love. sex. dreams.

• five •

Tonight's the night, let's go for a ride, I wanna drown in your California eyes.
• • •
It's been almost a week since I've seen Rakim; it's like he disappeared from this earth. The girl from the other day was looking for him every day, banging on his door. I did miss him though, his company was good for me; he took my mind off everything else and I needed it too. So for the past week I've been sitting around at home, rolling around in bed and watching way too many serial killer documentaries. Work was fine, I've helped Georgia with a new marketing campaign and we created two more drinks containing coffee.

I came home in the afternoon on a cloudy Monday and noticed a new car parked in front of the building. It was a white Ford Mustang, drop top. I was looking at it, wondering whose it is. Then I took the elevator up and as I was unlocking the door, I heard Rakim's voice.

"Yo, wait!" He was running in my direction. I turned around to him and smiled. "I was looking for you."

"Oh yeah? I thought you were on vacation or something, haven't seen you around." I said.

"Oh, nah. I was just visiting my grandma in New York." He told me.

"How sweet of you." I pointed out.

"Everything for family, right? Listen..." He checked his watch for time. "What you doin' tonight?"

"Nothing much, I've been watching too many crime documentaries, I need to vent." I chuckled. "Why?"

"I need to be somewhere, I thought we could go for a ride, grab some drinks or something." He grinned.

"Need to be somewhere like?"

"My friends are having a little gathering at one of the bars down the beach, thought you could use a drink, have a good time; you don't have to go if you don't want to." He said.

"I'd love to go, sure. Like I said, I need to vent. When are we going?"

"Come by my place at 7, that okay?"

I nodded. "That's fine. See you later then." I opened my door.

"Aight, see you later princess Di." He said as he was walking back to his apartment.

I thought it was very nice of him to invite me, I really needed to socialize but I rarely went out by myself so I didn't meet any new people.

🦋

I was sitting on the edge of my bed, trying to pick something less depressing or casual to wear. I wasn't going full on fancy but I am a girl after all; I should look less potatoey. I went through all of my clothes and decided to go with blue jeans shorts, a little torn and bleached, a white top with thin straps and a beige sweater. I put on my vans slip-ons and pulled my hair up into a messy bun. I headed out, stopping at Rakim's door. I knocked.

"Come in." I heard him say. When I stepped inside he was drinking Pepsi and singing along to a song that was playing. "Hey!" He greeted me.

"Hi." I autistically waved at him. Face palm.

"Well look at you; she doesn't just wear sweatpants." He joked. "Suits you."

"Thank you. You look nice as well." I complimented him. He was wearing black jeans and a white polo shirt, accessorizing with a silver chain and grills on his upper teeth.

"Thanks a lot princess." He winked. "Now, I'm just gonna grab this..." He pulled out a smaller pack of weed and stuck it in his back pocket. "And we're good. Come on shawty."
I followed him down when I saw he was heading to that fancy white mustang.

"Hold on, this is yours?" I asked, ecstatic because I have never ridden in anything remotely similar; mom has a prius, so there you go.

"Mhm, it was my pop's." He said, hopping inside.

"It's beautiful." I joined him, getting in the passenger seat.

"Ain't it?" He started the engine and we drove off. "I remember when I was little and my dad said it'll be mine when I'm old enough to drive."

I grinned.

"I couldn't wait to grow up, lemme tell you that." He smiled.

Wind was gently blowing as my arm was resting on the door, it was beautiful. The buildings on the street were disappearing as we were driving by them. I was smiling back at him with my eyes squinted because of the sun shining. He had shades on but I just leaned back and closed my eyes.

"You ever ride in one of these?" He meant the convertible.

"Nope, first time." I said. He just smiled widely and turned his head back to the road. We arrived at the beach where there was a bar with a few people already there; they were Rakim's friends. I hardly noticed any girls, it was almost all guys.

"This looks nice." I said as we were getting out of the car. I grabbed my bag.

"It's a little paradise, ain't it. Come on." He said. "I'll introduce you."

I met all his friends, including his best friends Tyler and Frank. They were very welcoming and nice. We had a few drinks and as the night was slowly falling, I excused myself and took a short walk on the beach, barefoot in the sand, close to the water.

"Let me guess, you love sandy beaches." I heard Rakim say loudly. He was coming my way with two coronas in his hands.

"Correct. This is why I love Los Angeles, I couldn't imagine living anywhere else." I said.

"Here." He handed me one beer.

"I love these as well." I chuckled.

"Yes to LA and yes to coronas, so... you having a good time?" He was just watching out for me, it was cute.

"Yeah, your friends are really nice, especially Tyler. You're lucky to have them."

"They're cool but you are too. I like hangin' with you." He looked at me and I saw he meant it.

"I like hanging with you too Rakim." I said. He chuckled. "What?"

"Rakim... so official. You can call me Rocky if you want to."

"Oh, I like Rakim, it's a nice name." I said. It is, it's very unique and I happen to appreciate those kind of things.

"Alright then." He smiled, taking a sip and I thought to myself; maybe, just maybe I have a bit of a liking for him.