Page 3 of Plea
As I suspected, she’d texted me and asked me for food during the drive, so I stopped by one of the few places that was still open this close to midnight. The hot wings and fries were piping hot, and the longer the smell permeated my car, the more I regretted not getting an order of the honey gold wings for myself. When I arrived, I entered the code and made my way straight down the hall since the door would automatically lock behind me.
As soon as I stepped into her room and saw her pouting while she looked at something on her phone, I sighed. The more her mood changed without explanation the more it irritated me. I was a problem solver and loved to help, so not knowing what was going on with her made me feel helpless. It would have been different if she was going through something personal and told me she didn’t want to talk about it. That, I could respect.
Her sad eyes lifted in my direction as she sat up in bed.
“Hey, baby,” she greeted me softly. “How was the party?”
Chuckling, I set the bag on her nightstand and began to open it. “It wasn’t really a party, but it was cool. How you feeling?”
Asia shrugged. “I’m feeling alright. How are you?”
After I had the bag open, I cut the lamp on and looked her face over. Her puffy eyes let me know she had been crying. When she looked away, I didn’t bother calling her out on it. She’d lie again and say nothing was wrong which would piss me off and make me want to leave. Instead, I set the to-go plate on her lap then went to the kitchen to get her a bottle of water and some extra napkins. While she ate, I showered and tried to relax my mind. I had a long day ahead of me and needed to get some good sleep.
Sundays had always been reserved for church and family dinner, so I’d need to make the most of my brief time with Asia, because I likely wouldn’t see her again until Tuesday orWednesday. That was another reason I hated the fact that she didn’t communicate what was bothering her. Because it affected her mood, it affected the brief moments we had together. I wouldn’t be an asshole and avoid her while she was going through some shit, but I honestly didn’t know how much more of this I could take.
Chapter
Three
Venus
The alarmon my phone chimed, letting me know it was time for me to get ready to meet Trevor for lunch. What my sisters and mom said three days ago was still resting heavily in my mind and heart. I had to rewire a part of my brain in preparation for this conversation. If I wasn’t careful, Trevor could easily gaslight me into changing my mind about something just so he could be right, or at least, not wrong.
Up until recently, that was the only flaw I’d seen in him, and it was something I felt like I could deal with by just avoiding certain conversations with him. The closer it got to our wedding, the more I realized I didn’t want that kind of relationship with my husband. I wanted a man that made me feel safe about coming to him to talk about anything. I wanted a man that made me feel safe coming to him with my emotions and problems, big or small. Someone who was emotionally available enough to care about me in all situations and regards. If Trevor didn’t showme he was that man by next month, I would have to call the wedding off.
As quickly as I could, I finalized the list of inventory I’d need to grab from the beauty store. Now that we had a black owned beauty supply store that was large enough to be considered a warehouse, I bought everything I could from there. The only thing I still used exclusive vendors for was my stylists’ bundles. Tucking my notebook into my large tote bag, I headed toward the front of my salon.
The Beauty Barwas truly my pride and joy. It was three levels. I had a makeup and nail bar, a braid bar, and a regular bar for all other hairstyles. All of my stylists were salaried employees, and they didn’t have to pay a booth or suite fee. If they found clients on their own that was cool, but it wasn’t a requirement. They had set daily hours and would have whatever clients booked their services. Whenever a stylist wasn’t booked directly, she took walk-ins.
In our first year of business, we brought in seven figures. I believe that was why the one year anniversary party was so important to me. I’d created something that wasn’t done by anyone else in Rose Valley Hills and was proud of it. I hated that I cared so much about my man being proud of it too.
Not allowing Trevor’s lack of excitement to ruin my mood, a smile remained plastered on my face as I headed to the front. How the bar was set up, the front of the first level was the check in and waiting area. I’d decorated the bar in green, which was my favorite color, and champagne. All of the equipment was black, and so was the flooring and walls. There was a line of people waiting to be checked in, and since there was only one receptionist working, I decided to take a moment to help her. Hopefully it wouldn’t make me too late, but if it did, Trevor would be fine. Hell, it wasn’t like he hadn’t been late before.
Setting my bag down, I quickly shrugged my pea coat off and tossed it onto the high desk. I’d dressed casually in a form fitting shirt, leggings, and a pair of Nike sneakers. My jewelry elevated the casual look, and so did my full face of makeup. Craning my neck, I looked to see who the next person in line was. My mouth watered at the sight of the fine ass man.
He was dressed in an olive green suit that looked like it was made just for him. The light brown tie matched his loafers, and his white button down shirt and pocket square were both crisp. For a moment, I forgot how to speak. The longer his eyes stared into mine, the slower my brain processed words.
“She can help you over here, sir,” Audry said, forcing me to nod my agreement as I smiled.
A sexy smile lifted the corners of his lips as he headed in my direction—as if he just knew how fine he was. As if his appearance and aura often made women speechless. Maybe they did.
“Hi,” I spoke. “Welcome toThe Beauty Bar. How can I help you?”
“First, I have a question.” I nodded for him to continue, crossing my ankles and squeezing my thighs together from how good his raspy voice sounded. “Do you all take new clients?”
“Yes, we do.”
“Good. Then I’d like to get a gift card.”
“Sure, I can help you with that.” My smile was genuine as I reached under the desk and grabbed a gift card from the shelf. “How much would you like to put on the card?”
“Uh… Let me ask another question.”
The innocence of his smile along with his low tone made me blush. Unable to stop myself I blurted, “You have really beautiful eyes.”
They looked so honest and pure. They were dark brown but syrup brown in the center. That syrup brown was glowing under the lighting.
“Sorry,” I rushed out as his smile wavered.
