her cell phone. Sheâd missed a call from Millie, but immediately dialed her back.
âWhatâs up, girl? Where are you?â Jasmine asked as she walked through the airport.
âWeâre all down at the baggage carousel waiting on you,â Millie informed her.
âOkay, Iâll be there in a moment. My plane just arrived.â
âHow was your flight?â Millie inquired.
âGirl, the pilot was trying to pick me up.â Jasmine laughed.
âWell, was he good looking?â Millie wanted details.
âYes, he was a nice-looking brother and he looked like he had a big one.â
âDid you get his number?â Millie kept trying to pry information out of Jasmine.
âYeah, I got it, but Iâm not going to call him,â Jasmine admitted.
âWhy not?â
âGirl, he was too young. He was like twenty-eight years old.â
âYou need to stop acting like you havenât gone there before and dated a younger guy. I do recall several conversations weâve had about how much fun you had dating that guy that was like twenty-five.â
âThat was just a special arrangement between Steve and me. It was intimacy without intricacies. He knew his place and when I got bored with him, I told him to go find someone his own age to play with. He caught me at a weak moment.â Jasmine laughed.
âYeah right! Ever since you got some fresh young stuff, I know your ass has been dying to get some more.â
âYou know what. Letâs just change the subject because I see youâre gearing up to take this conversation to another level. Whatâs going on with you and Frank?â
âGirl, donât even bring that fool up to me right now. I donât even want to talk about him. Right now, I just want to enjoy my time here in New York.â
âThat bad, aye?â
âWell, itâs not good, thatâs for damn sure,â Millie confessed.
âOkay, Iâm coming towards the baggage claim area now. Iâll see you in a second.â
When Jasmine arrived, she greeted and hugged everyone. They were all very excited to see each other.
âTiffany, you look fabulous,â Jasmine complimented her as she gave her a big hug.
âWell, Iâm not trying to look bad,â she said, striking a hot pose.
âIâm serious. You look so young and energetic. How are you staying in such great shape?â Jasmine asked as she pulled her luggage from the carousel.
âBy having lots of sex, honey,â Tiffany joked and everyone in the group laughed.
âHey Lauren,â Jasmine said as she gave her big sister a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
âLetâs not fight, okay?â Jasmine whispered in her ear.
âOkay,â Lauren answered.
âWell, ladies, are we ready?â Millie asked. âIâve arranged for the car service to drive us back to the hotel so we can freshen up before going out to Woodbury Common for an afternoon of shopping.â
âAnd a whole lot of drinking.â Tiffany laughed as they followed their driver out the door.
Chapter 2
Travis
Confident, Travis exited the conference room and walked down the corridor toward the elevator. He was leaving a tenure committee meeting where heâd spent most of the day presenting and defending his portfolio for permanent status. The intensity of the hearing was as bad as trying to get appointed to the Supreme Court. It was a grueling and exhausting experience, but overall he felt good about the way heâd handled himself. Heâd been working at the University of Berkeley for three years as an associate professor of chemistry. He was also a part of a special research team that was investigating experimental drugs to reverse certain types of paralysis. Once he received residency status, heâd have the clout and respect that heâd been working for tirelessly. Once confirmed, he planned to use his status as leverage to become a