by Tiece
It’s Either Me Or Her
A Side Bitch Story
2
By: TIECE & MECCA
Copyright © 2016 Tiece & Mecca
Published by Tiece Mickens Presents
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written consent of the publisher, except brief quotes used in reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Any references or similarities to actual events, real people, living or dead, or to real locals are intended to give the novel a sense of reality. Any similarity in other names, characters, places, and incidents are entirely coincidental.
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Chapter 1
The next morning, Rayne rolled over and looked to the side of her at the empty spot in her bed. She took in a frustrated, deep breath and then let it out. Just when she thought that she and Chase could move on in an attempt to start a meaningful relationship, Brooke struck them with the news that she was pregnant. It was bad enough that she’d have to deal with her since Mason was in the picture, but she wasn’t expecting another baby added in the equation.
“Damn, I should’ve seen that coming, or at least something unexpected happening with Brooke being involved,” Rayne uttered, while flipping over on her stomach and grabbing the pillow as she pressed it over the back of her head.
“Urrgh!” she irritably let out. A part of her just wanted to scream, but she knew that she had to maintain her composure and figure out where she and Chase stood at this point with Brooke’s newfound information. This was information that could possibly change a whole lot between her and Chase. Unfortunately, it wasn’t something that she was looking forward to.
“I hate this shit,” she whispered, as she rolled over and looked at the time displaying on the alarm clock. It was nine forty-eight in the morning and she wasn’t the least bit in the mood for getting pampered at the spa, but Winter was probably up and already getting ready to come over soon. She sat up, feeling sluggish after being up all night with uncertain thoughts clouding her mind. “Damn,” she said, while making herself get up so that she could get with the program. She headed for the master bathroom to wash up, in hopes that she’d be fully ready by the time Winter got there.
As she stood in the bathroom mirror, she thought about Chase and his promise that he’d not let Brooke come between them, no matter what happened. A part of her wanted to believe him, but, then again, another part of her was somewhat skeptical. She’d always been the carefree, optimistic one, but with Brooke in the picture, she’d never know what tricks would come next. Brooke was proving to be full of shenanigans.
After washing up and brushing her teeth, she stepped out of the bathroom and headed towards her big walk-in closet. She just wanted to find something comfortable to put on. While searching through the rack of clothes, thoughts about Brooke showing up to her house and handing Chase a pregnancy stick that read pregnant continued to replay itself over and over in her mind. She shook her head with a disappointed expression on her face.
She dropped a bomb on us, she thought with a frustrated sigh, which was followed by another quick thought as she blurted out, “Her crazy ass is probably lying.” No sooner than she could get those words out, she heard her doorbell ringing. “Winter, why are you always early?” she growled, walking out of her closet and straight down the long hallway, heading towards the front door.
Ding Dong… Ding Dong… Ding Dong…
“I’M COMING!” she yelled out as she got closer to the door. “Dang Winter,” she said, as she opened the door up to see her anxious twin sister standing there with a perplexed expression on her face. “Must you ring the doorbell like you’ve lost your mind? If I didn’t know any better, I’d think somebody was after you,” she teased.
Winter smirked as she started to walk in, but stopped Rayne shy of walking off. “I highly doubt that anybody would be after me, but there is a female out here that’s looking for Chase.”
Rayne frowned as she responded, “What?” Quickly, she pulled Winter by the hand into the foyer area inside of her home as she and Brooke came face to face once again.
Brooke stood there with an innocent smile on her face. “Hey Rayne,” she pleasantly spoke. “Is Chase here?”
“What the fuck?” Rayne pondered under her breath. “Brooke, why are you at my house again? Chase is not here.”
“Brooke?” Winter uttered with a befuddled raise of the eyebrows. “Lord, let me fix you some warm tea to help soothe your nerves because you’re gonna need it.”
Rayne glanced over her shoulder at Winter. “That’s not a bad idea, sis. Please, fix me something to help relax my thoughts because the things that I’m thinking right about now would get me locked up for life,” she said, cutting her eyes back over at Brooke like she could punch her in the face at any given time.
“I didn’t come here to cause any drama,” Brooke tried to explain, but before she could get out the rest of her sentence, Rayne had cut in.
“Not coming here would’ve determined that part,” she shot her way.
Brooke unnervingly smiled. “I only wanted to talk to Chase. You know, the father of my now two babies,” she said, rubbing her flat stomach. “I think it’s important that we are clear on some things pertaining to our children and if they’re gonna be here with him, then I definitely need to speak with you also.”
Rayne frowned like she had a bitter taste in her mouth. This bitch got some nerves, she quickly thought, while folding her arms. What she wanted to do was slap the shit out of her, but Brooke claiming to be pregnant is the only thing that held her back. “Listen Brooke, I don’t know you and you don’t know me. I don’t come to your house looking for Chase and I’d appreciate you not coming to mine looking for him, either. Ever again,” she added.
Brooke ignored Rayne, like she could care less what she’d just said. “Well, is my son here?” she questioned, while peeking around Rayne like the little one was going to run into her arms and give her a hug.
Rayne cleared her throat, really trying to keep her composure. “Chase took Mason with him. I believe he was dropping him off at his mom’s house.”
“Oh, okay, he didn’t tell me that,” Brooke said, acting a little confused.
“Apparently, you haven’t spoken to him at all this morning because if you had, you would’ve known that he left here over two hours ago to go to the studio. I seriously think, before you pop up on my doorstep again, that you speak with him first. As a matter of fact, any arrangements that we need to make at this point won’t be at my place,” Rayne added, but Brooke was still looking past her like she was scoping out the layout and décor of her condominium.
“So, I’m assuming that my man put you in this nice place,” she said, then smugly grinned a little, like she was about to make a point. “Oh my bad, I know you must be thinking that he’s not my man, but he was my man when he put you in this place, right?”
“Brooke, I think it’s time for you to go,” Rayne responded with an irritated shake of the head. She was already standing in the doorway half naked and the disapproving looks that Brooke was giving her was starting to make her feel uncomfortable.
“Before I leave I’d like to know, woman to woman, were you fucking Chase this whole time? Hmm because it sure as hell seems like it,” she added, still admiring the layout of what she could see inside of Rayne’s condominium.
Rayne popped her lips a little, but decided to answer the question in hopes that Brooke would leave. “If you must know the truth, not that you’ll believe it anyway, but I wasn’t
sleeping with Chase at no time during the eight months of us working together.”
“But, you’ve slept with him now?” Brooke questioned, still trying to get some kind of answers.
“Honestly, anything that Chase and I have going on now isn’t your concern. Last I heard, he’d called it quits with. Mind you, that had nothing to do with me. It seemed that this was something being thought about for quite some time. Now, if you know of any new information on the status of y’all’s relationship, then I assume this would be the perfect time to tell me.”
Brooke stood there feeling outdone, but before she could speak up, Winter’s loud mouth could be heard as she made her way to the front door to hand her sister the phone.
“Chase is calling you,” she said with a smirk, as she cut her eyes at Brooke while handing Rayne her cellphone. “You good?” she questioned.
“Yeah Winter, I’m good,” Rayne responded as she answered the phone. “What’s up, babe?”
“Hey baby doll,” he responded. “What you doing?”
Rayne glanced over at Brooke, as she stood there looking as if a tear might’ve wanted to fall, but it didn’t. “Well, I’m just being entertained at the moment.”
“Winter must’ve made it there?” Chase pondered.
“Yeah, my sister is here,” she answered, still not mentioning the fact that Brooke was standing right in her face.
“Are you alright? You sound like you have something on your mind.”
“With everything that has taken place, it’s no wonder why I sound a bit distracted.”
“That’s why I called. I just wanted you to know that I’m gonna have a long talk with Brooke and let her know that I’ll take care of my responsibilities, but I will not be taking her back, whether she’s pregnant or not.”
“Well, I would suggest that you have that conversation with her right away; you know, so she don’t be popping up to my house and shit with that foolishness.”
“I think she did that to let us both know that she was pregnant. However, I don’t think Brooke is that crazy to just keep popping up at your house like that.”
Rayne stared at Brooke from head to toe, and then responded. “That depends on what we call crazy,” she said, still eyeing Brooke down.
At that moment, Brooke just wanted out of there. She’d already known that Chase was gone, due to her speaking with his mom about an hour back. The only reason she showed up unannounced to Rayne’s house was to poke fun at her and hopefully get under her skin. However, things had quickly changed with Chase calling while she was there, pretty much giving her the upper hand in the situation.
“Well babe, enjoy your spa day with Winter. Call me later or I’ll call you,” Chase said.
“Okay babe,” she responded. “I will and you enjoy your day too.” The minute she hung up, she addressed Brooke. “As you can see, Chase isn’t here. Is there anything else that we need to discuss?”
Brooke stood there, surprised that Rayne didn’t tell Chase that she was at her house.
“Did you hear me?” Rayne questioned with an unpleasant frown on her face.
Brooke snapped out of her thoughts, and then responded. “I think that this discussion is over,” she said, while turning to walk off.
“Make sure that this is the last time you show up to my house unannounced,” Rayne told her.
Brooke glanced back over her shoulder, cutting her eyes at Rayne, but she didn’t say a word as she made her way out to the parking lot to get inside of her car. Rayne may have thought that she had the upper-hand, but there was no way she was giving up on Chase that easily.
***
Chase sat behind the desk inside of his office at the studio. He looked over at Jeremy, who was sitting across from him with a baffled expression on his face.
“So, you say that Brooke is pregnant?” Jeremy questioned, still in disbelief.
“That’s what she said,” Chase responded. “She pulled out the pregnancy stick in front of Rayne and all, then handed it to me so I could see the results for myself.”
“Damn, that was foul,” Jeremy said with a shake of the head.
Chase tapped on the keyboard of his laptop as he responded to an email. Displeasure was written across his face. “Tell me about it,” he finally responded. “The minute I’m trying to break away from Brooke for good, this happens.”
“What did Rayne have to say about it? Is she ready to run for the hills now?” he teased, followed by light laughter.
“I ain’t gonna lie. I didn’t know how she would handle that news. I know without a doubt, that if she could’ve, she would’ve fought Brooke, but she held her composure. She took it like a G, I must admit,” he said, thinking back at how Rayne just nonchalantly stood there while Brooke practically gloated about them conceiving a baby. “Brooke even had the nerve to explain when she’d gotten pregnant. That was something that Rayne knew I couldn’t deny because I’d kept it real with her and told her that I did have sex with Brooke on that particular day.”
“Talking about the day that you were just supposed to go over and have a family dinner and talk?”
“Yep, that was the day,” Chase answered with a regretted shake of the head.
“See, I knew Brooke would corner you that day. That’s why I told you to be careful.”
Chase tapped on his keyboard as he glanced over at his cousin. “Don’t start that pussy whooped shit.”
“I didn’t say nothing.” Jeremy grinned. “But you did.”
“I’m not pussy whooped by Brooke. She just got some good pussy. However, Rayne is giving her a run for her money,” he said with a satisfied smile on his face.
“I’m glad that somebody is. Maybe you can finally shake her ass,” Jeremy pointed out, as he glanced down at his Rolex timepiece. “Don’t you have an appointment with somebody in a little while?”
Chase glanced down at his Rolex timepiece. “Yeah, in about thirty-minutes,” he told him. “So, what’s up with this meeting? Are you meeting the artist today as well?”
“Nah, I’m just meeting with his manager, but I’ve seen dude on YouTube doing his thang. He goes by the name Yung Gunner and he’s a serious lyricist. I’m surprised that nobody hasn’t picked him up yet.”
“Well, hopefully the meeting with his manager will be a smooth one and you can get him in the studio to showcase his skills in person,” Jeremy said, just as Chase’s phone rang.
Chase looked over at Jeremy. “It’s Brooke,” he said.
Jeremy laughed out loud. “Hell, I’m surprised she hadn’t called earlier this morning.”
Chase put his finger up to his mouth in an effort to quiet Jeremy’s loud mouth, as he answered the phone. “What’s up, Brooke?”
“Hey Chase,” Brooke softly spoke, like she was the most innocent woman in the world. “I spoke to your mom and thought I’d stop by the studio right quick to speak with you before I head over to her house to pick up Mason.”
“Right now?” Chase questioned. “I have an important meeting shortly.”
“It won’t take long,” Brooke explained. “I really need to talk with you. You gotta know how I’m feeling right now, especially with me finding out that I’m pregnant.”
Chase sat quietly for a moment. He didn’t want to see Brooke because she always had something going on and that something wasn’t always good. However, he knew that she must’ve been going through it with him moving on with Rayne so quickly and her finding out that she was going to have another baby. In that few seconds of thought, he figured to just go ahead and get the talk over with. “I think it is important that we talk. I just don’t know if now is a good time, being that I have a meeting in a little while.”
“Just give me about ten to fifteen minutes of your time,” Brooke softly said, almost sounding like she was begging.
“Okay Brooke, fifteen minutes at the most. You must be close by?”
“I’m parking out front now,” Brooke quickly said. “I’ll be in and out in no time.”
“Alright, I’ll be waiting,” Chase responded, and then they ended their call.
Jeremy shook his head with a smug grin. “So, baby mama is making her way here?” he teased.
“She’s actually parking the car now,” Chase told him.
“Damn, she wasn’t wasting any time. Look cuz, I know you have a big heart and you definitely have a thing for Brooke, otherwise you would’ve been called it quits. But, please don’t be fooled by anything she says. I have no doubt that she loves you, but is staying with her what you really want?”
“I’m not going back to Brooke. I’ve made up my mind. Rayne and I aren’t rushing anything, but I’m really feeling her and if I’ve ever seen myself settling down with someone, it would be with someone like her.”
“Good choice,” Jeremy said with a smile on his face. He knew that Rayne was a good girl and nothing about her was as crazy and sneaky as Brooke.
“Well, let me get out of here. You know me and Brooke don’t quite get along with each other.”
Chase laughed out loud. “Shiiiit, y’all straight up hate each other.”
Jeremy grinned as he stood up and gave Chase dap. “I don’t hate her. I just don’t like her sometimes.”
“Same difference,” Chase chuckled. “We’ll catch up later, so I can tell you how the meeting goes with the manager of Yung Gunner.”
“Yeah, I definitely wanna hear about that. I’ll be around. Just holla at me,” he said, as he headed towards the door to leave.
***
Brooke stepped inside the building of the studio as she glanced over at James. What’s she doing here? he pondered to himself. “Hey Brooke,” he spoke. “You okay?” he questioned, since he hadn’t seen her since he asked to meet with her at Indigo’s.
“Never been better, James,” she responded with a smile. “Thanks for the talk.”
James smiled, but didn’t have a clue what Brooke had been up to since they last spoke with each other. “Okay, well, I guess that’s a good thing,” he said. All he was hoping was that he and Brooke’s one night stand didn’t come back to bite them in the ass. Chase would kill them if he had to find out that Mason wasn’t his son.