Three Is A Crowd

by Chenell Parker

  “Game on bitch,” Jersi mumbled as she grabbed her purse and walked out of her house.

  “S hit Jersi. Just like that baby,” Blake moaned as she clenched her vaginal muscles and threw it back at him.

  He was screaming like a bitch and getting on her nerves at the same time. Maybe she was young at the time but sex with Blake was straight trash now. He didn’t even fill her up like Carter did and she still hadn’t cum once since he entered her. She was happy that he ate her out first because that was the only satisfaction that she got. His movements were uncoordinated like a teenaged boy and his stroke game was whack. Jersi threw out a moan every now and then to appease him and that seemed to make him go harder. Having sex with him was not something that she wanted to do but she had to make their affair seem believable. She hated for him to even touch her but that was a small price to pay for a victory in the end.

  “I’m bout to cum again,” Blake yelled out right before he stilled his movements. Jersi felt his body shiver as he released into the condom and fell over in the bed.

  “About fucking time,” she mumbled as she tried to sit up.

  “What you say baby?” Blake asked as he pulled her back into him.

  “I said that was right on time,” Jersi replied as she rolled her eyes up to the sky.

  She had to keep reminding herself that she had a method to her madness. She had to seem convincing if she wanted her plan to work.

  “I missed you so much Jersi. I hate that I accomplished so much and you weren’t right there by my side. We had plans for our future and I fucked everything up,” Blake said as he hugged her tighter.

  “Things happen for a reason Blake. I don’t hate you for how things turned out,” Jersi lied.

  She hated him and his bitch of a wife. They had her fucked up if they thought they were going to ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after. She probably would have let them if his wife wasn’t always coming for her. She was bitter about their betrayal and she wasn’t ashamed to admit it.

  “I love you baby and I always have. I know my actions didn’t show it but it’s true,” Blake confessed.

  “We’re good Blake. I don’t want to keep reliving the past,” Jersi said.

  “Do you like the house? I know you have a certain kind of taste and I couldn’t half step,” Blake said as she looked around the spacious area.

  When he told her that he had a spot, she was thinking that he’d rent a condo or a nice townhouse. She never imagined that he would go all out and get a furnished penthouse. The key that he had for her was for the elevator because the place didn’t even have a door. As soon as you stepped off the elevator you were walking right into the living room. Blake had all of her favorite foods there as well as all of the feminine products that she used. He no longer knew her size since she’d lost so much weight but he promised to take her shopping.

  “It’s beautiful,” Jersi replied after a while.

  “Are you hungry? There’s plenty of food and drinks in the kitchen,” he said.

  “No, I’m good,” Jersi replied as he got up.

  She frowned when she saw that he still had on the used condom. He went to the bathroom and stayed in there for a while. When he came back out a few minutes later, he was fully dressed and looking like he was about to go. He was fucking up Jersi’s plan and she was pissed.

  “You can stay the night if you don’t feel like driving. The lease is paid up for six months, so you can stay as long as you want to,” Blake said as he waked over and stroked her face lovingly.

  “So, you’re not staying the night with me?” Jersi asked.

  “You know I can’t do that Jersi,” Blake replied.

  “Okay, cool,” Jersi replied as she got up and slipped on her dress.

  She grabbed the elevator key that Blake had given her and handed it back to him.

  “Why did you give this back?” He asked in confusion.

  “Because this is a wrap. It was good while it lasted,” Jersi shrugged as she grabbed her purse.

  “Baby, please don’t do this. I would love to stay the night with you Jersi but I can’t. You know my situation,” Blake said as he stopped her from leaving.

  “Yeah and I also told you that I didn’t give a fuck. I’m never coming in second to another bitch and I don’t care if it is your wife. I told you that the minute I start to feel neglected, it’s a wrap,” Jersi replied.

  “I’m not trying to neglect you Jersi but I don’t know what you want me to do. I’m a married man. I can’t stay out all night with no explanation. I can’t even blame it on work because I’m off today,” Blake tried to reason.

  “It’s cool Blake. We’ve been apart for over four years, so we should be used to it by now,” Jersi shrugged.

  “Jersi please. I’ll arrange to stay with you another night. I just can’t do it tonight. We’ve already made plans,” Blake said.

  “You should have thought about that before you begged me to come here. I’ll see you around,” Jersi said as she headed for the door.

  “Don’t leave Jersi, please. I’ll stay,” Blake said as he came up and hugged her from behind.

  Jersi had her back to him so he couldn’t see the smile on her face. He was still the same spineless ass nigga that he’d always been and he played right into her hands. She already knew that he was going to give in and that’s exactly what he did. Still, Jersi didn’t want to seem too eager about it, so she continued to struggle against his hold.

  “No, it’s cool Blake. You don’t have to do me no favors,” Jersi replied.

  “I know baby but I want to stay. I’ll figure everything out later. I can’t lose you again Jersi. It took me too long to get you back. Let’s go in the kitchen and get something to eat,” Blake said as he grabbed her hand.

  After not finding anything that they wanted, he ended up having food delivered. Being there with him was the last place that Jersi wanted to be but she made it work. Mariah wouldn’t be able to brag about never sleeping alone again and Jersi made sure of it.

  “Have you heard from him yet?” Eva asked as soon as Mariah opened the door for her and the girls.

  The twins stayed the night with her because Blake and Mariah were supposed to have their monthly date night. When Mariah called her after midnight saying that Blake never made it home or called, she was barely able to get any sleep. His phone was ringing at first but it was going straight to voicemail now.

  “No and I’m going crazy. Maybe I need to file a police report,” Mariah said as she paced the floor with her phone in her hand.

  “What happened? Did you upset him or something?” Eva had the nerve to ask.

  Mariah stopped pacing momentarily to glare at the woman who she knew was never too fond of her. It was no secret that Eva never wanted her and Blake together but that was too damn bad. She was his wife and the mother of his kids and that was never going to change.

  “I didn’t do anything. We were fine before he rushed out of here all of a sudden. I went to get us some ice cream and he met me at the door saying that he had to make an important run. He swore that he would be back in time for our date night but I haven’t heard from him since then,” Mariah said as she wiped a few tears from her eyes.

  Blake was home with the girls but he seemed to be in a hurry to go somewhere when she got home from getting ice cream. He told her to put his ice cream in the freezer and drop the girls off to his mother. Mariah had called him all night and he had yet to answer. She was worried sick and she hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep the night before. It was after one in the afternoon and she didn’t have a clue as to where her husband was. Blake had never done anything like that before and she had a feeling that something was wrong.

  “Where did he say that he was going?” Eva asked.

  “He didn’t say and I didn’t ask,” Mariah replied.

  “This is crazy. Blake would never do something so irresponsible. Did y’all have some kind of argument?” Eva questioned.

  “No!”
Mariah yelled. “We were fine.”

  “Are you insane? Lower your voice in my son’s home and in my presence,” Eva snapped, putting her in place like always.

  She had no problem reminding Mariah about who the home that she lived in belonged to. She also had no problem letting her know that without Blake, she was broke and had nothing. Being broke again was not something that she even wanted to think about and she hated being reminded of her past. Mariah knew not go too far with her mother-in-law because Blake would have a fit. He looked forward to the million dollars that was deposited into his account every year and he wasn’t going to let her stop it.

  “No Eva, we didn’t have an argument and nothing was wrong. Maybe I need to call a few of our friends to see if they’ve heard from him,” Mariah said.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea. You don’t want people to think there are problems in your marriage,” Eva replied.

  Mariah wanted to snap but she kept her thoughts to herself. Clearly there was a problem in her marriage if her husband didn’t come home last night.

  “I have to do something. I’m going crazy in here,” Mariah replied as she stared pacing and crying again.

  “Look, I’ll take the girls out for a little while and maybe you can drive around to see if you can spot his car. They don’t need to see you in here crying and carrying on,” Eva hissed as she walked away.

  Once they left, Mariah took a quick shower and threw on some clothes. They only had three friends that they hung out with but she couldn’t see Blake staying the night by any of them. They were all married and had kids of their own. After checking her appearance in the mirror, Mariah grabbed her purse and prepared to leave. It was almost three o’clock now and Blake still hadn’t shown up. When she walked into the living room, she paused when she heard a key being inserted into the locked door. When Blake walked in, Mariah was overcome with emotion. She was happy that he was home safely but also pissed that he’d stayed out all night.

  “Blake! Are you okay baby? You had me worried sick,” Mariah yelled as she rushed over and hugged him.

  She immediately jumped back when the strong smell of perfume permeated her nostrils. She knew every fragrance that Blake wore and that wasn’t one of them. Marc Jacobs Decadence was one of her favorites and she could smell it from a mile away.

  “I’m fine,” Blake replied nonchalantly.

  He was sure that Mariah had lots of questions but he didn’t have the answers. Although he stayed out all night with Jersi, he planned to return home early that morning. Instead, he spent most of the morning with his face buried between her legs. He took her shopping to get some things to keep at the penthouse and they went to lunch right after. He didn’t want to leave but Jersi had plans. If it were up to him, he would have left their love nest and went straight to work from there. He went from not wanting to sleep out to not wanting to go home.

  “Is your phone broke or something? I’ve been calling you since yesterday. You missed our date night and I thought that something was wrong,” Mariah noted.

  “I just told you that everything is fine. There will be other date nights,” Blake said flatly.

  “Are you serious right now? You had me up all night worried sick. I thought you were dead or somewhere injured and couldn’t call for help. Then you have the audacity to show up reeking of another woman and acting as if everything is all good. Who were you with last night Blake?” Mariah asked.

  “Move out of my way Mariah. I’m tired and I only have a few hours before I have to be back at the hospital,” Blake countered as he walked pass her.

  “Was it Jersi? I already know that’s who you were with when you lied about going to have a drink on Christmas night. Josh was already asleep so I know you didn’t go over there,” Mariah accused.

  She didn’t really know that for sure but the look of guilt that covered his face confirmed it. Mariah felt sick to her stomach but she hadn’t eaten anything for her to throw up. She was praying that whatever happened was a one-time thing because she couldn’t deal. Blake dealing with Jersi again would certainly be the demise of their marriage.

  “You checking up on me now Mariah?” Blake asked angrily.

  “What is going on with you Blake? Lying and staying out all night. You’ve never disrespected me like this before. Why now? Is it Jersi or is there someone else?” Mariah asked him as tears fell from her eyes.

  “When you start paying some bills around here, then you can question me,” Blake snapped before he walked away.

  Admittedly, he felt like shit for how he was treating his wife. He and Mariah never argued and he had never done or said anything to start one. Having Jersi back in his life was already starting to cloud his judgement but he couldn’t help it. Jersi was his first love and that was a feeling that he just couldn’t shake. They didn’t really have closure in their relationship and Mariah had herself to blame for that. She knew he had a girl but she still put the moves on him. He always told her how much he loved Jersi and she always said that she didn’t care. Now, the same woman who held his heart in her hands was back in his life and he was risking it all to make sure she stayed there.

  When he heard the front door slam, Blake flopped down on the bed and sighed. Hurting Mariah was not something that he wanted to do and he had to make it up to her. As soon as he was sure that he was alone, Blake grabbed his phone and called Jersi. It rang one time and went straight to voicemail so he decided to leave her a message.

  “Hey baby. I just wanted you to know that I enjoyed our time together and I can’t wait until we can do it again. I’ll send you a copy of my work schedule so we can make plans. Call me if you need anything,” Blake said before he hung up the phone with a broad smile on his face.

  He took off the shirt that he had on and inhaled the fragrance that was still on it. Jersi’s taste was still in his mouth and he didn’t want it to go away. She had him gone again just like he was before and he wasn’t sure how things were going to play out. His life was more complicated now since he had a wife and kids. Sadly, not even that was going to stop him from being with the woman who he often dreamed about at night.

  “W hat’s up Talena?” Jersi asked when she answered her phone.

  “Bitch! Why Tabby said Mariah came over there crying about Blake the other day?” Talena yelled excitedly.

  “As if I give a fuck,” Jersi replied.

  It had been three days since she stayed at the penthouse with Blake and she ignored all his calls and messages since then. He sent her a copy of his work schedule and that was perfect. That way, she would know when she had to dodge his ass. She had gone to the movies with Memphis the night before and Blake was the furthest thing from her mind. She would deal with him on her terms and that wasn’t going to be too often.

  “She told her daddy that he stayed out all night and didn’t tell her where he was. Tabby be eavesdropping and telling me everything,” Talena snickered.

  “I hope you ain’t telling Tabby my business. Your mama is too damn messy,” Jersi frowned.

  “My mama?” Talena questioned, “Bitch, she’s your mama too.”

  “Correction, I’m on my way to pick my mama up now,” Jersi replied, speaking of Dena.

  “Whatever Jersi. But anyway, what you got going on today?” Talena asked.

  “Nothing much. I’m picking my mama up to bring her to the store and I might go chill with Memphis for a while,” Jersi answered.

  “Ugh bitch. As pretty as you are, I can’t believe that you’re really entertaining him. He’s a damn personal trainer. They don’t make no money doing that shit,” Talena pointed out.

  “He makes more than your nigga. Oops, I forgot, you don’t have one,” Jersi replied as she hung up the phone in her face and called her mother.

  Unlike Talena, Jersi didn’t need a man to take care of her. She had her own income and she saved wisely. If she and Memphis were to get together, she had no problem sharing the financial responsibility. Even now, she always offered to p
ay whenever they went somewhere but he always declined. Memphis had a nice car but she was sure that he didn’t make much working at the gym. Still, she would never look down on him for that. She was taught better.

  “Are you outside baby?” Dena asked when she answered the phone for Jersi.

  “I’m coming through the gate now,” Jersi replied.

  “Okay, I’m coming out now,” Dena assured her.

  Jersi pulled up to the house right as her mother was walking out. She smiled when she noticed that Dena was wearing the PINK leggings with the matching shirt that she got her for Christmas. At forty-eight years old, Dena was fit and looked great for her age. They had a gym in their home and she used it several times a week. Her caramel skin was smooth and free of blemishes and wrinkles. Her eyes always seemed to be smiling which was one of the things that made her likeable by so many.