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CHAPTER ONE | BAGGAGE
“PERFECT!” She said aloud. Nyla
scored her a pair of $10 low-rise white jeans with just enough stretch to show
off what she was paying Bally’s for. As
Nyla walked to the fitting room she inspected the pants for any defects, this
purchase was going to be too good to be true if they were not damaged and fit
well.
She slid her 5’6 coco-cola
frame into the jeans and they fit perfectly.
The white complimented her caramel skin tone and her bronze-colored
hair. She wanted to get a better view of
them in a more natural light, so she decided to take a look outside of the
dressing room. As she approached the
mirror with the most direct sunlight, she heard a baritone voice saying, “If
you wear those with me, I’ll buy them for you.”
She smiled and turned to see who had such an attractive offer and it was
one of the most beautiful men she had ever seen. He was taller than her, so she assumed he was
standing at least 6 feet tall, his skin was a dark tone and smooth; reminded
her of dark chocolate. His hair was cut close,
and she could not help but notice the precision of his shape-up, his smile was
enough to light up any room and his teeth were perfectly white and straight. Not expecting to see someone so attractive
Nyla lost her footing as she turned and landed right on his tennis shoes while
trying to catch her balance. He caught
her by her elbow and helped her off his fresh white Air Force 1’s. Nyla’s face turned purple-red from embarrassment
but she could not open her mouth to say what she was thinking, “I apologize,
that hanger tripped me up.” All she
could do was smile.
He could feel that she was a
bit shaken, so he decided to play it cool and introduce himself, “Hello, my
name is Vincent and yours?” Nyla still
could not speak so he laughed and continued.
“Any other day I would be upset that I offer to purchase something for a
nice-looking lady such as yourself and you return the offer by ruining my shoes.” Jokingly shaking his head in disappointment, Vincent
looked down at his sneakers to make sure that they could still be worn to a barbecue
his friend Blake had invited him to. All
except for the smidge of dirt on the base of his shoestring they were still
fresh.
Finally, Nyla managed to get
herself together and said, “Hello I’m Nyla.
I’m sorry that I stepped on your foot, I lost my…….” Before she could finish the apology Vincent
interrupted. “I’m alright”, “I still
want to know if you want me to buy those pants though?”
As Nyla blushed, his
confidence rose, she then got serious and asked, “What do I have to do for
you?”
Vincent got a little offended
at the question but gently said, “Nothing, just go with me to a barbecue.” Nyla smiled at the offer and proceeded to
tell him about the barbecue she was going to at her girlfriend Angel’s house
and that going with him anywhere was impossible. As she spoke, he was jumping for joy inside,
he was attending the same barbecue! He
told her that he was a friend of Blake’s, and asked if she knew of him.
“Of course,”, said Nyla; “Blake
and I grew up together.” Vincent was
beaming now, he knew that this would get him in even closer, and then proceeded
to explain that Blake had invited him to this barbecue Friday at bar night with
the fella’s and once again, he extended the offer to purchase her pants for a
day out with him. Nyla accepted.
Nyla met Angel on the first
day of Junior High and they have been friends ever since. Nyla called Angel her “female best friend”
while Blake held the title of her male best friend.
“Hello?!” Angel answered the phone slightly irritated
at how busy things were and that no one had arrived to help her out. Nyla ignored the tone because she knew if she
dared to ask Angel what was wrong, she would never get a word in edgewise. As Nyla briefed Angel on what just happened
in the Gap, she peeped out of the dressing room to make sure Vincent was not
standing in earshot of her. All the
while Vincent was on his cell phone discussing the same thing with Blake, who
had just pulled up to Angel’s house to help her set up.
“Think of what?” Angel shot back sounding slightly irritated
that she now had to give feedback.
Nyla let out a big sigh
because she knew Angel was listening as well as taking notes.
“Think of me coming to your
cookout with him?” Nyla said, sounding just as irritated as Angel when she
answered the phone.
Angel thought for a moment and
said, “Sounds fine to me. Maybe you
should check with Blake to see how well he knows this guy, Blake just pulled
up, and then maybe you want to get some contact information on him just in case
he’s crazy. Oh, and you might want to
meet him at his house and make sure you give one of us the address…. Just in
case!” Angel laughed under her breath
because she knew all of that would slightly piss Nyla off.
Nyla knew her friend was being
sarcastic as well as protective so she let it slide and just replied, “Yes
Mama, I will make sure I am safe. Let me talk to Blake.”
Vincent was just hanging up
with Blake as Angel passed him her cordless phone, she whispered it was Nyla
and he already knew that she was going to interrogate so he decided to be the
first. “So, you have a date tonight?”
Nyla was pissed he already
knew but flattered at the same time. “He
told you, huh?”
“Yup! And that you're coming to the barbecue with him. You don’t miss a beat, do you?” Blake knew Nyla hated playing games unless it
was absolutely necessary, but he loved to get her all wound up.
Nyla rolled her eyes and
sucked her teeth to let him know there was no time for his childish
teasing. “What did he say?” Nyla asked
impatiently.
Blake thought about playing a
joke and decided against it; for now. “He
said nothing, just that he met you in the Gap, offered to buy you some pants,
and you will be coming to the cookout with him.”
“So, what did he say about me?”
Nyla asked with a mixture of excitement and caution.
“Nothing, he doesn’t know you,
Nyla.”
“You know what I mean!” She
yelled.
“Well, he asked how well did
we know one another and I let him know that we grew up in the same neighborhood
and we have been sleeping together for about 6 years now but that didn’t bother
him at all.”
Nyla’s mouth dropped but
before she got a word out Blake yelled out a big, “SIKE!”
Nyla felt relieved because if
Blake had said that to Vincent, it would not be far from the truth.
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