more life / b.simmons (2)

54

three months later

"seriously, ben, i gotta go," amari says, trying to pull herself out of his hold. ben holds onto her tighter and pulls amari down to his chest. she sighs and places a hand on his shoulder and looks up him. "i'm gonna be late." she mumbles.

"oh well," ben replies. amari scoffs and sits up as best as she can with his arms still around her as he lays on his back. "stop, come here." he whines, rolling onto his side and looking at her. amari shakes her head and rests her hand on his cheek, gently stroking underneath his eye.

they were back in new york for different reasons. ben is here on business and amari is here to make sure kyra got settled into school and her new apartment. after several months and long conversations, kyra agreed to continue on with school and she's majoring in web development. the whole reason she wanted to drop out was because she didn't like LA and california, and was too far from home. new york is almost perfect for her.

"seriously, i have to go," she says. ben lets out a dramatic groan and lets go of her so she can stand up. "i'll see you later, okay?" he waves her off and rolls over, throwing a fit like a little kid. amari scoffs and kisses him on the cheek, leaving a lip stick print. ben smiles to himself and amari gets off the bed and grabs her belongings before exiting the hotel room.

amari reaches the lobby and smiles at the concierge before heading outside to the hotel parking garage. her white, lamborghini urus, shines brightly underneath the new york winter sun.

she hops in and speeds off down the road the direction of her daughter.

-

kyra nearly flies out of bed once she hears a knock on the apartment door. malik groans and pulls the blanket over himself tighter. kyra runs around the room in nothing, frantically searching for her bra. too much happened last night for her to be prepared to see her mother.

she finds what she needs and quickly puts them on. amari knocks again and kyra grabs the first pair of pants and shirt she sees—all belonging to malik—and runs out of her room and into the living room. she pulls her hood over less than attractive looking hair, and opens the door.

her beautiful mother, who always seems out together, stands behind the door with a small bouquet of 4 different flowers, and a smile on her face despite the fact that she had to wait a long time outside. "did you just wake up?" amari asks, an eyebrow raised and she walks into the nice apartment.

kyra nods and takes the flower from her mother, thanks her, and goes into the kitchenette to find a vase. amari takes a seat on the bar stool and looks around, impressed with the decoration—it's very much kyra; everything gold and white with hints of pink and purple around the room. it's very girly, even though malik lives here 90% of the time (not that anybody bedsides here friends know).

"how's school? and the city?" amari asks. kyra leans against the counter across from her.

"it's good, i really like NYU and my classes. everything is fine," she says honestly, with a shrug. everything about new york is better than her life in california. and she's closer to daniel, since he goes to NYU too. "danny wants to see you."

amari lets out a dramatic squeal, just as the faint sound of maliks alarm goes off. kyra prays that he wakes up enough to turn it off, but not come out here. "oh, i can't wait to see him. i miss him," amari says. she saw daniel a few times over the summer, even though him, kyra, avery, and jada spent every day together like the used to. "where does he stay?"

"he lives near brooklyn—it's far," kyra says. he takes the train to school and to visit kyra; he's a true new yorker in that sense.

"oh. well- kyra, you know where my- shit," amari is cut off by malik walking into the living room in nothing but a pair of blue basketball shorts with the knicks logo on the side, his tattooed chest on full display. kyra bounces her knee anxiously and looks at malik with wide eyes, silently begging him to leave. he clears his throat and says, "excuse me." and turns on his heel to go back the way he just came.