Love and Loss

27. Freak Nasty

2:45 pm
Los Angeles, CA
Deija

"I'm so glad we're gonna be roomies for the season." Tiana smiled, as she grabbed a a box of baby food off the shelves. "We finna be too lit."

I was running some errands with Tiana and Khalil today, and we were currently grocery shopping at Publix.

I laughed, "For real. I'm excited to spend time with my Mani." I said in my baby voice, playing with his little tiny hand as he sat in the cart looking up at his mama and me.

Tiana smacked her teeth, "Y'all are fake."

"How so?"

"Y'all just use me for my baby now."

"That's not true!" I exclaimed. "Your baby's just an incentive."

"Whatever." She rolled her eyes before narrowing them at Mani who was giggling in the cart. "You enjoy taking my friends from me."

"Don't do him like that." I chuckled, as we turned down the snack aisle. I grabbed a couple of bags of hot fries for myself, placing them in the cart. "Let me ask you something?"

"What's up?"

"How do you do this whole basketball season thing? Aiden's basically gone the whole year."

"Yeah..." she chuckled a bit.

"How are you okay with being away from him that long?" I asked almost incredulously. "Just thinking about being away from Cam that much makes my chest hurt. I don't know what's happening to me."

Tiana grabbed some chips from the shelf with a laugh, "You're in love, that's what happening to you! I'm so glad my brother's treating you well."

"Yeah, he knows y'all would kick his ass if he did otherwise."

"I know that's right." Tiana chuckled. "But real life, it's hard as shit. After I had Mani I damn near cried everyday because I was sad he wasn't just here experiencing all of Khalil's firsts with me."

"But I basically talked to him 24/7, we were always in the phone. Me and Mani fly to a lot of his games, plus he comes back sometimes too." She spoke. "Besides that, I got hobbies and a job to busy up my free time. The best part of it, is it gives you a lot of time to work on yourself."

"I could use that." I raised my brows, chuckling. "I need to find a job, and quick."

"Oh! I forgot to tell you, this girl who came in for a tattoo the other day, she owns a dance company."

After college, Tiana was a little lost on what she wanted to do. She has graduated with an art degree and had always loved to make art but she didn't know exactly what sector she wanted to go in to.

After a few months, she got into tattooing and ever since had fallen in love with it. She had gained a lot of traction on instagram, getting many celebrities and influencers booking appointments with her. She was really doing her shit and I couldn't have been more proud of her.

"Really?"

Tiana nodded, "She just opened up a studio downtown and she said she was in need of some new instructors." She opened up her purse, rumbling through it a little before pulling out a business card to hand to me. "I might've mentioned my best friend is the one she wants to talk to."

"What?" I laughed.

"She wants you to come in for an interview."

I smiled as I read over the business card. "Dope. I'mma hit her up."

"Good."

I looked over to her with a pout.

"What?" she laughed.