The Neighbor

Chapter 5: My City

Author sidetone: I was lucky enough to go to ANTI World Tour in LA on Wednesday and guys, the connection is too real!! I'm like trying to contain my happiness seeing the actual Aubrih 'Work' performance live, they are so unreal! I'm so inspired now hahaha! That's it :)

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One year later...

"Rih, there's a call waiting on line 2." Jen, one of Robyn's employee, said as she peeked through her office door.

"Yeah, I'll be right on it in a minute." she said as she was still talking to another client on the phone.

It's crazy how it's already been a year since she moved to her apartment and made a promise to herself to make her business grow. All the plans she had came true. The growth of sales within Fenty has tripled in a span of twelve months. Just her shop's Instagram account alone gained almost 500,000 new followers. There are a good number of celebrities that have worn her clothes as well. Seeing as though the demand was increasing for her clothes, she was able to move to a bigger store to keep up.

Yes, it's been a successful year for Robyn Rihanna Fenty. Professionally and career-wise, at least. Everything else has been pretty much the same as it was a year ago, she did not make time for anything else.

"Good morning, thanks for calling Fenty of Los Angeles. Thank you so much for waiting. This is Rihanna speaking." she said with confidence.

"Good morning, Ms. Fenty. My name is Mark. I actually did not think I was going to be put on hold for this call but I don't have the time to talk about business right now. Will you be available for a call again around this time next week?"

"I truly apologize for the wait but of course, I will be looking forward your call."

It was only 10 am and Robyn's been bombarded with calls here and there. Having a successful business comes with a toll, though. She did put her career first that she literally does not have much time outside of a couple of friends that she has outside of her job.

She rested her head on her table from exhaustion. "Damn, I need a vacation!" she told herself.

"I'm so sorry to bother you again, Rih but you have a visitor." Jen peeked in again.

She raised her head up and sighed, "Go ahead, let them in. Thanks, Jen."

Robyn promoted her as the manager of the store a couple of months ago to ease the work away from her being the owner just a little bit but now she feels like she needs an assistant. "An assistant? I feel like a celebrity now, wow." she thought to herself.

A familiar face walked in. He was wearing his usual, casual attire: Timberlands, blue jeans, and a black t-shirt. His hair was just a little bit longer, more curly than the last time she saw him. He's still the same attractive man she met in the halls of their apartment building. Most of all, he wore his favorite accessory he had – his smile.

God, she missed him. It's only been two weeks since they last saw each other but it seems like it's been years. Only having known each other for a year, they already have settled weekly traditions. If they had time during Monday mornings, they went out for a run or gym. Wednesdays or Thursdays, they'd either stay in for a movie, tv show, or a basketball game with a box of pizza, Chinese food, or beer. For the rest of the nights, unless they had plans with other people or needed to be alone, they'd usually spend time in each other's apartment anyway. From an outsider's point of view, it looks like they're the perfect couple.

Robyn has surely surprised herself to have a relationship with this man. No, a friendly relationship. She never really believed that a man and a woman can be friends without anything happening to them until she made it work with Aubrey. Based on other personal experience, once she settled the 'let's be friends' card, they'll just drift away as if nothing happened. He's definitely been her rock for when Mel was not available. It also made it easier to have him so close so if she needed to vent, she was sure he would want to listen. Without a doubt, there have been times when something almost did happen but they always prioritized the friendship they have.