Winter Toes III: Defending the Heart

WT3| "Start Over"

c h a p t e r t h i r t y
-
a new beginning

Reiya picked at her nails as she sat against the rack of clothes at her job. Business was slow and everyone seemed to be busy doing other things. The store was called Julie's being that it was owned by a woman named Julie, it was known famously for their expensive m
clothes, hot shoes, and lovely accessories. Reiya loved the store, it gave her a vision for her own shop.

In the beginning, Rei thought it would be something she wouldn't like but she warmed up to it real quick. She had a special bond with the owner who had gave her lots of insight to the game.

Julie was an old, white woman that most labeled as "stuck up" and maybe even racist but that wasn't the Julie, or Juju, Rei knew. She reminded her of a slightly younger Martha Stewart or Hillary Clinton- doing whatever she could to appeal to everyone.

"Good evening, welcome to Julie's. Let me know if there's anything I can help you with, okay?" Rei exclaimed with a smile as a new customer entered the store.

The couples smiled politely before continuing their route to whichever section they were aiming for.

Reiya continued looking around the crowded mall right outside the boutique where she worked. She sighed. She never thought she would be working. Majority of her childhood was her being spoiled by Torei, now she was working for what she wanted. She wasn't complaining verbally because the accomplishments felt good. However, this was a style of life she had to get use to. It was always school in the morning and work in the afternoons or evenings.

Unlike Chase, Reiya she China weren't planning on college but they damn sure weren't planning on doing part time jobs forever.

Reiya hummed a tune before escaping to the back and pulling her phone out. She checked the time, it was kinda late and Dayton still hadn't replied to her text. She had two options.

Double text or delete his number.

There wasn't another option or in between. To further investigate the situation, she went on Instagram and straight onto his profile. She looked at his posts and calculated the time mentally.

He hadn't replied to her all day, it's been almost three hours since Reiya's last text to him but he was just posting pictures 51 minutes ago.

She nodded to herself before going in her Contacts app and deleting his number. "Let this nigga hit me up, I'm gonna hit him with a mean ass who dis text. Never talking to that nigga again. Big head ass waste of fucking time." She mumbled to herself before putting her phone away and heading back out. "Got me fucked up."

"What?" One of her coworkers asked as she passed by.

She turned to look at them, turning her lip up. "Nobody talking to you, big head." She said as she rolled her eyes.

The girl rolled her eyes back before turning to the doorway.

An alarm went off and a guy that Reiya had not greeted or even seen went running out with an arm full of stuff. "Oh, my god! Stop him!" One of her coworkers yelled.

Reiya being the one of the three to rush out to go catch the guy, along with two security guards, ran out yelling for him to stop. Eventually, the young thief was caught- grabbed up by the arms by a big guy who made him drop all of his stuff.

When he turned around and they all saw him, Reiya couldn't help but to see a little familiarity in his facial features. Reiya stared at him as the security cuffed him.

Hmmm...

Her phone ringing broke her thoughts, after she looked to see who it was she answered it.

"Hello?"

"Have you heard from auntie? She wasn't at her house and she's not answering the phone. It keeps going straight to voicemail and it's been like that for a few days now." China ranted, sounding worried.

"Nah I haven't heard from her in like three days." Reiya said, scrunching her face up. "You went by her house?"

"I'm here now. There's no cars in the driveway or anything." China explained.

"Well, you got Roman's number?" Reiya quizzed.

It wasn't like Taylor to go missing, she kept her phone around all the time just in case they really needed her so her disappearance was strange to them.

"No but momma does. I called her and asked her to call him but she didn't get back to me yet." China said. "I'm really worry."

"Don't worry. I'm gonna call auntie Torei and see if she talked to him." Reiya said as she bit down on her lip, still watching the scene before her eyes.

"Okay. Call me back." China said. Reiya mumbled an "mhm" before hanging up and scrolling through her call log to find her aunt's number which would've been easier if she just went through the contacts.

She dialed the number and let it ring. "Hello?" The lady at the front desk answered.

Because Torei was in rehab there was a strict "no phone" policy so in order to get in contact with them you had to visit or call the front desk no if she's in her room, they'll transfer you over.

"Torei Price please?" Reiya said into the phone.

"Okay, no problem. Just a second, dear."

Awful hold music started to play and Reiya waited, watching as they took the cuffed boy down the escalator. Why does he look so familiar? She wondered before the phone was finally picked back up. "Hello?"

"Auntie?" Reiya called out.

"Yes, hi Rei baby." Torei said, sounding calm as she usually did in there.

After years of threats to get her ass beat, it was still strange that the threats were occasional now instead of every five minutes. "Have you heard back from Roman? China said she talked to you and we still haven't heard back from auntie Taylor." Reiya said.

Torei started to laugh. "They're fine. They're in Jamaica, her phone is dead and Roman told her it was a phone vacation so it's on Do Not Disturb. Don't worry, her and the baby is fine. She's engaged now, she's happy and well." She informed her.

Reiya exhaled. Mostly everyone knew about the proposal because Taylor got on almost every social media about, excited about the ring and fireworks. "Thank you, auntie. I'll tell the girls. Talk to you later, I gotta get back to work." She said, now calm as well.

"Okay, love you. Bye-bye."

___________
Just a little update to calm y'all nerves. R