by Cachet
Turns out, they really were interested in buying the house because only a few days later, they received an offer from a realtor who was working for them. Desmond and Kaleb accepted the offer and the ball started rolling on getting ready to sell. When Kaleb got word that the house was having its inspection, he made sure that he was in attendance. He was hoping that Dominique would show up and he could get a chance to talk to her again. When he arrived, he was disappointed to find out that their realtor had showed up instead. Kaleb left the house that day with mixed feelings. He was upset that he hadn’t gotten a chance to see Dominique, but was glad to make the potential sell. Now he was stuck and waiting, while he waited for the sell to go through.
“Breakfast is ready, baby!” Tiera yelled from the bottom of the stairs.
“Alright! I’ll be down in a minute,” he told her.
Kaleb tossed the covers off of him and shuffled into the bathroom to handle his personal hygiene. When he was finished, he put on a pair of boxers and t-shirt and headed down the stairs. In the kitchen, he saw that his plate was already made and sitting in front of where he normally sat. Tiera was bent over in the fridge looking for the orange juice and as Kaleb went over to take his seat, he paused and popped her on the ass as he passed. She laughed and shoved him in the back before walking over and filling his glass up the rim with the orange juice that she now had in her hand. When she was done, she leaned down and kissed him gently on the lips.
“I love you,” she told him with a bright smile, before taking her seat across from him.
“I love you too,” Kaleb replied with regret.
It wasn’t that he didn’t love Tiera because he loved her a lot. It was just that he wasn’t sure if he loved her the way that she needed to. Before a few weeks ago, he believed he did, but now that Dominique was back in the picture, he wasn’t too sure. The love that Tiera wanted and needed from Kaleb was something that he felt for someone else at that moment. Dominique still had his heart, and Kaleb knew that. He just hoped that when everything was all said and done that Tiera wouldn’t be too hurt behind it. Kaleb thought about breaking things off with her, but he didn’t want to take the chance of ruining what he had chasing behind someone he wasn’t sure wanted him in the first place. If it happened that Dominique decided to stay with her dude, Kaleb knew that he would always have Tiera. It was selfish as hell of him to think like that, but he couldn’t’ help it.
While eating his breakfast, he mentally prepared himself for the battle he had ahead of him. He’d let Dominique slip between his fingers once before, and he wasn’t going to let it happen again. Kaleb didn’t know how long he had before she and her dude made their union official, so he knew that he had to think fast. Sitting at home stressing about what he was going to do wasn’t going to cut it. He had to take action. Kaleb would be damned if the love of his life was going to marry another man, all while he sat on the sidelines and allowed it to happen. Silently, he made a promise to himself that as long as there was breath in his body, he was going to get his woman. Dominique was his, and Kaleb was staking his claim.
As Kaleb spaced out and stared into the air lost in his own thoughts, Tiera was thinking as well. She wasn’t sure what was going on with her boyfriend lately, but she was going to get to the bottom of it. He was acting different, and it all started a few weeks ago when he came from showing that house. At first, she thought his change had something to do with something going wrong at the showing, but once Kaleb told her that the couple was interested in buying, she figured it was something else. Tiera wasn’t sure, but her womanly instincts were telling her that a woman was involved. In the entire year that they’d been together, she had never suspected Kaleb of doing anything, so if it was a woman, she had to be special. With her eyes focused on her boyfriend from across the table, Tiera pushed those thoughts in the back of her mind. Even though she felt that her gut was telling her a storm was brewing, she hoped that it was just a false call.
Chapter Eleven
“Are you coming or not? It ain’t like you be doing shit up there anyways, but sitting in the damn house watching TV like an old ass lady. I ain’t seen you in weeks. You ain’t even tried to bring my nephew up here to see his auntie, bitch,” NiChia said with an attitude. “Don’t let me find out that Dre done turned yo’ ass into a hermit.”
“Shut the hell up Peanut, with yo’ retarded ass!” Dominique laughed at how silly her sister was. “What’s going on tonight anyway?”
“It’s the grand opening of this club called Forever. It’s not only ladies free all night, but free drinks for us as well. You know I’m cheap as hell, but that ain’t the only reason I wanna go. I know that bitch gone be hittin’, so I wanna be there,” NiChia explained, “You know that I don’t fuck with these hoes down here like that, so the only way I’ll go is if you’re with me. So, will you just bring yo’ ass up here?” Dominique exhaled loudly. “Please Nikki, I don’t never ask you for shit and you know it. You can come up and get cha party on with yo’ sister. If not, I’m gone tell daddy.”
Dominique laughed. “What daddy gone do to me?”
“Whip yo’ ass when he finds out that you’ve been neglecting me.”
“Girl bye! Ain’t nobody been neglecting yo’ ass.” Dominique thought for a second. “I’m going to have to find a baby sitter.”
“Ha, I already got that shit covered. Grandma said that she’d watch DJ. You don’t ever bring him up here and she says that she misses her grandson.” NiChia was laying it on thick and she knew it. “Look, I know you all Hollywood now since ya man done made it bigtime, but I figured you wouldn’t be too busy to spend time with ya blood.”
“Hush Peanut, with your overly dramatic ass!” Dominique yelled. NiChia was always doing too much. “I’m going to find something to wear, pack up, and I’ll call you when I’m on my way,” Dominique told her, mentally thinking about her outfit options. She hadn’t gone out in a while and was now looking forward to it.
“Cool,” NiChia giggled. She knew that her guilt trip would work on Dominique, who hated to disappoint her. “And bitch, I’m not overly dramatic. You just boring as hell.”
“Boring? You reaching with that one and Peanut please, you’re the most dramatic person that I know. Yo’ ass is always doing too damn much!” Dominique laughed loudly. “You get on my damn nerves sometimes.”
“Fuck you, Nikki.” NiChia couldn’t help but laugh herself because her sister was right. “Don’t get mad at me because I have one hell of a personality. You just jealous.”
“Whatever heffa. Anyways, I think I’m going to call Nicy and see if she wants to come too. We could do a girls’ night,” Though Dominique said it out loud, it was merely a thought.
“No the fuck you ain’t!” NiChia yelled. Her happy mood was now ruined. “You talking about me? Nicy’s funky ass is the definition of dramatic. That hoe is always exaggerating about everything and over the top as hell,” she pointed out. “Plus, don’t nobody want to be around her fake prissy ass. Bitch swear up and down that she the shit! Plus, that’s yo’ friend Nikki. You know I don’t fuck with that bitch like that.”
“Why though, Peanut? You are always saying that you don’t like her, but you can never give me a reason why,” Dominique said, moving the phone from one ear to the other. “I may be wrong, but Nicy ain’t never done anything to you. Or has she done something that I don’t know about because if so, please tell me?”
NiChia snorted, “See what I’m saying? That’s one of the reasons why I don’t like the hoe because you always taking up for her. I swear, you don’t think that that girl does no wrong. I’m telling you Nikki, that hoe is sneaky. Always has been and always will be.”
“Here you go. How you know she sneaky if you’re never around her?”
“I ain’t gotta be around to know the hoe is a snake. Tell me this, why hasn’t she let you or anyone else meet her baby daddy?”
“I don’t know-” Dominique started but was cut off.
“It’
s because it’s somebody that we know. I swear, that’s the only thing that makes sense!” NiChia yelled, getting pumped. “She’s fucking someone that we all know, and she’s keeping it a secret. For all you know, she could be fucking Dre.”
“Ok now NiChia, you taking this shit too far now,” Dominique warned, calling her sister by her real name. She only did that when she was serious or pissed and right then, she was both. “Dre ain’t got shit to do with this. I know you don’t like either one of them, but saying shit like that ain’t gone fly.”
“Damn, I’m sorry, alright? I’m just fucking around,” NiChia apologized, “All I’m saying is that not knowing who he is means that he could be anybody.”
Dominique listened to her sister’s logic and couldn’t help but feel that maybe she had a point. Of course, she didn’t believe that her best friend was messing with her fiancé, but why would she hide her baby daddy so much if it was someone that no one knew? Even if he was some other chick’s man, what did that have to do with her? She was her best friend no matter what. Dominique wasn’t even sure if her parents had met the unknown guy, which made it even weirder.
Tired of speaking about it, Dominique sighed and said, “I don’t know, but that ain’t my business either.” She paused for a second before she continued. “Even after all that, all I’m saying is that it sucks that I can’t kick it with both of y’all at once, and it’s because you don’t like her.”
“Girl bye, you know damn well she don’t like me either.”
“Yeah, but only because she knows that you have a problem with her.”
“Whatever, Nikki. If it’s that damn important to you, go ahead and invite the bitch. Just don’t expect me to play nice. That hoe got one time to say some slick shit and when she does, I’m drag her ass. Just call me when you’re on your way,” NiChia said before she hung up the phone.
Dominique couldn’t do anything but shake her head. She knew that NiChia had an attitude, but also knew that she would get over it as soon as she saw her and DJ. They had gotten extremely close since after she moved in with her grandmother, which was next to impossible before with the way that Monique kept them apart. Back then, the girls did almost everything together before she left for college, and many times that included being with Shanice. Dominique knew how much her sister didn’t like her best friend, but that didn’t stop her from getting them all together every once in a while. Each time that happened, Shanice would say something that would piss NiChia off, and they would end up arguing to the point that they almost fought. It never escalated past that because Dominique would always keep them apart. She would never say it to Shanice, but she knew without a doubt that if they had actually fought, NiChia would definitely win.
“What you in here doing?” Deondre asked when he walked into the bedroom with DJ cradled in his arms.
“I’m looking for something to wear,” Dominique said from inside their walk-in closet.
“Going somewhere special?”
“Not really. Peanut called and asked me to go to this party with her tonight. Grandma said she’d watch DJ, so I’m going to ride on up there,” Dominique explained, stepping out of the closet with a handful of clothed hangers in her hands. “What do you have planned tonight?”
Deondre watched his fiancée as she laid a few pieces of clothing on top of the bed before she disappeared once again into the closet.
“Nothing. I’m probably going to just sit in the house and watch the game,” he lied.
Unbeknownst to Dominique, Deondre was glad that she was leaving for the night. He’d already made plans to hook up with Shanice. It had been a few weeks since he’d saw his daughter and he missed her. When Deondre first told Shanice a few days ago that he would be by, he wasn’t sure if that was actually the truth. Although she was still hot about him staying out all night with someone else, she calmed down quickly when he told her that he was thinking about stopping by. Deondre knew that leaving out of the house and staying gone for hours would lead to a fight between him and Dominique, and he didn’t want to chance it. They had just gotten back on track, and he wanted them to stay that way. The fact that she would be gone for the rest of the night made it easier for him to do the same; he just had to make sure that he answered the phone.
Deondre stood on the opposite end of the room and watched as Dominique walked back and forth from the closet to the bed.
“I’m going to take DJ downstairs for a snack and leave you up here to do your thing,” Deondre said as he turned to leave the room.
“Thank you, baby. You’re a lifesaver.”
Dominique signaled her blinker and merged slowly into the next lane. She sped up trying to cut her hour drive time down as much as she possibly could without getting pulled over. A quick glance in the rearview mirror brought a smile to her face. DJ was out like a light, even though they hadn’t been in the car for more than ten minutes. The SpongeBob episode that was playing on the televisions mounted in the headrest was watching him, instead of the other way around. Dominique decided to listen to the radio and make her drive a much more bearable one. She really wasn’t a fan of driving and jumped in the passenger seat whenever she could. Since Deondre took her almost everywhere she needed to go, she didn’t have to get behind the wheel much, so this drive was going to be hard for her.
After scanning and looking for something good to listen to, Dominique stopped on a popular classic R&B station. It was on commercial, but she knew that within the next few minutes, something would come on. Almost immediately, one of her favorite songs from back when she was younger came on.
There’s always that one person
That will always have your heart.
You never see it coming,
Cause you’re blinded from the start.
Know that you’re that one for me
It’s clear for everyone to see.
Ooh baby…ooh, you will always be my boo.
Dominique turned up the volume just as Alicia Keys made her presence known. She began to bob her head and rock her shoulders from side to side to the beat. Ever so often, she would snap her fingers. Dominique laughed because she pictured that she looked just like her father when he used to dance with her at the family functions when she was a little girl. Jessie couldn’t sing a lick, but would dance his ass off. Whenever Franny would put on an old song, he would jump up and drag Dominique to the middle of the floor and spin her around as if she were a princess. Even though Dominique missed those days so much, she missed her father even more. She hadn’t spoken to him in a few days and was looking forward to his weekly call. Jessie was down to his last year in jail, and he was looking forward to coming home.
Do you remember girl
I was the one who gave you your first kiss.
Cause I remember girl
I was the one who said put your lips like this.
As the lyrics from the song came to life, thoughts of the past continued to play like old movies in Dominique’s mind. She shook her head when she realized who she was thinking about once again. Silently, she scolded herself because she had made a promise that he would no longer take up space in her mind. That was easier said than done because at that moment, he was all she could focus on. The time they shared together back then was such a special part in her life and no matter how much she tried to deny it, he’d made her happy, for at least a little while.
Yes, I remember boy,
Cause after we kissed I could only think about your lips.
Yes, I remember boy,
The moment I knew you were the one I could spend my life with.
Even before all the fame and people,
Screaming your name,
I was there, and you were my baby.
“It started when we were younger, you were mine, my boo,” Dominique sang out loud. “Now another brother’s taken over, but it’s still in your eyes, my boo. Even though we used to argue, it’s alright. I know we haven’t seen each other in a while, but
you will always be my boo.”
Dominique’s eyes watered when she realized just how strongly she was singing the lyrics. One would have thought that the person she was singing to was right in front of her, instead of somewhere else doing who knows what. Dominique changed the channel and decided to listen to one of her audio books instead. She needed to clear her mind and stop thinking so much about him. What they had was done and over, so she needed to let it go. Unfortunately for her, the soft voice of the narrator did nothing because he was still all she could think about.
It had been more than two weeks since Dominique had run into Kaleb and no matter how much she tried, she just couldn’t seem to get him off her mind. Seeing him after all that time brought back feelings that she thought she left back home four years ago. She knew that she should have hated him, but the feelings that she was experience were quite the opposite. As soon as their eyes landed on one another, her heart skipped a beat. She couldn’t believe that it was him staring back at her with the same shocked face that she wore. At first, Dominique thought that maybe the guy was someone who bore a strong resemblance to Kaleb, but when she turned and saw Desmond, there was no doubt in her mind that it was him. Gone was the cutie with the boyish good looks that she had grown to love all of those years ago. He was replaced with a much more sophisticated and handsome grown man.
Kaleb was fine, to say the least. At five-feet-eleven, and about one hundred and eighty pounds, he was much more athletic and built than she remembered. Kaleb was nice and muscular; not as big as Deondre, but sexy never the less. The lined up goatee that framed his jaw line gave him a very distinguished appearance. He still had those full lips that she used to love to kiss, and while she looked at him, those thoughts where the first thing that came to her mind. If Dominique were to be candid, she would say that Kaleb looked like money. When he realized that it was her, all she saw were his perfectly straight teeth that were a bright shade of white. The smile he wore on his face was one that couldn’t go unnoticed. This made her happy for a minute, before she realized how bad it ended for them years prior. Kaleb had broken her heart and there he stood, grinning and shit like everything was cool. Although Dominique was secretly glad to see him, she was determined to wipe that smile right off of his face.