Page 18 of Drunk In Love

Even if she does look adorable.

Kam nods, heading towards the bathroom but leaving the door ajar. She begins to wet a toothbrush before turning back to me. “I know Dani has classes today. Maybe she can shed some light and get us in anywhere we may need to visit.”

“Sounds good,” I say, rising to get my Nike bag. “And we’ll take my car,” I add.

Kamaya raises her brow at me mid-brushing. “Oh, really?”

I didn’t know for sure if we were still being followed, especially all the way out in Jersey City, but I didn’t want to take any chance of either of us being separated.

“How did you become the boss of this again? I’m pretty sure Brandon said I was taking the lead this time,” Kamaya states, exiting the bathroom and coming to a stop before me.

Up close, her skin look luminous, and my gaze briefly travels to her mouth again.

“As long as your safety could be in jeopardy, I’m in charge. Also, I’m staying here until further notice. I don’t feel comfortable with you being here on your own,” I say and turn towards the kitchen at her open-mouth response. “Now, let’s be ready to leave in a half hour.”

This time we take my car and ride together to the college campus. I haven’t set foot on a campus in over a decade, and being on the City University campus makes me nostalgic for when I was younger. Long before I was nearing my mid-thirties and had conflicting feelings for my friend. Somehow, relationships had become even messier as I got older.

“Daniella said we can meet her and Sam at the student union,” Kamaya says.

We walk over to the central building, and it’s a flurry of activity. Students are crowded around laptops, iPads, and textbooks. Some students are eating and chatting. It was a nice, manicured campus with summer in full bloom. City University was looked down upon due to it being a local school, but I didn’t see anything wrong with it. Though it must not get the same funding as the other more popular schools in the city, were its students at the point of stealing news resources?

“Kam, over here!”

Daniella is huddled in the back corner with a young Asian man wearing a CU sweatshirt. They both have laptops and notebooks scattered about them at the small wooden table. I’m taken aback by the striking similarities between the sisters every time I see Daniella. Looking at her is like getting a glimpse of a teenage Kamaya.

Daniella rises from the table to hug her sister. “Sup, Max?” She turns to me and daps me up before rejoining her friend. “This is my friend, Sam Tieu. Sam, this is my sister and Max. I told them about the offer we got about that website.”

“Hey,” Sam says in greeting, turning towards Kamaya. Kam and I take seats opposite the students. “Yeah, it was totally random. One day this guy came into the Union and asked if we needed access to FJ for classes and said he could hook us up so we wouldn’t have to pay for it.”

“So, did you take him up on it?” I ask, directing my question to both of them.

“I didn’t,” Daniella quickly answers.

“And you, Sam?” Kamaya asks.

“Well, I—” He’s hesitating, looking to Daniella for a lifeline.

“It’s okay, Kam and Max aren’t cops,” she says, laying a hand on his forearm.

“Okay, fine. I took him up on it. He texted me some email address and a bogus password. I used it to get past the paywall and had access for the research I needed for a paper,” Sam states. “It was only one time though,” he’s quick to add.

“Did this person offer anything else?” I ask the both of them again. I wondered if this person was in the business of giving out cheat log ins for different types of subscription services or if it was just the Financial Journal.

“No, that was it,” Daniella says, turning towards Sam.

“Yeah, they didn’t offer me anything else,” Sam says.

“Could you screenshot the information this person gave you?” Kamaya asks.

“Sure,” Sam says, pulling his phone out of his pocket and handing it to Kam to provide her number.

“Do you know the person who offered?” I ask. “A friend of a friend or classmate?”

“No, I didn’t know him, but he recognized Sam,” Daniella answers.

Sam fiddles with the pen in his hand, clicking and unclicking before answering. “Um, we had one class together last semester. He was hardly there though, and I only knew his first name because people were talking about how weird he his.”

“What’s his name?” Kam asks, opening the notes app on her phone.