Sunjiya’s first night in Crescent Falls is spent in The Metropolitan Hotel. She had forgotten all about her broken apartment door. Luckily for her, the little things she’d left were still inside. No one had discovered the broken door or entered but she didn’t want to take any chances. So she opted to stay at the hotel and put in a maintenance request for the door. It was replaced for a fee the next afternoon.
The apartment is now clean. With more furniture and decorative pieces, it could really be a nice place for a new start. In reality, it was supposed to be hers for a while, six months to be exact, but it’s just not the start she wants anymore. Yes, it’s hers, goon and Marcelin free, but there’s one major problem. Her heart and mind aren’t here. They’re with him, a man in Austin. She wants to be there.
After setting Quise up for his homecoming ask, finding the perfect fit and shoes, and taking him on several driving lessons, Akeem headed back to Austin on Sunday and he’s been home for less than twenty-four hours. As every hour passes, his mind is on Sunjiya. Since the day he took her, they have been together and the last days and nights she’s been in his arms. Her absence creates a void he didn’t expect and his once spacious nearly seventeen hundred square foot, luxury, high-rise condo feels empty without the woman who’s never even been here.
“Shit,” he mumbles to himself as he seals the blunt he just rolled.
After drying it with his lighter, he grabs a bottle of water from the fridge and steps onto his balcony. Situated on the northwest corner of the building, Akeem’s condo captures iconic, breathtaking views. He takes it all in as he lights his blunt, takes the first pull, then texts her.
Akeem: What you doing, beautiful?
Unbeknownst to Akeem, his text pops on Sunjiya’s screen just as she is texting him. They are both thinking of the other.
Sunjiya: Actually texting you
Instead of sending another text, Akeem calls her. He prefers to hear her voice any day over a written message. Real shit, he truly prefers her with and on him, talking face to face.
“Hey,” she answers.
“So, you thinking about me?” he responds.
“Yeah. I have been all day,” she admits.
“Same over here. You ready to get on the plane?”
“Yes,” she says without hesitation and he chuckles.
“I like how fast you answered. Come tonight,” he says and his words are music to her ears.
“I’ll look for a ticket.”
“Did you save my card when you booked your ticket back to Crescent Falls?” he asks.
“No. I wouldn’t do that. I can buy my own ticket, Akeem.”
“But you’re not and you never will. What I look like having my lady paying to come see me?” he questions, not expecting an answer. Her paying for anything with him wasn’t an option. “I’ll just send you my card info. Save it to your account,” he says and she doesn’t argue. It’s pointless either way.
“How’s the weather there? What should I pack?” she asks.
“All you need is something to wear on the plane. Once you’re in my space, I’m taking all that shit off and you don’t have to wear anything.”
“I’m going to need at least one other outfit,” she says, amused. “You’ve gotta feed me and take me out to eat.”
“I already know what I’m eating. I can’t taste you on my lips anymore and I don’t like that shit at all,” he says and the full intent of his words travel through her phone and land on her clit.
Smiling, she says, “Nasty ass but I like it though.”
“I know you do. But real talk, I can’t wait to have you in my space. I’m gonna treat you so good and fuck you so right you not gon’ want to leave.”
“Well, shit. Let me find this flight now,” she says, simpering.
“Bet. I’ll send my credit card.”
“Okay,” she says, then ends the call. Immediately, she opens the Federal Airlines app. Before she can enter her destination, a text comes through with pictures of the front and back of his credit card, a real one, not one of the fakes he uses on jobs. This black card clearly has Akeem Simmons printed on the bottom left corner.He really trusts me.
It doesn’t take her long to find and book her flight. She’s leaving in five hours on the six thirty-five flight from CFA to Austin–Bergstrom International Airport. After sending the confirmation and flight info to Akeem, Sunjiya packs all of her clothing items in the largest of her three-piece luggage set. Although she had closets filled with designer clothes, shoes, and handbags in Miami, she’d left all of that tainted shit behind and escaped with the clothes on her back that night. In the few months she’s been in Crescent Falls, she managed to buy a few items but not a full wardrobe. Starting over takes time and she still has a few loose ends to tie up before she’s truly settled.
Once she’s packed, showered, and dressed, she takes an iDrive to Precise Nails, a salon she found online. Although she was just treated to an extensive spa treatment thanks to Akeem, she wants to refresh everything. She wants to be perfect for him,her man, a real ass man.
