Chapter 1 #2
Iskyiah hugged her tightly. “I’ll let you know when I land.”
Brooke took off running, and Iskyiah gave her attention to Hassan, who had on some gym shorts and a black T-shirt. His afro was lopsided as if he had just woken up. She gently punched him on his muscled arm. “Late night?”
Hassan grinned. “With the biggest booty girl I ever met—”
“Okay, on that note, I gotta go. Sophie is going to take Brooke for a few hours tonight when she gets off work.”
She turned to leave, but Hassan caught her by the arm. “You good?”
“Yeah.” She nodded, but he didn’t seem convinced.
He pulled her in for a hug, and she sank into him.
Hassan had always been a safe space for her, no matter how bad he got on her nerves.
She wished she could hang out with him and Brooke today.
It was beyond her how this day went from excitement for her new job to depression over things she couldn’t control.
When he pulled away, Hassan looked down at her in concern. “You know you can talk to me, right?”
Iskyiah tried to blink back her tears. She knew she probably looked crazy, but there was no way she would cry right now.
“Brooke asked about her daddy and informed me that she wants a daddy. She wants me to find her one.”
“First of all, fuck Charles. Fuck ass nigga—”
“Hassan,” Iskyiah hissed. She didn’t want Brooke to hear him, though his words were true.
“—And second of all, she ain’t wrong. You should date,” he said as if she hadn’t even interrupted him.
Her eyes widened. “Okay, I really have to go before I miss this flight and fuck up this opportunity. I’ll let you know when I land. Love you.”
She quickly walked back out the door and closed it before Hassan could say anything. As she walked down the hall, Hassan poked his head out the door and shouted, “Love yo’ stubborn ass too!”
She shook her head with a smile on her face as she kept walking. Her heart felt heavy as she got back into her car. She allowed herself five seconds to lean her head on the steering wheel and shake the rough start to the day.
After a couple of deep breaths, she started her car and used her GPS to navigate her toward the airstrip.
Her mind wandered as she thought about her life.
She provided beautifully for Brooke, but she couldn’t lie and say it was easy.
The only family she had left was Hassan.
Their grandmother had died a few years ago, and that had hurt Iskyiah to her core.
Grandma Wanda may have been a hard ass, but she loved the hell out of her grandkids.
After her parents died, her grandmother had given her and Hassan everything they needed, including love.
Being a single mother had never been easy for her, and she had to admit that she was tired.
Hassan and Sophie helped her more than they needed to, and she was beyond grateful for them, but deep down, she longed to have a man that could make the decisions for her.
She wanted to turn her brain off sometimes and just exist.
When she finally pulled up to the airstrip, she was fully in her feelings. This was not how she wanted to start her first day.
With a sigh, she got out of the car and grabbed her go-bag.
It didn’t take her long to check in at the front desk and make her way through the private airport. She realized a lot of wealthy people traveled through this airport, and it made her feel important, somehow, like she was able to rub elbows with the elite.
“Your assignment is jet seven. You can just walk right through TSA, show them your badge, and then go through terminal three’s doors.
The jet numbers are marked on the ground in front of the aircraft,” the lady at the employee desk informed her as she slid her a gold badge with her name and photo she had taken during orientation.
Iskyiah thanked her and went on her way. At TSA, they had her take off her black pumps, but that was it. It was easy, breezy as she walked through the metal detector and collected her bag.
The clicking of her heels was her soundtrack as she followed the steps the lady had given her.
She noticed a few men gazing at her as she walked through the terminal.
She smirked. She wore all black, which was the uniform, but her pants and shirt were professionally formfitting.
Her wavy hair was piled on the top of her head, leaving some tendrils falling out and framing her face, and she put some light makeup on to set her look off.
She wasn’t sure who she would be attending to for her first day, but she wanted to make a good impression.
When she finally made it back outside, she squinted against the sun and spotted her jet. She sighed in relief because, truthfully, the heels she wore bothered her feet. She would never let it show, though.
As she ascended the steps of the aircraft, she heard a voice muttering to himself. It was another flight attendant. From what she understood, there were normally only two to a flight, so this would be her coworker.
“Hi,” she said, extending her hand.
“Are you . . .” He looked down at his notepad, “Iskyiah Nathans?”
“That’s me,” she replied, now with a fake smile on her face. She didn’t like his energy at all.
“You’re late.”
She frowned before grabbing her phone out of her bag and looking at it. “I was told to be here at ten. It’s five minutes to ten.”
“But the owner of this jet is already here, so you’re late. Put your things down and bring him his drink. When you come back, I’ll give you the rundown on the flight. I’m Jake, by the way.”
She frowned but put her things down and grabbed the glass filled with ice and some kind of brown liquor, judging by the strong smell coming from it.
She’d already decided it was going to be a long ass flight. They were only going to California, which was a two-hour flight from Desmore Bay, but she guaranteed it would be the longest two hours. And then she would have to do it all again the following day.
After putting on another fake smile, because now her mood was completely in the drain, she squared her shoulders and walked through the curtains that separated the employee section from the passenger section.
The glass slipped from her hands when she spotted the man sitting alone in one of the seats. Her heart hammered in her chest, and tears filled her vision as she stared at the man who was something like a ghost to her.
“Moolah?”