While scarfing down a piece of her cake, she stood in the kitchen a little longer than usual, watching everyone else move around and grind all over each other to the music. She'd be out there fooling around with everyone else for a little while, before disappearing elsewhere for whatever reason. Skai was one of the people to take notice of that too, along with the random dude Angel would find herself dancing with before just leaving him there.
"You alright girl? You'll come over and lean on this counter every twenty minutes, just zoning out." Skai told her, noticing the birthday girl's odd behavior even though she was high. Usually she'll be bouncing off the walls with the drug in her system, but not tonight.
Angel chuckled, trying to play it off "I'm good, I'm cool." She assured her and stood up straight, bobbing her head to the music.
Skai smirked at her, not believing her at all "Girl please, you been spending majority of your time over here making love to this cake, instead of out there showing your little boy toy some attention." She said and nodded over towards the dude, who was now dancing with someone else.
Angel chuckled and shrugged a shoulder "He'll live."
Leaning on the counter, Skai sighed while glaring over at her friend "Well speaking of boys, is Dominique showing up tonight? He does know that it's your birthday, right?"
"Yeah, but I don't think he's coming." Angel mumbled.
"Why wouldn't he?"
"I don't know, maybe because he's not in the mood to see me right now..." She told her and before Skai could ask for more information, Angel continued "We talked earlier and the conversation just turned sour. It was silly. We're not mad at each other, but I don't know.."
Skai was about ready to give her input until the loud banging on the front door caught their attention. Not even bothering to turn the music down, Angel scurried over to the door and squinted through the peep hole, noticing Zulu with a few of his friends. Angel smiled a little before opening the door to let them in, seeing that he had a little gift bag in his hand.
"There's the birthday girl." He announced to the guys with a grin and stepped in, towering over her before pulling her into a hug "Happy birthday."
Wrapping her arms around him, she laid her cheek against his chest and took in the smell of his cologne "Thank you." She said as they gently swayed side to side for a little while.
"Y'all just living it up in here huh? I'm surprised Richard okay with all these folks in his crib." He joked.
"He's not even aware it's this many people, so hopefully they don't get too wild and start trashing the place."
"Shit, they will once they get some of this in they system." He held up a bottle of Ciroc Vodka with a devilish smirk on his face. Angel playfully rolled her eyes before shoving him a little "I brought you a lil gift though." Zulu said before handing over the small purple gift bag.
Angel looked inside and pulled out the small bottles of perfume and lotion from Calvin Klein. She looked up and gave him a silly grin "Perfume and lotion? Are you trying to say I stink or something."
Zulu cackled at her jokey assumption before shaking his head "Man what? I've never had an issue with the way you smell. I just know women enjoy being stocked up on smell goods and shit."
"We do, and I appreciate this." She thanked him before placing the items back in the gift bag, and closing the front door after Zulu and his friends came completely inside "I didn't think you were gonna come tonight."
"Why wouldn't I? You know I never miss one of your parties, especially on your birthday."
Angel crossed her arms and gave him the side eye "Zulu I can count on one hand how many birthday parties you actually came to and it wasn't that many." She corrected him.
"Alright, alright. Whichever ones I missed, I always made sure to call and tell you happy birthday though. Whenever I did come through, I never came through empty handed either." He reminded her with a wink, causing her to shake her head with a grin. The two strolled back towards the island where the cake sat, and began to talk while watching the partygoers act a fool "You enjoying your little party so far?"
"Yeah, I'm trying too. At first I didn't even really care to have anything planned today. My uncle didn't want me to be alone though, and actually allowed me to have a couple of people over here. Just for the night."
Zulu slowly nodded "You usually have your birthday planned a month in advance. Now you were just gonna let the day pass you by.. Why?"
"I don't know, maybe because it's been the least of my worries lately." She told him, and Zulu didn't know whether to ask more questions or let her be, because whatever had her so worked up was still bothering her. She continued to go into detail though "I'm just still annoyed with everything that went down that night of the fight with my family."
It's understandable that the incident haven't left her mind yet, she literally got into a physical altercation with her sibling and told her family including her mother, to go to hell. Though Zulu was more than sure they've had multiple fights before, that was the first one he actually witnessed that got that bad. He wasn't a stranger to the dysfunction of Angel's family, but he was shocked it was still going on all these years later.
"Have you been back there since then?" He asked.
Angel quickly shook her head with furrowed brows "Absolutely not, and I haven't called to check in either. Nobody decided to hit me up to see if I was straight either, so it is what it is." She shrugged like it was nothing.
Zulu sighed and tapped his fingers against the island "Damn, that's crazy." He mumbled, before glaring around at all the crowds of people taking over the house "I guess this party was suppose to put you in better spirits or something?" He grinned trying to lighten the mood.
"It's suppose to, but a part of me isn't feeling it that much." She finally admitted.
"How come?"
"Don't get me wrong, a lot people are here that I actually consider friends.....but I'm still missing someone." Her voice got a little lower, but Zulu made sure he was listening closely "I don't think he's coming either, after the talk we had earlier." She told him, not even wanting to call it an argument.
Even though she didn't say his name, Zulu studied the party and noticed a specific dude wasn't here. He forgot his name already, but that seems to be the main reason Angel wasn't really present at her own party. She was too focused on whether or not Dominique was going to show up though he didn't even get an invite. He didn't need one though, and he knew that. He knew what it would mean to Angel if he actually showed his face, but as it continued to get later, she felt he rather be elsewhere with his own crowd. Maybe he felt like he didn't belong here tonight.
Zulu was the last person to get relationship advice from, and he wasn't even sure if the two were an item yet, but it looked that way to him. She was sprung "Look, I don't want you to be moping around here at your own birthday party because dude decided not to show up. This is your night, and you need to enjoy it. If he don't come through, oh well. Hit his ass up the next day and tell him how that made you feel. Right now though, just appreciate the folks that actually came here tonight to celebrate you."
Angel couldn't help but to give a toothless smile at his words, trying to pull her out of her semi depressed mood. Instead of standing in the corner and ignoring her own special day, he wanted her to loosen up and have a little more fun. Not worrying about whats his name...
"Ok." Angel nodded in agreement, feeling she spent enough time being secluded in the kitchen.
"Aight, take a shot with me." He suggested, not wasting anytime to rummage through the cabinets to find two shot glasses. He kept the green one with the dollar sign on it before handing Angel the clear one with the palm trees.
"You know I'm not that much of a drinker..." Angel somewhat whined, holding the glass while he opened up the vodka.
Zulu smacked his lips with a goofy smirk "What I just say about enjoying your night?" He asked her and didn't hesitate to fill up the shot glasses with the vodka "It's just a little." He assured her, but before they could drink, he gained everyone's attention who was bouncing around "Aye! I bet none of y'all asses sung this girl happy birthday when y'all came up in her crib! Or did y'all?" The partygoers paused what they were doing and gave somewhat guilty expressions "I thought so."
He cleared his throat and basically forced everyone to sing happy birthday to Angel, whether she had a candle in her cake or not. He swayed his head to the slurred singing like a class clown, causing Angel to laugh at his antics but she appreciated his efforts to make this night more about her instead of just partying. It was her day.
"Happy birthday to youuu." They all finished before giving a few claps, making Angel feel a little special. Zulu came over and the two clinked their shot glasses with a laugh before taking it to the head. The strong alcohol hitting her throat caused her to cough a little but she handled it well while Zulu patted her back with a laugh.
"Come dance with me." Zulu suggested, hearing candy rain playing through the speakers. He wrapped his arm around Angel's shoulder like she was his little sidekick, before moving over to the center of the house. Without thinking too hard about it, Angel began to dance along with him and didn't care how close they seemed to be in each other's space. She would often turn around and tease him as if she was going to grind on him, but would only laugh at his excited reaction. The two weren't being that serious and knew it was all fun.
They weren't going down that road again.
Once again, knocks came to the front door and interrupted Angel from carrying on with Zulu. She excused herself to answer it and he would've followed, but incase it was the police, he didn't wanna be the first or second person they witnessed. Though Zulu was an adult, he knew damn well there was more than alcohol and weed going around at this party.
Without bothering to look through the peephole since she expected more guest, Angel answered the door like it was nothing. Standing on the other side was surprisingly Dominique. Angel was even more surprised to see that he wasn't alone. Behind him stood his three friends, Nick, Isaac, and of course Kendra.
"I didn't think I was gone make it in time." Dominique spoke, with a soft smirk on his face but the look of surprise still haven't left Angel's "Is it alright that I brought company?" He asked.
"No, y'all are fine. Come in." She held the door open wider for the four of them to enter.
"Happy birthday." They each said while coming in, including Kendra who had a genuine smile on her face. It surprised Angel but she doesn't know why since it's not like the girl ever had any secret animosity towards her, let alone showed it. Kendra has always been friendly the two times Angel actually got to see her in person.
"Thank you." Angel told them with a soft smile, walking behind Dominique a little too awkwardly. She was shocked he actually showed up, and it didn't even matter that he was empty handed. She wasn't expecting too many gifts today anyway, she just wanted to see him.
Zulu had a childish smirk on his face once he seen the duo in each other's presence, knowing Angel must've been relieved that her little boy toy actually came through. Strolling over while still bobbing his head to the music, he stood in front of them to stop them from walking "Aye man, you was gone make this girl have a full on meltdown if you ain't show up."
Angel rolled her eyes in slight embarrassment "Zulu, go away. Now." She told him while shooing him off like a fly.
"I'm just saying." He shrugged his shoulders before backing away after making that information known.
Dominique only chuckled while shaking his head, knowing there was some truth to his words though Angel was trying to hide it. His friend Isaac began to rub his stomach as if he's been running on empty all day "Damn girl, all I see is liquor and cake in here. You ain't got no wings or nothing?" He didn't hesitate to ask like some greedy kid.
"It wasn't suppose to be some big shindig in the first place, but there should be some more pizza left in the boxes." She clarified while pointing over to the stove. He didn't waste any time, he walked through the small crowd of people trying to get to the kitchen, while Nick followed.
On top of Dominique and Angel being somewhat awkward with each other, Kendra stood right beside them in silence, just observing the party. She needed a minute to size folks up before actually going into the crowd to mingle with them, being that she didn't know anybody here. Glancing at the two beside her, Kendra felt as if she was suppose to separate herself any second now and let the two be. Knowing they showed up so Dominique could actually see and talk to Angel, alone.
"Y'all need a minute?" She eventually asked?
"Yeah we do, luckily you got the hint instead of me having to tell you to beat it." Dominique joked with her and knowing him, she only playfully rolled her eyes before removing herself from their space.
Watching as she entered the small kitchen with the rest of the bunch, Angel looked up at Dominique for a slight second "I'm surprised you actually came..." She mumbled but he heard her.
Dominique stared down at her "I didn't know you were throwing a little get together until Skai told me, so I figured you would've wanted to be left alone today. Regardless, I was gonna swing by here anyway to see you face to face. Even after the way you spoke to me earlier." He smirked.
"Really? Why were you gonna come by unannounced even after that petty phone call?"
"For one, it is your birthday and I knew you would've felt some type of way if I didn't come around at all. Also, that conversation might've agitated me a little bit earlier, but what type of weak ass nigga would I be to let something like that ruin my whole day? You said what you had to say and so did I, but that didn't mean I wanted to go another week or so without seeing or talking to you, let alone a day."
Angel slowly nodded and was actually glad the whole phone call wasn't bothering him that much "I'm sorry about that. You were only checking up on me and even though I was still frustrated about certain things, I didn't have to take it out on you. It wasn't that serious, and the way that phone call ended was unnecessary. I was just being a little too emotional about the wrong things." She admitted.
"Come on, let's go talk somewhere more private." Dominique nodded towards the hallway, feeling more than one pair of eyes on them. That, and the music they were blasting just made the serious conversation feel a little less heartfelt.
"Okay." Angel said, following him away from the somewhat crowded living room and kitchen area where they ended up in the empty dining room instead. He could've easily found her bedroom but Dominique didn't want her to think he was gonna try to eventually talk her out of her panties.
Though she wouldn't have minded.
"I hope you ain't mind me bringing a couple of folks over here with me.." Dominique suddenly said, as they took a seat across from each other at the table. He wasn't trying to be shady or anything with that question either.
"No, it's fine. It's a party and I don't have a problem with anybody you showed up with anyway." Angel shrugged her shoulders.
Dominique slowly nodded "Not even Kendra?"
Angel chuckled for some reason and shook her head "Why would I have an issue with her being here, Dominique?"
"I'm not saying that you do, I just don't want you to think I brought her here to get under your skin or some shit. She's just a friend of mine so of course we're gonna hang out, but it's nothing serious going on. I don't know if you genuinely like the girl all the way but all I'm saying is you ain't got nothing to worry about. I don't want any secret animosity between the two of y'all."
"There's no secret animosity on my end.." Angel mumbled while rubbing up her arm.
"Well you need to tell her that, the girl think's you secretly hate her ass."
"Why would I hate her when I don't even know her? I know the two of you use to hook up but why would that upset me? It doesn't, because we all have exes so the two of you having history is not bothering me." Now she might have been a little jealous at first but since her and Dominique have been getting even closer, and explaining how they truly feel about each other, his old flame doesn't get a rise out of her. Not even with the two of them still being friends, because she knew who Dominique wanted.
"Well cool, I still think y'all should get to know each other though." He threw that out there once again, starting to sound like a man who was trying to force a bond between his two sister wives.
"I think you should get to know Zulu too." She suggested, titling her head to the side while waiting for his reaction. She remembered how he seemed to be so bothered by the dude before he even got to know him, and Dominique didn't even know his slight jealousy was showing.
Dominique snickered as if she was being funny "Now, you know I don't have a problem with him."
"I never said that you did, I just suggested that the two of you should get to know each other."
"Alright. Not a issue with me." He smirked, before slowly standing up from the table. Angel followed him towards the front of the house where the party was going on, and it seemed as if more people came over than she expected. It wasn't an issue with her though, especially since Dominique showed up too. It beats her being alone for her special day which she had planned to be at first "By the way, you're gonna have the house to yourself all night? Right?"
"Yes, why?" Angel asked while giving him the eye.
He stared down at her with a grin for what seemed like forever, before slowly licking his lips "Just asking."
Angel shoved him away before playfully rolling her eyes, knowing exactly what he had in mind for later on. Though she was waving it off, she couldn't wait for the two of them to be alone once the party was over.
While she looked around the crowded area, she seen Kendra sitting on the arm of the couch while enjoying herself some liquor in the plastic red cup. Shooing some dude off who kept trying to holla at her, Angel chuckled before strolling over anyway, hoping things wouldn't be too awkward between the two of them "Hey.." She greeted with a toothless smile, sitting on the empty cushion that was next to her.
"Hey.." Kendra repeated with a awkward chuckle but was more than surprise that the
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