Page 107 of Just Like Summer

“I know. Rest, Big Dawg.”

She hung up and looked up, finding Cairo holding a bag from the gift shop. “I thought you left.”

“Nah, walked through this big ass hospital to find you some sweats. Rowdy good?”

“He will be,” she muttered. “When we get back, maybe we should talk. Figure this shit out.”

“We can. You hungry?”

She shook her head. “Honestly, this has zapped my energy and my appetite. I just want to get back.

“Kwan’s outside.”

“Where’s CiCi?” she asked.

“In the car mad as hell,” Cairo announced, handing her the bag. “Change before you head out. Your ass is out. If I’m looking under these circumstances, other niggas are too, and I’m hungry. You know how I get when I’m hungry.”

She grumbled, taking the bag and walking away. “Demanding for no damn reason.”

“What was that?” he quipped.

“Nothing at all.”

Changed into an oversized sweat suit, she trailed him outside into the desert night and climbed into the SUV. The tension mounting in the front seat was thick enough to jackhammer. Whatever was sitting between the two, she’d determine whether or not it was worth diving into. She had tension of her own to her left. For the thirty-minute ride, she mused on the words Rodrick spoke to her. Eventually, she dosed off.

When they arrived at the hotel, Cairo gently shook her. “Mariposa.”

“Hm,” she groaned, pulling her eyes open under the bright lights of the valet. She wiped the sleep out of her eyes. Kamilla wiggled her legs out of the car and led her heeled-feet into the lobby. In the distance, she could hear an exchange between Cairo, CiCi, and Kwan.

Expecting CiCi to join her on the elevator and ramble about the details of the night, she quietly huffed when Cairo appeared. In her corner, she stood with her eyes closed, arms folded, trying to force herself to take a thirty second cat nap before diving back into work.

“You always do that?” he softly questioned, genuinely concerned about the lengths she went to for the sake of being the best.

“Do what?” she answered his question with a question.

“Sleep standing up?”

“I’m a mother, I sleep in whatever capacity I can,” was what she almost let slip. Instead, she pulled her tired eyes open and hummed. “I’m trying to get a cat nap so I can send legal the emails to sign East and another for Ekho’s management.”

“It’s just a call to Fahaad,” Cairo stated. “No need to lose sleep over it. I’ll call him in the morning.”

“Things have to be done correctly, Cairo. I’m about to be the youngest Black female A&R in the history of this very misogynistic industry. I have to be the smartest, softest, loudest, unassuming, most assertive in the room. I have to know everything before it happens and predict how many ways it can go wrong. I sleep standing up. I’m up before everyone and I’m the last to leave. I’m not depending on a phone call from you; I’m going to send him an email. Is that okay?”

“Yeah,” Cairo grumbled with a smirk. “Tomorrow though. You’ll sleep tonight.”

The doors glided open and he led the charge off the elevator, opening the door for her. Kamilla walked in and kicked her heels off with a sigh of relief while pulling the sweatshirt off. “I’m not in the mood to be fondled, ogled, stared at or talked to. Take the guest room.”

She had to shut him out for tonight. At least that way, when she told on herself, it wouldn’t be after she was slow-stroked to sleep and sold on his dreams. Cairo’s dick seemed to serve as truth serum. Especially when he was peering into her eyes and hitting that spot.

Kamilla walked into the room they occupied the night before and shut the door. The moment she was in the shower, she released tears just to shake off what the last set of hours held for her. In a pair of soft pajamas and buried under fresh sheets, she wrapped her hands around herself until she passed out.

When she woke up hours later to her phone ringing and Cairo’s exhausted snores, she groaned. Her hands padded to the phone, tiredly answering Kairo calling from an iPad he shouldn’t have had at this time of night.

“Yes, my moon,” she tiredly groaned.

“I want you,” Kairo whimpered. “Come get me, please.”

She sat up, pushed the sleep from her eyes, and sighed. “I’m on my way. Take the iPad to Papa.”