Page 54 of Lau Ahi
Sasha rolled her eyes as if we were aggravating her. “Y’all will never let me live that down will you?” She had her hair pulled up in a high bun, no makeup and a black t-shirt. From the decor, I knew she was in her flat in London so it was nearing midnight for her.
“Hell no. You’re kinda hilarious when you’re drunk, Nev.” Tee who was probably happy not to be the center of attention any longer finally spoke up.
“Can’t lie, I’m really sorry I missed it.”
“If you weren’t running around behind that weirdo you work with you wouldn’t have.” Nev cut her eyes at me like I could’ve predicted she was going to up and marry a random man on the one girls’ weekend I missed.
“Moving right along. At least that weirdo didn’t abandon me to go and chase dick in the desert.”
“Girl, I came here for money. I just so happened to find dick. Gold-plated, tatted up, bad assery in a butter-yellow billionaire but still. I don’t mind claiming to be the gods favorite. I take my blessings however they want to come.” She lifted her hands in total praise having the nerve to sway from side to side.
“What’s going on with this marriage thing, Asha? This is something I’d expect from… well hell, none of us really but least of all from you. What’s the deal with this guy? Something is up if Midas is okay with it.”
Despite how they met, Midas loved each of us and not just because we were Nev’s friends. Teegan worked for his corporation and he recruited her based on her area of expertise. We both studied the mind but she was into healing it while I focused more on the root causes that turned people bad. Criminology versus psychology but my bestie was gifted in helping people become better. I didn’t have the patience but she was now the staff psychologist for Warren Enterprises because of her talents.
“Why are you so resolute about this?”
“Because all of us know how Asha is. If it were something stupid or not well thought out, she wouldn’t be doing it. Out of all of us, she’s the most risk-averse, so this has to have a solid plan behind it. Besides, Midas wasn’t attempting to get her out of the country or trying to put a hit out on someone so the man must be good people.”
“I still can’t believe I work for fucking Mr. And Mrs. Smith.”
“Don’t insult me like that, Tee. Those two worked for the government. Midas and I would never debase ourselves by being pawns.”
All of us were struck silent because… she wasn’t wrong. But it also gave us another slight insight into what they did and it was just as crazy as what we assumed.
“I… I don’t even know what to say about that.” Teegan sounded just as confused as we felt but Nev just shrugged and smiled.
“I said nothing that wasn’t true.”
“And that’s exactly the problem. That it’s your reality. And now, apparently, mine at least adjacently.” Teegan was damn near gnawing at her lip and it seemed an overreaction to the situation. If I knew Nev and Midas nothing could come back to bite her so she was worried for nothing.
“It would be more than adjacent if you would actually want to meet with some people we know.” The look Nev was giving the screen was directed solely at Tee and I had to wonder if Midas was the only one playing matchmaker.
“Girl, I can appreciate that you found a diamond in the rough—”
“—My husband is not gotdamn Aladdin, Teegan—” Nev was cracking up right along with us.
“But you know how I feel about rich people. You felt the same way about rich people, which is why you dated regular niggas so often.”
“And I ended up with a fucking scammer who kidnapped my ass while pregnant to get me to sell my mine rights.”
Sasha grimaced at the screen, “Gotta say, Teeg, not the best example.”
“Shut up, Sasha! All I’m saying is she lucked up with Midas. I highly doubt that he’s surrounded with decent human beings who aren’t on bullshit.”
“Well, I know that to be wrong in its entirety.” I wasn’t surprised that Nev was going to bat for her husband and his people but I had to press her on why she felt that.
“Why do you say that?”
“Because his cousin absolutely adores his girl. In fact, Xerxes practically stalked her and kept pursuing her until she gave in.”
“Gotta take a point away from you, Nev. That sounds like bloody Stockholm syndrome.” I took another drink and Sasha nodded her head in agreement.
Nev frowned at us and the warmth the wine gave me put a lazy smile on my face. “Not the twins twinning again. Asha this entire conversation was supposed to be about you yet somehow we got off topic.”
“I should’ve kept my mouth shut.” My bottle did little to hide my frown and I truly didn’t care if they saw it. This situation, talking about this situation and having other people talk to me about this situation frustrated me endlessly.
“But you didn’t so here we are. Who is this man?”
