CHRESANTO

Wiping off the sweat that was falling down his forehead, Chresanto grabbed his bottle of water and drank from it, taking a break from the intense workout session he was having for three hours now. He felt like he was going to have an heart attack anytime soon.

He sat on a bench and stretched out his arms as he watched Elin struggle to get his last miles done on the treadmill. The man's face was entirely red and he was sweating liters. His hands were wet, as well as his hair, and his shirt was stuck on his skin.

Not too far, there was Kofi, who'd been flirting with the same girl for the past twenty-five minutes. He was shirtless, proudly showing off his abs. He found the girl beautiful and her compliments were boosting his confidence.

Chresanto shook his head, already knowing that those two will go nowhere except for a date, maybe, because his best friend wasn't trying to be in any relationship right now. Kofi will surely be the last one out of the three to settle down, but maybe the first to have kids.

As he was about to drink more water, his phone suddenly rang. He dried off his hands before pulling it out; seeing that Ebony was calling, made him smile.

"Good morning ! " he greeted, smiling more.

"Good morning ! How are you ? " she asked, sounding happy.

It'd been almost a month since they had their first date and they didn't have the occasion to hang out since then. They were very busy due to their careers, and each time they had some free time, they made family time a priority or were simply too tired to do anything.

Even though they didn't see each other for the past three weeks or so, they'd been texting and calling one another as much as possible. They hadn't reached the ''FaceTime level'' just yet, but they were going towards it.

"Killing myself at the gym, what about you ? " He wrapped his towel around his neck, then rested his left elbow on his thigh.

"Hm, thanks for the reminder. I meant to get back, but I've been procrastinating. Other than that, I'm fine, getting ready for a meeting with some new clients."

"That's good. Are you working all day ? "

"Yes. What about you ? Everything good with the shop ? "

"Well, kind of a day off for me, but not really since I'm calling a few times throughout the day to make sure that everything is going well and those people are not burning my business down. And I have to create some new designs for this new movie that'll be coming out in like three or four years."

"O-kay ! I see you, Santo ! " she exclaimed, making him chuckle. "Uh..." She cleared her throat. "Tell me, uh, I was wondering if you were busy this Thursday night." He could hear a bit of nervousness in her voice, which he found cute.

He didn't answer right away, making sure that his schedule was free on this day, not wanting to cancel their plans after having already said yes. "Oh, it's Valentine's Day. And I'm not busy."

She let out a sigh of relief, making him chuckle once again. "Cool. Well, I was thinking that maybe we could do something for the occasion."

"Yeah, we definitely can. What did you have in mind ? "

"Uh, I don't know right now, but give me a day and I'll find something. This time, I'll come to pick you up."

"Oh, okay." He was a bit surprised, but was liking it though.

Chresanto was convinced that men deserved to be spoiled and courted too. Everybody likes attention and to feel special, mainly with their significant other. They weren't there yet, but he could already tell that Ebony was a very caring and giving person, which he liked.

"Great. I would love to talk more, but I have to go. Talk to you later," Ebony said.

"Alright, talk to you later." And with that said, they hung up.

"Who was it ? " Elin, who was sitting on the floor and recovering, asked out of curiosity. He had three bottles of water next to him, and he planned to drink them all right now. He couldn't feel his legs anymore.

"Ebony." Santo simply answered.

"Hm, do you like her ? "

He shrugged. "I'm not 100 percent sure yet, but I like what we have now. We're cool, we're vibing. We're spending V-Day night together."

"Who are you spending V-Day with ? " Kofi asked, joining his friends. He got the girl's number, but wasn't sure if he wanted to do something with her. She was very cute though.

"Miss Ebony," Elin answered for him.

"Oh...it's getting serious," Kofi commented, making a face.

"No, not really. I mean..." He trailed off, not knowing what to say next. "We're talking right now, and going on dates."

"Okay, but at one point this stage will get boring, so watchu gon' do by then ? I mean, if you planned to go above that someday."

He shrugged for the second time in this conversation. "We'll see. For now, I can see myself going somewhere with her, but with time people change..." he said, not saying more, but his friends knew what he meant. The three had gone through similar situations with their relationships.

"Yeah, be careful." Kofi nodded, before turning towards Eli. "Still with your girl ? "

"Yes, we're going on some baevacation next month."

His two friends laughed. "The word is bae-cation, E," Santo corrected him.

He frowned slightly. "It's baevacation too."

"I don't like this one, it's ugly," Kofi said, making a little grimace.

After talking for a few more minutes, they finished the workout with some stretching, then headed home, going their separate ways. Arrived at his apartment, Chresanto didn't waste time as he practically ran to his bathroom to take a shower.

An hour later, he was on his way to his father's house to check up on his brother who'd been sick for the past three days. Before getting there though, he picked up some soup and other food, plus some medicine.

"Hey, big head," he greeted, entering his brother's room without knocking.

"What if I was naked ? "

"This is nothing new, I helped to change your diapers. Can you eat solid food now ? " he asked, putting the grocery bags on his desk.

"Yeah, did you get me some ice cream ? " Chad asked, making his brother smack his teeth.

"Why would I do that ? "

"Madre was giving me ice cream to make me feel better," he whined, kicking the cover off him.

"I ain't your madre, boy. Where's dad at ? "

"I don't know and I don't care."

"C'mon, y'all still fighting ? "

"It's not me, he keeps bitching about things that don't even matter. I'm sick and tired of this man."

Santo sighed, tired of the pettiness that was going on between his brother and father. To him, the only solution right now was for Chance to move out before they started throwing hands at each other.

"You need to get your own place."

"Are you gonna pay my bills ? Cause I don't have money for this shit right now."

"What about the money you got with those little shows you did ? "

Chad sucked his teeth. "It was nothing, man. And I haven't been booked for the past six, seven months."

"Well, you need to grow the fuck up. Find a job, and get on your grind. I didn't see you in the studio lately and you haven't been promoting yourself on social media either. Your little fans are waiting for a new mixtape. Stop being lazy ! "

Chad sat up, letting out a loud sigh. "I don't know about this anymore, bro. Maybe I'll just go to college."

Santo frowned, sitting on the bed. "Say what now ? Since you were twelve you've been saying that you want to be in the music industry as an artist. You wrote your first song at ten and for what I can remember, it wasn't that bad. You have a little talent or whatever, keep going."

"I know, but I feel like I'm wasting my time. Nothing is going the way I want it to."

"Well, welcome to this thing called Life ! It's not supposed to be that easy. Don't stop chasing your dreams just because things got tough. Keep believing in yourself and going hard, you'll see it's gonna pay off one day." He encouraged his sibling, patting his back.

"Okay, thanks."

Santo hummed in response, then left the room to go back downstairs, so he could fix himself a plate. When he first got there, he could smell food, which got his stomach excited. But since he directly went to Chad's room, he wasn't sure if he would find someone in the kitchen by now.

He pushed the door and his eyebrow shoot up in surprise, as he abruptly stopped in his track. His brother didn't tell him that his girlfriend was there.

She was warming something in the microwave, currently waiting for it to finish as she busied herself with her phone.

Never in his life had Santo tough that his brother would go for someone like Orleans. She wasn't ugly, actually she was very pretty. But Chance usually had a type and she looked nowhere near it. She was slim with small curves, a light skin complexion, freckles all over her face and dark red curly hair which looked like a lion's mane.

"Oh, hey ! " She shyly waved at him before getting her food out of the microwave.

"Hello, how are you doing ? " He went to wash his hands in the sink.

"I'm good, you ? "

"Same. You've been taking care of the crybaby ? "

She chuckled. "Yes. And trying to avoid your father, " she half-joked, making them laugh a bit.

"Would you ever feel comfortable around him ? "

She instantly shook her head. "Oh hell nah ! I was butt naked in his kitchen, I will forever be embarrassed."

He laughed more as he got a plate. "I don't even know why you listened to Chance when he told you to get in here undressed."

"Same question I'm asking myself almost every day."

"ORLEA ! " they suddenly heard coming from upstairs.

She playfully rolled her eyes. "He's so annoying when he's sick."

"That's why I only came today," he said, causing her to chuckle as she shook her head. She then left the kitchen, leaving him alone.

He made his plate, making sure to take a lot of shrimp, then warmed up the food as he rubbed his stomach impatiently. Once the food was hot as he liked it, he took it out of the microwave, grabbed a fork and sat at the counter to eat.

"Oh, shit ! " he exclaimed after the first bite.

Orlea definitely got bonus points. If she was often coming to see Chad, he'll definitely start to show up more often at his father's house. Well, for as long as Chad will be there. He made a mental note to ask his brother about all that before leaving.

As he was about to eat more, his phone interrupted him, causing him to groan in frustration. He rolled his eyes as he answered, not once looking at the caller ID.

"What ? "

"That's how you talk to your favorite aunt now ? I thought I was special."

His attitude immediately vanished. "Aunt Faith ! How are you, Queen ? "

"I'm doing just fine. What about you and your badass little brother ? "

He chuckled. "He's been sick, but except that we've been good."

"Aw, my poor baby. Is he annoying ? "

"Yeah, driving his lil' girlfriend crazy."

"Little Chadwick got himself a lil' girlfriend ? Oh, I need to come back to America as soon as possible," she said, making him laugh.

"You're so nosey. How is Australia ? "

"Empty without you two. You need to come see us more often. Your cousin Josef just got his baby boy."

"Oh, what's his name ? "

"Florian."

He nodded. "Did they get the house ? "

"Yes ! They're moving in, next week actually. Joe's birthday is coming up, maybe you can come around this time."

"He hasn't lost his mind yet with his six kids ? "

"He's almost there. Oh, guess what ? His wife is pregnant again," she announced, causing Santo to almost choke on his food.

"Wow ! This guy needs to cut his penis off. Damn ! They just got the new baby ! Zolah isn't just like five months ? "

"Actually pushing on seven, and she's so cute."

"I know, I saw pictures on Instagram and he sent me some too."

"Yeah...uh, talking about IG...someone was in my...uh, how do you call it again, dms ? "

"Yes. Who was it ? " he curiously asked before showing some pasta in his mouth.

"Uh, your mother's sister, your aunt Kaliyah. She was asking about you and also asking for my help to get y'all in contact. She regrets that she didn't believe you and wants to be back in your life," she answered, as he felt his food ride up his throat to get out.

If Chresanto was close to one side of his family, the other side was disgusting him. He wanted nothing to do with his maternal relatives. At one point in his life he hated all of them, without exception; he was extremely upset with those people. Now, he was in a better space and didn't want to go down that negative road again, and for him to be able to do that, he had to stay away from them as much as possible.

"Did you reply ? "

"No, of course no. I'm still mad, that was so wrong how they did you. They'd never acted like your family and it's obviously too late now. But listen, if she found me on Instagram, she can find you too, so be careful and don't post anything that could give them a hint on where to find you in real life."

"I have to promote the shop, so it's not like I really have a choice."

"Don't you have a different account for At Santo's ? "

"Yes, but both of the accounts are linked. Don't worry, I'll be careful."

"Okay."

____

Today was Valentine's Day and for once in a long while, Eb was excited about it. The last few ones she had were terrible since Jerome made it a mission to be a pure jackass and upset Ebony. She shook her head just thinking about it.

Not wanting to be angry, she cleared her head and continued to go about her day. She had two meetings that went well and now she was getting dressed for her date with Chresanto. She couldn't help but be happy as hell to finally be able to spend some time with him. Surprised, she found herself missing him although she'd only known him for a little while.

They were texting a lot, but it wasn't enough. She wanted to see him and be in his presence. Was she already falling for him ? She gasped at that thought, thinking that it was crazy. She couldn't do that, mainly because she was still getting to know him. It was too early for that, but there was something special about Chresanto. She didn't know if it was because of his looks, his vibes or just everything about him, but every time she got a reply from him or a morning text, she felt butterflies in her stomach.

As she was debating on which pair of shoes to wear, while listening to August Alsina's Testimony album, she was suddenly interrupted by her phone ringing. She sighed, hoping that Chresanto wasn't calling to cancel their plans. For the past few days, that's all she was waiting for.

She let out a sigh of relief when she saw that her sister Paris was the caller. "Hey, baby sis ! "

"Hey, big sis ! Are you busy ? "

"Uh, yes, kind of, I'm getting ready to go somewhere."

She hummed. "Where ? You found a Valentine ? "

She couldn't help but smile. "Yes. I'm going on a date with Chresanto."

"Oh, second date. So, this is going somewhere. Do you boo, have fun but not too much."

She chuckled. "Don't worry about that. I'm not having sex for a long time. Anyways, why are you calling me for ? "

"Just wanted an advice or two about a lil' situation."

She raised a brow interrogatively. "Tell me."

"So...I met this guy and I gave him my number, but he didn't contact me yet."

"And you want him to ? "

"Yes, like it's been almost two weeks. I don't know if I should feel played or something. When we talked, I could feel a very good vibe going on, like a connection. We were flirting hard as fuck, my cheeks still hurt because I was smiling so much. I was so excited and have been waiting for his phone call, so we can finally go on a date. I was actually hoping to go out tonight." Eb couldn't see her sister, but she knew she was pouting.

"Maybe something happened, hopefully not, but you never know. Or maybe he's just nervous and don't want to embarrass himself. Everybody fears rejection you know."

"But how can he think that ? I can't reject him, I won't do it. Did he not feel the connection ? I know I did."

"But he doesn't know that. Why don't you call him and check on him ? "

"Now what if he rejects me ? " she exclaimed loudly as if Eb said the craziest thing.

"Okay, relax, " she chuckled. "If those vibes were so good and y'all were flirting that hard, then he won't reject you either. Try, you won't die. The worst that can happen is rejection."

"And rejection will definitely kill me," she said with a matter-of-fact tone of voice.

Eb shook her head at her sister. She could be so dramatic when she wanted to. "Call him. Do you want me to do this for you ? "

"No, then what is he gonna think about me ? "

She groaned, getting annoyed. "Paris, you're starting to get on my nerves. Just call him ! "

"I can't do that. I'm so scared."

"Call him ! "

"No ! "

"CALL HIM ! "

"OKAY ! "

"Cool, update me on your lil' situation. Now, I need to hang up and finish getting ready."

"For sure. Love you, sis ! "

"Love you too, baby ! "

They hung up and she finally chose some shoes to go along with her outfit. Tonight, they were doing it casual, so she didn't have to do much, but she still wanted to look cute. She was wearing some black denim jeans, ripped in the knees; an olive green turtleneck crop-top; a black bomber jacket over it, and black Adidas Originals at her feet.

Her makeup was simple; so she didn't go all out and didn't do the whole contouring thing and didn't add highlight to her face either. She put foundation and concealer on, fake lashes, eyeliner and nude lipstick with a lip liner to not make it look crazy on her. She didn't do eyeshadow either.

For the accessories, she put on gold Bamboo heart hoop earrings and a set of watch-and-bracelet from Michael Kors. For her hair, she had it straight and silky. She got it installed three days ago, and didn't know how to act since then.

She had on Malaysian natural wavy hair, two bundles of 22 inches and two others of 20, with a middle part. She didn't want a closure this time, and she was regretting it now because she knew damn well that her leave out would act crazy at some point. Hopefully, tonight wasn't the day for this. Next time, she'll spare herself with that kind of stress.

For precautions, she put a headscarf in her little MK bolsa preta purse. She checked herself one more time before heading out to pick up Chresanto. Five minutes before she arrived at his building, she sent him a message.

When she got there, he was already outside.

"Aw, I wanted to come get you at your door," she told him pouting as he got in the car.

"Ah ! You can't be like me." They quickly hugged, as best as they could.

She chuckled. "So, how was your day ? " she asked as she engaged herself on the road.