Page 24

Chapter 11

Zari

I press my lips together, staring at the half-finished flyer in Canva. I look past my laptop at the empty club floor. That’s usually filled with people in chairs.

I add a few more sparkle elements, but not too much to look cheesy.

The TV above the bar area is playing a rerun of Girlfriends, and light jazz plays in the background.

I tap my nails against the table and sit back against the soft velvet booth cushion.

My phone buzzes, and my eyes widen but it’s just Kye saying she’s running late.

I side-eye my phone cause her ass is always late. I have no idea why I even thought working with her would be a good idea. Maybe, I should have tried to talk her out of it instead of giving in to her.

I mean, shit, she packed this place out, but she also made it too hot. Can’t deny that my baby sister is great at event planning.

That ain’t even the real issue. It’s the absence of messages from Drey. This nigga really got me fucked up. Why would he think I would really leave Anthony? I suck my teeth because blowing up my whole life over him ain’t in the cards for me.

It’s not something that can happen even if I wanted to. I take a sip of my red wine, and the acidic taste burns my mouth. I reach into my Chanel bag looking for a piece of gum. My hand stills when I feel his house key. The cool metal is a fucking memory of what isn’t supposed to be.

My eyes water at the peace we had in Baltimore. The way he kissed me, held me, and did regular ass shit with me. Baltimore is far from a vacation. I’ve been to South Korea, the Dominican Republic, and London in the last year with Anthony by my side. He loves to travel out of the country and so do I.

Everything on his dime. His parents are well paid. His dad has a big tech company in DC, and his mother works in finance management for politicians. They definitely got way more bread than my father.

Honestly, Drey’s such a gentleman. He’d paid for everything— the hotel, every event, and every meal. I never went in my purse for anything, not that I expected to anyway.

He’s definitely a hustler and he works hard for his money. It’s just something about Drey that drives me crazy. I love the way he took my strap. I can still picture him on his back.

It’s just something so raw and real about him, though.

He really turns me on, but I don’t know why he didn’t chase me. He just let me leave. The man had me checking my phone multiple times just to see if he called or texted me.

This man really got me fucked up in the head. I cut off my best eater for him. I sit up and wipe the tears.

A tear falls, and I sniff. Hell, nah, I can’t be in my feelings over him.

“The HBIC is in the motherfucking house!” Kye shouts, walking into the bar wearing a red and black mask over her face, large pants, a tube top bra, and a matching jacket.

I wipe my face quickly, and roll my eyes at her. “What the fuck you got on Chun Li?”

She does a high kick in her heel and does a karate chop. “It’s from Mortal Kombat.”

I shake my head and laugh. I know she isn’t going to no convention on a Monday night. This is just who she is. Always been like this.

I take another sip of my wine.

Kye sits next to me and kisses me on my cheek. She looks at my screen and points. “Oooo, this looks nice. I think you can make something like this for the next party.”

I turn my body towards her. “Yeah, about that.”

“It was a success. I got people blowing up my phone wanting to do their next birthday here.”

“We can’t do birthday parties anymore.”

She waves her hand. “That’s fine. That hoe got on my nerves anyways. We can do anime stuff here. I run a Discord of blerds—”

I stop her. “Sister, you can’t do anything. We’re doing the spoken word, and that’s it. I don’t need help.”