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adamcoled · 9 months

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comfort | rhea ripley

rhea ripley x fem!reader

summary: comforting rhea as she handles the disappointment of not being on the summerslam card.

word count: 1,620

warnings: some small sexual implications basically

a/n: just something simple i wrote in my upset over no rhea at ss :/

With Rhea’s schedule, you definitely didn’t get to spend time with her as much as you’d like. She was on the road often, and you led a normal life at a home she’d frequently have to be away from for days at a time. You tried to attend any shows that were close enough and aligned with your schedule, but your priority was always PLEs. And of course, with SummerSlam being the second biggest PLE of the year, you were absolutely going to be there. While you and Rhea would be traveling together for the most part, she had plenty of media events so you wouldn’t be seeing much of her in the days leading up to the show. However, Rhea was home for a couple of days ahead of her schedule in Detroit, and those days would be reserved solely for the two of you.

But during those days, you couldn’t help but notice that Rhea seemed off. You knew her better than anyone, so when there was a difference in her mannerisms, you could tell. She wasn’t her usual smiley, flirty, goofy self that she was with you; she was much quieter, reserved, and seemed to be lost in her own head. When she arrived home late Tuesday night, you figured she was just tired. You had greeted her at the door by practically throwing yourself into her arms, and she kissed you chastely before placing you down and mumbling that she wanted to shower and get in bed. Salaciously, you offered to shower with her - smiling innocently despite your intent - but she said she was going to be quick and you’d might as well just wait for her in bed. You frowned at that, but tried not to feel too disappointed since it was late and she probably was exhausted; you just hadn’t seen her in days and missed her desperately.

Then the next morning came, and you were certain something was up. You’d woken up before her and decided to let her sleep in - even though she would probably give you hell for it later. Some mornings, you two would go out for a nice little breakfast, but you took it upon yourself to cook up something for you two at home. Cooking wasn’t exactly your specialty, but for her, you would always go all out (to the best of your capability). Once the meal was done, you made a plate for Rhea and set it aside before checking your bedroom to see if she was awake yet.

Sure enough, she was, but when you walked in you saw her sitting up with her head in her hands and her phone discarded to your side of the bed.

“Rhea…” you began, making your way over to her in concern. “What’s wrong baby?”

Hearing your voice, she lifted her head and you placed a soft kiss to the top of it, to which she immediately smiled, but it wasn’t a genuine, wholehearted Rhea smile you knew so well. She saw the worry in your eyes and knew she wouldn’t be able to fool you for a second, nor did she want to. With you, she knew she could be open, transparent, and honest; with you, she could be weak when she had to be strong everywhere else.

“They’re keeping me off SummerSlam,” Rhea revealed, pushing hair out of her face in frustration. “Not enough time and not enough build for me and Raquel.”

Your eyes widened upon hearing this, because it didn’t make sense to you how she just wasn’t on the card to defend her title as one of the most over wrestlers in the company. Even more puzzling, it truly seemed like they were heading down the Rhea v. Raquel path, something even Rhea had told you about weeks ago. Now, she was matchless and off the card besides any Judgment Day antics for such a major PLE, making Rhea’s feelings entirely reasonable. You weren’t even sure how to comfort her, but to her, all she really needed was just you.

“Oh, Rhea. I’m so sorry, you deserve to be on the card. You’ve worked your ass off for this,” you consoled, crawling back into bed next to her. She leaned into you, relishing in your warmth despite how defeated she felt.

“It just fucking sucks. Even worse when it makes people start questioning me as a champion, I’ve seen that a lot on social media recently.”

Just hearing that made you angry, because it was entirely out of Rhea’s hands at that point.

“What control do you have over the booking? Of course you’d be out there if it was up to you!” you exclaimed, letting your emotions take over for a moment. Rhea chuckled at this, loving how passionate and fiery you could be - especially over her.

“People don’t think about that, they just see me not defending the title and run with it,” she sighed, shifting from her spot beside you to lean back against the headboard. Her eyes focused on the ceiling, lost in thought and vexation. “I’m sorry for how I’ve been last night and this morning, love. I know you were worried.”

Your gaze softened, placing your hand against her cheek before connecting your lips to hers. It was the first real time you’d gotten to kiss her since she left the week prior and you had missed the feeling so terribly, and so did she. Rhea deepened the kiss, her tongue swiping across your bottom lip deviously. You were glad she seemed to be feeling better, at least.

“You have nothing to apologize for, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I know you try to shoulder things on your own sometimes,” you chided, pushing a few of her stray hairs behind her ear. Though you thought she looked incredible every time she showed up on WWE television, you loved being able to see her in this state so much - bare-faced, still not even fully awake, hair a little messy.

“Well you always pry it outta me,” Rhea laughed, squeezing your thigh.

“Because I need Rhea Ripley to know she doesn’t have to be invincible. You can feel things like a normal human and I’ll be here to remind you how amazing you are.”

“Baby, I knew I wasn’t invincible the moment I met you,” she corrected. “My kryptonite.”

Rhea pulled you on top of her, earning a surprised gasp and giggle from you which she adored. Once you were settled, she took a moment to appreciate how beautiful you looked. She was so in love and so in awe of you, and she felt that constantly, but it was like her heart was going to burst out of her chest each time she was physically near you.

“I feel like I’m disappointing you. I mean you took off work and committed to traveling to watch me perform, and now I’m not even on the show,” Rhea spoke honestly. She was heartbroken that she wouldn’t be able to see you in the crowd, cheering her on during her match.

“Shhh,” you silenced her. “I’m only disappointed for you, but I still get to be with you for a few days even if you’ll be busy most of the time. I don’t have a single regret.”

She knew you would feel that way, but that didn’t erase the small amount of guilt she still felt. Regardless, she appreciated the hell out of you, and already was in much higher spirits just from talking to you. Of course, her frustration was still there, tugging at her, but now she had you looking at her so sweetly and it helped infinitely. You were proud of her no matter what and she could only hope that she’d make it onto the next PLE card to put on a good match for you.

“God, how did I get so lucky?” she asked, kissing your forehead, and then your nose, and then your lips. You rolled your eyes, about to open your mouth to tell her you were the lucky one (which she already expected you to say) but she stopped you in your tracks by bringing her hands to your butt and squeezing. She watched your eyes light up mischievously and laughed, certain the action had your thoughts running - it absolutely did to her.

“I made breakfast, by the way,” you mentioned, almost as a joke because you were well-aware food was likely the last thing on her mind now. And you were right about that.

“You’re an angel, but do you really think I’m thinking about breakfast right now?”

“Hmm, maybe,” you giggled. “And I’m not an angel. I’m just your girlfriend.”

You were still teasing, so Rhea played the same game. She traced her thumb along your bottom lip, reveling in the way your lips almost instinctively parted as if you were inviting her in. Realistically, you were. You had been craving her since she got home the night before and now she had enticed you fully.

“Don’t play dumb, pretty girl. But at least you know you’re mine,” Rhea grinned. Her thumb left your lip and instead her fingers entangled in your hair. Her lips came crashing onto yours, now a much hungrier, devilish kiss. She was consumed by both passion and love for you, but also anger over SummerSlam. Even still, you and Rhea were going to have a great weekend in Detroit and show them exactly why she should have been on the card.

“‘M not playing,” you got out between feverish kisses.

“Then how about we start?”

But for now, you two were just going to enjoy each other.

#rhea ripley x reader #rhea ripley x you #wwe imagine #wrestling imagine #wrestling fanfic #wwe fanfic #wwe fic #wwe fluff #rhea ripley imagine

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ravenstargames · 4 months

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✦ Lost in Limbo 2023 wrap-up

And finally, after the hectic period of Christmas and the New Year, we are here and ready for our wrap-up!

Warning: this devlog may include some typos. As per usual!

Honestly, I can't believe we are here. This year has been wild for so many reasons. We have made so much progress, perhaps not as much as we would have wanted, but we have come really far. I'm very proud of my team and thankful for the people we have met this year that have made this journey easier.

So...let's see what we have done this year and our plans for 2024!

✦ First of all, we made our itch.io page debut!

And this was perhaps the hugest milestone for us. It got a wonderful reception even if there's nothing to play yet, so we can't be grateful enough for that. This of course includes the key art and the screenshots we managed to get ready for the itchio page!

✦ We launched our official webpage!

Another amazing milestone for us! I remember tirelessly working with Raquel for weeks to get this done the way we wanted it to be.

✦ We welcomed our editor, Allie Vera, to our team!

They are not only a marvelous person but someone I'm having the privilege to learn from. Her editing skills are amazing and the script has done nothing but improve since we got it in her hands. We have started editing together and she has been working so, so hard, I'll be doing my best to keep up. Please send a lot of love their way, because they deserve it!

✦ We began working on the CGs!

Raquel has been working super hard and right now we have five CGs ready and one in process. The last one will likely be ready for next month, and with that the CGs for the demo will be finished!

✦ The UI was implemented and it's fully functional!

For someone who was a total stranger to programming, I think I've done a good job this past year! The game menus finally look like they should (with a bit of changes needed here and there) and everything is working well. I'm sure the code could be optimized greatly, but for now I'm happy with how it is (as my skills are, well, what they are!).

✦ We finished the demo script and have started the editing process!

That was a huge step for us as many changes were done to the script before we could consider it done. We sadly had to cut chunks of content because we felt like, for a demo, it was better to get to the juicy parts and meet the LI's as soon as possible. Some adaptations had to be made, some ideas had to be scratched, but here we are now, with a finished script ready to be coded, and being edited by Allie!

✦ We got some nice backgrounds done!

Work on backgrounds has been slower than we would have wanted to, but taking into consideration we were studying a master (that was pretty hard on us) and there's only four of us, I'd say it's a victory! There's still some backgrounds left, but as Astro and Raquel work on that, there's other areas of the game that keep moving forward.

✦ We opened a ko.fi page!

This was one of our 2023 goals, so high-five!

✦ We met amazing people, made new friends, and learned from a lot of fellow devs!

What a ride has it been! People I used to admire from a distance, enjoying their projects and gushing over them, are now part of my personal life. A lot of fellow devs have come forward in 2023 with new projects, new inspiring and incredible ideas, and we have been supported by all of them and welcomed as if we had always been a part of the Indie visual novel community.

Just to name a few of inspiring and amazing devs, the sweet folks at Foxglove Games (who have released Trouble Comes Twice!), Velvet Cupcake Games and their progress with Made Marion, Best Laid Plain Productions and their amazing work with Save the Villainness, and of course our beloved Crescence Studio with Alaris and Intertwine, which now has an Extended Edition!

As per usual, Lem (Crescence) has a special spot in this devlog because they have been the absolute highlight of this year. What a loving, sweet, amazing and creative individual. We all are very lucky to have them with us, but specially me; their friendship has meant so much for me this year, and I hope we can only grow closer with time! I LOVE YOU LEM!! 💜

✦ On a personal note...

On the personal side of things, I got diagnosed with OCD in late November. I had been suffering the symptoms since July, knowing something was wrong but thinking it would pass. It has changed my life and the way I see things and myself, and I'm on a long journey that has, unfortunately, affected my work on Lost in Limbo. I have not worked as much as I had planned, but I'm lucky to have my friends, my family and my partner, who are walking this path with me.

I'm sharing this because I think it's important. My experience will hopefully give someone who is reading this the push to seek help; I thought it was nothing and I ended up going through the hardest year of my life. Thankfully, I now have the help I need; I have been going to therapy since October, been diagnosed, and I'm now on my way to learn to live with OCD and heal from it. Some days are harder than others, but I'll get there! 💜

On a happier note, Astro and I will be adopting a cat from a shelter very very soon, if things go as planned! Raquel has taken the plunge and opened a sticker store! She has been doing great so far and is overworked but happy. We are so proud of her!

Also, we finally, FINALLY had the chance to get together for New Year's Eve and celebrate together after more than seven years of friendship! Sadly Kayden couldn't make it in the end because of COVID, but hopefully this is the beginning of a lot of years of celebrating together!

Mostly, the team and I have been doing fine, all things considered. Astro wants you all to now that even if he's not very active on social media, he appreciates your support a lot and will do his best to return that love! Thank you all for your support through the year, as always 💜

We had a bunch of goals set for 2023, and my God if they weren't ambitious. This year has taught us a lot about limits, about being realistic with our expectations and with the amount of work needed for a visual novel, and has overall humbled us.

There's one sprite remaining, the LI's expressions, plus one CG and finishing the backgrounds that need a bit more polishing. That and editing the script into its final state and code it accordingly.

With that being said, I want to be positive and say the demo may be ready for April - May, but I don't know if that'll be possible. We made the mistake of being too excited and too positive when it came to the work we would be able to do, and we apologize for that. We are still learning and we hope you can still support us and make this journey with us as you have been doing since we started.

Still, the demo WILL release this year. That is for sure. As we keep working —and the team has been working very, very hard— we'll decide when the demo will release, giving it time to be beta tested, sent to streamers who are interested, etc.

So the main objective of this year is...

✦ Release the demo!

Obvious, right? But with it comes some smaller goals!

✦ Code the script!

The editing process is going well —thanks to Allie who works tirelessly, honestly— so I hope I can step on the gas and get those corrections done as soon as possible!

✦ Finish all the assets!

As soon as Raquel is done with the CGs, we'll start working on the expressions together (I have already been toying with it) and the remaining sprite. Astro will finish the remaining backgrounds!

✦ Open a casting call for our LIs!

We want the demo to be at least partially voiced. When the whole script is done and more or less coded, we'll open a casting call to give our LIs what will be their official voices for the whole game. What an adventure!

✦ Open our steam page!

Pretty self-explanatory, but there it is!

What a year, huh? We have worked so much and so hard while studying, and that studies are now over. This year has been one of self-discovery, of new challenges, of some goodbyes and some new faces and friends. My only wish for 2024 is for it to be gentler to everyone. Hopefully we can all heal from whatever hurt us in 2023, laugh a lot with our loved ones, and learn more about ourselves and our lives in this 2024! 💜

With that being said, thank you for reading once more, and let us hope this year brings us a lot of amazing games and memories! 💜

#lost in limbo #visual novel #otome #indiedev #devlog

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smartycvnt · 5 months

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Picture Perfect

Title: Picture Perfect

Pairing: Liv Morgan x Reader

Word Count: 939

"Alright, alright. Stop. I'll take the picture with you," Y/n said in between laughs as Austin tickled her. He stopped immediately and pulled Y/n under his arm for the selfie. Y/n rolled her eyes as he spent nearly two minutes getting the perfect angle and lighting.

Liv sat halfway across the room watching the two of them. Each second that Y/n stayed tucked beneath Austin's arm made Liv's blood boil. Austin was hot, but Liv had no idea what Y/n saw in him other than that. It wasn't like he could give Y/n anything that Liv couldn't.

"And thank you, I really think the fans will love this one," Austin said as he checked the pictures out. Y/n pulled his phone towards her to look at the photos he had taken. They looked good, even if it would only further the couple allegations the two of them had been trying to evade.

Y/n hated that she wasn't at a place where she felt like she could come out of the closet yet. Only a few people knew that she was a lesbian, including Austin. He was the first person that she come out to whenever they had been at NXT together. She felt bad about using him, but Austin had volunteered to be her beard anytime that she needed him to be.

"Those don't look too bad. You should really stop making that face though," Y/n teased. Austin scoffed and playfully shoved at Y/n's shoulder. The two of them got into a quick little shoving match, which Y/n won when Austin was called by a PA to go to gorrilla before his match. "Hey, good luck!"

"Thanks, not that I'll need it," Austin said with a wink. Y/n rolled her eyes at his antics as he ran off. She knew that Austin was good, better than most people thought of him. He deserved to be champion, no matter what anybody else said. And Y/n made sure to tell Austin that at every opportunity she had.

She let him go off by himself to focus on the plate of food she had gotten from catering. That focus only lasted for a few moments. Y/n hated sitting all by herself, so she started to look around for someone to sit by. Y/n's eyes scanned the cafeteria area for someone to sit by, stopping when they landed on Liv sitting by herself. Usually Raquel or Rhea were somewhere nearby, but tonight Liv was all by herself.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" Y/n asked. She had always been sort of shy, and definitely not the type to just sit uninvited. Liv glanced up at her with a slightly hurt expression that was quickly masked with indifference as she shrugged. "If you don't want to be around me, I can go back to sitting by myself. I just thought maybe you could use some company."

"It's fine, Y/n. You can sit here," Liv told her. Y/n sat down, despite the uneasy tension between the two of them. "I see you and Austin are still close."

"He's my best friend, of course we're close." Y/n tried to distract herself from Liv's tone with the cherry tomatoes on her plate. "How have the brutes been?"

"I don't insult your friends, so why the hell should you insult mine?" Liv was quick to get defensive. She knew that Y/n would never mean that in a bad way, it was what she had called both of them back at NXT and even before then. Y/n and Rhea had wrestled each other a few times on the indies, and Rhea had never shied away from the nickname then.

"Liv, what's going on with you tonight?" Y/n asked. Liv mumbled something as she crossed her arms over her chest and began to pout. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"I don't like seeing you and Austin all friendly with each other like that," Liv said as she leaned towards you. "I'm your girlfriend, but nobody knows that. They all think that you and Austin are together. Acting like that doesn't help, by the way. I guess it doesn't matter because you like the way he makes you look too much."

"Liv, you do realize that it'd never happen with Austin, right?" Y/n asked. Liv gave Y/n a skeptical look. Everybody already assumed that Y/n and Austin had a history together, and there wasn't really a reason for Liv to think any different. Y/n hadn't exactly told Liv that she was only interested in women, despite their nearly six month old relationship. "Liv, I'm a lesbian."

"Oh? Oh." Liv's eyes widened with the sudden realization. She smiled as she leaned in even closer to Y/n. "So, you only like me?"

"Yes, I only like you. I love Austin like a brother, but I would never sleep with him unless my life literally depended on it," Y/n promised. Liv leaned back in her seat with a newfound confidence and a very smug look on her face. "I can't believe you didn't know."

"You never told me. I mean, Sonya kind of alluded to it, but I thought she was full of shit," Liv admitted. Y/n rubbed at the back of her neck as she tried to push away the thoughts of her brief fling with Sonya. That was not necessarily a time that either of them were proud of, and definitely not something that Y/n wanted to talk about with Liv.

#one shot #my writing #wwe x reader #wwe #liv morgan x reader #liv morgan

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morallyinept · 3 months

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A full transcribe of MAX LORD'S dialogue/lines from the film WONDER WOMAN 1984

Includes full dialogue, and dialogue from any deleted/additional scenes available.

I've created this as a point of reference when writing for Pedro's characters, and I hope you find it useful. Even if you just want to read the dialogue. 🖤

FULL MASTERLIST OF PEDRO CHARACTERS DIALOGUE

☝🏻Dialogue has been fully transcribed by myself using reference to original scripts (if available), audio subtitles and using my own two ears. Therefore, mistakes can be made, however I have tried to be as fully accurate as I can. If you spot an obvious mistake, please kindly let me know. Where audio is not clear, I have marked with *inaudible* Scenes are separated for ease of reference.

FULL SCRIPT DIALOGUE:

Welcome to the future. Life is good, but it can be better. And why shouldn’t it be? Everything we’ve ever dreamed about is right at our fingertips. But are you reaping the rewards? Do you… have it all?

Welcome to Black Gold Cooperative. The first oil company run for the people, by the people. Think about finally having everything you’ve always wished for.

For a low monthly fee, you can own a piece of the most lucrative industry in the world. And every time we strike gold, you strike gold.

No matter who you are, no matter what you do, you deserve to have it all. Do you have everything you’ve ever wanted? Aren’t you tired of always wishing you had more? Join me today. Operators are standing by. You don’t need a pile of money or some business degree to get started. You don’t even have to work hard for it.

At Black Gold Cooperative, all you need is to want it.

__________________

A pleasure, Ms. Minerva.

No.

Life is good, but it can be better!

“The oil guy,” I’ll take it.

Well, what can I say, doctor. Your reputation precedes you. And apparently we share a passion for gemology.

What?

I'm right here! Haha!

Life is good, but it can be better. Hahaha!

Well, I have a great relationship with Sears. I can get you a brand-new TV by the end of the day. Nineteen inches. No strings attached.

Okay.

It's going to be an amazing party. I hope you have something nice to wear.

I agree. Except, I like to party.

You like Latin dancing?

Really? No, I doubt that you’re a terrible dancer, the shape that you're in.

You know, I really should be going. Thank you for the tour. I will have to see you tonight.

Thank you, John.

__________________

Ladies. Not now, Raquel. My supplements?

How? How! Yes, clearly. Alistair.

It's not done yet, buddy. But it doesn't matter. You just have to be patient. I told you the pool, the helicopter, you’ll have it all. But remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day, was it? No.

Well, it takes time to become a great, great, number-one man like your dad is going to be.

Simon. These offices aren’t ready for guests yet.

Alistair, go wait with Raquel.

Simon. I know it's hard to see right now, but we are finally at the edge of turning this thing around.

No! I have a big… there’s something in the works. And it’s no scheme. Simon, we have millions of acres of potentially oil-rich land.

I am not a con man! I'm a television personality. And a respected businessman with a plan. With… with… a great plan.

You’re going to regret this.

Simon, wait. Simon.

I am not a loser! He’s a loser. And don’t you ever believe a word that man said, he’s a liar and he’s wrong. And he will rue the day he walked away from me. And you. And you are going to be so proud to be my son. You’ll see. Everyone will.

__________________

Dr. Minerva. You look breathtaking.

Mmm.

Biotin. You should try it. Makes you glow like a teenager. Reverses the clock. Never accept limitations of nature.

Especially not a beautiful woman like you.

God, it’s so loud in here.

Can we go somewhere? Just me and you?

Hmm… your office?

__________________

Oh, wow! Look at all this stuff. It’s so… It’s so beautiful. Like you. What is that?

Wow.

Let me help you. Max is here. No need to be stumped ever again. I have a dear friend in Roman antiquities. Could give it a look, if you like? It is Latin, isn’t it?

__________________

“One great wish.” I’ve been waiting. I wish to be you, the dream stone itself.

__________________

Thank you, Belinda.

I’ll have your money, Simon. Today I’m here for an apology.

I’m sorry. I messed up. I messed up. I lied. And I'm sorry. You know the truth is, I knew we were going to sink a long time ago, the wells were coming up dry. And no data suggested that was going to change. I should have folded then. But all the people that bought in, that believed in me... I wanted to do right.

Simon, don’t you understand that I wished for better? That with every ounce of my being, I wished that Black Gold would change the world for all of us. And I know you wished that too.

Then your wish is granted. And in return I’ll take all of your shares… and full control of Black Gold after you are somehow magically removed from my path… forever.

Ow.

__________________

My word. Are we in danger?

Raquel? Raquel?!

Raquel?

Which ones?

I'll get you help. Tell me again. You wish you had more help?

Emerson. Yes, you’re hired too!

I’ll take it in my office. And bring me my vitamins.

__________________

To meet a peer.

On my journey to self-fulfilment, I lucked into a secret. The secret of the wish. So I wished for it. Or someone wished for it for me. Tell me what you wish for, your highness. And I will show you how it works.

Like what?

You wish for that?

Your wish is granted. And in return I will take your oil.

Then I will take your security team and leave you here with nothing to defend yourself against the wrath you will most certainly face.

__________________

You’re looking at it.

Whoa!

__________________

So who’s the next closest person with oil?

Like I want any of these people in the club anyway. Can’t we tell them they’re not invited?

Oh, the FCC. The BBB, the FBD. It’s a conspiracy against my success. They’re jealous, that’s why. Who’s next?

Send in Mr Zhong, please. And buy Alistair a pony. No! A race car. Get him a race car. Get him a race car.

Alistair? Again? How many weekends do I have-

What? What? When? Tonight?

Let’s get to it, Lai. Tell me, what do you want? What do you wish for?

Mmm-hmm. Mmm-hmm.

And you need… what do you wish for?

__________________

Consider the sex tape gone. And God darn it if I have to keep doing this one by one by one by one… How's your health? Forget that. But I will take your entire congregation and your time slot. Let me ask you, when they pray, is there any way I could get all of them to join hands with me and simply say "I wish" rather than "I pray?" Would that even work? I need to find a way to touch a lot of people at the same time.

Oh, God! This isn't working. Bring in someone new. And my son. You, beat it.

No! You don’t use your one wish like that, Alistair. You don't wish for something that you already have. You wish for greatness, for success. That’s why I’m doing all of this. Don’t you see that my greatness is your greatness? Huh?

Alistair! I’ve missed you, buddy! Come, sit down with daddy. I’m sorry. But your dad is on the absolute precipice of everything. Remember when I told you that I would be number one? Do you remember? Your dad? Well I’m inches away.

Huh? I know it's hard, I know. But listen, I also know what you wish for, and I wish for it, too. Do you hear that? I wish for it, too.

No. No!

Thank you. I love you so much and I promise you one day everything is going to make sense and one day you'll thank me. But right now I need you to stay here with Emerson. You stay here. I’ll be right back.

__________________

You. You! Don’t you wish I had an audience with the President today?

Wait a minute? Have I asked for your wish before?

What is it with you aides and Porsches?

__________________

You!

How’s traffic?

Don’t you wish it wasn’t? And that everywhere you went parted like the great Red Sea?

__________________

Everything okay, Mr President?

Exactly that, Mr President. These hectic days, hectic times. And you.

You’re having some troubles?

Mmm.

It’s not money I’m offering. You… You are a man of faith and I have been very blessed lately. I want to share my blessing with you. The power of positive thinking. Now… tell me, Mr President. What do you need? And you’re not speaking to me here, but to the universe. What do you wish for?

A nice thought. And I grant you… ah, oh…oh my… And you’d know what I’d like? I would want all of your power, influence, authority. All the respect you command, and the command everyone must respect.

Ahahaha! I mean, what else is there? Now, tell your people I would appreciate absolutely no interference whatsoever. No taxes, no rule of law, no limits. Treat me like a foreign nation with absolute autonomy.

What’s this?

So what does that mean, you’re taking over everyone’s TV’s? How?

You said “touches”? As in the particles you are sending are touching everything?

I need immediate access to this satellite. And a chopper to get me there.

__________________

Well, aren’t you resourceful?

No, I don't think so. Remove this woman, please. Permanently.

__________________

Oh, how sweet, defending your love, huh? What do you wish for? Do you wanna be a real boy?

__________________

Everyone stand down. Nobody hurts her.

__________________

You made a wish too, huh? Ahahahaha. They’re a bitch, aren’t they? Make you pay a price, but I’ve never been one for rules. Luckily, I have a way to reverse it. The answer is always more.

But I, my dear, grant the wishes. So I take what I want in return. There’s nothing in this world someone doesn't have. I’ll rebuild my health wish by wish, organ by organ, if I have to. I'll be invincible. Tell me what do you want? I’m feeling generous.

I like the way you think. Go on.

__________________

You heard we were coming, I presume.

How many broadcasting signals can I take over at once?

I’ll take all of them.

And I sure wish this works for me. Don’t you?

Lights, camera…

__________________

Citizens of the world, allow me to introduce myself. I am Max Lord, and I'm here to change your life. All you have to do… is make a wish. Anything you want. Anything you dream of, you can have it. If you can dream it, you can achieve it, so just look into my eyes and make a wish. Anything you dream of, have it. Right now. Do you want to be rich? Do you want to be powerful? Say it out loud! Look around you! Make your wish! Take what's yours! Whatever you want, you can have it!

Wish for It. Anything you want.

Anything you dream of, have it.

Yes, I hear it, I hear you. Yes, say it. Say it out loud. That’s right, I wish. Take it! Take it! It’s all yours, it’s all yours for the taking! And I… I take your health, and your strength. Give her your rage, and your prowess. And I take your power. I take your life force. Yes. Yes! That's right! You're doing great.

It’s all yours. All you have to do is wish for it!

That's right. Just wish for it. It’s yours now. All you have to do is say it out loud. Make a wish. Any wish. Look into my eyes and everything you've been waiting for, it’s all yours.

You're too late.

Granted. Granted. Granted. Granted! Granted! Why not more, why not wish for more? We want what we want, just like you did. So make a wish. Very good.

Granted.

It's too late, Diana. They already heard me. Already wished. And those that haven’t yet… ahahaha! Oh, they will!

Granted. Granted. Granted. Poor Diana. Why be such a hero? You could have kept your pilot, and your powers. If only you'd joined me. Wanna reconsider? Hahahaha! I’m a forgiving man! Hahahah! You want him back? Just say the word. You can have it all! You just have to want it!

Why would I when it’s finally my turn? The world belongs to me! You can’t stop me, no-one can!

Stop! Cut the signal, stop!

Alistair! Alistair! Alistair!

Wait, my son. I can see my son! I have to save my son. Alistair. My… Alistair. I renounce my wish!

__________________

Alistair! Alistair! Alistair!

Alistair! Alistair.

Oh, Alistair, Alistair. I'm so sorry, baby.

No. That is not why I'm back. No. I’ve been lying to you. I’m not a great guy. In fact, I’m a pretty messed up, loser guy. And I made terrible mistakes. But you… you don’t ever have to make a wish for me to love you. I’m here because I love you. I just… I just wish and pray that one day, I’ll be able to make you proud enough that you’ll be able to forgive me. And love me. Because I’m nothing to be proud of, Alistair.

__________________

FULL MASTERLIST OF PEDRO CHARACTERS DIALOGUE

#pedro pascal #maxwell lord #pedro pascal characters #maxwell lord wonder woman 1984 #womnder woman 1984 #PPCU #maxwell lord dialogue

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theesirenteller · 4 months

Text

Domesticated | Unqiue

🅳🅴🆂🅲🆁🅸🅿🆃🅸🅾🅽

After the passing of his child's mother, Kadeem Mathis better known in the streets as 'Unique or Nique'; has taken on the role of being a full-time parent. Which causes more difficulties rather than smooth sailing, A full time caregiver for his son and new home in Astoria, Queens is needed. What starts off as simply business quickly turns personal when the tender love & care of a woman warms his once hollow heart.]

RATING: 𝙈𝘼𝙏𝙐𝙍𝙀

DEATH had become a normal reoccurrence in Kadeem's day to day life. Oftentimes it was business more than personal. But on December 30th,1992 Kadeem's babymama, Tori was murdered. Their son Jerome was found on the snowy cold floor beside her carved up body. She'd been stabbed over twenty times and left behind the Carvel ice cream store she had previously been in. Kadeem remembered when Tori's mother called him from the hospital. Getting that type of need caused him to abruptly leave his meeting with Raquel and show up with a rapidly beating heart. His henchmen followed behind him with ansty hands that were trigger-finger ready.

Despite not being in love with Tori, he still had a great amount of love and respect for her purely for gifting him Jerome. No child deserved to be motherless and Jerome wasn't even a year old. He never got to properly meet her, know her. He was freshly four months old. Four months old and in the hospital fighting an Pneumonia. Tears glazed his eyes as he watched his son from the incubator. As soon as his mother,Sheronda, arrived at the hospital, he felt secure enough to leave and handle Tori's murderers. And nothing surprised him more than to find out she'd been killed because of her own actions and not because of him. Kadeem learned that Tori had punched out a pregnant woman. A woman whose man she was messing with. Unfortunately for Tori, that girl had a sister from Brooklyn who ran her own gang. Nothing major, just ten girls. But those bitches were ruthless. Stone cold and colder than some men from what Worrell found out. The sadness Kadeem felt for Tori was replaced with anger.

Her hoe-antics got her killed, got her taken away from their innocent child and nearly got him killed in the process of it. Despite his anger, he still avenged her. For Jerome. It had taken less than an hour to locate them. And it took nearly two to off each and every one of them. Each woman and their innocent bystanders had gotten a face full of bullets. It was Christmas and Kadeem was feeling generous. So the man that Tori was fooling with had gotten gunned down too. He thought of taking the man's wife's life but didn't. He left her alone. She'd been in her daughter's room, hugging her child close and he just passed her by. Her child looked a few months older than Jerome. The child shared his same complexion and despite showing no expression on his face, he felt heartbroken. After that, Kareem disassociates from his emotions and thoughts as he leaves the home. All of the events that transpired, all the lives that were lost…felt unnecessary. Unnecessary tragedies.

It'd been a month since then and being thrown into the world of being a single father to a newborn had turned Kareem's life upside down. He could manage the streets of Jamaica, Queens no problem. He was a natural born leader who had an immense amount of respect in the streets. But little Jerome had him feeling like a puppy with its tail tucked between his legs. He needed around the clock care, comfort, and affection. All that Kareem provided without fuss. It was the anxiety that kept him up at night. Anxious at the mere thought of Jerome being in harm's way. Anxious that he could kiss his son good morning and the next he could be kissing his cold dead body before a funeral. Dark thoughts plagued Kareem's mind and all he kept repeating to himself was ‘’tighten up”.

When he left Jerome with his granny, Kareem went nose deep into reconstructing his life. More private, less reckless. He sold his apartment and replaced it with a two story single-family in a nicer part of Queens, Astoria.

He made sure to collect his neighbors personal information from a tech-geek at NYU. Nothing but elderly Indians, Koreans, and a few Africans lived within his block. Mainly all retired or doctors, and some even bodega owners. He had their ss information, background checks, and even family lists with photos attached. Just in case. This was a green zone, a safer spot for Jerome. And he needed to know who moved in or out of it. Make sure nobody like him or who he dealt with had any type of reason for being in this area. On this block. He had his mother decorate the whole place and she approved of the home. She even stayed in it to care for Jerome for a few weeks.

“Kadeem, you gonna need to get a housekeeper and a babysitter, boy. I ain't sign up to be either. I'm cool with watching my baby on the weekends but I ain't raising him Hell, maybe get a in house bitch, a homebody who's eager to play step-mama. I don't know but do something.” Sheronda, his mother announced over Sunday dinner.

Kadeem stopped chewing on his Mac and cheese noodles as he proceeded what she said,” Ma, you don't think it's a lil' too early for this?” His velvety voice silked through the warm dining room. “Jerome don't need no step-mama or no strangers. He got you and he got me, that's all he needs right now. His peoples.”

His mother shook her head in disapproval, “Better sooner rather than later. All that love and affection from use comes second. That baby needs around the clock care and so does this home you bought. Just how you know love don't pay the bills, it don't keep things in line either.” She rebuttals. And her words stuck with him for the next few days despite him not giving her an answer.

His days blended together over the course of the following weeks. And he was thankful that his mother continued to care for Jerome. He had sent a list of cleaning agencies and child caregiver agencies the week before he and Raq had their meeting with Sal Boseill & his gang. Sheronda had gotten started on skimming through agencies. The sixty-five year old was tired and irritated from talking to various managers and coordinators. A lot of them had nasty attitudes and Sheronda damn sure wasn't going to have some lazy, slick-mouth maid up in her son's and grandson's home.

She soon came across the thirty-ninth agency's pamphlet, Lá Casá De La Paz (The house of peace) and what sparked her interest was the dual-care services. They had full time aides who did house sitting and personal care elderly and disabled children. They also had home cleaning services solely. Sheronda hoped that she could finesse the personal care service provider into finding some to care for a newborn who wasn't disabled. Finding a nanny on top of a house cleaned just felt like so much work. And Sheronda's patience was wearing thin.

“Hola, Bienvenida a la casa de la paz, habla María, ¿en qué puedo ayudarle?” The woman on the other side of the phone line greeted Sheronda with a heavy spanish-accent.

“Um, I'm sorry I don't speak Spanish. Do you have anyone that speaks English, Maria?” Sheronda replied.

“Yes, Un minuto por favor.” The woman said before a beeping sound was heard and another voice answered, “Hello, this is Jasmine speaking, how may I help you.”

“Hey Jasmine, my name is Sheronda and I am interested in your dual-care services. I need both personal care and house cleaning services. But, not for me. For my son and grandson…” She then went on to explain her family's situation. And by the end of their two-hour long phone call, a payment plan and a list of caregivers for interviews were listed and scheduled to meet with Kareem. Things were more costly for the family than the average client due to their unique situation. No one needed to get approved by insurance. It was all independent contracting which meant cold cash and a notary contract had been set in place.

Michel'le sat in the bedroom-sized break room of Lá Casá De La Paz eating her lunch after coming to base after a long shift. She ate her plantains, rice and beans quietly in a corner seat, facing the wall. She drowned out the chair-chatter of the middle-aged caregivers who gossiped amongst themselves in Spanish with her headphones. Her cd sat in her waist belt around her waist as Brenda Lee's passion-filled song Emotions played. Her short-chubby legs spun back and forth underneath the chair as she quietly hummed along. A hand roughly rubbing against her shoulder caused her wide-eyed daydreaming gaze to break and her head to snap back. Galinda, one of her coworker’s lips moved and her head nodded to the door. Michel'le could feel the dampness of Gaildna's sweaty hand sink into the cotton fabric of her turtleneck. Michel'le quickly shoved the woman's hand off her and got up from her seat. The metal chair screeched loudly against the cool floor tiles as she rose and rushed out the room.

The music stopped and her earphones now sat loosely around her neck as she made her way to the coordinator's office. More work was exactly what she expected. Michel'le was the youngest in the staff so the patients that the other women refused or didn't show up for; Michel'le stepped in for. A bonus was that despite being an immigrant from Puerto Rico, she knew English fluently while the majority of the staff didn't care to learn. She was currently twenty-four years old despite looking fifteen in the face. Her body, her full figure of large teardrop-shaped breasts, chubby arms, plum oval-shaped thighs, and a large low-hung round fatty-rear that looked as if it should've belonged to a milf with some kids and more than a few sexual encounters under her belt should've had; was what made her look her age if not an age range close to it.

She strolled into Jasmine's office to see the umber-brown Dominican coordinator seated behind her chalky-white desk as usual, dressed in gray and black scrubs.

“Michel'le, Hey, have a seat.” Jasmine greeted as her dark brown eyes settled on the timid-standing young woman at the door.

Michel'le did quietly as told and folded her hands tightly together in her lap as she awaited to hear what she was here for.

“I've got a better position for you. Something long term. Uh-how do you say…longer contract. Off the books for the most part.” Jasmine started off before further explaining,”There's a family located in Queens, The Astoria area so it's a pretty good spot. The pay is very good, a thousand for you a week plus room & board. They want someone to be an in house nanny. Take care of an infant who's around five or six months old, clean the house, make three meals a day. I suggested you for the job along with Sonya, Eva, and Carmella. They have another agency with four other women coming.” Jasmine read over the details before looking directly at Michel'le and sighed.

“Honestly? Nena I want better for you. You're like a daughter to me and cleaning up shit, blood, and whatever else isn't what your life should be. You're a quiet girl, Un Nena Muy Buena (a very good girl) and esoy brujas (old hags) take advantage of that. This could be a start to better employment. Change isn't always bad.” Jasmine was the only one Michel'le shared more than two words with and held eye contact with. Jasmine knew the girl was very timid and a bit of a scardy cat, easily shaken up. And she wanted better for her.

Michel'le dug her tooth into the side of the gums of her lower lip as her nails dug into her palm. Small beads of sweat began to pebble underneath her arms and underneath her breasts. Change? She avoided that like the plague. But, this didn't sound bad. And it appeared that she'd be alone most of the time or in the company of the infant. ‘An infant. A small human.’ she thought to herself mentally. She'd never been around children before, let alone a baby. She didn't have much knowledge about them outside of a few antonym and childcare books she'd read at one of her client's homes.

“I don't know how to care for a child, Jasmine.” She finally spoke up. Spoken an octave above a whisper. Her voice sounded similar to her namesake, the r&b singer Michel'le. Not exactly but similar with its child-like quality, only Michel'le Ramirez was more airy. Her words left her mouth sounding like harmonious ad-libs.She spoke as though she never raised her voice in her life. And she hadn't. Ever.

“You’vee taken care of bed-ridden 80 and 90 year olds. Babies are much easier than that and they don't have slick mouths.” Jasmine dismissed, “You've got this.” She reassured her with a smile.

Saturday, January 28th came quicker than Michel'le expected. Jasmine has given her an address and interview time weeks prior. Morty's Dinner, located in the Hillside area of Jamaica, Queens was where the interviews were being conducted and 10 a.m. was her specific interview time. Michel’le arrived an hour earlier to the area due to wanting to avoid the unpredictable timing of the city's trains. Michel'le lingered around the park nearby for a bit. She was familiar with the area. She'd been to every borough because of her job. The weather was cold. A dry cold that would sting one's bones and redden their noses. She wore a white thermal turtleneck with an ankle-length indigo-blue denim dress, with her thermal long-sleeved long johns underneath. Wool socks covered her feet with four-trimmed rubber black anti-slip boots on her feet. An ankle-length Heather gray wool-trench coat covered her short frame like a blanket along with a crochet beanie that covered her head.

Her wide-eyed gaze swept across the cooped up street corners that were filled with various dope dealers and their clientele. She walked quickly to not bring an ounce of attention to herself. It was a five minute walk to the mom&pop diner she was sent to. Arriving inside the warm, breakfast food scented restaurant at exactly 9:58. She looked around for a man who fit the description of her portfolio. Mr.Mavis was described as a twenty-eight year old dark-skinned black male who would be seated at the last table on the third row. She didn't get a chance to get a full look around because she was harshly bumped into by none other than one of her co-workers, Sonya.

“Cabrón” (bastard) Sonya cussed under her breath as she bypassed Michel'le.

Michel'le squeezed at the leather strap of her purse and glared in Sonya's direction before shifting her eyes to the direction that the co-worker had come from. There he sat. And he wasn't anything that she expected. He was far more. The man across the way had the most vibrant shade of rich-sienna brown skin that looked like fine bourbon-colored mulberry silk. His luxurious attire of a gray colored animal-fur coat and black turtleneck hugged his neck perfectly made him look-like royalty. Sure, his clothes screamed money. But he sat in them with a certain type of class that made him look effortless. He wore the clothes, they didn't wear him. Even the gaunty large gold chain around his neck didn't appear tacky.

Kadeem felt someone staring at him. He felt the gaze from across the room and his eyes settled on, what to him looked like a little girl. She was very short. No more than than five feet tall and that long ass coat she had on was swallowing her up. She made her way towards his direction as his henchmen sat at the booth in front of him. Kadeem and Michel'le stared directly into each other's eyes. But both of them had different gazes. She looked startled and memeriezed while he looked curious.

“Oh hell naw, these niggas runnin' sweat shops too? Send'n youngin's n shit?” One of his men commented a little too loudly as Michel'le approached Kadeem.

She was confident he was the leader, the employer. His presence gave off this type ’je ne sais quoi’ that demanded respect and reciprocated it. His head was held high. Up close his chiseled, almost-angelic Nubian features made the back of neck grow sweaty and her palms grow clammy. His beauty was merely intimidating. “Excuse me, are you Mr Marvis?” Her squeaky tone convinced Kadeem that she indeed was a kid.

Kadeem looked her over before slowly nodding his head, “Sup, babygirl. What can I do for you?” Geez, His voice was as smooth as melted butter glazing toast. It had a subtle rasp to it but held a deep octave that sang off his lips like a Barry white song, “Call me Nique by the way,” he corrected.

“Mr.Nique…” his name sounded sweet like honey coming from her lips, “I'm Michel'le Ramirez, The agency; Lá Casá De La Paz sent me. 10:00 a.m. sharp.” Her words started off shaky but grew more firm towards the end of her informal sentence. Her accent was thicker with some words rather than others.

“Right…right. Have a seat, let Worrell get your coat,” Kadeem nudged his chin up and as if on cue, a light-skinned male in an oversized brown bomber with a low Afro had stood up and extended his arms out to take her coat.

“Oh…um…thank you.” She muttered out quickly as she briefly made eye-contact with the man as she removed her coat.

A dog was a dog and a man was a man. Nique's men and himself included had drank in her body with their eyes. Lustful looks passed across their eyes unt she sat down. Kadeem had taken notice of how Michel'le dug her fingernails into the palm of her hand. So tight that her knuckles turned white. He then sent a sharp look forward that caused his four henchmen to turn around in their seats and face forward, “Why don't y'all niggas go take a walk or sum; go get air sum air.” It didn't sound like a suggestion to Michel'le. And given the fact that they all got up and began making their way outside let her know that it wasn't.

Michel'le proceeded to remove her crochet beanie hat. Her naturally curly hair was wavy today, her short choppy bangs sat a few inches above her eyebrows. Her hair fell to the top of her shoulders Now. It was Kadeem's turn to view her through the lense she viewed him in. Kadeem was met with raw beauty. Now that he could fully see her without the coat and hat covering her up, he got a chance to see the full picture. She clearly was no kid. Maybe seventeen if he was guessing her being younger than what the profilio he has yet to read would say. And if she was that young, well he had no reason to employ her. He admired her heart-shaped outward pouty lips, taking notice of how much fuller her bottom lip was versus her top lip. He also likes her flawless ochre-brown skin, the center of the cheeks of her babyish face were a shade of coral that reminded of peaches. Most of all, he loved her big, brown eyes. He had watched Bambi a few times with Jerome and oddly enough, Michel'le reminded him of faline. Her eye shape and her gaze. She was beautiful besides her janky ass bangs and denim dress that was too long in his opinion.

“Would you like some breakfast? Get whateva you want, on me.” He offered with a heavy NYC accent and reassurance that didn't have to worry about the bill.

“Oh…um sure, thanks.” The coral tint on her cheeks deepened as she pushed her hair behind her ears, “Are you gonna get anything? It…um…might be awkward for me to just sit and eat in your face.”

She made him crack a chuckle. A chuckle that sounded like the melodical roar of the engine of a mustang. Deep and smooth. The vibrations of his chuckle bounced off her skin and left goosebumps behind, “I can eat.” He agreed.

Michel'le’s shoulders dropped in relief and she nodded her head, “Cool, thank you.” She then proceeded to open the plastic menu book and skim through it. Kadeem found her awkwardness cute. Different from the woman he dealt with daily or came across.

The waitress had come over to their table and both ordered the breakfast special which included, scrambled eggs, two sausage links, hash browns,a coffee and a slice of apple pie or a stack of pancakes. Kadeem chose pancakes while Michel'le chose apple pie.

“So, why you want the job?” Kadeem asked as soon as the waitress was out of ear shot.

“Well um-”

“Yo, excuse me but you mind looking me in my eyes when you speak to me, baby girl,” Kadeem cut in.

Her blush spread up to the corners of her ears now. Her face grew hot as she moved her gaze from the menu to his eyes. Her mouth suddenly started to feel dry, “I'm sorry, it's a force of habit.” Michel'le quickly apologized with a slight stutter.

“It's all good.” He assured her with a nod, folding his gold-ring covered fingers together as he leaned forward, Kadeem smiled at her with a smile that made her feel at ease. He had a smile that could open the gates of heaven, “So, tell me why you want the job.”

The softness within his eyes made her feel relaxed and more comfortable to open up, “Well, it sounds nice.” She started off with a smile slowly creasing the corners of her lips, “I mean it sounds like light work compared to what I'm used to. I'm good at tranquility, and I want the job because I like spaces that are peaceful and you want a peaceful home. I can provide that.“

The pair shared a lingering look and for Michel'le this was rare. She couldn't bring herself to look elsewhere. The subtle smile on his lips that was slowly turning to a smirk,

“You real sweet Michel'le.” he said casually just as the waitress brought over their food. His type of casualness made her speechless. Unable to respond because she hadn't come across someone like him before. His cool, calm, and calculated demeanor made her feel so frantic and feral on the inside.

The pair mutually and inaudibly graced each other with the respect of silence to enjoy their food while it was hot. The chimed medley of forks clicking against porcelain plates was what could be heard for a good ten to fifteen minutes. Every so often their eyes would meet and Michel'le would be the first to look elsewhere in a bashful manner. Tapping her mouth to clean off any crumbles of food, she proceeded to ask about his son, “What's your baby's name? The profilio didn't give his name, sorry. Just that he's an infant boy.” she nibbled at the side of her lip as asked further, “what's he like?”

The authentic smile of happiness that formed across Kadeem's face at the mention of his son, “My boy's name is Jerome.” The smile on Kadeem's face brightened up the whole room in Michel'le’’s eyes. It was sweet to see.”He's beautiful, real beautiful. The moment we met, I looked into his eyes and just saw an angel. My biggest blessing fo’real.” He could really rant about how great his baby boy was all day, but instead he took out his leather wallet and pulled out a credit card sized photo of the boy. Michel'le moved her plate aside and leaned over the table to get a closer look, Kadeem caught a whiff of her perfume. She smelt like peppermint and vanilla buttercream frosting. An unexpected mixture but he was digging it.

“He looks just like you,” she smiled as she further looked at the photo, “You're right. He's beautiful. I like his eyes, they're pretty.”

“Preciate’ that babygirl, he's my mini me fo'real.” Kadeem replied before he pushed his plate aside and opened the portfolio given to him by her agency. A few things on it made one of his eyebrows raise, “You twenty-four? I woulda guessed seventeen.” He commented aloud as he read, “From Culbra, Puerto Rico, hm? It says you only been in the states eight months, ya English is real crystal clear tho…” he nodded in approval before flipping to client forms.

“Thanks, uh I spoke English back home. It was taught in grade school as a secondary language. Tourism jobs helped me be more fluent too, I guess.” Michel'le shared quietly as she slid over her plate of apple pie. Kadeem nodded his head but didn't utter a word due to focusing on reading over her patient performance biweekly reports.

*You ever taken care of a child before? Cause all I'm seeing here is a whole lotta old niggas here on they last days.” Kadeem began to wonder why his mother went to an agency who specialized in the elderly and not children. His son nor him needed AARP or a bedpan. “No disrespect, sweetheart. I mean I'm sure that them niggas is more of a handful than Jerome.” He quickly added on.

He looked her directly in her eyes as he awaited an answer and despite Michel’le wanting the job, she wasn't going to lie. “No I haven't. Ever.” She admitted with a firm tone. The first one that bothered to appear in the midst of their conversation. She managed to push past her stutter and nervousness to give a solid answer without feeling defeated.

Kadeem sent a head nod her way as he ran his tongue across his bottom lip. “Ain't much of a problem.” His attention shifted behind her as his henchmen decided to make their way back inside the diner and walk past his & michel'le's table just as he asked, “You know how to cook? Not no hospital patient food, I mean do you know to rock them pots, babygirl.”

“She sholl ain't get that muthfuckin' thick eatin' no

rabbit food.” One of his henchmen muttered underneath his breath as he passed Kadeem. None other than Tez-G. Kadeem shot him a look that could only be read as ‘If I wasn't busy I'd punch you in the fucking mouth’

Luckily, He said it closer to Kadeem than Michel'le because by the looks of it, she didn't appear to hear. The girl was with her head down, silently eating her pie as she contemplated her answer.

“Well, that's uh…a matter of opinion… isn't it?” She replied awkwardly as she fiddled with her fork, “ I think I cook fairly well. I cook for myself only what I've been taught by my mother and her mother. But um, it's not about me. It's about you, serving you what you like.” She clarified before placing a forkful of apple pie in her mouth.

'Serve you' Kadeem liked the sound of that. It fed his king mentality and ego.

“Word.” He smirked.

The remainder of their time lasted ten minutes, when their breakfast desserts were finished, Kadeem stuck his hand out, “Preciate’ you choppin it up wit me, Michel'le.”

As she reached her hand out to shake his,the way he said her name made her feel scatterbrained. Sure, she thought she had a decent name. Michel'le didn't have a problem with it but the way kadeem said it made it sound pretty, Or maybe if only sounded pretty coming from his mouth. Michel'le wasn't able to get in a second thought because he had kissed her knuckles instead of shaking her hand and she wasn't expecting that at all.

“I'll be in touch.” The words that spilled from his heart-shaped lips went in one ear and out the other because she still was hung up on the fact that he kissed her hand. The softness of his lips reminded her of the softness of marshmallows.

“O-okay.” The care attendant managed to squeak out. A wobbly, goofball smile sat heavy on her pouty lips, “Thanks for breakfast.” She rushed out the words with a mousy tone as her anxiety flared up when she stood up. She needed to get up and go before embarrassing herself (further) by talking too fast or stuttering too badly. Her mind was in overstimulation mode. Which was a rare occurrence for a woman like her who walked with a high sense of numbness to any and everything around her.

She swiftly waved goodbye with her hand moving frantically. Kadeem had just sat there with a smirk of amusement laid across his lips as he sent her a head nod. He definitely has his fun subtly messing with her. Michel'le was easy to read in his opinion.Her genuineness was displayed within her eyes. He watched as she rushed out of the diner with her coat and beanie in hand.

Kadeem's attitude during the duration of her interview was the nicest he had been in the last few months. Even before his baby mother's passing, he'd been hard and cut throat. Raq was moving shady and he was smoking her out one flame at a time. Also, he cut corners in his crew, discarding rats and bringing those who showed ‘’loyalty’ at the levels of survival of the fittest. This was war and he needed the strongest soldiers lined up behind him.

“Nique what you did that got that girl running out like a church mouse?” Worrell joked as he slid into the seat that Michel'le once sat in.

“Just being friendly.” Kadeem chastised with a smirk.

“Yeah, be a lil mo friendly and she might go into cardiac arrest or some shit. She got a real bugged out look.” Worrell attempted to widen his eyes enough to get them to be as big as hers.

“You look stupid as fuck, yo. Matter fact, stop looking at me nigga, it's offensive.” Kareem mugged him with a look of annoyance. He let out a chuckle when Worrell huffed. “Come on man, back to work.” Kareem dropped a crisp hundred dollar bill on the table before he rose up from his seat.

Kareem's day blended into the night and that spilled into the early morning hour of six a.m. He'd taken the long way home to his new residence and ended up walking through his front door at 7 a.m. The aroma of Fodgers coffee beans brewing let him know his mother had gotten up and was occupying the kitchen. And after he left his shoes by the door and made his way into the kitchen, he was met with exactly what he expected. There in the center of the kitchen Sheronda was seated at the kitchen table. Her usual silk bluebonnet laid on her head, a mug of coffee in her left hand with a Newport cigarette between her fingers.

“Hey Mama.” Kadeem greeted warmly as he took a seat across from her.

A look of relief flashed across her eyes as her shoulders visibly settled down. With the life he lived, it was a blessing every time he came back in one piece, “Hey suga.” She greeted tiredly with a soft welcoming smile.

“I got some good news, well more for you than for me but still good.” Kareem grinned. And when she raised her brow and awaited his response, he continued “I may have found

a caregiver for the crib and Jerome.”

“How old is she?” Was his mother's first question. She hoped the woman in question was someone seasoned when it came to the task and at least in her late fifties. Her age range request for the agencies was fifty to sixty-five.

“Dang ma, you ain't gonna ask about her credentials first?” He teased with a chuckle.

All jokes aside, Michel'le had sixteen pages worth of up to date credentials that sparked his interest. She knew how to administer a series of medications, change wounds, use stitching to properly cover wounds, hell she cleaned immobile people from top to bottom and the patient's families said she made them feel safe and comfortable. Grown adults who were being cared for like infants,

“If she's something nice to look at I doubt you give a damn about her credentials.” his mother replied while giving him a side-eye.

Kadeem only laughed his mother off, “Man ma it ain't even like that. Plus, I think she's a nun or some shit like that. I mean…she showed up covered up from top to bottom.” Even with the information he had told her, his mother looked at him as if she didn't believe one bit of what he was saying. Kareem only chuckled as he stood up, “Look, do you wanna do the job? Because we can cancel all this.”

Sheronda kept quiet before shaking her head and taking a sip of her coffee.

“Aight then, I'm gonna go check on little man then shower.” He placed a kiss on his mother's cheek before heading upstairs.

All jokes aside, Kadeem had no interest in pursuing Michel'le in any aspect. Romantically, Sexually, etc. His main focus was getting Jerome comfortable so that he could get the kingdom he built in order and be better than ever. Outside her beauty, Michel’le wasn't his type. She was too green and damsels in distress wasn't his thing. But then again, Kadeem couldn't overlook that his taste in women was merely a product of his environment. They were predictable. He knew what they liked and how they moved. They all turned on him at some point. All snakes in the grass looking for the next with more street credibility, money, power, and anything else that was superficial. Like him.

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