~ Chapter Nineteen ~
I got home from the bank and seen an unfamiliar car in the driveway. I immediately thought the worst, expecting to find Jakari in my bed with someone else. I walked inside and heard laughter coming from the kitchen.
I walked inside and Jakari was having a conversation and a drink with some girl I had never seen before.
"Oh babe this is Asani. She's here for a meeting." Jakari said. I looked at them confused.
"What meeting?" I asked.
"I'm from GQ. We confirmed a meeting but never set a time so I took a chance on today." Asani explained.
"Ohh! I completely forgot. Come with me, we can talk in the backyard." I said. I gave Jakari a quick kiss before taking Asani to the back.
She looked younger than I expected and didn't seem like the type to work for GQ but I just ignored that and got to talking business.
"So how do you feel about a 4 page feature in our October Magazine?" She asked.
"4 page? I didn't even expect one page. That sounds dope." I said. "What would the 4 pages be about?"
"2 pages would be pictures of you taken at headquarters. 1 would be an interview with myself and the other would just be information about your clothing line and life." She explained.
"Wow this is overwhelming. I would love to be apart of the magazine." I said.
"Great! I have some paperwork for you. If you could fill these out now it would be perfect." She handed me the papers and a pen and took out her phone.
"My boss will call you about the interview and photoshoot in a couple days."
****
I went up to my room and found Jakari crying in the bathroom. I threw my phone on the bed and walked in. I didn't know what to do.
"Baby what's wrong?" I asked. I tried to grab her hand, but she yanked it away and held up her phone. It was a text from Adonis.
Bitch- I hope you know Ariana doesn't love you. She never did. You're always going to be too young, too insecure, and too childish for her.
I was about to get mad until another text came through from someone else.
#- Stop ignoring me for Ariana. She won't ever believe those fake texts or pictures anyways so come home to me rn 😤
I handed her phone back and tried not to hit her stupid ass. She really made fake texts and all this bullshit up just to sneak back into my life.. For what?
"I should really kill you right now. Deadass man I want you out my crib." I stated. It was time for me to boss up and leave this bitch in the past for good.
"Wh-what?" She asked confused.
"Wipe your fake ass tears and get the fuck out." I said. I left the bathroom and went to light a blunt. I grabbed my phone and went down to the basement. I laid down on the couch and got on Snapchat. I had a snap from Dom.
It was a picture of her kitchen but the caption said 'Me and some friends are having drinks tonight. I know you don't trust me no more but if you tryna get fucked up come over.'
I almost considered it but the shit she did to me while she was drunk was a no no. Why must I have such bad luck with bitches?
****
I decided to go to one of my stores today and check up on everything. I was still a little high but I drove over to my closest location and parked outside. There were a few customers and employees inside. 21 Savage was playing on the speakers and everything looked good.
"Isn't that the owner?" I heard a young employee whisper to the one at the register.
"Oh shit is is." He replied.
I walked over and felt them get tense. That's so funny to me.
"How long y'all been working here?" I asked.
"Few months." The girl said.
"Yeah probably 4 months." The guy nodded his head.
"The manager usually here?" I asked. The girl looked down and the guy turned to help a customer. I looked at them confused.
"Come with me." I said. She followed me to my locked office and we had a seat inside. "Where is the manager?"
"He uh.. well he threatened to fire us if we told." She said.
"You do understand that I'm the boss right? I fire him. Now where he at?" I asked.
"He comes and clocks in early in the morning and leaves until it's the end of the day. I don't know where he goes but he does that a lot. He started doing it about 3 months ago. We didn't know who to talk to about it." She confessed.
I tried to contain my anger so I wouldn't scare her.
"How old are you?" I asked.
"I'm 18. My name is Kaniya." She replied.
"Kaniya next time any employee of mine is doing wrong by me, call my cell phone." I handed her my card and she put it in her wallet.
"I will."
"Go ahead and get back to work." I said. She got up and went back out to the floor. I opened my laptop and marked the manager as terminated. I also deducted every hour he clocked in the last 3 months. He now owed me money.
I stayed at the store until it closed and walked out of my office. The manager walked in and looked like he seen a ghost when he seen me.
Kaniya and the other guy watched as I gestured for him to come into my office. I shut the door with a bang and sat across from him.
"So..not only have you been skipping out on 3 months of work, but you threatened my employees so you could keep doing it?!" I yelled. He didn't have anything to say.
"Can't speak? It's okay. You now owe me $5900 and I promise if it doesn't get paid within a week, I'll take you to court and get more than that. You're fired. You'll never be able to get hired again with any affiliates of my store or corporate. Understand?" I asked.
He nodded. He took his badge off and sat it on my desk.
"Get out." I stated. He left and I wrote down all the people eligible for the management position. I also made it so that I had access to the cameras in the store and the time clock. This shit wasn't about to happen again.
I gave Kaniya a raise before I left. She deserved it. It was 11pm when I finally made it home. I seen Shay's porch light was on. Shay my neighbor. She had left for the army after we stopped talking. I went to go knock on the door but I stopped myself.
She wouldn't care to see me.. would she? I was about to leave but the door opened. It wasn't Shay though.
"Were you coming to see Shay?" She asked. I nodded. "She moved. Sorry. But I'm living here now. I'm her sister."
"You don't look like her." I said.
"We have different dads. Anyways, do you live close?" She asked.
"I live right there." I pointed at my house and her eyes widened.
"You're the neighbor she told me to stay away from." She said, causing me to laugh.
"She said that? Well I guess I should go home then. If you get bored, I'm available. If you're scared to talk to me because she said that, I understand." I went back home and let myself in. We'll see if I ever talk to her again.
