"So what do you think?" I asked after I stepped out of the way and allowed Paradox see himself in the items I had picked out for him after I tailored them to him. He walked up to the mirror and looked from side to side and glanced his entire body over. "I would've never thought any of this up. But you definitely have an eye for this." he said as a smile began to spread across his lips. I be feeling so complete when I'm able to please my clientele. I'm sensitive about my craft but they're artists and we share the same dispositions. So it always gets me anxious and excited when I see them happy. "Thank you!" he said when he turned in my direction. "You're welcome!" I said as I had began to pick up the few extra fabric pieces that were on the floor since I'm almost complete. When I had stood back up, he was literally right in front of me. "Did I scare you?" he asked me as he looked in my eyes. I backed up a little bit. "Yeah, I didn't realize you were that close is all." I said as I threw the fabric away and when I turned around he was right there again. "I make you nervous." he said softly as I tried to avoid eye contact. "No, it's just like you're like a ninja. You're quick and light on your feet." he laughed a little bit. "Naw, you misunderstood. It was a statement, not a question." he said as he leaned in a little in my direction. "Every time I'm close to you, I can practically hear your heartbeat. You attempt to not look me in the eyes for too long. Is it something I said?" he asked as he smirked a little bit before putting distance in between us. "No, it was nothing that you said or did." I said as I kept moving around and trying to clean up the area in the spare office that we used for all of their fittings. "So...it's just me then." he said and at that moment I looked across the room at him. "Listen.." he said as he took a couple steps towards me. "I'm not trying to fuck up nothing you have going on with your man. I just get the vibe like it's something missing..." he said. "I'm very well taken care of. My son is loved and cared for as he should. There's not really much else I can ask for." I said to clean that up so he didn't get any ideas. "I can see that. I mean physically you look fantastic, always have. You have a good head on your shoulders, you're super talented, you're a great mom, and a role model. But you're all of these things and you're even more to other people. You can tell because they all speak so highly of you and can come to you in at any time with anything..." he said. "Right...so clearly that shows you that I'm good." I said quickly as I started to place my things in my bag so that I wouldn't leave anything. "Naw that shows me that you're keeping everybody else good. But what about you?" For the first time, I didn't have a comeback for that. "Right...you have parents that look out for you and that shows baby, but why don't your friends or your man do that? Like no diss to Tony, but he's so wrapped up in the streets when he should be wrapped up in you. The man your woman sees you as should trump the man the streets see you as. But that's just my opinion. Again, no shade because I'm not that type of guy. But see he pulled you and that says a lot about him, but what he doing to keep you?" he said and I'm not gonna lie a lot of what he just said hit home hard as hell for real. I couldn't rebuttal that. "You don't even know anymore." he said as he walked over to me and grabbed my hand, he looked over my engagement ring. "Before you take that plunge, maybe you should know for sure that you've experienced what you want to." he said as he kissed my hand before leaving out the room. For some reason, I felt really weird about how he just read me so well. He did have some points, but how did he know? Either he's getting info about me or he just could see it all over me. I couldn't even talk to the girls about it off the strength of Dom is literally way too close to Tony and Iris will judge the fuck out of me for even giving all of this a second thought. Maybe that's a sign that I shouldn't even give it any of my energy because if I'm embarrassed for thinking more into it, then I'd be even more embarrassed for acting on it. Lord! They were all for sure gonna make me famous, but what would I be risking at the same time? I just need to pull myself together. "You okay in here?" Charles asked when I looked up and realized that he was standing in the room with me. Was I that deep in thought? "Yeah...I was just in my head is all." I said to him as he leaned against the desk in there. "I saw that from the window. You seemed to have been either thinking hard or carrying something heavy. Figuratively that is." Both I guess. "Yeah...I was." I said as I swung my back over my shoulder and pulled myself together. "Hey Toya, before you go. You know we're all friends here, you can always talk to me if you need to. Don't think that you can't." I wasn't sure about this one, but fuck it. "So let me ask you something, do I give off vibes like something is wrong or anything?" I asked. "Sometimes you do. It ain't in anything that you say, but more like in things that you do. You have mastered your words, but your actions are a little different. You show some resentment but I'm not sure if it's from life or from your relationship, but it shows." Damn.
YOU ARE READING
The Unusual Suspects Book 2
General FictionThe story of 6 inner city young adults, all from different walks of life, from different areas, and conquering different hardships. Watch how school, family, drugs, lies, the streets, and love bring them together and rip them apart
