Alliyah

The house was quiet, Blue was venting about his job to Ocean and Colson, as Alliyah prepared dinner. The smell of fried onion and garlic hovered over them.

“Hey, guys!” Lamar greeted everyone as he entered the house.

“Little!” Alliyah cleaned her hands from the carrot and leek she was chopping and went to hug him. “How was your third day at school?”

“It was good. Like the first and second.” The question had started to annoy him by that time.

“Did you meet anyone new?”

“Nope!” He said with a beam.

Alliyah went back to the kitchen and he followed:

“What’s dinner?”

“Baked chicken pasta.”

“Yum! Make it spicy, okay?”

Alliyah chuckled as she chopped a red bell pepper.

“Do you need any help?” The young one asked.

“No, I have it all sorted out. Thanks.”

The voices in the living room had grown louder.

“If you’re so unsure, though, just turn it down.” Colson sounded bitter, even though his speech was slurred. “Your dad’s filthy rich anyway. You don’t even need to work.”

Alliyah and Lamar looked behind them, into the other room.

“What’s up, you guys?” She asked.

Blue bit his lip before deflecting the subject.

“…Little, want a guitar lesson?”

Lamar looked at Alliyah searching for permission, she nodded in approval and both of the boys went into Lamar’s bedroom.

“Can you not be rude to my friends? Our friends?” Ocean glared.

“Dude’s fucking complaining about being a stockbroker. I can’t be the only one who finds him annoying. His guitar is more expensive than my wage.” He spewed his words like venom. Blue probably could hear him from the nearby room.

“He knows he’s rich, but he still prefers to have a job, and make money that isn’t his dad’s. Is that such an alien concept to you? You can’t hate him just because he was born. He’s a good guy, he helps his friends, he helps people, so does his dad.”

Alliyah decided to let Ocean handle his own friend, and went back to preparing their dinner.

I wish Malcolm was here to cut the tension… The thought made her recall back to seeing him exit that building. He still hadn’t given her an explanation of why he was there or at least or why he acted so strange, despite her having asked a couple of times.

After the discussion had faded, a silence settled in the living room. The only sounds in the house were those of the vegetables being stir-fried, and the sound of Blue teaching Lamar how to play “Dear April” on the acoustic guitar.

A short while later, Ocean cleared his throat:

“Alliyah, is it gonna take much longer? I have to be at work earlier.”

“You’re just telling me now?!”

“I just got a text.”

Alliyah’s phone rang.

“Throw me the phone.”

Ocean did. When they met, he protested doing crazy things like throwing a phone across two rooms, but he soon learned that somehow, Alliyah always made things work.

“Oh, crap. Shut up.”

They guys looked at each other as if saying We weren’t even talking.

Alliyah cleared her throat before answering, and put on her trained professional tone:

“Hello, Mr. Flores.”

“Good evening. I’ve told you you can call me Pedro. We’re virtually the same age.”

“Well… How can I assist you, Mr. Flores?”

“I’ll be in New York tomorrow, I know this is very last minute, but I won’t be coming back there any time soon so I was wondering if we could have a meeting?”

Alliyah had to put the phone down, and sprint across the house in excitement. For some reason, she hugged Rusty, the poor cat that was peacefully sleeping before her action, and then Alliyah handed her to Colson before rushing back to the phone.

“Are you there?” Alliyah heard the Portuguese accent.

“Yes, yes." She picked the phone back up. "Well, just say a time and place, and I’ll meet you there tomorrow.”

“My flight lands around 9 am, so 10 am at Steamin Beanz? We can have coffee before business.”

“Oh, I’m- We go to Tribbiani’s now.”

“I see… Well, whatever works for you.”

They said their goodbyes and Alliyah jumped in euphoria once again.

“What’s going on?” Ocean asked, Arrow had her head on his lap, and he was petting her.

“One of my richest clients is hiring me again!”

“For a house?”

“No, for a night out in the city. Yes, for a house! He’s that super famous Portuguese actor, remember?”

“Oh, Mr fancy suits.” He mocked.

“Exactly! He pays so well.”

“Alliyah.” Colson voiced, in a deep tone.

“What?”

“Dinner’s burning.”

Alliyah cursed under her breath before dashing back to the kitchen.

The following morning, she met up with Mr. Flores, and they were chatting over coffee. He had a blueberry muffin, and she had a samosa.

The scent of pastries, bread, and coffee lingered in the air.

Mr. Flores wore a white tailored suit, with golden wings sewed on its back that Alliyah adored and made sure to compliment.

After a small chat, they got to the work talk:

“Just the kitchen and living room?” Alliyah frowned.

“Yes. I’m sorry I didn’t say this yesterday. I was in a bit of a hurry.”

She shook her head, but still had disappointment sketched all over her face:

“Let’s just dive in.” The young designer pulled out a notebook. “What do you guys like to do in these rooms?”

“Ummh,” He thinned his lips, forming two dimples on the sides of his mouth. Despite his tanned skin, Alliyah was sure he was flushed. “R- Read in the living room… My companion, she likes to plant things on small... Uh, pots? I- In the kitchen.” He struggled with English, occasionally, but Alliyah nodded, signaling she understood. “I already told you these things for the first house.”

“Yes, but you could have different interests, now. It’s been years.” She shrugged. “From what I remember, you spend more time in your office, and your wife in the kitchen and living room, yes?”

“Correct, still.”

She took some pictures from a folder. Despite being young, she preferred to work with paper, as opposed to using technology.

“This is a house on a beach for the weekends and vacation, right?”

He simply nodded, while eating a piece of the muffin.

“Here are some pictures of gorgeous houses I thought could inspire us.” She removed some photographs. “We’ll only need a living room and kitchens.” She mumbled. “Tell me what you like and dislike about these.”

The meeting went on for roughly three hours. People came in, went out, they ordered more coffee, more pastries, used the bathroom… Until both finally got up and shook hands:

“I’m looking forward to this.” He beamed a dimpled smile.

“I’m glad you remembered me.” She sheepishly smiled back.

“Of course. I didn’t even consider anyone else for the job. You were great the first time, and you’ll always be my first pick, now. Although one day you’ll be too famous and not have time for me.” He grinned.

After the meeting, Alliyah went home and started to work on that project. Afterward, although she was looking forward to some fun at the skate-park, she went back to one of her other projects, Cliona Pierce’s house, which was also a high-stakes one.