none of y'all guessed it. 😂

this was long overdue though. Let's get into it.

Soleil grabbed a few tissues from the tissue box that Dr. Walsh passed over to her. She dabbed under her eyes where fresh tears had fallen, the room was complete silence with the exception of the cars that passed by outside, and the ticking of the clock on the wall.

Dr. Walsh continued to study Soleil's body language, the young woman hadn't been in her office for ten minutes before she burst into tears.

It started off as the same routine, Soleil gets called into the office, and they sit in silence for about five or ten minutes to let her decompress.

"How are you feeling today?" Was all that Dr. Walsh was able to question her before the waterworks appeared.

Dr. Walsh sat and observed Soleil during the time that they sat in silence, something that she usually did. She could tell when something was bothering Soleil. She was fidgety, unable to sit still.

Though she was antsy, the young woman held a concentrated expression on her face as she stared out of the window as she usually did during her sessions.

The way her black orbs hastily darted around at the surroundings outside, evidently, there was something burdensome on her mind.

"I'm sorry," Soleil was barely able to croak out through her tears. She sniffled, continuing to dab her face—but that did no justice, as fresh, new tears continued to replace the ones that she dabbed away.

"It's okay, take as much time as you need to gather yourself. We have plenty of time here," Dr. Walsh assured her, shifting in the chair to get a little more comfortable. "Is it one of those days?"

"That's what Monday started off as..." Soleil swallowed hard, looking up at the ceiling, trying to blink away more tears. "But it just kept escalating and getting worse—and I, I think I just snapped,"

"Tell me what happened,"

Soleil let go of a heavy sigh, dropping her hands into her lap. "My morning was already starting off bad because I had a blowout," she started to explain.

"I already told y'all what street I'm on—look, if y'all can't send someone out here then don't worry about it, I'll find someone else," Soleil snapped, ending the call. She tossed her phone into the passenger's seat, and rested her head back on the headrest, on the verge of tears.

She was heading toward campus for the day, having to get together with a few of her classmates to finish their project. They had been communicating through text throughout the process, but one of their classmates had internet issues that wouldn't be fixed until tomorrow—which, unfortunately, is when their project was due.

So to make matters much easier, and go over their talking points for their presentation, they decided that they would meet up at the library.

Not even fifteen minutes after she left her house, she had a blowout. Luckily she was able to handle the wheel and get to the side of the road safely without causing any accidents, but it scared her half to death when she heard something pop from the back passenger side.

She had roadside assistance thanks to the dealership she bought her car from, but they were beginning to irritate her as they couldn't seem to figure out her location. While she was on the phone, she texted Siraj and her friends to let them know what happened.

Siraj tried calling a few times after he saw her text, but Soleil kept declining as she was trying to explain to the dispatcher where she was. She texted Siraj that she would call him back once she was done speaking with the dispatcher.

Her friends had called and texted as well, asking if she needed one of them to wait with her until someone was able to get to her. She assured them that she would give them an update once she had one, but until then she wanted them to stay put.

Soleil jumped at the sound of knocking at her window, to her surprise, it was Siraj. She opened the door, looking at him with a confused expression. "What the—how'd you find me?" she questioned him.

"We're sharing locations, remember? You talked to someone?" he asked her, taking a step back to inspect the front and back tires on her side.

"They were pissing me off, acting like they didn't know what street I was talking about. I hang up, cause I wasn't trying to cuss them out," Soleil explained.

"It's okay, don't worry about it, I'll change it for you. You have a spare, right? In the trunk?" he pointed at the back of her car, Soleil nodded in response. "Good, pop the trunk,"

Soleil obliged, reaching down to pull the lever to open the trunk. She got out of the car as well, shutting the door behind her before she followed Siraj to the back of her car. He lifted the trunk door higher, pushing the stuff Soleil had to the back before lifting up the flooring to grab the spare tire.

He walked around to the right side of the car, where the back tire had blown out. He saw the gaping hole in the tire, exposing the rim. He laid the tire against the car and looked over at Soleil, a now concerned expression on his face. "You okay?" he gently grabbed her elbow as she had her arms folded under her chest.

"I'm still shaken up, it scared the fuck out of me. I'm just glad no one else was in the back or side of me when it happened," She let out a shaky breath, diverting her gaze to the road.

"I'm sorry," Siraj grimaced, trying to imagine how the fear she must've felt when it occurred. "After this, we gone go to the dealership so we can this fixed ASAP. I'll drive your car there if you want me to, and you can take my car for the time being. All your paperwork in the glove compartment, right?"

"Yeah, and are you sure, Siraj? I can take it there myself, I know you have work to do," Soleil slumped her shoulders a bit, disliking the fact that she was pulling Siraj away from taking care of his business.

"No, you good love, I'm off until next week. You gotta meet up with your classmates, right? I know you don't want to sit up there and wait at the dealership. I'll take care of it, if I have any questions or anything, I'll just call you," Siraj assured her, walking past her to his car to grab the jack and tire iron from his trunk.

"Thank you, Siraj,"

"You don't have to thank me, but you're welcome. Ain't no way I'ma leave, my girlfriend, out here with a blown tire, especially when I know how to change one. I'm kind of surprised Xahir hasn't taught you how to change one after he done taught you everything else." Siraj said, pulling out the jack and grabbing the tire iron.

"He meant to, something always came up though. Plus, I think he always think that he would always be around to do it for me just in case," Soleil replied, watching him roll the jack over to her car. He crouched down and pushed the Jack under the car, beginning to push on the lever to lift the car up.

The next ten minutes, Siraj changed the tire for Soleil. She showed him where the paperwork for her car was in the glove box. Before they parted ways, Siraj explained to Soleil that the tire should be covered under a warranty, since she haven't had the car for even six months yet.

While he was at the dealership, he would make sure that they inspected the car thoroughly, and to also get an oil change if she needed one. He knew that Soleil was still trying to get comfortable being behind the wheel after the accident, he wanted to ease her nerves as best as he could.

He was thankful that she was able to pull over safely, without hurting herself or anyone else. He wondered exactly what caused the blowout.

Later on, after Soleil had finished practicing her presentation with her group, she stopped by the café to grab lunch with her friends. Siraj had texted her earlier to let her know that the tire had been replaced and they thoroughly checked the rest of the car as well as the tires. He told her that he would keep her car until she was finished with her errands for the day.

While he was out, he decided to run a couple of errands himself. First, he had to stop by his mom's house, to grab the boxes of clothes that she wanted to donate. Since her date with the guy she met at Arielle's restaurant, she'd been going on dates with him almost every week.

Tasha seemed to really like him, which made Siraj happy. It'd been awhile since she went on any real dates or met someone who sparked her interest.

He was still skeptical of this man though, he didn't want to be too pushy because Tasha probably wasn't ready for him to meet her children. However, Siraj needed to meet the man that was constantly taking his mother out—just for safety precautions.

Siraj pressed the doorbell, waiting a few moments for Tasha to answer the door. He heard the locks being fiddled with followed by the door opening, Tasha sporting a confused look. "Why didn't you use your key?" she asked him, stepping aside to let him in.

"Soleil got my keys," Siraj told her, eyeing the stacked boxes in the foyer. "These the boxes?" He pointed to them.

"Yeah—Soleil has your car?" Tasha smiled, crossing her arms over her chest. "That's so cute, the last girl you let drive your car was Mena,"

"I'm driving hers, she had a blowout this morning. So, I took it to the shop to get it fixed," Siraj told her, looking inside of the boxes.

"Oh my gosh, is she okay?" Tasha placed a hand on her chest, her eyes slightly widening.

"Yeah, she's fine. She was a li'l shaken up—which is absolutely understandable. I made sure everything was checked out, even the other three tires. Being behind the wheel has taken a lot of courage for her, so I just want to do my part to ensure that she'll be safe," Siraj further explained, grabbing the boxes and placing them by the door.

"Right," Tasha nodded in understanding. "I'm glad she's okay, and that's good you were able to get it fixed for her—it was covered under warranty, right? She haven't had the car that long, if I remember correctly,"

"Yes ma'am, also I told them about themselves too. When I got there, she told me that they couldn't find her exact location. Shit made me mad, cause what if she was in an area she wasn't familiar with? What if I didn't have her location? How would they have gotten to her, you know? Thank God, she was close to her house though, the roads not busy over there," Siraj ranted on, walking toward the kitchen to grab a bottle of water.

"Well, what did they say when you confronted them about that? What's the point of offering roadside assistance, if you can't provide the damn assistance?" Tasha frowned, following him into the kitchen.

"Exactly, and they told me that the person who spoke to Soleil, they were new and in training—as if that makes it better. They couldn't ask someone for help? They better grab a damn map and study that shit, the fuck they in dispatch for and not familiar with their surrounding areas?"

"I know that's right," Tasha scoffed, leaning against the counter. "Had my baby out there in distress. Good thing ya' daddy taught you how to change a tire, at least you not totally useless," she teased him, grinning.

Siraj sucked his teeth, turning around to face her with a funny look as she started to laugh. "Man, whatever. Speaking of useless though, what's up wit' you and this mystery man? At least tell me his name,"

"His name is Mike,"

"Hm," Siraj hummed, drinking from his water bottle. "Mike, huh? Is he bald?"

Tasha stammered a bit, as Siraj snickered. "Now why would you ask me that?" she narrowed her eyes at him, as he twisted the cap back onto his water bottle.

"Cause every Mike I have met, has been bald. You're avoiding the question, so I'm going to assume that he is," Siraj shrugged, sliding the bottle onto the counter. "Are you going to let us meet him?"

"Eventually..." Tasha trailed off, tapping her nails on the counter. "I have to make sure he's worthy of meeting y'all. I'm pretty sure he's thinking the same thing of me as well,"

Siraj tipped his head to the side, lowering his eyebrows. "He has kids?" he asked her. Tasha nodded in confirmation. "How many? Are they young? Or grown up like us?"

"He has four, and they're grown. I believe he said the youngest one is fifteen though,"

"Oh, that's nice," Siraj scratched the side of his face. He grabbed his water bottle and started to walk out of the kitchen. "A'ight, I'm bout to head out. I gotta go pickup a couple of stuff for this weekend,"

"When are you leaving again?" Tasha followed him toward the front door.

"On Thursday, be back on Monday," Siraj replied, placing his water bottle on top of the boxes, before he picked them up. Tasha unlocked and opened the door for him.

"Alright, well, if I don't see you before then, y'all be safe, okay?"

"Yes ma'am," Siraj placed the boxes down as he made it to the car. He placed a kiss on Tasha's kiss, before pressing the button on the key fob to open the trunk. Tasha walked down the driveway, to go check the mailbox as Siraj continued to load the boxes into the trunk.

Soleil sat in the cafeteria with her friends Keia, Nadia, Charlie and Armani. As the day passed on, Soleil hoped that her mood would lighten up, but unfortunately it seemed as if it only got worse.

Shortly after leaving her meeting with her group, the strap of her bag had snapped, causing a few of her books, papers and even her laptop to fall into a small puddle in the grass as she walked on the sidewalk.

Soleil was beyond irritated, luckily, there wasn't any severe water damage to her laptop. However, she would need to purchase new textbooks as they were muddy and pages were ruined. It annoyed her, as the bag she had bought seemed to still be in good condition as she had it for almost a year.

Wanting to cheer up her friend, Keia offered to buy her lunch. She could tell that Soleil had been in a sour mood since she woke up this morning. She figured that she may have had a nightmare about her brother, as the majority of the time whenever Soleil woke up in a bad mood, it was always the source of her attitude.

"Hey, Charlie," Jaelyn spoke as she and another one of her friends sat down at the table with the girls. Keia, Nadia and Armani started to mug her, as Soleil simply kept her focus on the email that she was typing up to one of her professors.

"Hey," Charlie awkwardly spoke, her eyes darting around at the table at the rest of the girls. "You want to talk somewhere else?"

"Why? We're not bothering anybody," Jaelyn shrugged, sitting her backpack on the table. "I came over here to ask you if you were coming to my birthday party next month, did you receive the invitation?"

"Uh, no? When did you send it? And where?"

"I sent it two days ago, and I sent it through text. You want me to send it again?" Jaelyn grabbed her phone and unlocked it.

"You don't think that's kind of early to be sending out stuff?" Charlie raised a brow, scooping some of the ice cream on her spoon. "People might not even remember,"

"It's just to RSVP, so I know who's coming and who isn't. Plus, I want people to know a li'l early so they don't schedule plans on that day," Jaelyn explained, setting her phone down on the table. "I just sent it to you again,"

Charlie picked up her phone and went to her text messages, seeing the new text from Jaelyn. She clicked on it and seen the invitation flyer. "Ooh these pictures cute, when you took these?"

"Last week, the photographer was expensive, but his work is worth it," Jaelyn smiled, fiddling with her nails.

"What's his name? I might have to book for my birthday,"

"Siraj,"

Keia and Nadia quickly exchanged glances then looked over at Soleil, who still hadn't budge or even looked up. It almost seemed as if she completely zoned out.

"Bitches are so fuckin' messy," Keia bitterly laughed, shaking her head. "Just say the word, Soleil, I'll give her the long overdue ass whooping she been asking for," she said low enough for Soleil to hear.

"Is that why you came over here?" Armani tilted her head, looking at Jaelyn dumbfounded. "To be messy? Because you could have texted all that to Charlie and went on bout your business,"

"How am I being messy? She just asked me who the photographer was," Jaelyn sported a confused look, shrugging.

"Yeah, who also happens to be your ex-friend's boyfriend. What point are you trying to prove here, Jaelyn? You can't possibly still be upset over that whole Elias situation," Keia added her input, gesturing her hand between Jaelyn and Elias, who was sitting a few tables away with some of his teammates.

"I'm over that, and I know that Siraj is Soleil's boyfriend. What does that have to do with anything?" Jaelyn argued, beginning to mug Keia back.

"Well, from these pictures," Armani started, pointing at Charlie's phone. "You're trying to get a rise out of Soleil, because her boyfriend probably had to see you naked. So, you're trying to rub that in her face,"

"I literally do not care about that girl," Jaelyn started to laugh, nudging her friend. "Y'all think a bitch is trying to do shit to get under the next bitch skin, and that's not even the case. If she lets that bother her, then that's on her—I mean, she knew what she signed up for when she dated a photographer. Sometimes they have to see some of their clients naked,"

Soleil got up from the table, beginning to gather her stuff together. The girls watched her, a small smirk on Jaelyn's face. Keia bit the inside of her cheek, glaring in Jaelyn's direction.

The two girls locked eyes, Jaelyn placing her arms on the table as she laid her hands on top of each other. "You got too much anger in your heart, Keia. You can't fight your friend's battles all the time, especially if she doesn't want you to. You act like you're her bodyguard or something," Jaelyn taunted Keia, rolling her neck.

By then, Soleil had started to walk away from the table.