Of course he did.
Ever since Kobie entered their orbit, her mother had acted as if God himself descended from heaven in a tailored suit and diamonds.
Educated. Rich. Famous. Black. Polished. Safe.
Everything Jio wasn’t were the things that she didn’t care to have in a man.
“He’s a nice young man,” her mother continued carefully. “And honestly, Nina… with all that has happened lately, this could be a good way to smooth things over with your father.”
She added, “He’s so disappointed in you. He’s barely sleeping.”
There it was.
The real reason for the call. She wanted to guilt trip her into attending and making her feel as if she needed to repair an image that no one else thought was broken except her parents.
Truthfully? She was tired of having to impress anyone other than herself. She was sick of hiding her real life from the world and her true love. She was even more annoyed that at her grown age she still felt the need to constantly defend the choices she made.
On top of all of that, she hadn’t heard from Jio in two weeks. Nina didn’t know if she was single and free to do as she pleased.
“You know what?” she murmured finally.
Her mother perked right up. “You’ll come?”
“I’ll stop by for thirty minutes.”
“That’s all I’m asking!”
“No speeches. No weird matchmaking. No trying to sell me off to this man or any other dude that will be there and I mean it too,” she warned.
Her mother laughed nervously. “Nina, what type of mother do you think I am?”
“I’m serious.”
“Okay, okay,” she said quickly. “I’ll RSVP us now and I’ll see you tomorrow!”
After they hung up, Nina sat there for another moment staring at her reflection in the dark window. Thirty minutes wasn’t going to kill her. She also knew that if Jio had eyes on her like he always claimed, then this would for sure bring him out of hiding. Nina smiled sinisterly before picking the contract back up to finish reviewing so she could take her ass home and get in the bed.
η
The workday went by faster than expected. Nina was able to go home, catch up on laundry, clean her fridge out, and take a big boy nap. A big boy nap was when she closed the curtains, stripped butt booty naked, and was dead to the world for more than ninety minutes. She woke up with a chin covered in drool but she didn’t care if her body was well rested.
“I needed that!” she exclaimed in a relaxed tone as she ambled towards the bathroom to prepare for the night. Nina hadn’t been out in a while. Her boyfriend hadn’t taken her on a date in forever, so she planned to use tonight as an excuse to get sexy.
Nina showered and after she dried off, she doused her body in a shimmery oil that made her glow like an angel on Christmas Day.
Playing in makeup wasn’t something she did often, but when she did, she was reminded that she indeed could be THAT girl if she wanted to be. Nina didn’t care about the things that most chicks did. She chose comfort over being cute, but every now and then, a confidence booster was necessary. Leave it to her mama to make her put six-inch heels on and beat her face to the Gawds.
She thrifted a black bodycon dress that was tight yet dainty enough to not have her mama asking her what the hell she had on. Nina planned on pairing it with black lace gloves and diamonds galore. Courtesy of a Mr. Jiorgio Gotti. She pulled her hair up into a bun and pulled a few loose baby hairs out around the nape of her neck. She was giving Black Barbie and that’s exactly how she felt.
Nina called her driver, another perk of dating a made man, and told him that she would be ready to go in five minutes. She fed Nino and sprayed her body with perfume, and just like that, she was out the door.
When they made it to the venue, she told Roberto, “I’m not staying long. Call me in an hour.”
Nina walked into a lounge in downtown Manhattan that she’d never heard of, but it was cute. She loved the décor and quickly thought about hosting an event. She could probably reveal the collection that she’d been working on. The lounge was packed from wall to wall with athletes, music execs, corporate folks, models, and socialites. Everyone was dressed to the nines, which made Nina fit right in. She was already someone, but the new job gave her name a little bit more weight.
“Miss Marcelle, look here…. two seconds! Can we get a picture?” The press shouted at her after noticing that she was trying to bypass the red carpet.
“Nina!” Her mother popped out of nowhere, grabbing her arm dramatically.
