Darling Nikki

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makeup game on point. enjoyed a day of pampering and now it’s time to see what kind of trouble i can get into 💋 #valentinesday #treatyoself

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Giselle sat in the chair, eyes closed as her hands and feet were tended to. She’d been loving her free time as of late, and didn’t want to trade it in for scrubs and sick children just yet. Putting off her transfer was paying off in free time, and Giselle was both relieved and bored with her now clear schedule. “The spa is always the better choice.” She hummed, opening one eye to peek at her friend. “Girl, so damn much.” Giselle lamented. “So as you know, Johnny got me a ring, a house, a cute vintage pink car - everything I could have asked for. I’m happy, I think. Things are better than they’ve ever been, but I’m just afraid that the other shoe is gonna drop, you know?”

Nikki listened to Giselle speak and nodded her head. She could understand the woman’s hesitation though she disagreed with it. “Yeah I hear you. But y’all are together-together? He’s not only showering you with gifts, but you’re really going for it again right? It sounds like things are going well, but you seem very unsure. Are you guys not connecting or what?” She was trying to figure out what was really up with Giselle. Nikki wasn’t exactly a relationship guru, but she knew bullshit when she heard it so that made her a good friend to have.

He looked at her and laughed. “ I think I’ll be able to step back if I find someone I trust, I never had to worry about my last one because she could handle herself, she wasn’t someone who took any shit from anyone” 

“Well that’s good. No one likes to deal with micromanaging. She sounds like my kind of woman. Hopefully you’ll find someone just as good. Especially since I look forward to seeing a more relaxed you.”

“Shit, neither would I. It’s a whole lot of fun. You know, the older I get, the faster I feel like the year flies by. Imagine when we’re forty? We blink and suddenly we’re in a puddle of our own barf again.“ she joked, grinning.

“I agree. Time is just passing me by now. God, please no. I haven’t woken up in a puddle of my own barf in a long time. I’m hoping I’ve put those days far behind me. I’m much better at handling my alcohol now.”

As she relaxed in the seat, Draya listened to Nikki. “Oh I know what you mean. I think for the most part I’ve been indifferent because I didn’t really feel like I was missing out that much but it is nice to think about love in ways that aren’t solely romantic.” She grinned adding, “Oh definitely! It’s nuts how much candy and chocolates are one day and then the next day? Boom, half price goodness. I love getting the mini Reese’s. What about you?” After a bit of fiddling with the controls on her chair, Draya watched as the technicians got started on their pedicures. She let her head rest back and shut her eyes for a moment, but was still listening to Nikki, “That’s a great idea. I was going to mail my parents a card and see about having some flowers delivered to the house for them. Maybe some Ghirardelli chocolates for my brothers and my cousin since we’re all big fans of it. Plus I think they would expect me to send an edible arrangement with my career and all.” She laughed a little bit at herself and then opened her eyes, “I can’t believe January’s flying by so fast though. It seems like Christmas was yesterday!”

“It’s kind of funny because I never really thought of Valentine’s Day that way. It’s wild how people can have totally different perspectives on things.” Nikki acknowledged, grinning along with Draya. “I can never pass up a sell. As for my favorite chocolate to get, I gotta admit I have a huge love for Kit-Kats. I’ll never turn down a snickers either.” She laughed, before greeting the technicians and then letting them get to work. “You can never go wrong with Ghirardelli chocolates. That’s top tier chocolate. I know some people would say Godiva, but I’d take Ghirardelli over Godiva any day.” Her eyes briefly closed as she let the moment set in for a minute. “I feel like the beginning of the year always flies by and then it grinds to a halt when we get to the fall. Fall feels like a whole year in itself and then December flies by and we’re back into a new year.”

Draya ducked her head, smiling as she did so. It was true–Duncan hadn’t presented himself as a picky or particular person, and always had very sweet reactions to whatever she gifted him with. She cast a soft smile to Nikki as the two were shown to two massage chairs being prepared with warm water beside each other. As Draya bent to take her shoes off and sit down in one of the chairs, she mused aloud, “It seems like people either have two main approaches to Valentine’s Day–the either embrace all of the love, and hearts and sweets, or they take the jaded ‘Happy Singles Awareness!’ route. There’s that small group who’s indifferent and just here for the candy sales on the fifteenth,” she recognized with a small chuckle, “But a holiday that’s been focused on love doesn’t have to exclusively mean love of a significant other. Expressing a little extra love to family, friends or yourself is great too, so I love that idea of doing you for the day. This is my first Valentine’s Day being with someone since college, so I’m a huge fan of treating yourself for the day.” 

Nikki walked over to the massage chairs and slid her sandals off before sitting down in the chair. She listened to Draya’s comments on Valentine’s Day and responded as she played with her chair’s setting to find the perfect mode for herself. “That’s definitely true. I think I’ve been more in the indifferent group over the years. I can’t remember the last time I actually celebrated the holiday. It’s just been another day. And I mean, who can pass up those candy sales? They’re fantastic!” Nikki laughed, as she relaxed further in her chair after finding the perfect mode to massage her back. “I’m gonna make it my own little self love day. Maybe send one of those edible fruit arrangements to some family members. I think they’d like those. Are you gonna send anything to your family?”

“ I am and if there is nothing to do at work then I find something to do at home.” He replied as he looked at her. “ I know, I just need to find someone to manage my restaurant, my old manager left.”

“Well I don’t know much about restaurants besides the fact that I like eating in them, but I bet you’ll find someone qualified. Do you think you’ll be able to put trust in them to run it or are you gonna micromanage everything?”

“ I might be taking you up on that, as I have always like keeping busy, so taking it easy isn’t something that comes to me naturally.” 

“You’re one of those workaholic types, right? Sometimes you just need to stop what you’re doing and take a step back. I promise the world will keep turning.”

“Yessss, girl,” Draya replied encouragingly, a smile beaming across her lips. When she had a pair of colors she was considering, Draya listened to Nikki and nodded, “Agreed! And I know I’ll end up wearing something festive that day and this will go with whatever that ends up being.” As she put the red back, she listened to Nikki and giggled a little, “That sounds about right with him. And that’s really thoughtful of you, thank you. I um.. I had a couple of ideas in mind but I think I might just stick with a gift or two to give, especially if he’s planning something, so it doesn’t clash, you know? What about you? Are you going to go do anything fun for Valentine’s Day?”

“I think that will be for the best and he’ll love whatever you get for him. He’s just that way. I’m sure your presents will be perfect for him.” Nikki was confident the couple would have a good holiday. Once her brother was in for someone, he was pretty much all in. Draya seemed like she might be the same way. “I don’t really have any plans. Being single on Valentine’s Day can be shitty sometimes. Maybe I’ll hit up a single’s mixer or something. I may just book a room at a hotel and take advantage of some of their spa treatments. Just completely pamper myself.”

“I think the reason she is an icon is that of how underrated she is. The more mainstream someone gets, I feel it changes them somehow. My vision board would be cluttered with crazy hairstyles, to show my desire to place first in a hair show, I would definitely put some pictures of my salon on there because I want to eventually expand, and probably have pictures of family and friends to show that I want to spend more time with them. But I’ll always have space to add some more things as the year progresses.”

“That’s true. There’s always conditions that come with being mainstream and I like how she’s free to do whatever she wants. Her music and her visuals are so dope. She’s in complete control of her image.” Nikki’s face lit up when she learned the girl owned a salon. “Oh my God. You’re a hairstylist?! I’ve been looking for a stylist to trust with my hair. Are you taking new clients? It sounds like you have some cool goals set and I’m sure your vision board will be very pretty.”

“ They are!” He replied as he looked at her smiling.  “ I am going to try to relax more this year and work less!”

“More relaxation sounds like an easy enough resolution to keep. If you ever need any help relaxing, you just let me know. I love doing nothing.” She laughed.

“Traveling is actually on my agenda before baseball season starts back off. I may just take the whole of February visiting places on my new bucket list. What are some of your dream spots?”

“That sounds amazing. The places I wanna visit are broken into two parts: one part being places I want to vacation at and the other being places I want to experience. I really wanna see Barcelona and Rome to experience the cultures and the history in those places. I wanna visit Barbados, and Seychelles to vacation there. I know Seychelles is a bunch of islands and really I’d love to visit any one of them. I want to be surrounded by beauty and just feel relaxed. I want to feel peaceful and obviously I have an affinity for the water.” She closed her eyes as she briefly imaged being on those beaches. Her eyes opened again to look at him. “Where are some spots you want to visit?”

He shook his head  “ Not at all, my mother is the happiest women you have ever met, but even she has her down days.” He replied as he pretends to think. “ Nope you’re safe don’t worry”

“Ups and downs are just a part of life.” She commented. “Did you make any resolutions for the new year?”