Habibet Albi (Incomplete)

Chapter 4: Family Business

"Sex is more exciting on the screen and between the pages than between the sheets." ~ Andy Warhol

I TURNED OVER and a female laid beside me. Her face was buried in a pillow.  Locks as dark as night, of tight curls cascaded down her shoulders like tangled silk. Her skin was an exquisitely deep ebony, like dark chocolate. She seemed familar from somewhere.

With a loud groan she rolled onto her back. Beneath the ink black curls revealed Phoenix. Her dark eyelashes brushed the top of her prominent cheekbones. What have I done? She smiled, flashing her white, perfectly aligned teeth. Then she climbed on top of me, straddling my torso.

"Hey baby" she said in a hoarse voice from just awaking.

Phoenix planted soft kisses along my neck and began sucking on it. I pulled her off me and rolled over so now I was atop her. She fluttered her eyes shut. When her eyes flew open they were black pit-less holes dug into her face like a skulls. I let out a blood-curlding scream that sounded detached from myself.

Malik bolted upright and realized he was yelling her name. Instinctively, he glanced at his side to see if she was there. Instead of her there was a fair-skinned, red-headed girl lying on her side. So he had slept with someone just not who he thought it was. I don't remember taking her home. What was her name? It started with a C I think. Cassandra, Caitlin, Cheyanne maybe? Ahhh, fuck it.

He got out of bed and ran to the bathroom built in his room. When he got to the sink he splashed cold water on his sweaty face. He stared at his reflection. He noticed seemingly small but conspicuous differences in his appearence. He knew he was obscenely attractive, something everyone mentioned on a daily basis. It reached the extent that it lost any meaning.

However that wasn't what grabbed his attention. The crescent shaped bags that hung under his eyes were darker from waking up from consistent night terrors. The skin on his face clung to his bones tighter from forgetting to eat. Not because he had an eating disorder, it was just he was so distracted this past week. Malik hadn't ate anything this week besides a protein bar, and since two weeks ago when he had dinner at the Espinosa's.

When he walked back into his room the red-head whose name he didn't care enough to remember sat up. She held the black, satin duvet around her torso to conceal her. Which seemed pointless considering he recalled what she looked like underneath that.

She was rubbing her eyes, smearing her make-up. When she dropped her hands into her lap and looked up at him he choked on a laugh. Her eyes were rimmed with smudged black circles she looked like a racoon.

"Hey handsome, what are you doing up so early?" She asked, a pleasant southern drawl apparent in her voice. It sounded similar to Miranda Lambert's voice.

"Had a nightmare." He brusquely replied standing at the other end of the bed. Suddenly he wanted to distance himself far from her as possible.

"You wanna talk about it?" She sounded genuinely concerned.

Malik didn't like to continue small talk that obviously was organically over. So he just cut to the chase. "No, I'm good. I have a business appointment at eight so if you could leave before then that'd be ideal."

"Wow just ripping it off like a band aid huh, bet yah don't even remember my name?" She assumed.

"Please leave my apartment, Crystal." He pleaded.

A scowl swept over her delicate features,"Gladly, it's Kimberley, asshole." She cursed and slipped on a black, skin tight dress.

"Have a great day!" He called on her way out the door. He was greeted with a slam.