4 MONTHS LATER

Yemi drives up to Sam's second gym, which is a tad bit smaller than the main one. It's in a lot shared with other businesses and the parking spots are full.

Someone pulls out of a parking spot right in front of the gym and Yemi swerves in. She hops out and then walks inside of the building with a smile on her face. The front desk associate is wearing a name badge with 'Terry' written on it. Terry licks his lips at Yemi, and Yemi's smile immediately fades away.

"Hi. Can you please let Sam know that Yemi is here for him? I tried his cell, but he didn't pick up."

Terry chuckles to himself. "Well, pretty girl, it sounds like he doesn't wanna deal with you. But let me see what I can do."

Yemi furrows her eyebrows in shock at his boldness before Terry calls Sam's office from the desk phone. The phone rings several times before Terry hangs up.

"He didn't pick up. But I think he has someone back there with him. So you can either come back later or chill right here with me." Terry winks with a huge grin on his face.

"I'm just gonna go to his office." Yemi starts to walk around the desk, but Terry blocks her.

"Whoa. You can't be roaming around here unless you're a member."

Yemi opens her mouth to speak, but Terry puts his hand over her mouth. She smacks it away. "Are you crazy? Don't put your hand over my mouth. I don't know where your hands been."

"They can be on you, if you want. I got these magical hands, baby."

"You need to stop, right now. Sam is my-"

"Before you say it, you need to get out of your head that you have a chance with Sam. Do you know how many women come up here trying to talk to him? I don't know why y'all females be stalking someone who don't like talking to people."

Yemi laughs.

"I will say you are one of the prettiest ones, though. And that ass... man, that ass is amazing." He rubs his hands together while checking out her figure.

"Does Sam let you talk to his guests like this?"

"What Sam doesn't know won't hurt him." He licks his lips while still rubbing his hands together as if there's a feast in front of him.

"I'm just gonna leave. Do you have paper? I'll just write a message for you to give him."

Terry drops his shoulders in disappointment. "You don't know what you're missing out on."

"Paper please," she diverts.

Terry shakes his head as he walks back behind the desk. He looks around but doesn't see any paper. "I gotta get some from the supply room. I'll be back. But stay here. I'm not trying to get fired."

Yemi rolls her eyes as Terry walks towards the hallway.

*

Meanwhile, Sam is having a meeting in his office with an older gentleman across from his desk. The man has a huge birthmark on his face that could easily distract anyone.

"I appreciate you working on this for me. If you're able to get to the root of everything, I'm sure that would help her get some closure," Sam tells him.

"No problem. I'm glad I could assist you with this."

The guy stands up and shakes Sam's hand before turning to leave. Sam follows him to the door.

When his guest opens the door, Sam looks out and sees the receptionist throwing his arm around Yemi while she writes on a piece of paper. Sam stops in his tracks, frowning at his view, as his guest continues to exit the building. Yemi hits Terry's hand and Terry laughs as he takes his arm off her. Neither one of them notice Sam coming their way.

"Why're you playing hard to get?" Terry asks Yemi, reaching for her hand.

"You're about to lose your hand," Sam warns him.

Terry looks back in confusion and Yemi looks relieved. "What you talkin' about, boss man?"

"I'm talking about you losing your job, if you touch my wife again."

"Oh shit." He quickly steps back. "My bad. I didn't know."

"I tried to tell you," Yemi adds.

"My bad." Terry walks back behind the desk as Sam glares at him the whole time. Yemi steps up to Sam and pecks his lips.

"Hi baby." Yemi is about to cup Sam's face, but he blocks her hands.

He looks at the hand sanitizer on the front desk, and then grabs it.

"Really Sam?" Yemi asks incredulously, chuckling at his over-protectiveness.

"Imma put some on your shoulder, too. I saw his arm around you."

"Oh damn. It's like that, boss man?" Terry questions.

"Nobody's touching her but me." Sam applies an excess of amount of sanitizer on Yemi's hands, causing her to burst out in laughter.

Terry shakes his head, and chuckles. A few moments later, Sam puts the bottle back on the desk before leading Yemi outside and to her truck.

"Oh, now I have to leave?" Yemi laughs.

"You're gonna have to wear those old construction clothes when you come here."

Yemi can't stop laughing. "You are too much."

"I'm gonna have to retrain these fools. I caught an employee bench pressing a guest this morning."

Yemi's mouth drops wide open.

"Yeah. I got my hands full over here."

"You want me to help at the other gym, so you can focus on this one for a bit?"

"Nah, I got it, ma. You just focus on your classes- How'd it go today?"

"Oh Sam, I loved it. I'm so excited. I can't wait to be a pilot."

"I'm happy you finally found something." He leans down and kisses her forehead.

"Sooo... are you excited for your big day?"

"What I tell you?" He asks, sarcastically.

"I know, but it's a big day for me." She wraps her arms around his neck. "I'm so thankful you were born, Sam." She pecks his lips, and then kisses him deeply. After a few seconds, she pulls away and looks into his eyes. "I have something big planned for you."

"Not a party, right?"

"No. But you better believe you will have one for your 35th. I'm warning you now. You have a whole year to mentally prepare yourself."

Sam smiles. "Look at you, calling the shots."

"That's right. I'm glad you see it that way," she tells him, jokingly.

Sam chuckles. "We'll see who's calling the shots when I get home tonight."

"Oh... that's all you, Captain Hook." She winks before twirling around; showcasing the curves Sam loves so much.

"Stop playing with me, ma. You gon' have me leaving work early."

"Well you are the boss. Do what you need to do." She unlocks her truck before looking back at him with a seductive smile.

Sam's eyes are locked on her, watching her every move. Yemi hops in and starts the engine as Sam shakes his head, smiling at his sexual thoughts. He taps the hood of her truck and then turns to leave. "Imma lock my office. I'll see you in a few minutes."

Yemi giggles, and Sam rushes back into the gym.

___

The guy who was in Sam's office, with the birthmark, pulls up to the security gate at the Women's shelter. He presses the call button attached to the monitored intercom.

"Hi, who are you here to see?" The operator asks him.

"My name is Detective Jeffrey Kennedy. I need to speak to someone in charge."

"Can you put your badge in front of the camera, please?"

The detective does what he's told.

"Okay thank you. You can drive all the way back to the building. You'll see visitors parking there. I'll have someone come out to meet with you."

"Copy that."

The gate opens and Detective Kennedy drives onto the lot, all the way to the visitors parking. He deads the engine, and gets out just as Mrs. Basowa walks out of the building.

"Hi, I was told you needed to speak to someone in charge? Is everything okay?"

"Yes, I'm Detective Kennedy." He extends his hand to her, and she shakes it.

"Christina Basowa. I'm the Director."

"Nice to meet you, Ms. Basowa. I'm looking for a Briana Billmore. I was told she resides here."

"Oh. Ms. Briana moved out just last week. Does this have anything to do with her husband?"

"Who is her husband?"

"I don't remember his name. But he's the reason she was here. He came here a couple of times, threatening her, too."

"Okay. Do you have information on anyone else? Like a family member?"

"If I remember correctly, she had a cousin who had her admitted here. But that's about it."

"So, the only relative you know was her cousin?"

"Unfortunately, yes. However, we dropped her off to someone's house on Christmas and Easter. I'm assuming that could've been family. She was very closed off. We didn't really get too much information out of her. Poor thing. Her attitude was so bad, and her husband came here and stole her car. She hated that she had to rely on us and the bus for transportation. But she really hated that we had to drop her off at the house she lives in now."

"That's a different house from where she was dropped off before?"

"Yes. She's renting a room from a place she saw online. Do you want me to call her for you?"

"No, no need. But I'm going to need her address and the address of the relative's house she visited."

"No problem. Follow me to my office."

Detective Kennedy follows her into the building, ready to start his investigation.