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“My bad.” He lied. “Almost got carried away.”
“Ummhmm. You did.” I held my arm out so he could put my bracelet on.
“You ready?” He probed once he was done.
“Yep.” Giving myself a once over in the mirror I sprayed some Creed Wind Flowers perfume all over my body and tossed my phone in my bag.
Hand in hand Julius and I walked out of our suite and met up with everyone else downstairs in the lobby. Once we hopped in the black truck it took no time for us to make it to the harbor where the boat was docked.
“This it?” I asked while peering out of the window at the large yacht. Julius and I had been on plenty of luxury boats but never nothing this large. I knew whoever owned this had dropped some serious ass money for it.
“Yep.” Tito confirmed. “Muthafucka is nice as hell on the inside.”
“I bet it is. This is nice.”
“This the type of money I’m tryna have before I stop rapping.” Julius shared.
Turning around to face him I chided. “Julius please. You got money.”
“I do, but nothing like this.” He tilted his head toward the boat.
When the truck rolled to a stop the driver got out and opened the back door. Julius slid out first and held his hand out for me to grab. I got out and adjusted my top before linking my fingers through his. Tito led the way to the boat with the rest of us trailing behind him.
The vibes were there for sure. Tito ushered us to the red carpet that led straight to the boat. There was a photographer standing near the entrance taking pictures of the party goers. Julius and I posed for a few shots before being rushed onto the boat.
Instead of going on the deck where the party was going on at, a worker walked us inside to the main level of the yacht. Where we were then introduced to the owner, the guy who had booked Julius to perform.
While the men talked, I excused myself and sat down at the table. Plucking a grape off the vine I popped it into my mouth and bobbed my head to the music playing on the outside. A server walked by carrying of tray of champagne and offered one to me. I needed something stronger, so I declined it and sauntered over to the bar.
“Can I get a shot of Don Julio please?”
“Sure thing.” The bartender smiled.
With my glass in my hand, I resumed my spot at the table and tucked my leg under my butt. Pulling my phone out of my purse I shot a text off to my sister.
Me: I wished yo ass would’ve come with me
Lariah: Bored already
Lariah:??
Me: I’m just sitting here while they talk business
Lariah: I’m sure somebody you know will be there
Me: You know I’on fuck with these folks like this
And that was the truth. I learned early on that these industry folks were full of shit. I was a solid ass bitch and didn’t play around. I had seen too much to even deal with these folks outside of business. In the beginning I used to link with other rapper girlfriends, but I quickly deduced they wasn’t my crowd.
Lariah: Lame ass… Get off the phone and enjoy yourself
Them hoes loved to throw shade at me ‘cause they didn’t understand why I wouldn’t sit around and let Julius take care of me. I had to tell them having Julius pay all the bills was cool and everything, but it was essential for me to have my own bag. Me and that nigga could end tomorrow, and all of the financial responsibility would be on me.
Did I think Julius would stop paying the bills if we split? No, I didn’t. But I also knew if he and I weren’t together, he would think that gave him the okay to clock my moves. Yeah—Not happening in this lifetime or the next.
When it was close to the time for Julius to perform, we went outside to join the party. His label mate Sahdiah ended up being on the boat with us, so while Julius was on stage I ended up kicking it with her and her group of friends.
Julius was doing his thing up on stage rapping his song. A few times he’d notice me over by the corner and would either wink or point at me.