Nathalie Williams had just finished reciting the Miranda rights to a handcuffed nineteen year old male, when her phone suddenly began to ring. Ignoring the incessant jingle playing from her back pocket, she turned the young man in the direction of her squad car.

The phone rang again.

"Gonna answer that?" He looked at her with an annoyed expression as he lumbered forwards.

She rolled her eyes and groaned. While gripping his arm tightly with one hand, she reached for her phone. Sandwiching it between her face and shoulder, she opened the backseat door.

"WHAT?!? What you want Makayla?" She yelled. A car zipped through Santa Monica Boulevard, causing a gust of wind to blast in the phone's mic.

"Well! Hello to you too, sis! Alright, everything's set and re—umm, Nat?"

Nathalie pushed the young man towards the open door.

"Are you outside?" Makayla asked suspiciously.

Silence. Trying to compose herself, she paused for a moment, unable to construct a believable lie.

"For the love of—you best be walking around shopping for a dress and not working!" Makayla's voice blared loudly through the phone.

"Someone's PMSing." The young man said.

Nathalie lightly shoved him. "Back off, Makayla. Some guy just tried robbing Uncle Joe's right before my shift ended. Taking him to the station right now. When I'm done, I'll go straight home and get ready."

"You better be ready by eight or I swear Imma hunt you down Nathalie. Imma hunt you down and kick your—,"

Nathalie pressed the red end call button and carefully ushered the young man into the backseat. Her phone beeped with a text message. Before she could sit in the driver's seat, it beeped two more times.

MakPITA

Think you'd get away that easy?

B ready @ 8! SHARP!

No excuses

"You're so annoying." She said as she placed the phone down.

"Me?" The young man asked.

"No, just ... oh, shut up back there!"

He squirmed and stared out the window.

She contacted dispatch. "Bringing in that two-one-one right now."

"Be careful with that one. Turns out he's got a thirty-two and another ten-twenty-nine 'f'. Over." A female dispatcher relayed through the radio.

"Copy that." That meant this hadn't been his first attempt at robbery, it was his third. Why would an experienced robber use a fake gun? She looked at him from the rear-view mirror.

He wore a torn up, dirty, oversized black T-shirt over his slender frame. A few bruises decorated his face. There wasn't any sign of drug use or addiction. Just seemed like a normal, impoverished black kid in need of a good meal. His hazel eyes briefly stared at her before shamefully avoiding her gaze. She had brought many of these types of kids in. They go into the system one way or another, and then later come out worse than when they went in.

She sighed. "This is gonna be a long day."

When she arrived to her apartment, she had only thirty minutes to get ready. Dropping her keys on the counter, she ran into the bedroom, then quickly paused when she remembered the succulents on the windowsill. She wondered when was the last time they were watered.

Shaking her head, she removed her uniform. They'll be alright. They were bought for convenience. Plants that required very little attention, yet looked pretty.

Her closet had only three dresses. As she stared at the limited choices, she thought that perhaps Makayla had a point. Dress shopping would've been ideal, but it was too late to buy a new one. Reaching for a standard little black dress, she threw it on the bed. It was tight, sexy and it would have to do. She had just finished putting on her shoes when someone knocked on the door.

Straightening her dress, she glanced in the mirror. Small golden earrings dangled from her ears and glittered as they swung to the sides. Simple, yet elegant. She wore only lipstick with some gloss. Dark brown curly hair loosely tumbled, nearly reaching her shoulders. Teasing it a little with her hands, she nodded before spritzing a dash of Cherry Blossom.

"Here we go." She huffed and reached for her keys. The heels clacked loudly against the tiles as she stomped to the door.

Outside, her sister Makayla stood dressed in a shiny silver sequin dress, makeup carefully done. Susan, her wife, stood beside her in a flowing blue dress. Next to Susan stood her twenty year old cousin—Beth—wearing a very revealing top and miniskirt, her yellow nails pounded away at a phone.

Susan jumped with glee and embraced Nathalie. "Aww, there she is! Happy twenty-fifth!"

"Girl, you're too much sometimes. You know that?" Nathalie choked out.

"Oh, you love it."

She saw Makayla's arms crossed and giving her a death glare. "Why is she looking at me like that." She whispered into Susan's ear.

"Probably because you didn't bother to put on any makeup." Susan whispered back.

"Ha..le..lloo, she's wearing a dress! Though would it hurt you to put on some makeup?" Makayla said before hugging her younger sister.

"That's it. I'm staying home. Ya'll can go on without me." Nathalie said as she turned away from the group.

Makayla reached out and pulled her into the hallway. "Oh no, you don't. Get on back here or I'll drag you to the bar myself. Got everything you need?"

Nathalie nodded as she locked the door.

"Beth, you coming or what?" Susan looked back.

Beth answered absentmindedly. "Mmhmm, gotta check one more thing."

"Is she gonna be glued to her phone all night?" Makayla asked her wife.

Susan shrugged. "Probably. Let's get our party on!"

"Yaaay," Nathalie feigned overexcitement, causing Makayla to shoot her an angry look. "I'm hungry. We're gonna eat before drinking at Harlowe?"

No one answered.

"I'm gonna kill somebody if I don't get some food soon."

At the bar and three drinks later, Nathalie observed her group. They were all laughing cheerily. Well, Beth half-interacted with the others while she maintained her faithful and exclusive monogamous relationship with her phone. Makayla and Susan sat close to each other, engaged in an intimate conversation. She was grateful they planned this for her.

Susan's honey-colored eyes lit up. She turned to Nathalie to share a funny story about her sister. Nathalie rolled her head back and released a loud hearty laugh. It wasn't what Susan said, but the interaction between them which swelled her heart with joy.

Something behind her caught Beth's undivided attention. She gasped and giggled. "Oh my god, Nathalie! That dude by the bar is totally checking you out!"

"Beth? How the hell you notice that, when you got your face all up in your phone all the time?" Makayla asked after glancing apathetically at the man.

Nathalie subtly turned her head. His deep blue eyes weren't difficult to miss. They were practically boring into her skull. She was ensnared by his gaze. It seemed he hadn't noticed her staring back at him, because he flinched out of his frozen state before offering her a sincere smile. The grin plastered on her face slowly vanished as she cleared her throat and diverted her attention back to the group.

Some time had passed until a presence loomed behind her. Quickly turning around, her eyes slowly roamed a sky blue dress shirt that outlined a toned upper torso. When she looked up, she saw the same deep blue eyes peering down at her. His words were drown out by the bars loud commotion and his intoxicating scent. The only words she could hear were 'kiss you'.

"Excuse—," she began to say, but was interrupted when his lips fell on hers. The kiss was soft at first, but deepened by an unquenched desire.

She melted into it as the sounds around them faded away. Passion overtook her senses with a powerful shiver throughout her body. Makayla's voice broke her out of the trance.

"Girl, are you seriously recording this?!"

Beth's voice distantly said, "made a Tik Tok, but definitely put that up on other profiles. That was epic!"

"Dad's gonna think that white boy just assaulted his baby girl ... you damn fool!"

Their bickering sounded miles away. His eyes remained fixed on hers. What happened next came as a complete surprise to him. She grabbed his shirt and pulled him close. There was a fiery intensity that crept into her dark brown eyes. Something he couldn't decipher through his transfixed state.

He was too busy breathlessly smiling like a fool to notice when she had removed her right hand and sent it on a collision course with his face. Stumbling back from the impact, he slipped and fell on the floor. Dazed and uncertain about what had just occurred, his eyes blankly stared at her.

Susan gently tapped Nathalie's shoulder. "Do you normally deck all the guys that kiss you, or just that one? 'Cause it looked like you were enjoying it?"

Nathalie's breath hitched. The reaction had caught her off guard as well. She looked down at the man. The problem wasn't that he unexpectedly kissed her, it was that she liked it too much.

Cell phones beeped around the group, but she didn't hear them.

******

***[1550] Next chapter will show what occurred with Grant and how he allowed himself to enter such a childish dare.***