I was booked for the rest of the day. It was only twenty minutes from closing when my last appointment called and told me that he was running late. I told him I’d wait around for him but did all the rest of my closing checklist.
Afterwards, I collapsed in my chair and called Novi.
“Hello?”
“What’s up, shawty?”
“Doing a face mask. How was work?”
“I’m still in this motha’fucka,” I said. “I had someone call late for their appointment so I’m just waiting for them to come through.”
“How much longer are you going to be out there?”
“Shouldn’t be too much longer. Why?What’s up? I can shut all of this down right now if you need me to.”
“I don’t need anything, Kaleo.” Novi giggled. “I just want to make sure I stay awake late enough to know you got home safely.” She yawned.
“Shawty, I’m good. If you’re tired, get some sleep. That’s why I called you anyway. I just wanted to make sure you heard from me before you crashed.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m positive.”
“Okay…” We sat in silence for a beat. “Is it weird if I tell you that I miss you?”
“Hell nah. You’re supposed to miss your man.”
“Oh! You’re my man now?”
“What? You didn’t know?” I looked toward the door when it rang and my eyebrows knitted together when I saw that it was three dudes all wearing all black. I reached back for my gun automatically. “Aye, baby, I’ve got to go. My appointment just walked in.”
“Okay. Well, call me on your way home.”
“Yeah. I’ve got you.” I hung up and climbed to my feet. “What can I do for y’all?”
“What’s up Kaleo?” I watched his eyes drop down to my gun and back up to my face. He grinned. “What’s going on? We making you feel uncomfortable?”
“Nah. I’m good. This my shit.”
“For how much longer?”
“What?” I walked closer to them.
“Word on the street is that you may be wanting to sell.”
“Well the street lied to you. I’m not selling shit.”
“Alright.” He held his hands up in mock surrender. “I’m just saying.” He dug in his pocket and I had my gun aimed at him before he could even pull his hand out. He lifted a business card. “You a lil jumpy, huh, Kaleo?”
“Nah. I just stay ready so I ain’t got to get ready.”
“Alright.” He held the card out to me.
“Nigga, didn’t I just tell you I wasn’t fucking selling?”
“That’s a lot of mouth when I’m offering you a fucking olive branch.”
“That I didn’t ask for,” I countered.
