Page 217 of Own It

“Thought that was done.”

“It is. And now that it is done, she’s somehow fucking worse than what she was and always need money for something. I send her twenty thousand monthly, same time and never late, yet she always need more.”

I shook my head, wiping and flushing before going to wash my hands.

Turning on the shower, I asked, “Where is my twenty thousand?”

“I got that for you and more.”

“I know. I’m kidding. What you give is more than enough, especially since you’re a very active father,” I stated truthfully.

Josias paid all of our bills and still paid child support, despite not being ordered to do so legally yet. His ten thousand plus my job and having no real bills had me set. So I knew Tarin was just being a bitch. Her getting more didn’t bother me, especially since she had two kids and I only had one.

“Aye, before you get in there, I need you to tell me something, Kasia.” He got serious, and I knew what he was talking about.

“I can’t give you anything definitive right now, Jojo, but just know I do give a fuck about you, and I do love you. In a perfect world, we would be a family, but because of our history, that has to be something we work toward. It cannot be an immediate thing.”

“That’s all I need to know.” He lit up, making me smirk and shake my head as I slipped into the shower. “What about that bitch nigga?”

“I’ll handle that!” I shouted from inside of the shower.

Of course, he joined me.

* * *

I emerged from the back of the restaurant to do my usual walkthrough and to check on customers, but halted upon seeing Tarin.

Only, this time, she wasn’t with her friend, but with some nigga. Seeing her on a date quelled the nauseas feeling I got every time I wondered if Josias was still talking to her. It was obvious he wasn’t because despite Josias’s disloyalty, Tarin and I were always only with him. So if she had a man or was dating, it was telling.

I thought of telling her she had to go since, technically, she’d been banned, but would just write up the hostess who hadn’t checked the list upon allowing her to be seated.

I perused the restaurant, asking different patrons how the service and food was, and when I got to Tarin’s table, I just kept walking.

“What the fuck are you looking at?” she called to my back, ironically. “You still jealous and bothered even though you got the nigga?”

“Tarin. What the fuck?” her dude queried, frowning.

I simply looked back at her, winked, and kept it pushing. Whether she knew it or not, she’d just further confirmed that Josias was no longer with her in that way. Usually, Tarin would say things to mess with me and be happy about it because she was on cloud nine due to Josias, but I could visually see how envious and angry she was in that moment, and that was because she didn’t have her baby daddy.

I finished out my work shift and went straight home to clean myself up since I knew Darron would be stopping by. I contemplated cutting him off over the phone but decided he deserved face-to-face communication.

While I wanted to work on shit with Josias, I wasn’t breaking things off with Darron solely because of that. Whether I was planning to rekindle with Josias or not, Darron wasn’t for me. He was nice and interesting, but I felt like I wasn’t ready to be with anyone, not even my baby daddy. I wanted to take my time, and I could tell Darron wanted more and quickly.

“Smells good. I know that’s you.” Darron grinned as soon as I opened the front door.

“Hey. Thank you.” I smiled, tittering as I accepted the flowers he pulled from behind his back. “This is sweet.”

I set them on the coffee table, then took a seat on the couch, patting the cushion beside me so he’d join. After shutting the front door, he did.

“I missed you, baby girl.” He kissed my face.

“I know.” I took his hand, and I could see the immediate alarm bleed into his face. “I did something in Miami with my daughter’s father. We had sex.”

Darron didn’t yank his hand from me like I assumed he would.

“Fuck, Kasia.” He looked off.

“I know, and I’m sorry. I had no business trying to date knowing I wasn’t fully over my baby daddy. I apologize for even dragging you into this when I knew I should’ve taken time for myself.”