urban

-

-

          It was a cold Saturday night, since Fall was finally approaching and the weather was changing by the minute. Whilst most people tend to dislike the cold weather, Alora loved it. The change in the color of the leaves on the trees were so beautiful to her, and the atomsphere screamed happiness and that alone always made her feel all warm and good inside.

But due to this cold weather Alora had every intention of staying inside her apartment tonight to catch up on reading some of her favorite urban books that she never got to finish and enjoying a few glasses of wine to tip the night off right.

All week she had been swamped with work assignments that caused her to get off super late to where she had no time for herself, so she was going to take advantage of this free night she was granted with in the comfort of her home.

Making her way out of her kitchen with her cup of hot chocolate and into her living room, she let her feet dance aross the plush carpet in the room, before she plopped down in her cozy love seat that sat closely beside her fire place that was lit for the night.

Sitting her cup of hot chocolate on the small table that stood beside the chair, she pressed the play button on her iHome speaker and let the sweet sound of Sade's voice make love to her ears.

Relaxing in the seat for a moment and just sipping away on the hot substance, Alora just stared at the fire dance all wild with a small smile on her face as memories of old times started to cloud her mind.

Immediately opening her book she had been previously reading to get rid of the thoughts, she tucked her right leg under her thigh and let the book and music consume her mind and ears.

The story was an urban thug-love story, which happened to be her favorite type of stories to read. She sometimes would envision herself meeting some cartel leader and falling in love as they took over the world together, but she knew shit like that only happened in books.

Her chances of meeting some big time drug lord at a store or in a club, where slim since for one, she hated clubbing and two she had her groceries delivered to her house since she never had time to do it herself, so that vision never lasted long. So for now to fuel her imagination she just read books about it and pictured herself as the leading character instead.

Growing up people always knew Alora would be smart due to her love for reading. Her parents were just glad that she focused more on books rather than boys and partying like her peers, they loved that she was different from the average teen. While kids were asking for phones and game systems, Alora was asking for books.

But what they didn't know was that reading always took Alora to her happy place. Whenever she opened up a good book to read, she always found herself lost in it and in a whole different world for just a moment.

People around her never understood how she could just read and sit for hours, but she didn't expect them too. Reading was something she used as a getaway, a vacation from reality and an escape from society.

Only a few would understand that though.

Whenever Alora was frustrated or tired, she would read just to get her mind off of things for a split second. She had been through so much in her life and sometimes her mind liked to always wander off and think about the shit she wanted to forget, like her ex Shaun for example.

She wanted all memories of him erased from her mental, but somehow he always came creeping up when she least expected it and she hated it, she hated him and couldn't stand the thought of him, when she knew he probably hadn't even thought of her since the day she left him.

When she first met Shaun, he painted this pretty picture of himself as this perfect guy and she fell for it. He knew the right words to say to get her and he used that against her, his charming looks and smooth words won her over and she was head over heels for that man sadly. She gave him literally everything she could, and he gave her nothing in return but a broken heart.

He cheated, he lied and constantly emotionally abused her. He had her so emotionally and mentally fucked up, that it made her fall into this deep depression. It was even a time where she wanted to kill herself behind him. She was depressed all the time dating him, since she had become this person she wasn't. Shaun wanted her to be a certain way and like a dumb ass she changed herself for him and in the end he still wasn't satisfied and treated her like shit.

She used to wear her hair a certain way, wear certain clothes that she was never comfortable in, she stopped eating since Shaun didn't want a fat girlfriend. It was complete hell dating him and she regretted every moment and time she wasted on him.

But after she finally she built that courage to leave him for good, she was lost and in a very bad place mentally. She hated men and was completely done with men as a whole, and to help her get through the depression she used food for comfort. She ate her days away and stayed cooped up in her apartment for hours which caused her to gain a lot of weight.

She went from a size five to a size fourteen within' six months, and although she noticed the change within' herself, she couldn't stop or try to change it.

That depression state of hers lasted a year, but it all changed when her childhood best friend Amir moved back into town from college. She hadn't seen him since they graduated high school, but they always kept in touch, but what he didn't know was that his best friend was suffering while he was living his best life.

When he had finally got in touch with her and they had linked up, he immediately noticed her weight gain and although it didn't bother him and he still found her beautiful, he knew mentally and emotionally this wasn't the girl he grew up with.

So he made a promise to help build her back up emotionally and got her back to her old self. It was a struggle at first, but eventually she came around and started back working out and she found herself again and learned to appreciate who she was as person. She appreciated Amir so much for getting her through that bad state, she wasn't sure how she would ever repay him for sticking by her side but she knew she couldn't have asked for a better best friend.

Mentally and emotionally, Alora was ready for love again and although having a man never really crossed her mind much in the past, it was starting to cross her mind a lot now. It was like everywhere she went love was in the air, she would see families and couples all lovey dovey together and just the sight of it all made her want that for herself.

She had never experienced true genuine love from a man besides from her father and Amir, but see she wanted that I want to spend the rest of my life with you type of love. It was honestly a shock to herself at this new want and desire of love, but she knew it had a lot to do with this so called time of the year, formaly known as, "Cuffing Season."

She hadn't been touched by a man in two years, she talked to a few guys here and there but it was nothing too serious to where she was completely off the market. But now with the seasons changing and the feeling of love swirling in the air like a mad man, finding a man to love her and cherish her for everything she was worth pranced around in her mind constantly and the one man she madly wants, she can't have.

But she was willing to wait for that type of love to find her, rather than her going out to seek it for herself. She knew the guy for her would eventually stroll into her life and whisk her off her feet like a prince and love her like she has never been loved before, but until that day comes she will simply dream about it.

Now with her feet crossed at the ankles, Alora was now deep into the book completely oblivious to the music that was playing and to the sound of her front door opening and closing. It wasn't until she heard the sound of a pair of keys be placed on the counter, and she looked up to see her bestfriend Amir in the middle of removing his coat and hanging it in the closet by the door.

She watched his every move as he whistled to himself not even knowing he had an audience. This was him, this was the man she wanted but couldn't have and just the thought of it caused an ache to go through her heart.

Making his way into the living room when he spotted her, he took a seat on the other couch and kicked his feet up on the coffee table. "Sup baby girl, whatchu up too?" He asked tiredly.

He had just worked a twelve-hour shift at work, and all he wanted to do now was sleep his night away but spending some time with his best friend was the better option.

Glancing up at him, she held up her book. "What does it look like I'm doing Amir? I'm reading." She snapped unintentionally, but it was mainly because she was annoyed with him at the moment.

When the two decided to move in with each other when Alora had no place to go besides back to her parents house after her breakup, they both made a promise to respect each other by never bringing company over for sex. Although the rule was mainly for Amir, since they both knew Alora wasn't sleeping around she still agreed to do the same and for the past year they both followed that rule until Amir broke it last night.

The two never had issues living together, it was actually fun living with your childhood bestfriend. They knew what each other liked and disliked so arguing only happened when one was frustrated or tired, but other than that things between them have always been cool. And although, this was his first time doing ever bringing someone home, it still made her feel some type of way.

When she got home from work, the last thing she expected to hear was him and some girl having sex and the loud moans the girl was making could be heard throughout the house and that alone annoyed her. And due to their rooms being directly beside each other, and the walls being mad thin, all night she had to listen to the sound of the man she loved bed squeak and creak along with their moans and groans.

A part of her was sorta hurt, but she also knew she had no reason to be. It wasn't like he knew that she was feeling him since she always kept her feelings towards him hidden, but still the thought of him touching another woman made her feel some type of way.

She knew Amir was having sex with other women, but she never had to see it or hear it and she was thankful for that because laying in her bed with tears spilling out of her eyes was not how she wanted to go to bed every night.

Call her crazy if you want, but she couldn't help that she was too scared to voice her emotions to him. Rejection had always been fear of hers and no matter how many times she has tried to come forward with her feelings, she always ended up chickening out and backing down.

The only other person who knew that Alora loved Amir more than a friend, was her oldest sister Briana. Briana always tried to pressure her into telling Amir about her feelings towards him, but Alora kinda forced herself to believe that he doesn't even look at her in that way and after what he did last night it just proved her theory, so she didn't want to waste her time.

When he heard the attitude laced in her voice, he frowned. "Damn, everything good with you? Haven't seen my best friend all week and the first time you do .. you got an attitude? Did I do something?"

Letting out a deep sigh, she sat her book down on her bare thighs then locked her fingers together. "I'm fine Amir, but I would really appreciate it if you would just leave me alone and let me read in peace please, since I wasn't able get much of that last night." She scoffed throwing hella shade.

Growing shocked at the shade she just threw, he cleared his throat assuming she must have heard him last night. "If you're mad at me about last night, I'm sorry. I didn't know you where home until I came downstairs and I saw your purse and keys on the counter. You know I would never do no shit like that while you're home and to be honest it wasn't even suppose to happen, it just did."

"Who even was the girl? I didn't even know you had a girlfriend. This is valuable information that your best friend should know." She pryed only wanting to know if he was off the market or not.

He laughed, shaking his head. "I don't have a girlfriend and if I did you know you would be the first person to know. Ole' girl was just my partner for a school project we had to do together and what started off as us studying and working turned into us having sex. I'm not even feeling shawty, I just got sucked into temptation. I haven't had sex in a year, and I grew weak." He admitted shamefully.

Not wanting to hear anything else, she waved him off. "Okay..I get it."

"Yeah, but forreal, I apologize for that shit. I would never disrespect you like that or break our rule that we set in stone on purpose,"

Biting her lip, she nodded. "I know, its just—" Pausing mid-sentence she locked eyes with him for a second and his eyes read concern and curiousity and although she wanted to admit her feelings, she couldn't. At least not now, "Nevermind, I'll be in my room .. if you need me. Just please don't do it again."

Getting up from the chair before he could say anything, she grabbed her hot coco along with her book and speaker and made her way up the stairs ignoring the looks he was giving her.

When she finally made it to her room, she shut the door behind her and plopped down on her bed but soon regretted it when she realized she still had her hot chocolate in her hand and it spilled all over her covers and got on her skin which burned her. "Shit Alora, how can you be this stupid and clumsy?"

Getting back up, she sat the hot substance on her night stand and quickly wiped it off herself then started stripping her bed down since they were now a mess and smelled like chocolate.

Deciding to wash not only her covers, she decided to do her sheets as well since it had been a week since she last did so. Bundling up the pile of pillow cases, covers and sheets, she made her way out of her room bumping into Amir in the process.

"My bad, I was just headed to my room didn't expect you to come out." He explained before moving around her.

Not saying anything in response, she continued her journey down the stairs to the washer room. Noticing his clothes sitting in the dryer, she pulled them out and sat them in the folding basket to fold them once she was done with what she was doing.

After she started her load, she went right into working on his clothes and folding them neatly just how he liked. They usually took turns doing laundry and she knew lately the laundry has been on him with her working late, so she knew this was the least she could do for him despite the anger she had towards him.

When she was done, she lifted the basket of the neatly folded clothes up and carried them up the stairs and to his room. When she reached his door she went to knock but stopped when she heard him talking. With the sound of his voice being muffled through the door, she pressed her ear against it so she could hear him better.

But when she still couldn't hear anything, she gave up and just sat his clothes down in front of the door and walked back into her room to change into something else to get rid of this chocolate smell.

Going back into her room, she quickly stripped out of her clothes and tossed them in the hamper that sat in the corner. Walking into her closet, she pulled down a pair of black tights and an oversized sweatshirt that belonged to Amir back in highschool.

Walking out of her closet, she tossed her hair into a messy bun then laid down on her stripped bed and sighed before picking up her book and going back to reading, but she couldn't even get into it like she wanted. Her mind was too distracted to where she couldn't focus in on the book.

Tossing it, she flipped herself over and laid completely on her back. Glancing around her room with her eyes, she decided to clean up just to keep herself busy. Her room was clean but she knew it was some dishes that needed to be washed and she was willing to do anything to keep her mind off of Amir for just a moment.

Hopping out of her bed once again, she grabbed her iHome speaker and headed out her room just when Amir opened his room door to grab his laundry.

Looking over at her, he smiled. "Thanks, I was just about to go and get the clothes. Saved me a trip."

Sending a smile back, she continued on with her journey to the kitchen. Connecting her phone to the speaker, she went to her cleaning playlist and turned the music up as loud as it could go and immediately went into beast mode with cleaning.

After an hour or so passed, she managed to have washed every dish and wiped down all the counters, now she was in the middle of mopping the floor and when Amir came downstairs now dressed in a pair of sweats and a wife beater, he looked at her crazy since he knew Alora hated cleaning but decided not to say anything.

Making his way into the living room, he sat in the love seat and let the sound of the music she had playing consume his ears and relaxed against the seat.

The tension in the air was thick and they both felt it, but Amir wasn't sure what he could do at this point. He expected Alora to be upset at him, but not this upset to where she wouldn't even look at him long or talk to him.

When the song on her phone changed to Whitney Houston's popular song, "Saving All My Love For You," a thought immediately popped up in Amir's head.

This was Alora's favorite song and was the same song that the two danced together too at their senior prom.

Getting up from the couch he walked into the kitchen to see her silently singing to herself. Looking up at him when she felt his presence, she looked at him strangely when he started to approach her slowly.

Grabbing the mop, he moved it off to the side and took her by the hand and lead her back into the living room. Pulling her into him he wrapped her arms around his neck then wrapped his arms securely around her waist and slowly started rocking to the beat of the song.

Letting out a deep sigh, she relaxed against his touch and laid her head on his chest and pulled herself as close as she could as they slowly danced in front of the fire place together.

The sound of Whitney's angelic voice soothed both of their ears and brought back so many memories to both of their minds. Looking up at him, Amir looked down at her and smiled slightly. "Just like when we were in highschool right?" He asked her and she nodded.

When the song came to an end, instead of pulling away and stopping the dance all together the two continued to stay in each other's embraxe and danced the night away instead.

Just being in each other's arms brought a new found happiness within' one another and they both wanted the moment to last forever.

Growing confident for the first time in her life, Alora looked up at Amir just as he was looking down at her and stepped up on her tippy toes and placed a small kiss on his lips. Looking in his eyes for some type of confirmation of wanting to her stop, she mentally sighed in relief when she saw none and when he pressed his lips against hers again, but this time roughly.

With her arms loosely hanging around her neck, the two endulged in a deep kiss in the middle of their living room with their hearts racing a mile a minute, but both full of excitement and happiness.

When the kiss got deeper and his hands started to slide down her body and he pulled her closer to him. She started to grow weak and the thought of finally being able to be with the man who loves her and cherishes her deeply despite her flaws, it brought tears to her eyes.

When she pulled away from the kiss, he stared down at her breathing hard as ever.

"What happens now?" She asked wanting to make sure they were both on the same page and ready to give this a try. Instead of answering her, he lifted her up by her thighs and kissed her once again and that alone was a good enough answer for her.

Love was definitely in air and she just so happened to catch it this cuffing season and she couldn't be happier.