Chapter 23

“Maira! Azrael is here,” Emma announced as she walked to the front door.

“Hold on!” Samaira yelled back through the door and finished putting on the mascara.

“How have you two been?” Azrael asked as he stepped into the apartment and looked at the couple.

“We’ve been good, I’m excited for game night,” Emma smiled, putting the earrings on.

“Mhm, same here,” He grinned and tucked his hands into his pocket.

“Fair warning, Samaira kicks ass at games, and don’t you think she’ll show you an ounce of mercy,” Akira mentioned, sliding on her socks one by one.

“I don’t plan on it, I’ll kick her ass,” he said smugly, crossing his arms and looking over at the door as it opened.

“Right, as if,” Samaira scoffed.

“Let’s make a bet then,” Azrael looked over at the brunette, taking in her beautiful look.

“Sorry bud, I can’t bet with a billionaire,” She replied, her friends snickering at her response though she did have a valid point. Some things may be cheap to him but for her, it costs a lot.

“I’ll try something suitable for a peasant,” He sighed dramatically, resting his hands on his hips as he looked at the shorter women. Akira was slightly taller than the two others but that was also because she had slid on her platform boots.

“Azrael,” Samaira warned and playfully smacked his chest.

“I have a suggestion for you two,” Emme spoke up after putting on her shoes and leaned against the wall as she looked at the other couple.

“Let’s hear it,” Samaira replied, curious to know what she thought of.

“Winner has to pay for drinks next time we head to a club,” Emma shrugged, opening the front door for them all.

“Oh that’s in my budget, I’m down,” Samaira mentioned, sliding on her sandals and rushing out the door.

“Me too, get ready to lose,” Azrael smiled and reached to hold onto her hand as they walked. “I forgot to tell you, I have a gift for you,” He then remembered and pulled her closer to him.

“What for?” She wondered, still not used to it. Him buying her so many gifts, even expensive ones because she then felt guilty she didn’t get him anything.

“Can’t I just buy you gifts?” He raised a brow at her, following the couple in front of them as they walked to the garage.

“Yes- but still,” She sighed and watched as he faked a yawn and jabbed him playfully.

“Hush babe,” He ruffled her hair, earning a death glare from her. He still needed to remind himself to not mess with her hair after she just styled it.

“Wait, where is the gift?” She asked, running her fingers through her hair and fixing it.

“The car,” He shrugged and looked over at Akira and Emma who slowed down their pace and turned around.

“Oh, by the way, we’ll be a bit late, we have to pick up some copies,” Akira mentioned, handing Emma the keys to drive.

“Ok, want us to wait for you somewhere?” Azrael looked over at Akira and Emma.

“No, no, just go on. We’ll see you there,” Akira said as she got into the car.

“Okay, drive safely,” Samaira wished them and watched as they drove off soon then turned to look around, she didn’t see Azrael’s car anywhere and assumed he parked elsewhere.

“Where’s your car?” Samaira wondered, wrapping her arms around herself.

“Want your gift?” He answered with a question to which she just sighed and nodded, “Yes please.”

“Catch,” The man threw a pair of keys at her which she immediately caught.

“What’s this?” She wondered this wasn’t the key to any of the cars he owned.

“Your gift,” He grinned, watching as the brunette grew even more confused.

“Excuse me?” Samaira asked, surprised as Azrael pushed the button and looked over at the car that just unlocked.

“Mhm, now you can pick me up or just head wherever you want to,” He led them to the car, watching as the brunette stared at the gift in disbelief.

“How’d you know this was my dream car?” She looked back at him, but man she couldn’t stop staring at the car. This was the car she was saving up for now that she was debt-free with a raise and in dire need of a car.

“I might’ve had some inside info,” He chuckled, running his fingers through those dark locks. His hair had grown longer but he hadn’t got it trimmed, mostly because Samaira loved the way it was.

“Azrael, thank you so much,” She pulled him in for a hug and closed her eyes as she buried her face in his chest. She felt his large arms, going around her and got to thinking and suddenly felt bad. “I can’t accept this, it’s too much,” She mentioned and pulled away from him.

“Hush, you deserve it,” Azrael placed a finger over her lip. She looked at him for a moment, getting lost in those gorgeous eyes, he was such a sweetheart.

“Wow, it’s so beautiful,” She looked over at the car again, Azrael opened the driver's side of the car and waited for her to head in.

“And uses a lot of fuel so keep an eye out for that,” He laughed awkwardly and went to the passenger seat. “Everything is paid for, all you’ll have to do is the oil changes and such,” He added and smiled, watching as she started the car and admired it.

“Thank you so much!” Samaira reached over and kissed his cheek.

“Come on, let’s get going,” he said excitedly.

“Wait, you’ll ride with me? How will you get home?” She then realized and slowly drove out of the parking garage.

“Mh, this means you’ll have to come home with me,” He moved his hand to hers and winked at her.

“I uh got my period like right after work so,” she said awkwardly. She had never been happier to get her period before today. It was the double confirmation of a negative response to being pregnant.

“I don’t want you to come over for sex, Samaira, I just want to spend time with you,” He reminded her and poked her cheek.

“Right, yeah sure,” She realized just then he truly was a gem and didn’t even deserve to be compared to her exes.

“Sex would’ve been great but cuddling will do too,” Azrael admitted out loud and crossed his arms.

“Come on, let’s get going now,” She rolled her eyes.

Samaira drove them over to the place, she loved how the car felt. Everything about it was perfect, down to the air freshener that hung. He really made sure she’d like the ‘simple’ gift of his. As soon as everyone had arrived they divided into groups for certain games however Samaira and Azrael were never on one team, no, they had a bet to win, and the card games Azrael was leading in however the board games Samaira was slowly surpassing him. During monopoly, they all took a break and had some food the chefs made them. Everyone loved the dessert more though, the delicious apple pie with vanilla ice cream was the perfect snack for them to continue the game.

“Another point to Samaira. People, we have a winner,” Hendro announced as he settled down with his plate full of leftover pie crumbs.

“She cheated, come on,” Azrael scoffed and crossed his arms as he glared at his girlfriend who was clearly gloating.

“When did she ever cheat?” Akira frowned, looking over at Samaira who shrugged innocently. She did win fair and square, unlike Azrael who knew how to cheat at card games without getting caught.

“She gave me her pretty eyes and pout to distract me,” He rolled his eyes and pouted.

“Nah, sweety, that’s on you,” Samaira shrugged and happily took the last bite of her pie.

“You know what that means, right?” Akira raised a brow at the man, her legs crossed and sipping from the apple drink she had in her hand.

“Yeah yeah, I lost my bet,” Azrael pouted, looking up at his girlfriend who ran her fingers through his hair then patted his cheek.

“So, Rae, how’s the design going?” Hendro wondered everyone’s attention on the youngest Bright now.

“Great, all that is left to do is select my models and actually create the dresses,” She answered, happily. She had been working hard non-stop. Of course, things would’ve been easier if she worked with other companies and people, but those people would’ve let the name Bright get her in, she wanted to make it without having to use her last name, which was difficult. One was a self-made millionaire; his son is a self-made billionaire, and the other is a well-known lawyer. That’s just in her little family, some of the other family members also made a name for themselves, not as big as Vincent, Ashley, Zoey, and Azrael but still.

“Oh, when would that be happening?” Hendro asked.

“That’s still TBD,” She sighed and pouted. “Oh Akira, I heard you did hair and make-up?” She looked over at Akira who was lost in her thoughts before hearing her name get called out.

“Yes, I do,” She confirmed.

“Perhaps we could team up,” Rae suggested.

“Mhm, that would be great,” Akira smiled. This would be really good for her! She’d have more to add to her portfolio. She looked over at her girlfriend only to see her distracted by Blake and rolled her eyes.

“How’s the business doing, Azri?” Akira asked.

“Oh it’s great, numbers are increasing. People are looking out for new hardware,” Azrael answered as he wrapped his arms around Samaira.

“Will you be doing what the people want then?” Hailey wondered. Bright tech has been around for years now and has been doing great; however, the last time they launched big products was almost three years ago. Of course, they were still doing well, they kept increasing in gross profits but still it was weird they hadn’t dropped anything big and new.

“I want to, I really do. But first I want to perfect what we already have,” He answered truthfully.

“Wouldn’t that be bad for business, technically?” Akira raised a brow at the man who shrugged and said, “Well if I leave it as it is, they’d have a reason to buy the new product but also have doubts about the new product. Don’t worry, the new one will be out of this world,” He assured her.

“That’s great, dude,” Akira smiled.

“How’s life treating you, Hails?” Samaira wondered, realizing that Hailey barely did any talking for the night.

“Hm, apparently, I am not allowed to bring guys home to my own apartment. My parents refused to not pay for it,” She huffed and crossed her arms.

“Well technically, they are paying for it,” Hendro answered in an unsure tone.

“Because they chose to, I can do it myself but nooo,” Hailey rolled her eyes and shook her head.

“Yikes, how did they even find out?” Akira then asked.

“They came when the guy left,” Hailey answered awkwardly and pressed her lips together, creating a thin line.

“Parents are something else man,” Hendro sighed.

“Agreed. Today Samaira and I got in a disagreement with mom,” Azrael told them; however, he didn’t specify, not wanting to put everything out there in case Samaira wasn’t comfortable with it.

“What about?” Blake asked, finally snapping out of the private conversation he shared with Emma.

“Pro-life and pro-choice,” Azrael answered, and Samaira mentioned, “She wasn’t exactly fond of us being pro-choice.”

“Ah yes, that conversation,” Hendro chuckled, knowing exactly how that must’ve gone.

“Then she asked us what we’d do if we were pregnant right now,” Samaira mentioned and shook her head.

“What did you say?” Hailey’s blonde eyebrow was perked up.

“We’d have to abort, we’re not ready yet,” Azrael said truthfully.

“Don’t forget the part where the universe decided to fuck with us today and gave us a pregnancy scare,” Samaira mumbled, still feeling some of the nervous shocks she had during the time.

“Your blood pressure isn’t looking too good today,” Akira scoffed, knowing she struggled with high blood pressure sometimes.

“Thank god it was negative,” Azrael added and shook his head.

“Don’t forget protection, kids,” Hendro teased and patted Azrael’s back.

They all continued to sit around and talk a bit longer before it was time to leave. Some had school and others had work. Samaira noticed Akira wasn’t her normal self and checked in on her in the parking lot.

“Hey, are you ok?” Samaira asked, rubbing her friend’s arm.

“Uh yes, why?” She snapped out of her thoughts and looked over at the brunette and faked a smile.

“You don’t act like your normal self,” she said truthfully. Akira had always been there for her since they were both young. She just wanted to be able to repay her for everything she did, but she knew deep down that would never be possible.

“Sorry, it’s my period I think. Lately, I feel so pissed for no damn reason,” Akira sighed and rubbed her temple as she looked awkwardly.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Samaira wondered.

“Find me a better job?” She said half-joking.

“Your MUA and hairstylist might take off when you work with Rae,” She tried to comfort her friend.

“I know, I’m just stressed about something, but I can’t quite put my finger on it,” Akira looked over at the car and saw Emma was busy on her phone so there was no need to rush just yet.

“Can we figure it out together?” Samaira offered but her friend shook her head and said, “No babe, this is something I wanna figure out myself.”

“If you say so, sweety,” She patted her shoulder.

“Thanks, now get going. Azrael is waiting for you,” Akira hugged her then sent her off.

“Have a good night, try watching some horror movies, and drink some earl grey tea,” She knew that always helped Akira. That was basically how to make it up to her if you screwed up.

“I will have a great night,” She walked to the car, joining Emma.

Samaira got into the car, the new one, this one belonged to her! She finally owned her own car, she didn’t exactly buy it herself, but it still meant something to her. Azrael smiled as he watched her admire the car once again. He loved seeing her like this, it gave him a weird satisfaction, he couldn’t have been happier than she was.

“Everything alright?” Azrael pulled his seatbelt over his body and looked over at his girlfriend who nodded and answered, “Yes, Azrael.”

“Are you ready to go?” He then wondered when he noticed she hadn’t started driving yet.

“I am, you?” She removed the car from parking.

“Mhm, my belt is buckled,” He pointed to it with a teasing look on his face.

“Come on then,” She drove out of the driving lot.

“Hold on, I don’t think we have sanitary pads or uh tampons or whatever you use at home,” Azrael remembered.

“We do, I bought some. There should be some left,” She shrugged, knowing there was still enough. When she moved some of her clothes there she made sure to take those items with her.

“Oh, that’s good. Want me to bake you some cookies?” Azrael wondered, typing in the address to his house and saved it onto her GPS.

“Yes and some cuddles wouldn’t be bad,” She smiled, looking at what he did.

“And a horror movie?” He raised his thick brow at her.

“Yes please,” She grinned.

~~~

After they arrived home Samaira went to shower and get ready for the night, dressing in some warm, comfortable pajamas. Azrael did the same as her only faster so he could back them some cookies. Samaira set up the movie and added some more blankets and pillows to the couch then went and poured them some milk.

Just as Azrael sat down they both saw the headlights of a car, the car stopped at Azrael’s. Samaira looked over at Azrael who shrugged then got his phone and checked the camera on his phone.

“Shit, what’s she doing here so late?” He groaned and got up, Samaira following behind him.

“Who?” She wondered, following him to the front door.

“My mom,” He showed her, and they both heard loud pounding on the door.

“I’m coming,” Samaira called out and rushed to the front door to open up. “Hello, Mrs.-” She was greeting when she was cut off.

“Did you two just abort a child?” Ashley asked in an angry tone.

“Excuse me?” Samaira frowned and looked at the woman weirdly.

“You were at the clinic today, did you or did not,” She asked again, crossing her arms as she stared down at the brunette.

“Mom-” Azrael wanted to talk but once again Ashley didn’t give them the chance to do so.

“No, I didn’t raise you like this. Samaira is overall a bad influence for you,” She pointed to Samaira accusingly.

“We did go to the clinic but for a different reason. We took tests and it came out negative, so there you go,” Samaira answered in an irritated tone. “Would you like to know more about our private life?”

“You’re crossing a line here mother, I love you, but you should know till where you can stick your nose,” Azrael warned her.

“Excuse me?” Ashley looked quite shocked.

“You heard good what I said,'' Azrael stood his ground. “Was that what you came so far for?”

“Have a great night, you two,” she said sarcastically.