A Rich Man's Baby

by Daaimah S. Poole

  Chapter 36

  Dionne

  After narrowly missing getting caught again coming from Rome, I knew it was time to stop my cheating. I took a long hard look at Terrance and grasped that he was a great man and I was very lucky to be about to become his wife. I’d cut off all communication with Kevin. He was acting funny anyway. I loved Terrance and I was going to marry him and live happily ever after. I was about to have a big spectacular wedding and we were buying a house.

  Terrance and I looked at a few houses in Delaware and New Jersey. Terrance wanted to move to Delaware because the real estate taxes were cheaper and he would be closer to Maryland so he could find a job there and have a shorter commute. I just wanted a study so I could have a big office to do my work in.

  We looked at several properties; we could either buy a house that was ten years old for three hundred and fifty thousand or put out a little more money and buy a house brand-new for thirty thousand more. I wanted the brand-new house.

  Our house should be ready three months after our wedding. I couldn’t wait to furnish it and have children and just live a wonderful life with the man of my dreams. I had to meet with my wedding planner, Bethany. She was trying to convince me that I should do a dance at the ceremony and that it was the new thing.

  “What type of dance should I do?” I asked.

  “Like you can learn the tango or do a little salsa. It makes the wedding festive and different.”

  “No, I’m not really interested in that.”

  “I’ve been to a lot of weddings where it was done.”

  This was my wedding, not hers, so I told her no once again and we moved on to tasting the cake and finalizing the other arrangements. I couldn’t wait to marry Terrance, but was tired of planning this wedding.

  Chapter 37

  Adrienne

  Trying to date a guy, trying to get pregnant on purpose, without him knowing was hard as hell. I know for sure if I were some chick with five kids living in a two-bedroom house, I would have been carrying twins by now. I wanted a baby and I wanted it now. I came to the conclusion that I wanted to be with Mark. I had to be real with myself. He was a multimillionaire and had other girls that he got with, but I had to make sure I was able to get in that number-one position. So I changed my stance. No more “Where you been, why didn’t you call me?” I fell back and it was working. I didn’t even answer his calls the first time anymore. I was trying to be wifey, or baby mother, in either order. I didn’t care as long as Mark and I ended up together. And we had to get together soon, because all my credit cards were almost maxed out.

  I dialed him. I had to apply the right amount of full-court pressure—not too much, though. If I did, in the very end I would have him. One of my plays was calling him and not leaving a message. He did that shit to me all the time. See, if I left a message and he didn’t call me back, I would be upset. But with no message left, there was no definitive way for me to know that he knew I called. So then I could call him again.

  It was Wednesday and I wanted to see Mark that weekend. I wanted him to ask me. I couldn’t ask him; then I would seem desperate. So once again, I had to let him think it was his idea.

  I just picked up the phone and dialed him. I heard his voice and I let out a sexy “Mark.”

  “Hey, Adrienne,” he said, less than enthused. But that was okay, he was always so blah, but in a good way. We talked a little bit, and I heard a few of his friends in the background. I thought I heard female voices. I was becoming a little jealous.

  “What are you doing? Where you at?”

  “I’m in Vegas for the fight.”

  “The fight? What fight? When is it?”

  “This weekend. So let me handle this, and I’ll give you a call a little later.”

  “I should come out there,” I said before he hung up.

  “If you do, let me know. Call me. I want to see you.”

  He wanted to see me. That’s all I needed to hear. As soon as I hung up with him, I priced the flights to Vegas. He didn’t exactly ask me to come out, but he did want to see me. That was enough to make me go. Damn, the cheapest tickets were six hundred dollars. I didn’t have any money in the bank and only had four hundred on my credit card. I was about to call my credit card company to get an increase in my spending limit. I had to do it. It was a business investment. The more time I spent with Mark, the more he was feeling me, and the more chances I had to get pregnant. It would only take a little more time to wear him down. I knew it.

  I called my credit card company and they approved me for a five-thousand-dollar increase. I was so happy I called Tanisha and said, “Pack your bags. We’re meeting Mark in Vegas. He is going to be at the fight this weekend. We need to be there.”

  “I don’t have any money for Vegas, girl.”

  “I have it, don’t worry about it. I’m about to charge our tickets right now. I’m on Expedia looking for tickets.”

  “No, I can’t let you do that.”

  “It is already done,” I said as I reserved the last two tickets on American Airlines leaving Friday morning.

  After a little more convincing, Tanisha agreed to go. I purchased our flight before I found our hotel room. Most of the rooms were already booked. The only thing I could find was a suite that was seven hundred a night.

  “Mark Owens, you are mine, and I’m going to be yours one way or another,” I said as I pulled out my hot-pink suitcase and began to pack.

  Chapter 38

  Tanisha

  Some people are blessed with good looks, others money. Then sometimes you get both, and I think that it is so unfair. Kevin had all three: good looks, money, and intelligence. What a combination. Is it impossible to fall for someone over the telephone and through e-mails? Ask me a month ago, and I wouldn’t have thought it was possible. I used to think people who met online were a little weird, but now I disagreed totally. I had just opened another e-card from Kevin that he sent me for my birthday. He was showing me so much attention sending me flowers and calling.

  The main desk called me and said I had something at the desk waiting for me. I was becoming embarrassed, because security and all the women in the hospital were making comments like “Someone really loves you.” This time it was an edible fruit flower arrangement. It was so pretty I didn’t want to eat it. It had cantaloupe and pineapples in the shape of sunflowers and hearts. The berries, grapes, and strawberries were covered with a light coating of chocolate. I brought the arrangement back to my desk.

  “What are you smiling about over there?” Miss Alberta asked.

  She wanted to know what was going on. Miss Alberta had been saying smart shit like, “He must be married. Don’t no man put that much thought into a woman.” She wanted to know so bad what I was doing. I refused to tell her nosy ass anything.

  “Who gave you this?” Jeremy asked as he picked a strawberry off my arrangement on my desk.

  “Don’t worry about that.”

  “Is it that sweet?” he asked as he stepped back, looked at my legs, and gave a sly grin.

  “Jeremy, be quiet,” I said as I tried to punch him and he backed away.

  “I’m just asking. Somebody got a boyfriend.”

  “No, I don’t.”

  “You know he is married,” Miss Alberta repeated in case I didn’t hear her the first time.

  I just ignored her and smiled as I opened my card.

  Thank you for being you.

  Lots of Love,

  Kevin

  “Tanisha, did you hear me? No man spends this type of money and attention if he is not married,” Miss Alberta said for the third time.

  Now, I could put her in her place, but I was going to respectfully ignore her.

  “That’s not true,” I said, still smiling as I sat back at my desk. I went online to send Kevin a thank-you e-mail.

  “What, your husband trying to get you back?” Reginald asked.

  “No. Why are y’all up in my business?”

  “Tell us who
is it. What’s going on?” Miss Alberta begged.

  I looked over at her and said, “I’ll tell you later.”

  I wanted to tell somebody. I was so happy to have someone so special in my life. When Reginald and Jeremy went to lunch, I pulled up Kevin’s basketball team’s Web site and pointed to his picture.

  Miss Alberta looked down at the picture and said, “That’s him? Wow, he is so handsome. Where does he live?”

  “In Rome.”

  “In Italy?” she asked, shocked.

  “Yes.”

  “Oh my, this is so exciting,” she said, clapping her hands fast. “Where did you meet him? Have you told your children about him yet?”

  I told her everything that had happened so far, and she thought he was so nice.

  “When are you going to see him again?”

  “I don’t know. Right now we just talk on the telephone a lot and we e-mail, and that’s about it. Probably when he has a break. He is very busy with practice and playing.”

  “I knew he had to have a lot of money because I went online and saw your bag, and it was like two thousand dollars. I tell my granddaughter all the time, ‘If you going to date someone, make sure they treat you well and have some money. Not a bum.’ Because back in my day, whoever was around me had money.”

  I smiled but was thinking, No, she didn’t price my bag. I couldn’t worry about her. I had to prepare to go on my weekend trip to Vegas. I was loving my new life.

  Adrienne paid for the whole trip, and we were staying in this suite at the Bellagio. It was a hotel with all these lights and waterfalls in front. We had a living-room area, a kitchenette, a big double closet, a Jacuzzi, and a walk-in shower. It was nice. You could look out the window and see the entire Strip lit up. There were lights sparkling like Christmas trees for miles.

  Vegas was so nice. The weather was good, and it was so lively. When we checked in, it was wall-to-wall men and people dressed up like pimps. I couldn’t let her pay for this by herself.

  “Adrienne, I’m going to pay you back as soon as I get paid. Okay?”

  “Don’t worry about paying me back. Just help me with finding my man,” she said as she stood in the mirror, trying to decide what dress she wanted to wear.

  “No, I get paid this coming Friday.”

  “It’s okay. I’m not worried about it. Let’s get dressed. We need to be cute all day. I want to go catch Mark. He is staying at the MGM.”

  We were dressed and ready to have fun. There was a lot going on. A lot of people were repping different parts of the country, and you could tell where they were from by what they had on. Adrienne wore this low-cut teal dress and gold charm necklace and bracelet, gold sandals, and these police-officer–looking sunglasses. I finally was able to carry my Prada bag that Kevin had sent me with green sandals and dress. Adrienne said it was cute.

  We went to Mark’s hotel, and he wasn’t in. Adrienne called him three times and his phone kept going to voice mail. She left him a note at the front desk, and then to make sure he knew she stopped past, we went to his room and knocked on the door. Adrienne held her ear up to the door, then got on her knees and looked under the door. “They’re not here,” she announced.

  “How many rooms does he have?” I asked.

  “Just this one. His friends have their own rooms,” she said as she wrote another note to leave for him.

  We went downstairs to the bar and then hit up a club called Tao. I honestly could say this was the first time both of our attention were not focused on all the men who were walking around. My mind was on Kevin, and Adrienne was in search of the elusive Mark. She was on the dance floor dancing, but really looking all around like she was going to spot him. I knew he had to get one of Adrienne’s messages. She kept calling him. He might have been avoiding her. She told him she was coming out here, and he hadn’t called her back yet. That was fucked up. She was so smart, so pretty, and yet she didn’t understand good sex does not equate to a man treating you good. He was treating Adrienne like shit. But she was allowing it.

  Kevin knew I was in Vegas, but he still kept calling me like every hour. And I didn’t mind. When we were in the club last night, he texted me to say he missed me. I was in the bathroom texting instead of being out on the dance floor with Adrienne. I was telling him how nice everything was. He kept saying he was so jealous and he wished he was there. I wished he was there too. I wished he was close to me. I was tired of just hugging the phone.

  The next morning Adrienne yelled loud enough for Kevin to hear on the other end, “I wish you would hang up.”

  I thought she was still asleep, but I guess she wasn’t. I gave her a look like “don’t be rude.” She did pay for this trip, though, so I told Kevin I had to call him back.

  “You think you might be wasting time with all these e-mails and late-night phone calls?”

  “No, I feel like I’m really getting to know him. Why do you think Mark hasn’t called you yet?” I said, changing the subject back to her.

  “I don’t know, but he is acting funny, and I don’t like it. I know he got my messages,” she said as she sighed and fell into her pillow.

  It was fight night, but we didn’t even make it to the fight. Who even cared about it? I didn’t want her to spend any more money. She had paid for all my meals, my flight, and gambling. Enough was enough. I prayed that she found what she was looking for. We were just waiting until after the fight to go and party. Adrienne was getting so much attention in the lobby of the hotel, but she was ignoring them all. And they were the kind she liked with big jewelry and lots of money. She just rejected every man that approached her. She had it so bad it was almost funny. She kept picking up her phone to see if he called and then kept calling his hotel room and leaving more messages. But still no Mark Owens.

  Chapter 39

  Adrienne

  I was not going to get pregnant with Mark’s baby and he was not going to be my man. He was a rude bastard, and that’s just life. You win some, and you lose some. And I had unfortunately lost this battle. I took a gamble and lost big.

  As soon as I got home I was going to go and find me a job before my money ran out completely. I didn’t know how much money I’d spent this weekend. I just felt so stupid. I just wanted to get on the plane right now and go to sleep. I thought we would be partying with Mark all weekend, having fun. I didn’t think I would be spending all my own money. “Fuck it,” I said as I kicked off my heels. I would rather go to sleep than go to another stupid-ass party and spend more money. I was not taking out another cash advance off my credit card, and I’d take Tanisha up on her paying me back for this trip. I was fed up and mad until I saw a 216 area code roll across my screen. I jumped up and down. I knew it was Mark. I tried not to breathe heavy like my heart wasn’t racing and sang, “Hello?”

  “Adrienne. You out here?” he yelled over loud music.

  “Yeah, for the last two days I’ve been trying to get in touch with you.”

  “Sorry, there was something wrong with my phone and I been on that craps table like crazy.”

  “You winning?” I asked.

  “No, not even. I had to get money back. I’m almost even. I spent so much money I don’t even want to talk about it. I had to use Carlos’s phone. I can’t even check my voice mail. We on our way to the party at Blush. Meet me there.”

  Without hesitation we dressed and took a taxi over to the nightclub. The line was at the end of the block. I called Mark and he sent one of his friends out to get us. His friend Carlos pulled us into the club past all the people waiting in line. I saw Mark, gave him a hug, and introduced him to Tanisha. I said what’s up to all his friends, but they were already tore up and could barely stand. Tanisha and I had a seat, and Mark told me he had ordered a few more bottles of champagne. Mark told me my dress looked good and grabbed my hand and kissed it. I knew I looked good, and I was so happy he noticed. All this prepping was not in vain. A woman came to the table and brought us over gold bottles of Ace of Spades cham
pagne with lit gold sparklers coming out of them. He filled our glasses and we all began dancing and partying hard.

  Girls kept coming up to our booth, and Mark was shooing them away. That made me feel so important. I had another glass of champagne and was swaying to the music. Then Mark pulled me to the dance floor. We danced and drank all night long. He kissed me and ground on me like we were all alone on the dance floor. I couldn’t wait to get back to his room.

  By 4 a.m. the club became empty and we were the last drunk people on the floor. I couldn’t wait to get back to the room with Mark. I was all over him, tongue in his ear and kisses on his neck. We held hands as we left the club. We began kissing again and feeling each other up as we got in the taxi line. I whispered to Tanisha I would see her in the morning. A yellow minivan taxi pulled up; Tanisha got in and I followed. The one taxi could drop her off, then us. Once I entered the cab, Mark shut the door and told me he was going to call me.

  “Where are you going, Mark?”

  “They going to gamble a little more. I’m going with them,” he said as he turned to his drunk friends. My intoxication wore off instantly. I had to go with him and be with him, and now he was trying to tell me he would call me. I got back out of the taxi. “I’ll go wait in the room for you.”

  “No, I don’t know what time I’m getting back.”

  “Mark, it don’t matter because I just want to wait for you.” I was trying not to get too loud or seem too anxious. I told the cabdriver to start running the meter. I didn’t want to go back to the room with Tanisha. I already had our night planned out. We were going to go back to his room, fuck all night, and get up and go to breakfast.