The Battle Within

by LaShawn Vasser

  Lisa chimed in, “It does matter! Why is it when a black man reaches a certain level of success they always have to go out and find the whitest white woman to prove they’ve arrived? You couldn’t find a successful black woman?”

  “Her name is Sandra or Sandy. Please use it. That might be true in some cases but not mine. I’m not that guy who only dates a particular kind of woman. I fell in love with the person she is. She’s funny, warm, and loving. If you gave her half a chance, you’d both come to see it too.”

  Sarcastically his mother, Claire, spoke, “I’m sure she’s shown you her best assets. As a matter of fact, we all got a chance to see them this morning.”

  “You’re being ridiculous.”

  “I’m NOT. I’m being a concerned mother. I don’t need to get to know her kind.”

  “Her kind? What does that even mean?”

  “You know what it means.”

  “I hate that you feel this way. I really do because this is her home now, and we’re getting married in few weeks. You don’t have to like her, but you will respect her.”

  “You can’t be serious about this. Stop thinking with your little head and use some damn common sense.”

  “I’m dead serious.”

  “You’re making a mistake.”

  “If so, it’s my mistake to make. So, should I show you to your rooms or would you like me to call a hotel?”

  Sandy figured she’d given them enough time to talk privately. As she was coming down the stairs, she couldn’t help but want to win his family over. Maybe she should make breakfast? Considering she wasn’t such a great cook, that probably wasn’t a good idea. But, she could make excellent coffee.

  As she reached the family room, she could hear voices, but couldn’t make out what was being said. She tapped on the door just so that she wasn’t interrupting something embarrassing.

  Taking a deep breath, Sandy poked her head inside and in her most welcoming voice spoke, “Good morning.”

  All eyes turned to her. It was obvious with the tension in the room that they weren’t having a Kum-ba-yah reunion.

  Roman walked over to Sandy with his hands outstretched. She took it as he led her over to his mother and sister, “Mother, Lisa, this is my fiancé, Sandra Catchings. We call her Sandy this is my mother, Claire and sister, Lisa Benton.”

  Sandy smiled as she held out her hand, “It’s nice to finally meet you both.”

  Neither, Claire or Lisa moved to accept her handshake. So, Sandy let her arms drop to their sides. She couldn’t help thinking this is awkward. And, that they all might need something stronger than coffee.

  Roman broke the uncomfortable silence, “So, mother…Lisa…what hotel would you like me to call again?”

  Claire Benton’s lips tightened. As close as she and Roman were…was he really going to put her out of his house over this woman he’d known for five seconds? The determined look in his eyes said…yes.

  Against everything that Claire believed…she lifted her chin and forced a smile onto her face, “Sandra Catchings, it’s a shame that this is our first meeting.”

  Lisa whipped her head around to her mother in total shock. Was she bowing to Roman’s emotional blackmail?

  Sandy wasn’t stupid. She felt the undercurrent of barely contained anger amongst Roman, his mother, and sister. Not wanting to add to it, she responded warmly, “I’m happy to meet you and hope we can spend some time getting to know each other.”

  Before the words finished coming out of Sandy’s mouth, his mother interrupted, “Roman, the trip was tiring. I’d like to go to my room and rest for a bit.”

  He lifted a brow, “Are you sure? Lisa, how about you?”

  Through clenched teeth Lisa responded, “If you give me a few minutes, I’m sure I can find a hotel.”

  Sandy looked between brother and sister. Roman was angry, but Lisa was seething. This wouldn’t do at all, so she spoke up, “Lisa, there are plenty of rooms here. There is no need for you to find a hotel.”

  Claire glared at Lisa. That girl was such a hot head. She needed to learn to bide her time. She spoke softly, “Lisa, I’ll need you to help me with a few things, so I’d love it if you’d stay here with us.” His mother turned to Roman, “Roman…please. Can’t we agree to disagree and work on a resolution…all of us together?”

  He shrugged, “I don’t know. Can we Lisa?”

  Taking her cues from Claire, Lisa nodded, “I’m pretty tired from the trip too.” It took everything within her to acknowledge Sandy, “Thank you for allowing us stay in my brother’s home. I think I’m just going to go up to my room and nap for a bit.”

  Roman and Sandy watched Claire and Lisa leave to go up to their rooms.

  Sandy turned to Roman, “It looks like I’ve got my work cut out for me.”

  Hoping more than he believed, Roman pulled her into his arms, “They’ll come around.”

  Chapter 11

  Sandy was in the back of the boutique looking over pieces of jewelry their broker thought might be suitable for her store, SanAndy’s Jewels. Over the next couple of days, she and Andrea needed to decide which pieces they were going to keep and which ones they weren’t.

  As she gazed at a round diamond cut link bracelet that sparkled and winked at her, there was an incredible feeling that crept throughout her body. Sandy found it almost impossible not to feel…so full of life as she held it in her hands and ran her fingers over it.

  Here she sat with hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of jewels in front of her. Had it only been just a year or so ago, that she despised where her career choices had led her? Well, life in general.

  A year ago, she was the Manager of Customer Service for CkR; encased in a glass box for an office and monitoring representatives on several computer screens. Doing her best to ensure that their call rates were up, the dropped calls were down, and that people generally received a quality customer service experience. It had been utterly and completely awful. Add to it, trying to maintain a long-distance relationship with Roman for over a year was more than difficult.

  However, that was where she had met Vicky. Thinking back, it was hard to believe that she’d hated her guts at first sight. Sandy sat back in her chair and steepled her fingers together as she let that sink in for a minute. Remembering that particular day when she’d called Vicky into her office because Joshua had been hovering all over her. It was a given that he was going to hit on her.

  And why wouldn’t he? Vicky was not only beautiful with a softness that radiated from her being and showed through those big brown eyes, but she had an innocence about her that Sandy had probably never possessed even as an infant. She understood completely why he’d been interested.

  Sandy shook her head from side to side. She’d been such a witch to Vicky because of it. And yet, Vicky never retaliated. She’d been nothing but kind and gracious. How she managed it was still a mystery. And, Vicky to this day, never held it against her at how awful she’d been. As a matter of fact, she had never even brought it up.

  It was impossible to make it up to her, but she was determined to be the best friend she’s ever known. And, to know them now, you would have never suspected their friendship had an ugly…shaky beginning. Today, they were as close as sisters. In a short amount of time, they’d gone through a lot together and came out on the other side stronger.

  Vicky married her prince charming, although, for a while, Sandy thought she was going to have to kill Jason if he didn’t get his stuff together. But, their love story was still inspiring. It motivated her to expect and demand better.

  Now, it was her turn. She was finally going to get her own happily ever after. Roman had been her very own Prince Charming. Unlike all the men before him, he’d never cheated on her. Nothing was ever perfect, and that must be why she was blessed with his mother and sister. She was seriously starting to think they may indeed be the devil because it seemed ever since they arrived; they lived to make her life miserable. However, just as Vicky said, i
t was going to take some time for them to come around. She’d figured in about a million years; they may have made some progress by then.

  Other than her rude as hell in-laws, her personal life couldn’t have been better. Even her professional life was thriving.

  Never in her wildest dreams did she think she would be the co-owner of her own business. SanAndy’s had always been such a faraway dream, but here she sat, in her very own office. Well, she shared it with Andrea but she was still a business owner.

  SanAndy’s was a quaint little boutique surrounded by other mom and pop owned businesses. Outside, there were cobblestone sidewalks and vintage streetlights lining both sides of the street. Their location had an old world feel to it. Luckily, she and Andrea worked very well together and while they had different tastes, Sandy’s traditional blended well with Andrea’s contemporary.

  As luck would have it, they were able to get the location at a fraction of the going lease rate. She wasn’t sure how it happened but was thankful it had.

  Both she and Andrea wanted to create an environment where everyone felt welcome. In the past, Sandy had visited some high-end stores, and they would make her feel as if she weren’t a part of some exclusive club. I guess, in reality, she hadn’t been. At least, not on her salary from CkR. But she’d been single without any children, so she had no qualms about splurging on herself.

  Somewhere, in the back of her mind, Sandy had known that if she ever became a business owner, she would always do her best never to let anyone feel as if they didn’t belong.

  The chimes of the front door was always a great sound to hear. They shook her from her thoughts. That meant someone was entering the store. Hopefully, it was a customer looking for a vintage-one-of-a- kind piece.

  “Welcome to SanAndy’s how may I help you?” She could hear Andrea say.

  “We’re here to see Sandra Catchings is she available?”

  Sandy recognized those voices. Just as she was about to get up and go out front, Andrea poked her head into the office, “Hey, there are a couple of ladies asking to see you.”

  “Do you know who they are?”

  “No, I’ve never seen them before. Maybe it’s a referral. They look like they could buy up our entire store.”

  “Great!” Sarcasm was always one of her greatest allies. Today, she would need to put that on pause and be on her best behavior. “Actually, it sounds like it might be Claire and Lisa.”

  “Roman’s mom and sister? Do you want me to tell them you’re not here?”

  She sighed, “No. I really would like to forge a good relationship with them. We all have one thing in common, and that’s Roman. So…” She plastered on a big smile, “…here goes nothing.”

  Sandy and Andrea walked back to the front of the store. Sandy spoke, “Good morning, Claire and Lisa. What brings you down here today?”

  Roman’s mother responded, “We thought it might be best to speak with you woman to woman.”

  Sandy didn’t like the sound of that, “Okay.”

  “I would like to know what will it take to get someone like you to leave my son alone?”

  She was taken aback by the bluntness of her comment and as more than a little shocked. She knew they were not very approving of the relationship, but Sandy was genuinely thrown for a loop, “Excuse me?”

  “I’m pretty sure you heard me the first time, so I won’t waste my time or yours repeating myself.”

  Sandy looked from mother to daughter doing her best not to lose it on them. “Someone like me? I’m sorry, I’m not exactly sure I understand what you mean.”

  “Let’s cut to the chase. You and my son are not even remotely compatible. Roman has worked hard to get to where he is today. And, from what I’ve learned about you…” Claire looked around the boutique, “Let’s just say you’ve had a colorful history with men. Specifically…black men. And, I’m sure your 401K plan couldn’t have possibly paid for this place.”

  The things Sandy wanted to say to Claire would have made a drunken sailor blush. However, through some superhuman effort she refrained, “Before I throw you out of my store, I’m just curious…how do you think that you can come into my place of business, insult me, and demand that I leave your son alone? You do realize that Roman is a grown man right?”

  Lisa responded, “We all know that superficial things can sometimes blind men and that they can be guided by what’s between their legs.”

  “Wow. I’m never speechless but in this moment…I honestly don’t have anything to say.”

  “The bottom line, Ms. Catchings, is that you are the wrong type of woman for Roman.”

  The shock was wearing off and bubbling anger was starting to surface, “Neither of you really know anything about me, yet you’ve come into my store and disrespected your son and insulted me. If you had known anything about me, then you for damn sure would have known this was a bad idea.”

  Andrea had been standing in the background with her mouth hanging open. She heard all she could, “I think it’s time for both of you to get the hell out of our store before we throw you out!”

  Claire’s eyes cut to Andrea then back to Sandy, “I’d hoped we could have handled this amicably….”

  “And, why would you have hoped that? You’ve come in here with as much pull as any stranger off the street and have told me that I should leave your son and my fiancé alone. It baffles my mind to think under any circumstances that would work! Yes, I do think it’s time for you to get out of my store.”

  “I should have known that a woman with such loose morals would not see reason. Well, I tried to handle this the easy way. But, you’ve forced my hand. I wield a lot more influence with my son than you apparently can appreciate. And, trust me, you don’t want me as any enemy. I’m retired and Lisa can work from anywhere. We have nothing but time. And, we’ll be here for as long as it takes to get Roman to see reason.”

  “Ms. Benton…I won’t kowtow to your threats. I asked you to leave. Now, I am telling you to get out of my store…now!”

  The three women held each other’s gazes for a moment before Clair and Lisa Benton finally exited the store.

  Andrea turned to Sandy, “Wow. That was crazy! Talk about the mother-in-law from hell. You’re going to need a food taster the next time you have dinner at her house. You didn’t tell me they were even in town.”

  “They got in yesterday morning and stayed in their rooms for most of the day.”

  “So, this was why Roman never introduced you to his family? They are crazy.”

  “Yeah, crazy like a fox.”

  Clair and Lisa left the store and walked to their rental car. As soon as they got inside, Clair took her phone out of her purse. She dialed a number. The phone rang…once…twice…

  “Hello. I’ve been waiting for your call. How did it go?”

  “Kate, it was even worse than what you’ve told us. Not only is she a blue-eyed porcelain princess…she’s full of white privilege. I will not let my son make the mistake of his life. I fully understand why he hadn’t introduced her to us. He knew we wouldn’t approve.”

  “I’m sure you’re right. And, I’m glad you understand my concerns. Please remember that Roman doesn’t know that I’ve talked to you.”

  “No, of course, that will remain between us. I know how much you care about him, so I’m very grateful you contacted me. I don’t understand why he can’t see what’s standing right in front of his face every day. You would be perfect for him.” She sighed deeply, “Well, now that I’m here, it’s time for me to do what mothers do best…protect their children.”

  Chapter 12

  Four weeks later…

  After a long day at the boutique, dealing with his mother and sister was the last thing Sandy needed. She’d been doing her best to include them in the wedding planning out of respect for Roman, all the while knowing they were dead set against it. They also spent the last few weeks making mountains out of molehills and stirring up trouble. The Roman, who had her back whe
n they first arrived, was now making excuses for inexcusable behavior.

  But, this time Claire had gone too far. Sandy caught her listening in as she talked on the phone to Vicky. If the house wasn’t big enough for all of them, she knew for sure Roman’s office space wasn’t.

  “I couldn’t help but overhear your phone call. So, you’re going to babysit those little mulatto children I met the other day?” Claire turned her nose up in disgust, “Children of mixed race seem to have such a hard time in society. I hope you and Roman aren’t planning on having any.”

  How dare she insult Angel and Jay! She couldn’t believe the nerve of this woman! And, while Sandy didn’t have any plans on ever having any children, she might just have a whole football team to spite her.

  She lost it, “You are one evil witch! What would you do if Roman and I decided to give you a half dozen little black and white grandchildren? Maybe they’ll even come out looking just like me. What is it that I’ve heard you call me?” Sandy snapped her fingers, “A whole brood of red-haired blue-eyed devils! Do you know how racists you sound?”

  “I’m not racist!”

  “Really? Even your son knows you’re a racist; that’s why you were the last to know that we were even engaged!”

  “I’m not a racist. I just don’t want some piece of white trash batting her eyelashes and opening her legs forcing him into making ridiculous decisions.”

  Sandy narrowed her eyes, “I’ve never forced Roman to do anything! And, for the record, he seems to like what’s between my legs. Just to be clear, if you don’t believe me…maybe you should go ask him!”

  Sandy turned on her heels and left for her bedroom. She slammed the door behind her once she reached it.

  Pacing back and forth, how dare she? She didn’t even try to pretend to be civil when Roman wasn’t around. But, when he was around, she wanted to act all sweet as pie. And, he fell for it…hook…line…and sinker every time! What was she going to do about this?