Chapter 10 #2
Careful not to make too much noise, I opened and closed the cabinets gently.
It was still technically pretty early, around 8 or so.
I wasn’t sure what time Kier would wake up, but I wanted to have his breakfast ready for when he did.
I made us some turkey sausage patties, eggs, spinach, and mushrooms. That alone made me think about Damien.
He really thought I liked his omelets. I hated food mixed in with my eggs, and he never noticed. I scoffed as I finished up the cooking.
I glanced toward the hallway once, but he didn’t show.
I plated his food anyway, sliding it into the oven to keep warm, then wiped my hands and stepped away from the stove.
After plating mine, I sat at the counter, devouring it as I scrolled on social media.
Treasure always teased me. ‘I don’t know why you even have a profile, Sibley!
You don’t post or anything.’ My last post was two years ago.
But still, when I do go on, I would visit her page, Tara’s, or the gossip blogs.
“Ugh, Tara.” I sighed. Out of sheer curiosity, I decided to go on her page. True enough, there was a photo of her and Damien. They took a selfie, and she captioned it: Friends to Lovers.
I sighed again, making a mental note to text Treasure. I couldn’t believe Tara was really pursuing this. She really said fuck our friendship, and that’s the most hurtful part about all of it.
Continuing to scroll, my mouth hung open, and I dropped my fork to my plate.
Staring back at me was at several pictures of me and Kier.
There were pictures of me getting in his truck at the airport, pictures of us at the listening party, even a recording of me going to his room in Vegas.
I couldn’t believe it. The caption read:
‘Kier Stone isn’t spotted often, but when he is, he gives us so much to talk about.
This brown-skinned beauty has been seen with him at numerous locations over the past several weeks.
Is it groupie love, or something serious?
Because after that last fiasco, our boi deserves a break.
If nobody’s watching, we are, so stay tuned. ’
Groupie love was one thing, but it didn’t catch my eye like ‘last fiasco’ did.
What fiasco? Did he have a public falling out, or a high-profile relationship?
I needed to call Treasure and get the details.
No, you don’t, Sibley, that’s the past. You’re the present, and it’s not your business.
My thoughts screamed at me. I was very curious.
So curious that I read the comments to see if I could get a name. Instead, the comments were about me.
‘She’s cute, I hope it works out!’
‘These celebrities be having y’all too obsessed with their life. These people don’t know y’all!’
‘It’s probably a publicity stunt, it always is.’
‘Can a woman be more than just cute? I’m sure she has goals or something. Y’all be focused on the wrong things.’
‘Is this why Legacee album is delayed?? Can we get back to the music please??’
I was exhausted by the tenth comment or so.
The internet had absolutely no chill, and now I was annoyed that I was curious about the ex.
Shaking my thoughts away, I took the final mushroom into my mouth, then placed the plate in the sink.
I had work to do, and that was again another reason why I stayed away from social media. It was too easy to get consumed.
By the time I made it to the living area, the sun had lifted higher, pouring fully into the space now.
I pulled my laptop onto the table and opened my presentation, letting the structure of it pull me back into something worth focusing on.
I created a few slides, adding metrics and sentences about strategy on them.
I worked for a couple solid hours when I heard motion behind me.
“You finally up?” I asked, eyes still on my screen.
“Yeah. Nigga was tired.” His voice was rough and lower than usual. I glanced back then. He stood there in red basketball shorts and no shirt. Lord.
“What time is it?” He asked.
“Almost eleven.”
He frowned as he wa lked over to me. “I don’t sleep like that, my bad.”
“You do when you’re relaxed, as you should.”
“True.” Kier placed a simple kiss to my lips, and I bit the bottom one as he walked away towards the kitchen. “It’s clean in here, you must didn’t cook.”
“Some of us cook and clean as we go love! It’s in the oven,” I said, nodding toward it. “Figured you’d wake up eventually.”
He opened the oven, pulling the plate out and setting it on the counter. He looked at it for a second, then back at me. “I see you, Si. This look good.”
“I told you I could cook.”
He picked up a fork, taking a bite without another word. I watched him from across the room.
“Well?” I asked.
He chewed, then nodded once. “Aight.”
“That’s all I get?” I shook my head, turning back to my laptop.
“That’s high praise, baby.”
I shook my head, turning back to my laptop.
“What you working on?” He asked as he sat on the couch next to me.
“My presentation,” I said, clicking through a slide. “I told you I had one coming up.”
His eyes moved across the screen. “I thought you said you needed to get started? Looks like you’re practically finished. You’ve been on this since you woke up?”
“Pretty much, I didn’t get much sleep last night. Instead of forcing myself, I got up. Been up since sevenish.”
He took another bite. “You’re stressing it.”
“I’m not stressing,” I said, adjusting a line of text. “I’m refining it. I’m a perfectionist, and I want this to be right. If this works, what I’m doing could become a permanent workflow.”
“You’re good at what you do, Si. Stop acting like you don’t know that.”
I turned, looking at him. “You know what, you are right. I need a break.” I said, closing my laptop and placing it on the table. I stood, stretching my arms above my head.
“Sibley, real talk, go put some clothes on.”
“What’s wrong with what I got on?” I laughed.
“Them shorts little as hell. I can see everything.”
“Well, what are you gonna do when I change into my swimsuit? Because I’m definitely about to get in that pool. And you’re coming with me, so hurry up.”
“Alright now, if I slap a cheek don’t say nothing.” He joked, finishing up the last of his food.
“By the way, I got a chef coming to teach you a thing or two.”
“Dang, you think I’m that bad?”
“Nah baby, I just thought it would be a cute activity for you. I don’t want you to be bored.”
“Yeah yeah,” I smiled, heading to my room.
The pool stretched out behind the house.
The water was calm and transparent, shining brightly under the low Arizona sun.
The heat had finally softened into something that felt good against my skin instead of overwhelming.
When I woke up this morning, I tried to sit outside and work but it was so insanely hot that I retreated inside.
Now, I stood near the edge of the pool with my arms loosely crossed, taking it in.
“Can you swim?” Kier asked from somewhere behind me.
I glanced over my shoulder, side-eyeing him. “Of course I can.”