by nikki blaire
“Yes, show me what you’re wearing. What kind of look did you have in mind?” Ayda beamed at her.
Charlisse lightly tugged on the strings of her robe. “I hadn’t really thought about it yet. The invitation says cocktail attire, so I just figured I’d pull...something...together.”
Her words slowed as Ayda’s face began to frown with disapproval. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” A smile returned to her face. “I just think you should try something on from these dresses. Tonight’s really special and I want you to look amazing. Not that you wouldn’t, but,”
“Aren’t those your dresses?” Charlisse watched while everyone set up around here.
A manicurist pulled out a table and a makeup artist situated a lamp and chair.
“They’re for whoever wears them best.” She grinned then motioned for Charlisse to come over to her.
Charlisse tried not to be awkward, but she was still surprised that Ayda had even reached out to her. Initially, she had thought it was to discuss the article in The Post about her ex, Aaron Masters.
Marcus had told Ayda that the article was coming out, but Charlisse was sure that seeing those details on display in the news was triggering. Since Charlisse was the reason behind the article, she wanted to make sure Ayda was okay.
“What about this? Purple is my brother’s favorite color.” Ayda held a lilac knee-length dress up to her.
Charlisse loved the plunging neckline and ruched waist, but felt it was a little over the top for the evening.
“You sure that’s not too much?”
“There’s no such thing as too much.” Ayda pulled the dress from the rack. “Renee, what kind of face do you think goes with this?”
Charlisse turned to the woman who was standing in her kitchen. It was evident that Renee was a fashionista. She wore sky high heels and her honey blonde hair was bone straight. Her face dawned immaculate makeup, but Charlisse could tell that she was beautiful with or without it.
“I’m thinking something that makes those eyes pop. Something dramatic, a smokey eye.”
She scanned Charlisse’s face, while pointing to the makeup artist who listened intently.
“Her manicure?” The manicurist interrupted all of them.
“Yes!” Both Ayda and Renee said in unison before rushing her to the manicurist’s table.
“I don’t know if I really need a manicure.” But the woman was already rubbing her hands.
“A manicure never hurts.” Ayda grinned.
“You’re not getting one?” She looked at both women, who stood with googly eyes staring at her.
“Already done.” They both said, holding up their hands.
Charlisse sighed at their thinly veiled attempt to do Marcus’ bidding. She knew that this was a big night for him, his first major event as CEO of Forde Financials, and the unveiling of his Sports Illustrated article. She wanted to look great, but Marcus probably knew that she wouldn’t have let him make a fuss over her this way.
So, he sent his sister.
I can’t believe him.
She shook her head, but appreciated the thought. Marcus truly was a blessing. He took care of her regardless of her own fierce independence. She couldn’t ask for anyone better.
“Thank you for this. I didn’t have a chance to get to the nail salon. This little party came out of nowhere.”
She looked up as Ayda was looking through the dresses, while Renee grabbed glasses from the cabinet.
“No problem. It’s the least-,”
“May I use your bathroom?” Renee suddenly let the cabinet door slam with an uncomfortable look on her face.
“Oh, sure, it’s through the bedroom.” Charlisse pointed.
“Thank you, I’ve been doing this detox tea and...yea.” Renee hurried in the direction of Charlisse’s finger.
Both she and Ayda watched her rush out of the room, giggling as she passed.
“She’s been like that all week.” Ayda sighed. “All for some new guy she’s dating. He’s a personal trainer. Something about healthy digestion. I don’t know.”
“You’re always willing to do anything for a man when you’re young.” Charlisse thought about her earlier days of dating.
“Right. She’ll grow out of it though. The closer to thirty, the less you tolerate. We deal with so much.” Ayda sighed.
Charlisse looked over at her, making eye contact. “I hope the article helped."
This was the best time to bring it up, since they were relatively "alone."
Ayda quickly looked away. “Marc told me that you did that. I appreciate you making sure my name wasn’t mentioned. I’m still...”
“No problem. I understand. I’ve ended an engagement before, so I kind of get it. It takes time.”
“Really?” Ayda finally turned back to her.
“Yes, and I don’t regret it. It was the right thing to do for me. And you did the right thing, Ayda.”
“I know. Seeing all of those other women,” She looked down at her feet.
“You know, I tried to warn his wife. The one he has now, that’s got a case against him. Her sister used to be a coworker. It's a long story.”
She let out a dry laugh. “Anyways, I wonder if I should’ve done more.”
“You did all that you could do. Don’t ever doubt that. I’m actually really proud of you. You’re very strong, Ayda.”
There was a therapeutic quiet for a moment, while Ayda wiped her eyes before tears began to fall.
“Thank you. The article did help. It was good to see him outed as a monster. Maybe now people will stop talking about me for ending that worthless engagement. And even if they don’t, he can’t play a good guy anymore. That’s definitely closure.”
“Good, that’s all I wanted.”
“This condo is amazing!” Renee’s voice sounded from the bedroom.
She reappeared in the living room looking relieved. “Sorry about the unexpected interruption.”
“It’s fine.” Charlisse giggled.
“Why are you even doing all of this for that boy? I just don’t understand.” Ayda took another dress from the rack and held it up to her body.
“Because, we all can’t have a fine ass man sic his little girl on us in a coffee shop.” Renee huffed before going back to the kitchen.
“Now I really need a glass of wine. You’re reminding me of my lackluster personal life.” She opened a bottle.
“That’s not even what happened.” Ayda laughed. “And it’s far from lackluster, Renee. You’ve been on more dates this past month than I have in my entire life.”
“And look what it’s gotten me. Detox tea diarrhea.” She poured wine into three glasses.
“Too much damn information, Renee and in front of company. This is why I don’t take you anywhere. I’m sorry, Charlisse.” Ayda finally settled on a dress that she liked for herself.
“You take me everywhere.” Renee stuck out her tongue, as she walked over to them balancing the glasses of wine in her hand.
“Can we just have a toast to me, please. The only truly single woman out of the three of us? Maybe I’ll meet someone tonight.”
“Sure, I’ll toast.” Charlisse grabbed the glass.
She decided that she would just pretend to sip and set the glass back down. She and Marcus still weren’t telling anyone about her pregnancy. It was still supposed to be their little secret. Not drinking would give her away.
“Uh, are you sure that you want to do that?” Ayda turned to her with panic in her voice.
“Yea,” Charlisse stared back at her in confusion, but Ayda still gave her the same look.
Ayda's eyebrows were raised so high that they touched her edges. “You shouldn’t be drinking, Charlisse. You know that.”
Her words squeezed out through clenched teeth.
“Excuse me,”
“Fine, no toast, sorry I brought it up.” Renee tried to ease the awkwardness, but Charlisse and Ayda were still locked in a stare down unti
l the reason for Ayda’s apprehension dawned on her.
“You know.” She gasped. “Marc, told you.”
“No…” Ayda paused for a beat. “We just kinda guessed.”
“We! Who is we?” Charlisse didn’t meant to scream, but she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“Me and Tremaine.” Ayda scrunched up her face, as if it pained her to snitch on her brother.
“You and Tremaine, wow!”
“I have no idea what’s going on here, but I’m just going to move these glasses.” Renee took it from each of them before going back to the kitchen to watch their discussion unfold from afar.
“Hold on, Charlisse. Don’t be upset. I promise, my brother would not betray your trust like that. He cares about you too much. It just slipped out.”
“I’m supposed to believe that the words Charlisse is…” She started to say the word “pregnant” out loud, but stopped herself and looked around.
She still had company, including a very perplexed Renee, who stood idly sipping wine in her kitchen pretending not to listen.
“Calm down, please. You and Marc can talk about this tonight...after the festivities.”
“Oh no, I’m not going. Not until I get down to the bottom of this. Why would I support him when he’s,”
“You have to go!” Ayda screamed. “You can’t miss tonight. It’s too big of a deal for Marc.”
“What about me? This is a big deal for me. Where is my phone? Excuse me.” Charlisse took her hand from the manicurist who had been quietly shaping her nails.
“Charlisse, I really think you should just wait,” Ayda was on her heels while she went to her bedroom to grab her phone.
“I appreciate you trying to stick up for your brother, but no. I asked him for one thing,” Charlisse angrily tapped her screen then waited for the phone to ring.
A few moments later, Marcus answered. “Hey, baby, are you getting ready for tonight?”
His voice was so smooth and rich that it almost made her forget that she was upset, but a quick glance at Ayda who was pouting beside her made her remember.
“I was...until your sister told me that she knew about our little secret.”
“Got dammit, Ayda.” Marcus sighed on the other end.
“You told her? I can’t believe you, Marc. What if something happens with this pregnancy? Then I have to deal with a lost pregnancy and your family knowing.”
“It’s not my family, just my sister.” Marcus always had to correct everything.
“And Tremaine.”
“Oh, yea, and him, but it wasn’t intentional. It just kinda slipped out,”
“It really did, Charlisse.” Ayda tried to help, but it wasn’t working.
“How long have they known? How long have you been keeping this from me?”
Silence met her on the other end for a while. “Since you told me. Ayda came to my office the next day about Aaron. Our conversation got heated and it came out.”
“Wow. Just wow.” Charlisse cut her eyes at Ayda because she was the closest thing to Marcus in the room.
“I can’t even deal with this. I’m not coming tonight, Marc. I can’t even look at you.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. You have to come!” He interjected.
“I don’t have to do anything, but stay Black and die. Please enjoy your night, Marc. We’ll discuss this afterwards.” She started to hang up, but Ayda reached out and grabbed her arm.
“Marc, don’t worry. I will fix it.” She called out to him then took the phone from Charlisse’s hand. “Just keep getting ready.”
“I don’t know how you plan to do that, Ayda. I’m livid. Trust is very important to me and right now, I don’t have any with him. It’s already a lot to deal with and the extra scrutiny is not helpful.”
“You think I don’t know about extra scrutiny?” Ayda hung up the phone and tossed it on the bed.
“This month, I had to look at an article about my ex-fiance beating up other women, some of which coincided with our relationship, get shared over 1,000 times on social media.”
She made Charlisse sit down on the bed then leaned over her.
“The anxiety of wondering if people would know that you were “one of those women.” Constantly thinking that every text from a random number is someone who found out that you actually were one of those women. Scrutiny, Charlisse, is living your entire life under a microscope. People who pick and prod at you for any reason.”
Ayda reached for Charlisse’s arm and began to rub it. “I know it’s not easy to be in this life. Living this way is almost inhumane at times, but this is just what comes with the territory of being a Forde. And this baby with my brother is no different, but you just have to accept that.”
“But what if I don’t want that? I didn’t ask for any of this.” Charlisse shot back forcefully.
She had spent her life staying away from the public eye. Now, it felt like she was being pushed into it without any regard for what she wanted.
“But you want my brother, right? You want this baby.” Ayda’s eyes lovingly fell on Charlisse’s stomach, even though a bump was nowhere near visible.
“We all want this baby and will do everything that we can to protect both of you, but you have got to get comfortable.”
She sat down next to her. “Get comfortable with the fact that this is your new life. It comes with spotlight, secrets, and standards. But it also comes with love. My brother is in love with you, so get comfortable with that.”
“I am comfortable,”
“No, you’re not. I can see it all over your face. You’re second-guessing it, questioning it because of whatever reasons. I’ve done the same thing.”
Ayda made Charlisse look at her. “But you’re only doing yourself a disservice. You want this moment to confirm what you’re thinking deep down inside - that this can’t be true. This can’t be real, something is going to mess it up, but it's real. It’s very real. He’s in love with you and would never hurt you. Get used to it.”
Ayda nodded. “So, can we finish getting dressed, please? We can be fashionably late, but anything later than that is just tacky.”
She stood up and then walked out of Charlisse’s bedroom, leaving her alone with her thoughts. Charlisse sat there for a moment, processing all that Ayda said then reached for her phone.
I’ll be there.
She text Marcus then exhaled. Ayda was right. She had to get comfortable or she was going to be fighting this relationship every step of the way.
Skepticism would completely hollow out her love, if she let it. And she could not let that happen to the most worthwhile love she had ever experienced.
“Charlisse, you need to finish your nails!” Ayda called out from the living room.
Charlisse stood up slowly and shook off the last of her doubt.
“Coming!” She yelled back before going back to join them.
*****
Marcus read Charlisse’s text and blew out a hard breath. His heart had basically stopped when she said that she wouldn’t come tonight. But now, she was going to show up. He wasn’t sure what his sister said to Charlisse, but he was forever indebted to her.
“Thank you, God.” He whispered, as he knocked on the hotel room door in front of him.
He had holed Charlisse’s family away in a few suites of a hotel that was near the venue that Ayda had chosen for the proposal.
“Mr. Lageaux. Good evening.”
“You look sick as hell, boy.” Alphonse gaped at him. “Come in.”
He waved Marcus further into the hotel room.
“Um, we just had a small mishap, but it’s all fixed.” He let out another loud breath.
“A car is outside for you all when you’re ready. I just came to thank you again in-person.”
“You’ve thanked me enough, Marc.” Her father grinned at him. “Dinner for my entire family when we got here, these lovely suites, you’ve been more than hospitable these past two days that we’ve been here.”
>
He placed a hand on Marcus’ shoulder. The two men were about the same height, so his stare fell directly on Marcus and made him even more anxious. Marcus had come to realize that Alphonse wasn’t crass or domineering like his own father, but he was authoritative.
He had a way of garnering respect without aggression. Marcus admired it, but it did little for his growing anxiety over today. He had been calm about most aspects of their relationship, but this morning, he had woken up completely shaken.
“C’mon, let’s have a drink.” Alphonse’s accent gave Marcus a little comfort.
Marcus followed him to the wet bar in the hotel room. “There ya go.”
He poured Marcus a healthy glass of whiskey. “You know, I was sick as hell too before I proposed to Charlisse’s mother.”
Marcus looked over at him. “Really?”
“Oh, hell yea. It wasn’t quite as fancy as this, but I sure was shaking.” He chuckled then poured himself a drink.
“We were young, working on the mayoral campaign for New Orleans first Black mayor and he won. The campaign staff were crowded in that room, watching the polls and everyone was cheering.”
Charlisse’s father seemed to look off into the past. “I had the ring in my pocket. And Marjorie was jumping up and down, excited. I got down on one knee right then and there. Everyone knew it was coming, even the mayor-elect, but Marjorie was so shocked.”
He laughed to himself. “She told me to get up and that I was embarrassing her.”
“That sounds just like Charlisse.” Marcus had to laugh too.
“Oh, yes. Those two are just alike. She looks like me, but she acts just like her mother. Put together to a tee. Nothing out of place.”
Alphonse turned to Marcus. “She’d think her way out of living life if it weren’t for love, my Marjorie, and I see a lot of that in my daughter too. You’re gonna have to remember to love her through that, young man.”
“Yes, sir.” Marcus took a long sip of his drink.
He had first-hand experience with that already.
“Anyways, I refused to get up until she said yes. It was more for me than her. I was sure I’d fall over if I stood, my damn legs were so wobbly.”
“Did she say yes?” Marcus assumed so, but clearly you never knew with these Lageaux women.