Chaser (19 page)

Some months later…

W
here the hell is Nasir?” I looked at my watch. It was two o’clock, an hour and a half after he was supposed to have arrived.

“Is that him?” my mom asked, looking past the crowd in front of us at a guy walking quickly toward us.

I stood on my tippy toes to get a better look, and when I realized it was, in fact, him, I met him in the crowd. I jumped in his arms and held him tight for a minute before pulling away from him and asking, “What happened to you? I thought you were goin’ to stand me up. We were about to go ahead with the opening ceremony without you!”

“Naw, they lost my luggage and I got held up at the airport,” Nasir explained.

“See,” I said, leading him through the crowd to the position where
I had been standing before he got there. “That’s why you should have flown in days ago.”

“I wanted to, believe me. Shit, I’m lucky I made it down today. My mom and dad gave me hell about coming out here. I told them the story frontward and backward, over and over again, and they
still
have doubts about you. They think I’m movin’ too fast by comin’ down here. They still need time,” Nasir told me.

“Well, what about you, Nasir? How do you feel? Do you still need time?”

Nasir looked around and said, “You got Disney World behind you, a bunch of excited kids in front of you, news cameras all around you, and a pair of big-ass scissors about to cut the ribbon, so I feel like you’re official. Everything you’ve told me panned out. So no, I guess I don’t need time.” Nasir smiled.

On that note, I placed Nasir’s hand on top of mine as I cut the big red ribbon at the grand opening of Fantasy Cut, my kids’ salon and day spa, which sat on City Walk in the heart of Disney World. Cameras flickered and the crowd cheered as I opened the doors to the salon.

Inside, stylists dressed as characters such as Snow White and Cinderella were waiting to style the kids’ hair. At each station was a Disney-themed TV/DVD combo, each playing a different Disney movie. Instead of regular barber and stylist chairs, the children sat in Disney-themed cars, trucks, and planes. There was even a horse and carriage for kids to sit in while they got styled at Cinderella’s station. My mom, dressed as Sleeping Beauty, worked the reception desk. Nasir stood awestruck, watching me live out the dream I had first told him about over a year ago during one of our secret lunch dates back in Philly.

After the events of the day wound down, my mom went home while Nasir and I went out for drinks. Nasir bought a bottle of cham
pagne and proposed a toast. We held our glasses up and looked into each other’s eyes.

“Cheers to chasing freedom,” I said.

“Cheers to chasing love,” Nasir followed.

We clinked our glasses and sipped down our champagne. And at that very moment, I thought about everything I had been through and all that I had done to get to where I was. And I realized it had all been worth it. Indeed, the ends justified the means. The chase was worth the catch.

To Allah for choosing this path for me. To everyone who has helped in the process of getting my sixth novel to the masses. To my family and friends for still putting the word out as if this were book one. And to my fans for allowing me to live my dreams.

Thank you!

Ya Girl