Page 8

COUPLE DAYS LATER…

My phone vibrated next to me as I perused on my laptop, one tab open for jobs that I was looking through, and the other containing the research I needed in order to figure how I planned to launch my makeup line.

I’d found an article interviewing the owner of Whipped by Camarih , detailing how she got started, and it was perfect. Hearing my phone interrupt me as I clicked on it, already had me in a bad ass mood though.

“Hello?” I picked up, not even taking the time to peer at the screen. I didn’t talk to many people, with the exception of my aunt, previously AJ, and lately Unique.

“I thought public embarrassment was enough for you.” The soft voice came through, making me pull my iPhone from my ear to see who it was.

Zosia.

I remembered her soft, airy voice from the party as she asked AJ what the hell was going on. I tried not to call her names in my head because she had the right to be mad but it was getting harder and harder.

“Why are you calling my phone?” I frowned, shutting my laptop.

“Why the hell were you calling a married man’s phone? You can’t claim you didn’t know now,” Zosia replied.

Exhaling, I chuckled. “Trust me, girl. I wasn’t calling him for the reason you think I was. And that was weeks ago. Why the fuck are you just now making noise about the shit?”

“Oh, I know exactly why you were calling him, Kabrina. What the fuck kind of name is that anyway?”

“Look, I get that you’re upset, but this ain’t the way. If you wanna know why I was calling your nigga weeks ago, ask him and let him tell you. I don’t want his ass. I didn’t know about you. No one knew about you. The public may be on your side, but they didn’t know you were his wife either, and the nigga wanted shit that way. So if you wanna be mad at someone, be mad at his ass.”

Ignoring everything I’d just said, she hollered, “Bitch, I know you called him for money! You’re not getting shit anymore! The days of him funding your broke ass life are over!”

“No, bitch. I called him so he could pay for my abortion! And you know what he said when I asked? That he wanted his child!” I barked into the phone, now standing instead of sitting on my bed.

I didn’t want to be this girl, arguing with the wife over an ain’t shit nigga, but she was tapping on my last fucking nerve. I just prayed she had even a piece of all the smoke she had for me, reserved for her damn husband.

“Abortion?” Her snarky tone had vacated the premises. “You’re lying.”

“Okay. I’m getting off the phone now. And I’m blocking this fucking number, so don’t even try to contact me again.” I hung up, not allowing her to say shit before blocking the number.

I couldn’t stop shaking my fucking head. I wondered if AJ’s punk ass was sitting right there as she talked on the phone.

This whole debacle bothered me probably more than the average woman because of my mother’s life. I hated AJ for all he’d done, but especially for publicly painting me out to be the very type of woman I despised.

I plopped back down on my bed, no longer in the mood to do research of any kind. I started to wonder what was the fucking point when I was a pariah at the moment. People barely wanted me to do their makeup, so why the fuck would they buy my products? I could feel the depression seeping in just as my phone rang again, Unique’s name popping up.

I didn’t want to answer, but the man had saved my ass on several occasions, and maybe he had an update on our annulment.

“Hey.” I did my best to sound like I wasn’t on the verge of tears.

“Sup. What you doing?”

“Just doing some research.” I dabbed my eyes with my wrist. “Why, what’s up?” I queried in an exasperated tone.

“I’m hungry.”

“Okay?” I felt my brows dip.

“So let’s get something to eat. I know you got time for yo’ fucking husband, Kabrina. It’s imperative that we spend some time together. You know, keep shit fresh.”

“Unique, I am not your wife in that… sense. Secondly, you have two women that would be happy to accompany you while you eat.” I exhaled. “Plus, my day is not going well, and I’m not in the mood for company.”

“I do have two girlfriends, but I want to go on more of a friendly outing. I ain’t trying to be boo’d up.”

I chuckled unintentionally.

“So you’d rather go with your wife? That’s the epitome of being boo’d up.”

“Not really, ’cause like you said, you ain’t my wife in that… sense.”

“Unique, no.” I shook my head. “I don’t know what the hell you’re trying to do, but it’s not going to work. In fact, it’s only going to piss me off,” I stated honestly.

“I’m not trying to do nothing but go eat with a friend. I also want to apologize for kissing you. I swear on my fucking life I didn’t intend to do that shit, and it won’t happen again. I’m already in the neighborhood, and I just wanna eat. After, I’ll take you home.”

I nibbled on my lip, wanting to say no but feeling bad because of all he’d done for me. Had he not rented me this studio at a record-breaking low price and paid for my abortion pill, I would be fucked. The least I could do was go eat with the man. And it wasn’t like Unique was a creep, so I wasn’t afraid of him pinning me down somewhere and forcing a kiss or anything more on me. Honestly, he kept my mind off a lot of things with his humor, even if it was sometimes quite dark or ignorant.

“Okay. I will go. But at the first sign of flirting you do, I will leave.”

“Aight, I can abide by that rule so long as you abide by mine.”

“Which is?” I hiked a brow.

“No annulment talk of any kind.”

“Ugh.” I grunted, knowing I’d planned to ask for updates since it’d been a minute since Mack had given up anything. “Okay, just this once.”

“Aight. I’m outside.”

“I need time to put on some clothes.”

“I can wait.”

“Alright. I will be as quick as I can.” I hung up and went to the closet off to the side of my studio.

He didn’t say where we were going, but he mentioned it was a friendly outing, so I doubted we were going somewhere fancy or romantic. It was already late in the evening, though, so I knew LA would be freezing soon, making me opt for a pair of jeans and long-sleeved white crop top.

I brushed my hair into a low ponytail, then dusted a little bit of highlighter onto my natural complexion before slipping my earrings in. Spraying a little of Le Labo’s Another 13 on my pressure points, I grabbed my purse and phone, then left out, keys already in the bag.

When I got down to the lobby, I was surprised to see Unique there waiting for me. I expected him to be in the car.

“There she is.” His eyes sort of sparkled as he rose to his feet, seemingly dwarfing everyone in the area.

“Yep. Did I take that long?” I adjusted my purse on my shoulder, suddenly hit with a nervous pang.

Though Unique was only in a Nike hoodie with the matching sweats, socks, and Nike shoes, he looked good—he always did. He smelled amazing, too, and I, for some reason, found it hard to keep my eyes on him without feeling a bit skittish. Did I like Unique? No fucking way.

I’d always found him cute as fuck and just as funny, but this was something else. He was so attentive, ignorant but sweet, and the way he showed up for me during my abortion had been on my mind constantly. No man had ever taken care of me in that way. In fact, no one had taken care of me in that way.

I felt a pit form in my stomach as he placed a hand on the small of my back to guide me through the glass doors of the building.

“Nah, you didn’t, but I wanted to walk you to the car since the sun is setting.”

“Right.” I nodded, not even remembering the question I’d asked him as we neared his Range Rover.

He helped me inside, and I took a deep breath while saying a quick three-word prayer while he rounded the back before climbing in with me.

I needed to calm the fuck down. I wasn’t my mother; therefore, I wasn’t about to be crushing on a taken man, no matter how many nice things he said or did. As long as Unique was taken, he would never be attractive enough for me to fall all the way.

He pulled off, and I stayed silent, unintentionally, because I was in my head about a lot of shit like my career, Zosia calling me, the abortion that I didn’t think would be bothering me as much, my sham marriage, and Unique.

We ended up at some Peruvian place around the corner from me that looked more like a hole in the wall until you walked in. The scent of spices and meat filled my nose as Unique requested a table for two. I hadn’t realized that other than the toast and an iced coffee this morning, I hadn’t eaten a damn thing.

“You aight?” he asked once we were seated, greeted, and told about the specials in the dimly lit establishment.

“As much as I can be,” I admitted truthfully, scanning the menu a bit. “It smells amazing in here.” I changed the subject, feeling Unique’s gaze on me.

“Yeah, it’s pretty good, but I always just get the chicken. I ain’t freaky enough for all the other shit.”

I giggled, shaking my head at him.

“As much as you travel, please don’t tell me you go out of the country and still order burgers or pizza.”

“Guilty.” He took a sip of his Peruvian cola. The way he sat back, looking all fine and broad-chested, made me clear my throat and focus back on the menu. I had more confidence when I didn’t have to look at him.

“That’s terrible. I wouldn’t want to travel with you,” I joked. “I need a travel companion that will eat snails along with me.”

“For a pretty girl, I might.” He smirked sexily.

“Unique. That’s strike one.”

“Aight, damn. And who said a nigga was talking about you?” He frowned, folding his muscular arms on top of the table, enticing me a bit.

“So you weren’t calling me pretty?” I closed the menu, deciding to get the chicken, too, because I was way too famished to get anything weird right now.

He opened his mouth to answer but the waiter came back with the appetizer we’d ordered, saving him.

We dived in, talking about lighter topics, and he kept it platonic, thankfully. Our food came shortly after—piping hot—and the chicken with the seasoned rice and the spicy sauce tasted amazing.

“Good, huh?” He grinned widely.

“It is. I can’t even lie. This is probably the best chicken I have ever had.” I shoved another thick, juicy piece of meat between my lips as I watched Unique shovel rice between his. “What made you get two girlfriends other than being a greedy man?”

I had to know. I’d always assumed it was because Unique was just like most niggas having an uncontrollable sex drive, low maturity, and an inability to commit. But having talked to him more, I was seeing a different side to him.

“I’ve never been greedy, love. Way I grew up, I couldn’t afford the shit.”

“What do you mean?” I frowned.

“Youngest of six boys and then my mama got married to Asif’s father which added another brother. Then she got pregnant with my baby sister. Can’t really be selfish, greedy, none of that shit with all them damn siblings.”

“I can see that.” I smiled. I had four half-siblings but had never met them. A couple years ago, I reached out to my half-sister after finding her on social media, but she left me on read. I left it alone after that and decided I wouldn’t try again.

“But um, I’ve dated a lot of women, especially once I started to work on Dough Boyz and had to attend a lot of parties, functions, and different shit where I met all kinds of women from all over. And I noticed every time, no matter how much I liked her, she would always be missing something for me.

“Then I met Aurora, thought she was the one, but the same thing applied. Met Daisy, and it was the same thing. Dated them casually at the same time, thinking it would hit me one day like with my brothers, but it never did. I realized that no woman would have everything I needed.”

I nodded, still not agreeing with his choices but happy it wasn’t the typical response most men gave like ‘I’m rich, why not’ or ‘because I love sex.’ Dumb asses.

“Do you think you’re everything to them? Maybe it’s boxes you don’t check, but they overlook it because they want you. That’s kind of what love is, Unique. No one is perfect, but you have to find the one whose flaws or shortcomings are acceptable for you.”

“If I ain’t checking a box, they haven’t alerted me to the shit.” He took a sip of his drink before setting it back down and folding his arms behind his now empty plate. “And honestly, a lot of shit I don’t realize is something I want in a woman until I run across it.”

“What do you mean?” I ate some more.

“For example, until I met you, I didn’t know I would like for my woman to have goals or at least some hustle about her ass.” He put his hand up and added, “This ain’t flirting, either. I’m just keeping it real. Hearing you talk about pivoting ya current career and putting together a business plan to get that loan was attractive as fuck for some reason.”

I could only nod, not wanting to say too much.

“I can see that. It’s a part of dating, to be honest. Like now, I know I don’t want another famous man because they have too much means to cheat and get away with shit. Give me a regular nigga, please.” I chuckled, taking down some of my own cola. I noticed Unique gave a half-hearted laugh as if he didn’t like my statement much.

“They not all like that.”

“Yeah right.” I ate more of this good ass food. “Like now, you’re out with me but you could easily have told your women that you’re working—running lines or any damn thing.”

“I could have, but I didn’t. I told them I was going to have some food with a friend.”

Laughing, I rolled my eyes. “Did you tell them it was a female friend and one you married?”

“I didn’t.”

“Of course you didn’t!” I laughed humorlessly, stuffing my face. “Men are incapable of being honest but especially the rich ones.”

He stared down at his empty plate, nodding to the waiter who appeared shortly after to take it and offer dessert. We both declined as I polished off the rest of my food.

“If I tell them, mainly Daisy, everybody gon’ know, love. But had you not wanted to keep this shit a secret, I would’ve been told ’em.”

“And get left?”

“I don’t think they would if they knew the shit was an accident and we was trying to get it taken care of.”

“Whatever.” I scoffed, not wanting to admit that not telling his women was a good thing. If this got out, I would be done for life. A side chick who then married her ex’s co-star? My reputation would be mud.

Once the waiter was gone, Unique said, “You know what my biggest fear is?”

“Being married?”

“Nah… I mean, that’s part of it, but not the actual act itself.” He took a beat and then leaned in some more as if he didn’t want others to hear. “My biggest fear is getting married and then meeting the love of my life like the next week or some shit.”

We shared a laugh.

“That would be terrible, but that’s why you should wait until you feel like the person you’re with is the love of your life.”

“Maybe I did.” He shrugged, and it rendered me speechless, to the point where I didn’t respond to the waiter asking if I wanted a box, so Unique did it for me.

I didn’t say much else as he paid the bill, and we exited the restaurant to head back to his car.

Once inside of it and on the dark road lit up by the streetlights, I said, “Unique, I like being friends with you, but you can’t say things like you did tonight or ask to spend time alone with me when you’re in a relationship.”

“A man in a relationship can’t have female friends?”

“Not unless his girlfriend, or girlfriends in your case, know about it in full.”

“I mean, I get it, but?—”

“There is no but, Unique. That’s just that, and if you want to be friends and kick it, your girlfriends have to know about it every damn time and that it’s me. Also, stop the little comments you make. I know you like to be funny but… you need to just not,” I ranted, saying too much.

I wished I hadn’t added the last part because I felt as if I’d showed my hand. Unique always made flirtatious jokes, even when I was on AJ’s arm, so the fact that I had an issue with it now probably piqued his interest. I didn’t need this man knowing I was attracted to him in any way. Or that I often thought about him.

“Why you so mad about this shit?” He glanced my way briefly as he pulled up to the apartment building. I’d never been happier that an eatery was only a few minutes from me like I was now.

Unbuckling my seat belt, I responded, “Because while I think you’re a good guy, you’re no different from AJ. No matter what arrangement you have, if they don’t know you’re out to eat with me and whatever else, that makes you a lying ass nigga, just like Alvin.”

Sighing while staring straight ahead, he said, “I do like you, Kabrina, and not in a friendly ass way, but when I say I wanna be cool, just friends with you, I mean that shit. It ain’t a way for me to weasel my way into adding you to my situation or being a lying ass nigga.”

“Friends don’t say the type of stuff you do or even do some of the things you have.”

“End of the day, I explained to you that while I’m yo’ husband on paper, I’m gon’ make sure you good. But trust me when I say I want yo’ friendship before I even think about shit else.” He let his eyes land on me, and I spotted the seriousness in them immediately. “Every relationship I’ve had with women has been built on sex, Kabrina. I mean every single one except for family, obviously.” He looked back through the front windshield then to me again. “So for the first time in a nigga’s life, I wanna have some shit with a woman that’s real. I don’t know why, but I want that with you. Even if you’d let me, I don’t wanna just fuck you. I want some different shit. Whether it ends with us being married by the heart as well or staying close friends, I just wanna be cool. Don’t ever think I’m doing some shit just to fuck. This ain’t that with you, love.”

I could see how much this meant to him, and it made me wonder why. Most men would love to say every woman in their life had given them some pussy. I wanted to ask him why this was so important to him, but it seemed like it would render a deeper answer than he was probably willing to give right now.

So instead, I nodded and replied, “I get it. Good night, Unique.”

Exiting the car, I turned to smile softly at him before closing it. I could feel him watching me as I walked into the building, but I didn’t look back.

Unfortunately, for the rest of the night, I couldn’t get his speech or that pleading look in his eyes out of my head.