FOUR #2
Playing in makeup wasn’t something she did often, but when she did, she was reminded that she indeed could be THAT girl if she wanted to be.
Nina didn’t care about the things that most chicks did.
She chose comfort over being cute, but every now and then, a confidence booster was necessary.
Leave it to her mama to make her put six-inch heels on and beat her face to the Gawds.
She thrifted a black bodycon dress that was tight yet dainty enough to not have her mama asking her what the hell she had on.
Nina planned on pairing it with black lace gloves and diamonds galore.
Courtesy of a Mr. Jiorgio Gotti. She pulled her hair up into a bun and pulled a few loose baby hairs out around the nape of her neck.
She was giving Black Barbie and that’s exactly how she felt.
Nina called her driver, another perk of dating a made man, and told him that she would be ready to go in five minutes. She fed Nino and sprayed her body with perfume, and just like that, she was out the door.
When they made it to the venue, she told Roberto, “I’m not staying long. Call me in an hour.”
Nina walked into a lounge in downtown Manhattan that she’d never heard of, but it was cute.
She loved the décor and quickly thought about hosting an event.
She could probably reveal the collection that she’d been working on.
The lounge was packed from wall to wall with athletes, music execs, corporate folks, models, and socialites.
Everyone was dressed to the nines, which made Nina fit right in.
She was already someone, but the new job gave her name a little bit more weight.
“Miss Marcelle, look here…. two seconds! Can we get a picture?” The press shouted at her after noticing that she was trying to bypass the red carpet.
“Nina!” Her mother popped out of nowhere, grabbing her arm dramatically.
“Damn,” she mumbled as she spun around on her heels.
“Mother, I was looking for you!”
“There she is!” she beamed, looking her daughter over proudly. “Stunning as always.”
Jacqueline was such a good liar, she swore she couldn’t help it.
They air kissed and hugged, which was fake because they were not a touchy family, but anything for the cameras.
“You didn’t walk the red carpet, darling,” she said through clenched teeth.
“Is it mandatory?”
Jacqueline gave her a plastered smile that told her yes the fuck it was. She looped her arm into hers, “Come on.”
They took a few photos together before Mrs. Marcelle moved to the side to let her princess shine like the star she’d made her into.
Nina was a gorgeous young woman and her being as educated as she was made the whole Brains and Beauty thing come to life even more.
But if she were an airhead, she still could’ve made a living off her good looks and cheekbones alone.
For her to be fake camera shy, one couldn’t tell. She posed to the left and to the right like a natural. But shit, what did they expect? She was a Marcelle. Their family had been gracing magazine covers since before she could talk. This was the only life that she’d ever known.
“Can we get you taking a sip from one of the Sprite cans?” a PR rep asked. Nina was about to take the can until her mother slapped her wrist.
“Are you all prepared to sign a check?” Jacqueline didn’t play that free promo shit.
“I’ll have my people call your people,” the lady said and walked off.
“Come here, baby, I have some folks I want to introduce you to.” Jacqueline was ready to parade her around.
Nina adjusted her glove. “I said thirty minutes,” she mumbled.
“Yes sweet pea I’m aware.”
“Where’s Kobie?”
“You want to see him? I knew it!” her mother teased.
Nina rolled her eyes. “No, just trying to get it out the way.”
“Miss Marcelle and Mrs. Marcelle….” Kobie’s voice carried over the music before she even saw him.
When she turned, he was approaching them with that easy athlete confidence people seemed to naturally gravitate toward… everyone except her.
She wouldn’t downplay his good looks and boyish manner. Kobie was annoyingly handsome, but he would never be JIO.
“Nina Marcelle in the flesh,” he grinned, pulling her into a quick hug.
“Congrats sir!”
Nina hugged him back, but it didn’t last long. She knew without a doubt that she was most likely being monitored.
“Mrs. Marcelle you’re looking lovely as ever,” he praised her.
She blushed. “Kobie stop it!” She said before excusing herself after she spotted an old friend who’d been dodging her calls. Mrs. Marcelle needed her yearly donation for the foundation.
He turned his attention back to the woman of his dreams. “I’m shocked to see you.”
“You should be,” she teased.
He laughed loudly. “Well damn, I’m honored.”
Kobie was easy to be around but that was the dangerous part.
He took a step back, looking her over. “You look good.”
“Thank you.” She tried to hold back a smile. Did she like Kobie? No? Yes? Nina was confused.
“I’m glad you came.”
She glanced around. “Congratulations on all of this.”
“Appreciate it.” He leaned in to whisper in her ear. “Now can you at least pretend you’re having a good time for thirty minutes.”
She narrowed her eyes. “How do you know about the thirty minutes?”
“Your mother talks too much.”
“Now that she does…”
He laughed again which made her smile ear to ear and it wasn’t one of those fake polite smiles like she’d grown accustomed to wearing.
Thirty minutes turned into an hour fast, then two, and Nina didn’t notice how swiftly the time flew by. Tomorrow, she would blame it on the tequila and Kobie since he was the culprit.
“You don’t watch football?” he asked after they took a breather in the VIP section.
“I support Black excellence generally,” she responded delicately.
“That’s corporate for no.”
Nina laughed as she took another sip.
Around them, people moved nonstop. Music blasted through the speakers and cameras floated around capturing content for blogs and social pages.
Kobie leaned back casually beside her. “Everybody in here been staring at you all night. Does that bother you?”
Nina raised an eyebrow. “Because I’m gorgeous?”
“Because you’re Nina Marcelle.”
“What does that mean though?”
Kobie pointed to his chest. “To me?”
Nina nodded.
He cleared his throat and stood happily. “Nina Marcelle. Crème de la crème. New York royalty. Fashion IT girl. CEO princess. Certified stepper. A lawyer! The list gets better and better, babe.”
Nina appreciated the hype.
People always made her into an idea before they made her into a person.
“And you just signed the biggest endorsement deal in NFL history,” she shot back.
“Yeah,” he shrugged. “But my last name ain’t Marcelle.”
She laughed loudly at that. “You’re ridiculous.”
“Nah.” His eyes lingered on her a little longer now. “You just finally relaxed.”
His comment caught her off guard because he was right.
For the first time in weeks, she felt lighter.
There wasn’t anxiety filling her chest and she wasn’t checking her phone every five minutes for a call that wouldn’t come.
Nina felt like her age for once. She was enjoying the music, plus the good vibes made their talk seem easy.
Maybe that was why she didn’t notice the cameras catching every second of the duo and boy, were they capturing it all.
Kobie leaning close when she talked. Her eyes glimmering as she laughed and he whispered something in her ear for only her to hear.
The soft and subtle way his hand briefly touched the small of her back, leading her from one VIP room to the other.
All of it was captured, uploaded, and posted.
The whole social media craze thing was new, and Nina wasn’t too hip just yet.
It’ll be her fuckin’ luck that one of the first few thousand people to see it was the one that she hoped it never came to his attention.
η
Jio stared at the phone in silence. He was higher than a kite, which resulted in his eyes being low.
But he could clearly see everything he was staring at.
Nina had some fuckin’ nerve. The people that he was with were in good spirits, which was the complete opposite of how he was feeling.
He wanted to kill. Specifically, a New York Giants player.
The music was loud but he didn’t know what was playing cus he wasn’t mentally present anymore.
Dice slammed against the table but he didn’t hear that shit either.
Money was being counted as bets were won but everything slowly faded into the background.
His eyes grew tired of staying locked in on the screen.
This whole social media shit was crazy. Niggas now needed to be careful of how they moved, because now, in the blink of an eye, you could easily be caught in a lie due to your whereabouts being made public.
Jio didn’t want to be on there, but the homies had hyped it up and curiosity always killed the cat.
“New York’s It Girl Spotted Cozy With Star Quarterback…Are They An Item?” was the header on the blogs. Nina was looking good enough to eat from the back. He missed his baby but he didn’t have time for love right now; he was handling business and it required all of his attention.
She was out laughing, drinking, and having a good ole time without him.
Bad girl… he hissed.