I knew as soon as I stepped out of the elevator and into our hallway that Jazmine was in a bad mood. I could hear her usual Beyonce playlist booming down the hall.

It wasn't "If I Were A Boy" but more along the lines of "Ring the Alarm".

I winced as I turned to unlock the door, bracing myself for whatever Jazmine was going to throw at me. Whether I was the reason she was mad or not, there was no doubt I'd be hearing about it. The familiar bass of "Upgrade U" came through the speakers. There was no shame in it, because of Jazmine I probably knew all of Beyonce's songs word for word.

I couldn't complain, she was a great artist.

She was aggressively mouthing the words, flinging her arms about in tune to the lyrics.

"Jazmine?" I said as soon as the song died down.

"Oh, hey Huey." she sighed, pausing the song and leaning back on the couch. "How was school?"

"Fine…" I trailed off. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?!" She shouted. I winced again. "What's wrong is that my boss is an asshole! I'm his best worker and he just up and fires me because I said something about his disgusting comments about all the women in the office. If you're going to be a pig, at least don't have the nerve to say it in front of everybody!" She snapped, breathing heavily.

"Well, that explains Beyonce." I said, walking up to her and pulling her into a hug.

It had taken a while in general to get used to Jazmine's abrupt display of emotions when I was the exact opposite of that, but I learned that she liked to be comforted. Even if it was as simple as a hug and a kiss.

"I didn't mean to lose the job, babe." she sighed, laying her head on my shoulder.

I ignored the puff of hair in my face and shrugged my shoulders. "It's fine, I was paying for the apartment on my own beforehand. Paying it again for a few more weeks won't hurt me."

"I just didn't want to let you down."

"I know Jaz, I know." I kissed her lips softly. "It's fine."

"If you say so," she pouted, kissing me back gently.

"Why don't we change the music from upbeat Beyonce to something like… Vandross and Pendergrass?"

Jazmine groaned loudly, "Ugh, Huey no! What about Chris Brown?"

I wrinkled my nose at her, "No way in hell."

Jazmine and Huey don't agree on what type of music to bump uglies to :)

posted: 6/1/2017

word count: 417