Rob leaned over and offered JV a bag then turned around and walked the other two bags to the men on the opposite side.
“Thank you, Rob.”
“Y’all good.” He turned around and collapsed in my chair.
“What do you need?” I asked.
“Nothing. I’m just sitting here. Why? You think my shit need to get lined up again?” Rob spun around in his chair and looked at his hair, tilting his head one way then the other.
“Nah but I would have looked closer if you were in my chair to complain.”
“Oh, nah. You good, and uh, speaking of complaining, I’m sorry about that shit last night. You know I wouldn't put nothing on you or the shop on purpose. I can handle my own shit and I’d never expect you to handle it for me.”
I exhaled. “I know.”
“I’ll do better, alright?”
I chuckled and shook my head because I knew for a fact that nigga was lying. I also knew whether he brought his issues to my front door or not, his issues were still mine and I would jump in whether he needed me to or not. That was just how we got down.
I appreciated that he was trying to take care of his issues on his own though.
“Alright.” I dapped him up. “I’m taking a twenty.”
I looked over my work station, grabbed my phone and lunch and headed to my little office in the back. I sent Novi a quick text while I started eating.
Me:
Hey. It’s Kaleo.
I ate my lunch and checked a few emails and messages. A few people were offering me money to promo and make social media posts with their products. I never accepted them but I sent well thought out rejections anyway. I wasn’t in the business of doing that social media shit. I barely posted but it didn’t cause me to lose too many followers and people were still consistently booking. It was nice though. I got to pick whatever clients I wanted to work with and could afford to turn away those I didn’t want to deal with. It was cool.
I dialed Novi’s number when I finished up and saw that she hadn’t responded to my text. Shit. She didn’t have a job. What was she doing?
The thought of JV telling me that I was intense played in my head, but I ignored it and waited patiently for her to answer anyway.
“Hello?” She answered on the third ring. “Who’s this?”
“Kaleo.”
“Oh?” She sounded genuinely shocked. “Hi. Hey.” She stuttered a little.
“Hey,” I repeated. “I was thinking I could pick you up tonight around seven.”
“For?”
“Bowling.”
“You’re taking me bowling?”
“If you agree.”
“Okay. I’ll see you at seven then?”
“That’s right.” A knock sounded at my door and I exhaled. “Well I’ve got to get back to work but I’ll see you then.”
“Wait!” Novi screamed and I paused.
“What’s up?”
