Pretty Fly for a White Guy: The Complete Series Collection (19 page)

I was stopped at one of the longest red lights in all of Atlanta and so I pulled out my phone to check Facebook. It was a horrible addiction of mine but I wasn’t looking for a cure. I saw that Ken had been tagged in a photo by Josh. I looked at the photo, and it was Ken standing in between two beautiful models and one of them was kissing his check. I screamed out loud for the first time in a long time. I was just so damned frustrated, and if I didn’t need my phone I would have thrown it out the window.

The photo was pretty innocent I tried to tell myself but the irrational part of me was pissed off about it. Maybe he would feel some remorse once he sobered up, but I truly doubted it. I wasn’t going to bother him about the photo because then I really would just look like a nagger.

I saw that I missed a text, and it was from Desmond.

To: Me

From: Desmond

I missed you at the party last night

I rolled my eyes at my phone.

“
And I’m tired of your inappropriate ass too,” I said out loud to my phone.

I could have responded rudely and reminded him that I wasn’t his damned girlfriend, but I decided that not saying anything was best. I wasn’t in the greatest mood and so responding out of frustration would not help anyone. I turned on my gospel music and tried to let it sink in. I needed some peace and clarity in my life because everything was driving me crazy. I wasn’t usually an angry or frustrated person, but I’ve been experiencing it a lot lately.

It was time for me to calm the hell down. My life was good; I had a great boyfriend even though he was being a bit of an ass, an amazing career, and even better friends. When I thought about it like that I realized life was not as bad as I was making it out to be. Sometimes I can just get really insecure I guess.

Maybe I just need to chill the fuck out and stop over-thinking everything. My breathing regulated as I listened to Yolanda Adams and I drove to meet my potential client.

Breathe Nicole, Breathe...

#Chapter7

“I can’t stand those evil ass fur balls.”

Patrice

My life over the last few days has consisted of nothing but work, work and more work.

I’m not complaining at all because I love the money. Desmond has been a hot ticket item and the word has traveled fast that his new line is about to sell like hotcakes. I’ve had several boutiques that aren’t my clients call me about getting his line. I’ve told them to contact him directly, and they’ve said that he’s referred them to me.

Now, that’s something that he hasn’t had to do at all because he could cut me out (the middle man) and pocket all of the cash for himself. I’ve never exclusively represented a designer before, and so this is new territory. My interest has always been in favor of boutiques, but I must say that I like it a lot. He’s opened up a lot of doors for me, and now companies that hadn’t worked with me in the past are showing a lot of interest.

Desmond is taking my career to the next level without even realizing it, and I’m so thankful for that. I’ve been in need of some elevation because everything has felt stagnant. An assistant is going to be in my very near future because I’m going to need someone to be the gatekeeper. I also have the tendency to double book myself. It’s hard to tell clients and potential clients no. I want to make them all happy and at times that’s just not possible.

I’ve wanted to spend more time with Kenneth, but he’s been pretty busy as well and our schedules haven’t been synching. It’s a little frustrating to not be able to see him as much as I’m accustomed to. His new place has completely thrown a wrench in our time together. When he’s off work he wants to hang out with his friends. He invites me over, but I just don’t feel comfortable in the house with Joshua.

It’s all just been so incredibly annoying, and I’ve done my best to keep quiet to prevent causing problems. I didn’t expect our reconciliation to be easy, but I didn’t expect it to be this hard. A huge part of me feels like he has gone back on his word. I took him back because I thought that things would be different, but they seem to be back to the status quo. I didn’t sign up for this; I want a man that I can see daily.

I picked up my phone again out of frustration and called him in the middle of the day. Usually we don’t speak during traditional business hours because we’re pretty busy. That’s one of the things that I love and dislike about him at the same time. I appreciate him not being clingy, but it would be nice to feel cared about. He’s been showing more of it, but it’s been aggressive and not attractive.

“Hello?”

“Hey babe,” I said as brightly as I could.

“Hey you, what’s up?”

“Well you’ve been on my mind heavily for the last few days. I know that things have been a little tense and that we’re both busy. However, I was hoping that we could make some time for one another soon.”

“I miss you too,” he said warmly, “How about we get together and do something on Friday night?”

He and I may go out every now and then on Friday nights, but Thursday nights were usually reserved for dates.

“What about our Thursday night date?” I inquired.

“I have a meeting,” he said.

“What kind of meeting happens on Thursday after 9 p.m.?”

“I’m meeting Loren. She just got a modeling contract and she wants me to handle her funds.”

I’m sure that wasn’t all that she wanted my man to handle. I wasn’t in the mood for this foolishness.

“
But I thought that you weren’t going to take on anymore small time models,” I said tightly.

“Yeah I know, but she is a friend of ours at this point, and this could be a good opportunity. She’s about to blow the hell up, she’s hot property in Atlanta right now.”

He hasn’t even begun to see ‘blow up,’ because that’s exactly what I felt like doing over the phone. This girl was after my man, and now she found a way to weasel her way into his life. I was beyond annoyed, and I wanted to yell at him for being so damned naïve but I knew that we would argue.

“Why does your meeting have to happen at night?’ I asked.

“I’m not sure, but it’s what she wanted and she said that she wasn’t available at any other time. You know that I always meet clients on their terms if it’s my only option.”

“Alright,” I shrugged, “Friday it is.”

“Good,” he said with a smile, “I have to go, but I love you.”

“
I love you too,” I said before I hung up.

I closed my eyes and sat back in my chair at my office. I wanted to tell him not to meet her, but I couldn’t do that. I didn’t want him to stand in the way of Desmond being my client and so it would be hypocritical of me to expect the same of him. I hated doing the right thing because sometimes it just downright sucked.

As I sat in my seat all of my insecurities came flooding back into my memory. He and I have been through so much over the past few years, and all of this just feels so damned familiar. He would receive flirtatious text messages from girls, and I would find them. My heart would beat through my chest as I read all of the things that they were saying to him. There were times that I would want to wake him up while he was sleeping and throw him out of my apartment.

The last time we broke up was over something similar to this. He had a business meeting with a model. It looked just like a date to me even though he claimed that it wasn’t. He and I had a huge argument, and we said a lot of things to each other that were hard to get over. History seems to be repeating itself, and I have no one to blame but myself for being in the same situation all over again.

Did Kenneth really have any intention on changing? I’ve never caught him actually cheating but sometimes I think that this is worse than catching him in an actual act. I’m driving myself crazy with my fear of the unknown.

My mind was too vivid, and my fears were coming into play in full color. I didn’t want to make the same mistakes that I had in the past. I refused to fly off of the handle and ruin things with the man that I loved. We’d hit a rough patch, but most couples do. Our relationship would be defined by how we handle these situations.

Two days later I received a text message from Jasmine saying that the three of us needed to meet for lunch that day. It was rare when she called an emergency friend meeting, and I hoped that everything was okay with her. I didn’t want to her go through anymore drama because she’d been through enough. Jasmine was so sweet, and I only wanted the best for her. She seemed so happy with Cedric and she deserved it.

I had to call Desmond and push our meeting back 2 hours and he took it all in stride. He’s so flexible, and it seems like nothing ever gets to him unless it messes with his money. That’s a personality trait that I could get behind. I rolled out of bed and started my morning routine. I was starting to spend a lot more time in my office because it was starting to become too much to meet each and every client where they were. It was more convenient to allow them to come to me.

It was nice to finally use the office that I’d been leasing for the last year and a half. The truth was that I found my office to be so damned lonely. Sitting there and looking at the walls with no one else around sucked. I played around with the idea of letting the space go, but I couldn’t do it. I think I liked the idea of having an office, and it was a great place to hold all of my files and inventory. Now it was finally seeing some human interaction. My mind drifted to Desmond fucking me on the desk. I shook the thought out of my head. I clearly needed to get laid because I was tripping. I should have been thinking about Kenneth. Oh no.

I looked over at my drawer of toys and decided that I need to pay it a visit before I stepped out of the door. I couldn’t go out that day being horny because it would put me on edge and Desmond would look more tempting than he should. So I grabbed two of my favorite toys and headed to the bathroom. I shouldn’t have to get myself off when I have a man but everything doesn’t happen the way that you want it to.

*

Being with my friends always seems to ground me. I sometimes forget about all of my problems because there’s nothing that they can’t make me feel better about. As the only child, it’s been great to have them in my corner, and they’ve been the sisters that I’ve never had. I gave a sigh of relief when I plopped down into my chair. We all met up at the front of the place and went in together.

After we ordered our food we made small talk and shared information about our jobs, clients, and our day overall. None of us seemed to be in the mood to drop a huge secret, and Jasmine was grinning from ear to ear as we all talked. I gave her a weird look.

“Girl if you don’t tell me what in the hell we’re having lunch about, I’m going to lean over this table and lick your face.”

“Eww!” She exclaimed, “That’s so damned disgusting, and you’re the type of weirdo that would do it too.”

“You’re damned right I said,” with a laugh.

Patrice scrunched up her face and shook her head. She wasn’t going to say anything because I’ve done it to her before. I know it’s a disgusting thing to do, but it always gets their attention. They’re my sisters; I can lick their faces all I want.

“I just wanted to share some really good news with the both of you. You two are the first people that I’ve told. You two both know everything that I’ve been through, and you’ve been there for me through it all. Words can’t describe how much I love and appreciate the two of you. You’re closer to me than anyone else in my life.”

Patrice gave a dramatic eye roll, “We know that you love us, we love you. Kumbaya and all of that other mushy shit. What is it girl? You better spill it or I’ll sick Nicole on you.”

“Damn okay, no need to rush me. The two of you are so damned impatient but not at all observant,” she said as she made a show of pushing her hair back.

My jaw dropped as I saw her hand. There was a huge ring on her left hand.

“OH MY GOD!!!!” Patrice screamed causing everyone in the restaurant to look at us.

I stood up from my seat and leaned down to hug her, “WHOA! Congratulations Jasmine! When did this happen?”

“It happened last night. I didn’t see it coming especially since it seems so damned sudden.”

“Yes it is pretty quick,” Patrice agreed.

“I know but it just feels right. Cedric really loves me, and I feel the same way. What’s the use in waiting if we both know what we want? Life is too short to sit around and wait to make the decision that you already want to make.”

“You’re right about that,” I said with a brighter smile than I felt.

I know that I shouldn’t have been jealous of my friend, but I couldn’t help it. I was happy that she and Cedric were going to tie the knot, but it shined a huge spotlight on me and Kenneth’s relationship. What was taking him so long to take the plunge with me? Did he really want all of the things that he claimed he did? Jasmine picked up on my mood.