Shai Louis

                I stared out at the view from the window of my room, in such awe as the evening began to take over the sky. This island was so beautiful, I could slap myself for taking so long to actually come out here. From the blue sea, to the flawless beach and not to mention the temperature that was to die for; I was in paradise, literally.

The thought of only being here for two weeks made me want to cry. I know it was only day one but with the place being as beautiful as this; I was sure that I was going to need more time, it was guaranteed. I could just feel it in my bones.

The villa alone had tons of activities in line for us, from what I saw on the itinerary. Zuri had told us a bit, but seeing it on paper was a whole other story. Of course, she had set most of the fun for tomorrow and onward being as she wanted to wait for the boys to come down; which was understandable but I just couldn't wait to get out there and have fun. I needed to have fun after everything, with the alcohol in my system I was ready to finally let loose and just breathe!

I needed this, more than I knew I did. The moment I got here it hit me, the feeling that this trip would be more than what I assumed it would be. This trip would be one for the books.

"Aren't you glad I brought extra clothes, now?" Kira sang while skipping into my room, holding up clothes in her arms. "These are brand new, I brought options so you can choose freely."

"Thank you so much, babe."

"Don't mention it, I knew overpacking would come in handy and I'm glad I was able to show you that it did as well!" she winked while placing them onto my bed. "Whenever you're ready meet us by the pool. Our lunch is ready!"

"I could smell it from up here." I rubbed my hands together and smiled. "I'm going to take a quick shower and join you guys in a few."

"Perfect, love you boo."

"Love you more!" I waved, waiting for her to leave. Once the door was shut, I shifted through the pile of clothes. I kept it simple, opting for a white tank and some blue denim shorts that I was sure would make my butt look as good as it possibly could.

I threw brough the clothes along with my towel and phone into the bathroom with me and made sure the door was shut before I rested my back against it. I put everything against the counter and opened up my phone so I could call Ray over facetime audio just to let him know that we landed safe and sound.

The phone rang for a while before he finally picked up. "Hey, how did everything go?" he asked, sounding much cheerful than he was this morning.

"Everything went well... I was just calling to let you know that we made it safely to the villa."

"I'm happy to hear, I was just here thinking about you. It's funny that you called right on time."

I sucked my teeth, "thinking about how badly you hit me this morning?" I walked over to the mirror, leaning over to get a good look. "Kira was able to notice, even under the makeup." Luckily, most of the swelling had gone down.

"I'm sorry babe, I really didn't mean to. My emotions unfortunately, got the best of me."

"A line I'm so used to hearing." I shook my head and turned around so that I was leaning against the bathroom counter. "How long are we going to go at it like this?"

"Shai, I think it's best we wait for you to get home so that we can talk this through. Let's put this morning behind us. Take these two weeks to relax and unwind, when you return, we will be in a much better headspace to have this conversation."

"Ray..." I looked down, trying to find the words. "I meant what I said before everything went left earlier. I... I really am done. What transpired after was everything I needed to push me out of that door."

"Shai, please... can we just w-."

"No. I can't keep putting it off and waiting for the next time. I can't come back to that... I can't be in this toxicity any longer."

"So, you're just going to play the coward card huh? Break up with me over the phone while be thousands of miles away?!" I could hear the anger begin to build in his tone. "What do you not get? Why do you want to leave me so badly? Do you think you're going to magically find someone else that can love you the way that I do?!" he barked, "Cause newsflash babe, that's impossible. I have invested every ounce of myself into you. I aided to your growth as a person and an entrepreneur. I gave you the confidence you rock today and I promise you, without me you are going to see that you stand on nothing. Once I'm gone, so is everything that you have grown to love about yourself. Remember when we first met, remember how small you were before I put that confidence in your head?"

"I am me, with or without you Ray."

"No, Shai-Anna! You are not! Without me you are less than. A no one. I took a risk with you! I gave you my all, something no man ever will and for you to sit here and act like it was nothing to you, is a slap in the face. If you really loved me the way you claimed to, this would be nothing but a bump in the fucking road... but clearly, you're a liar Shai-Anna!"

"I'm not going to argue with you any further. I'm just calling you this one last time to let you know that it's officially over."

"If that's what you want to do... just be sure not to come back to this house when you're back. I swear on my life, I am changing the locks. I'm throwing out every piece of item you own in thi-." I hung up and placed my phone onto the counter letting out a deep exhale that I hadn't realized I was holding in for so long.

I ran my fingers through my hair and looked back at my reflection, wiping away the tears before they had a chance to fall. It took me a few minutes, but I was able to gather myself together, take a shower, fix my hair and get dressed to meet the girl downstairs as requested.

                They all sat at a both by the pool with tacos in their hands and a line of shots before them along with champagne glasses of course. "There she is!" Jade clapped, "The woman of the hour."

"Sorry I took so long," I slid into the empty spot next to Zuri and rested my head on her shoulder for just a moment. Being the loving Zuri I knew her to be, she comforted me without question.

"Everything alright?" Kira asked, hesitant to place the taco in her mouth before she got an answer.

"Yeah." I pouted, "I mean, everything will be alright soon." I sat up and reached for one of the shots, throwing it back. "I'm officially single." I said before grabbing another one. "Just called Ray to end things after four long years of what I thought would be forever..." I tossed that one back as well and did the same with the other one next to it. "I'm also officially homeless so," I shrugged. "I guess... everything's alright."

Before I could grab another, Zuri stopped me and pulled me into a hug. "Oh, my goodness, Shai. I'm so sorry." She rubbed my back and I lost all control I had over my tears. "I hate this for you baby girl. I really do."

"So, do we!" Jade said running over to squeeze in next to me. "But believe us when we say you're going to find so much better." She placed her head against my shoulder and rubbed my arm. "I promise, you're smart, talented, compassionate, beautiful, a boss. Any man would jump at the opportunity to be with you."

"You're going to find more than better mama," Kira added. "You're going to find the love, that you deserve."

"Ahem." The sound of someone clearing their throat caused us all to look towards where it came from. Our butler stood far enough to inspect what was going on and once he did, I could tell he felt sorry for interrupting. "I can just come back later." He said, slowly walking away backwards.

"No, no. It's okay." I reached for a napkin on the table and wiped away my tears. "I'm okay."

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm good." I used the napkin as a fan once I was done drying off my cheeks, "what's going on?"

"Oh, I just wanted to let you know that your suitcase has arrived Miss. There is a gentleman waiting for you at the door he just wants to make sure that it goes straight to it's owner."

"That was fast." Kira smirked. "I can get it for you."

"No, it's alright. I can get it. You stay here and finish your tacos; I've done enough interrupting as is."

"Girl please, you didn't interrupt anything. You know we're here for you." She responded.

"I know, thank you guys." I looked over at Zuri and Jade, "I appreciate you."

"We love you sis." Jade continued to rub my shoulder, "and we know you'd be here for us as well. If we were in this position."

"In a heart beat." I agreed. "So, thank you. But I promise that I'm good to get the bag." I tapped Jade's thigh and she slid out from her seat so that I could get up. "It's the guy that drove us here, the least I can do is give him a tip for going out of his way. You know?"

"That's really sweet of him!" Kira smiled.

"I guess what they say about Jamaica having the nicest people is really true." I patted away at the last bit of my tears. "I'll be back in a minute." I told them as I gave our butler a gesture that he could lead the way. This villa was far too big for me to maneuver around myself especially with my emotions running high. I was destined to get lost.

                The butler took me back into the villa and tried his best at small talk to lighten the mood. As much as I didn't really want to talk, he was such a sweet old man that it made it hard to shut him out. Instead of asking what was wrong he opted for jokes about his kids and his wife spending all his money until we finally got to the front door. I had already brought down the suitcase the moment I realized it wasn't mine, just to make the hand off easier of course.

Without hesitation he opened up the door and to my surprise, there he stood; the man from the airport. "You again?" I laughed, while looking down at my suitcase which was by his side. The scent of his cologne was so addictive. It was masculine yet light enough to introduce somewhat of a soft side. The perfect balance. "I see you stole my merchandise." I pointed.

"I see you stole mine." He pointed back, "any excuse to see me again, huh?"

"Oh please." I rolled my eyes, playfully. "we both know you used this as a way to see me."

"Last time I checked you were the first to leave, in a rush I might add... so seems to me like this was your plan all along."

"Oh, sure." I said sarcastically, "whatever makes you sleep at night... Kingston."

He stood there silently, examining me for a moment before his smile faded and his eyes instantly filled with concern. "You were crying?" he asked.

"Oh... no." I shook my head. "I had something stuck in my eye." I lied.

"Oh, really now? What was it?"

"A stupid eye lash, but thankfully I was able to get it out."

"Ah... I see. I'm happy you got it out also, we all know how annoying those can get."

"Mmm, tell me about it." I cleared my throat, "but yeah, getting back to the suitcases." I rolled his over to where he stood, "thank you so much for coming all this way to return it. It really does mean a lot."

"It's the least I can do. Thankfully I had the connections to make it happen." He pointed at the range rover that sat in the driveway, "my friend Oshane is definitely the plug. I mentioned that I saw you get into a pink van and almost instantly he made magic happen."

"Tell him I said thank you, I really do appreciate this."

"I will be sure to pass on the message..." he looked me over once more, "I don't want to hold you too long and please let me know if I'm being too forward here. But, I'm not new to Jamaica. I come here everywhere and I know the ins and the outs, I know what's hot and poppin. I was wondering if you and your friends would be interested in joining us at this beach party tonight."

"So, this was plan after all..." I placed my hand against my hip.

"No, trust me. Taking your suitcase was not in my agenda at all but I can't say I'm mad at it. I like to believe that everything in life happens for a reason so I figured I would seize this opportunity..."

"Shai?" I turned around to see Kira making her way over to me at first, she looked quite confused but once she saw him her mood shifted. "Oh, sorry. I just wanted to check to see if you were okay... clearly, you are." She joined my side and outstretched her hand. "Hello, my name is ShaKira... but I go by Kira or Keeks."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Kingston." He said in turn.

"The guy from the airport, huh?"

"Correct," he nodded.

"The guy who also stole my suitcase." I added.

"I did not, but... like I said before, I'm not mad at the fact that it happened. I was just telling your friend Shai-Anna bout this beach party. I wanted to extend the invitation to you girls, see if you would be down for some fun on your first night here."

"Oh, really?" Kira's eyes lit up. "I mean, we have nothing on the agenda until tomorrow so I don't see why not! All depending on if Shai is feeling better and up for it, of course..." she placed her hand against my shoulder causing me to look at her.

"I'm good." I assured her.

"Are you sure?" she pressed.

"Positive." I answered.

"Because I can understand you not being ready, we can have a girl's night if you'd like."

"I promise you that I'm good." I looked back over at him, "we'd have to run it by our other two friends first just to be s-."

"Oh, we're definitely in!" Jade popped out from the corner and said, she quickly covered her mouth after realizing that she had exposed herself for eavesdropping.

"You clearly don't know the definition of incognito." Zuri muttered while walking out from the corner as well. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and smiled, "hello, my name is Zuri."

"And I'm Jade." She said shyly.

"We're the other two friends that would be down to go out tonight!" Zuri said.

"Sounds good," he rubbed his hands together and looked back down at me, "you guys need a ride or anything? We got more than enough room."

"We have our own d-."

"We would love one!" Kira said, cutting me off. "Do you mind waiting a while, just for us to get ready?"

"Oh no doubt, we'll kick it in the car. You can just meet us out here whenever you're ready."

"Perfect, see you soon." Kira waved before taking my hand and pulling me back into the villa. Once the door was shut all three of them shrieked as if on cue and pulled me into a group hug. "If that aint a sign, I don't know what is!" she said while giving me a soft squeeze before releasing me.

"Did you see the way he looked at her?" Jade cooed.

"I wish someone looked at me like that!" Zuri said through her sigh.

"You guys are definitely reading into it too deep." I smirked, "a man like that wants nothing more than a quick vacation fuck which I will not be providing him with because I just got out of a very long, hard relationship!"

"You don't have to sleep with him!" Kira let out, "this could just be your ticket to having a good time out here, get your mind off things and actually enjoy yourself."

"I doubt I'll be able to." My voice broke, but I quickly fanned my eyes before a tear dared to fall.

"Look, if you aren't ready to go out tonight. We understand boo, there's no rush. We can stay in and watch movies and stuff our faces if you'd like." Jade reached out and grabbed my hand. "We aren't going to belittle what you're going through."

"No, no. I understand you guys just want me to have fun. It's perfectly fine. I could really use a fun environment because you guys know how much I hate being a cry baby." I pouted. "I don't mind going out wit him, but I just want the record to be clear that I want nothing more than that... we go to this beach party tonight and that's it. I don't want you guys trying anything slick, because I'm just not ready yet."

"Fair enough." Kira nodded, "we can do that. Only for the night, to get your mind off things."

"Thank you for understanding."

"Of course, boo," Zuri smiled. "We get it, you're our sis and your happiness is the number one priority right now. Regardless of how fine we think that man is!"

"He is fine." I rolled my eyes and groaned. "Ugh, let's go get ready!"

"Let's do this!" Kira sang while grabbing my suitcase and leading the way for us to get back up to our rooms.

Kingston Hines

"You do know it's been an hour, right?" Oshane turned down the music and pointed at the stereo. "A whole hour."

"I know, but you know how women are." I looked towards the door of the house and tapped my phone against the palm of my hand. "They take ages."

"They aren't coming bro, face it. We should just leave."

"Trust me, they're coming. I'm sure they're just doing their makeup or something."

"They aint coming bro."

"I'm telling you, they're c-."

The door of the villa opened and one by one the ladies poured out of the house as if they were models on a runway. It felt as if they were walking in slow motion for a moment, because I found myself speechless. "Which one of them is Shai?" Oshane leaned over and asked, clearly just as blown away as I was.

"The one in the white." I pointed, smiling at the sight of her.

"I must admit, I have never been prouder." He said before giving my shoulder a squeeze.

I smirked and the rest of the girls let themselves in while she came by my open window. "Sorry we took so long," she said low enough for just me to hear while Oshane introduced himself to the others, "you know... beauty takes time to perfect."

"I mean, you were beautiful before all of that, but I understand. We didn't mind waiting."

"Thank you," she gave me a soft smile before climbing into the back with her girls. "I'm Shai," she said to Oshane, just following what the rest had done. "Thank you for bringing us along with you guys, by the way. It was nice of you to extend the invitation."

"Don't mention it," Oshane said while pulling out from the driveway. "Not sure if Kingston mentioned it but this is just the beginning. I'm a well-known emcee around here, so I'm always in the know of what events are happening and when. Just in case you were looking to have some fun while you're out here!"

"Oh, you're an emcee." Zuri leaned forward to say, so that we could hear her. "Do you by any chance know someone named Jax? Father owns a club out here?"

"Of course, I know Jax!" Oshane laughed, "he's an old friend of mine, comes down here from time to time with his family. I've hosted a couple of his parties in the past, it's been a while. How do you know Jax?"

"Oh, he's my boyfriend!" she announced with pride.

"Man, I'm carrying some precious cargo back there. Thanks for the heads up! Jax and family are not the ones to play with, so I'll be sure to have you back in one piece!" he said, looking back at her through his rear-view mirror.

"We also have taser... for the record." Jade said, "just in case being friends of Jax wasn't enough."

Oshane and I looked at each other before we both broke out into laughter, I shook my head and looked over my shoulder at her. "Trust me. You have nothing to worry about. Not sure if you know this, but Jamaicans really are some of the nicest people in the world."

"I, also just live for a good time." Oshane said, "I live for a good vibe,