“Thank you. I’m still in shock kind of. And scared as hell. But I know I have to put my big girl panties on.” The smile slowly left her face.
Maybe she realized she was talking a lot. Leighton appeared comfortable engaging in conversation with me. I didn’t mind but obviously, she didn’t think it was a good idea.
“But um,” she cleared her throat and shifted her weight. “I’d like for you to design something for me, and then I can send the models in on their own in a few days for you to get their molds done.”
“Okay tell me the concept. What kind of grills do you want, or do you just want me to freestyle some shit?”
Leighton’s head dropped as she unlocked her phone. “I’ll show you some of the pieces. I had an idea for the first model. I want her grills colorful because in the first promo picture, she’s going to be wearing this,” Leighton held her phone out, so I could see.
The dress had a piece of fabric wrapped around the model’s breasts. One strip of fabric snaked around her back, but left the model’s entire stomach and most of her back exposed. The fabric started again underneath the model’s belly button and fromthere to her ankles, she was wrapped like a mummy. The dress was fire as fuck, different, and it was black, so colorful grills would set it off.
“Damn I like that,” my head bobbed. “That shit is fye as fuck,” I stared at the piece for a few more seconds, so I could engrave the dress into my mental.
While she looked for the next piece, I grabbed a pad to write on.
“The second model will be wearing these jeans.” Leighton placed her phone back in front of my face, and I took in the jeans that were so baggy in the legs it looked as if they’d been filled with air, but they were dope. They had a street edge but a classy look too.
Leighton’s pieces were getting my creative juices flowing. My head bobbed as the wheels in my brain began to turn.
“I have no clue what I want for mine. Lexi’s is so nice. I think I can just let you come up with something, and I’m sure I’ll love it.”
“You know I got you.”
Leighton gave me a small smile before looking away. I didn’t mean for my tone to be soft or sensual as I spoke to her and told her I had her, but that was how it came out. Somethings just came natural to me when it came to dealing with Leighton, and I had no control over it. I stood. “Let me get the stuff, so I can do your molds.”
After putting gloves on, I grabbed a tray to place the putty in, and everything that I needed to mix the putty. A million questions ran through my mind, but I wasn’t sure I should ask Leighton any of them. She came to spend her money with me, and she wasn’t acting like she hated me. However, that didn’t mean that she wanted to update me on her life and chat like we were old friends. I didn’t have to ask her anything because she was the one to break the silence.
“Allison told me what happened. Are you okay? I mean you look okay.”
I continued mixing the putty with a passive shrug. “I’m always gonna be good. I’m tough. One bullet can’t stop shit.”
Leighton’s simper was small. “Yes, you are tough.”
“How have you been though?” I poured the mixture into the tray.
“I’ve been pretty good. Extremely busy, but I won’t complain.”
“It damn sure looks like Charlotte has been good to you. I hope I’m not overstepping.” Honestly, I didn’t give a damn if she had a man, but I couldn’t come across as cocky. I was the one that fumbled her, and I regretted it often.
“You’re not. I’m single.”
Moving toward Leighton, I held the tray out. “Bite down and hold it until I tell you to stop.”
As Leighton took the tray from my hand, Kira sauntered through the door, and I wanted to kiss my teeth. I knew she was about to do the damn most. Anyone that had known me for a while knew Leighton was my ex. They also knew that since her, I hadn’t been attached to anyone else. Kira had been trying with everything in her to get me to lock her down, and I refused. Something told me that seeing Leighton was going to have her on some dumb shit, and I wasn’t in the mood.
“Hey, bae. I just came to see if you were good. You need anything?”
Kira had called me bae before, and I’d kindly told her I didn’t care for that shit. Leighton used to call me babe. Truth be told, I didn’t mind pet names, but I didn’t want Kira thinking we were more than we were. She hadn’t called me bae since I checked her. Just as I suspected, she was doing the most. I didn’t want to be rude or have to check her in front of Leighton, but Kira knew me well enough to know that I didn’t indulge in bullshit.
“I’m good. I don’t need anything.”
“Okay. You need me to come by later?” she leaned against the glass case.
Ignoring the question, I stood in front of Leighton and placed two fingers on the small bar attached to the tray. “Okay let it go.”
Leighton stopped biting down, and I pulled the tray from her mouth. “I’ll show you the design before I make the grills. But it won’t take me long. Give me like a day or two.”
“Okay that sounds good. Thank you. So, do I pay now?”
