Page 30 of A Minute Past Midnight

I looked back at the house and let out a breath to loosen the tightness in my chest. I was nervous about this, but the house was how I envisioned my life after I got my career.

“I'll take this one.”

Samir smiled. “You sure?”

I nodded and smiled back. “Unless you're not sure.”

“Cut that out.” He then turned to Messiah and shook his hand. “The lady has spoken. We’ll be by the office tomorrow to handle all the paperwork.”

“Sweet. You picked a good one, shorty,” he said, smiling at me. “And I'm not talking about the house.” He slapped palms with Samir as they agreed on a time we’d meet tomorrow.

Samir helped me into the car, then got inside.

“How you feeling, mamas? You hungry?”

“I could eat.”

“A’ight. I have to make one more stop, then we can get you fed.”

“Where?” I asked curiously.

He smirked. “You'll see.”

“Oh, God.”

He chuckled. “Let's make a promise to one another.”

“Promises are a little steep coming from two strangers.”

“I get that, but I want to do right by the woman who came into my life and got me locked in already. I want to promise you that no matter what happens between us that we can at least remain friends. I really like you, Cinderella. I like you so much that I want to make all of your dreams come true.

“Your energy and vibe says that you should be living in your soft girl era at this time in your life. Have your career, a nice home, and a nice whip. You deserve that.”

I smiled as I looked down at my hands.

“You're right. I should.”

“Then let me do that for you. We ain't gotta rush into anything you don't want to do. I just want to be here for you. I’m a really good friend.” He smirked.

“Will my good friend let me work at his company? Gotta take care of this baby that's growing inside of me.”

He smiled. “So, you’re going to keep it?”

“That’s the only way I'll keep it. I need to have security and make enough to take care of us.”

“You never have to worry about that, but I got you, mama. After I take you to get your whip, we can go get you set up. Since you want to work, I'll need a query letter and your updated résumé.”

“Really?” I smiled wide.

“Yeah. I don't want you to feel like I'm just giving you things or rushing into anything just because you let me have your body. We can start as really good friends with beautiful, soul-stirring, earthquaking benefits, but just know the end goal will be us.”

I nodded with an amused look on my face. “I can live with that.”

“Cool. Now, since you're keeping the baby, I'm going to need to meet your family, and you meet mine.”

Shit.

I forgot to factor my family into the equation since I decided to keep the baby. I didn't know how my parents were going to react to this, and it made the nervousness return.