“Aja, listen—”
“No, ain’t no listen, sis. Did you . . . see her . . . ass? We gotta fix this. She cannot be in this family.”
Cyn took a sip of the glass of wine she had gone to fetch while Aja was talking. The shrieking, the fast-talking, it was all just too much for everything she was feeling right now.
“Aja, your brother made his choice. Let that man sit in his decision.”
“Nah, we’re not doing that. And you don’t even want that!”
“And so, what? He’s getting married. He made his choice; I wasn’t it.”
“So, are you just gonna tuck your tail and not fight for the man? Because I thought you had more love for him than that.”
Aja was pissing Cyn off. The facts were the facts. Jamie was getting married and there was nothing that she could do, or would do to stop that. Hell, she didn’t even know that he was getting married until Aja told her! So, that showed just how much respect he had for her—none.
“What I look like fighting for somebody’s man, Aja? The girl is wearing his ring on her ring finger. This woman will be his wife in a week. It’s too late. And aside from that, why would I want to be somebody’s second choice?! Girl, stoppp. Please.”
“Umm, so you’re not second choice. You’re first. He settled for her. Who proposes to somebody after not even a year of being together?”
“Aja, it happens. People fall in love quicker than that! Jamie is not the first to do it, and he won’t be the last.”
“Okay, stop Cyn—”
“No, Aja, you stop. I was with that man for five years and didn’t get so much as a promise ring. Kassidi is with him for under a year—”
“Hmm, so you’re calling her by name. You met her, didn’t you?”
“Who said I met her?”
“I did. Because who addresses somebody by name like that? You didn’t say, ‘That woman is . . .’ or ‘That girl is . . .’ You called her by her name.”
Cyn couldn’t help but laugh at Aja. If she didn’t love her to death and view her like a little sister, she would’ve told her to leave her the fuck alone with the bullshit. But not only did she love the girl, as much as she didn’t want to, she loved Jamie too.
“What’s funny?” Aja asked, in a high-pitched voice.
“Babe, you’re funny. You’re up here creating a whole situation where there ain’t one. There’s nothing to me calling that girl by her name. That is her name, right?”
There was a brief silence on the other end of the phone and Cyn hoped that it meant Aja was tired and ready to hang up. But she realized that it was just wishful thinking when Aja blurted out, “So, what did y’all talk about, Cyn?”
“Okay, I’m done . . .” Cyn spoke into the phone before disconnecting from Aja. She wasn’t prepared to go back and forth with her.
Even when Cyn released the call, Aja had called back twice. She also sent eight text messages. As far as Cyn was concerned, Aja could call all night long. She was done talking about Jamie and his future. A future that didn’t include her. She was going to let it die. There was no way she was going to go crashing some man’s wedding or making a last-ditch effort for him to rethink his decision. Hell, the fuck no! She was better than that! And she could’ve had better had she not been so stupid!
“How fuckin’ stupid and desperate are you to be pining over a dude that didn’t see enough in you to deem you as wife material?! You women are all the same. You get a good one in your face and don’t know what to do with him. You’re too busy following behind the one that put a ‘Reject’ stamp on your fucking back! In the middle where everybody could see!”
Alonzo’s stinging words played over and over in Cyn’s head, as she found herself once again standing out on her balcony. She’d let him rant that day. What else could she do? She had been caught red-handed, literally. And with her hand in her own damn cookie jar! There was no way that she could deny a single part of what Alonzo had witnessed.
He was a smart man. And she knew that because of how smart he was, in the moment he was going off, he was in playback mode. All the times she’d pulled away from a touch, or stood him up for romantic liaisons (citing work as the reason), or just plain not being in the mood. She knew that he was mentally piecing together all the times she made him feel unwanted . . . because she was living with the pain of feeling unwanted.
“Where do you think that shit is gonna get you?! You have money, you have looks, you’re smart! You got a lot of good shit going in your favor, which is what attracted me to you! But you sit here and block anything good that can happen to you for what?!”
After shredding her to nano-bits, Alonzo had gotten fully dressed. Cyn sat in the center of her sofa afraid to look up into his disappointed eyes.
“But not to worry, Cynthia. I wish you nothing but a good life. You’ll never have to worry about me again. You wouldn’t have had to worry about me had I known I was playing second base.” He opened her front door and stood there for a second before concluding. “And be a real woman with the next man, and tell him just how fucking damaged you really are.”
Cyn allowed herself to cry for the first time in a long time on that early morning. Right then, she also made a promise to herself that she would heal past the feelings she had for Jamie. That was the only way she could make a conscious effort to get out of her own way. It was the reason she went to see Kassidi for herself. She needed to see her face in person. She needed for it to all be real, so that she could know, without a doubt, that Jamie had moved on.
And now that it had been confirmed for her, it was time that she sought a love all her own. She deserved that happiness.
Hopefully, she could move in that direction.
But first she had somewhere to go . . .
-21-
KASSIDI
After we left Cyn City, the girls—with the exception of Brianna, and surprisingly myself—were ready to turn in. They were tired and all ready for Saturday night shenanigans, while Brianna and I were still turned up a bit. That wasn’t anything new, though. Brianna and I were always the last to head home. It wasn’t uncommon for the two of us to go out on the weekend and shut a club down.
During my engagement to Jamie, however, I had toned it down slightly. It didn’t negate the fact that she and I liked to party, though. I’d always been a party girl, it was just watching my friends settle down in committed relationships, that had me feeling left behind. Like I was missing a void.
“So, it’s just like old times, girl,” Brianna said to me when we got back to the hotel. “You wanna go change clothes and head out to find something to get into? Drais is not too far, and One Oak is kinda close. Or you wanna hang out on the 23rd floor at the Mandarin Bar? At least if we did that, we could get as lit as we wanted to, and be an elevator ride to bed.”
“Girl! I am not changing clothes! I’m still cute from earlier. Please! I like that last part about the Mandarin Bar. Let’s do that.”
Brianna started laughing loudly, and looped her arm through mine as we walked.
“That man Graffiti was fine as hell that you were talking to. I saw you, girl?” she acknowledged, of my earlier interaction. “You can tell me the truth. He got you rethinking some thangs, huh?”
I turned to look at her smirked. “Girl. Stop it. Off some looks? Nah, I don’t even understand anything past looking at a man. Jamie, only. Okay, wait . . . maybe a little bit of conversation. But, that’s it. I’m not trippin’ off of what he’s like in bed, what that mouth do . . . none of that!”
“Ugh! You nasty!” Brianna shrieked, unlocking her arm from mine. We walked off the elevators and into the 23rd floor sky lobby’s bar of our hotel.
I hadn’t had a chance to explore everything the hotel had to offer yet, but now that I was getting to see yet another piece of the gem, I was even more in love! The place had a tone of relaxation and beauty, out of this world, with full views of everything up close and beyond. They were wide-angle views surrounding a desert landscap
e, making for a breathtaking view of Las Vegas. The décor was modern, black lacquer. Just on sight, I gave it a five-star review. Stunning.
“So, let me get this straight,” Brianna continued. “And I’m going off of what you just implied. Looks, dick and head game are what makes a man?”
I squinted my eyes tight for a second, contemplating. “Umm, I guess so.” We stopped in our tracks, looked at each other with serious expressions and then burst into laughter. When our laughter died down, I said, “Shit, men objectify us all the time, so what’s wrong with doing it to them every now and then? Nothing.”
“Girl, I heard the hell outta that!” Brianna yelled, holding her hand in the air for me to give her a high-five.
“Hello . . .” we heard out of nowhere, in the middle of our silliness. The greeting came from a nice-looking girl with long, reddish-blonde hair standing at the entrance. “Do you guys have a reservation or is the bar okay?”
“The bar is totally okay,” Brianna answered before I could respond. “In fact, it’s ideal.”
“Awesome. So, it’s wide open. You can just take a seat anywhere,” she told us, pointing in the direction of the piece of luxury situated in a large corner of the room. It put us even closer to the view.
We made it to the bar and found prime seating that allowed us to people-watch while enjoying girl-talk. I got to wonder about how many of these people were rich and famous, or famous but not so rich, how many were sinning, and such. It was Vegas, after all, and it was a known fact that some of everything went down here.
“What we drinking on?” Brianna blurted out, snatching me from my curiosity.
“I don’t really care. I haven’t been selective all night. My ass had vodka-based, rum-based, and damn tequila!”
“Damn, girl! I didn’t even know you were gettin’ down like that!”
“Yeah, you were too busy to see what I was doing.”
“Forget you!” Brianna blurted. “The question is what you’re drinking now? Leave the past in the past,” she laughed.
Maybe fifteen minutes later we had our drinks before us, and were back to talking about the time spent at the club.
“So, you had fun. I was glad to see that,” Brianna said, after sipping her Hurricane. She looked out the corner of her eyes, grinning. “I mean, you let loose, girl. Like you zoned out being in that muscular man’s arms.”
“Whatever. Y’all were not cool for setting that shit up!”
“Oh, we didn’t have nothing to do with that. We got the front row, hoping that you would get picked, but that was it. Maybe it was compliments of the house. Unless Yolanda’s uptight ass did something behind the scenes that we didn’t know about. But I doubt it.”
Brianna rolled her eyes when she spoke Yolanda’s name, but I didn’t know what it meant, and didn’t feel like asking.
“I like how you keep asking about me, but fail to mention your little exotic friend, Wolverine.”
“His name is Sebastian.”
I pulled back and arched my brow. “Well, excuse the hell outta me. We managed to get the man’s government name? Be nice to know how that happened? I mean, y’all did look something like cozy in that VIP. Did you get a divorce and forget to tell ya girls?” I kidded.
“Just having a little fun. It’s Vegas,” she stated, looking down into her glass.
“It’s marriage, B.” As soon as the words left my mouth, I felt badly. The last thing I wanted was for my friend to think she was being judged by me. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—”
“To what, Kass . . . judge me?”
“Nooo, I mean, yeah, but no. I just meant—”
“I know what you meant.” She put down her glass and spun her stool to look at me. “Kass, you’re the same person getting married because you let age dictate where you should be in life. Let that sink in. Let it sink all the way in because getting married for the wrong reasons will fuck you up—royally.”
“What makes you think I’m getting married . . . because of that?” I spat defensively.
“Because you are,” Brianna retorted, confidently. “You know it. I honestly didn’t think you’d take it this far. I thought you would wise the fuck up before you leapt into a lie. Yet, here we are . . .” She lifted her glass to the air. “. . . celebrating your last weekend as a ‘free’ woman.”
I wanted to be pissed at Brianna. I wanted to sling insults at her that would cut her as deeply as she was trying to cut me. But I knew Brianna. She wasn’t vindictive at all. She was my girl and had always been there when I needed her. Honestly, after hearing her just now, and seeing her earlier with the dancer, it made me think she might be going through something at home. Something that she wasn’t ready to talk about yet. So, I needed to forget everything else, and just be the friend she needed me to be.
“Okay, girl. What are we doing?” I asked, trying to lighten the mood. “We’re not here for this.”
“I know. I’m sorry, Kass. I was way outta line.”
“You’re good. You just said how you felt. It’s okay. Let’s just move forward from it.”
“I agree. Let’s just move forward from it.”
“But what is it that we’re moving on from?” I didn’t know about Brianna, but I damn near leapt out of my seat when the male baritone invaded our space.
We both snatched around at the same time, in the direction of the voice, and were surprised by who we saw.
-22-
KASSIDI
“Hey sexy,” Wolverine said, to a blushing Brianna. Her light skin was every bit of crimson when she cheesed at his comment. I brought my drink to my lips, sipping away as I silently observed the way my friend was looking at him. It was as though I wasn’t even there. It was so abundantly clear that Brianna had something more than innocent flirtation, in mind with this man. What was also crystal clear was that she didn’t give a damn who realized it.
“Hey yourself. What are you doing here?”
If Brianna could smile any bigger, her jaws would crack wide the hell open!
“Hoping to see you,” he responded.
“Ahhhem!”
Me clearing my throat appeared to be the only thing that reminded them that another human was even present.
“Oh hey, fiancée,” Wolverine said to me, flashing a smile that could stop traffic.
Brianna gave him a love tap, and cooed, “Don’t call her that. She has her own identity. Her name is Kassidi . . . with a ‘K’ in the front, and an ‘i’ at the end.”
“Okay.” He stuck his hand out in my direction. “How are you, Kassidi?”
“I’m good,” I stated chuckling at how Brianna had him doing what she wanted, how she wanted. “Thanks for asking. I enjoyed your performance tonight.”
“Thank you. And what about my boy’s performance?” he asked, smiling big, biting down on his bottom lip. “Did you like The Graffiti Effect?”
“All of y’all were talented,” I replied, attempting to deflect.
Wolverine laughed and nodded. “Oooh, okay. I see how you just tried to swerve and not hit that curb.” After basically seeing right through my nonchalance, he turned back to Brianna with an invitation. “Y’all wanna join me at my table?”
As soon as he said it, somehow my head turned in the very spot that Graffiti was sitting, watching. How the hell that happened, I didn’t know. Everything in me was screaming to call it a night and get my ass on that elevator and to my room. I felt, with everything in me, that if I didn’t take my ass to my suite, trouble could be on my horizon and who needed that shit? Not me!
Listening to my intuition, I made my move to bail on the invite. “Umm, B . . . I think I’m gonna—”
“Nope . . .” Brianna said, grabbing me by my arm and pulling me from my bar stool. I tried my best to reject her pull and stay planted, but my strength wasn’t a match.
Dragging me across the room didn’t take long at all. Within seconds I was face-to-face with the stranger who had some sort of effect on me. I couldn’t iden
tify it, but there was something there. Made me nervous. Made me scared. Especially, when I played his last words to me in my head:
“You’re pretty as fuck. You could’ve asked me all the questions you wanted. I just wanted you to admit that you were jealous. Just a little…”
“Hey. Small world,” he remarked, looking me straight in my eyes.
I looked over at Brianna who was all-smiles. She nudged her head hard to the left, signaling for me to sit in the chair. I finally gave in and sat down.
“You seem nervous,” he said to me. “Do I make you nervous?”
“No, you don’t.” It was a total lie, but I had to tell it. Admitting the truth would bring attention to the fact that my heart was thumping off the scales. “I’m good.”
He chuckled. “Really?”
“Really.”
“Cool, so tell me about yourself.”
“What do you wanna know?” I asked, my nerves abound.
“I wanna know just how in love are you with your man?”
Oh. My. Damnnn.
I looked over at Brianna. I needed desperately for her to come to my rescue. But just like the club a short while earlier, Brianna was in her own world. They were so deep in conversation that not even a voice through a bullhorn could cut in. I was dying a super slow death on the inside. But I was stuck. There was nothing I could do without appearing juvenile. So, I did the only thing that I could do. I walked into the bait.
“Damn. Forward, much?”
“Forward, much . . .” he confirmed, casually. “So, how in love are you?”
“I mean . . . I’m getting married. Isn’t it obvious?”
He shook his head. “Not really. That’s why I’m asking. I wanna hear you say it.”
I blew a puff of air from between my lips. He had me nervous. Had me wondering why I felt pressured to give him an answer. In my mind, I was going back and forth with whether to order another drink or not. I just didn’t feel sedated enough.
The Graffiti Effect Page 10