WHEN WE MEET AGAIN
Chapter 1

      Three years later...

      Tasia woke up late Thursday morning to her phone ringing. She stretched and yawned before answering with a hello.

      "Tasia? It's Carmen. I called to confirm your hair appointment," the Dominican woman replied in fluent spanish.

      "I'll be there in an hour and I'd appreciate it if you could tell Lena I'm coming," Tasia replied in spanish as she got up out of bed.

      "No problem," Carmen replied before ending the call.

      Tasia placed her phone back on the charger before stretching and heading into her bathroom for a shower. After her shower she brushed her teeth and washed her face before leaving the bathroom. She headed to her bed and sat down before smoothing her lotion over her skin and rolling on her deodorant. Once that was done she pulled on her white full coverage Victoria's Secret bra and matching low-rise thong before beginning to get dressed.

      She pulled on a pair of light blue downtown hipster jeans from American Eagle and zipped them securely before reaching down to her bottom drawer for her white ankle socks and pulled them on her small four and a half sized feet, before pulling on her white American Eagle spaghetti strapped shirt. She smoothed out her shirt before stuffing her feet into her white on white Uptowns. Once she was dressed she grabbed her white hair tie and pulled her waist length dark brown hair up into a messy bun. Tasia grabbed her debit card, ID, and some cash before grabbing her keys and leaving the house. She took a train downtown and walked the two blocks to the shop. When she walked in she saw Lena already waiting for her with an empty chair. Tasia made her way to the sink where Lena was waiting and pulled her hair tie out of her hair and sat down in the comfortable seat, leaning her head back in the dip of the sink. Tasia relaxed as Lena began to massage her scalp with the sweet smelling shampoo.

      "So how do you want your hair?" Lena asked Tasia in spanish.

      "Something different. I always get a wrap and I want a change," Tasia responded in flawless spanish.

      "Alright. I'll try something different with your hair then," Lena replied before wrinsing her hair and applying the conditioner.

      1pm the same day...

      Tasia walked out of the shop with a cute hairstyle. Her hair was up into an intricate bun with two tendrils out to frame her face. She walked down the street and was walking down the stairs when her phone started to ring.

      "Hello?" she asked.

      "Hey girl...I need a favor," the female voice asked.

      "And what is that Shantel?" Tasia asked as she made her way to the platform.

      "Well I want you to come with me to a concert tonight," Shantel replied.

      "What concert?" Tasia asked as she saw thr bright light of a train coming in the station.

      "B2K," Shantel replied.

      "You know that isn't really my scene," Tasia replied as she boarded her train.

      "I know but Layla got in trouble and she can't come so I have one ticket left and I don't want to waist the money I spent on it," Shantel replied.

      "Alright, I'll go but just know that I have to leave afterwards. No trying to find out where they're staying or the after party because Kenya invited me to some party her cousin was hosting," Tasia replied.

      "No problem girl," Shantel answered before ending the phone call.

      Tasia shook her head as she sat down and began to think about what she could wear to lunch with her mother. Her mother was, for the lack of a better word, boushie. She only wanted the best and if Tasia was going somewhere with her mother she always had to wear heels. Her mother had this thing about ladies and 'proper' shoes. It became a big thing when Tasia had first entered high school because at the time she was still, very much, a tomboy but she got used to it and even liked some of the shoes her mother made her buy.

      Tasia exited the train fifteen minutes late and made her way up the acrid smelling stairs and began to walk through the people in the direction of her house. She had just gotten to the door when her cell phone began to vibrate. She sighed and said, "Hello?"

      "Tasia, it's mommy. Are you ready for our little lunch?" her mother asked.

      "Yes," Tasia lied as she opened the front door.

      "Good. I'll be home in thirty minutes," Her mother replied before hanging up the phone.

      Tasia cursed as she locked the door behind her and ran in her room to find something appropriate to wear for her mother. She had to apply a little make up to appease her mother which had to coordinate with her outfit. After a couple of minutes she just grabbed a pair of jeans out of her closet and hoped to God that the shoes she grabbed would match a clean shirt, preferably, one in her drawers so she wouldn't have to iron anything.

      Tasia sighed happily when the first outfit she put together matched, the fates were really on her side that day. She pulled on a pair of light blue low-rise American Eagle Downtown Hipster jeans that were faded and zipped them securely around her hips before pulling off her white spaghetti strapped shirt and replacing it with her baby blue BEBE tank top that had lace embroiderry on it then lifted her shirt to hook her silver belt/chain around her hips. She smoothed the shirt out over her flat stomach before reapplying some lotion onto her skin and finishing her outfit.

      Once her skin was moisturized she slipped her feet into her baby blue Luis Vuitton sandals and headed to her dresser to spay on her Samsara perfume then headed to her closet to grab a purse to match her outfit. After a minute she pulled her baby blue alligator skin Cole Haan purse down from the top of her closet and began to put her keys, money, credit/debit cards, phone, pager, and hand lotion into the bag before sitting down on her vanity chair to apply a little bit of make up. She searched through her make up kit and pushed past the various labels until she came to Shade 8 of the I Iman Lip Shine. She grabbed it and her brown lip liner and began to lightly apply her gloss. She lined her lips with her liner and filled them in with her gloss, blotted, and searched for a container with eyeshadow that would go with her outfit. After a minute she picked up her shimmery blue almost silver Sephora eye shadow and carefully applied it over her lids before putting everything away and throwing her gloss and liner in her purse. As she gave herself a once over she heard her pager go off and knew that it was her mother because her friends only bothered with her two way if she didn't have her phone on. Tasia took a deep breath before leaving her room and heading outside to meet her mother.

      3pm the same day...

      Tasia sighed as she walked back in the house and went over lunch. It hadn't been that bad. When she got in the car her mother took a quick look at her outfit and gave her a signal of approval before going on about her new hairstyle. Apparently her mother liked it, saying that it suited her face and that it was a welcomed change from her wraps. Tasia entertained the conversation, asking her mother how work was, although she could care less. Her mother told her that she had just won a case and was given a bonus because of it. It also meant that she have to devote more time to the case she had been working on earlier because one thing her mother was not, was a loser. Tasia nodded and was greatful when they got to their restaurant.

      She and her mother exited the car and her mother gave the keys to the valet. She was given a ticket and entered the establishment. Her mother was a regular so they quickly seated them and they both looked over the menu. They ordered their regulars and Tasia played the perfect daughter, listened intentively to her mother. When lunch was over Tasia couldn't help but be grateful to be heading home and out of her mothers eyes.

      Once Tasia was in her room she took off her outfit and laid it on the bed because she had planned to wear it to the concert later that day. She wasn't going to wear the outfit that she had planned for Kenya's party because Kenya told her that there would be some cute guys there and there was no way she was not going to look her best when she got there. Tasia stretched and pulled on her baby blue Juicy Couture sweats and stuffed her small feet into her sneakers and headed down to the gym so that she could get her exercise on.

      It was an hour and a half later and Tasia found herself back in her apartment taking a bath. She wanted to soak her muscles and make sure that she didn't mess up her hair. See Tasia loved to dance and have even won some freestyle competitons so she liked to stay fit and on the ball. She took dance classes and then reserved a studio so that she could brush up on some choreography. Her mother thought that it was a cute hobby but little did she know that it was something that she loved to do and would pursue with or without her mother's blessing.

      It was almost five and she was somewhat regretting that she had told Shantel that she would go to that concert with her. Her bath was looking more appealing than a bunch of screaming girls at the moment and she was contemplating whether or not she wanted to hit the jets. She was about to hit the button and call Shantel and tell her that she wasn't feeling well when her phone began to ring. She was suddenly glad that she had bought her cordless phone in the bathroom earlier. She wiped her hands on the towel next to her and picked up the phone.

      "Hello?" she asked over the phone.

      "Hey girl!" Shantel said excitedly.

      "'So what'd you want Shantel?" Tasia asked as she leant back down in the warm water.

      "Okay, it's five now and I wanted to call you because I'll be there in like an hour...an hour and a half because the show starts at seven," Shantel said.

      "Alright. I'll be ready when you get here," Tasia said with a sigh.

      "I really appreciate this girl," Shantel said knowing that Tasia really didn't want to come.

      "Don't worry about it. I get a free concert out of all this," Tasia joked before ending the call.

      Tasia looked at the clock and tried to figure out how much time she had to enjoy her bath before having to get ready for the concert and setting out her clothes for the party afterwards. Tasia figured she had at least twenty minutes to enjoy herself and she planned on living it up. She lit some candles and threw a few bath salts in the water and closing her eyes to enjoy herself.

      Tasia left the bathroom twenty five minutes later feeling refreshed and towel dried her body as she made the transition from her bathroom to her room. She sat the towel on the bed as she searched through her underwear drawer for a pair of undergarments that would compliment the outfit she had worn earlier and the one she would be wearing after the show. She quickly pulled out her black lace convertible halter bra and matching string bikini panties before closing her drawer. She slid on her undergarments before rolling on her deodorant and smoothing on her lotion. Once that was done she pulled on the clothes she had worn earlier and began to put out the clothes she would be wearing later. As she picked up her perfume bottle her doorbell rang. She headed to the door and opened it to see that it was Shantel She told her to wait as she quickly reapplied her make up and sprayed on her Samsara perfume.

      Once she was done she cut off everything and led Shantel out of her house. She got in the passenger seat of Shantel's silver convertible Mustang. Shantel drove to Madison Square Guarden bumpin her B2K CD. I swear this girl is avid, Tasia thought to herself as she watched her friend scream the lyrics along with the CD.

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