by Denora Boone
He hurriedly got his things together and decided that he would come back to the office after this so called dinner. Not wanting to miss the chance of speaking with Qyree, he made his way to his condo as fast as he could, to change, hoping Natalia was out and about. That way he could slip in and be gone before she got there to nag about where he was going. That’s one thing he missed about his wife, she never questioned him. He didn’t know if it was because she didn’t care or because she didn’t want to hear the truth, but she never bothered.
“Where you going?” Natalia asked, walking into his bedroom and throwing herself on the bed. Had he not gotten caught up by his secretary when he was trying to leave, he would have been out of the house five minutes ago. Shannon had been feeling neglected since he had been busy with work, and she wasn’t about to let another day go by before she got her a piece of him. Who was he to continue denying her?
“Going to the house to have dinner,” he said as he buckled his belt and grabbed his wallet, sticking into his back pocket.
“Oh, so no invite? When you gonna stop hiding me like this? It’s not like your little wife or even Qyree don’t know about us,” she said getting up in his face. Natalia was starting to feel so used but had no one to blame but herself. She had been using men for their money all of her life, and always got what she wanted, and now that things weren’t going in her favor, she had an issue. First, Qyree showed out on her and here his daddy was trying to still hide their situation. Yea, she was wrong for messing with a father and son, but they were wrong for playing with her emotions like they did. Both making her think that she was something special only to drop her like a bad habit.
She watched him grab his keys and head out the door without saying a word to her. That was it, the straw that broke the camel’s back. Since he didn’t want to see things her way, she would take matters into her own hands. Picking up her purse and own set of keys, she locked up and headed to her car.
Let the games begin.
-23-
[Code: HerHeavenHisLove]
Qyree and Chey had one of the best days either of them have had in a long time. Just being able to kick back and have fun with one another was something that they would rarely get to do for a long period of time. It wasn’t like they never had fun, whenever they were together for a quick date or he was just passing through, it was ever a dull moment. They had just wanted the fun to last longer than it normally did and now their wish had been granted.
After breakfast, they headed downtown to Underground Atlanta, made a stop at the Georgia Aquarium, had lunch at T.I.’s restaurant, Scales 925, and got a few hours of shopping in. Chey had even gotten Qyree to go and get a pedicure with her. He was so against it at first, but after some convincing, he finally obliged. Not long after they sat down, she understood why he was against it, he was ticklish. Chey had never laughed so hard before a day in her life, but Qyree was not amused. The look on his face was a mixture of humor and agony and that made it worse for Chey. He had tried giving her a death stare, but the little Asian woman wasn’t letting up on his feet so all his look did was make her laugh harder.
Leaving out of the mall, it was close to four in the afternoon and they knew the trip from where they were in Atlanta to Sandy Springs where his parents lived, was about to be a hectic one. As soon as they got on the highway, it was gridlocked. Looking over at Qyree, Chey noticed that his upbeat mood had suddenly changed and it had nothing to do with all of those cars. He was stressing about being around his father again after everything that had transpired. Finding out the affair his father was having with a woman that Qyree had messed with in the past, as well as him not telling Jaxon about his new company, was enough to stress anyone out. Chey hated seeing him like that and since he was there for her in her time of need, she felt like she needed to do something to ease his troubled mind, even if it was only for a few minutes.
Pulling out her phone, she pressed a few buttons on the stereo and making sure her Bluetooth was turned on, she paired the two devices and got ready to turn up. When the music came through the speakers, she turned the volume up and got into her zone.
“They know Zoo Gang with me, turn off all these cameras please. Step up if you gone bang at me just know I got that thang on me,” Chey rapped along with Fetty Wap’s “Decline”. She already knew Qyree was looking at her in shock, so she kept going.
Qyree watched Chey mess with his radio so he knew she was about to play some music, he just had no idea it was about to be Fetty. He couldn’t help but to laugh at her while she acted like she was straight out of the hood. She was going in word for word with a hard look on her face like she was a straight gangster. Chey was pointing her fingers in the air like she was talking to someone who was about to catch those hands and that’s when he lost control of the laugh that he was trying his best to keep in.
“Man, Chey, you wildin’,” he laughed at her. “What you know bout Fetty?”
“Boy, bye! Just cause I’m in the church doesn’t mean I have to listen to gospel all the time,” she told him. It was a big misconception when people thought that once they got saved they could no longer listen to secular music. Chey was one that felt like if the music or songs took you down the wrong path, then you may need to leave it alone. Some people weren’t strong enough to handle anything other than gospel or inspirational music, and that was fine too.
They laughed, talked, and even discussed the direction that Qyree wanted to go with his company. Before they realized it, they were pulling up to the gate of his parents’ house. Chey saw him begin to get tense all over again, so she reached over and grabbed his hand. She tugged on it just a little bit so he would know that she wanted him to look at her. When he did, she saw the uncertainty on his handsome face.
“God got you, bae. Whatever happens tonight, know that it was in His will and I’m here with you, okay?”
Squeezing her hand back and leaning over the center console, he gave her a kiss on her cheek. Hearing her say that she would be there with him through it, eased his troubled mind. He took a deep breath, let it out, and drove up the winding driveway to the front of the house. Chey thought it was beautiful on the outside so she could only imagine what the inside looked like.
Before either of them could get out of the car, the front door opened and his mother stepped out with a smile on her face. To Chey, she looked just as gorgeous as she last remembered, and the smile spread across her face enhanced her beauty. But Qyree knew different. Zaria was lit and gone off the bottle. He could tell by the way she held her mouth and her eyes were glazed over. From that point forward, he knew things were about to go left and quick, once his dad got there. It was going to take every prayer from both he and Chey along with all of the angels, to prevent what was about to jump off. Why his mother wanted him to bring Chey if she was going to be drinking was beyond him. He was hoping that what she said in the car a few minutes ago would still ring true in about an hour.
“Hey my baby,” Zaria squealed running out to them. Qyree couldn’t lie and say that he wasn’t happy to see his mother because he was. He just hated to see her in this condition. He moved towards her with open arms just as she ran past him like he was invisible and embraced Chey.
“Say word. You just gonna do me like that?” Qyree asked trying his best to look offended. In reality, he was beyond happy that his mother was accepting of Chey the way she was.
“Oh hush, child. I can see you when I want to but I haven’t seen my daughter-in-law in years,” she said as Chey smiled.
“How you just claiming people as your daughter-in-law. How you know Chey even feeling me like that?” he asked and winked his eye in her direction. Chey couldn’t deny the butterflies she was feeling no matter how hard she tried to.
“I knew she was going to be your wife the first time I met her. I was just waiting for you to get your stuff in order. Anyway, enough of that, let’s go inside,” Zaria said leading the way.
Just like Chey had thought, the inside of t
he house was even better than the outside. The marble floors were so clean, Chey could see her face in them and she probably could have eaten on them too. The art that adorned the walls had an Afrocentric feel to them and each one that Chey passed gave her a deeper look into her roots. At least that’s what she felt like. Qyree held her hand as they followed behind Zaria and made their way into the sitting room. She just knew they were about to walk into one of those all white rooms that rich people had in their house for show that the guest weren’t even allowed to breathe hard in. So she was pleasantly surprised by the room that was decorated in earthy tones of browns and gold.
“So you finally got my boy to settle down, huh?” Zaria said as she sat down.
“I wouldn’t say all of that. I mean, a woman can’t make a man do something he doesn’t want to do unless it’s in his heart, right?” Chey asked.
“This is why I love her. So smart. I’m glad you waited to find the right one before you brought her to meet me,” she said, shocking Chey.
“You mean you’ve never brought a girlfriend home to meet your parents?” she looked to Qyree and asked. He simply shook his head no like it wasn’t a big deal, but Chey thought differently. Qyree was nearing 30 years old and to find out that he never introduced anyone to his parents until now was big.
“I never felt anyone to be worthy of that. All I wanted to do was see what they were working with, not get married. That’s all I knew,” he said honestly. Before anyone could comment on what he had just said, they heard the front door open and immediately knew who it was.
Chey watched how both Qyree and his mother’s demeanors changed at the same time, once the man she assumed was his father walked into the room. Zaria looked like she wanted to cut his head off and feed it to alligators, and Qyree’s handsome face was full of disgust. The air in the room began to feel like it was slowly leaving the room, as she waited on someone to speak first. Since they didn’t, she did.
“Hi, I’m Chey,” she said reaching her hand out to shake Jaxon’s. The lustful look he gave her as his eyes roamed over her body made her so uncomfortable, and Qyree was quick to jump on it.
“Aye man! Don’t you think one is enough?” he asked referring to Jaxon messing with one of his former flings. He didn’t care what they did in the past; he was not about to let his father get any ideas about Chey.
“My apologies,” Jaxon said, but deep down Chey felt like he didn’t mean it.
“So what am I here for, Zaria? I need to get back to the office and finish up work that my son should have been doing had he not been in his feelings about a little job title,” Jaxon said.
Chey watched as the two men eyed one another like they were about to square off at any moment, and she wasn’t sure if it would end well. Silently, the two women watched the interaction between father and son, waiting to see who would make the next move.
“Well, if my father would have given me what I earned then maybe he wouldn’t have to be working late and he could be on another remote island booed up with another one of his son’s side joints. You know, since you like sloppy seconds and all.”
“You mad or nah?” Jaxon asked being petty.
“Nah,” Qyree said as he grabbed Chey’s hand in his and ushered her into the dining room. He needed a few seconds away from his father before he forgot that he was the man that raised him.
Shaking her head while giving Jaxon a menacing glare, Zaria turned around to follow Qyree and Chey into the other room. She knew that if she didn’t hurry up and let them know why they were all there, she may not have the chance to. The last thing she wanted was for Jaxon and Qyree to get into it, and she have to tell them separately.
Zaria figured they all wanted to know why Chey needed to be there and under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t let outsiders into their affairs, but she didn’t look at Chey as an outsider. Sooner or later she would be her son’s wife, and she was going to be the only one who would be able to help her son through this difficult time. She couldn’t count on his father to do it because he was the reason she was making this announcement in the first place.
Chey looked around at the spread on the table and her mouth began to water. Neither of them had eaten since lunch and her stomach was reminding her at that very moment. Fried chicken, baked fish, candied yams, macaroni and cheese, mustard greens, potato salad, BBQ ribs, fried corn, the list went on. It was like Thanksgiving in the middle of the year and Chey wondered who else was coming to dinner. This couldn’t possibly be just for them but if it was she had no problem taking a few to-go plates back down the road. Her and Von could be set for the next week with as much food that was laid out.
“Dang Ma, who else coming?” Qyree asked thinking the same thing.
“Nobody, but feel free to take as much home with you as you would like.”
“Bae, where’s the bathroom so I can wash my hands?” Chey asked just as the doorbell rang. Thinking nothing of who it could be, Qyree busied himself with showing Chey where the bathroom was, while his mother went to the door. Jaxon just stood there like he was so impatient and ready to go. If he didn’t feel like this was really important, he would have been gone already, but he still needed to talk to his back stabbing son about the new company he was starting. If that conversation didn’t go as he had planned, then Qyree would leave him no choice but to blackball him. It was Jaxon’s way or no way.
“Jaxon, your little trollup is here again. She got one more time to pop up at my house unannounced,” Zaria said walking away from the door and leaving it wide open. “But since you are here you might as well come hear what I have to say too. Considering this is probably some mess you started.”
“Qy, what are you doing here?” Natalia asked as soon as Qyree walked back into the room.
“I could be asking you the same thing but since I don’t care and you are no longer my business, I’ma stay in my lane,” Qyree said unfazed by her presence. He hadn’t fooled with Natalia in a hot minute since she popped up on their door the last time, so he was good on her.
“Why are you here?” Jaxon screamed on her. This was the last thing he needed right now. Her showing up right then the way she had, was about to make things so much worse. The looks that both Zaria and Qyree gave her when she walked in were priceless. He had wanted to avoid this for as long as he could, but here she was making a scene yet again.
“Because I’m tired of you thinking this is okay. You need to come clean about—” Natalia started only to be cut off.
“Nat? What are you doing here?” Chey asked walking back around the corner. All eyes went to Chey while her eyes went to Natalia’s overgrown belly.
-24-
Natalia knew as she followed Jaxon to the home that he shared so many years with his wife, that things were about to get crazy. She just had no idea how bad they were going to get. It was like God was steady telling her to turn around, but she ignored Him and listened to the devil that was riding shotgun. She wished God had shown her what was about to happen instead of just telling her to turn away, but what lesson would she learn in that? Either she was gonna listen or not and quite frankly, she doubted she would have turned away even if He did reveal it to her.
She knew that she was wrong for messing with father and son, but she was out to get what she wanted by any means necessary. The night she accompanied Qyree to an industry party she almost peed on herself when she saw Jaxon there and every time Qyree wanted to introduce the two of them she made sure to not be around. Either she had to use the bathroom or she needed something to drink. The last thing she needed was for Jaxon to blow up her spot. As the night went on she thought that she was in the clear. That was until she really did have to go to the bathroom and bumped right into Jaxon.
Thinking it would be hard to keep them in the dark about one another, proved to not be an issue at all. Jaxon let her know that night that he wasn’t worried about her messing with his son as long as he got what he wanted. With Qyree only coming around when he needed that one t
hing, she was able to balance the two. That’s why Qyree felt that she was so easy to get along with and didn’t expect much from him, and she didn’t. Well not at first. Jaxon was doing everything she needed so there wasn’t a need for her to be pressed about what his son was doing. Only when Jaxon started being distant after she told him she was pregnant, did she lean towards Qyree more, just for him to play her too. Natalia didn’t know if it was her hormones making her feel strongly for Qyree or if she had really caught feelings. That all changed though the last time she saw him. He had some nerve coming over to her house with another broad in the car with him, and had her out there looking stupid and fighting. He may not have known she was pregnant at the time, but it was still not a good look. Her nosy neighbors still gave her the side eye going on seven months later. Since her ego was bruised, she was going to return the favor.
Her whole plan flew out the window the moment she saw Chey walk into the room, and the look of shock on everyone’s faces spoke volumes.
“Chey, what are you doing here?” she asked.
“Unlike you, she was invited,” Zaria said, with each syllable she spoke laced with venom. Natalia couldn’t stand her and didn’t care nothing about the fact that she was the mistress and not Zaria. If anything, she was the one entitled to having an attitude because she was carrying the next heir to their royal empire.
Rolling her eyes, Natalia refocused her attention back to Chey, waiting on an answer, only to be hit with another smart remark from Zaria.
