Jayla Santiago's POV

I sit in the cafe that Temah texted me to meet her at, contemplating my life.

I blush once again, thinking of my moment with Luis last night.

The warm fuzzy feeling evaporates quickly, when I remember that I still haven't called Jaime back.

I sigh.

Just as I think about it more, a beautiful black couple catches my eye.

The woman is tiny in height compared to the man, who holds her hand, while his arm is over her shoulder, a coffee in his other hand.

He wears a stylish winter jacket, a scarf a pair of dress pants, and some boots, while she wears a huge coat, a beanie hat and a pair of winter boots.

They chatter calmly, smiling at one another's antics and it's then that I realise.

Temah!

And the guy with her seems to be quite the catch too.

Extremely dark skin. Pearly white teeth. Tall, handsome and well dressed.

And you could probably slice cheese on a jaw like that!

I approve.

She tries to walk into the cafe, but he pulls her back into him and she rolls her eyes, tiptoeing so that he can lean down and give her a kiss.

His large hands creep down to give her ass a good squeeze in full view of everybody, some of the men that were initially staring at her, looking away with embarrassment, as he winks at them subtly but provocatively as if daring them to look again.

Temah doesn't notice the men, but pulls away in surprise, hitting his chest playfully and laughing.

He has the decency to look sheepish for a second then he gives her another kiss before letting her go into the cafe, then walking off.

She walks into the cafe, eyes searching the place.

A man comes to meet her at the front and she touches fists with him and gives him a quick hug.

She tells him something and he points at my table.

When she sees me, her face splits into a huge grin.

"Diva!" She squeals across the room.

I stand up.

"Diva!" I yell in response, immediately bursting into laughter, at how we imitate our favourite women on our favourite old tv show, earning us some serious side eye from some of the people around us.

She laughs heartily and scoops me into a huge hug.

I hug her back and then we finally pull away so she can take her jacket off.

When she takes it off, I see that she is wearing a huge oversized jumper that looks...

Masculine.

I smirk.

"That doesn't look like it's yours" I say as we sit down.

Despite her dark skin, she flushed and looks at her lap.

"It's not" she responds, her voice going all soft and shy.

I grin.

"Spill the tea" I say.

"His name is Douglas, and he's my boss, at work" she responds simply making me gasp.

"Your what?!" I ask and she shushes me with a laugh.

"Relax! You're yelling" she reminds me, as the man from earlier sets down her, clearly memories order of a croissant, and green tea as well as the coffee and chocolate cake I ordered earlier.

"Thank you Gideon" she says and he kisses the top of her head.

"I got you sis" he says, before turning to me and giving me a short, friendly wave.

I smile back as he walks away.

"Perks of having a brother that owns a coffe shop" she says, blowing the tea a little.

"Don't change the subject!" I tell her.

"Yeah it's his jumper, I stole it this morning" she says absent minded.

My eyebrows shoot to my hairline.

"Oh, this morning?" I ask suggestively.

She rolls her eyes.

"I stayed over and we had food and chilled" she says innocently.

"Uh-huh. Has he hit, yet?" I ask bluntly.

"Jayla!" She gasps, flushing again.

"We've been together nearly a month and I am a child of God!" She responds.

I give her a pointed look.

"Once" she whispers, taking a sip of her tea, to hide her face and I squeal.

"Finally!" I say, dabbing away fake tears.

"I do, declare! Ma lil baby is all grown! Lawd a mercy!" I 'swoon', mocking a southern belle, accent fluttering my nonexistent fan.

She giggles.

"Was it good?" I ask, taking a bite of my cake.

She flushes a little more, eyes going a little dreamy.

She's in deep!

"Yeah it was igh" she says as casually as she can, shifting about in her seat, and I know for a fact that it was a lot more than 'igh'.

"Tems" I say, in a tone that reminds her that we never hold out.

"Okay, it was... pretty amazing" she says with a shy grin.

"He was just... Wow" she continues, lost for words.

I grill her some more and she tells me everything. Her job, her new friends, how the family is doing and her 'secret plan' for the weekend.

And then it's my turn.

My stomach hits the floor as I tell her everything from start to finish.

The job from the gang, I update her on 'Bonnie', Diav and training and finally, Luis.

I don't tell her the entirety of his situation, but having been to college with us, she knows a bit about it from rumour.

I tell her about moving in with him temporarily and about his adorable son, who I get on with so well with.

I also tell her about last night and what Luis did, and about Jaime and she just sits there stunned.

I tell her about how Jamie is a cop and how he really just started out as a plaything, but now he wants more from me.

From us.

"He still wants you, clearly!" She tells me, finishing off the last of her croissant, referring to Luis.

"But what about Jaime?! His feelings?" I ask, exasperatedly.

She furrows her eyebrows, squints and shades her eyes, animatedly looking around the room as if searching.

"Jaime, who?!" She asks, looking back at me, making me chuckle at her goofiness.

"Jaime who?!" She repeats, hands akimbo and I laugh.

"J, I'm serious!" She says, looking at me, like a concerned sister.

I shake my head.

"Look, I know Luis. He loved you so much! When you left him, he switched up on all of us. He didn't want to go out anymore and even the mention of going to a bar, made him feel physically sick and we never knew why" she says.

"You need to cut that nigga, Jaime off, too. He's an idiot, but you can't lead him on so much.

I sigh.

"What should I do bout Luis?" I ask and she shrugs, taking a sip of her drink.

"Temah!" I say exasperatedly.

"Well if it were me, I'd make him hear me out. He's not made of glass, sis. He's extremely strong despite his situation." she tells me.

"But he's obviously scarred. It will take time.

"Just let him become more comfortable with you." She says.

"Then?" I ask, gathering ways to make him face me.

A small smirk creeps across her face, making me skeptical.

"Seduce him. Properly. He clearly wants you." She says.

My eyes widen as a look of amusement shows.

Here I am, thinking that innocent Temah will stay innocent Temah, but I am sorely mistaken.

"And how am I gone do that?" I ask.

She smiles some more.

"We're going lingerie shopping." She says bluntly and I nearly choke at her bluntness.

"We are?" I squeak.

She nods and then shrug.

"I needed to pick something up anyway" she says with another shrug and I laugh.

"You must really like this man!" I say and she giggles.

"What, a girl can't buy sexy lingerie for herself she asks.

"When you have a man like that?" I ask, pointing to the place I saw her and her boyfriend getting cosy.

"Nah" I respond.

She leans forward conspiracy in her posture.

"Take your own advice" she says simply.

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Hey all!

What did you think of this one?

What do you think will happen next?

~ Xo