Bloom

10 | leap of faith

Giselle "G" Rowe
Friday, October 14 | 1:37 p.m.
Square Hills - shopping mall

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"Do you like it?"

I watch nervously as Breanne holds up the hot pink garment to the light, inspecting it closely. Her fingers skim over the seams and she smiles.

"Yo' line work is impressive, Giselle. I love it!" I sigh in relief, flashing a smile that matches hers while she rummages her hand inside of her large purse.

Her son gets fussy inside of his stroller and just when I think she's about to pull her wallet out, a pacifier is retrieved and offered to the child. He accepts it, closing his eyes and calming down immediately, allowing his mother to turn her attention back to the contents of her purse. I pat my hands on my thighs, scanning my eyes around the food court, not wanting to look overly excited for the money.

The truth is, I'm a little on edge. Breanne is customer number three out of the initial four orders that I received and I'm happy to have completed so many in a timely manner — Keyani's order has only just begun and I've even accepted a few more.

However, I've only actually been paid for my first order being that customer number two went completely ghost on me and wasted my time and materials. If I've learned anything, it's that deposits are necessary. I've implemented that in every order after order number four. Hopefully I can still sell customer number two's garment to someone else soon.

"I can't wait to wear this! I'm tryna get my sexy back after having this baby." Breanne thumbs through some bills, counting under her breath.

"I know that's right." I chuckle, accepting the payment. "Thank you so much for you business."

She hums, rising from her seat and pushing her stroller towards the exit. I pocket the money and get in line at one of the Chinese restaurants, selecting the same meal that I always get — shrimp fried rice and Mongolian chicken, with a few crab rangoons on the side for later.

Once I'm behind the wheel, I place all of my things on the passenger side and connect to the aux, pulling out into the busy city traffic.

My anxiety slightly heightens as I try to switch lanes, throughly checking my blind spot before drifting over. I exhale through my nose and sing along to Kendrick Lamar's "Money Trees."

"It go Halle Berry or hallelujah. Pick your poison tell me what you doin.' Everybody gon' respect the shooter, but the one in front of the gun lives forever."

It still feels a little strange to be behind the wheel again since June has been chauffeuring me around all week. What was suppose to be just rides to and from work, turned into him taking me everywhere, even on another lunch date. This time, we went to a Korean bbq spot.

No doubt, he's good company and we do have a wonderful time together, but I needed a quick little break from him. I have better control over my emotions when we're apart.

And better control over my pu —

Traffic comes to an abrupt slow, making me press the brake roughly and I roll my eyes at the line of stopped cars ahead. Regardless of what's happening right now, things have been good overall. I got paid twice with no hassle, so I have no choice but to be optimistic.

"A dolla might turn to a million and we all rich, that's just how I feel."

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Sunday, October 16 | 4:11 p.m.
The Rowe Residence

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