“I am.”
Nodding, he walked over to his nightstand and pulled out an envelope. Sitting down on the bed, he gestured with his head for me to come over. I did and sat on his lap.
“Happy Valentine’s Day, baby.”
“Open it?”
“Nah. Read through it with your X-ray vision.” He laughed.
“Shut up.” I elbowed him. Opening the envelope, I peeked inside and already knew it was a check. “Aura.”
“Baby, take it out. Wait, that didn’t sound right. Never take it out.” He winked. “But go head and finish opening your gift.”
I took the check out and gasped when I saw the ‘in the amount of’ number. Sixty thousand dollars paid to Danae Anderson from Sullivan Realty.
“What the hell, Aura?”
“I ain’t gon’ lie. This wasn’t your original gift. Your necklace is in the closet. But this check was most important. I watched you get diligent yesterday and apply for two apartments for your Airbnb business, while we were chilling out there watchingA Long Kiss Goodnight.We’ll get into you not paying attention to the movie at another time.”
I giggled and rolled my eyes.
“But I watched you take another step in going for what’s yours, and I want to put my money where my mouth is and invest in you. This is for you to do as you please to get started once you get them. Pay up a few months’ rent on each unit, decorate, a start-up cushion. Whatever you wanna do, just see to it that it gets done.”
Tears fell before I could stop them. “This is so thoughtful, Aura. Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome, baby.” I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.
“You gettin’ fucked tonighhhttt,” I sang in his ear, and he slapped my ass to let me know that he’d heard me.
When we walkedinto the venue for Kyiris’ party, I quickly concluded that everybody that was complaining about those reminders she sent needed to apologize immediately. The DJ was doing his thing, and the couples had overstood theassignment and brought out their best pajamas. Kyiris wasn’t exaggerating when she expressed how much time and effort she’d put into getting things together. The heart shaped light installations that glowed along the walls as we came in was the most unique thing I’d ever seen. Farther inside was a heart shaped balloon arch that was too cute.
I pointed out the photo booth station with a custom sign that said, “Will You Be My Boo?” to Aura, letting him know that we’d be making a few stops there. Then, she topped it off with a full kissing cam set up near the DJ booth. And that was just the big things that I saw. If she went big on that stuff, I just knew she took her time with the little details.
“Bae, Kyiris really did her thing. You can’t even front.”
Aura scanned the room. “She don’t never do nothing half ass. She definitely took it there with this.”
We made it on time like she requested, and I was glad we did because she had the biggest smile on her face when she saw us.
“Awww, y’all did what I said. If I wasn’t such a gangsta, I would cry.” She hugged both of us and complimented our pajamas. “In theme. I like it.”
“You should’ve saw that other shit she almost had me put on.”
Kyiris snickered, and I rolled my eyes.
“Shut up.” I spotted Thyri across the way at the buffet getting food. “I’ll be back, baby. I’m gonna go say hi to my cousin. And Kyiris, girl, when it’s time to plan my wedding, the job as wedding coordinator is yours, boo.”
I walked over to Thyri, giving hugs to the faces I recognized as I passed through the crowd.
“Hey, boo.” I gave her a side hug.
“Heyyy.” She kissed my cheek. “How you let me beat you here?”
“I don’t know. I just know I’m on time, and that’s all that matters.”
“According to Kyiris, yes, it is.” We both laughed. “You’re glowing, and I love to see it.”
“And so are you. It’s that sprinkle of Sullivan, girl. I’m realizing that now.”
