“Anyway, only food for thought, Natalie,” Lawrence said, smiling between me and his side hoe like we were making friendly conversation. His ass could be really oblivious. He wouldn’t know he was in danger even if it was staring him dead in the face with the safety off.
“Yeah! Wouldn’t want your ‘little’ shop to get overwhelmed to the point you have to close and miss sales. Not to mention all the bad reviews that’ll come in for you being unorganized and poorly managed, like a few of those shops from last year that are bankrupt.”
I could feel my right eye twitching. Both of them had negative three seconds to get out of my face before I snapped. Lawrence must’ve caught a whiff of my anger because he quickly handed the cashier some money, not bothering to get his change, and headed towards the door.
“We've got to go. Talk to you later, Natalie,” he called over his shoulder, pulling Sandra behind him.
“Tootles!”
“Tootle's head ass trick,” I spat, giving her the finger.
After paying for my snacks, I stomped back to my car and gripped the steering wheel. What was I going to do? The festival was only a few weeks away, and there was no way I could handle the work by myself. Maybe I can get my family to help? I shook my head. No, that won’t work. I mean, not because they wouldn’t want to, but because they’d probably be busy. Even though Mom and Dad were retired, they were busy most of the time with investor meetings, fundraisers, and socializing withfriends. Leonard and Mya ran their own businesses, so they were out of the question. I could probably get Ricky to help, but that was only one person. There was no point in bothering to ask Amanda because she would have flat-out said no and then given me some lame-ass excuse. I loved her, but I knew that Amanda plus manual labor was a negative.
I tapped my chin as I thought about what to do. In order to be successful, I’d at least need a staff of three, not including myself. Dropping my head against the seat, I exhaled a loud groan.
“Looks like I’m putting out a ‘help wanted’ ad,” I groaned before starting the car and heading home. Today was a long day, and I had a feeling that the next few months were going to be longer.
Dexter
Two Months Later
I stretchedmy fingers over my keyboard as I finished another line of code. My game, The Warrior of the Seven Suns, was almost done, but I was missing something from the overall plot of the storyline. I was literally having writer's block, and it didn’t help that I wasn’t huge on creative writing. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed creating everything from the visual art down to the programming itself, but right now I was struggling with the story.
“What up, stranger?” Ricky said, patting me on the back as he sat across from me. We agreed to meet up at a juice bar in townbefore we decided to go hoop. “I feel like you’ve been hiding since graduation.”
I chuckled as I closed my laptop. “It’s only been a few weeks.”
“Bro, it's been like two months.”
“Shit, has it? My fault, my plate has been a little full.”
“In other words, ole girl from the club had you wrapped this whole time?” Ricky laughed. “Did you take her out for Valentine’s Day?”
“Valentine’s…nah, it was nothing like that. I mean, we haven't talked since that night.”
“How was it, anyway? Do you like her? I mean, you had to because your prude ass never left a party with someone on your arm. Plus, you've barely been hitting me up, or you've been hell of short with the responses.”
“She was definitely cool, but ultimately we agreed it would never have worked out.”
“Damn, I'm sorry, bro. Tell me what happened, though. Did you go back to her place? Or did y'all get a hotel and then decide the morning after?” Ricky rambled, throwing questions at me while not giving me time to answer. Then he snapped his fingers. “Oh, shit, you didn’t get the chance to meet Nat that night.”
I swallowed the nervous lump that was forming in my throat. Should I tell him the truth? I mean, Ricky was my day one, and we told each other everything. Maybe he’d understand that what happened between his sister and me was an accident. Then again, if I ever saw Natalie again, I don’t think I’d be able to ignore what we started. The taste of her sweet juices coating my tongue still lingered, and I wanted more.
“Damn, she was at the club?” I played coy before taking a sip of my drink.
Ricky nodded. “Yeah, she came with one of her homegirls. I was gonna introduce you, but you disappeared, and then this drunk ass nigga got too mouthy about her. Hell, you missed it!Me and Black fucked that nigga up. We don’t play about baby sis!”
“I didn’t know someone was messing with her.”
Ricky smacked his lips. “Man, yeah. I overheard him talking to his homeboy about how he had been watching her all night. Now my sister’s business is hers, but he got really disrespectful at the mouth. I don’t play that shit about her, and neither does Black.”
I clenched my knuckles and shook my head. “I wish I were there to help beat his ass.”
A shocked expression ran across Ricky’s face. “In the four years of knowing you, I ain’t never heard you talk like that. Hell, I thought it was impossible to piss you off.”
I shifted in my seat. “I uh I don’t like foul niggas like that. Besides, that’s your family, and you’re my family. I always got your back.”
Ricky laughed as he nodded. “That’s why you're my boy! How’s the game going, by the way?”
