He gets awkward for a second, eyes flicking to the side, and I follow his gaze.
There goes my baby father, standing near the stairway, looking so damn good.
‘Watch nice, clean baby father’I hear Sash’s voice in my head, and I can’t help the grin that climbs my face.
“Ouu,” I smile at him.
“You should be getting ready now enuh, Mami,” he says, that slight smirk on his lips.
“You mek mi excited,” I grin, cheeks warm.
He chuckles low. The kind of laugh that makes my knees soften just a little.
“And mi forgive you,” Gutta chimes in.
I turn back to him. “Thank you,” I say, genuinely. Nickoi and I head upstairs, and right before I go into the room, he reminds me:
“Wear suh’m white… we’re having dinner on the beach front.”
Ouuuu!I already know the dress I’m wearing.
I take a shower and step out, wrapped in a pink towel. Nickoi’s by the glass balcony, giving instructions to one of his workers. Calm, assertive. In control like always. I smile to myself and head over to the dresser. I don’t say anything, I know better than to interrupt when he’s handling business.
Before drying off, I lay the dress across the bed. White, silky, and light as air. The towel falls to my feet, he glances back just in time to see the curve of my body. His eyes glints. I smile and start on my hair. I’m wearing my natural hair today. I grab the spray bottle, and lightly mist it with water. I scrunch the strands until they form loose Burmese curls, soft and defined, falling over my shoulders like waves with a side part.
My makeup is soft, glowy. Barely-there, blush, mink lashes curled. Then comes the lipgloss, one coat, then another, and another.
A how shine yuh wah fi yuh lip?
So people can see dem reflection.
I step into the dress. A white satin two-piece, the top soft, with thin tied straps and tiny fabric flowers at the shoulders. The ankle length skirt hugs my waist, and before I finish, I wrap my gold belly chain gently around my midsection. It glints against my skin, sitting just beneath the top’s hem. I smile to myself, rubbing on vanilla eos lotion, before I spritz on my favorite scent. Chanel, Ms. Dior, Yara and Sol De Janeiro 68. To add a cherry on top, I grab my makeup brush, and brush my collarbone with the Fenty highlighter. I add a white flower clip behind my ear and slip on my Chanel sandals.
I struggle a little with the clasp of my necklace in the mirror, but I don’t call Nickoi. He’s still busy. He walks up behind me, quiet, and clips the necklace with ease. Then just as quickly, he steps away, heading back to his phone.
“Thanks, Daddy,” I smile, playfully.Ouuu.
He nods with a smirk. “Yeah, that’s the last delivery fi the day,” I hear him say into the phone.
After a few quiet moments, I fasten it myself, then slide the Patek Philippe onto my wrist. It didn’t really match, but I wanted to show appreciation. Anyways. Cute lil’ fit.
I leave the room, ready to show Sash my outfit but when I step into the hallway, I freeze. Gutta’s face is buried in her neck. She’s sitting there, on the sofa, casually talking to him like it’s nothing. I don’t say a word. Just blink. I’m hurt. And I’m not even Anna. Why would he do this? Why mi always a see everything? Why Sash so awful?
I spin on my heel and walk back into the room like I didn’t just catch something I wasn’t supposed to see. Nickoi’s coming out of the bathroom, and when he spots me, he walks straight over, but close enough to make me take a step back, blushing.
“Damn, Mami.”
He calls me that almost every day. But the way he says it now? Whew. I smile up at him and he grips my waist, sliding his hand down to grab a handful of my ass through the silky fabric.
“You mek mi nuh even bother wah leave,” he whispers, sending chills down my spine.
He kisses my neck, soft and quick, before lacing his fingers through mine and leading me downstairs. Mi wonder if dem still in the same position? By the time we reach the bottom step, they’re not sitting near each other. Gutta’s scrolling through his phone. Sash barely looks up, until she sees me.
Her jaw drops. “Nosah, watch the dolly! A you Shenseea did sing ‘a bout.”
I force a smile.
She probably caught me watching earlier.
