Three more weeks went by and I officially had a housemate, at least for a little bit. I still haven't moved some of Royce's things out of her room, so Remi was confined to the couch until further notice. This wasn't ideal, and a pain in my ass, but I agreed to it. My dad practically shoved Remi into my arms stating that this would be good for her. I didn't doubt that, but we shall see how this all plays out. I didn't mind the extra help though. Like right now, I'm leaving soon to surprise Briana for her birthday. I got everything all planned out, and Remi is going to be my babysitter so that I don't have to rush back.

I already ran everything by Imani to make sure that she felt comfortable being with Remi. She didn't mind. She enjoyed having Remi around, especially when she got bored of me.

There was a knock at my door. "Come in," I said.

"Oh, perfect timing. I need your opinion on something," I told Remi. I pointed to the bed where I had three outfits laid out, shoes and all.

"Which dress?"

She walked closer to the bed and eyed each of the options.

"This one," she pointed. "And with those shoes."

"Are you sure?" She picked the black dress.

"Positive. You can never go wrong with black."

"Ok, if you say so." I folded up the dress as neatly as I could and placed it in my duffle bag. I stuffed the heels in there as well.

"Is everything okay? Did you need something?" I asked her. She shook her head no.

"Should I run through everything again just in case?"

"No, I understood the last ten times you told me."

"Okay, just checking. I need to leave in the next five minutes or I'm going to run into traffic."

"Is your friend's party tonight?" She asked.

"Yes, and I'm already going to be late, which is fine because she doesn't know that I'm coming anyway." Remi nodded and I slipped on my slides.

"Are you sure you'll be fine," I narrowed my eyes at her. "Like, you know that's my baby out there Remi. If something happens to her while in your care, we will have problems."

Her eyes widened and I smirked, "No pressure though. I trust you," I told her. I did trust her enough to watch my kid. These past few weeks Remi has been like the coolest roommate. We talk a lot. I often catch her observing me, not in a creepy way, but more so in admiration. Sometimes she'll come in my room to just talk, and she even said that she likes the freedom that comes with staying with me. I just hope that she doesn't try to take advantage of this new freedom.

"Imani is my niece. I would never let anything happen to her."

"Ok," I said standing up and grabbing my bag. We walked out of my room and down the stairs. Royce was watching something on TV.

"Royce, give me a hug real quick." She jumped up from the couch and ran over to me. She gave me a brief hug and I bent down to kiss her cheek.

"Be good. I'll be back as soon as possible."

"Ok," she smiled. She didn't seem upset at all. I then turned my attention to Remi.

"Be good Remi. We've been roomies for almost a month now. I trust you," I pointed a harsh finger at her.

"I have everything under control."

I grabbed my keys and told Royce that I loved her. Remi locked the door behind me and I damn near sprinted to my car. I needed to hurry my ass up. I jumped in the car and sped off. Just like I thought, I ran into traffic, which slowed me down by thirty minutes, but my ETA was still good.

.....

"I have to pee," I rushed passed Penny and to her bathroom. I didn't even have time to close the door before I pulled my pants down and emptied my bladder.

"You got here hella fast!" She yelled from the front door.

"I was rushing. I almost got pulled over twice!" I laughed to myself. Penny appeared in the doorway all dressed up.

"Oh, you look sexy," I told her. I wiped myself and flushed the toilet before washing my hands.

"You know how it is," she gave a twirl. "But I was just about to leave. Yo ass lucky I was still here."

"I know, I know. Can I please take a quick shower and get dressed here? I'll lock up everything when I'm done."

"You can do whatever you want. Just let me know when you on the way. And don't forget about the Airbnb after. You got clothes right?"

"Yeah. My bag is in the car," I said.

"Cool, I gotta go. Do I need to see your outfit before I leave?" She raised a brow at me.

"Girl, I clean up nicely. I don't need you to nitpick shit."

"I'm just saying."

"Nope, I'm good. You'll like it."

"Mmhmm, okay. Bye," she said walking off.

"Bye P. Send me the address!"

After grabbing my bag from the car, I took a shower, thoroughly washing EVERYTHING. I put lotion all over my body and brushed my teeth again. I opted for a thong and no bra. When I was done with all the extra shit, I slid my dress up my body. I went into the bathroom and took off my bonnet. I removed every single bobby-pin and watched as my hair unraveled. Just this morning, I had an appointment with this hair stylist and she installed a 28" lace front for me. I wanted to do something different, and this was completely different from how I normally wear my hair. I've had a lace front before but never this long. Which is cool because it's not often that I get to experiment with different hairstyles. This is also a good opportunity for me to give my natural hair a break because if I didn't have enough time to get this wig installed, I would've flat ironed my hair instead.

Since the pins and my bonnet kept my hair in place all these hours, all I had to do was run my hands through the curls. When I was satisfied with the body wave look, I added a bit of makeup, sprayed some perfume, put on my heels, grabbed my bag, and locked up Penny's apartment.

I put the address into the gps and made my way to the lounge. I texted Penny and told her I was on my way, but she didn't respond. When I arrived at the club, I called Penny and she answered on like the last ring.

"Hello!" She yelled into the phone.

"Where y'all at? I'm outside in this long ass line."

"Oh shit. I told you to let me know when you were on the way." I smacked my teeth.

"I did. Check your messages."

"What messages?" I heard noises on the other end. Penny sounded like she was far away from the phone and I could barely hear her.

"Never mind Penny. Penny?" Was this girl drunk already?

"Penny!"

"I'm coming!" She hung up. I threw my phone back in my purse and waited. Not long after, she came out of the building and I saw her talking to the security guard. I hustled to the front of the line as Penny held her hand out for me. I was ready to show my ID when the security guard just let me go right on in. I heard multiple groans from behind me. These people have probably been in this line for god knows how long, but I smirked at not having to wait a minute longer.

"My bad babe, I didn't see your text," she said pulling me through the crowd of people.

"Briana is going to die when she sees you."

Penny led me to this VIP section and I admired how fancy it looked. I spotted Briana a few feet away and got really anxious. I was excited to see her reaction. Penny let me go and I snuck up behind Briana and placed my hands over her eyes. She froze.

"Penny...no—" she sniffed my hands and I had to hold in my laugh.

"Guess again," I said. She spun around so fast.

"Asha!" Her eyes grew hella big.

"What the fuck," she cursed and I wrapped my arms around her.

"Happy Birthday," I jumped up and down. She eyed my face, my hair, then what I had on. She pulled away and openly gawked. I did a pose.

"You like?"

"Your hair. The dress. The body. Bitch, you clean up nice."

"That's what I was trying to tell Penny," I rolled my eyes. Briana went to say something else when her eyes locked on something behind me. I tried turning to see what captured her attention when she pulled me off to the side.

"Wait," she said.

"What's wrong?" I asked her.

"Come all the way over here," she finally stopped.

"Look, don't hate me. I obviously didn't know that you were coming. If I did I would've told him no. Now this is awkward. Please don't get mad."

"Why would I get mad? I'm here to have fun, get drunk, and celebrate with you." I was oblivious to what she was hinting at.

"He's here," she blurted out. I narrowed my eyes. Who's here...the devil? I almost snorted.

"Who?" She paused for a second.

"Cairo."

My heart stopped.

.....