"Make the light a li'l brighter for me, please," Siraj instructed, holding the camera in his hand as he took photos of the model. Whenever Raj wasn't at home, taking care of his son, he was doing what he loved —being a photographer. Raj first picked up a camera when he was ten-years-old, taking photos of himself or anything else he could.

While he was in high school, he was in the yearbook club each year; the teacher that was over the yearbook club was impressed with his work and had asked him each year to be apart of it. Whenever he wasn't taking photos of his classmates outside of school, he found any other people to take pictures for.

The more he got into photography and learning how to edit, the more it became his passion. However, that wasn't the only passion Raj had; while he ran his photography business, he also had a clothing line. Before Xahir died, Raj would turn to his best friend whenever it came to making difficult decisions.

Xahir always provided another insight for Raj whenever he felt stuck or was indecisive about a plan or his next idea. Now that his best friend was gone, he could admit that he did struggle a little, but it only pushed him more to start like Xahir — meaning looking at all different aspects he wouldn't have considered in the first place.

"Good, good — just like that," Raj coached, the flashing of the camera going off every five seconds as the model continued to strike different poses. After snapping a few more photos, Raj finally stopped, walking towards the model, showing her the different photos he took.

"These are really good," Aria, Raj's assistant, complimented, looking over his shoulder at the photos as well.

Raj rented out a building in downtown Daytona that he was able to use to shoot his sessions. Ximena and Aria helped decorate the different rooms on the second floor, giving each their own unique theme. The third floor of the building was used for his clothing line, where a few of his employees helped packaged any orders that came through and needed to be sent out.

"Thank you so much, Siraj. I look good as fuck," The model, Rayven, started to do a little dance, driving Siraj and Aria to start laughing.

"No problem, Aria, gone hit you up wit' the finished results," Siraj told her, giving her a side hug. Rayven waved goodbye to Aria and Siraj as she went to change out of the clothes she was wearing. Raj deeply sighed, sitting his camera down on the wooden barstool.

It was his last session of the day, but that didn't mean his work for the day was utterly done. Once he finished cleaning up downstairs, he would have to go upstairs to help package up the orders that needed to be shipped out tomorrow morning.

"You okay?" Aria questioned him, seeing that he seemed to be in deep thought. For the majority of the day, Soleil had been on his mind heavily. It was bothering him that she was mad at him; she never been upset with him before, so he technically didn't know how to handle the situation. "Siraj?" she called out to him again, once he didn't answer her the first time.

He was pulled out of his thoughts and quickly glanced over at her. "What's up?" he raised an eyebrow, pausing as he was fiddling with the studio lights.

"I said, are you okay? Your energy has been a little off today," Aria said, unplugging the lights.

"Oh — yeah, I'm fine. Just tired, ready to go home and sleep." he lied, not wanting to tell his business. Even though he trusted Aria and had been a family friend for years, he wasn't entirely too comfortable venting about that particular situation about Soleil to anyone, except for maybe his mother or Ximena.

He hadn't spoken to Lei since a few days ago, and he had been contemplating whether it was an appropriate time to text and check on her. However, another side of him was telling him just to give her a little bit more space; if he pushed too much, she would probably shut him out completely.

"You should take the day off tomorrow; give yourself a three-day weekend instead. You been grinding nonstop, and we all know why — but we're also worried about you, Raj. This isn't healthy; you can't work yourself to death." Aria expressed her concerns, giving him a sympathetic look.

"Oh what? You're the boss now?" Raj grinned, finding it humorous and thoughtful that she was looking out for him by telling him to take the day off.

Aria chuckled slightly, shrugging. "No, but I don't want mine to think I don't notice and that I don't care about his well-being. Seriously Raj, go home. Take the day off tomorrow; that way, you'll have a little more time to spend with Semaj before he's off to school." she suggested.

"Can't believe my big boy is starting preschool. Where the hell does time go," Raj shook his head, still finding it hard to believe that he would be sending his son off to school for the first time the upcoming Monday. His son, Semaj, was currently three years old and was quite smart for his age.

Raj and Ximena made sure to take all of the proper steps for their son, wanting to make sure that when he did start school, he wouldn't be behind. They limited his time on technology, not wanting Semaj to become dependent on it or attached to it like most other children in their families.

"That's the same thing I said when I sent my daughter off to school. They grow up so damn fast," Aria agreed with him, as Raj continued to shake his head in amazement.

"Right," Raj sighed, flicking off some of the lights. "But look, we'll finish up the packages tonight and send them out tomorrow morning. After that, y'all take the rest of the day off as well."

"Siraj," Aria slumped her shoulders, placing her hand on her hip. "You need to the day off, not us."

"It wouldn't be fair for me to take the day off and y'all still working. Y'all been ten toes down behind me during this whole process, been patient wit' me when I came down a li'l too hard on y'all for no reason." Raj said, feeling the vibration of his phone in his pocket. He reached into his pocket and pulled it out, seeing a text message. "I'll be back; meet me upstairs."

He slipped his phone back into his pocket and quickly walked towards the exit. Before he started his session, he put in an order with his sister's catering business the night before to treat his team. He had planned on giving them the day off tomorrow anyway before Aria suggested he take it.

He knew he hadn't been the easiest to work with for the past two months, but despite the changes in his mood, his team hadn't complained or taken it to heart. In some way, he wanted to show his appreciation.

"Thank you so much, sis," Raj met his sister, Arielle, downstairs in the lobby. He planted a kiss on her cheek and cautiously grabbed the massive aluminum pans out of her hand. She stacked the paper plates and plastic forks and spoons on top. "You got the money I sent?" he asked her.

"Yes, Siraj, and you didn't need to send me anything. You knew I would've done it regardless; your team deserves it. Plus, you've been working hard," Arielle playfully rolled her eyes, "I put enough in there for you guys to eat now, and of course, if y'all decide to take some home wit' y'all." she told him, pointing at the pans.

"Nah, you knew better; treat me like everyone else. Just because we family doesn't mean I should receive special treatment. I'm just supporting your business," he replied, pressing the button for the elevator. "Drive safe, text me once you get home."

"Will do, love you." Arielle smiled, slowly backing up towards the entrance.

"Love you too!" he shouted as he stepped onto the elevator. He waited another minute until he was finally on the third floor. He knocked on the glass door; Aria turned around as she was chatting with one of the others. Her mouth dropping agape as she saw the pans in his hand through the glass. She quickly jogged towards the door and opened it, letting him walk in. "Special delivery!" he exclaimed, walking towards the conference room.

His team all looked at him in shock, smiles forming onto their faces. They stopped what they were doing and followed him into the conference room. Siraj sat the food down onto the table and turned towards his team, who all stood by the door still watching him with amusement.

"A'ight so, I kind of wanted to treat y'all for all of the hard work that y'all been putting in. Especially during my time of grieving, y'all stepped it up without me even having to ask, and I couldn't thank y'all enough or ask for a better team. I know I tell y'all I appreciate y'all a lot, but this time I simply wanted to show it by feeding y'all greedy asses." he explained, causing them to burst out into a fit of laughter.

"Shit, you can't go wrong wit' free food." One of his employees, Hakeem, joked.

"Once we finished here, we'll send off the packages tomorrow morning. After that, I want y'all to take the rest of the day off; y'all deserve it."

Some of the girls started cooing, walking towards him with their arms extended out.

Over the next couple of hours, Siraj sat and joked around with his team. Once they were done eating, they finished counting inventory and packaging the rest of the orders. They had a successful week, hitting their goal that he set for them. Each week he set a new and different goal for his team, whether it was for how many packages that were sent out, or how much traffic they could attract on the official website. After they were for the day, he bid farewell to them, making sure to lockup.

Before he went home for the night, there was one stop he needed to make.

"I can't wait until you come back to visit; I miss you." Lei pouted, holding the phone out in front of her as she was on FaceTime with her older sister, Selah.

Selah did her daily check-in with Lei before she called it a night. As the two talk and caught up, Lei had mentioned to her the situation about Raj. While Lei did express her hurt to Selah, that he took so long to reach out to her, Selah made her understand from Raj's point of view.

One of the many reasons Lei loved talking to Selah was the simple fact that she set her straight and made her look at it from all sides — even when she didn't want to.

She hadn't realized how selfish she was being or thinking of it as others outside of family losing Xahir as well.

"I miss you too. Are you staying on campus this year? Or are you staying at the house?" Selah asked her, knowing that classes were getting ready to start for her as well.

"I'll be staying at the house; when Keia and Joziah come back, I'll be renting the rooms out to them because they really don't want to stay on campus," Lei told her, referring to her two closest friends that she had met her freshman year. Soleil attended Bethune-Cookman University and was now going into her sophomore year.

While staying on campus, her freshman year was a success; she had gained many friends and enjoyed the life that her HBCU had to offer. Almost every weekend, she was out partying or going out with her friends to different functions.

"Aw, okay, that's nice. At least you won't be alone; try to enjoy your sophomore year Lei. I know this isn't how you expected your summer to go, but don't let this ruin college for you. It's easier said than done, but don't forget you have us, your friends, and of course Raj whenever you feel as if it's too much for you. I love you, okay?" Selah tried giving her a small pep talk; she knew how brutal Xahir's death took a toll on her.

While she was still hurt over losing her brother, it hit Lei way harder — given that the two were practically best friends. Despite the three-year age difference, whenever Xahir wasn't with Raj, he spent his time with Lei. He had shown her the ropes to many things in life and shown her how any guy in her life should treat her.

Lei wiped her teary eyes and nodded her head, "I love you too," she replied; Selah blew her kiss before the two ended the call. Lei let out a sigh, locking her phone, sliding it into the pocket of her hoodie. While she was on FaceTime with Selah, she had taken a walk to clear her mind. She saw the white BMW pass by her, turning into the driveway. Lei raised an eyebrow and quickly walked back to her house.

Raj killed the engine and got out of the car with a to-go plate in his hand. He started to walk to the front door until Lei spoke up, "I'm right here," she said loud enough for him to hear; he spun around and backed up a little. "What are you doing here?" she questioned him, eyeing the plate in his hand.

"Oh, um, I came to uh, check on you," he told her, wondering why she was outside. He saw her eyeing the plate in his hand; he almost forgot that he was carrying it. "And uh, I wanted to bring you some to eat, in case you haven't yet."

Lei eyed the plate for a few more seconds as he handed it to her before she took it out of his hand. "Thank you, you didn't have to do that, though." she gave him a half-smile, holding it close to her.

"I know, but still."

An awkward silence fell over them as they stood in the driveway, staring at one another.

They opened their mouths and started to speak simultaneously but quickly paused to let the other finish. Lei tucked her lips, holding back a laugh as they stared at one another again.

"Raj, relax. You don't have to be so nervous around me," Lei said, seeing that he was trying to think of something to say.

"I just don't wanna say the wrong thing to piss you off—"

"Yeah, about that," Lei interjected, profoundly sighing, leaning against his car. "I wanna apologize for snapping at you the way I did; you were only trying to look out for me — which you didn't have to, but the fact that you're even here right now after I said what I said means a lot to me. However, I just want to make it known that you're not obligated to be here because of a promise you made to my brother. I don't want to be a burden,"

"You don't have to apologize, Lei, and you're not a burden. If I didn't want to be here, I wouldn't be here." He assured him, standing in front of her.

"I just," Lei paused, shrugging as she looked out onto the street. "Kind of forgot that other people were also grieving as well, and I wasn't the only one who lost him. You know?"

She turned to look at him again; he nodded his head in understanding. "How you been, though?"

Raj sighed, slowly walking on the side of her before he also started to lean against his car. "It's been tough, won't even lie. Life is slowly getting back to normal somewhat; it just feels weird wakin' up and knowin' I'll never be able to talk to him again," he said, looking down at the ground as he kicked around gravel. "Any day now, I just kinda' hope he'll call or text or something and that this has just been a bad dream the whole time."

Lei nodded her head as she listened, swallowing hard as she tried to choke back some tears. "Yeah," her voice cracked; she tried to contain her emotions; outside of her family, she hasn't had the chance actually to talk to someone else about it.

Raj looked over at her, seeing that the moonlight reflected off her eyes that were glistening with tears. He grimaced, pulling her into a consoling embrace. Lei was taken aback by the gesture that she hesitated for a moment before giving in.

She felt a sense of security being held in his arms, for the first time again in two months; she didn't feel so alone.

After a few more minutes, Lei pulled away once she was had her emotions under control. "Thanks, Raj, um, drive safe, okay?" she said, quickly wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

Raj watched her closely, unsure of whether he should leave her just yet, but once again, he didn't want to intrude. Rather instead, give her a little bit more time to become comfortable with him again.

"I will; let me know if you need anything. A'ight?" he said, opening the driver's door; Lei simply nodded her hand and waved goodbye to him.

hi,

bye!

💙