Weak. (18+)

TWENTY & EIGHT.

MALIYAH TIJJANI

I was awakened by several taps on my shoulder.

"We're here love," Bilal said, grabbing his belongings and my suitcase for me.

Bilal and I have been flying all around Europe the past several days, repeating the introduction process and touring his other locations. We visited the London, Prague, and Barcelona offices, and now we were on our way to Greece for an estate showing. My first official showing.

I've been super busy, but Bilal assured me it's only like this in the beginning. The only people I've had time to seriously hear from were Cameron, Mama, and Mariama.

I damn near beat her ass through the phone when I found out she was over at Cameron's house that one day "helping" Marcus, claiming he was in a bad accident.

They think they're fucking slick! I was sixteen before too, I know what at least one of them is thinking.

Cameron had some nerve too, not answering the fucking phone. We were in the middle of having a conversation too. He didn't even tell me what the emergency was.

We thanked the pilot and got off. Bilal helped me down the steps of the jet, and there was another snow-white Benz waiting for us on the hangar.

Our car rides consisted of me staring out of the window admiring the view, while Bilal was on his laptop or on the phone taking business calls.

He explained to me that his friends from high school had got married a year before, and hired him to construct their build home. They haven't seen the house yet, so Bilal wants me to present it to them and sign the official paperwork if they choose to go with it.

I'm glad he trusts me with them.

We quickly arrived in Athens, and thankfully English and French were their second languages. Bilal and I didn't speak an ounce of Greek.

"We'll be arriving at the estate before them, so you can get a chance to tour the house before they do if that is okay," Bilal said as we entered a rural neighborhood.

I nodded my head and continued eyeing my surroundings. Athens was beautiful, and all I could think about was how it matched Athena's beauty. I had to get her some artwork while I'm here. Athena loved art, and Athens was rich in history.

My phone began to ring, and I looked at it. Athena was calling me. Not facetiming either, but calling calling. Out-of-country calling was expensive as hell, so I don't know what was so important that she couldn't just text it to me.

"Speaking of the devil," I mumbled and answered the phone.

"I was just thinking about you in my head bae," I said cheerily.

"Maliyah..." she said.

"Girl don't worry, my lashes still intact, my lace is somewhat visible, now why are you running up your phone bill calling me-"

"Maliyah, Jaden died," she said, coldly.

What?

My heart dropped.

What the fuck did she mean Jaden died.

What???

"Maliyah say something..."

"I-I don't-" I gulped.

I didn't understand and I couldn't think straight. I hated him but I still had love for him! How did this happen? Why?

"Stop capping," I said, fighting back tears.

"Maliyah listen, he was driving drunk and hit somebody else. It was a couple of days ago, and he died on the way to the hospital. A traffic camera caught everything on tape. It was his fault. Nobody's fault but his. I didn't think you knew, but you deserved to know." she said.