❛I LIKE YOU TOO.❜
━━ IMANI DEVAN.
/
COME & TALK TO ME | CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE.
❝FILMING OF IF PART. 1.❞
' OCT 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟐 '
[ LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA ]
It wasn't necessarily a party but you could call it that based on how a few people let the alcohol slip through their fingers and the food fill their stomachs.
Imani wasn't one of them. Instead after having what she thought was the millionth conversation of the day, she decided to sneak away and get some time for herself.
Being a social butterfly can be draining. The cool breeze brushed against her skin as she sat on the patio. It was soon reaching nighttime which made her wonder how long has she been talking to people in there.
With a small bowl of half-eaten peach cobbler beside her, she hummed a quiet melody of Let's Wait Awhile by Janet Jackson. In the background, she can hear the loud voice of K-Ci who was busy singing along to the lyrics to My, My, My by Johnny Gill during last-minute karaoke.
They asked if she wanted to join but she declined kindly, opting for a bit of time alone. After all, she'd just gotten off a long and tedious flight.
Shaking her head just after hearing how hard K-Ci was going with the notes, the patio doors slid open looking up only to find DeVanté making his way over to the patio. "You found me."
A smile couldn't help but spread across his lips. Sliding the door behind him he proceeds to sit on the empty chair next to Imani. "It wasn't that hard to look for you plus all I had to ask was who ate the peach cobbler first and it led me to you."
Looking down at her bowl of half-eaten peach cobbler and then at DeVanté, Imani gave him shrugged. "What can I say I'm a southern girl by heart."
"So what made you want to join me?" She asks now facing him. DeVanté simply gestures in K-Ci's direction and lets that action do all the talking.
"You gotta love K-Ci right?" They burst into laughter right after that. It was very natural when it came to them talking. They just talked about anything even though it was mainly about music or just the hilarious antics the people they care about do.
"Did you do something with your hair? It looks good on you." That was the first thing he pointed out.
Imani looks down at her curls wondering what he meant before realizing. "Oh, this? It's some highlights, thank you." He was the first guy out of Dion who pointed out the difference in her hair color and that was something big because if a guy out of all people notices that you've changed your hair it meant something.
She liked the subtle changes and was a little surprised that he even noticed since most guys can be oblivious to the most obvious things.
"You still remember when we first met?" DeVanté questioned, breaking the comfortable silence between them. It was just a random question that popped up in his mind.
"You ask it like it's been years when it's just two months and of course I do." One thing Imani did remember was being nervous as hell but she kept cool and didn't embarrass herself, "Who wouldn't remember a face like yours."
"I was like who let this country bumpkin in?" DeVanté laughed causing her to smack his arm playfully. "Witcho thick ass accent."
With a small frown, she answers. "I am not that country! And you should not be taking Mr. North Carolina. That's like the country of the country...trust me I know."
Imani's got family who's from North Carolina and trusts her when she says they are the country of the country.
"But since we're being honest." She began sitting up so she could get her point across. "I thought you were a little bit intimidating with the whole glasses, cool-as-ice persona. But you're just a cute music nerd underneath all that coolness."
Imani then realized what she just said. Did she just call him cute? Out loud? Since they were being honest she was letting out how she felt.
"Damn, I ain't know you found lil' Ol' me cute." He couldn't help but smile hard at that. He was sure that all the fans out there found him cute, attractive even but when it came from her it just felt different. "I prefer handsome but I'll take it."
"Cocky much? But no, I'm serious. You are something special De. Incredibly talented like I've seen what you can do in the studio and nobody can ever replicate that. Despite us knowin' each other in the small amount of time, I care about you a lot." From the moment they met, it's been this unexplainable feeling between one another. Whether it's connecting over music or just everyday life as a kid from the south.
Just hearing made him realize that he felt a certain way about her. "Me too. I mean I care about you a lot in ways that I never thought I would've." Sure he's had his flings here and there but ever since Imani's gotten in the picture all that went out the window.
"You're the most sweetest person I've ever met," He added. And it was such a difference to his normal impassiveness in the face of everything that made her insides form into a liquid. He swallowed hard, the faint color of red blossoming on his cheeks, burning even as he tried hard to maintain his cool and nonchalant demeanor. His hands twisted to his sides, nervously. You can do it. He told himself repeating it over and over in his head to the point where it became believable.
Wetting his lips he speaks up much calmer, but just as nervous as ever. "God," his voice cracked and he looked down. "If you knew how much I liked you..." He couldn't do this. His legs got the best of him stumbling back a step, feeling flustered all over.
She moved forward and caught his wrist to stop him before the touch gentled. "I like you too De."
And that right there, became the start of something much more deeper. The main question is, how long will it last?
