Page 62 of When Love Becomes A Need
My mom looked at him the same way. She was always happy and smiling when Johnny was around. Looking at the two of them, I realized that the smile on my mom’s face never was as bright when she was with my dad. She was happy but she seemed to be happier with Johnny. All this time, I never noticed it, but now I was seeing it.
“Things have just been going good.” I smiled at them.
“So, your photography is taking off? Your mom told me you were going to start freelancing,” Johnny asked.
“Ever since I did the photos for my friend Autumn’s boutique, I’ve been getting inquiries. My booking site is up and running and my portfolio is slowly growing.”
The smile on my mom’s face grew. “I’m happy to hear that. I was afraid you were trying to give up.”
“I wanted to, but I was pushed into keeping at it.”
“Well, that’s good! You have too much talent for you to just give up.”
I blushed. “Thank you, Johnny.”
My attention went to one of the pictures filled walls. “You two need to let me take some updated pictures of you.” The photos hanging on the walls were at least five years old.
“You know we have no problem with that,” my mom responded. One thing she loved about Johnny was that he was always so supportive of me. He bought me one of my first expensive cameras for my eighteenth birthday. Since he’s been in my life, he’s always encouraged me.
My phone vibrated in my lap. Without my permission, a smile appeared on my face.
First hitting the green button, I held the phone in front of my face. “What’s up, pretty girl?” My smile grew at the sound of Ahmad’s voice. He was leaning back in his chair at the shop showing me his award-winning smile.
“Hey! You must have some free time?”
“Yeah, I got about a half-hour gap until my next appointment, then I have to go to the second shop, so I thought I’d see what you were doing.”
“Nothing really. I drove out to see my mom.”
I licked my lips, staring into the phone. Like normal when he was working, Ahmad was wearing a wife beater. His dreads were braided back and freshly lined up. It even looked like he had his beard cut down.
“You cut your beard down?”
He smirked. “You noticed?”
Biting on my bottom lip, I slowly nodded. “I did.”
Ahmad pulled on his beard and showed me his teeth again. “Yeah, it was getting too long so I had him take some off.”
“It looks good.” My eyes lowered.
I loved the way his beard brushed against my body when he was kissing on me. Or the way it tickled my face when we were kissing. It always smelled good too.
Ahmad licked his lips. “You better stop staring at me like that in front of your mom.” I suddenly looked up, forgetting about being at mymom’s house. The thoughts I was having about Ahmad had me wanting to drive to his shop right now to see him.
“Don’t mind us,” my mom spoke.
I glanced over my phone and my cheeks grew red. My mom stood up and walked over to the couch.
“This must be the guy you mentioned the last time you were here.”
“How you doing, ma’am? I’m Ahmad.” I shifted the camera to my mom, and she smiled into it.
“Oh, you’re a handsome young man. I’m Katherine.”
Ahmad chuckled then grinned. “Thank you for the compliment. Fatima never told me she got her good looks from her mom.” Playfully I rolled my eyes and peeked at Johnny, who was silently laughing.
My mom and Ahmad held a conversation for a few seconds before I jumped in. “Okay, mom, Ahmad has to get back to work.”
