She tapped me on my ass. “Not as much as yours. Damn girl. You got a BBL when you took that week off?”
“Girl bye. I would have needed more than a week off. Silly self.”
My ass had gotten bigger. At first I picked up stress weight, but as time went on and the stress melted off of me, I started to pick up happy weight. I found myself snacking in bed damn near every other night. Before SiSi and them came into my bedroom earlier, I had to clean all of the snack wrappers off the side of the bed that used to be Duke’s. Yeah, it was bad. But I was getting a handle on it. I refused to let myself go.
As we maneuvered through the crowd, my eyes found Judah’s. He put his cup up to his lips and chucked his chin. In return, I threw my hand up with a soft smile. His eyes traveled the length of my body for a second before he turned his attention back to the man he was talking to.
With a deep breath, I started to look for Crescent. The place was packed. I couldn’t imagine all of these people working for Skylight Industries. Well… then again, they could. He had anice sized company. But I wasn’t sure. Seemed like there was a mixture of associates and family, the way they partied. There were older people in the mix, on the dancefloor, doing outdated dances like the bump and the cabbage patch. One older couple grinded on each other. It was a vibe. Too much of a vibe for this to just be a company party.And it wasn’t business casual. Everybody was dressed nice. The women had on dresses. Some too short, some too tight. The men didn’t just have on suits—they were dressed in jeans and joggers too.
As I was walking through the crowd, trying to find Crescent, I spotted him by the bar. I was just about to walk up and greet him when a woman wearing a white dress walked up to him and gave him a drink. Pivoting, she turned and stood next to him, wearing a big smile. And they were wearing the same color. Who was she? Had to be his girlfriend. Who else would give a man a drink and stand next to him? They were close too. So close that their arms touched.
As the gravity of what they could have been hit me, my stomach dropped and I immediately wanted to leave. Why though, right? He wasn’t mine. I cut him off. We were past that, right? But… still… It stung. Why would he invite me if his bitch was going to be here? I swallowed and shook my head.Because you helped him bring The House of Nova Ray alive and he’s celebrating that, that’s why, dumb ass.The invite didn’t mean anything more than that. I just… man, I was in my feelings.
30
CRESCENT
“‘Preciate it.You didn’t have to do that though,” I said to Reign, after she handed me a drink.
She shrugged and held her cup up. “I was already going to the bar, remember?”
I nodded and took a sip of my drink. Cranberry juice. I wasn’t drinking. Had drank too much after moms passed away so I was chilling on it. It would have made sense to drink tonight, considering it was a celebration, but I was smooth on it. I was celebrating the completion of The House of Nova Ray with a few people I fucked with. A couple of business associates, family, and of course Reign. It was only right for her to be present. The House of Nova Ray was hers damn near just as much as it was mine, considering I opened it in honor of our daughter.
I took a deep breath and looked across the venue at Uncle Lew and Auntie Augustine in the middle of the dance floor, grinding on each other. With a light laugh, I looked away towards the entrance where Lil’ Marv stood, greeting Rahmir and his lady. I had his lazy ass working the door. Had to throw him a couple hundred but it was money well spent. I wanted him off the game and in his bag.
“Y’all look so damn cute,” said Auntie Shanny, approaching. “Purposely dressed alike, huh?”
I looked over at Reign and then down at my white jeans. Shaking my head I said, “Hell naw. Kind of happened that way.”
Reign was wearing an all-white, strapless floor length dress that covered her feet. Me, I had on a pair of white Amiri jeans, a plain white tee, and a pair of red, black and white off-white Jordan ones. We did look like we planned to dress in the same color but nah. I would never. We weren’t on that type of time. I’d never be on that type of time with Reign again. She was cool.
Since the funeral, she’d been around more than usual. She was at the crib often, checking on me and I let her. I had a deeper understanding and compassion for her. Before, I was just looking at shit through my own lenses, going through what I was going through, not considering her feelings for real. The talk we had at the repast put a lot into perspective. Reign was smooth. We were cordial and that was about it. Matching outfits, on that other shit… nah.
Reign laughed. “Right. When I pulled up and saw him I sucked my teeth so hard. Like… what are the damn odds.”
“Well, y’all look damn good together,” Auntie Shanny continued with a wink, before she gave my arm a light squeeze and walked off.
Reign shook her head and looked away with a smile.
I took a sip of my juice and chucked my chin at Rah who was walking my way, paying what auntie said no mind. Since Reign and I had gotten closer, the family had been looking at us sideways. Luna swore up and down we would be getting back together. Orion thought the same thing. I didn’t think nothing of it. Paid them very little attention, too because I knew what it was. I hoped Reign wasn’t feeding into that shit. I didn’t give off the impression of anything but friendship vibes. I hope she read them.
I was in no mood for a woman. Nothing serious anyway. I was chilling. Still thought about ol’ girl like crazy. It wasn’t as bad as it was months ago but there wasn’t a day that went by that she didn’t cross my mind. I wasn’t beating my dick to the thought of her anymore. Didn’t have to put her face on Daija anymore neither. I was surviving. Missed the hell out of her though. So much that I was really looking forward to seeing her tonight. I had my eyes on the door every five minutes, waiting to see her walk in. Of course I invited her; it was only right.
“What up doe, cuzzo?” Rah spoke, slapping hands with me.
“What up doe?” I spoke back, as he gave Reign a hug.
“Congratulations y’all. I know it’s about to do numbers,” he continued before turning towards his date. “This Semone. Semone, my cousin Crescent and his… and um, Reign.”
I laughed, shook my head and looked off, my eyes immediately landing on a red dress. With dipped brows, I stopped mid-drink and studied her. She was standing at the bar with her back to me. But it was something strikingly familiar about her. My eyes traveled the length of her body, washing over her curves, until I got to her gold heels.Shit. Who the fuck? And what the fuck was she doing here? I prayed like hell she didn’t belong to one of my niggas. If so, he might as well consider her took. On my momma. I didn’t have to see her face to know she was bad. I didn’t give a fuck about her face, for real. I just wanted to bend her over. Fuck was that? And why did it feel like I’d seen her before?
I ran my tongue over my bottom lip and nodded at something Rahmir said. Something about the hotel. Seeing that my attention was fixed elsewhere, he shifted the conversation to Reign who was too excited about the hotel to notice my attention drifting.
“I’ll be right back,” I mumbled, as I walked off, heading in the direction of red dress.
On my way to the bar, I was stopped by a couple of my cousins. Young niggas complaining about how I gave Lil’ Marv a job and not them. They mentioned how much bread I threw him and everything. I made a mental note to chop it up with lil’ cuz about running his fuckin’ mouth.
After promising them niggas odd jobs, I continued towards the bar, hoping that when the crowd cleared she’d still be standing there. I wasn’t really the type to chase a woman down at a party—especially not a business party— but there was something about her that called out to me. I wondered if it was the bright red standing out in the sea of other colors. Nobody else wore red. Nobody else wore a dress as short as hers neither. I just wanted to know who she was. Felt like Ihadto know who she was. It was like if I didn’t approach her, my night wouldn’t end right.
