Page 109 of Just Listen
“Cool. I aint mad at it. You getting those shoes?” He quizzed, as he peered down at my foot.
I wiggled my foot. “I think so.”
“Okay.” He slightly lifted and reached into his pocket, before pulling out a bank roll. “Here you go.”
I arched a brow. “You want the change?”
He cut his eyes at me.
I giggled a bit, before removing the shoe. “Well, in that case, let me grab a few more.”
I definitely appreciated Malice’s generosity, because no matter how much money I had, I’d never pass on a chance to spend his.
~~~Chapter 24~~~
“Did you decide on an outfit for Friday?” Jahreiah badgered over the phone.
“Yes, girl. For the millionth time,” I sighed into the phone, while sitting at my kitchen island, scrolling on my laptop, eyeing my stock portfolio. She had been going on and on about a private event she was hosting.
“Are you on your computer?” She nosily questioned.
“Yeah. I’m looking at all my financials, because I’m thinking about a new investment.”
“Well, whatever it is, I’m in,” she blindly offered. At this point, most of my family had financial advisors on payroll for nothing, because they did nothing without running it by me first. And whenever they heard me mention some type of investment, then they immediately wanted in, swearing that I never missed.
“Okay, I got you,” I responded, before someone called on the other line. Pulling my phone back, I saw that it was Tootie calling. “I’ll call her back later,” I mumbled.
“Call who back?” Riah wanted to know.
I inhaled. “Tootie, girl. I know that she’s probably calling about the club or something.”
She tittered. “I don’t know when will she get it. She done officially lost her little running buddy. That constant club hopping era is over.”
I rolled my eyes. “Girl, bye. You’re talking like I’m an old woman. I’m definitely still stepping out from time to time. Tootie just over does it.”
“Pshh. Jaylah, please. The only time you wanna go out is when you’re mad at that nigga. Otherwise, your ass is put up, in the house. Which I find kinda funny, because you used to love to run the streets.”
“Oh, I still go outside. Trust me. Malice is just different. So, he doesn’t particularly care to be on the scene all the time. In fact, we’ve been going to his uncle’s hole in the wall club almost every week. The deejay plays the best old school music.”
“So, y’all have just been doing your own thing?”
“Basically.”
“Aint nothing wrong with it. But there’s gotta be a better balance, because you’re slacking on your sisterly time.”
I tittered. “Girl, bye. Y’all are just so used to me having more time to hang, when y’all feel like being bothered. Some things change, Riah. It’s just the way it is.”
“So, you don’t think that’s a bit anti-social?”
“Nope. I don’t think that you fully understand the space I’m in, because you’ve been with Sin J forever. Y’all lives have been intertwined from the beginning. So, he didn’t have to assimilate. He had his own relationship with our brothers. So, he didn’t have to build that relationship. On my end, I think that me and Malice are staying lowkey right now, because this is still relatively new. So, we spend a lot of time in secluded spaces, trying to find our footing, before we let the world in. If this was just about a look, then sure, we’d be everywhere. Mingling.Doing couples shit, before we even know who we are in this relationship.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Right then, the doorbell sounded.
“Oh, good. My food is here.” I stood up.
“You DoorDashed?”
