FATAL ATTRACTION | n. jones

THREE.

10:32 a.m.
———

Katana tied her blown-out hair up into a high bun as she walked around the store hanging a new stock of clothes and moving old ones back to their places instead of the ones customers made for them. The retail job often made her wish she had one of those easygoing jobs that lacked snappy customers and even more volatile co-workers. She couldn't complain much though. She made enough money to keep a roof over her head and food on her table.

"Welcome to Fancy's Boutique! Let me know if I can help you find anything!" Katana yelled out the line she was trained to say, not bothering to look up at who she assumed was a customer

If a hanger fell in the backroom, everyone would be able to hear it due to the silent nature of the boutique. Katana didn't think much of it seeing as the store had opened a few minutes ago and only saw a few customers until after lunchtime.

She turned around and her soul nearly jumped out of her body when she noticed Montell leaning on of the clothing racks, giving her an intense stare. She had purposely been avoiding him, even going as far as quitting her last job because of the high chance of him popping up.

Montell's presence in Mystic the other night did not go unnoticed. Matter of fact, Katana almost left but had been taunted into staying by her friends.

"You gone let yo' old nigga scare you out of hanging out with your best friend and your nigga? Couldn't be me." Kim laughed at her while their mutual friend Giselle just sipped her drink and looked away pretending she didn't hear nor agree with the statement but all girls knew she most definitely did. Besides, her new man showed up so why would she not stay.

"Um, hi. How can I help you?" Katana shifted her weight from one foot to the other as the spare clothes over her arm with some of the hangers clattering to the floor. If her boss wasn't "working" at the register, Katana would have had a different choice of words for her ex— some of which were running rampant in her mind as she looked at him. The manager walked past them and smiled at Katana, obviously pleased with the manners she displayed— something a lot of the workers lacked. As her manager disappeared into the storage area, Katana took this as a chance to roll her eyes.

"I just wanted some of your time, that's all." Montell smirked and rubbed his hands together as he stared at the woman he deemed himself to be madly in love with. "I love when you wear your hair like that."

Feeling the negative words getting ready to leave her mouth, Katana sighed and walked with Montell following close behind. "How the hell did you even find out where I worked at?"

"Don't worry 'bout it. Just know that I'm here now."

"Look Montell, I know you still love me and all, but we're through. I've moved on and maybe you should too. This," She pointed between him and herself. "Is never going to happen again. Ever."

Montell nodded his head, not processing a single word she said as he continued following her around the medium-sized clothing store. Katana didn't have to tell him she moved on. He had seen it with his own eyes. Matter of fact, he did some snooping before heading home the night before and did more before he decided to pay the lovely lady a visit.

"So what you see in that singin' ass nigga? All his ass probably does is sing all damn day." Montell asked as he stopped in his tracks so he wouldn't bump into Katana who had also stopped. A noticeable sense of anger laced his tone.

Katana stopped walking and turned around so she could get a good look at Montell. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something had changed. Not just physically, but mentally. Montell was never the type to get angry. Anything that would anger a "normal" person never seemed to move him. Katana couldn't even remember a time when she had seen her ex in an angry state. Now that she thought about it, he didn't even get upset during their arguments.

"How did y-"

"Don't worry about how I know, just know I know. You leave me 'cause I'm rapping but then you move on to some nigga that look like he sings about ponies and shit. The fuck he gone do? Buy you a toy horse 'cause he sure as hell can't buy yo' ass no Lamborghini." Montell frowned as he reached into his pocket to grab his wallet.

Katana gasped and sat the remaining clothes she had on her arm, on the counter. She wanted those clothes to be her last worry while she tried not to make her irritation in human form drop from the pain she wanted to unleash on him.

"Let's clear some things up 'cause I think you're either confused or choosing to remember things how you want to remember them. For starters, I didn't break up with you because you were a rapper. I broke up with you because not only did you rarely keep promises or complete your goals, but rapping seemed to be all you were worried about. You kept talking about how we were gonna do this and do that when you got famous, but it seemed like that would never happen. I was uncertain of my fu-"

Already knowing what she was going to say, Montell cut Katana off with a quickness.

"So you certain about a future with that nigga?" Montell scoffed and shook his head with every word Katana said leaving his mind with each shake.

"I mean, why shouldn't I be? He's done more in a week than you did in a month." Katana put her hand on her hip and tilted her head.

"Oh really? Then why'd you stay with me so long then?" Montell challenged Katana's rebuttal as he stepped closer to her. If he stepped any closer, his face would be touching her's

"I stayed with you because I loved you and I believed in your dreams just as much as you did. After a while, things changed and I could no longer sit around waiting for something that might never happen. Now if you're not gonna buy anything, get the hell out." Katana backed away and stared at Montell with her arms crossed over her chest.

Montell picked up a shirt off of the rack behind him without bothering to look at what he picked up.

"Ring this up." Montell gave Katana the shirt as he continued staring at her and admiring her features.

"I know you're not going to wear this." Katana scrunched up her face as she looked at the rumpled shirt Montell had passed to her.

"And why the hell not?" Montell asked as he mimicked her facial expression.

"Because it can't fit you"

"And how would you know that Katana?" He reached towards Katana's head and played with one of the stray hairs that didn't make it into her bun.

"Probably because it's a women's shirt in a size extra small." Katana straight-faced Montell before tossing the shirt on the counter. She picked up the clothes she had sat down and started to walk away. "Make sure you hang that shirt back up before you leave!"

Montell grabbed the shirt off of the counter and held it up to see that Katana was absolutely correct. The "shirt" wouldn't even look like a shirt on him. He scoffed and slammed the piece of clothing back on the counter before storming out of the store.