Page 79 of Arris, Jayme & Dyani
I woke up in bed by myself four hours later and felt better than I had before. I dragged myself up to go pee and take care of my hygiene needs then headed to the main area.
I had a call from Darryl, but I didn’t bother calling him back just yet. I knew he’d heard about the shop and either wanted to ask if I needed anything or wanted to put a battery in my back to start knocking niggas out and asking questions later. Honestly, I didn’t need either of those options right about now.
Dyani was set up at my table with her laptop, holding a bottle of water and working on something while still in my T-shirt.
I walked over and kissed the top of her head.
“Baby, if you needed to go to work, you could have gone.”
“I can work from anywhere, Arris, and I wanted to be here.”
“And I want you to be here whenever you want to be,” I assured her. “Did you eat anything while I was out?”
“Nope. What are you in the mood for?”
“Mexican food?” I offered.
“Sounds good.”
“Do you want to order it or go out?”
Dyani closed her laptop and looked up at me.
“I think we should go out.”
“Alright. Let’s do it.”
We got dressed and headed out. I drove us to a little Mexican spot in the hood and we ate across from each other. I asked Dyani question after question about what she was working on and she talked to me about Blake and how sweet, funny, and smart he was. She’d spent a lot of the night before sitting with me and Blake while we were working on a puzzle and Jaymecooked. It was nice. I loved how much Blake liked Dyani and the way Dyani helped and fed into Blake. She was already fitting so well into our little family. Whether she knew it or not, she was a member now and I loved seeing it.
When we finished, we ordered shit to-go too. We dropped the order off to Jayme at the shop then headed to Dyani’s spot. Since she was in the same building as Jayme, it just made sense to me.
Dyani got back to work on her laptop and I sat beside her on my phone and looked up more stuff for the shop. I priced a few different chairs and bulk ordered ink and needles.
We sat in silence for a good thirty minutes before Dyani got a call and hopped up. I watched her talk about art and shit I honestly didn’t understand, but she looked so cute and excited about it that I knew it was either something special to her or about to pay out big.
When she finished, she turned to me with a huge smile on her face.
“Do you want to come to an art gallery with me?” she asked. “It’s an hour drive one way and I’d prefer not to make it alone if I don’t have to.”
“You serious?”
“Yeah.”
“Alright.” I nodded. “Let’s do it.” I hopped up. “What do you want me to wear?”
“You’re cute in what you’re wearing and we’ll be in and out anyway. I just need to see the piece in person to make sure it’s real and they’re pushing it as a rush order. So the sooner I can get to it the better.”
“Then I’m ready when you’re ready.”
“Will you drive?”
“Yeah. I can do that.”
“Okay. Great.” She hopped up and I watched her run around her spot grabbing her purse, some little bag with the name of a gallery printed on it, her shoes, and her cell phone.
I let Dyani pick out the music for us to listen to. We stopped at a gas station for me to fill up and grab quick snacks. We called Jayme and let her know we’d be gone for the next three hours minimum and she said she’d probably have something cooked by the time we got back.
It was interesting watching Dyani do her work. She found the piece she was supposed to be pricing and we stood side by side while she took it in. I immediately realized I didn’t have a taste for art. It just looked like an overpriced picture to me but Dyani seemed happy about it. She spoke to someone about wanting to check its authenticity and they got two people to carefully take it off the wall. They led us to a small room in the back and I stayed by the door while Dyani looked at whatever she needed and ran her little tests.
