𝐊-𝐈-𝐒𝐒-𝐈-𝐍-𝐆 - Chapter 15: Chapter 15

It was Friday night and the club was ten times more busy than any other Friday. Nas sat comfortably in his section, examining the overly crowded vicinity as people could barely move around to dance. "Why they still lettin' people in?" He thought to himself when he noticed more partygoers entering the club.
He shook his head before looking over at his boys who were either occupied with some random chicks or had a blunt to their face. 'Love Like This' by Faith Evans started playing and everyone instantly began to go wild once they heard the beat drop.
"Hey." A soft voice combined with a gentle tap on Nas' shoulder knocked him out of his thoughts. He looked to his left, seeing a woman in a tight, short strapless baby blue dress that hugged her frame perfectly with a half up half down hairstyle to go with it.
She had been sitting beside him for a while now but Nas honestly forgot she was there. After the first 15 minutes of conversation they were having, he tuned her out. She was beautiful but boring as shit.
"Oh my bad, shorty. I was just thinking about something. Ima go get a drink though, aight? I'll be back." Nas got up from the leather couch, heading into the crowd towards the bar.
He was lucky enough to find an empty stool with how packed it was. He sat down, waiting for a bartender to take his order. Making a mental note to himself, Nas decided he was going to head on home in half an hour since he wasn't really doing anything here. He felt like clubbing without real reason had become a complete waste of time to him. He'd rather be at home sleeping.
"Hi, what can I get for you?"
Nas slightly jumped at the sound of your voice. Your aura was welcoming, flashing him a smile through your strawberry glossed lips.
"A glass of Hennessy. Not too much ice, please." He responded with a small grin appearing on his face.
You nodded and prepared his drink. Nas kept his focus on you as you poured the brown liquor while dancing smoothly to the music. He couldn't take his eyes off you. Your skin glowed radiantly even under the dimmed lights in the club. Your hair was tied up in a curly ponytail, making your face easier to admire. Even in the simplicity of your work attire, you were gorgeous to him.
"Here you go." You said, sliding his glass to him. You gave him the price and he paid you with a very good tip included.
"All this just for giving you one glass of Henny?" You chuckled, holding up the money.
"So?" Nas shrugged, smirking at you. "Ain't nothin' wrong wit that." He stated before sipping his drink.
You smiled kindly, "thank you." You said and unzipped the black fanny pack around waist, placing the money in.
"Whatchu say your name was again?" Nas inquired.
"I didn't give you my name." You snickered. You knew what he was trying to do, but you didn't mind it all.
He was nice enough to give you a good tip, not that money mattered to you from a man, it was just the gesture that you found sweet. He was also attractive and seemed to have a smooth vibe attached to him.
He was relaxed, not doing too much like many of the drunk dudes in here usually behaved, which disgusted you every time they'd try to hit on you. Grown people who don't know when they've had enough to drink was one thing that annoyed you about this job.
Nas softly chuckled, "yeah you right. Well, my name is Nasir but you can just call me Nas." He formally introduced himself and held out his hand to you.
You latched your palm into his. "I'm Y/N." You failed to fight off the wide ass grin that appeared on your face. It was something about him that was making your heart glow and he didn't even do shit.
"You have a beautiful smile. Ima call you Smiley." Nas playfully conversed with you. "But only I can call you that. No one else, aight?" He swiped his tongue over his lips.
You jokingly rolled your eyes. "Okay, Nas."
You didn't realize your hand was still connected to his until you felt his thumb gently caressing it. And then you finally snapped out of the trance you were in, remembering that you weren't necessarily single.
You eased your hand out of his, clearing your throat. "I should get back to work." You said and grabbed a cloth, wiping down the counter.
Nas furrowed his eyebrows at your sudden mood switch. He glared at you, reading the nervousness that took over your body, and then it came to him.
"You got a man, don't you?" He blurted out.
Your movements started to slow down as you looked back at him. "It's complicated."
"Complicated how?"
You completely stopped wiping down the counter, giving him a mean mug. "I don't think that's any of your business."
Nas just chuckled, lightly brushing over the bridge of his nose. He remained silent as he picked up a napkin from the stack that was beside him on the counter. He leaned over to you, pulling out the pen that was tucked behind your ear.
You confusingly looked at him as he wrote something down on the napkin. Once he was done, he laid the pen down on top of it, sliding them across to you.
"Here." He said. You looked down, seeing that it was his number. "Don't be afraid to use that, Smiley." He chugged down the rest of the Hennessy and walked back to his section.
— THREE DAYS LATER —
"You've been in Chicago for a whole fucking week now! You were supposed to come back on Sunday! And on top of that, you haven't been answering my phone calls since you left! Nigga are you crazy?!"
You were currently on the phone going back and forth with your on and off boyfriend, Lamar.
"Who you think you talking to, Y/N?! I told you I've been busy with work— you know what? This is bullshit. How are we supposed to fix things between us if you can't trust me?"
"Because you've given me countless reasons not to trust you!"
Lamar sighed. "Baby, I don't wanna keep doing this with you. Look, I promise ima call you as much as I can and I'll stop ignoring your calls even though I wasn't ignoring them on purpose."
You were quiet for a few seconds before kissing your teeth. "Whatever."
You just knew Lamar was cheesing hard as fuck on the other end. You however, were still upset. But you were tired of arguing, it was giving you a massive headache.
"You miss daddy?"
A smirk instantly fell on your face. "Yes. I just want you to come home." You whined.
"I miss you too, bab— oh shit. Lemme call you back."
And just like that, you were met with the dial tone. You pulled the phone away from your ear, giving it a look as you scoffed before hanging up. You weren't surprised. You've gotten used to the bullshit between you and Lamar.
He's been the only man you've loved for the past six years. It was hard to let him go which is why you were always giving him chances to prove to you that he could change.
But shit was getting tired. You knew you would have to let him go for good eventually if you ever wanted to feel genuine happiness again. You just wanted to feel appreciated. You wanted someone to make you smile effortlessly the way Nasir did at the club.
You nibbled your bottom lip as you remembered the fine ass gentleman from that night.
You lightly gasped when the thought of him giving you his number crossed your mind. You rushed out the kitchen and into your bedroom, searching for your black jeans. You dug into the back pocket once you found them, retrieving the napkin with Nas' number.
You headed back into the kitchen, contemplating if you should actually call him. "Will he even remember me?" You asked yourself as you continued to stare at the napkin.
Talking to another guy while Lamar was gone didn't phase you one bit. You just wanted someone to vent to. You knew your friends were tired of hearing the same old story because they were the ones who always tried to convince to stop giving him chances.
You were hoping Nasir would be open to listen to you. It seemed like he was that night at the club, but you shut him down. You didn't know him like that, which is why you chose not to speak your personal business with him.
Now you were having a change of heart. He did say not to be afraid to call him, so you decided to take advantage of that.
You picked up the phone, dialing his number. It rang twice before he answered. "Yo, who dis?"
"Hey.. um, it's Y/N." You replied shyly. "We met at the club on Friday—"
"Oh shit, Smiley?!" He exclaimed excitedly, cutting you off.
You giggled and plopped up on your kitchen counter. "Yeah, it's me."
"Bout time you finally called. How you doin'?"
"I'm alright." You said blandly, thinking about you and Lamar's situation. "How are you?"
"Aye why you sound like that? What's wrong— wait hold on for a second." He said and kissed his teeth before he began shouting in the background. "Des, ima whoop you if you don't stop playin' around! Put yo' shoes on!"
"I'm sorry, did I call at a bad time?" You asked once Nas came back to the phone.
"Nah, nah. You good. I just got my daughter here. I was about to go get her some ice cream before I drop her back at her moms."
"Aww, how old is she?" You smiled, finding out he was a father. You loved kids and couldn't wait to have some of your own one day.
"She just turned four." He replied before asking if you had any kids yourself. You told him you didn't but you plan on having three.
"Word. But yo, how 'bout you come with me and Des to get ice cream and then you could tell me why you really called. You sound like someone just shitted on your whole day."
You sighed while playing with the phone cord. "I guess you could say that."
There was shuffling in the background before Nas spoke again. "Where you stay at? I'll come get you right now."
You gave him your address and he told you he would be there soon. You quickly got dressed, throwing on something casual and slicking your hair up into a bun.
He paged you about 25 minutes later letting you know he was outside. You rushed out your residence, anxious to finally get out of the house. You were really tired of moping around over your boyfriend.
Nas had already gotten out of the car to open the passenger door for you. "Wassup, beautiful?" He greeted you, wrapping one arm around your shoulder.
You snaked your arms around his torso, hugging him as you caught a swift smell of his cologne. "Hey, Nas. Thanks for coming."
"Don't worry about it." He said pulling away to open the door. You got in and immediately looked in the back seat, seeing Nas' daughter sitting there staring at you.
"Hi cutie." You said sweetly, causing her to smile at you.
Nas got in the car, shutting the door and looking back at her. "Destiny, say hi to daddy's friend."
"Hi daddy's fwend." Destiny replied and waved at you. You laughed at how adorable she was before telling her your actual name.
"You can just call her Smiley, Des." Nas stated as he started the car.
"Why?" Destiny's little voice questioned her father.
"Because she never stops smiling." He responded, quickly glancing over at you with a smirk. "Well at least with me she doesn't."
You playfully smacked your lips. "I thought you said only you can call me Smiley." You raised an eyebrow at him.
"Destiny's an exception." He chuckled.
A light breath escaped your mouth as you sat back comfortably. You decided to take this opportunity to tell him everything that was going wrong with your relationship.
"Wait hold up, hold up. He slept with your cousin and you still took him back? That nigga must have you under a spell." Nas shook his head as he pulled up to the ice cream parlour.
"I know.. I'm an idiot." You admitted shamefully.
"You're not an idiot. You're just blinded by the history and years you share with him. He's been ya mans since high school, so he's all you've ever known. But you gotta let go of him. You taking him back after all his wrongdoings is just proving to him that you're weak. He's gonna keep taking advantage of that if you don't wake up soon, ma." Nas kept it all the way real with you.
You both got out of the car and Nas helped Destiny out of her car seat. He tried to hold on to her hand, but she grabbed on to yours instead.
Nas grinned, "she likes you. That's crazy because she doesn't like anyone with her rude ass." He muttered to you as you all walked in the shop.
"I need to take a leak." He said as he pulled out some money and handed it to you. "Get her a vanilla cone with sprinkles, and you can get something for yourself. Or if you want some real food, we can get that after I drop her off."
"Alright." You nodded and led Destiny to the line while Nasir went to the bathroom.
You placed Destiny's order and decided to take up Nas' offer to get something to eat later.. which is what he was hoping for since he wanted to spend more time with you.
"Smiley?" Destiny called out for you.
You looked down at her, "yeah cutie?"
"Do you like my daddy?"
You chuckled before retrieving the ice cream cone from the employee, thanking her and handing it to Destiny. "Your daddy is a very nice person, so yes." You answered the toddler.
"Don't tell him I said that though." You smiled and winked at her.
Destiny giggled, "I won't." She said and began licking her ice cream.
"What y'all talkin' about?" Nas appeared behind the two of you.
You and Destiny looked at each other before looking at him. "Nothing." You said in unison.
Nas smacked his lips and waved you off. "Let's get out of here." He said walking off.
You and Des shared a laugh while following behind him.
—
"Bye, Smiley!" Destiny exclaimed as Nas helped her out the car.
"Bye, cutie!"
You watched as Nas and Destiny walked over to her mother. She was a pretty petite woman, dressed in designer everything.
Nas hugged and kissed Destiny's forehead before returning back to the car. "She's pretty. What happened with you guys if you don't mind me asking?" You asked him.
Nas put on his seatbelt before starting the car. "She cheated on me so I cheated on her back. It got really toxic. The love we once had for each other wasn't there anymore so we just decided to keep anything between us strictly about Des."
"Oh wow.. I'm sorry to hear that."
Nasir shrugged. "It's all good. I've moved on from that mess. I didn't want it to get that bad because I really did love that girl, but it is what it is. Everything's a learning lesson."
He soon pulled up to a Soul Food restaurant, causing your stomach to growl.
"Shit.. someone's hungry." Nas laughed.
"Hell yeah! I ain't eat all day because I was too busy fighting with ol' boy." You quickly popped off your seatbelt and rushed out the car.
The two of you had the best time. Eating some amazing food while getting to know each other's backgrounds. You made plans to see each other again some time this week and you already couldn't wait.
Once you arrived back home, Nas got out of the car to open your door. "Thank you so much for getting me out the house today. I had a great time with both you and Destiny."
"I gotchu any time, ma. Des had a good time with you too. You can come over and hang out with us whenever you like." He said as he pulled you into a comforting hug.
He placed a kiss on your cheek and looked into your eyes. "Have a goodnight, Smiley."
Butterflies swarmed around in your stomach. Without thinking, you leaned in, kissing his soft lips and pulling away to respond. "Have a goodnight, Nasir."
The kiss caught him by surprise but he wasn't mad at it. He bit his lip, eyeing you seductively with his hooded orbs before your front door unlocked and swung open, startling the both of you.
"Y/N what the fuck is you doing?! Who the hell is this?!"
You were met with an angry Lamar.
"Ah shit.." Nasir mumbled and began to laugh.
Lamar stepped closer to an unbothered Nasir. "Nigga what's funny?! I'm funny to you?!"
"Look at this goofy ass nigga here." Nasir continued to laugh, causing Lamar to get even more upset.
You immediately got in between them, facing your boyfriend. "What are you doing here? You said you wouldn't be home for a few more days."
Lamar scoffed. "I asked to come home today because of how you've been bitching about me being gone. But if I knew you were gonna be occupied with someone else, I would've stayed where the fuck I was at."
As you were taking in his words, your eyes trailed down his neck, noticing marks that were obviously hickies.
You remained calm, taking a deep breath before looking over at Nas. "I'll see you later." You spoke softly to him.
"Aight." His raspy toned voice was music to your ears. He eyed Lamar disgustingly up and down before getting back into his car.
Lamar just kept his focus on you while you walked inside your home. "You ain't seeing shit later. Getcho ass in this house, acting stupid out here."
As soon as you reached the door frame, you immediately turned around to face him as you stopped him from entering. "Goodbye, Lamar."
Lamar drew his eyebrows together. "Goodbye? The fuck you sayin—"
"Take care!" You slammed the door shut in his face and locked it, setting the security system.
You felt a rush of relief throughout your body. You completely ignored Lamar's begging from outside and made your way to the bathroom to take a shower.
Nas watched and laughed from outside in his car as Lamar yelled out your name. He started the car and drove off, happy that you were finally realizing your worth.