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Chapter 1
"How about you get off your ass and actually help a bitch out." Braelynn huffed while rehanging clothes that little kids took off. Kiah chuckled and turned on music before helping out with the cleanup. Kiah met Braelynn when they were forced to work together on a project, neither of them liked each other in the beginning but while working together a bond was formed.
Both of them lost other friends but they didn't care because they had each other and that was all that mattered to them. Kiah worked with her mother in the store since she was 16 but when her parents died in a car crash she inherited the store and since she's worked there. At first it was all she ever wanted but then realized it was gonna get in the way of going to college.
Kiah wanted to be the first one in her family to go but that dream wasn't gonna happen. Braelynn offered to stay while she went but Kiah didn't wanna be selfish and do that. So they both chose not to go and it ate Kiah up all the time. "So future appointments?" Braelynn asked and Kiah went to open her notebook.
"Uhh so far nobody at the moment." She answered. The store held three sections. Section one was for the wedding dresses, Tuxs, bridesmaid etc. Section two was for little kids and section three was teenagers and adults clothes.
The girls held a wide open space in the far back and wanted to use it for selling shoes however when they saw the prices they chose not to and decide to do something else.
In the far back corner was two offices of theirs where they hid money in a safe and sorted it out. Most of the money went to Kiah since she lives on her own and has to pay rent and food. Kiah wanted equal pay but Braelynn chose for her to have about $300 since it would only be her spending money.
If she had more money left she wouldn't get paid and it all went to Kiah. When they finished they locked up the store and hugged each other. "Text me when your home." Braelynn said kissing her cheek. Kiah got into her car and drove home.
When she got home she cut her engine off and went into the house leaving her keys on the table. She went into the fridge and heated up leftover spaghetti she made. Her phone beeped and she saw Braelynn's text.
FAVV🖇💙: I'm home hoe which means u should be too !!!
11:30 PM
Favorite💕: just got back. Gn love u 💖
11:30 PM
FAVV🖇💙: aight gn love u too pooh ❤
SEEN
Kiah took her food out the microwave and went to her room turning on Netflix and settling on Criminal Minds. "Bruh why they sent him back to prison." Kiah frowned and watched the show.
*
Waking up Kiah shut off her alarm and sat up in bed. She looked at her phone and saw a text from Braelynn.
FAVV🖇💙: Wake up bitch i wanna head to a diner for breakfast
8:30 AM
Favorite💕: aight come here round 9
8:30 AM
FAVV🖇💙: aight cool see u den !!!
SEEN
Sitting up Kiah stretched her body and went to the bathroom for a shower. She let the warm water wake her up and rubbed the sleep out her eyes. After letting her skin warm up she started to wash up her body with her dove body foam soap.
When she finished washing up she stepped out and loitioned up her body and then got dressed. When she was finally dressed she went to brush her teeth and started on her hair. When she finished that she opened her door letting the hot air slap her in the face.
Smiling she stepped out and went to her mailbox when she opened it she took out her mail and went back inside but not before feeling eyes on her. Looking around she didn't see anyone outside so she went into the house and shut her door.
She started to sort thru her mail but didn't find anything worth reading. She put it all away in the junk drawer and watched tv until Braelynn got here.
They drove down to a diner out of town that they loved to eat at and sat down. "So what you getting?" Braelynn asked. "My usual." Kiah replied and Braelynn nodded. "Same." She mumbled and then flagged down a waitress.
"Alright so for her we're gonna get a short stack of pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon extra crispy, and some orange juice." She paused and waited for her to get it all down.
When she nodded Braelynn continued. "For me I'm gonna get two pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage and some orange juice." The waitress nodded and left the area.
"Did you know a girl went missing last night?" Braelynn asked and Kiah frowned since she doesn't watch the news as much as she should. Kiah shook her head and motioned for her to continue.
"17 year old Gazellle Watkins was walking home around 10 PM from a friends house and was snatched. Their looking for her but so far they grasping at straws. She was alone and there was no witnesses around." Braelynn finished and Kiah's eyebrows raised.
Kiah shook her head. "If anything i doubt they gon find her. They have no leads whatsoever." Braelynn shook her head. When their food came they started to eat while talking about the store.
The store doesn't open until 11:00 AM so they basically have another two hours to kill. "So after here wanna go to the mall?" Braelynn asked and Kiah shook her head. As much as she wanted to have a normal life she couldn't.
She had to work at the store 24/7 and plus no malls in their area was open. The closest one was an hour away that's open at all times of the day. Sighing Braelynn nodded. "We need a better schedule so that we could still work at the store and get money but also have a damn life." Braelynn frowned and Kiah agreed.
Ever since she inherited this store she hasn't had any time for herself and that's something she desperately needed. "Okay so what days are we mostly dead?" Kiah asked and Braelynn ate a piece of her pancake thinking.
"Mostly Sundays and Mondays." She nodded and Kiah smiled. "Its settled, Sunday-Monday we open at 11:00 like always but close at 6:30 instead of 11:00." Braelynn nodded loving the idea.
They finished eating and was ready to their bill. "Okay who paid last time?" Braelynn asked and Kiah pointed to her. "Its my turn." She said fishing in her purse. When she figured her wallet was in the car she walked outside but bumped into a hard chest. She almost fell on the ground but their arms snaked around her waist stopping her from hitting the ground.
"You okay?" He asked her once she was standing correctly. Kiah smiled sweetly at the boy and nodded. "I'm good. Sorry for bumping into you." She apologized but he waved her off.
"I'm used to girls falling at my feet." He smirked and she rolled her eyes. Kiah stepped around him and went to the car. The boy called out to her making her turn around. "Lemme get ya number." He licked over his lips and Kiah shook her head. "No ion know you." She said looking him over.
He wasn't bad looking but he wasn't her type. He was lightskin with a nice shape up. He had on a nice looking outfit. "I'm new to the area why not show me around?" He asked and she shook her head.
"This isn't high School so no i cannot." She replied and turned around for the car but he grabbed her elbow spinning her around. "You bumped into me. At least show me around sometime to make up for it." He said and Kiah bit the inside of her cheek.
She did bump into him even though she ain't mean to and he was cute. Sighing in defeat she agreed. "Fine." She mumbled and his smile took over his entire face.
Kiah loved his smile and so they traded numbers. "Names Zyaire by the way." He smiled at her and she nodded. "Kiah."
After saying their goodbyes Kiah retrieved her wallet and Zyaire went into the diner to meet with his family. When Kiah went back inside she noticed Braelynn mugging.
"What's wrong Brae?" She asked leaving $50 at the table. The girls stood up and left the diner. "Nothing. It's just my mother." She sighed. Braelynn is barely ever home and that's because her parents are very toxic. One minute they love each other and the next they wanna kill each other. Its unhealthy and Braelynn wants out of the house but when Kiah offered her to move in with Kiah she declined saying she didn't wanna take away her space.
"What happened?" She asked and Braelynn started explaining. "Ever since last night its gotten so much worse their always arguing about shit. Ion know what they be arguing about but its annoying as hell." She rolled her eyes and Kiah nodded.
The car ride was silent so Kiah's mind drifted off to Zyaire. He was light skinned and was kind of cute only thing that drew Kiah to him was his voice and smile. His voice was soft and melodic in a way but his smile could almost light up a dark room. She loved that.
When they reached Kiah's house they got out to head inside but frowned once they saw a card on the mailbox.
_________________________________________
I wish I was your mirror hanging on your wall, cause when you undress guess who'd see it all.
_________________________________________
Frowning the girls looked around themselves and Braelynn reread the note over and over again. "Oop sis got a secret admirer." She joked but Kiah didn't find it funny at all. "Ki." She said and Kiah's heart raced. This message was just creepy and plus that feeling she had that someone was watching her was way to much for her.
Braelynn got her in the house and put the card on the table. "Was it that guy who you was talkin to?" She asked but Kiah shook her head. "He doesn't have my address." She mumbled and Braelynn nodded.
"Well lets watch a movie to kill sometime."
*
"Lina we're here for one specific item not no damn outfit for you to be fucking in." A boy grumbled and Kiah watched their exchange. The boy to her was really cute. He had black hair with brown tips and was wearing a white shirt with black jeans. The girl next to him was beautiful Kiah loved her hair. It was curly and it was also black with brown tips at the bottom.
"Excuse me. I want that dress." She pointed over to a bridesmaid dress that was dress on a mannequin. Kiah smiled at the girl and took out her notebook. "That's a custom made dress i have to do your dress fitting and make it perfectly to match your frame and then i can sell it to you." Her eyes lit up as she nodded frantically.
"So when can you do it." She asked and Kiah smiled. "Well just leave me your name and a number where i can reach you." She smiled.
"Names Selina Ro-"
"Ross." The boy interjected. Kiah and Selina looked at him funny. "What?" She asked shrugged. Kiah wrote Selina Ross and Selina gave her a number.
"Now all custom made dresses are $75 so would you like me to add some designs to it?" Kiah asked and Selina nodded. Kiah led Selina over to her little area and began her measurements while the boy was trailing after Braelynn for the Tuxedo's.
"So is that your boyfriend?" Kiah asked and Selina groaned and shook her head. "Twin brother. His name is Ronald." Selina said and Kiah nodded. "That was a stupid thing for me to say y'all have the same brown tips." Kiah frowned at herself and Selina chuckled.
"Its okay. How long have you worked here?" She asked. "Turn left? Since i was 16." She answered and Selina nodded. "Do you like it?" Selina asked and Kiah shrugged.
"It gives me money." She said finishing up with Selina. "All right all done." They went to counter to look at designs. "Ooh i love the rose one." She picked out and Kiah nodded. After the two finished they left the store and went about their life.
"Ronald is so cute." Braelynn fanned herself and Kiah giggled. "Ugh he was so sweet calling me cute and shit." She said and Kiah shook her head. "Listen i have to get this dress made by next week so can you manage-"
Braelynn waved her off and Kiah went to her office. She got out her sewing machine and looked at her phone that buzzed.
Zyaire🌹: wanna hang out today??
12:30 PM
Kiah🐞: i cant. Sunday or Monday??
12:30 PM
Zyaire🌹: Monday
12:31 PM
Kiah🐞: cool see u then
SEEN
Kiah put her phone away and started on the dress while also listening to music.
****
"You already wore those." Braelynn said calmly trying not to jump over this counter to beat her ass. The girl held up the jeans demanding her money back since she no longer wanted them. "So? I was trying them on and they don't fit." She said. Kiah who was hearing the commotion went to check It out. "Are you the owner?" She asked and Kiah nodded.
"Yo employee is a disrespectful ass bitch! I want my money back for these damn Jeans." She said and Braelynn considering slapping her with the jeans. Sighing Kiah took Braelynn's place and went to the office. "When did you buy those?" Kiah asked and she girl tried to remember. "About two months ago." She replied but Kiah shook her head.
"We have a strict policy that you can't return any article of clothing after 1 week of buying it. I'm sorry miss but i can't take those jeans and i also cannot give you your money back." Kiah said as professional as she could.
The girl rolled her eyes and left. Kiah went to her office and saw Braelynn looking in the mirror. "She gon call me a bitch. Me a bitch?!? I ain't no bitch i beat a bitch the fuck?" Braelynn mumbled to herself and Kiah chuckled. "Girl calm down i handled it." Kiah replied starting to start on the rose design she wanted.
"Ion know how you can do it." Braelynn shook her head and Kiah looked up confused. "Do what?"
"Have a client come in one day and have they shit done by the next day." She chuckled and Kiah shrugged. Kiah first learned how to sew when she was 14 her mom taught her. She then loved sewing so much she started to practice making her own clothes. Of course there was a lot of bumps in the road and there were times she wanted to give up but she kept trying and she always had her mother by her side to help.
When she turned 17 she learned tricks on how to not take that long to make an article of clothing which was to listen to music and concentrate. As long as she listened to music she could concentrate better and know what she's doing.
"I have you here so while I'm doing this you manage the store." She said and Braelynn shrugged. She then looked at the dress and nodded her head. "This is cute." She complimented. Kiah thanked her and then got back to concentrating.
*
The next day was Saturday and Kiah had to run the store on her own. Braelynn got terribly sick and it left Kiah struggling. She needed to add the finishing touches on Selina's dress but could never find the time to do so. Selina texted her and said she needed her dress today but she was so busy she couldn't get to the dress.
Selina walked inside and her eyes widened at the amount of people in the store. She found Kiah helping a teenage girl and decided to wait. When Kiah went back behind the counter Selina approached her. "Hey I'm here for my dress." Selina smiled and Kiah sighed heavily.
She took out Selina's dress and showed it to her. The only things she needed to add was the stem and thorns to the dress. Selina admired the dress and loved it. "I love it! Why you look lookin like that?" Selina asked.
"I didn't add the stem and thorns-" Selina waved her off as Kiah folded the dress. "It's completely fine. I see how busy you are. On Sunday i was gonna go to a spa, wanna join?" She asked and Kiah nodded.
"Okay cool! See you then." After Selina paid for the dress she was out the door and Kiah was left with the rush of customers.
