On the Down Low

Everybody Needs Hardware

Rihanna POV

    I throw on some brown boots and sunglasses to compliment my pink tracksuit. I look like a pretty ball of cotton candy and I don't give one damn fuck. Don't nobody care if I dress down for one day. I'm just going to the store.

"Baby! Where are you going?" Chris yells from the couch he is currently sprawled across. His voice is raggedy and worn, no doubt after a long night of partying at a high class 'gentlemens club'.

"I'm just heading to the hardware store. One of the lights in the bathroom went out." I drone.

"You know we have multiple people who can run these errands for us Rob, so you don't have to go." He says and jogs over to me.

     He wraps me in a hug and I can smell his armpits' unshowered musk. I shake him off of me and crinkle my nose.

"Nigga shower before you hug up on me! Dannng." I say. disgusted. Chris has been getting on my nerves more than ever before.

"Alright Robyn. Come back home when you decide to stop acting like a bitch." Chris says and collapses on the couch again.

   I ignore him and walk out of the door...

   Five minutes later I'm driving down the streets of New York. I blast Jazmine Sullivan's song "Forever Don't Last" and scream every last verse. I pull up into the hardware store's parking lot and hop out. I see people bustling in and out of the Home Depot with carts filled with things ranging from plies of wood to pesticide.  

       I'm pretty well known. I was on Forbes fortune 500 list, and I am often recognized from magazine or internet articles, so when I go to public places I have to keep it lowkey or bring a security detail. I'm tryna keep it lowkey today but apparently it's not working. I see people staring subtly; pardon me, they are trying to stare subtly. Out of the corner of my damn eye I see a man that happened to have pitched an idea to me while representing another company. I didn't like the idea so I never got back to him.

Aw hell, he's coming up to me now.

I'm not afraid to reject people but it's my off day for goodness' fucking sake. 

     I pretend not to see him as he walks towards me, and I casually start walking faster away from him. He starts walking faster in an attempt to catch up with me. I subtly and very very casually break out into a jog. He sprints after me. What, this nigga Usain Bolt in training or something? Bitcccchhhh, I just want to catch a break.

    He speeds in front of me and chuckles a low and ugly chuckle. He takes out his handkerchief and dabs his forehead, all the while I plaster a fake smile on my face and chuckle a stiff and strained chuckle. 

"Ahhh Ms. Fenty, it is a pleasure to see you again. It's funny how we ran into each other by chance. If I hadn't known any better I would've thought you were running from me just then." He says laughing. 

"Oh of course not!" I enunciate convincingly. "Haha. I thought I saw a reporter or a pap taking pictures of me from the entrance of the store."

"Oh! I see!" He says while dabbing his forehead again. His face has now gone from red to papery white with hints of red blotches.  

"So, have you gotten a chance to think about my proposal anymore since last Monday?" He says nervously.

  I put a finger on my chin and pretend like I'm thinking hard about the topic of his God awful proposal.

"Oh you know what? I haven't gotten a chance to make any decisions about proposals in the last 2 weeks. But I really must be going now, my husband is waiting for me in another part of the store. It was nice to see you sir. Bye." I say hurriedly and walk away quickly.