TOMMIE (COMPLETED)

TWO

After a few touches of concealer, Tommie's neck looked back to normal, but the make-up couldn't mask the pain that lingered.

She never imagined being with someone who would hit her.

Growing up, she saw her mother be abused by her many boyfriends, but Tommie promised herself she would never go through that.

Now seven years later, she was exactly where she didn't want to be. After having lunch at Lure's, Tia took Tommie to the spa for a day of pampering.

Tia loved her brother, but Tommie didn't deserve to be treated less than a queen.

She wanted her friend to forget about everything and enjoy their weekend.

Tia walked through the baby blue colored awning into the spa's lobby to confirm their reservations.

Tommie looked at the spotless marble floors and the giant crystal chandelier that sat in the middle of the room.

She always thought Atlanta was ghetto, but this spa was classy.

"Let me just go check in real quick," Tia said walking down the hall to the reception area.

Tommie sat down on the couch as a waitress dressed in black came and brought her a glass of champagne filled with strawberries. As the cold, bubbly alcohol soothed her throat, she tried to relax and forget about her problems with Ace.

"Hi, welcome to Sole Spa. How may I help you?"

"Hi, I have a reservation for two. Johnson," Tia said pulling her Prada wallet from her purse.

The receptionist twirled her hair while looking up her reservation. "Ummmm, yeah, it looks like your card was declined. Would you like to use a different one?"

"I'll just pay cash," Tia said pulling out a wad of crisp one-hundred dollar bills.

"That will be $3,000, but we'll still need a credit card on file to hold the amount until you check out."

"That would be today," Tia said becoming annoyed.

"Do you have a working card that you would like to put that amount on?"

"No, I don't. I would like to pay cash. I will only be here for a couple hours, so holding the funds should not be necessary if I have them right here. Where's the manager? I'm not gonna explain myself to some receptionist."

"You'll still need a credit card."

"Look, bitch..." Tia hated to be embarrassed in front of people especially about money.

She had plenty of it, so she demanded respect.

The other guests started to notice the commotion Tia was causing, but the receptionist did as little as possible to correct the situation.

"What's going on, Tia?" Tommie asked walking up to the front desk.

"This white bitch won't let me pay the bill. She's talking about I need a fucking credit card."