Page 7 of Arris, Jayme & Dyani
“Okay, Darryl.” I shook my head and crossed my arms over my chest.
I wasn’t even about to argue with him, and honestly, there was no reason for me to dig my heels in. I would be getting a nicer apartment for the same price. What was there to be mad about? I didn’t really want to be friends with Darryl’s friends anyway. I just liked annoying him because it was ridiculous that he wanted to act like I needed him to look out for me as a grown ass woman who’d spent years nowhere near him. He conveniently seemed to forget that part though.
“So, you’re down to tour the spot?” he asked.
“Yeah. I’ll tour it.”
“Good.”
Darryl threw his turn signal on and switched lanes. I pulled my phone out and checked my emails while he went. I was in the process of locking down a few art pieces a client of mine had been trying to secure for what felt like years now.
By the time we reached the spot, I’d secured the deal and a nice bonus in the process and was damn near dancing in my seat.
That good mood carried me through the entire tour, and when we finished, I had to admit the place was nicer than I’d even thought it would be with the price tag. I agreed to lock it in and the property manager promised to get a lease for me to look over as soon as possible.
“I told you that you’d like it.” Darryl chuckled and nudged me with his elbow as we sauntered out of the elevator.
“Yeah, yeah. You were right.” I rolled my eyes. “Is that what you wanted to hear?”
“Hell yeah.”
I sucked my teeth, then reached over and pushed him away from me. He laughed harder. A smile forced its way across my face.
Darryl and I both had our own quirks but I knew without a doubt he loved me and I loved him too. I was actually excited to be moving closer to him, even with his overprotectiveness.
“You ready to do some furniture shopping?” I shimmied.
“Hell nah.” His eyebrows fiddled together. “What are you doing with your old shit?”
“Probably selling it,” I admitted. “I’m not taking more than I need from there.”
“Okay.” He paused and I exhaled as I stopped next to him. He locked eyes with me and reached over to grab my hand. “If youever want to talk… about Mom,” he clarified. “Or whatever, we can.”
“I know.” I nodded.
“Alright. I mean, I know I wasn’t as close to her as you were but I’m close to you and I’ll do anything for you, Dyani.”
“I know,” I assured him.
“Alright. Cool.” He nodded once and let me go. “Let’s go.” He nudged his head toward the entrance and we started walking again. “There’s this chick I know. Her name’s Jayme. She’s cool people. She does that whole decorating shit. She’ll help you find some good stuff for a good price and if you need help covering it, I’ll pick up the slack.”
“The help with rent is enough. I just got a little bonus that I’m sure will help me get a nice amount of furniture.”
“But if shit changes, let me know.”
“Alright.”
Darryl yanked his passenger side door open for me to fall in then ran around the car to hop in. He grabbed his phone as soon as the car was on.
“I just sent you her number,” he said after a moment. “I texted her and let her know you were going to reach out too.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
I looked down at his message as it came in and sent my text to the number almost immediately, letting her know who I was and why I was texting in the first place.
Me: Hey. This is Dyani, Darryl’s sister. He told me to reach out to you about decorating my place?
Jayme: Yeah. I can help you out. I’m free Tuesdays and Thursdays if you wanna get together.
