by nikki blaire
“Ayda?” He retorted, as if he suddenly remembered that she existed.
“Yes. Ayda.” Everyone’s attention shifted to her, which clearly made her uncomfortable. She gripped Tremaine’s hand under the table, but he calmly caressed it until her grip loosened.
“Alright then, Ayda. What do you think of this?”
She took a breath and then gulped before speaking.
“It’s possible.” She was choosing her words carefully.
“You can definitely play it as the firm going back to it’s roots, connecting to the community, just to keep your more influential clientele from being concerned. Maybe even launch some community projects before officially taking him on as a client, if he agrees. Eventually, you may need to break this off into it’s own branch under the firm if you garner a significant amount of clients though.”
Her voice was meek to start, but bolstered as she continued. Once she finished, her father was almost smiling.
“I’m sold on it.” He looked to his sons. “Sound legal, Dwele?”
“From what I heard, but you should check with the firm’s counsel, Dad. I don’t work there, remember?”
“Yet.” Their father quickly corrected. “Alright, Marc. We’ll talk about this more next week. Ayda and Tremaine, we’ll bring you in once we’ve got things worked out on our end.”
“Not to be brash, but what would we bring Tremaine into this for?” Marcus just couldn’t help himself. He was prone to be an asshole.
“Because the man’s got a good idea and I don’t want to be the fool who’s not around to hear the next one.” Their father replied sternly.
“Well, now that all of that work talk is out of the way, maybe we can enjoy dessert.” Claudette was intent on being a hostess, as she recited the variety of desserts that had been placed at their table.
“Excuse me. I need to go to the restroom. I’ll be right back.” Tremaine stood. His heart was thumping and he needed to calm down.
“No problem, dear, but please hurry back. The party really gets going after dessert.” Claudette called after him as he dismissed himself from the table. He left a kiss on Ayda’s cheek just to taste her skin again before walking away. He made the short walk to the bathroom, relieved himself, then stood at the sink to revel in the moment. A month ago, no one could have convinced him that he would be having a night like this. He hummed his happiness, while he washed his hands.
“So, you’re Ayda’s date.” A voice sounded behind him. Tremaine looked up to see a darker skinned, slim gentleman walking up to the sink next to him. He wore a suit that was nice enough, but it lacked any personal touches.
“Um, yea.” He figured this guy must have been a family friend to ask such a personal question. He dried his hands then waited for the man to finish as well before offering his hand to shake.
“Tremaine Henley.”
“She’s clearly made some changes since I last saw her.” He laughed a little before weakly shaking Tremaine’s hand.
“Aaron Masters. Ayda’s ex-boyfriend and word of advice, you need to be firm with that one.”
Tremaine almost snatched his hand away. Something about this guy rubbed him the wrong way and it wasn’t because he was Ayda’s ex. He just seemed shady, plus, he knew not to trust a man with a weak handshake.
“I guess I appreciate the advice, but we’re good. Thanks.” He turned to leave, but the man followed.
“You’re good now, but wait until she starts having a response for everything you say. Smart mouth on that one, and she has a real problem with taking direction.” He shook his head.
“So much potential to be a great wife, but she just doesn’t know her place. Lay down the law early. That was my mistake.”
Tremaine had always been slow to anger, but a hot rage flashed through his body before he could stop it.
“Look, Aaron, is it? I’m with Ayda because I happen to like all of those things about her. If you want someone like you just described, sounds like you need to have a kid instead of a grown woman. I don’t need to lay any kind of law down with her.”
Aaron’s face transformed into a smug grin. He was intentionally trying to rile Tremaine up and if he didn’t get a handle on himself, then this guy would succeed.
“You can either take the advice or leave it.” He brushed invisible lint off of his jacket.
“Sounds like the pussy has got you so wrapped up that you’re not going to take it.” He moved to walk by Tremaine, but he quickly put his arm out to halt the man. In another quick motion, Tremaine had him pushed against the bathroom wall by his neck.
“Oh, you’re going to regret that.” Aaron nearly cackled, but Tremaine just tightened his grip.
“No, you’re going to regret ever mentioning Ayda’s name or any part of her body. Look here, I don’t know what you’re referencing about Ayda, but I don’t like it. I also don’t like the tone you’re taking when you talk about her either, bruh. So, get this and get it good, do yourself a favor and keep her name out of your mouth.”
“I’m calling the police.” He glared into Tremaine’s eyes, but somehow Tremaine knew that he was bluffing so he called him on it.
“Well since that’s the case, I may as well make this worth it and choke you out right now. What do you think?”
“Okay, okay, just back off.” He fidgeted until Tremaine released him.
“Are we clear? Because I wouldn’t want to have to find you to make sure.”
Aaron just nodded, while he adjusted his suit jacket. He gave Tremaine one more smug grin then walked out the door. Tremaine hung back for a moment to straighten his suit as well. He couldn’t believe what had just come over him, but he couldn’t let that kind of disrespect slide.
He checked himself one last time before leaving the restroom then scanned the room for Aaron until he found his table. They made eye contact, but Aaron quickly looked away. He figured that he wouldn’t have wanted to cause a scene, but he had to be sure. Tremaine didn’t want to be the one to ruin this night for Ayda, especially since it had been going so well. He made his way back to the table and took his seat.
“Hey, you okay? Everyone’s finished dessert.” Ayda leaned into him. He kissed her forehead then took a bite of the pastry in front of him.
“Yea, I’m fine. I just ran into your ex Aaron in the bathroom. We had a talk.”
Ayda’s lips thinned. She wanted to ask more questions, but knew that now wasn’t the right time.
“Is everything okay?” Was all that she could manage.
“Fine. Perfect. We reached an understanding.”
He turned back to facing everyone at the table, but Ayda was still obviously perplexed.
“We’ll talk about it later. Let me finish dessert and then can I have a dance?”
“Sure.” She sighed. “A dance would be nice.”
She tossed back the rest of her glass of wine, then motioned for the waiter to refill it.
****
We reached an understanding.What in the hell does that mean?
Ayda sat in her chair with a stiff back, while she over processed what Tremaine had said. He and Aaron had met, and judging from Tremaine’s overly calm nonchalance, something had transpired between them.
“You ready for that dance?” He finally turned to her after finishing up some idle chat with her father. The way Marcus Forde, Sr. took to Tremaine also had her reeling. Somehow, he had managed to make her father see her as a professional, which was something she had been trying to do for years.
“Most definitely.” She grinned at him in an attempt to hide her true emotions, but she knew that he saw straight through her. He took her hand then led her to the dance floor, which had been empty all night. The orchestra played a soft and beautiful rendition of the classic “Reasons” while Tremaine pulled her closely. His cologne and hands on her waist made her slightly dizzy, so she laid her head on his chest. They swayed back and forth for a moment until Tremaine leaned down and whispered in her ear.
&n
bsp; “So, you were fuckin with a bitch nigga before, huh?” His voice was soft, but stern.
“Well...yes.” She couldn’t get around it. Aaron was the exact definition. “But, how do you know?”
“I told you, we met in the bathroom and came to an understanding. So, that’s why I’ve been getting your ass to kiss for so long? Makes sense.” He swayed her back and forth then spun her around.
“What did you do, Tremaine? Aaron is a very powerful man.”
“I wouldn’t call him a man…” He looked down at her.
“Touché.” She exhaled.
“As long as you’re alright, that’s all I care about.” She let her head slip down to his shoulder.
“You’re all I care about.” He pulled her even more closely, while the music changed to another classic. They danced together, their bodies melting together. He felt absolutely perfect against her, but most importantly, she felt safe. He wrapped his arms around her torso, letting his hands dip lower until they rested at the small of her back. She could tell that he wanted to delve deeper into her relationship with Aaron, but thankfully, he didn’t ask any more questions. They danced until the song faded. He dipped her, which sent the crowd into thunderous applause. Apparently, the room had been watching them.
“I didn’t notice we had an audience.” She breathed, as he turned her back upright.
“You said we were here to impress, right?” He winked at her before leading her back to her seat. They shared another one of their longing looks before turning back to face the table.
“I can have Marcus or Dwele take me home, Ayda. So, you and Tremaine can have some alone time.” Renee whispered once she sat down.
“No. That’s not necessary. We can take you,”
“It would be greatly appreciated, Renee. If it’s not an inconvenience.” Tremaine leaned across Ayda to interject.
“Not at all.” Renee gave a sly smile then turned to Dwele to ask him to take her home.
The evening wound down without further incident, but Ayda was focused on the car ride back to her apartment. Renee had been her buffer, but now, she was sure that Tremaine would take full advantage of having her alone.
“It was so great to meet you, Tremaine. I’m so happy that Ayda finally decided to share you with us.” Claudette kissed his cheek, while they waited outside for their car to arrive.
“And Ayda, you looked amazing tonight. It’s nice to finally see you back to your usual self.”
Ayda wanted to say that she was happy to finally be allowed to be her usual self, but she held her tongue.
“Yes, young man. It was nice to meet you this evening.” Marcus Forde, Sr. handed Tremaine his card.
“Follow up and we’ll connect on what we discussed.” He gave Tremaine a nod, Ayda a hug, and then dismissed himself from the group without saying a word to her mother.
“Is Dad okay?” She couldn’t hold her question in any longer, but her mother brushed her off.
“He’s just fine, dear.” She kissed Ayda’s cheek, as her brothers and Renee finally came outside as well.
“You have an amazing night.” Renee whispered in her ear while pretending to hug her. “I want to hear all about it. Don’t leave out a single detail.” She pulled back.
“You’re terrible. You know that?”
“Girl, please. You’ve been so wound up these past couple of weeks. It’ll be great to see you smiling again. See you on Monday.” She waved before telling everyone else goodbye.
Each brother approached her with a hug then gave Tremaine a handshake, but Marcus lingered longer than necessary.
“Get my sister home safe.” He glared at Tremaine. “Call me as soon as you’re home, Ayda.”
“I definitely will not, Marc. Let’s go, Tremaine.”
She took his hand away from Marcus then pulled him to the car. Tremaine held the door open for her then slid in himself. They rode in silence for a while until Tremaine reached across her lap to grab her hand then laced their fingers.
“Ya know, you can tell me about it. Your relationship with Aaron. I’m not the judging type, plus, I mean...I don’t have the room to anyways. I have a whole kid with my ex.”
She smiled in appreciation of his attempt to lighten the mood, but retelling the story was just too much. She had let it go tonight already and didn’t think rehashing it would help.
“There’s not much to tell. He and I dated about four years ago right after grad school. Our families run in the same circles, so they thought it would be a good match. It wasn’t.” She looked down at their intertwined fingers. Tremaine was now lightly caressing hers with his thumb, the simple act easing her apprehension.
“Well, was it not a good match because he was abusive?” His tone was barely above a whisper. She fixed her mouth to respond, but felt tears starting to well in her eyes, so she just nodded.
She had been abused, but had not spoken or even heard the word out loud over all of these years. A new wave of tears stung her eyes, while Tremaine pulled her against him.
“I wish I had known, Ayda. I would have-”
“Done more than just come to an understanding.” She mimicked him from earlier. “That wouldn’t have helped anyone.”
“You’re right.” He sighed. “
But what about your brothers, your dad? The way Marc jumped on me about being broke, I can just imagine what he’d do…” The realization hit him.
“They don’t know. You never told them.”
Ayda shook her head, while new tears stung her eyes. She had not wanted to cry.
“Why didn’t you tell them? They would’ve handled him.” He squeezed her tighter.
“But telling them would make it true.”
A teardrop fell onto Tremaine’s hand, but that was all that she would allow herself. She had cried enough over all of it.
“It was hard to even face that it was really happening to me. Let alone tell someone else. I also loved him and I didn’t want him to be ruined. I know I shouldn’t have cared, but I did.”
She broke free of his grasp, wanting to face him.
“I can’t believe I’m telling you this, but...I also just didn’t want to hear what my family would say. Yea, they’d handle it for me, but I know in the back of their minds they would still be thinking that I shouldn’t have gotten into this. Poor little Ayda, always making these kinds of mistakes. So, I just fixed it myself. I woke up one morning, waited for him to go to work, called my job to use vacation time, and then I just went to the bus station and got on one. I ended up in Texas and stayed there for a couple weeks. It was dramatic, but he got the picture. When I came back, he had told this elaborate lie about me breaking up with him. I didn’t care, as long as we were over.”
He leaned forward and left a soft kiss on her forehead.
“All of it is over.” He breathed.
“And thank you for telling me. I can’t make any promises about what I’ll do if I ever see him again though.” She noticed his jaw tighten. “I’m just happy you’re out of that shit.”
“You?” She let out a loud sigh along with a dry laugh.
“Now, it’s your turn.” She scooted back towards him. The backseat of the SUV they were riding in had plenty of room, but Ayda preferred to be right underneath him, sharing in his body’s warmth.
“My turn?”
“Oh yes. There's more to the story about you and Sasha’s mother. I know it. So, since we’re sharing, I think I deserve to know. What’d you do? Cheat on her with her sister or something? It had to be for you to be so estranged.”
Tremaine’s head fell back with a loud sigh.
“I wish it really was on me. I could actually do something about that. I wished it were as easy as me just having been a better man during our relationship.” He chuckled.
“I think that would be easier to explain than admitting that her mother just doesn’t want to be as involved. She left me when Sasha was two to go be an actress in New York. I thought I knew what it was, but like
you said...it wasn’t.”
“I’m so sorry, Tremaine.” She sat up then cupped his face in her hands. That was not what she had expected to hear.
“It’s not your fault though. It’s hers.”
“Is it really though? I chose the wrong woman to be the mother of my kid and now, the person that means the most to me is stuck with my bad decision. At least you were brave and got yourself out of something really bad. Me, on the other hand, I brought Sasha into this bullshit because I let Trinity be her mother.”
Ayda’s heart clenched and all of the resolve she had built up to keep herself detached melted away. The anguish on his face was also genuine, which touched her even more.
“No, no, no. You can’t blame yourself. You didn’t know.”
She wanted to comfort him in the same way that he had done for her. They were so close now that the smell of his cologne mixed with the liquor that he drank tonight engulfed her. It was a heady scent that fed her infatuation with him.
“And you didn’t either. So, I guess neither of us can blame ourselves.” He responded in a low, aching tone.
A heavy, thick silence hung between them, but Ayda’s mind was running wild. Tremaine had been everything that she needed tonight, and then some, but it had only been a taste of what could be. Now, as they locked eyes, she began to imagine what it would be like to have him permanently - past tonight. Their eyes searched each other’s for confirmation of what they both already knew. Tremaine swooped in and collected both of her lips with his own.
“Ms. Forde, we’ve arrived at your destination.” The driver cleared his throat, which made them pull apart.
“Shit.” They both hissed.
“I mean, sorry, and thank you.” Ayda corrected, while Tremaine fumbled to open his door before getting out to open Ayda’s. Her face was tinged with red from embarrassment as she climbed out then followed Tremaine into her apartment building’s lobby.