SALUBRIOUS

SB53

Nasiem Fareed

11:11 am - July 7th 2024

Between tattooing and getting the rent house on the market, Nas' schedule was filled, but he still made it his business to spend one on one time with Dakota in places that wasn't their homes. Currently, the couple was enjoying lunch together at a local bistro that one of his clients recommended. It wasn't too hot due to yesterday's rainy weather, so Dakota expressed that she wanted to sit outside—which they did.

"I need to talk to you about something." Dakota announced while gently swirling her red wine around, her direct eye contact with him had him feeling a bit nervous. She sounded serious and he couldn't think of any serious conversations that they needed to have at the moment. Nas nodded his head, motioning for Dakota to continue. He found himself grabbing his glass full of wine and taking a sip, due to his slight case of angst.

"So, you know how my lease ends very soon—like in two weeks." Dakota voiced, Nas nodded his head. "And I know we talked about me moving in with you instead of starting a new lease somewhere else." She added, causing Nas to smirk and chuckle at the memory. Frankly, they didn't do much talking when Nas brought up her moving in with him.

"Babe." Dakota kissed her teeth before attempting to mask her smile, but hastily failing as a few chuckles fell from her mouth. "You got the floor, baby." Nas assured, picking up his fork and stabbing it into his steak.

"I've been thinkin' about this long and hard...and I'm not really sure if I'm ready to move in with you just yet." Dakota announced, shocking the hell out of him. As of late, she'd spend weeks at his house, sleeping over and everything—so he wasn't sure how her permanently living with him would change anything.

"What's making you feel like you not ready?" Nas questioned while reaching for his wine. The news wasn't necessarily what he wanted to hear, but he was more focused on understanding why Dakota felt like that, rather than being upset about it.

"When we move in together, I want the spot to be equally ours. You know? Where we both have a hand in choosing the location and shit like that. Truthfully, your house is kinda far from everything in my everyday life. When the time aligns, I rather us pick an space that's in the middle. Not too far from my everyday life and not too far from Demi and your everyday life. And plus—I kinda wanna savor our little sleepovers." Dakota explained, Nas nodded his head.

"I understand." Nas replied as he took a bite of one of his two side dishes, continuing to nod his head. "You understand, but how do you feel about that?" Dakota questioned.

"I was ready to start waking up to that face every morning and going to sleep to it every night, but I get where you coming from. I'm glad you was comfortable enough to bring this to me, instead of moving in and not being happy about it." Nas candidly replied. He figured it was best, being that they both expressed that they wanted to be homeowners. Nas preferred them to move into something together that was theirs, rather than leasing.

"You always make me feel comfortable." Dakota smiled. Nas reached for her freshly manicured hand and placed a kiss on it. "So, where you plan on moving to?" Nas asked, as he finished off his beverage. He was slowly but surely becoming an avid wine drinker. The more knowledge he gained, the more his appreciation for a good aged glass of wine increased.

"I was thinkin' about moving back in with my mama and daddy, just to be rent free for a little bit, but I decided against it." Dakota announced while cutting off her piece of steak. "Why? Ma and pops real cool" Nas raised his eyebrow.

"They are, but I like to hunch and I'm not doing that in they house." Dakota replied, causing them both to laugh. "You must be getting that townhouse you been wanting." Nas voiced, remembering Dakota talk about the possibility of her moving into a townhome when her lease was up.