Page 49 of Disrespectfully, Relic

“I guess I don’t need to help you get your roster up after all. You went from an empty bench to two starters. How you do that, friend?”

“Girl, go to hell. I knew you were listening.”

“I was half listening, half handling business. Judith was already at the restaurant prepping for the day, no surprise there. She started your order, and Michi said she’ll bring it when she comes,” Savvy relayed, dropping the towel in her hand onto the floor. She stepped on it to mop up the mess she’d made while adding, “Titan got us a deal on a videographer and photographer, but we have to tag them in every post from today on all our pages.”

“Shit, that’s nothing. He’s a lifesaver.”

“Right. If you don’t mind, I asked them to get a few shots at the skincare salon, too, since I didn’t think to do either. My ass should’ve been cheating off your checklist. Please, don’t tell me you got decorations because the most I got was a ribbon for Nubia to cut.”

Kennedy gave a tight-lipped smile. “I did, and she should be here any minute. It’s not much, though. A balloon arch for the door, a backdrop, and table settings for the finger food.”

“Fuck me. Relic was right, I am slacking.”

That got a laugh out of Kennedy before she kneeled beside her receptionist desk, using her keys to cut through the tape sealing shut the box she’d been anxious to open since it arrived. She wondered what Lomar could’ve gotten her without knowing her taste. A light smile spread on her face as she yanked open the flaps, but the moment she laid eyes on the box’s contents, her heart jolted so damn hard that it ached, while tears welled in her eyes. Kennedy couldn’t decide whether she loved or hated the precious gift because it made her sick to her fucking stomach with grief.

“Kennedy, are you alright?”

Savvy’s worried voice seemed miles away as Kennedy laid a trembling hand on the glass case. A gorgeous, crystal chessboard rested inside with silver accented chessmen occupying one end of the diamond studded board while gold accented ones lined the other. Gems embellished the top of each intricate piece.

“This is the bullshit I’m talking about, Savvy. The cunning, sweet shit that I don’t know is genuine or a fucking mind game. I—” She choked on her words and blinked, refusing to let a single tear fall.

The urge to curse Relic the hell out doubled because his gesture left her emotions teetering on a fine line, and it was the second time he used her brother’s memory to pull a reaction out of her. She wouldn’t give him a third.

“Wait. That’s from Relic?” Savvy strolled over to squat beside Kennedy. She peered inside the box and gawked at the beautiful board before saying, “I thought your guy friend who just left gave it to you.”

“So, did I, but he couldn’t. Lomar wouldn’t know to get me this.”

“But Relic would,” Savvy finished, giving her friend a soft smile as she studied the teary gaze that stared back at her. “It clearly means a lot to you. Why do you think he’s playing mind games?”

“Because I don’t trust him any more than he trusts me. Every move he makes has a purpose, and I don’t know the one behind this.”

“Maybe the purpose is as plain as day, but you don’t see it because a small part of you expects the worst of him like everyone else. Maybe Relic sent you a gift to make your day special, Kennedy, and it’s as simple as that.”

As much as Kennedy wanted to believe that was the case, she couldn’t because Relic had told her about his ideology on women and the screwed-up advice from his father. One night of great sex wouldn’t change an outlook he’d carried since a teenager.

Adoration she shouldn’t have for a man who’d never see her as anything more than a helping hand sprouted in her chest as she stood, unable to remove her stare from the chessboard. She glanced at Savvy when her friend stuck a hand into the box and pulled out a notecard without an envelope.

“Pou larenn mwen an,” Savvy read the handwritten inscription. “This is kreyòl, but I’m not sure what it means.”

“Good. I don’t even want to know what it says right now. Relic’s slick ass threw me off, and I need to focus.”

With that, Kennedy shut the box and pushed it toward the wall since it was too heavy for her to carry. She’d have someone help her to move it later. If it were up to her, it’d stay against the wall near the receptionist desk where she’d forget about it while mingling with her attendees once her grand opening started. She preferred it out of sight and out of mind for the time being, just like Relic.

All the bullshit Kennedy had dealt with that morning was worth it.

If she were a crier, she’d have tears streaming down her face as her eyes swept the packed salon, taking in future clients who were mingling while munching on finger foods and sipping unlimited champagne or wine from the mobile bar service she hadn’t ordered but was delivered just before opening. Another surprise from Relic. Two of her stylists were in the process of wrapping up their client’s hair who’d won a raffle she’d done for the first thirty people to show up. The photographer Titan had found ambled throughout the room, taking pictures of it all, and Kennedy couldn’t wait to go through them and upload it to the salon’s official site. It was a day she’d remember even if there were no pictures to commemorate the moment.

Women pranced past her in their best fits—a few smiling while others gave her either inquisitive looks or a turn of their heads before their repulsed expressions could show. Kennedy had prepared herself for it. Between the traction the salon was getting, and the stale faces of the bitches she used to work with who’d come but left just as fast; the last thing she cared about was anyone judging her scars.

“Happy grand opening day, bitch!”

Nubia’s loud voice cutting through her thoughts sent her gaze shooting to the doors as her girls strutted in looking like the boss bitches they were. Savvy, Michi, and Lexi were with Nubia, donned in similar woman suits they’d sent to the group chat to coordinate. Kennedy grinned because Nubia looked damn fucking good in her brown and black pinstriped trouser shorts that put her thick thighs on full display. She didn’t blame Los even a little bit for snooping through Nubia’s phone and clocking her girl every time she left the house. If her wife had divorced her and morphed into an even badder bitch; she’d want her back, too.

“Same, boo! How’s it been over there?” she asked, making Nubia roll her eyes as they hugged. Both had been so busy that it was the first time one got a spare moment to visit the other.

“Girl, busy but no complaints. I like the girls Savvy hired, and it’s only four of us in our own treatment rooms, so there shouldn’t be any issues. I did two customers free after Savvy mentioned your raffle, and child.”

Savvy sniggered before lecturing, “You can’t talk about your customers, Nu.”

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