26 - friday

Amina

<>

The end of the week had finally come, and I could happily say thank God it was Friday. It was only the end of the first week of the semester and I was already tapped out.

I woke up very late, allowing myself to sleep in after exerting myself all week. I roll out of bed tiredly, throwing on my robe before strolling into the kitchen.

"So you're finally up." Kendra chuckles as she pops something into the air fryer.

I nod in response, "I needed that. But now I need coffee." I say putting a coffee pod into the machine.

"So what do you have planned for the rest of the afternoon?" She asks.

I shrug, "Homework. And I have to meet later with Dominic for our class project."

She lifts her brows, "Dominic huh? Just the two of you?"

"Well, of course, we're the only people in the group." I reply causally. She begins wiggling her eyebrows suggestively, making me frown at her. "Stop it Ken."

She chuckles, "I'm just saying."

"Good afternoon guys!" Bianca says cheerfully as she enters the apartment.

"What's got you so happy?" I murmur, taking a seat at the counter.

"I've just been having a good day. Is that a crime?" She says entering the kitchen to put together a snack.

"It is when you're that peppy, what's up?" Kendra asks placing a hand on her hip.

Bianca laughs, "Guys! It's a beautiful day, we should have a picnic!"

"I'm not going outside today. Matter of fact I'm not even opening a window." I reply.

"If you're not going outside does that mean your meeting with Dominic is taking place in the bedroom." Kendra asks wiggling her brows again. I throw the apple in the fruit basket in front of me at her, making her shriek as she jumps out of the way.

"You're talking to Dominic again?" Bianca asks in surprise, ignoring Kendra's dramatics.

"We were partnered for a school project."

"And making secret date plans." Kendra adds in a teasing tone.

"There's more than one fruit in here you know?" I threaten as I reach my hand in the bowl, making her hide behind Bianca.

"So no secret dates?" Bianca asks.

"No! Kendra is just spreading rumors."

Kendra scoffs, "Rumors? You two can't stay away from each other! I'm sure if given the chance you'd invite him to everything. Like that gala!"

I scrunch my face in disgust, "Now why would I do that?

"You're going to a gala?" Bianca asks cheerfully, "What're you going to wear?"

"Oh my gosh that's true, we need to go shopping!" Kendra adds.

"Guys! I haven't even decided if I'm going."

"And when you decide to go you need to make sure you're prepared! We need to go to the mall." Kendra says.

I frown, "No, today is my rest day."

"Oh come on Ami, it'll be fun. And we'll only check out like two stores. We'll have you home by 5 pm!" Bianca says.

I looked at the clock, it was 2 pm. I sigh, "Fine, but no guarantee I'm buying anything. Just looking."

-

It was 6:30 pm and I had tried on 8 dresses, 10 pairs of shoes, and purchased a beautiful necklace but yet they were still holding me hostage in this dressing room.

"Okay, I found this one. I think it goes a lot better with the necklace." Kendra says, bringing another dress for me to try on in the dressing room.

"Guys no more! Please, we didn't find anything let's just accept defeat."

"Just try this one on. Last one I promise." She says handing me the dress. I sigh, taking it out of her hands. It was a black Sequin Open Back Ball Gown with a slit that went up mid-thigh.

I close the dressing room door before putting the dress on. It slid on effortlessly and I looked in the mirror to view myself. The color complimented my skin as the dress clung to my curves beautifully. I step out of the dress ring room to show the girls and they both gasp.

"It's so beautiful on you."

"And it goes with the necklace!" Kendra gushes.

I smile, admiring myself in the mirror. "It is a beautiful dress."

"No, you make the dress beautiful. Dominic is going to die when he sees you."

I frown, raising an eyebrow at her. "Dominic is not coming."

"Yeah, but you might as well knock on his door to ensure he sees this!"

"You should get it." Bianca encourages.

"Should I?" I look down at the side of the dress to read the price tag, $100. "Maybe I should. $100 isn't that bad right?"

"In this economy? Of course not. My cousin paid $300 for her prom dress and it wasn't nearly as cute as this."

I chuckle, "Alright I'll get it. Even if I don't go to the gala I'm sure I'll use it for something else."

"You're going to that gala." Kendra urges.

"What if it's not up to societal standards?" I bite my lip nervously, "Maybe I shouldn't even bother with the dress. This was stupid."

"No! You're getting the dress and you're going to the gala. Everything will work out fine."

I sigh, "I hope so."

By the time we got home, it was much later than anticipated. After getting the dress we started to hunt for matching shoes to put the whole look together. From there we stopped to eat at a restaurant and chatted for a while before we made it back to the house by 10 pm.

I got into the house and put my dress in my closet, as well as my shoes and necklace away in their designated spaces. I changed out of my clothes and pulled out my laptop, using my waiting time to read up on our assignment details.

As the clock approached 11 pm, I texted Dominic, letting him know I was ready when he was. When I got no immediate answer I continued working on my laptop.

15 minutes had passed and I left him another text.

After another 30 minutes, it was now 11:45 pm. I called his phone. To my dismay, there was no answer. I angrily got up, making my way to his front door. I knocked aggressively and waited for a response, in which I didn't get one. He must still not be home.

I take a seat on his chair in front of his apartment. I'll wait 20 minutes and then I'm going to bed. I sat there annoyed that he could be so irresponsible. The least he could do was shoot me a text that he was running late or needed to cancel.

After 10 minutes I felt myself fighting sleep as I kept nodding off where I was. It wasn't until a tap on my shoulder made me jump up. I look up at the person and Dominic chuckles.

I glare at him, "Where have you been?"

His eyes widen in realization, "Oh my God. Our meeting, I completely blanked."

I squint my eyes in annoyance, "You blanked? I called you and texted you."

He sighs, taking the seat beside me. "I'm really sorry. I was dealing with something and shut my phone off."

"Well isn't that so convenient? Why would you do that when you know we're supposed to be meeting?"

"I forgot."

I sigh, "Whatever. Look if you're not going to take this project seriously then tell me right now so I can stop bothering."

"Hey, I said I'm sorry. Not everything goes to plan. I'm here now aren't I?" He stands up, "Let's go inside and discuss."

I shake my head, "I'm exhausted now, it's almost 1 am."

"I can brew some coffee."

"I have work in the morning."

He sighs, "Okay. Just 10 minutes then. Let's see what we can get done."

I roll my eyes, "10 minutes." He nods, opening the door for me to enter. I take a seat on the couch, still feeling tired from this week. I open my laptop, pushing it over toward him to look at it. "This is what I was thinking of."

He looks over it, reading each detail I had carefully written out. He nods before picking up his laptop and handing it to me, "And this is what I was thinking."

I read over it and frown. "A sneaker company?"

He nods, "I thought it would be an easier concept to work with. And we have so many examples to use, Nike, Adidas, stuff like that."

"The same could be said for a tech company. We have Apple, Samsung, Google." I say defending my idea.

"But tech is so broad. At least with mine, we know our ad is just for shoes."

"It doesn't have to be broad we could just do it for phones."

He sighs, closing his laptop. "We're not going to come to an agreement like this."

"You're right, we're not. Why don't you want to do mine?"

He shrugs, "I just don't."

"That's not a reason."

"It is a reason, why don't you want to do mine?"

"Because it's too simple. I like to go above and beyond expectations."

"Overachiever." He mumbles, making me hit him gently.

"If you don't tell me the real reason we're going to do my idea."

"Are you threatening me?" He asks with a smirk.

"Dominic."

He sighs, "Fine. You know my dad's into tech. I just don't want to do anything like that. That's all."

I raise a brow, "Really?"

"I know you think that's a stupid reason, but it's the truth."

"Why do you dislike your dad so much?" I ask gently.

He looks away, "It's complicated."

"He seems to really care about you."

He scoffs, "Trust me, he doesn't."

I hesitate before speaking again, unsure if I should bring it up now. "He called me into his office this week while I was at Acme for my internship."

Dominic looks up at me in surprise. "What did he want? Are you okay?" He asks hurriedly, concern written on his face.

I nod, "Yeah, I'm fine. He wanted to talk to me about the Innovation for Impact Gala."

"Oh." He frowns, "Let me guess he wants you to get me to come?" I nod slowly and he scoffs, getting up from the couch. "He says you've never come to any events and he'd really like you there to see the impact the company is making."

"He's a liar Amina. That's not why he wants me there."

"Then why does he?"

He shrugs, "I don't know. I don't understand that twisted mind of his. But I know that if he wants something it can't be for a good reason."

"But what if he actually just wants his son to be a part of this part of his life?" I ask.

He chuckles sarcastically, "Don't you see? The second he saw that you and I were even remotely close he's trying to use you to get to me! Why are you letting him?"

"I'm not letting him do anything! This is something I want too! That gala could be a life-changing experience for me! Maybe for both of us!"

He nods his head slowly, laughing sarcastically. "I see. He promised you tickets if you got me to go didn't he?"

"I just want you to be there." I admit honestly.

He scoffs, "Maybe we should ask Crutchfield for a partner change. This won't work." He walks over to the door opening it for me, "Good night Amina."

I sigh, grabbing my things before heading to the door. "Just think about it." I tell him before walking out.

———

Should Ami have asked him about the gala?

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- AuggiePooh_