“Please, just go away and leave me alone.”
Jackson started walking away. “You know I can get pussy anytime. Don’t think yours is special.”
Champagne didn’t feel a need to respond, she just shook her head, went into the room and avoided him for the rest of the conference. She spoke to him only if necessary.
When they returned to New York, the air was tight with tension, so she knew this was payback. It couldn’t be anything else. She worked her ass off for him and got him the best clients possible. Even when he continued to be an asshole, she recruited for better clients and basically made his company the success it was today.
* * *
The time had come and Champagne knew what she had to do. It was time to move on. She’d been thinking about starting her own business anyway, and he’d just given her the opportunity.
She didn’t want to react emotionally and up and quit in that moment. She had to sit down and plan her shit out. She wanted to take two clients with her, and she needed to prepare them.
Just knowing in that instant what her plans were calmed her down. She looked at Jackson and surprised him with, “Do what you have to do. If you think I need a partner, so be it. Now, if you don’t mind, I have some phone calls I need to make.”
Jackson was thrown off. He just knew she would be pissed. All the other women in the office kissed his ass but not Champagne, not even after all these years. He figured he would have worn her down by now. He was in love with her, and was angry that the love wasn’t being returned.
“I’m planning on having a staff meeting the end of this week before Camille starts, so check your schedule.”
The second he left her office, Champagne was on the phone with Alexis. “Girl, are you busy for lunch? I need to talk.”
“Never too busy for you.”
“All right, let’s meet at our spot in the village around one p.m.”
“I’ll be there.”
For the rest of the morning, Champagne made phone calls, confirmed a few interviews, and started putting together a plan for her new venture.
What she had in mind was a dual public relations/personal assistant business that would cater to the wealthy, famous or not. If you could afford her services, she would take you on as a client. Her goal would be to make the client’s life easier by arranging their schedules, setting up appointments, booking vacations. Basically managing their lives. Champagne knew this wasn’t something she could do on her own and would definitely have to hire people.
Damn, I hope I’m not getting in over my head, she thought to herself.
* * *
Champagne and Alexis met at Bojo’s, a vegetarian spot. Alexis didn’t eat anything that lived and roamed the earth. This cracked Champagne up because she knew that Alexis grew up on ham and bacon.
As always, they sat outside. They loved to take in the sights and talk about the people that walked by. This day, they wouldn’t be doing that. Champagne had some serious business at hand she needed to discuss.
“Would you like something to drink?” the waitress asked.
“Some water and the menu,” Champagne replied.
“With lemon.”
The waitress walked away.
“So, what’s up, lady? What’s new?”
“Beside the fact that I’m leaving my job?”
“Get out!”
“Girl, I can’t do it anymore.”
“What happened? Don’t tell me Jackson came on to you again. I told you, you should have told Zyair a long time ago.”
“And I told you, I had it under control. But that’s not why. He had the audacity to tell me he hired a partner for me.”
“A partner? Do you need a partner?”
“No, I don’t need a damn partner. I know he’s only doing this because I won’t sleep with him.”
“Well, sue his ass.”
“I don’t feel like going through all that. Plus, I have a better plan.”
Alexis was all ears.
“I’ve brought him most of the top clients, and I’m going to take them with me when I leave.”
“What about the contract you signed saying you couldn’t do that?”
“Girl, I haven’t signed a contract in over a year. I think it slipped his mind, because I’ve been there so long.”
“You’ve got to do what’s best for you.”
Before Champagne could say anything else, the waitress placed their water on their table along with the menus.
Champagne waited until she walked away. “You know, me and Zyair had a talk.”
“The talk?”
“Yeah, girl, the talk.”
“It’s about time. I was getting a little tired of you complaining to me about the same things over and over.”
“I was not.”
“Yeah, you were. You just didn’t realize it. You were starting to sound like a broken record.”
“Well, how come you didn’t say anything?”
“Because I’m your friend, and that’s what I’m here for, to listen.”
* * *
Alexis and Champagne had been friends since childhood, going back as far as the fourth grade. They grew up in Neptune, a small town in New Jersey, and lived next door to one another.
Just as in any relationship or friendship, the two had been through their ups and downs. During their elementary, middle and high school years, you couldn’t keep those two apart. They did everything together. They joined the same club, coordinated their clothes, calling each other the night before to find out what the other was wearing, and sometimes even liked the same boys. When that happened they both chose to leave it alone, because no man was gonna come between them.
Then there was the “thing” neither of them would ever discuss, playing house with one another. One would be the mommy, and the other, the daddy, and they would take turns kissing, rubbing up against each other, feeling each other’s breast, and occasionally fingering each other. This went on mostly during the middle school years, until they both became interested in boys. You would never think this took place, because they never acknowledged it.
They were different in personality and looks, total opposites but both beautiful. Alexis was a yellow girl, as the boys called her, and shapely, so she usually received most of the attention. It never caused a problem because, unlike most light-skinned girls back in the day, she didn’t flaunt it. She just wanted to be regular. It was already bad enough that she could barely walk down the street without some asshole yelling obscenities.
Not one to take any shit, she’d always speak up and tell someone what was on her mind, causing many fights in her youth. Things hadn’t changed. As an adult, she still did this. The only change now was that she was saved, sanctified, and filled with the Holy Spirit.
Champagne felt like she went overboard with it, “The Lord this, the Lord that . . .”
It started when they went away to college in New York. Alexis met this guy called Brother. Yep, that was his real name. He wanted to be a minister and attended church regularly. When he and Alexis started dating, he invited her to church.
From that point forward, Champagne thought Alexis had joined a cult. She started being judgmental, quoting Bible verses. She’d stopped going out and drinking, acting like Champagne wasn’t good enough. It was to the point that they stopped speaking for over a year.
One evening Champagne went out and was a little hungover with a headache. She went to Alexis’s dorm, thinking she would find some comfort and support, only to have Alexis pray for her.
After listening to Alexis try to pray the demons out of her, she told her, “Listen, I love you and all, but I can’t take you judging everything I do and say. So maybe we need to chill a little. If you really need me, I’m here for you, but other than that, our friendship has reached a point where I no longer feel comfortable. I have to watch what I say and what I do. I’m always on guard and I feel like I can’t be myself around you.”
It was a heart-wrenching
moment but something Champagne had to do for her peace of mind. It felt like a breakup. She cried for several days. She’d gotten used to picking up the phone and hearing her best friend’s voice almost every day. Often she’d find herself picking up the phone, and dialing the number only to hang it back up. Homegirl was having withdrawal symptoms. She didn’t realize how much she’d come to depend on Alexis.
It was Alexis who needed Champagne first. Brother broke her heart. She’d caught him cheating with one of the sisters in the church. At the time, Alexis still considered herself a virgin, as far as penetration. Orally, no.
She came crying to Champagne, “I thought he was perfect for me. He was saved, he went to church, and he didn’t pressure me to have sex.”
I don’t care how much church a man attends, Champagne thought. If he’s not getting the sex from his woman, he’s getting the sex from somewhere. But she didn’t say anything, not wanting to kick a sister when she’s down.
Alexis was still saved and she still had judgmental ways but thank God, no longer went overboard with it. So when Champagne told her about her and Zyair going to Hedonism, Alexis didn’t tell her she was going to hell, she just said, “Are you out of your mind?”
There was no way in the world she would take her man to a place filled with beautiful, naked women. She certainly didn’t want to be around a bunch of naked men running around with their dicks hanging out. It just wasn’t something she wanted to see and she couldn’t understand why Champagne would either.
“Have you two lost your natural minds? I can’t believe Zyair would even suggest such a thing. And for you to accept, what were you thinking?”
“I was thinking that it’s time to add some spice into my relationship.”
“That’s the only plan you two could come up with?”
“You’re judging, Alexis,” Champagne told her in a tone that reminded her how far they’d come.
“I know, and I’m sorry. But there has to be some other way to add a spark to your relationship. Going to the freak beach? I don’t know, girl. Something about it just ain’t right. Plus, you ain’t never walked around nobody naked, so how are you going to feel walking around strangers naked?”
“They won’t know me, I won’t know them. That’s what’s going to make it easy.”
“You might be biting off more than you can chew. What are you going to do when his dick gets hard?”
“What do you mean, what am I going to do? Hop on it. Plus, there isn’t too much he can do while I’m right there.”
“Well, what are you going to do when you see some Mandingo-looking man and he turns you on?”
“What do you think I’m going to do? Stare with my tongue hanging out.”
They shared a laugh, easing the tension that was forming.
“You’re sick, you know that?”
* * *
When Champagne returned to the office, she found a note on her desk from Jackson. He wanted her to put together a list of her clients and any pertinent information she wanted to share with Camille.
“To hell with that,” Champagne said and packed up for the rest of the day.
Chapter Four
“Boys” Mary Jane Girls
Zyair was sitting in his office, a huge smile plastered on his face. He recalled the way Champagne surprised him by sucking his dick the last night and did it like it was the best tasting dessert on this earth. He’d arrived home from work late that night because of a party for an up-and-coming male fashion designer that wasn’t scheduled to end until after one in the morning. Zyair was tired, and the only thing on his mind was climbing into the bed.
To his surprise, Champagne had other things in mind. “Hey, sweetie,” she greeted him when he walked in. Looking sexy as hell, she was relaxed in the sitting room in a short black negligee and a glass of wine in her hands.
From an earlier conversation, he knew she’d had a rough day at work and was surprised to see her up. “Why aren’t you in the bed?”
“I was waiting for you to come home.”
“That’s sweet but you didn’t have to do that.”
“I know I didn’t have to. I wanted to.” Champagne stood up and gave him a kiss, took his hand, and pulled him toward the bedroom. “Now go and take your shower, and I’ll be out here waiting with a surprise.”
Zyair questioned her with his eyes but she wasn’t giving anything away.
“Wash up good too,” she told him. “Don’t miss an inch.”
While in the shower, Zyair wondered what she had planned. She did say, “Don’t miss an inch.” That meant a blowjob was in order, so he took extra care in cleaning his penis, under his balls, and his ass. One never knows.
Zyair stepped out of the shower and into the bedroom. He dried himself off with the towel. On the nightstand next to the bed were some items. He took a closer look at them—Honey Dust Body Powder, Motion Lotion, and some weird-looking vibrator. “What the hell is that?” he asked.
“It’s called a cyberflicker.”
“And what is it supposed to flick. I know you don’t plan on that going anywhere near me.”
“Come here. Just relax and let me do my thing.”
“I don’t know.”
“Trust me, I’m not going to do anything I’m sure you won’t like.”
Zyair sat on the bed cautiously.
Champagne straddled him and pushed him back.
“Don’t you want to talk about your day?” he asked, playfully.
“No. I have something better in mind.” Champagne kissed him on his eyelids, causing him to shut them and then traced his lips with her mouth. She pushed him back on the bed, moved her legs to rest between his, and placed her hands on his penis, massaging it.
Moving down his body with her tongue, she reached over for the Motion Lotion and ran her tongue over his shaft.
Zyair had his eyes open and watched her every move. She rubbed the lotion over his penis, and with each hand movement it was heating up.
Zyair moaned. “That feels good.”
“Well, this is going to feel even better.” Champagne blew on his penis, causing a heated sensation and then draped her mouth around it and circled it with her tongue, up to the head.
“Oh, girl, what are you doing?” Zyair tried to sit up but she pushed him back down.
Instead of answering him, she proceeded to suck and lick every inch of him.
Zyair had his eyes closed and was giving his I’m-about-to-explode-at-any-moment face, when he heard this buzzing sound. “What the hell!” He opened his eyes in time to catch Champagne holding that “flicker thing” between his balls and ass. When she placed it there, his whole body tightened up.
“Come on, baby, relax. We said we wanted a change.”
When he realized that she wasn’t trying to put anything in him, he relaxed and enjoyed the feeling of the vibration, which ran up and down the length of his body. When she started licking his balls, he knew it would be over any minute.
“I’m going to cum any minute now. Let me inside of you.”
Champagne wasn’t hearing it. She was enjoying the moment.
“Ugh!” Zyair yelled out. “I’m about to cum.” Champagne replaced her mouth with her right hand, dropped the flicker and massaged his balls with the left, while he exploded.
Afterward Zyair looked at her with love. “That was the bomb.” He didn’t even question her about the new items. He’d just had the best orgasm in quite some time. If she’d only swallowed, that would have topped it off.
Champagne went to wash her hands and get a rag to wipe Zyair down. When she returned he was sound asleep. Smiling and wishing she could pat herself on the back, Champagne was pleased with herself.
* * *
So here Zyair sat, recalling last night and thinking to himself, I couldn’t believe I let her put a damn vibrator anywhere near my ass.
Shaking his head, he tried to clear his thoughts and concentrate on the work that lay before him, but before he could even d
o that, there was knock at the door.
“Who is it?”
His employees knew not to bother him, especially if his door was closed. Every other Friday, he took care of the financial end of the business, paying bills, reviewing his cash flow and paying his employees, and this was one of those days. He did this religiously. It enabled him to know, on a consistent basis, what he was bringing in and what he was putting out. No one could or would ever try to cheat him out of a penny. He knew where every cent went.
His business allowed him the luxuries of his Cadillac, Jeep, and Mercedes coupe that sat in the garage of his estate. It also allowed him to purchase Champagne the three-carat engagement ring she wore on her finger. Heck, it allowed him to be rich beyond his dreams and become richer in the upcoming years. Even his parents would be pleased at the success of the restaurant. Yes, it was a little more lavish than they’d initially planned but to make money, you had to spend money. And he expanded on their dreams, bringing to fruition what they couldn’t.
“It’s Thomas, nig—” Thomas stopped short. He almost slipped up and said the whole word.
“Hold up.” Zyair got out of his chair and let Thomas in.
“What’s up?” Thomas greeted. They gave each other a pound.
“Nothing. Just taking care of business as usual.”
“Want to go out for lunch?”
Zyair gave Thomas a long, steady look.
“What? Whacha lookin’ at me like that for?”
“Today is the second Friday of the month. What do I do the second Friday of every month? My finances. You know this, and still you drop in and expect me to—”
Thomas stood up. “How about this? I have free lunch while I’m here and we go out tonight instead, go a strip club, see some naked ass, have a couple of drinks. I’ma call up Trevor and Wise and see if they want to join us.”
Zyair really wasn’t feeling it but he knew he’d been neglecting his boys for the last month. He glanced at the calendar and recalled that it was Thomas’s birthday. Not letting on that he forgot, he said, “Cool. Anything for the birthday boy.”
“Aww, nigga, I thought you forgot.”
“You’re my boy. I wouldn’t forget your day.”
Turned Out Saga Page 3