Chapter 20 Ahmad
Ahmad
“Hey, I haven’t heard from you in a while,” Marsha spoke into the phone.
She was right. I hadn’t talked to her or thought about her since I’ve been with Fatima. I didn’t have a need to.
“Yeah, I’m seeing someone now,” I told her, wiping down my chair.
“Oh, you and Kylie made up?”
“Nah, someone else.”
Marsha grew quiet. “So, I guess this is over again?”
“Yeah, you know I ain’t no cheater.”
“Yeah, I know. Well, it was good while it lasted. Good luck. Hopefully, this one doesn’t screw you over.”
Marsha hung up the phone, and I sat the phone on the table next to me.
I knew her words were genuine. She had never been a malicious person.
We did our thing until one of us got with someone.
Neither of us wanted anything more from the other than sex.
Marsha was a good girl; I knew she’d eventually find someone to be with.
My next appointment was due to come in soon then I could head home for the day. I was cutting today short so I could catch up on some sleep. I’ve been on the go all week and needed to chill out for a few days.
There was a knock on the door, and I assumed it was my next appointment. “Come in.”
I looked up at the person and frowned. “What the hell do you want Kylie?”
She gave me a shy smile. “I want a tattoo. That’s what this place is for, right?” I shook my head, deepening my scold.
“Why are you playing with me?”
“I’m not. I’m a paying customer. You can still be professional and push our issues to the side.”
“Come sit down,” I told her.
She smiled widely at me then pranced over to me.
“What are you getting and where?” I asked, grabbing my gloves.
She undid her shorts and I grabbed her waist. “What you doing?”
“Relax, I want one on my hip.” Hesitantly I let her go.
Something about this didn’t feel right, and I knew I should have sent Kylie on her way, but she had paid the deposit for her spot, so I was trying to remain professional.
She leaned on her side with her pants down. My eyes went to her ass cheek. Being that she had on a thong, it was pointed at me and visible.
“What you getting?” I asked, grabbing my iPad so I could draw up whatever she wanted.
“I want your name.” Whipping my eyes up to hers, she looked at me lustfully.
“What the hell did you just say?”
“I want your name. In some cute fancy font.” Taking a deep breath, I lowered the iPad and sat it back on the table near the chair.
“Get up and get out,” I told her.
She looked at me, confused. “What?”
“You heard me. I told you to get out.”
“But did a deposit.”
“You can get that back, but we’re not about to do this.
You cheated on me, and I moved on. In case you didn’t hear me before, I don’t want shit to do with you, meaning I don’t want my name on you.
You saw my girl at my house, and it’ll be disrespectful for me to even consider that.
You made your choice, Kylie, and now you got to live with it.
Stop coming around me and move the hell on.
” I never raised my voice, but my tone was even.
I made sure I kept my eyes on her so she understood that I was serious.
“I just wanted to try and fix things one last time. I still love you.” She stood up and pulled her shorts up, giving me a sad look.
“You should have thought about that before you cheated. Now you can leave.”
“I’m sorry for ruining us. I see your shop is doing well, and now I get why you put all that time in. I should have been more supportive.”
“Bye, Kylie.” She sadly lowered her head and exited my room. I grabbed my phone to text Laci to give Kylie her deposit back. I wasn’t about to let her stand here and speak on her regrets. She was a chapter that I wasn’t trying to reopen.
“Was that Kylie that just walked out of here?” Neal stepped into the room and asked.
He had been at the second shop making sure everything was running smoothly and had been doing a good job.
The renovations were almost done, and I was hoping to have it up and running in the next three months.
He had hired all the staff he needed, and I saw their work; they all were talented as hell.
“Yeah.”
“I didn’t know she was back in the picture.”
I ran my hand down my face. “Hell, she’s not. She thought she could just walk back into my life and I was supposed to let her back in with open arms. I told her ass I was cool on her though.” Neal nodded.
“You mean that? I know how much you loved her.”
“You think I’ma go back to her after she fucked another nigga in our bed? I’d be a fool. Everything that me and Kylie went through is being left where it’s at. I’m happy with Fatima, and I’m not going to fuck that up for some broad that couldn’t keep her legs closed.”
“I don’t blame you, bro. From the few times Fatima’s been up here, I can tell she really likes you. She’s a good fit for you.”
I started cheesing thinking about Fatima. It’s been a few times she came up here and chilled with me when I was working overtime at the shop or she would bring me something to eat. Little stuff like that had me feeling her ass even more.
“Yeah, she’s something special.” Fatima had finally let the wall she had built down.
After we left her dad’s house, she was more relaxed and seemed at peace with everything that had happened.
While we were there, I let her do her thing.
I was going to step in if I needed to, but my baby handled herself and could now move on.
“I can tell by the way yo punk ass grinning.” I chuckled and reached for my phone. “Nah, I’m happy for you. Just don’t mess it up.”
That’s one thing I didn’t plan on doing.
Even though I didn’t agree with Kylie's cheating, I heard what she said. I could admit when I was with her, I was occupied with my shop a lot of the time, but that’s because it was just starting to really get clients at the time.
Now that I’m established and have built the business up, I could fall back slightly.
“No worries about that.”
“Bet. I’m about to go meet Isabella since I’m done for the day.”
“What’s going on with that? Y’all seemed to be kicking it heavy.”
Neal shrugged. “We just cool. She got a situation going on, so I’m not pressing her, but she’s cool to hang with, so we just be chillin’.”
I gave him a questionable look. “You two just chillin’ without sex and shit?”
He chuckled. “Yeah, man, I can have female friends.”
I gave him a knowing look. “Yeah alright. Just be careful with her. I don’t know much, but from what I got from Fatima, she’s fragile for real, and her situation doesn’t help.”
“Yeah, she told me some about that, but I’m good. We're just friends. I ain’t trying to make anything worse for her.”
I nodded. “Yeah alright.” He chuckled again and turned to head out of the room.
Since I didn’t have anything else to do, I grabbed my pad to sketch some things up. Fatima was at her first official shoot today, and I couldn’t wait until she finished to hear about it. She was so excited that she could barely sleep last night, but I helped fix that.
She was meeting the person at a studio she rented for the day, but if she wanted to keep this going she needed her own space.
My phone went off and I grabbed it. It was Autumn asking me to stop by her boutique. Her one-year party was this weekend and I knew she was running herself crazy getting ready.
After replying and telling her I would be there in an hour, I put my phone down, silenced it, and returned to sketching.