Aliyah's POV
“You little tramp, you still haven't paid me my money!”
*Splash*
I barely even had enough time to react before the cold ice latte came splashing in my face.
I had owed last month’s rent and the month before because of how slow business had become. For that Stacey, my landlord's daughter, had taken it upon herself to harass me constantly at every chance she got .
This was the third time this week.
I swallowed hard from shame, I couldn't even look her in the eye.
“I'd pay as soon as I gather the money, just give me more time.” I begged.
“You've been saying that since last month!” she hissed “I still can't believe you have the nerve to show your face here!”
“I promise I'll find a way to pay this week” I begged looking straight into her angry eyes now.
“We don't need your money anymore,” she said right before she yanked me by the hair so her mouth was close enough to my ear. “You've wasted our time long enough,”
She dragged me outside and threw me to the ground then went straight for the doors and locked the shop.
Tears of shame and defeat went down my cheeks as there was nothing I could do.
She looked at me with disgust like she was looking at a rag. “Let's see how you'll get in here again” she paused, looking down at me “if you don't come with what you owe before the end of Thursday then I'm selling everything here”
“Thursday?” I gasped, “but that's in two days! Please there must be another way”
“How is that any of my concern?” she hissed, eyeing me one last time before throwing the keys in her purse.
“Get out of my sight before I call the police on you!” She barked.
I stood up slowly as there was nothing I could do and walked to the apartment my boyfriend and I shared. I knew that Bryan more than anything could definitely make me feel better.
He was a struggling artist and we shared an apartment together so we could have more time together and lift the cost of rent off me.
The house wasn't far from the shop and it took me only ten minutes to get home.
I reached the front door and was about to knock when I noticed that the door was ajar.
“That's strange” I whispered, suddenly worried if we'd been robbed
I walked in slowly looking around to see if anything was missing and that was when the sounds hit my ears.
Moans and groaning from our bedroom. My heart flipped and started beating fast.
“No, no, no, it can't be, no” I whispered in a shaky voice. “Is he sleeping with someone in our bed?!”
“It can't be, Bryan loves me” I assured myself while my feet moved closer to our bedroom.
“He loves me” is the last thing I told myself just before I barged into the room and caught the man I loved buried deep inside his best friend, Derek.
Immediately Derek and I locked eyes but he never looked away. His face was an embodiment of satisfaction, almost like he was happy to be caught with my boyfriend.
I couldn't breathe, like the air in my lungs had been cut off instantly.
Suddenly Bryan looked up and stumbled back. “Jesus, Aliyah!” He screeched with eyes wide open.
“I-” he started but stopped as his mouth went into a thin line.
“So this is what you're doing while I work my ass off?!” I half screamed “fucking Derek?!”
“I can explain-” Bryan started but I cut him off.
“You dare cheat on me with a man?!!” I yelled.
Suddenly Derek cleared his throat and picked his things.
“I think I should go,” he said, half sprinting out of the room.
Bryan's dick went limp in my blurry vision as the tears rolled down harder.
I had lost two things today. My business and the only man I love, I couldn't take it. The world was spinning so fast.
I couldn't be here. I couldn't stand the sight of this. I ran out of the house with Bryan yelling out to me.
I ran into the street and into the road barely getting hit by a car.
Not long after I found myself in a bar drinking all my sorrow away. The burning sensation of the whiskey down my throat slowly began to clear all my troubles.
I thought about my business, the only source of income I had, the thing I had built from nothing.
I took a shot and another until the sadness began to turn to bubbly nothing. Bryan, the man I had loved for two years, slowly began to fade from my memory.
I stopped remembering the nights he refused to touch me even when I made myself beautiful just for him or the lies he told me as to why he wouldn't touch me.
Six months. For six months I wondered why I suddenly repulsed him but now I understood.
I laughed dryly like I had been told a bad joke.
I was such a fool.
I raised my glass up downing the last sip of alcohol when my eyes caught a man from across the room. It was nearly impossible to miss him. His eyes were the sharpest shade of blue I had ever seen.
He gave me a seductive smile and something in me burned for his touch.
He walked over to me and I couldn't take my eyes off of him. He was so tall and scary but yet so alluring. I looked down at his plump lips, so kissable and enticing. And then my eyes traveled to his arms. They looked strong and powerful.
Suddenly my mind raced with the thought of them around me.
He looked at me like he knew what I was thinking and bit his lip and I felt my heart flip. I knew I shouldn't be thinking about a random man this way, I barely even knew him.
“You are one beautiful woman,” he said before taking a seat right next to me.
His voice was deep and raspy and he smelled like rich oak. My heart rate increased and felt my core heat up with desire.
I knew the alcohol was going to wreck me but I didn't care, I wanted him and I was going to have him.
“You can tell me how beautiful I am or you could kiss me”