Miles away from shore

Grown Up Vibes

Lacey shook her hands at her sides as she took a deep breath. Drena glanced at her and shook her head.

"You got this, momma."

"This is a big deal, D," Lacey said, biting her lip. "Videos and ads are one thing..."

"Look, your curls popping, you look cute. I did your makeup hella cute," Drena said. "Cantu know they picked you for a reason. Go in here and smile for your subs."

"You think a lot of them will show up?" Lacey asked. Drena nodded before looking back down at her phone. Lacey laughed, knowing her friend was over her. She shook her head as the registration girl handed them their passes. Lacey was booked for an appearance at a natural hair convention in New York that Drena was also doing a small workshop on the next day. The amount of support they had been getting lately was crazy. It helped Lacey not think about her issue with Jay at the moment.

It had been a couple of days since he showed up at her apartment and she had to say she was shocked it had lasted so long. She had expected him to apologize like he used to when they were just friends, but he hadn't even made an attempt to reach out to her. She had to admit that she may have overreacted, but the fact that he just wasn't going to admit his part was bugging her.

Pushing her personal life to the side, Lacey got into work mode as Drena helped her get settled at the booth. The rep with Cantu met her there and went over what they would be doing. Her name was Alicia and she would be handling any of the logistics and helping people place orders or buying what was available. Lacey was doing on site tutorials throughout the day. She was worried about how it would work but the set up was cute. Instead of a shower which was how she usually washed her hair, they had a wash bowl set up like in a salon chair. Drena was assisting Lacey with the three tutorials that she would do.

The first one was her wash n go routine. The second was her night routine to get ready for bed. The third was her morning routine to refresh her curls. They had a few instances where Drena got her shirt wet and some of the girls laughed, but overall the day went well and Lacey grew more comfortable as the hours passed.

"The views on our IG live are still going up," Alicia said, pointing to the iPad she had on a tripod. "My boss just texted me and asked to set up a time to do a Q and A later this week about your experience today."

"That sounds dope!" Lacey said. "Just let me know when."

"Can I take a picture with you?" a teenage girl asked. Lacey looked up at her and smiled. It was only a few minutes left of her time there and she was beyond tired. She would never turn anyone away though. "You said in your last video that your favorite colors were red and black so I made sure to wear it."

Lacey got teary eyed. "Oh my gosh! What's your name gorgeous?" she asked, hugging her. The cameraman got up from his chair as he saw Lacey move the girl to the backdrop.

"Amaya."

"Thank you so much for watching and coming out," Lacey said. They posed for a few pictures before the girl giggled. "I love your curls."

"Really? They aren't as defined as yours. I've only been natural a year."

"They look great," Lacey said. "You'll get there. Come here." Lacey walked her over to her seat and pulled a few things out of the bag that Cantu gave her to giveaway products. "This is what I used in the last video. I want you to try it out."

"Really?!" Amaya smiled. "Thank you so much!"

"It's not a problem."

The girl started to ask her something else, but they both noticed that everyone was making a commotion and looking around.