Power, Seduction & Scandal

by Angela Winters

“This is nice,” she said. “I liked Michael’s old place better, but this is very classy. It’s more . . . you.”

  She turned to Billie with a smile, but Billie didn’t have the patience to pretend to give a damn.

  “What do you want?” Billie asked in a cold, curt tone.

  Dee Dee smiled in a way that hinted for a second that she was nervous, uncomfortable being there.

  “Can I sit?” she asked, gesturing toward the living room.

  Billie shrugged and slowly followed Dee Dee into the living room. The last thing she needed in this world was to deal with this woman, and as she sat in the chair on the opposite side of the coffee table from her, Billie grew suspicious as to why she was even there.

  “I’m sorry about you and Michael,” Dee Dee finally said.

  “Yeah, I’ll bet you are,” Billie responded. “So sorry that the second you heard about it, you jumped on a plane and came out here to comfort him and let him know it’s for the best.”

  “I deserve that,” Dee Dee said. “But it’s not the truth.”

  “I’m busy, Dee Dee.” Billie crossed her legs and sat back in the chair. “Can you please speed this up?”

  “I know you must hate me,” she said. “I haven’t been at all kind to you.”

  “I don’t hate you, Dee Dee. I just don’t know why you’re here if not to gloat.”

  “I’m not here to gloat,” she said. “I’m here to apologize.”

  “For what?” Billie asked. “For doing everything in your power to make me feel like I didn’t belong? For making Michael feel like I’m not the right girl for him? You love Darina. I’m sure you’re happy as hell that Duncan brought them closer.”

  “I didn’t think you were right for Michael,” Dee Dee admitted. “I was certain you weren’t. That was until . . .”

  Billie leaned forward in her chair. “Until what?”

  “Until I went to his hotel room and saw him today.” Dee Dee lowered her head as she focused on her hands lying on her lap. “I flew in this morning and went to him first thing. He wasn’t expecting me either, but after I talked to him on the phone a few days ago, I had to see my baby boy.”

  “Did he send you here to plead his case?” Billie asked. “He had to know better than to think you’d do it.”

  “He doesn’t know I’m here.” Dee Dee looked up and faced Billie with a pleading expression. “He’s a mess. I’ve never seen him like this. I’ve seen him in pain. I’ve seen him heartbroken. I’ve never, ever seen him in anguish and so . . . hopeless like this.”

  “Look, Dee Dee, Michael can tell you what he wants, but I’m not going to discuss our relationship with you. You’re wasting your time.”

  “When Darina’s relationship with the man she’d been passing off as Duncan’s father fell apart, she came to me.”

  Stunned, Billie was certain she’d heard wrong. She suddenly remembered what Dee Dee had said earlier.

  “You came here to apologize,” Billie said, growing immediately agitated. “You . . . you knew what Darina was up to! You were a part of it!”

  Dee Dee held her hand up in an attempt to calm Billie. “I didn’t expect it to go as far as it did. You have to believe me.”

  “I don’t have to believe anything,” Billie said. “But I shouldn’t be surprised. You helped her plan to seduce Michael and break us up.”

  “When I found out that Duncan was Michael’s, I wanted them to be a family. She wanted Michael and promised, if I helped her, she would bring Duncan to Atlanta and get Michael to move back too.”

  Billie shot up from the chair and pointed accusingly at her. “You’re the one who told her about Porter! You’re the one who told her everything about me!”

  Dee Dee nodded, looking very ashamed. “I told her it wasn’t likely that she could seduce Michael. I told her that Michael was loyal, but I could help her convince him to come back to Atlanta and that would be enough to cause a wedge between you two.”

  “And she could take it from there,” Billie said, her voice fully displaying her disgust. “What kind of a woman are you?”

  “I’m the kind who wanted her son back!” Dee Dee stood up from the sofa. “I’m not excusing my choices, but—”

  “You just did excuse your choices!” Billie said. “You just tried to, at least. There is no excuse!”

  “I’m getting old!” Dee Dee insisted. “I want my only grandchild in my life. And I need support. I need help. You were going to take my son away from me. You and your bougie lifestyle here in D.C. Darina would bring him home, bring him and my grandson to me.”

  “You’re a selfish, vile woman!” Billie told her. “How can you live with yourself?”

  “I didn’t think this would happen,” Dee Dee explained. “I thought she could draw a wedge between you two, and eventually Darina, Duncan, and I could all convince him you weren’t the one. That you didn’t belong. It would be less painful for him that way.”

  “Do you hear yourself?” Billie asked. “You were plotting and planning to manipulate your own son just for your own comfort. You didn’t care how hurt he was. You knew what she was going to do and you helped her!”

  “I would have never agreed to drug my son!” Dee Dee shouted. “I would never, ever agree to that. I would have never gone that far!”

  “Are you saying,” Billie asked, “she did drug him?”

  Dee Dee nodded, her sorrow seeming more genuine now. “When Michael told me over the phone that he knew he’d been drugged, I couldn’t believe it. I called her and she denied it at first, but I promised to help Michael make her pay.”

  “Make her pay?”

  Dee Dee began to pace a little, her hand to her stomach as if to calm her agitation. “Michael has been threatening to call the cops on her. He was threatening to fight for custody based on what she did. I promised to help him and she confessed to me.”

  Billie’s mouth opened but no words came out.

  He was telling the truth! She was struck with such pain that she had to sit back down in her chair. She didn’t know what to do with herself. She couldn’t even think straight. Michael had been telling her the truth all along and she’d refused to believe him, even give him a chance!

  “Michael has never loved anyone as much as he loves you,” Dee Dee said. “Please, give him another chance.”

  Billie could only wonder, after having doubted him so completely and cutting him off so easily, if he would be willing to give her another chance.

  16

  Erica had just placed three empty boxes next to each other on her sofa. She had the newspaper wrapper on the table next to all her dishes and was ready to get started. She grabbed the first glass and slipped up a piece of newspaper. She started wrapping it around the glass when the doorbell rang.

  She immediately hoped it was Corey. Still reeling from his decision to dump her, she had too much pride to ask him to give her another chance, but she wasn’t fooling herself when she said she didn’t want him back. She also didn’t have the energy for it all. She just wanted him to show up and let it go at that. She would ignore that hiccup if he would.

  But when Erica reached the front door, looking through the peephole, she realized she wasn’t going to get her wish. The immediate sight of Sherise and Billie on the other side of the door made her happy . . . or want to be happy. It seemed like such a long time since she’d seen them, and the lonely, frustrated part of her wanted them around so badly.

  But that only lasted seconds before reality sank in. Reality was, she knew what they were there for. They were there to give her a hard time . . . again. She didn’t need this shit, and for a second, she considered not opening the door. When she heard Sherise make a loud grumbling sound and press the doorbell even harder, Erica knew they wouldn’t go away.

  She opened the door, intending to ask them why they would come, but she didn’t get the chance.

  “What the fuck is wrong with you?” Sherise asked.

  “Sherise.” Billie rolled her eyes
. They had discussed this. They were going to try and be civil.

  “Nothing is wrong with me,” Erica answered. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

  “Something is clearly wrong with you,” Sherise countered, taking a step forward.

  She stopped when she realized that Erica wasn’t moving and gave her a look that said she didn’t intend to.

  “We’re coming in,” Sherise said. “So you can fuck off with this act.”

  “I see Sherise is being a lady, as usual.” Erica stepped aside and they came in.

  “We really need to talk to you,” Billie said.

  Billie stepped inside and closed the door behind her. She watched as Erica walked right by her and over to the sofa where she resumed packing. It hurt Billie that she didn’t even want to hug her. It seemed like forever since they’d seen her.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Sherise asked. “You’ve just disappeared.”

  “I’ve been right here all along,” Erica said. “Right where I’ve always been.”

  “Not emotionally you haven’t,” Billie said. “Emotionally, you’ve been . . . Wait, you’re moving?”

  Erica nodded as she placed the glass in the first box.

  “Where?” Sherise removed one of the boxes and sat down on the sofa.

  Billie sat in the chair next to the table. “Where, Erica?”

  Erica sighed. “Why are you two here? Just to chew me out?”

  “You’d deserve it,” Sherise said. “Do you have any idea what Billie has been going through?”

  Erica looked up at Billie and could see the strain in her expression. “Yeah, I’m sorry about that.”

  Billie smiled. “Things are not as bad—”

  “You’re sorry about that?” Sherise asked. “You hear that the man your sister, whom you are supposed to love, is going to marry cheated on her and you’re just sorry.”

  “Don’t tell me how I should react,” Erica said. “How I’m supposed to feel.”

  “So you don’t love her?” Sherise asked, accusingly.

  “Dammit!” Erica slammed a glass she’d just wrapped on the coffee table. “Sherise, I don’t need this.”

  “You don’t need this,” Sherise said. “You don’t need anything or anyone!”

  “That’s right!” Erica yelled at her. “Especially not you and your damn mouth.”

  Sherise smiled with an arched brow. “You get my mouth whether you want it or not. That’s part of our deal.”

  “What deal?” Erica asked. “The one where you two dump on me every time I act in a way you don’t like or didn’t tell me to? Every time I assert myself or don’t follow your lead? I don’t want that deal. Not anymore.”

  “What do you want?” Billie asked. “We came here to ask you that, Erica.”

  Erica looked up at Billie and saw that familiar compassion that always softened her.

  “I wanted to be there for you, Billie,” she said. “I swear to God, I did. I’ve been thinking about you a lot and how you must feel. Especially after everything Porter did to you. It’s just, I . . . I can’t deal with it.”

  “You can’t deal with Billie getting cheated on?” Sherise asked, not feeling a lot of sympathy coming from Erica. “It was about you?”

  “No!” Erica snapped. “It was just . . . I can’t keep explaining myself. Look, Billie, are you okay?”

  “I don’t think Michael cheated on me,” Billie said. “I really think there’s a chance we can get back together.”

  “What do you mean you don’t think?” Erica asked. “What do you know?”

  “So now you’re full of questions,” Sherise said.

  “I know he didn’t intend to cheat on me.” Billie sighed. “Look, I don’t want to get into that now.”

  “Why not?” Sherise asked. “Now is the perfect time, Billie. Erica is temporarily interested in someone other than herself.”

  Billie groaned as Erica and Sherise stared each other down.

  “We came to apologize,” Billie said. “Sherise and I.”

  “Apologize?” Erica was surprised.

  “Well,” Sherise mumbled. “Sort of. Meaning that I don’t believe that we’ve treated you as badly as you claim we did.”

  “Sherise!” Billie chastised.

  “But,” Sherise continued, “if you feel like we have, then it’s valid and we’re sorry. No matter what, none of us wants to hurt each other or make anyone in our circle feel like they’re less important than anyone else.”

  “I think it’s possible we’ve treated you like the little sister because you’re the youngest,” Billie said. “You’ve taken that as us treating you like someone who can’t take care of herself or make the right choices. It wasn’t on purpose.”

  Erica didn’t know what to say. She didn’t at all expect an apology or whatever it was that Sherise was trying to say.

  “It just seems like everything I say and do is always questioned,” Erica said. “Judged as less than what either of you says or does.”

  “Really?” Sherise asked.

  “You especially,” Erica said.

  “Well . . .” Sherise rolled her eyes. “I treat everyone like that, though. Not you in particular.”

  “We’re sorry for that,” Billie said.

  Erica nodded in acceptance. “Okay, you were right earlier. I am moving. I bought a new condo and I’m moving in next week.”

  Billie pressed her lips together trying with everything to not speak out. She was livid that Erica didn’t at least show her the mortgage contract or allow her to refer a trusted real estate lawyer. She knew several.

  Erica could see this was killing Billie and it made her smile. She appreciated that Billie was trying. Billie smiled in response and suddenly, the two of them burst into laughter. For a few seconds, Erica felt so much stress and frustration wash away as she doubled over in laughter.

  “What’s so damn funny?” Sherise asked.

  “It’s killing her.” Erica pointed at Billie.

  Billie leaned back on her chair, her hand against her stomach. She hadn’t laughed in a long time. “It is. It truly is.”

  “Well, excuse me if I don’t find any of this funny.” Sherise got up from the sofa and walked over to the kitchen. “Where’s the wine?”

  “I know what you want to know,” Erica said. “What neighborhood? What building? How much? Did you haggle down?”

  “We want to know because we care.” Sherise finally found the wine and brought it back to the girls. “Not because we look down on you.”

  She reached for one of the glasses that Erica had lined up on the table, but Erica blocked her.

  “I’m packing these,” she said.

  “Fine.” Sherise screwed off the top and drank straight from the bottle.

  “Why are you packing alone?” Billie asked.

  “Well, I couldn’t very well ask you two,” Erica answered.

  “What about Nate?” Sherise asked.

  Erica just shook her head.

  “What?” Sherise asked again.

  “We’re not . . . talking right now,” Erica said.

  “What about Corey?” Billie asked. “Are you two still seeing each other?”

  “Yeah,” Sherise added. “What is the deal with him? When do we meet him?”

  Erica was embarrassed now. “It doesn’t matter.”

  Billie noticed the change in her expression. “When you say it doesn’t matter like that, it means it matters. You see, we do know you.”

  Erica stopped wrapping the glass in her hand. “We’re not talking right now either.”

  Sherise put the wine bottle down. “What happened?”

  “It’s just a . . .” Erica placed the glass on the table. She didn’t want to, but she started crying right away.

  She tried to wipe the tears from her face, but it was too late. Both Billie and Sherise rushed over to her, sitting on the floor beside her, and wrapped their arms around her. Erica let herself give into a rare show of deep emotion as
she rested her head on Billie’s shoulder and gripped Sherise’s hand.

  “I wish I had my phone,” Sherise said. “I want to get a picture of Erica, the tough girl, crying.”

  “Stop it.” Erica nudged her with her elbow. “It’s not funny.”

  “I’m just doing what I do,” Sherise said, with a smile.

  “Tell us, sweetie,” Billie urged her. “What’s wrong?”

  “He dumped me!” Erica finally admitted. “Corey dumped me! Nate betrayed me! I have no one.”

  “You have us,” Sherise said. “You always have us.”

  “I don’t know why this is happening to me,” Erica exclaimed.

  “I think you do, baby,” Billie said.

  “You’re going to go on about Jonah again, aren’t you?” Erica asked.

  “I won’t if you don’t want to hear it,” Billie answered.

  “Since when did we care what any of us wanted to hear?” Sherise asked. “Of course it’s Jonah. You’re grasping for distractions to avoid dealing with your pain.”

  Erica rolled her eyes. “Just stop.”

  “It won’t stop,” Billie said. “It will only get worse unless you stop it.”

  Erica wrenched free of their grip and stood up, taking a step back. “If you guys are gonna go on about this, you can just leave. Just go.”

  “No,” Sherise said adamantly as she stood up.

  “We won’t leave,” Billie added, standing up too. “We will never leave no matter what.”

  “You always have us,” Sherise said. “Whether you want us or not. But you’ll lose everything else if you stay on this path. I’ll have Justin and Cady and Aiden. Billie will have Tara and, well fuck, who knows what’s going on with her and Michael. But you’ll have no one.”

  “But us,” Billie said. “Is that enough?”

  When Maurice walked into his office that morning, his expression quickly changed from surprise to anger at the sight of Sherise sitting at his desk.

  “What are you doing?” he asked, rushing over to the desk and placing his briefcase on top of it.

  “Careful,” Sherise warned. “You’ll knock this box over, and it’s full of your more delicate stuff.”

  Maurice looked in the box and then around the office. Seeing Sherise at his desk had kept him from noticing what the real deal was. Most of his office had already been packed in boxes.