Page 8 of Sparks Will Fly

Even without putting my eyes on her, I could see the dreamy look on her face. I blushed underneath the pillow. I was happy she couldn’t see that I was also in awe of him.

Fine wasn’t even describing him in all his calm, calculating glory. I’d learned his name was Romani, which fit his rugged yet charismatic demeanor. His caramel complexion was lighter than I usually liked for my men to be. He was also taller than I went for with broad shoulders. Even from a distance, he towered over me, so I had put him above six feet or close to it. I couldn’t tell much about his body beneath his outfit, but I would bet he was toned up. He looked like the kind of man that was in the gym religiously.

His tailored suit dripped off status along with the scent of his cologne. I didn’t know the name, but I could still smell its amber, cedar wood, and jasmine notes. It literally made my heart race. I saw a hint of inky, black tattoos that might’ve stretched up the side of his neck. His head was shaped like an acorn, but it didn’t make him unattractive in the least bit. I was mesmerized by his thick eyebrows over his sleepy, light brown eyes, slender nose, and bow-shaped lips. His facial hair was minimal with a thin mustache and soul patch on his chin. His ears were pierced on both of his goofy-looking ears. Just know everything was working for him—even his flaws.

My heart was racing merely conjuring an image of him in my mind. That was until I remembered why I’d ever seen him in the first place. He was going to buy the Caldwell Center and tear it down. I screamed into the pillow again.

“I can’t talk about that because it doesn’t even matter. He’s going to ruin everything.”

It felt like I was the only one who was willing to fight to keep the community center open. I was feeling all alone with no solution in sight. My heart broke for all the children that would suffer behind the center closing. I couldn’t even sleep knowing the fate that lay ahead. I’d fostered too many relationships over the years to just walk away.

“You’re not going to let that happen,” Drey said after a while.

I tossed the pillow aside and sat up.

“Girl, I’ve tried everything from bashing Rogue Realty online to calling around to see if I can get a loan to buy the building myself, and you know how that went.” I slapped my hand on my forehead. We both knew I had terrible credit. I had no right to call those people and waste their time like that. “They weren’t even biting when I wanted to open my salon, and despite all my efforts to clean up my credit, they still aren’t fucking with me. I hate my life!”

I flopped backward again feeling the weight of defeat pressing down on my chest. Tears began to burn in the corners of my eyes. I sniffled, wiping one away as quickly as another formed. This was all pointless. At this point, I should have spent my time comforting the kids before the change came.

The weight on the bed shifted as Drey came to sit beside me. “Don’t give up hope yet, babe. You are going to figure out how to save the center. You always get what the fuck you want when you really want it.”

I offered a sad smile as I sat up. She immediately wrapped me in a comforting side hug I didn’t realize I desperately needed.

“Thank you for the encouragement, but I’m at a loss.”

We sat in silence for a while. Only God knew what was on Drey’s mind, but I could only think about that eviction notice and what it meant. What started as volunteering at the center turned into a career as the manager. My time there was the best part of my days. I looked forward to it just as much as my babies. What the hell were we all going to do when we no longer had our safe space to escape from the world?

“What do you think about having a protest?” Drey suggested out of nowhere.

“Huh?” I asked, even though I’d heard her clearly.

The thought hadn’t even crossed my mind, but now that she’d brought it up, a spark of hope became a livewire in my heart.

“Yeah, I think you should get the community to help with a protest. You never know. It might can help.”

I smiled widely before tackling Drey to the bed.

“You are literally such a brainiac. What would I do without you?”

“Cry and pout like you were doing.” She palmed my cheek as we lay looking at each other. “I told you everything is going to work out. Don’t lose your faith during the process because then you’ll have nothing but your tears to water your dreams when sunshine is also needed.”

* * *

“Hell no! We won’t go! Hell no! We won’t go!” Numerous voices chanted along with me as we stood outside of the Motley building that housed the company trying to snatch away the community center.

I spent the better half of the night calling around to everyone I could or stopping to knock on doors informing the community of what was happening. A lot of them were willing to stand up and fight, so here we were making sure our voices were heard. I was the first to arrive at the crack of dawn with my signs ready to go.

Drey might’ve put up a fuss about my work, but my girl came through. She stayed out here as long as she could before duty called. I appreciated the idea more than anything. I was ready to give up, even though I knew this was worth fighting for. I just needed a push in the right direction, and now, my fire had been restored.

“Rogue Realty is trying to snatch away our livelihood. The owner Romani Rogue wants nothing more than to use our land to feed his own agenda. He doesn’t care about your children. He doesn’t care about you. He only cares about himself. We’re here today to show and prove that our community cannot be easily erased. We will not be moved. Not without a fight. Stand with me for as long as you can so our voices can be heard and so Romani Rogue sees just how serious we are about this.”

The crowd stirred after my mini speech, and we began chanting again. As time carried on, more and more people had to leave. A lot of the parents had to get home and get dinner started. A single and childless woman like me had nothing but the time to advocate for what was important to me. I stayed out all night until the streetlights came on. Then I planned to start right back up again in the morning. I was going to wear that sidewalk down. Plenty of people would know my name and what I stood for by the time this was all over with. Even if I didn’t get my desired result, no one could say I didn’t give it all I had.

By the time the sun set below the horizon and the temperature outside began to drop, I found myself yawning more frequently. It got so bad I returned to my car and convinced myself I would take a small break then start back up. Unfortunately for me, the fatigue was overwhelming, and before I knew it, I drifted off into the black abyss behind my eyelids.

I hada long day full of meetings and piles of paperwork to secure some smaller investments. My entertainment came from watching Trouble lead a protest outside of my business like she was right. The one time I’d made myself known when I was leaving for lunch, she’d gone out of her way to flip me off. It was the funniest shit. She was really beefing with me for nothing.

Aisley trailed behind me as we took the elevator down to the ground level. I was too busy on my phone ordering a steak dinner from Aria’s to notice that it’d gone quiet outside. The chilled air greeted us as we stepped out. I pocketed my phone, making the trek to where my driver waited when I realized there was a lone car still positioned in front of the building. I remember seeing Trouble standing on it through the cameras.

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