by Briann Danae
“Last time I cried was when I was born. Even then, a nigga barely shed tears,” he joked, making Neicey shake her head with a laugh. “Nah. On the real, though. These keys belong to an empty studio space downtown. I heard you mention something to Erica about hosting a few stripping classes, but shit. You know we ain’t nothing but hustlers in this family. I want you to have your own spot.”
Neicey was the one now with real tears in her eyes. Of all the things she could have barely mentioned to Sen, he had gone out and purchased her a storefront studio. Walking up to him, she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him as tightly as she could.
“That’s what the parking sign is for, mean ass girl.”
“Thank you, baby. Wait until we get home. I’ma suck your dick so good, you don’t even know,” she said, kissing his lips.
“Says the woman who wanted to break up with me. Yeah, you better get my balls too.”
They were pass that, Neicey thought but, every so often, Sen would bring up the fact that he didn’t like her working at the office. But, that was too damn bad because it wasn’t his decision to make. Maneuvering her way from underneath him, Neicey climbed from the bed and headed toward the bathroom. She didn’t even bother to check the time on her phone, knowing she’d panic.
“So, you just going to ignore my question?” Sen hollered out, once he heard the shower start.
Peeking her head out the door, Neicey shrugged her shoulders. “I like my office job. The office job I got because you didn’t like me stripping. You know I appreciate you for the studio, but stop bringing this up because I’m not quitting.”
Once she walked back into the bathroom, Sen smirked and mumbled, “Not yet.” He wanted his baby to be on her independent shit, but with her own business. Sen didn’t know what he was going to do to get her to leave her serious ass 9-5 and boss up, but he was going to figure it out.
“I’ll see you later,” Neicey said, pecking Sen on the cheek as he stood at the sink brushing his teeth.
Grabbing her around the waist with his left arm, he spat the remnants of the toothpaste out before giving her his undivided attention. Sen couldn’t hold his smirk back at Neicey’s attire. Even though she had been working a corporate job for a while now, he still wasn’t used to her business attire. In a pair of pink capri dress pants, a white button down, and a scarf around her neck, she thought she looked cute and business appropriate.
“What?” she questioned, when he hadn’t said anything for a few seconds but, instead, admired her flawless beauty.
“You just fine as hell, baby. Can your man get a kiss before you leave me for the day to fiend for myself?”
Sen had his lips puckered out, hands stuck in the back pockets of her pants and a growing erection. Shaking her head, Neicey pecked his lips and was offered his minty fresh tongue that she happily accepted.
“You act like you can’t do anything once I leave. I swear you and Meechi need new friends or something,” she laughed, walking out the bathroom.
“Quit hating! Meechi is blood, and Erica is your only friend,” Sen replied, following behind her like a lost puppy without its owner.
“Her and Moo. I don’t like these hoes enough to be friends. You and I both know that.”
Sen nodded his head. That he did know. “Good. Keep it that way. The less messy hoes in your life, the less messy hoes in our business.”
“Mhm. You know it. I’ll call you when I get off. Love you!” she shouted, walking into their three-car garage. Sen wanted a house with more than three, but Neicey reminded him that he needed to stay off the radar. One slip-up could cost them everything.
“Yeah, yeah. If you loved me, you wouldn’t be leaving me,” Sen replied while giving her a smirk, which made Neicey smile. Sen could be a handful, often two handfuls, but he was her handful and Neicey wouldn’t trade him for another nigga if she could.
***
“Hi. Thank you for calling Bryant & Dover. Which department would you like to be transferred to?”
With a smile on her face that made callers feel welcomed through the phone, Neicey took her job seriously. Working part-time as a receptionist was never in her plans, but she enjoyed it. Plus, working for one of the top disability centers in the Midwest had its rewards. The pay was good, she got along with majority of the employees, and she had come across some genuine people. Coming from her type of profession, it was hard for her to adapt at first, but she got the hang of it.
“Hey, can I be transferred to the IT department? I know you guys are getting a new manager, but I need to follow up with Clark,” the guy spoke, making Neicey squint her eyes in confusion.
“Sure. Give me one second.”
Placing him on hold, she turned in her seat to look at the youth coordinator he had come into the office to make copies. “Hey, Jenna. We have a new IT manager?”
Jenna smiled and nodded her head. “Yep. He’s fine as ever too, girl.”
Hmm, Neicey pondered. She hadn’t been briefed on the new hire but would surely find out who he was. After transferring the guy to Clark’s line, Neicey made sure her screens were lowered before turning back around to talk to Jenna. She was the first person to greet her on the day she was hired, and they had been cool since.
“So, who is this new hire? What he looking like?” Neicey asked, wanting the tea.
Across Jenna’s pale and beautiful face, a hue of pink flushed her face like a fever. She was blushing extremely hard, letting Neicey know right then that he was something to sip tea over. The bi-racial beauty loved all men, but black men were her specialty. She liked them all shades but admired the chocolate ones the most. The new IT manager was as dark as the cup of coffee she had in her hand.
“Fine. Close cut Caesar haircut. Deep waves. A nice tight ass in dress pants. Whew!” Jenna fanned herself, making Neicey chuckle. “And you know he’s smart to be taking over Clark’s position. I wonder where they found him.”
Neicey shrugged. “Who knows. You know if Bryant wants someone on his team, he’ll find a way to get them.”
“You are right. Where you going for lunch? I’ve been sipping coffee to curb my appetite for the last hour and a half, and I’m going crazy,” Jenna professed, picking her copies up from the printer.
“Somewhere close. I’m starving, and these lines better not start blowing up ten minutes before the lunch hour.”
Neicey was talking, but Jenna’s eyes were fixated on the fine, dark chocolate specimen rounding the corner with Bryant and Dover, the owners of the company. Staff hardly saw them in the building but, when they did, the duo always made it their duty to greet their employees by first name; something they had done when first going into business ten or so years ago.
Noticing Jenna’s star struck gaze and limp posture, Neicey pivoted in her stance to see what had her so captured. Before she could get to his face, his laugh snatched her breath away. Eyes bulged and mouth slightly watery at the presence before her, Neicey couldn’t believe her eyes. Then again, yes, she could.
“Fine, isn’t he?” Jenna beamed.
Neicey couldn’t speak but, fine, he was; much finer than what she remembered him being. Snapping out of her trance when she heard Bryant began to speak, she made her way back toward her desk when a call came through.
“Bryant and Dover. How can I help you today?” Off kilter, Neicey switched up her normal greeting.
“Change of plans. No lunch date today. I need to go home and take a cold shower,” Jenna cackled over the phone, making Neicey chuckle. She was in her office ready to change out of her underwear that had become moist.
“I bet. You better be ready to go in eight minutes.”
With that, Neicey hung up and Bryant greeted her. “Shanice. How is everything going? I see you’re still holding the fort down for us?”
“I am. How are you guys doing?” Though her question was geared toward the owners, she couldn’t help but peep the extra body with them lick his lips. Lips Neicey were much too fond of.
“Great
!” Dover exclaimed, placing a hand on the guys’ shoulder. “I’d like to introduce you to our new IT manager, Mr. Agaci.”
Neicey struggled to swallow the lump in her throat, but managed to do so, and stuck her hand out for him to grasp. And, when he did, she hated the feel of his hand; not because it was rough, but because it felt so familiar. Quickly removing her hand, she shot him a smile. Her reaction seemed to amuse him, as he gave her a hundred-watt smile back. His teeth looking like they had gotten some work done over the years, but that was all good with Neicey. Money could buy you whatever your heart desired and, by his title, he surely had a lot of it.
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Agaci.”
“You as well, Ms. Butler. I’ve heard nothing but great things about you. I’m hoping they’re true?” he catechized.
“We’ll be co-workers soon, so you’ll just have to find out,” Neicey offered in return, getting a hearty laugh out of the men.
“Ah! That right there is why we can’t let her go. Shanice,” Dover said with a smile, “have a good day. I believe it’s the lunch hour as well. Do you have plans already?”
Hell yes, Neicey wanted to answer, but gave him a head nod instead. “Unfortunately, I do. Jenna and I are going to lunch, but thank you for the offer.”
“No problem. Next time, it’s on us.”
“Enjoy your day, Shanice. I look forward to working with you,” Mr. Agaci said pleasantly, meaning every word.
Neicey politely smiled and waited until they were headed down the hall to release a heavy sigh. She didn’t know who was playing some kind of trick on her and, at this point, she knew it couldn’t have been a game, but she damn sure wished it was. Not even bothering to take her seat, she made sure all the lines of those who already went to lunch were transferred to their cells if they had requested and transferred all others to the main office voicemail. Clocking into lunch break, she locked her screen and grabbed her purse from the bottom file cabinet drawer.
“You look bothered,” Jenna examined as she walked in the office.
“Bothered? Girl, I’m fine. Still hungry, is all. You ready?”
Jenna squinted her eyes but decided to not say anything. She and Neicey were work friends, but that was about it. Crossing that imaginary line was not in her plans. Neicey was far from fine. In fact, she couldn’t wait to get in her car and call Erica up. She needed her girl to calm her nerves over this Mr. Agaci because, clearly, he had her flustered as hell.
***
Walking into his mama’s house, Sen could hear one of the twins talking loud as hell on the phone. Having younger twin sisters growing up was a pain in his ass. Not only were they spoiled as hell, but they were beautiful, business savvy young women and Sen was overprotective. He couldn’t count the number of times he had threatened some young niggas who were all in their face when he came to pick them up from school. Once they went away to college, Sen had no choice but to calm down though. Shaliya wasn’t about to have him harassing her babies while they were away getting their study on. Today was a different story though.
“Boy,” Amiya, the rowdier twin of the two, laughed with the phone pressed to her ear. “That chick can come up to my shop if she wants to and get beat the fuck up.”
“Aye!” Sen hollered out, making her roll her eyes. “Fuck is you talking to?”
“And you worried about me fucking around on you,” Soterio, a male friend of hers, said on the other end.
“This is my brother, nigga. But, I’ll hit you up later,” Amiya replied, giving Sen the ‘what do you want’ look.
“Yeah… a’ight,” Soterio said coolly, before Amiya hung up the phone. Like her brother, she had a slick mouth as well and didn’t care about using it when needed, or when not.
“What Sensay? I swear, you come over here just to bother me.”
Sen shrugged his shoulder with a smirk. “You got your own place, anyway. What nigga you laid up talking to? Don’t make me whoop you.”
Amiya busted out laughing. “I wish you would, nigga. What you over here for?”
“Minding my mufucking business. Same reasons you over here. Where Ma at?”
“I’m right here,” Shaliya answered, popping him upside the head. “You better watch your mouth talking to my baby like that, before we jump you.”
Sen smirked and looked over at his sister. “I wish ya’ll would.”
Quickly hopping up from the couch, Amiya ran toward him, while Shaliya tried grabbing his arm. In her quick attempt, she was successful, and Amiya was able to get a few licks off before Shaliya broke Sen down to the floor by kicking him in the back of the knees.
“Yo! Ya’ll dead serious!” he hollered out, making Maliya, the other twin, leave from the study lounge down the hall to see what was going on. “Sis! Help me.”
“Leave him alone ya’ll,” Maliya laughed but made no attempt to save Sen from the beat down he was getting.
“You next, since you want to take up for him,” Shaliya said, pulling the band of Sen’s boxers up his back. With force, he pushed Amiya away and lightly shoved his mama.
“Man gone! Got a nigga’s drawers up his ass. Play too damn much!”
Shaliya and her daughter were cracking up. “That’s what you get. Don’t be missing with me,” Amiya talked back, throwing him the middle finger.
“Keep on, smart mouth. I’ma break that mufucka.”
“Mhm. I hear you. What was you back there doing?” she asked Maliya, who let out a yawn.
“Whew! Excuse me. I was back there reading until I was so rudely interrupted. I thought you were at the store?”
“I was until I texted Ma about lunch. She said she had some leftovers and I somehow ended up on the couch. Mandy and Serina can hold it down until I head back.”
“You think them hoes can run ya’ll’s business better than ya’ll?” he questioned, trying to get under their skin.
“Shut up Sen,” they said in unison, making him laugh.
“I’ma be quiet for now, but remember what I said Amiya. Ya’ll not too grown to get ya’ll asses whooped. Stay focused on ya’ll paper and not these bum ass niggas out here.”
Amiya looked at her sister and smirked. “But, weren’t you a bum ass nigga once upon a time?”
“Yep. In yo dreams. Fuck outta here.”
The twins cracked up laughing, as Sen moseyed out of the living room to find his mama. He loved his sisters, no doubt, but they were childish as hell sometimes. He couldn’t blame them though. They had more than likely gotten their ways from him. On a serious note, though, he was going to have to really get on them about running their boutique. You’d think with the amount of money that was invested into their education, they’d know better, but money couldn’t be the only thing running a business.
“Ma, what’s up?” Sen asked, pecking her on the cheek.
As always, she was in the kitchen. Over the years, her love for cooking heightened. Since her sister, Kamille’s, death, Shaliya found solace inside of her massive kitchen, with hundreds of recipes that were passed down from their mother, Doris. Every day was a struggle for her and, with Kamille’s birthday coming up, Shaliya appreciated her kids being around more than they knew.
“Nothing. What’s up with you?”
Sen took a seat at the island and admired his mother’s beauty. Much closer to the fifty-age mark than the forty, Shaliya didn’t look a day older than thirty. She was dressed comfortably in a pair of shorts, a plain white tee-shirt, and a pair of pink Fenty jelly slippers. The twins tried to keep her hip with the styles.
“Just sliding through to check on my favorite woman,” he smirked, getting a blush out of her like always.
“Mhm. I’m sure you were. Where’s Neicey, at work?”
“Yeah, and I don’t know why. She likes that damn office job and I can’t figure out why.”
Drying her hands on the dish towel, Shaliya turned to face him. It wasn’t every day that Sen came by and sparked conversation about Neicey. In the beginning stage of them
dating, yes, especially when she broke up with him for cheating and giving her a disease. This go around though, Sen just needed his mother’s reassuring words rather than a curse out.
“Freedom. Independency. A break from your ass,” she chuckled, making Sen grin. He knew she was right. “Seriously, Sensay. Though a woman has a man that can provide for her, a woman like Neicey isn’t the type that is just going to sit at home and not bring anything to the table. Some women will do that and, for those relationships that are like that, they are nothing but drama. Arguing more times than laughing with each other. Though some men claim they want their woman not to work, men don’t really mean that. And, a woman shouldn’t feel comfortable not bringing any type of income into the home.”
“I don’t care if she works. That’s not the issue. Why the fuck she gotta work at an office job?”
Shaliya laughed. She knew exactly why he was feeling some type of way. Her husband, Eddie, felt the same way when she went back to work after having the girls. Like Sen, Eddie was in the drug game for more years than he thought he would be. He was born into it, and Shaliya had gotten married into it. After years of being the connect’s wife, having kids, and going through more drama than Shaliya would have liked, she wanted normalcy.
She figured the closest thing to a normal life would be a normal job. Staying at home with the kids was okay and she loved her babies, but she wanted to be around people who didn’t own a jet, or a five-car garage home in the suburbs, with a million dollars plus stashed away somewhere. Shaliya knew exactly where Neicey was coming from.
“I wish I could tell you, but you have to ask her,” she answered.
“I have, this morning actually,” Sen hissed, sucking his teeth.
“And…”
“And, she said because she likes her job. What kind of bullshit answer is that?”
Shaliya laughed. “The answer she gave you. You like doing what you do, right?”
“Yeah, but-”
“But nothing,” Shaliya interrupted. “You wanted her to stop stripping, remember? She did that. Then you went and did what you did and, though ya’ll got over that, she took you back with open arms after a break up, got her a nice paying job, and here you come trying to make her leave it. You better quit before she leaves you. As long as she’s not sitting on her ass and spending up your bread or cheating on you, this conversation shouldn’t be up for discussion.”