A Thousand and One Nights in Atlanta

Part 7 (Second Half of Party)

Je'Rae gazes into U'Enique's eyes. Her pupils look like two small chestnuts. He continues to stare into them as he lost his train of thought.

"Je'Rae?" E'Nique whispers in a soft tone in Je'Rae's ear, "What were you saying?"

Je'Rae immediately comes back to reality. He thinks to himself, I really can't do this, why can't I do this? Je'Rae looks down at his black and white shoes.

"What was so important you wanted to tell me Je'Rae?" E'Nique questions, "You made it seem important."

He slowly lifts his head up and says, "I just wanted to come clean and tell you tha-"

E'Nique's friends spring up behind her and swiftly take her away.

"I'm so sorry but we need to borrow E'Nique for a second!"

E'Nique mouths, "I'm sorry meet me in the VIP section." She tosses a silky lanyard towards Je'Rae, "You can finish telling me whatever it is you wanted to tell me."

Je'Rae catches the lanyard and smiles nervously. WHEW! I really gotta tell her I stole her wallet because this is stressing me out. I can't let this continue any longer.

He walks around the mansion and scans the surroundings. The high-ceiling living room is packed like a can of sardines. All the furniture is moved to one side of the room. Looks like a rental property. The pictures that are the shiny gold frames look generic. Security guards stand by every exit. The guards look 6'8 maybe? Look like former offensive linemen. They were muscular with broad shoulders and a mean mug. A few have the same visible tattoo. It looks like the six-point star. I feel like I know that symbol. Nobody has a mask on anymore. You can see the sweat glisten off everybody's forehead. Some people are blacked out on the ground drunk. It smells like a high school football locker room in here. Forgot to mention there is throwup and human waste in the flowerpots. 

Eventually, Je'Rae goes upstairs and wonders until he finds the VIP room. He opens the door and finds E'Nique sitting on the edge of the bed on her phone. Two twin-sized beds with navy blue covers sit in the middle of the room. The small room's only source of light is candles surrounding the room. The candle's scent fills the room with a creamy pumpkin, vanilla crème smell. He walks into the small bedroom and closes the door behind him. Je'Rae sits on the bed across from E'Nique and smiles.

"Got lost huh?"

"Kinda. This a big house."

"I figured. I got lost a couple of times when we first got it." She smiles, "But what was it you wanted to tell me that was so important?"

"Oh right, don't be upset but I accidentally stole your wallet, and my friend might have paid our light bill with it." Je'Rae looks at E'Nique, "I didn't know it was yours specifically. When I recognized your perfume, I knew I messed up."

E'Nique stares with a blank stare. Is he serious? She thinks to herself internally. She processes the information and just shakes her head.

Je'Rae pulls the chocolate Louis Vuitton wallet out of his inner blazer pocket. He gets up and slowly walks to the second bed, sits next to her, and hands her the wallet.

I know this is a serious moment, but he smells amazing. Smells just like Versace Eros. She thinks to herself as she looks at Je'Rae.

"I really am sorry. I knew I had to return it when I figured it out, I knew I-" Je'Rae stutters, "I had to return it back even though we stole like a hundred."

She looks up at him and takes the wallet, looks through the wallet, and checks her cards. She finds two Benjamin Franklin's in her wallet. "You're fine- I mean it's fine. I accept your apology. I'm glad you decided to return my wallet. It was going to be a hassle to cancel all my cards and renew my IDs. But you didn't need to give me two hundred in cash to replace it." 

"It's not about the money, it's the principle. I shouldn't have been stealing in the first place. My friend's grandmother reminded me of that earlier. She raised me to be a gentleman and I let her down." Je'Rae lets out a sigh of relief, "I respect you and your family, so I wanted to right my wrong and start over if that's possible."

"We can do that." E'Nique smiles, "I like how upfront you are. It's cute."

"I try to be a stand-up guy." Je'Rae smiles and holds his hand out. "Hi, I'm Je'Rae."

"Hi Je'Rae, I'm E'Nique. Like unique but with an E." She laughs and shakes Je'Rae's hand.

For a moment they gaze into each other's eyes. Je'Rae places his hand on her soft cheek. She blushes as she gazes into his eyes. He leans in, closes his eyes, and kisses her on her lips. She kisses him back.

Finally. E'Nique says internally.

Finally. Je'Rae says internally.

"E'Nique! Open the door! It's your dad!" E'Nique's dad shouts as he bangs on the door, "You better not be with a boy!"