Where Have You Been 2/3

Drake switched the lights of his office off.  It was nine an he was about to go home after a very long day.

He worked as a business analyst and had rather long days, all he wanted now after his day of work as to go home and relax, grab a drink have a nice meal and go to sleep. He loved his job but it was really tiring.

He got out of his office, clocked out and made his way out, then got in his car and drove after he had turned some music on. 

During the whole ride as everytime he was riding home Drake was a bit apprehensive, of course he wanted to get home to his girlfriend of four years Maliah but because of the way things had been between them  lately he was always getting home with cold feet.
Drake and Maliah met in college, during sophomore year, Drake had fallen in love with her at the moment he laid eyes on her, you could say it was love at first sight, at least that's how it happened for him. But if you asked Maliah it wasn't the same story at all, she was part of the people who would pick on Drake all the time, actually she was one of the worst of them all, she was one of the brains behind everything they did to him all the pranks and everything, but she never did anything herself, she'd send her minions to do it for her thus Drake never knew what kind of person she was. Also she knew he had a little crush on her that's why whenever she needed someone to do her homework for her or when she needed someone's money to spend she'd go to him and use her charms to gejt what she wanted, everyone knew his parents had money therefore he was the perfect prey, he was smart and had money. At first there was nothing between them, it was just her using him and he was so appealed to her and hoped that she would end up liking him if he kept being this nice to her. But he got tired of waiting and hoping and when she noticed it , she pulled her last card and asked him out. She knew he probably never even had a girlfriend so she guessed this would be his weakness and it worked out perfectly. Drake is such a great person that she ended up developping real feelings for him and
that's why they stuck together. She had changed and they relationship was no longer based on a scheme they had real feelings for each other.
But as they say a leopard can never change its spots. Lately he felt like she was using him again exactly how he felt a few years back.

Drake noticed he was home when he pulled up in his driveway . He had droven home absent mindedly. He parked and cut the engine, he then took a deep breath before getting out of his car and grabbing his briefcase and walkd to the front door. He opened the door and walked in. The first thing he heard was Maliah she was on the phone, when he shut the door he could tell that her tone changed so he started paying attention to her phone conversation.

** "Wait. I think he just got here."
...

"Yeah, no problem."

...

"Of course, see you tomorrow."

...

"I love you too. Bye bye." **


Drake had heard these weird phone converstion a lot lately, too often if you asked him, but he never said anything, he always brushed it off. Maybe he was just imagining something that doesn't exist.

"Hey babe, I'm home." Drake shouted from the hallway and as he set his briefcase down he saw Maliah waddling toward him.

"Hey babe." She smiled at him and wrapped her arms around his neck and his wrapped around her waist, he could feel her six months pregnant belly against him. She pecked his lips before they let go of each other and he placed his hands on her belly.

"Hi you." Drake spoke to his unborn child.

They walked towards the living room where Drake plopped on the couch and loosened his tie.

"Imma get you a drink." Maliah said cheerfully making her way towards the kitchen, looking from the outside it looked like they had a perfect life , they were happy together and were about to have a baby together but really it was all fake, they were forced together now that she was pregnant he felt like he couldn't leave her now. He didn't want to be selfish. Leaving her was also leaving his child.


"How was your day ?" Maliah asked.

"Tiring. How about you ? What did yo do today ?" Drake asked her. Maliah didn't work, she never worked though she had graduated from college. She had her degree and was perfectly able to work but why would she when she could sponge off him. She lived at his expense without having to do anything and he never complained aout it so why would she even make the effort to go and find a job ?

"I went shopping." 'For a change' Drake sarcastically thought.

"Oh really ?"

"Yes , went shopping for your son." She cheered and started on enumerating everthing she bought.

"And of course I had to treat myself. " And then she made the list of everything she bought herself and of course that list was like three times longer than the other and with all the brands she was naming Drake's eyes widened as he thought of all the money she must have spent on herself. All of his money she had spent on herslelf.

"Well, that's great." Drake sighed.

"Oh , and I did get you a little something."

"Really ?" Drake asked surprised, the thought that she'd thought about him was unreal but he didn't get too excited either knowing her it was probably a mug or something like thatq , the only person she cared about was herself anyways.

"Yes really, here." She pulled a Calvin Klein box from behind a cushion and handed it to him.

"Oh, well thank you." Drake said opening the box, he looked inside and pulled a purple tie out of it.

"It's nice, I love it . Thank you babe." Drake pecked her lips and looked at the tie, he hated purple.

"Your welcome boo ! You can wear it when we go to that ball we're invited to next week. I'll be wearing a purple dress." Maliah smiled.

'Of course' Drake thought, it was an evidence, she would never buy him anything just to be nice, the goal as usual was to make herself look good.

"That's great." Drake fake smiled and got up.  "Imma go shower Ok ?"

"Ok ! I'll warm up your food. Your son couldn't wait for you so we already ate."

"Alright. Thanks." Drake walked away and up the stairs. Once he was out of sight Maliah's fake smile dissappeared and she sighed, rolling her eyes in disdain as she walked to the kitchen to reheat the frozen dish, she never cooked , she didn't even know how to.


After his shower Drake went to eat, and when he was done Maliah wasn't downstairs anymore  she had probably went to sleep. He turned the T.V on the game and started watching.

"You're not coming to bed ?" Drake heard a voice behind him and he turned around to see Maliah standing in the stairway.

"Hum, well I was gonna watch the game so.." Drake dragged, it was a rerun, he had already seen that game but he really didn't want to go to bed with her.

"It's all good babe, enjoy your game." She smiled and turned around. He knew she really didn't mind it on the contrary, it would give her time to make her secret phone calls to whoever she called.

Drake waited until he was almost sure she was asleep and then got to bed. He had been doing this for weeks now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Drake wasn't working that day, it was a sunday, he was playing playstation in his office when Maliah walked in.

"Here you are baby, I was looking for you."

"Hey!" Drake paused the game he was playing and Maliah went to seat on his lap. Right then he knew she needed something from him.

"Why were you looking for me."

"I was wondering if you could do me a favor." Maliah said in a baby voice as her fingers danced in his curls and with her other hand she stroked his cheek. Drake wanted to push  her off him and tell her to go to hell but even though he didn't like the way she had been acting lately, he still had love for her and couldn't resist her, these little things she did made him weak and she knew it.

"What is it ?"

"Ok, so I really, really, really crave pasta right now and I was wondering if my amazing boyfriend would be nice enough to get me that salmon and cream tagliatelle I love so much from that italian restaurant uptown, you know the one we went to last week ?"

"Uptown ? Baby there's an italian restaurant around the corner, I'm sure they make salmon and cream tagliatelle."

"I know but I really want the ones from that restaurant." Maliah's lips formed into a pout . "Please." She whined and Drake caved in as usal. 

"Ok, fine I'll go." As soon as the words came out of his mouth Maliah jumped up from his lap and started clapping. 

"Thank you so much baby you're the best." She gave him a kiss and walked away, before she got out of his office she turned around.

"Oh and while you're out if you could get me some ice cream and erm also I need you to drop by the drugstore to get my vitamin supplements."

Drake looked at her as if she had 36 heads, he had that feeling again, it was as if she used her pregnancy to make him run everywhere, and it gave him the feeling that there was something behind but he brushed it off thinking he was just getting paranoid.

He quit his game and went to put some shoes on, he kissed Maliah goodbye and she almost shooed him out.

Drake had already went to the drugstore and was now at the spuermarket, the restaurant was last on his list so that the food wouldn't get cold by the time he got home. 

He was busy looking for the right ice cream for Maliah when he felt something hit his legs , he looked down and saw the cutest little girl ever. He looked around for her parents but he didn't see anyone who looked like they were looking for their child so he squated down and smiled at her.

"Hey sweetheart, where is your mommy ?" Drake softly asked the little girl but she didn't say a word and simply shrugged with her thumb in her mouth and her comfort blanket clutched to her chest.

"What's your name ?" He smiled at her, the little girl hesitated she seemed to be an introverted child and Drake thought her parents had probably told her not to speak to strangers that would explain why she just held her comforter tighter and didn't said a thing.

"You can talk to me, I just want to help you find your mommy. What's your name ?"

"Janae."

"That's a beautiful name." Drake answered making Janae smile. "Let's go find your mommy now alright ?" He said holding his hand out for her to take. The little girl took his hand and they walked away.

"What is your mother's name ?" Drake asked hoping that the litttle girl would be give him the information.

"Janae !!" They heard a woman yell in their back.

The woman started to run after them and they turned around. Drake walked in her direction, he still had Janae's hand in his, as she walked beside him unbothered.

"Oh god, Janae what did I tell you about running off like that, you got mommy so worried, don't do that ever again." The woman who obviously was the child's mother spoke to her after she had squated to her level and taken her hand in hers. She stood up straight turning her attention to Drake who was standing there still holding her daughter's other hand.  'That woman is gorgeous' He thought before shaking it off.

"Thank you very much sir." She smiled at him. He was blown away by her smile, and oddly enough that sensation almost felt familiar. He looked at her strangely, her face was really familiar to him and after a little moment he finally replaced her.

"Onika ?!" He asked unsure.

"Yeah ? How do you know my name ?"

"I'm Drake... Drake Graham... I went to FIU and you used to help me study during freshman year ?" He looked at her face to see if she remembered him but obviously she didn't.

"I'm sorry I can't seem to repalce you." the woman who he was now sure was Onika shook her head feeling extremely bad for not remembering him.

"Maybe you would recognize me if I still had the glasses and wore those baggy clothes. Oh I know, Imma introduce myself again, hey, I'm goober."

"Goober what kin... Aubrey ?!" Nicki cheered as she finally remembered him, Nicki or Onika as he used to call her was a student from FIU where Drake studied and where he met Maliah. She was a brilliant student  but she dropped out during her last year and no one ever knew why. Drake met her during freshman year, for some reason the older students had chosen him as their whipping boy and goober was the nickname they gave him, he had no friends because of them, Nicki was one of the prettiest girls of the school, she was rather popular but with no effort she didn't care at all, the same boys that had given Drake that nickname all tried to get with her, she never gave them the time of a day though, she always said that she didn't need them and that she already had a real man, when she noticed how they treated Drake she decided to befriend him and hangout with him just to piss them off and even though she didn't know it that changed his life she was the only person who befriended him despite the other's opinion, as a result they became great friends until she started getting more and more distant which ended their very short but intense friendship.

"In the flesh." He smiled happy that she had finally remembered him. But nonetheless kinda hurt that goober was the only thing she remembered him as, between this and the way Maliah was treating him he felt like they were back to college and that wasn't a good experience.

"Oh my god, how you've changed." Drake had completely changed since college. The way he dressed had changed, his haircut had changed too and also he had been working out. He looked different from back then.

"Yeah I know, and may I say you haven't change at all, you're just as beautiful." What seemed to be a polite compliment really was the expression of his amazement, she truly was the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on.

"Why thank you."

"I'm just telling the truth." Drake answered flashing her a perfect smile reflecting Nicki's one. Nicki looked down at her daughter.

"Oh, and this is my daughter Janae, Nae say hi." Nicki picked the little girl in her arms and Janae let out a small "hi".

"Hi again sweetheart." Janae smiled at him.

"It was nice seeing again Aubrey." Nicki smiled and was about to walk away.

"The pleasure is mine." He answered and hugged her. When his arms wrapped around her he felt a sudden rush of electricity run through his body and remembered feeling the exact same thing everytime they touched back then, he released her from the hug and they both stood there Drake got nervous, he felt as if he was 18 all over again, it was how he always felt around her. He'd always smile sheepishly, happy to see her but intimidated at the same time, there was that thing about her, she was so beautiful, and was so soft and sweet yet seemed so confident and assertive. It was a whole that made him admirative of her.

"Well goodbye." Nicki said turning around to leave and snapping Drake out of his thoughts. He smiled and nodded before he also walked away but then retraced his steps and called after her.

"Hum Onika wait."

"Yeah ?!"

"I was wondering maybe we could hang out sometime to you know catch up."

'Why would I ask her that ? She might think I'm asking her out on a date and say no.' Drake thought feeling dumb.

"Hang out ? Hum yes, why not." Nicki answered surprising him.

"Hand me your phone." Nicki did as she was told and Drake took it and saved his number in it.

"Here." He handed her phone back to Nicki. "Hit me up when you got time alright ?"

"I will." Nicki smiled at him and took her phone back and they hugged again, and Drake said bye to Janae before they both went their seperate ways

Drake was all smiles just thinking about seeing her again but then he thought about Maliah and started feeling remorse. It did seem like he wanted to go on a date with another woman. But then he just brushed it off  After all he knew why he had asked her to meet up. It was just two old friends reconnecting. It couldn't hurt.

Drake pulled in his driveway, after leaving the supermarket he went to get Maliah's food and was now back home. As he cut the engine he noticed another car parked in the driveway but he didn't know that car. He thought it was probably one of Maliah's girlfrind's car. He got out of the car and grabbed his purcahses he locked the car before walking to his front door, as he was about to open the door it flew open and he saw a man who seemed like he was about to walk out of the house and Maliah stood behind him. When she saw Drake her face flushed with embarassement but then she put a fake smile on her face.

"Hey baby !" She threw herself at Drake's neck .

"Hey !" Drake sternly spoke mean mugging the man who was standing there with a devilish grin.

"Oh, this is Ray a family friend, he came by to say hi and Ray this is Aubrey, the love of my life." Maliah said clinging on Drake's arm. If he didn't know any better he could've trusted her but he knew her all too well and something about this situation was off. 'Such a good actress' Drake thought. He knew exactly what was going on there.

"It's nice to meet you , been hearing a lot about you." Ray said holding his hand out for Drake to shake.

"Well, I've never heard of you." Drake smiled at Ray.

"Anyways, Ray was leaving , he has places to be." Maliah quickly stepped in.

"Yeah, right." Ray said and kissed Maliah's cheek.

Drake just walked way from the scene and went to drop the purchases on the kitchen countertop and he leaned on it waiting for Maliah to come, he heard the front door slam shut and then he heard her soft footsteps getting closer and closer.

"Hey love !" Maliah stood on the tip of her toes to kiss him but then she noticed he wasn't kissing back.

"What's wrong ?" She asked acting as if what happened before never even occured.

"What's wrong ? Who was that guy ? Who was he really ?"

"I just told you , he's a friend of my family, I've known him for years and he was in town, he saw my parents, they told him I was having a baby so he came to say hi . Nothing more, you're so great at imagining the worst baby." Maliah laughed at him.

"Hum, ok." Drake walked away and went back to his office which had became the only safe place in the house for him to stay.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two weeks later Drake was at his office working, he had been under a lot of pressure during the past days between Maliah's whims and work he felt overwhelmed. Today he had been working non stop and that's how it had been for a couple days, he had a whole new marketing strategy to analyse for his boss and his analyse was due for the next day, so he had to stay at work late, he knew he wouldn't be home anytime soon.

He was busy on his job when his phone buzzed. He didn't even looked at it, he knew it was Maliah, she had been blowing his phone up all evening. He didn't even know why she acted like she cared , when really she didn't , she was most likely happy that he wasn't home, that ways she could have her 'friend' over. Maybe she was just calling to know how much time they had.

Drake sighed and turned his phone off, he decided on taking a break from his work besides he was hungry thus he decided on going to get some food. He remembered the restaurant that wasn't even ten minutes away so he settled for going there and get something to eat, then he'd get back to work.

He walked in and was directed to a table. He was given a menu and chose what he'd have, while he waited for a waitress to come by he decided on turning his phone back on. He didn't even acknowladgd Maliah's call and texts, he was checking his mails when he heard a familiar voice.

"Welcome to Toro Toro Restaurant & Bar, I'm Ni..." He looked up and saw the one person he had been thinking about non stop during two weeks, Onika was standing there looking as beautiful as ever even though she was wearing a simple waitress uniform that consisted in a simple white shirt which she wore with the top buttons undone and which was tucked in a black pencil skirt along with simple black pumps, her hair was put up in a messy yet classy ponytail, she wasn't wearing any make up and seemed tired but beautiful nonetheless.

"Onika ?!" Drake exclaimed obviously surprised to see her.

"Oh hi !" Nicki answered surprised herself.

"Hi ! How are you ?"

"I'm great, how are you ?"

"Good, been waiting for your call . " He was just messing with her but, was speaking the truth though, since he had seen her at the supermarket that day, he kept thinking about her wondering if she'd ever call him, at some point he figured she would never call and dropped it. After all why would she ?

"I am so sorry , it's just I never have time, I mean between work, my daughter and my husband I never get a minute to myself."  Drake was kinda sad to find out that she had a husband but he had figured, she had a daughter, it was just weird to hear it. And he couldn't say anything, he was living with his girlfriend of four years and was about to have a baby. But that wasn't the point as he said before he just wanted to retie the link that once existed between them, she was a great friend to him and he never understood why she stopped talking to him.

"You don't have to explain yourself, I was just messin with you. I wouldn't mind it if you found time though." He said trying to make hr undersand that he wanted to see her even though she had just clearly let him know that she was married and he really wanted to meet with her just to catch up as friends.

"I promise I'll think about it then."

"You sure you will ?"

"Yeah I promise Aubrey."

"Ok, great then."

"So can I take your order now ? "

~~~~~~~~~

"Lord, will you stop complaining ?! Why do you think I gotta bust my ass at work everyday ? I do it so your ass can where them red bottoms and them Balmain dresses. So you gonna have to start respecting that." 

Drake screamed at Maliah, when he came home once again he had found Maliah's 'friend' Ray . It was the fourth time he found that nigga in his house when he'd come back from work, and it was starting to get on his nerves. That's why he had told Maliah that he didn't want that man in his house when he wasn't there anymore but somehow Maliah managed to turn the situation against him and blame him for never being home and started saying that Ray was just coming over to keep her company and help because she needed someone with her pregnancy and Drake wasn't there for her. This pissed him off even more, he was tired of her throwing her pregnancy at his face all the damn time. And also she started acusing him of cheating on her and that's when he snapped.

"Are you even working when you say you are ? It's almost eleven and that's when you're coming home huh ? Do you think I'm stupid Aubrey ?"

"No, not at all, that you're not. How you gon' accuse me of cheating when you're the one who had another nigga over while I was at work ?"

"I've been telling you Ray is a friend. I feel so lonely when you're not here and he's right there so I call him but that's all it is. Now when it comes to you. You're gone all day long and there's nothing wrong with it but lately you've been out all night and you started getting distant, it's like you aren't even with me even when you're here. Do you know how that makes me feel ? I feel like there might be someone else, a prettier and smarter girl and who's not as fat as I am, I noticed how you don't even look at me lately, I know I don't look as good as I used to because of the pregnancy but I can't stand the idea of you cheating on me Aubrey."

Maliah gave an oscar worthy performance with tears and all of that. Drake knew her and was always expecting those but he fell in the trap every time and this time was no expection. He couldn't stand seeing women cry and this is a woman he loved and she was making him feel like he was the reason why she was crying and like he was causing her to be self concious. She was so good at manipulating him that he had compleately forgotten about the Ray situation and was now the one feeling bad and feeling like he had to apologize.

"Hey don't say that, there's no one else, you're the only one I care about, I love you and only you, you're the most beautiful woman I laid eyes on, and you're the smartest, you look amazing baby. You are the only one.

I'll never cheat on you never. I'll try to work less and be here with you more if that can make you happier. You and my son are the most important things in my life and I'll do anything for you guys. Don't you ever think I would step out on you." Drake got closer to her and hugged her. He kissed the top of her head.

They pulled away and looked at each other.

"I love you." She said Faking tears.

"I love you too." Drake answered and again it felt empty, everything between them felt empty or fake and sadly enough they both simply got accostumed to it. They faked arguments, faked reconciliations and neither of them did anything to change it. Maliah was taking so much advantage of it and Drake just felt trapped and was defeated.

~~~~~~~~~

**"Yeah, I'm sorry but I can,'t."

 ...

"He's here."

...

"Yes he came home early, I don't know why."

...

"Alright, I gotta go. I love you."

...

"Bye babe."**

Not even 24 hours after their argument, Drake had made the effort to come back home earlier to show how invested he was in their relationship but when he got home he was quickly desillusioned. It was the same old thing, the cold atmospehere, the fakeness, everything, and to top it all they spent the whole evening each one in their corner and when he went upstairs to try and talk to her, he heard this weird phone conversation ... again.

He shook his head and turned on his heels to go back to the living and watch TV, when his phone that was in his hand buzzed, he looked at the caller I.D, it was an unknown number. He picked up and smiled at the voice he heard.

"Hum , hello Aubrey, it's Onika."

"Oh, Onika, how are you beautiful ?" Drake said acting as if he had not recognized her voice but in reality he knew exactly who it was  before she even said it.

"I'm good, how are you ?"

"Couldn't be better, I mean you called so."

"Aww, you're so sweet."

"How's the little one, Janae right ?"

"Yeah, that's it. She's good, has me running everywhere as usual. Thanks for asking."

"Amazing. It's nothing. So what's been going on Nika ? "

"How about we meet up sometime so I can tell you ?"

"That would be great."

"Well how about friday then ?"

"Fine by me."

"Ok, cool. Erm look I gotta go, Nae needs me right now. But we keep in touch right ?"

"Ok. Yeah sure, make sure you kiss her for me."

"I will. "

"Ok. Bye then beautiful."

"Bye Aubrey." He heard before the phone call ended.

After that Drake couldn't stop smiling, he thought she'd never call and that she was just being polite when she said she'd call. He was looking forward to seeing her.

~~ Friday / Atrio Restaurant and Wine Room / Miami ~~

Drake had arrived a few minutes ago and was waiting for Nicki , they had agreed to meet at the Atrio restaurant for lunch and they both were eager to see each other They had kept in touch the whole week, they talked through text meassages or they would call each other and spend hours on the phone, they both enjoyed talking to each other even if they only talked about casual stuff. It just felt nice to the both of them to have someone to talk to, someone who actually listened to what they had to say and who understand them.

Even though they had good conversation and all, they were still really nervous.

Drake looked up and saw Nicki who was speed walking towards him, when she saw him looking at her Nicki slowed down her pace. She didn't want to seem thirsty or anything. 

She got to the table and Drake got up to greet her. He hugged her hello and kissed her shoulder. It wasn't even awkward or anything, Nicki didn't mind him doing it at all.

"Hey darling." Nicki said as she sat down in the booth across from him.

"Hi, how are you ?"

"I'm great, how are you."

"I'm good." 

They made small talk and the waitress came by to bring the drinks that Drake had already ordered while waiting for Nicki. They kept on talking about anything and everything.

"Why are you laughing ? I swear I still have it."

"I don't believe you."

"Hum hold on." Nicki finished chewing and fished her key set in her purse and handed it to him. Drake took it and observed the bear keyring and it was most definitely the one he had gave her years ago. At the time they had known each other for only two weeks and that one day they where hanging out and Drake found out it was her birthday, he felt bad because she had told him that her boyfriend had forgotten about it so he took that bear off his keys and gave it to her and that made her day.

"See, I wash it and everything. I love it." Nicki said in a baby voice.

"Can't believe you kept this for all those years. I bought my girlfriend a diamond neckless a month ago and she wore it for two weeks then she said it was old-fashioned. She doesn't even know where it is today."

Drake thought outloud, he didn't mean to say it outloud that's just what went through his mind when he saw the bear.

He felt kinda uneasy after he said that and he gave Nicki her keys.

"Well my husband tends to lose his wedding ring now and then so I think I know how you feel." Nicki shrugged , it was an attempt to make him feel better.

"You guys have been together for ages, I guess he doesn't need it to remind him what y'all got."

"Hum,hm, I don't agree with that, that ring should never leave his finger." Nicki tried to laugh it off, not wanting to show how fuckd up her marriag was, from the outside everyone thaught it was a fairy tale.

"Yeah you're right, it shouldn't." They boh laughed.

"So, how's your girlfriend ?" During their phone conversations Drake had mentioned Maliah and her pregnancy.

"She's... good, but to be honest she's driving me crazy."

"Aww, poor you." Nicki sarcastically said. "You're complaining but you don't even have an idea of what she's going through."

"Yeah but does she need to try and make my life a leaving hell, like I feel like a domestic,I be running all day it's Drake do this and do that and go get me this and oh I need that, and then whenever I do something wrong she starts crying like crazy and she curses me out at least once a day. It's just crazy !"

Nicki laughed at him.

"Hey look at the good side of things, in three months you will be a father and this will all be over, well you'll be running around for other reasons, but at least she'll be back to her normal self."

"Now you know Maliah, whenever is she normal." Drake said not even controlling the words coming out of his mouth, Nicki was so easy to talk to. 

"Yeah, right. No disrespect but to be quite honest, I never thought Maliah and you would end up together, y'all are probably the most unexpected couple ever !"

"I know, even I never imagined that, not even in a billion years. I never thought I'd end up with a girl like her."

"What do you mean a girl like her ?"

"I guess you forgot how I was treated back in college, the idea of a girl like Maliah or you wanting to be more than friends with me was crazy."

"Maliah and I have nothing in common boy !"

"You know what I meant, pretty girls like you or her never looked at me as more than a friend."

"Stop being stupid Aubrey. You know you're handsome." 

"Well, thank you."

"You were just trying to make me pay you compliment."

"I didn't force you." 

"Anyways, we were saying ? Ah yes the baby. Do you know the gender ?"

"Yeah, it's a boy." Drake said proudly.

"You must be so excited."

"I am, but it's a bit scary, this is my first child so yeah I'm apprehensive."

"Yeah becoming a parent is scary but I know you'll make a great father."

"I hope so. But enough about me, how is Janae ?"

"She's good, groing up too fast to my liking but she's fine."

"That's great, how's her father ?"

Nicki froze at the question, she wish she had an answer to give him, indeed Safaree had disappered three days ago, he happened to do that now and then he'd disappear for a few days and come back as if he was never gone, it was just routine.

"To be honest, I don't really know, we're not on speaking terms right now." Nicki said looking down at her plate, she didn't even bothered giving him the 'Oh, he's doing great.' she just didn't feel like it and she knew she could talk to Drake and he wouldn't judge her.

Drake placed a finger under her chin and made her look up.

"Hey, don't be sad, you'll get through it."

Nicki smiled at him causing him to smile back.

"You're nice but I don't think so."

"Why would you say that ? What happened." Drake inquired, no one knew about what was happening between Nicki and Safaree , on the outside everyone thought they were the perfect couple so Drake thought she was just being dramatic , looking from the outside it looked like they were going so strong that there were nothing that could break them appart after all they had been together for eight years which was crazy knowing that  Nicki was only twenty four.

"Nothing major really happened, but things aren't as they seem to be, our relationship has been rocky lately and at some point I'm scared it won't be worth fighting for no more." Nicki spoke tears threatening to leak
from her eyes.

"I'm sorry can we not talk about it ?"

Drake really felt for her in that moment , he was shocked to hear the news but also was kinda mad, he couldn't stand seeing her like that and couldn't understand that just the mention of the man who was supposed to love her could get her in such a state. What he didn't know was that the truth was even worse.

He reached over the table and placed his hand on top of hers.

"Sure, but just know that if you need someone to talk to or just need someone to be there, I'm here." Drake said and he really meant it, she was so precious , he just couldn't get how someone could make her sad. 'If I had the chance to have a woman like her, I'd make sure she never sheds any tear over me.' Drake thought as he saw Nicki's lips form into a smile again.

"Thank you  Brey . I appreciate it ." Nicki thanked him and couldn't help but smile broadly at the face he made when she used the nickiname she had given him years ago. 'Maliah's such a lucky girl' Nicki thought.

Hope you enjoyed, please comment to let me know what you think.

Love.

Muaah :*