Afterglow ❃ l.m.j

• chapter seventeen •

Stefanie and I parted ways that night with a nice wad of cash between our tits, and it was enough to satisfy my sadness for the time being. Lottie would definitely be hearing about all of this drama tomorrow for sure, but until then, I just wanted to get the hell out of dodge. I swooped up my duffel and headed to Ally's office.

"Hey." When I pushed through the door and picked up my gaze, Normani and Ally seemed to be in a private conversation. "Oh, sorry, I should've knocked, I'm sorry."

The brunette's arms were crossed against her chest but her voice was soft. "Hey, no, it's okay. You can come in. We were actually just talking about...?" She looked at Ally for confirmation to spill.

"She's invited, she knows."

"Oh, okay. The Christmas party tomorrow night."

I'm sure my eyes lit up at the mention of Christmas. "Wait, you're going?"

Amusement passed through her eyes but Normani did her best to keep her face neutral. "Yeah."

"Oh my god, that's great!" I raised my eyebrow at Ally. "Are other people I know also coming?"

She rolled her eyes playfully. "Yes, I invited Stef and Rosé. They don't know that you, or that the other, is coming though so treat it as a surprise."

I made a motion as if zipping my lips. "Sealed, I promise." I ran forward to give her a hug, nearly toppling the blonde woman over. "Ugh, thank you so much, I seriously love you."

Her arms wrapped around me too. "I know, hun. How are you feeling, doing a little better?"

I pulled away from her as the brunette in the room looked between the both of us in curiosity. She also awaited my answer. "I'm doing okay. Which, by the way before I forget, I made a little over 12 tonight."

I fished the money from within my bra and opened a section of my bag where the crumpled bills lay. She nodded, turning towards her desk to rummage in a file cabinet and to grab a Manila envelope.

"Okay, so that should be..."

"$480." I answered.

Allyson pulled out her calculator to double check the numbers.

"Yup."

I forked over an extra $180. "And here is Mick's cut."

The house mother took the money from my hands, counting it appropriately. Then nodded in approval. She hummed under her breath as she sorted everything in it's appropriate place.

"Wow, so this is how that works." I heard the woman behind me whisper, earning a giggle. She turned to me. "So, I'm gonna go grab my stuff and do a final last check of the bar. Need a ride?"

The strap of my bag loosened as I moved to check the time. Almost four in the morning. "Um... Yeah, if you don't mind."

"Of course." She held her hand out, gesturing for my bag. "Give me, I'll go put it in the car."

"No, it's — are you sure?"

"Yeah, of course." She smiled at me, easing the bag off of my shoulder before turning on her heel to leave. "I got you."