered Victoria's eyes once he realized Posh had gotten everyone dildos except for him. Posh had gotten him life size and realistic vagina toy that seemed to match Bradley's skin tone perfectly.
Posh was in tears at everyone's reactions as they quickly put the sex toys in the gift boxes they retrieved them from. "Okay, so the reason I got everyone sex toys is," She wipes her tears of laughter as everyone stared back at her with their faces churned in a stale manner. Posh was known for being the jokester when it came to Friendsgiving. The gifts were hilarious and the explanation behind them were even more hilarious.
"Astel, you always fucking grumpy so I just thought it would be nice to get you some dick. Rome, you're a nympho and we all know it. Cinney, bitch you ain't fooling nobody. Usiah, you and Liam are spontaneous so here's another to add to you all's collection. Erica, sis I don't know you well but I peeped a wedding ring so maybe this would spice it up in the bedroom for you and your husband. Georgia, your virgin ass need to see a dick one day in your like, practice with this one. Bradley— I know big homie Shad been hitting it right, but I know you both have busy schedules so here's an alternative. Alta, sis I know you like black cock, so I did the first step for you and got you some black cock. Lastly Uncle Shad, that pussy pocket may not feel like the real thing, but it could get the job done, you feel me? I hope you all enjoy your gifts,"She smiled proudly before reclaiming her seat so Usiah could go up.
"Moving on from our dumb ass friend," Usiah threw a shot at Posh as everyone scrambled to get their gift from him. Looking around, everyone noticed they all had the same size gift box alluding to them all having the same things.
Everyone opened up their gifts and their eyes widened at the sight of a pink onesie in the box. "I love my TT Georgia," Georgia read the stitched words on the onesie.
"Mine say Uncle Shad," Rashad held his up.
"Mine say TT Posh," Posh followed and held her's up.
Usiah jumped up and down in an ecstatic manner. "Me and Liam about to be parents in this hoe!" Usiah announced causing everyone to cheer for them both. The adoption process had been going on for months and everyone was under the impression that their child was going to be older. The sizing of the baby onesie said otherwise.
All the ladies crowded in on Usiah giving him hugs and kisses while Rashad dapped Liam up and congratulated him.
"Oh my god when did this happen?" Bradley asked after they all returned to their seats.
Usiah beamed in happiness. "We found out last week. The mother is still pregnant with her and she approved of us. It'll be an open adoption so she'll have two sets of parents," Usiah explained.
"Papi you and Liam will be phenomenal parents," Alta clapped.
Everyone soon came down from their excitement from Usiah's gifts and it transitioned to Bradley's turn. She was a bit skeptical about presenting these gifts due to what had recently happened with the shop. These gifts were preplanned so she wasn't really expecting to be in the position she was in now. "Alrighty, before you guys open the gifts I just want you all to know that I do feel like the weight of the world is on my shoulders now that Allure is closed, but with you guys supporting me, I'm gonna remain strong and determined," She said aloud causing everyone to sympathize with her.
"Okay Posh and Georgia open your gifts first," Bradley directed.
The two looked at her oddly before they did as told while everyone else paused on opening up their gift. Sitting next to one another, Posh and Georgia have each other questioning looks while they held up two sets of keys in their hands. "Sis this ain't no car key, what am I gonna open up with this?" Posh asked while she dangled the keys.
Bradley broke out into a smile before she spoke. "Well, since Allure has me and Usiah, I just thought Allure Me Hair Studios could have you and Georgia," Bradley announced. She was opening up a second salon and though Georgia and Posh would be perfect to run it. Bradley had been working on this salon for about a year now and it was still in the process of opening. In about seven more months, Allure Me Hair Studios will be open to the public with Posh and Georgia as management.
"Bradley, don't play with me like that," Georgia laughed in disbelief while shaking her head.
Posh was in denial as well. "For real, out of everybody on this staff you pick my dumb ass, this must be April Fools," Posh remained in shock.
Bradley laughed. "You guys, I'm dead serious," She assured. "Everyone else can open up their gifts,"
Cautiously, everyone opened up the gifts not knowing what to expect. Looking around at each other, every one had the same gift. It was a picture of the salon which had the date it would be opening up.
Once everyone seen that, they all joined in a wave of cheers and congratulations like they had done for Rashad. "I'm about to be a boss in this bitch!" Posh exclaimed while bending over with one hand on her right knee while the other hand was up in the air dangling the keys. Seeing what she was doing, Duke immediately tapped her waist shaking his head no, she straightened out with a roll of her eyes.
"Why you ain't tell me?" Rashad asked as he cranes his neck down for a kiss.
Bradley shrugged. This plan was in motion far before Rashad so she didn't really find the need to inform him since she wanted everyone to be excited. "I like to move in silence," Bradley smirked.
This was Bradley. She did everything on her own and made sure to find a way to provide for everyone.
At this moment, she was down right now, but through her strength she always pushed through.