"Miss Kiara, why do I gotta go to this stupid dinner?" Malcolm fiddled with the tie that seemed was wrapped too tightly around his neck.

I waved his hands away, and mine quickly swooped in and stole their place, my fingers working at the knot. "Because Seattle always throws a Thanksgiving dinner and invites influential people in the community." Once it appeared that his tie was resting more comfortably, I retreated my hands back to my body. "There's grown men who would die to have our seats at the table. Be grateful."

Malcolm Simmons was a gifted shooting guard for sure, the way he's able to work the court making it look like he's been playing for a lifetime. That also distracts people—me included—from the fact that he was only sixteen years old at the end of the day. The one thing that always pulls me back to reality is speaking with him on car rides like these, where we're off to an event that he doesn't want to go to because he'd rather ball with his friends or be on the game.

"I'm grateful for every opportunity that God has given me to let me be where I am today, Miss Kiara." He took a beat to release a sigh and suck his teeth. "Sometimes I just wanna spend time with my family, though. It's the night before Thanksgiving, and I'm going to some dumbass dinner!"

"I know you think this dinner is stupid, and I wish that I could let you sit this one out, but we have to get your face out there, Malcolm. My agency assigned me to you so I could do that and help you land a manager."

"Do I even need a manager?" he grumbled. His frame sunk into the backseat of the limo as best it could, seeing as his legs didn't leave much room for movement.

"Yes, you need a manager," I responded. Air blew from my nose in amusement as I looked at him, his demeanor right now reminding me of Jevon. "You like Puma, right?" He side-eyed me yet nodded in confirmation. "If you had a manager, they might be able to spin you a deal with Puma."

His posture straightened almost immediately as I piqued his interest. "That could happen?"

The driver rolled down the partition, interrupting what I was going to say to inform us that it was nearly our turn to walk the red carpet.

"It could happen." I snapped up my phone from the seat next to me and grabbed up my clutch, tucking my phone away inside. I ran my hand over the slick of my bun, assuring that there were no bumps, the car door being pulled open from the outside by the driver, Liam.

As the once muted flashes of light struck my vision with intensity, I felt my heart rate speed up only slightly. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth to calm the nerves that crept up. It was going to take some getting used to to be the one to reassure another at these events, rather than be the person who needs the reassurance.

"If we keep you looking sharp and you keep making yourself look good, Puma will be begging for you," I spoke after stepping out of the car after Malcolm. I gently adjusted his navy blue button-down collar as I requested he tuck in the ducktail sticking out from the back of his pants. "Now, let's eat this free food and get you home to your family."

It was the few weeks after the Thanksgiving dinner that were the most peaceful. Work had died down substantially as the holiday season kicked into full swing, it also meaning finals time for Malcolm. Instead of getting him heaps of exposure by going to event after event, I suggested he buckle down and focus his efforts on his upcoming finals and spending time with his family and friends. It was not without a surprising effort of pushback from Malcolm, however, seeing as he wanted to get his face out there so he could get that Puma deal. When I realized that those were his worries, I laughed and told him to keep going on live for his ten thousand followers to see.

With the rare peace and quiet, I used the time to brainstorm ideas for Malcolm's exposure, all while in the comfort of my own home. It was much easier to think with a pair of Adidas track pants clinging loosely to my legs, a matching sports bra hugging my upper body. I sat with my legs crossed on the couch, a random episode of The Jamie Foxx Show running in the background.

The serenity I was in was interrupted by Jeremiah's contact popping up on not only my phone but my laptop as well. I grabbed my phone from beside me on the couch, greeting him once the FaceTime call connected.

"Hey, Baby," Jeremiah greeted, dragging out the 'hey.' "I know I missed your call yesterday, but King's numbers were finally going up, so they had me in meetings all day."

"Nah, you're all good," I dismissed with the wave of my hand. I grabbed the Starbucks cup from the coffee table in front of me, taking a long sip from the green plastic straw. "You told me you were probably gonna be busy, so I figured that on my own. What do you have planned for today?"

"Nothing today. The management team wants to see if the numbers are gonna stay up, so they're giving it a day or two before seeing if they need to call me back in or not." His phone zoomed closer to his face as he scratched an itch on his chin.

"It's good that they're finally giving you a break after three weeks of non-stop work," I sipped my drink from the corner of my mouth, an accusatory look crossing my face.

"Aht, don't do that," he chided. "You and I both know that I signed up for this job, so if they wanna put my ass to work, I'm finna work." I rolled my eyes in response, knowing that if I were in his situation, I'd do the same thing. "What about you, though? What you getting into today?"

"I'm not getting into nothing," I denied as I slit my eyes. Jeremiah chuckled lightly before I continued. "My sister just got into town yesterday, though, so we're about to have a girl's day before all my girls come over for a wine night."

A perplexed look graced Jeremiah's face as he questioned, "You and your sister share friends?"

"Yeah, we share friends," I revealed as if it were obvious. "Before she left out for New York, my sister and I were hella close, basically the same as Michael and me."

Sensing that this conversation would last for a while, I removed my laptop from my lap. I shifted so that I was resting against the arm of the couch, a velvet pillow behind me to shield my back from any discomfort the arm could bring. I tucked a stray coil of hair that escaped from my lazily assembled puff behind my ear.

"So," I began as a way to segway into a different conversation. "You been back working for three weeks now. You think a job is waiting for you at the end of the tunnel?" My front teeth lightly nipped at the straw pressed to my lips. I trusted that Jeremiah would land a job in his own time. Still, I know a big piece of my parents' even considering dropping a sliver of their dislike for him would be for him to grab a job.

"Baby, I don't wanna talk about work right now, okay? I wanna talk to you about anything like we do when we're together."

"Okay, okay. No more work talk," I agreed. It would be foolish of me to deny that ever since Jeremiah left, all I've wanted to talk to him about was work. It was just something new for me to ask him about, and I wanted to see how he operated when he did have a job. "What's your favorite memory of me?" A sweet, close-lipped smile stretched my face as Jeremiah playfully glared at me.

"How many times have you put me on the spot?" I responded with 'a lot.' "And how many times was I able to come up with a quick answer?"

I took a breath and raised my finger to respond, both my posture and finger deflating. "None of them." A look of triumph crossed his face. "But, you're always able to come up with fast responses with anyone else!" I defended.

"That's because all those people don't know me. I can't be caught slipping," he began. "You once opened up my phone, and the first thing that opened was that damn video of me-"

A burst of laughter erupted from me immediately, knowing what was to come next. As laughter racked my body, I noticed Jeremiah purse his lips and take a deep breath and hold it in. "Boo, you were really killing that Renegade dance!" I barely composed myself as I mimicked one of the only dance moves I knew, performing it in the same intense fashion as I had witnessed.

"Ba-baby, it was for-"

"You and your brothers' TikTok dance competition!" I hunched over in laughter as my arms wrapped around my stomach, the video vividly displaying in my head. I repeated the dance move again, even more exaggerated this time around.

"Aight, Ki," he frustratedly spat out. I suppressed my laughter as best I could, a few giggles still managing to spill out. "Clearly, you caught me slipping that day, so now I feel like I don't gotta be perfect around you."

"Aw, Babe," I cooed, a giggle slipping out. "You never had to be perfect around me. But anyway, yeah, you didn't tell me your favorite memory of me, but that's definitely one of mine for you."

A few conversation topics later, and a text chimed through. It was my sister telling me that she was about to be on her way. I swiftly hung up the phone and rushed to get ready before Heaven got here, knowing I would be dealing with comments all day if I was even a millisecond late.

My sister knocked on my door about five minutes after I finished getting ready and greeted me with a giant bear hug. Her sweetness was canceled out by her demanding that we head on the way to The Bravern immediately.

I remarked that it was nice to see her too after all this time as we stepped onto the porch, the fresh snow crackling under my feet. She dismissed me merely by explaining that we were sisters and that there was no need for the 'awkward catch-up chit chat...' Her words.

The lights of the Mercedes Benz G63 she was renting flashed twice as she unlocked the car. My steps faltered as I took in the car she chose to rent, a thin layer of snow decorating the hood as it continued to fall.

My sister had been flashy for as long as I could remember. Whether it was flashing around her newest pair of Bottega Veneta sunglasses or stomping around in her new Moncler snow boots, it was always something.

It's because I knew my sister so well that I was surprised at myself for being surprised at her, especially at her having married rich. Our parents had set her up on a date with an excellent financial analyst from New York that they had met once at a charity dinner, and the rest was history.

We arrived at the designated parking area for The Bravern, Heaven daintily hopping out of the vehicle and handing off the key to the valet assistant. "I was thinking we could hit Neiman Marcus first. There's this real cute cropped jacket that my friend showed me-"

"Heaven, let's run this back for a second. I haven't even thought about The Bravern in years, like I said, so what makes you think I can afford to shop here?" I paused and placed my hands on my hips, one of them popped.

"You have a trust fund," she called back over her shoulder. I watched her continue walking towards the plaza that held all the shops, her faux locs swinging behind her as they bumped against the back of her knees.

"A trust fund that I can't even touch til I'm twenty-five!" I jogged, following in the path Heaven's heeled boots left after realizing she wasn't going to stop her shopping mission for me.

"Then you have money to fall back on," I heard her comment from around the corner.

I rounded the corner and was met with the familiar sight of The Shops at The Bravern. My eyes took in the familiar cream-colored architecture and warm-toned lighting peeking out from behind the arch of the ceiling, adjusting to the sight so naturally as if I had lived here.

"I can always just buy you something if you like it that much, anyway. No money out of your pocket.'" Heaven stopped and sat on a bench just a ways down the wall. She stood up and brushed snow off the back of her jacket as I got closer.

"Quit talking about my funds with that attitude, I have the money." I sucked my teeth and raised my hand at her, feigning a hit.

"Wait til we get drunk tonight, baby girl; I'll hit for real." She raised a hand right back at me. "And, if you have the money then what's the big deal?"

Before I could respond, a deep voice pulled both of our attention towards it. "Heaven Suns."

There was a moment of silence as my sister and I grasped who it was before my sister responded, "King Courtney." She looked him over with appraisal, a hint of something else in her gaze as well. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

While Heaven and King caught up, I looked at King in curiosity. I let my chin rest on my fist as my head cocked to the side, my lips forming into an inquisitive pout. My eyebrows frowned as I slowly began shaking my head.

"Yo, Kiara!"

I shook my head abruptly as I was pulled back, both Heaven and King shooting me questioning looks. "You like what you see or something?" King asked somewhat flirtatiously.

My face formed a grimace before I answered. "How's it going in Baltimore?" I crossed my arms over my chest and shifted my weight. "Good if you're not there, I'm guessing."

His eyes flicked over to my sister momentarily as he continued to look completely confused. "What's going on in Baltimore?"

"The casino and the bad numbers?" I elaborated, my wrist loosely flipping out from its spot tucked between the wool coat covering my body and my arm.

"I don't have a casino in Baltimore," he revealed as he shook his head.

"But-"

King's phone began to ring. He checked the caller ID and apologized quickly before answering the phone and walking towards the direction we came.

"Ara, what was that about?" She asked. "I'm hella lost, and it seems like King was, too." She slowly took a step forward, her steps meeting an average pace when I began following her.

I shook my head at her and pulled at my ear, a deep sigh racking my body. "I just caught Jeremiah in a big ass lie."