As much as I despised him, I would never admit to him or anyone else that I’d followed bits and pieces of his career over the years. He was drafted his freshman year of college and had been in the league for about seven years. After bouncing around from team to team his first few years, he found his home with the Sin City Mambas as their starting point guard. He’d been with them for the past four years,hand delivering them two championship rings. He’d most recently gotten them to the finals and injured his knee in the sixth game, which put him out for the rest of the finals. Unlike his father, who was a household name in Inglewood, Hendrix was a household name in homes across the globe. As popular as he was, I always wondered why I never heard his name tied to any crazy scandals, baby mama drama, or serious relationships for that matter.
“Here you go, ma’am—your earplugs and your drink,” the flight attendant said, snapping me out of my entranced thoughts about Hendrix. I never realized just how much I knew about someone I swore I couldn’t stand.
“Can you actually bring me another one of these and a blanket as well?” I asked her.
She smiled, before tearing her eyes away from me to sneak a glance at the sleepingTomb Raider.“Yeah…sure thing.”
I shot her a quick smile before shaking my head.Typical, I figured. Before she could even make it back with my second drink and blanket, Hendrix had fallen into a slumber so deep, he’d started to snore.
“You’ve got to be fuckin’ kidding me,” I grumbled before jabbing my elbow into his arm. Three jabs later, he was still sleep and I was pissed. After downing two Irish Car Bombs back-to-back, all I could do was close my eyes, replace my AirPods with the earplugs the flight attendant had given me, and pray the liquor aided in drowning out his inconsiderate, snoring ass for the rest of the trip.
Midway through the flight, the turbulence from a passing thunderstorm had started to make me both nauseous and nervous. Nausea rolled through my stomach like a raging wave as the plane bounced and shook.
“Oh fuck,” I whispered, slamming my eyes shut and clawing both armrests like a frightened feline.
With my eyes still closed, I began to say the Lord’s Prayer inside my head. After that, I prayed that we wouldn’t crash and that I didn’t throw up all over myself or the arrogant nigga sucking up air beside me. My eyes jolted open the second I felt his warm hand on my thigh.
“Yo, chill. We gon’ be straight,” he assured.
Fever ran through my body as heat rose between my legs. Icouldn’t form a thought, no less a sentence, and I knew my honey brown complexion had turned scarlet. I was torn between telling him to get his large hand off me or to keep it right where it was. One thing was for sure, if he kept his hand on my thigh for the rest of the way to the island, it was going to be the longest fuckin’ flight ever.
“Fuck these niggas. Fuck these niggas. Fuck these niggas.”
The second we landed, and I was able to get off the plane, I darted off like a lightning strike, trying to put as much distance between Hendrix and I as possible. He had no idea what he’d done to me, or maybe he did. Either way, I couldn’t let that shit happen again. I was convinced that he was still an entitled jerk with even more money than he had when he was growing up. All I could do was pray that he was going to be tucked far away from me on the island.
After the driver from the resort put my luggage in the trunk, I sat in the cushioned leather backseat and instantly felt the cool air conditioning on full blast. After texting Lauryn to let her know I was on my way to the resort, I pulled my shades back over my eyes and let the hum of the engine and the smooth ride lull me to sleep.
The sound of the engine shutting off and the end of the blistering cold air blowing across my face, made me crack my eyes open. “Miss, we are here,” the driver told me.
I shot him a quick smile before stretching. “Mmm, great. Thank you!”
“I will grab your bags and show you to the check-in area.”
“That would be perfect, thanks!” I beamed, ready to really start my self-love vacay.
I followed him over to the desk with a pep in my step. “Hi, my name is Cassidy Stokes, and I’m checking in for a three-bedroom villa,” I said as I approached the attendant behind the tall counter.
She flashed me a warm smile. “We are so happy to have you staying with us, Ms. Stokes. Please, tell me how long you’ll be staying with us.”
“Um, a week. I’m here with a bigger party, so my villa should be within the vicinity of theirs.”
“Yes, our luxury villas come equipped with complimentary concierge service, a gardener, daily maid service, pool attendant, and property manager, should you have any questions or concerns during your stay. Check out is at noon, and I will go ahead and get you your villa information, just one second,” she said, clicking away at her keyboard.
After watching her expression go from joy to confusion, I decided to speak up. “Um, is there something wrong?”
“Um, I’m not quite sure.”
“What do you mean?”
“There seems to be some sort of mix-up.”
“A mix-up?” I repeated.
“Yes, please just give me a second to figure this out.”
“What seems to be the problem?” I quizzed.
“One second, ma’am,” she reiterated before walking over to talk to another colleague.
