FULL CIRCLE

1O.

🎶 Now playing: Aura by Mariah the Scientist.

Friday Night...

Justine waited anxiously for the customer to offload the weapons from the bag she had. "It's all in there, why would I play you?" She spoke softly and quickly with her heel tapping the concrete floor. "I know how Morris gets when it comes to his money, it's the last thing I want."

She was off to the New Artist Joint too, with the hopes to make things right with Antonio. She knew he'd be there because it's all he ever spoke about in their minimal conversations. Even though he'd broken up with her, she was very much still in the relationship because if she couldn't have him, why would she let anyone else?

"Cool, you can leave. Morris will get his cash..." he threatened, knowing good and well that he was supposed to give Justine the remaining fifty percent. She sighed in exhaustion and walked off. At this point, getting into it with Morris would be better than fighting off a couple egotistical gangsters.

~

Still mopey and in low spirits, Antonio walked slowly alongside Roman with his hands in his hoodie. His eyebrows furrowed when the back door opened. "Man, can you cheer up? Look at where we are..." Roman waited for him to come to his senses. Antonio smiled before dapping him up. "My brother... life has been so overwhelming, I forgot about this. We got a spot?"

Roman smiled back at his reaction, feeling accomplished for cheering his friend up after the situation he'd just gotten out of. "You're performing, I hope you're ready. I'll give you a second to prep and change while I go check the sound. Also, just know that someone special helped me set you up right..." he smirked as they did their handshake again.

Nothing made Antonio smile like that girl. The fresh perspective that she had on life was one of the reasons that helped him keep going with his music.

Antonio was in the group of starting performers and it was finally their turn to get on stage after a few hours of sound check and people before him. Roman had been hyping the crowd up and doing his thing and Antonio finally showed up as the crowd cheered him on. Even though he wasn't an entirely new artist and people knew him through social media, performing live felt different yet fulfilling; something he knew he wanted to keep doing.

"What's up everyone, Antonio here but I go by Tone Mills. Y'all look beautiful man," he hyped the crowd back, returning the energy. He searched the crowd and studied the vibe he was getting, until his eyes landed on Reign who'd just walked in. She spotted a taupe brown crocheted mini matching set and some heels. She wore her pixie with her bangs out with her classic brown lip. "Damn..." he mumbled to himself as the song commenced.

His focus remained on her as she bopped her head and sang along, reminding him that she'd attended one of his studio sessions. Unbeknownst to Antonio and Reign, Justine observed their interaction from a distance, feeling the lump in her throat widen as she studied their chemistry. Feeling equally sad and jealous, she quickly wiped the tear that had trickled down her face and forced herself to move her head to the beat.

She hadn't spoken to him since the situation at the store; if anything, she'd been keeping her distance since Ms Maya gave her two cents on how she felt about her. Coming to the New Artist Joint was a way she thought she'd make amends with him but he probably didn't and wouldn't notice her in the decently full venue.

Antonio wrapped up his performance and interacted with new found listeners through taking pictures and videos, conversing and general networking with the many creatives in the room while Roman did the same, "Excuse me, Reign," he lightly jogged to pull her back by her arm.

"I can't stay, I promised Lee we'd get some drinks, she's already left and I need to catch up in a few minutes." She bluntly spoke with her arms crossed. "A few minutes is all I need..." he spoke in her ear over the music. "Look Tone... I don't want to get into it. I saw what I saw, you have a girlfriend and-"

Antonio shook his head. Even though he didn't feel like speaking about what had taken place because he was taken by surprise by it, he wanted to clear the air with Reign. "I need to talk to you, it doesn't have to be tonight. Please come to my house, I'll send you the location and I'll explain everything to you."

Reign hesitated, insinuating she needed time to think about what he'd said. Roman walked towards them hand in hand with a girl Antonio had seen a couple times. "You were amazing up there, Ant!" She complimented him with a quick hug.

"I don't think you've met each other. Reign, this is Gianna, Gianna, Reign," Roman introduced them as they kindly hugged. "We might not have met but I've heard a lot about you Reign." Gianna laughed softly as Antonio looked away. Roman had clearly been telling Gianna his business during their pillow talks.

Reign pulled a face of confusion followed by a smirky smile. "I don't know what you've heard but I hope it's not bad?" She asked as Gianna shook her head quickly before cutting the conversation short for a dance with Roman. Antonio quickly took the lead and gestured his hand out to Reign. Fighting her stubbornness, she eventually placed her hand into his to dance. They couldn't get enough of each other even if they tried.

The spark that existed between the two of them had only began; so platonic, yet so strong. It was no wonder why the both of them were in no rush to go to the next level but the excitement was undeniable. "I should really go, Tone. I really don't know what to make of this right now. " Reign spoke up as their eye contact stayed strong. "I promise you we'll talk about it, but before you leave... may I kiss you?" He asked out of genuineness but received a quirky laugh in return.

"Wow, here I go trying to be a gentleman and you're laughing at me?" He teased her as she shyly looked away. If anything, the kiss came naturally to the both of them. Antonio found himself lingering in it a little too long when Reign put her hands on his chest to stop him. She ended up burying her head in his chest as a result of her introverted nature. "My lil shy baby..." he wrapped her arms around her.

~

"I'll let you walk Gianna home man, we'll talk tomorrow." Roman and Antonio dapped each other up before parting ways. He paused in his tracks after seeing Justine. It seemed like she'd been waiting for a while. "Baby, can we please talk?" He asked as Antonio took a step back. Even though he'd supposedly broken up with her, he found it strange that she didn't check on him when he was in jail for the night or when he came out. "J, that ship has long sailed. I told you I was done."

"... I saw her tonight. You like her, huh?" She nodded to herself, taking her eyes off him. "Our relationship was over long before Reign came into the picture, you know that."

"She can't do the things I do to you..." she softly spoke, and the one thing that had always worked on him failed miserably this time around; her seduction. Her touch. He no longer crumbled under it... for now at least.

"J, you're a little drunk and out of respect for you, I'm going to call you an Uber, but we're done."

~

Sorry for any errors. 🫶🏽