I Want You Close | The Other Side Of The Game Series

NINETEEN

P R I N C E

I stepped inside my office with my eyes on the device around my wrist that announced the time using numbers. My focus was on it because I would be receiving a call from Zemine's man any moment now regarding the shipments.

"Yo, you heard from her yet?" Dre inquired, prompting me to lift my eyes from my phone to capture the image of him sitting behind my desk with his phone in hand.

"Not yet." I disclosed while moving towards my desk with a look he should have immediately interpreted, but in case he didn't, I vocalised its meaning, "Get yo ass up."

"No need to be aggressive." He expressed, removing his body from the chair so mine could fill its space. "I can't believe I thought that after yo little date with Janella you'd finally come correct when talking to me."

"How you know bout that?"

"You was smiling as bright as a Christmas tree when you came back that day, but I ain't know for sure until now."

His statement brought back the memories I had shared with Janella on the beach and how being with her...talking with her made me feel, so when the same Christmas tree smile greeted my lips I was unable to stop it until I met Dre's entertained eyes.

"You tripping, I wasn't smiling...that much." I stated, but he was left unconvinced so I cleared my throat and changed the topic. "Have you called the organiser about the fundraiser?"

The fundraiser.

Every four months I did my best to organise a fundraiser for numerous causes, and this month I was raising money for melanated women and men, meaning all the donations received were going to be split up to help them start businesses.

"No, that's why I was behind yo desk, I was tryna find the number." He briefed me, and I opened one of the drawers at my desk to remove a black book that held several coded numbers only a handful of people could decode, Dre being one of them.

"Here."

"Thanks." He expressed, not hesitating to find and punch in the number inside the phone he held in his hand. It took less than a minute before the organiser answered, "Hello? This is Andre, I'm calling on behalf of Zaheel, I was just making sure everything is going as planned? Mhm. Alright, I'll let him know. Have a nice day."

"What he say?"

"You gon have to find another venue because the one you wanted was booked on the same day by another person." Dre briefed me, and that wasn't the answer I wanted to hear because I had spent weeks deciding how and where everything should be set up.

"I want that venue, Dre." I told him, my words held a silent announcement that I wouldn't be changing venues anytime soon.

"I'll make some calls then." He declared, lifting his phone back to his line of sight.

"Thank you."

"Mhm, hello? Jacob, it's been a minute I was wondering..."

That was the last thing my ears captured from his voice because the sight of my bodyguard entering with my ringing phone gained all its attention.

I wordlessly accepted the device with a grateful smile that told him I appreciated his haste and actions.

"Carlos?" Zemine's man inquired, the second I placed the phone to my listening ear.

Carlos was the code we decided to use to indicate that the shipment had arrived because we had to be cautious with discussing information like this over the phone.

"I think you got the wrong number." I stated, letting him know I had heard him.

"My bad." He voiced before he hung up.

My eyes travelled to my watch that helped me decide when I'd leave this place and meet up with Messiah to discuss the particulars since her shipment was also coming with mine.

"Nick." I simply said meeting the eyes of the man before me, "Bring Dre in here."

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T H I R D P E R S O N

"Should I call the boss man?" One of Zaheel's men questioned Messiah's man, Poon, but he shook his head.

"Give them a little more time." He instructed the man even though he, himself, was tempted to phone his boss because it was now 11:48 and he was told the man with the drugs would be arriving by 11:30.

Poon was in charge of the stashing of the re-ups.

"If they don't come in the next five minutes I'll have to—" The man started, but the sight of the familiar low-grade car that was known by Prince's men for various reasons halted his declaration.

When the car stopped before the house, Poon didn't hesitate to move towards the passage's door after the ending to Prince man's statement piqued his curiosity and prompted him to gaze at the car and find the licence plate that was given by Messiah for security purposes.

"Where have you been?" Poon questioned the men with the heavy frown sitting on his face that had been created by the wait time, while resting his palms on the car with a bend of his body forward to properly see their faces.

"We had a little trouble with the tire on the road, but we're all good now." The front seat passenger, who was closest to Poon, briefly explained, and this lessened the weight on Poon's brows and the irritation he held towards them because he now understood that their tardiness was out of their control.

"Aitte." Poon uttered, with a gesture of his head to the man tucked away on the backseat of the vehicle, and the man didn't hesitate to exit the car, but Poon remained standing for a few more seconds, just enough so that if someone was standing in a distance the photographs taken wouldn't reveal reality.

After the seconds had passed he mirrored the travels of the backpack carrying man to enter the house.

Once they were inside, the man handed him a backpack filled with the drug-carrying viles which allowed Poon to carefully inspect them, and when he was completely sure there was no foul play, he made his way to the back room.

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