Adrienne

Friday

"Its okay girl, I'm sure he had a reason." Kiada says, rubbing my back.

"I should've known, he hasn't been answering my calls all week." I say.

"This is exactly why I don't trust a single nigga." Kiada says, before handing me a tissue.

I push her hand away. "Girl I am not crying. I'm just a little taken back. Why would he ask me out and then stand me up? I don't get it." I say, massaging my temples.

"It is weird. Mikey doesn't seem like the type to bail." Jamie says, making me roll my eyes. "Dada aren't you supposed to be at work?" I ask, she sucks her teeth and looks down at her watch.

"Sadly." She hugs me before getting up.

Jamie gets up too.

"I actually have to go too girl. You gonna be okay?" She asks, I just nod, as they walk towards the door.

"Call me if you need anything." Dada says, J nods in agreement before they close the door behind them.

I could've went to work with Kiada, but I had already told Lesane that I was taking the day off and he didn't seem to care. I think he has something to do with Michael standing me up. I can't pinpoint exactly what his motive is but I know he has one.

I go to my room and change out of the dress I had put on for the date.

I slide into something comfortable before returning to my seat on the couch and flipping through channels.

•••

When I wake up, the end credits to a movie are rolling. I must've fell asleep watching it.

I hear a knock on my door, making me get up and rub my eyes, looking over at the clock on the wall.

9:03 PM

I've only been asleep for thirty minutes. Who is that?

I walk over to the door looking through the peep hole.

Its Tupac.

What the hell could he possibly want? Isn't he supposed to be at the club?

I open the door, standing in the entrance so he won't think he can come in. We just stare at each other for a while before he takes his hands out of his pockets and folds his arms.

Lesane looks me up and down before chuckling.

"I didn't expect for your night off to look like this." He says, making me roll my eyes. "What do you want?" I ask.

"Can I come in?"

I just move aside, allowing him to come into my apartment. His Timberland boots thump against the wood floor.

"How'd you know I would be home? I told you why I needed the day off." I say, closing the door and locking it.

"I just had this feeling ya know." He says, a smirk on his face that makes me suck my teeth.

I sit back down on my couch but he stays standing. "This is a cute lil place you got here." He says. "But I'm pretty sure you could afford something bigger with that check I been handing you."

"I appreciate the things I have. Just because I have the money doesn't mean I have to impulsively spend it." I say.

I notice him wondering down the hall, towards my bedroom. "I didn't say you could go back there." I say, getting up from the couch and walking behind him. Before he can get to my room, I slide in front of him and close the door.

"You got something to hide?" He asks.

I then realize how close we are now. So close that I can smell the peppermint on his breath.

"No."

There's a silence between us that becomes deadly as he leans in closer to me.

"Why aren't you at Black Cotton?" I ask, breaking the tension.

"Needed a different view tonight." Lesane says, licking his lips.

My eyes fall onto the chain around his neck. Its new. I haven't seen it before. He smirks, holding it up a little. "You like it?" He asks.

I nod, "Yea its pretty."

He starts to take it off making me frown.

"It got some weight on it." He says, before putting it around my neck.

I chuckle feeling the chain pull me down a little. "How the hell do you wear this all the time?" I ask, starting to take it off but he stops me.

"You should keep it." He says.

"No. Its yours."

"Look I'm not gonna do this again with you. Keep the chain." He says, nudging me a little.

I open my bedroom door, taking the chain off. I sit it on my nightstand. Tupac comes in behind me and flops down onto my bed, laying on his back.

"Shit. This bed feel like a damn brick."

"I didn't tell you to lay on it." I say, taking a quick glance at myself in the mirror. I look a mess. My eyes are slightly red from me just waking up and the bun my hair was in is halfway down.

"Want me to get you a new one?" He asks.

I turn to look at him and roll my eyes. "Why do you keep trying to give me gifts Lesane?" I ask.

He doesn't answer. So I don't ask again.

"I'll be back." I say, before going to the bathroom to make myself look a little better.

I sit up on the bed after she leaves.

Her room reminds me of a teenager. There's posters all over the wall and Christmas lights draped in each corner.

I get up and walk over to her dresser, scanning the contents.

My eyes land on a lotion tube that's almost empty. Its called

This must be her favorite. The perfume that matches it is almost empty too. I make a mental note before moving over to her jewelry box. There's a few nose rings in it and a lot of pairs of hoops.

I open one of the drawers slightly before shaking my head at myself and turning back towards the bed.

Well, ion think it'll hurt to just peek for a second.

I turn around, opening the drawer again. My eyes fall on a collection of sequenced bra's and panties.

My pants start to tighten a little as my mind wanders.

I pick up a pair a panties, they're my favorite color. Black.

I've seen these before. The night I gave her the black cotton uniforms. When she reached for the shoes at the top of the closet, I only saw the lace edge of them.

"Fuck." I mumble under my breath, looking down at my pants. I gotta calm down before she come back. I put the panties back in the drawer and close it before going back to the bed and laying on my stomach.

Moments later I hear her come in.

"Your still here?" She chuckles.

I take slow breaths, before sitting up and looking at her, relieved that my problem had returned to its normal state.

"You ain't say I had to go." I chuckle.

"Well it is kind of late. Its probably good for you to head home, or to the club. Or whatever you normally do this time of night." She says.

I notice that she's fixed her hair and probably washed her face to look more awake.

"Ion got shit else to do. Let's watch a movie or somethin." I shrug. "Unless you just want me to go, cause that's igh if you do."

Her face changes. There's a little wrinkle above her nose like she's thinking.

"Its not that I don't want you to stay. But.." She trails off, making me stand up, facing her directly. "But what?"

"Every time we spend time together or have a moment, you ignore me the next day and pretend like it never happened. Sometimes for weeks." She says, folding her arms and looking away from me. I bite my lip, knowing she's right.

Not knowing what to say, I grab my keys off the bed and walk past her, out of the bedroom.

I can't bring myself to have this conversation with her.

I shouldn't have even suggested stayin.

It'll lead to other things and I can't handle that right now.

"Lesane." She calls my name, following me to the front door of her apartment as I open it.

"Wear that chain to work tomorrow." I say, before closing the door behind me.

I'm being selfish.

Her wearing my chain will silently tell niggas that she's mine. That's the intention. I know I'm wrong for doing what I'm doing, and I hope I'm not hurting her by being who I am.

But this is the only way I know how to handle this. How to handle her, for now.

Adrienne

I stand in front of the door, taken back by how quickly things changed within a minute.

Maybe I shouldn't have said anything and just let him stay and then ignore me next week. Maybe that's just how its supposed to be between us.

He is my boss after all.

Its inappropriate for us to be involved with each other.

I lock the door and walk away from it, back to my bedroom where the smell of his cologne still lingers. I lay in my bed, burying my face in the covers, trying to savor his smell. Do I have feelings for this man?

This incredibly complicated and clearly secretive man?

I hope not.

I pick up the chain, holding it in the palm of my hand. The back of it has T.L.S engraved in it.

Why in the world would he want me to wear this to work?

Black Cotton is buzzing already as I pull into the parking lot. I park around back so I can go in the back door and avoid all the people waiting to get in out front.

As soon as I come in I feel the atmosphere of my coworkers change.

I get stares that make me shiver slightly.

"Hey girl. We are hot tonight." Dada says, approaching me and hugging me.

"Yea I see. Is there something special going on tonight or what?" I ask, making her eyes get wide.

"Girl you didn't know? Snoop Dogg is performing tonight." She says, I see her glance at the chain around my neck more than once but she doesn't say anything.

"Really? How'd Pac pull that off?"

"I have no idea."

All the staff gets pulled into a room upstairs for a meeting before we open. The girls around me whisper but I can't tell if they're talking about me or Snoop Dogg. I've had this weird feeling tonight, like everyone is staring at me.

"So I need everybody on they toes tonight cause we gonna be bumpin from open to close." I hear Lesane say, as people around me nod.

A few minutes pass and it seems as if the meeting is over and everyone is waiting for opening time.

When I look around I notice that Snoop Dogg has entered the room with us, but I don't feel any urge to ask for an autograph like everyone else. Instead I look for Tupac who probably retreated to his office after the meeting ended.

I make my way out the room and down the hall to his office.

The door is cracked so I push it open.

"Lesane?"

He looks up at me and then back down at his notebook, continuing his writing.

"Can we talk?"

I don't know what possesed me to ask that. But I wanted to. Maybe I wanted him to acknowledge that I did what he asked.

"I'm busy." He says, his tone is flat and frustrated at the same time. Shouldn't he be excited? His club is gonna be a hit tonight and I'm sure it'll bring in boocoos of money.

"Well can we maybe talk later? After closing?" I ask, walking closer to his desk.

"I doubt it." He says, I sigh a little before turning and walking towards the hall.

"You wore the chain." He says, just as I touch the door handle.

"I did." I say, before walking out.

~•~

Hey guys. I'm so so so sorry it took me this long to update. My life just kept throwing stuff at me every time I tried to sit down and write. Any ways I hope this update made up for it. I love you guys ! 💓

~ Zayla 💋