Page 16 of The Millionaire Mortician

That earned me the littlest smile. “You sound like somebody’s auntie.”

“I am somebody’s auntie.” I laughed, which made Talina snort. “And this is my shop, which means at the end of the day, I’m gon’ make the calls that keep all of us good. Feel me?” I looked at her. “You gonna be straight?”

She nodded, then hesitated. “You think he’s gon’ say somethin’ to me again?”

“I think he said what he said and moved on,” I told her. “You should do the same.”

We let Ashley sit there until her breathing was stable. Talina talked nonsense about new inventory just to fill the air with something soft. When Ashley finally stood, she smoothed her smock and swiped under her eyes again, with a lighter energy.

“I’ma take that walk,” she announced. “Thanks.”

“Take your time,” Talina advised. “Come back with a new attitude.”

When the door closed behind her, we both exhaled in the same key.

“Girl,” Talina exclaimed, wagging her head, “your life is a reality TV show.”

I huffed a laugh, but it sat brittle. If it wasn’t one thing, it was another.

“You good?” she asked. “You looked like you swallowed a fireball when Maverick came in.”

“I’m good,” I lied, then rolled my lips. “I was just... on the phone.”

“Mhmm.” Talina’s eyebrows climbed. “With who?”

“Nobody,” I responded too fast, then sighed. “Fabian.”

Her mouth made an O . “The roses?”

I nodded. “Mmm. We were just joking on the phone, though.”

“Joking like ‘haha’ or joking like ‘ha... ha... you’re fine’?” she pried, raising a brow.

I dragged my hand down my face. “Lina, don’t start.”

She instantly softened. “I’m not. I’m just... you’re walkin’ on a thin deck, sis. Milan and Mav — they ain’t regular men.”

“I know that.” I sighed out loud.

“What do you really want, Dai?” Talina gently asked.

I looked through the little break room window at the salon floor. “I want this to keep growing,” I finally answered. “I want my girls safe, I want my peace, and I want my man to be my man.”

“You also want excitement sometimes, huh? The kind that gives you butterflies?” Talina pointed out.

The corner of my mouth curled. “Maybe.”

She stepped close and bumped my shoulder. “Then be careful with them. Butterflies are real pretty with the light on, but they tear easily.”

A knock sounded at the door. It cracked open, and one of our reception girls peeped in. “Daija, a girl just walked in asking for you. She said she needs a cut and that it’s an emergency,” she informed me.

“Put her in my book for forty minutes,” I instructed, sliding back into motion.

As I was leaving the break room, I slid into my office to grab my phone. That’s when I saw a text from Fabian.

Fabe: You hung up on me like I’m the bill collector. I’m wounded.

I stared at the screen for a moment, then shot a quick text back.

Me: Had a pop-up. I’ll hit you later.

Quickly putting my phone in my pocket, I returned to work. I was thankful for the way work saved me from overthinking because it was starting to become overwhelming.

After a long day at the salon, I’d finally reached home and was ready to relax. As I was walking up the stairs, I heard the front door open and shut. Obviously, there was only one other person who lived in the house, so I knew it had to be Milan.

Once in the room, I started to strip out of my clothes as he walked in, looking just as tired as I felt.

“What’s good?” he greeted, undressing himself too. “Can you clean me up?” he asked.

I was glad he asked before I went and took a shower. “Yeah, of course,” I answered. “Downstairs or bathroom?”

“The bathroom’s cool.”

While he finished undressing, I went and grabbed my clippers and other items out of the closet and went to set up in the bathroom. A few minutes later, he was seated, and I was getting to work, which wasn’t a lot since I had just given him a cut a few days before.

For a while, there was silence between the two of us, with just the sound of the clippers buzzing. It wasn’t tension like the other times, just silence.

“How’s business going?” he finally asked.

“Great! Better than I expected, actually. Everything has been running smoothly,” I excitedly replied.

It had been a while since Milan had even asked me how my day was, so I was smiling on the inside.

“That’s wassup. That’s dope.”

“Yeah. Did Maverick tell you what he did today?” I raised a brow as I continued to clean him up.

Milan was seated facing the massive mirror we had in the bathroom, so I was able to see his face and vice versa.

He creased his eyebrows. “Nah, what happened?” he questioned.

I went on to tell him about the whole ordeal with Mav and Ashley. Although I defended him to a certain extent, I wasn’t happy about what transpired in my place of business.

“This nigga, man.” Milan sighed out loud. “I’ma holla at him.”

“Thank you,” I softly replied.

By then, I was finished shaping him up, and he was good to go. Milan stood to his feet and checked himself out in the mirror while I cleaned my equipment.

“I have a few more shit to pack. Mav should be here within the hour,” he informed me.

“Just put whatever it is on the bed and I’ll pack the rest while you shower,” I offered.

He kissed my forehead. “Thanks, Dai.”

While he went to bathe, I did what I said I would. I began repacking his luggage since the way he packed it was horrible. By the time he was out of the shower, I was almost finished getting him situated.

Before we knew it, time flew past, and Mav was outside waiting for him. He grabbed his things and headed downstairs with me following behind.

Reaching the ground floor, while he was double-checking that he had everything he needed in his carry-on, I felt my phone buzz. I took a peek at it and saw it was a message from Fabian, so I quickly locked the screen.

“Aight, I’m out.” Milan opened the door to leave but then stopped. “I love you. I’ll be right back, aight?” He grabbed my neck and pulled me in for a deep kiss.

“I love you, too,” I replied as he let me go and walked away.

While Milan was getting in the car, I looked at my phone to see what the message was.

Fabe: So, you gon’ do valet with me?

I bit my lip as I watched the guys drive off, waving at them.

Fuck it , I thought.

Me: Sure. Tomorrow’s cool?

Fabe: If tomorrow's good, why not? I’ll send you the details.

Me: Kk.