by Deja King
“That’s a dumb question. That’s the best you could come up with?” Tyler remarked as she fidgeted with her velour jogging pants.
“No need to get smart. I thought we would start with the basics and work our way up to the more complex topics,” Chrissie said candidly.
“Listen, Chrissie, when you’re trying to nurse a broken heart there is no such thing as basic, everything is complex. Do you want to know what I ask myself every day? Is it worth it? The fame, the money, is it all worth losing love for? I don’t know. At one point in my life I would’ve said without a doubt, because the only love I knew that was guaranteed was the love from my son. Now, I don’t have a clue. Part of me wants to run to Andre and say I’ll give it all up for you so we can be together but then to do that means I would make myself naked and vulnerable for him to break my heart. The funny thing is after Brian I didn’t think I had anything left inside of me to break but I was wrong. Every day I’m not with Andre my stomach literally hurts. The only thing that numbs the pain temporarily is this glass of champagne. Without it, I’d probably be somewhere drowning in tears.”
“Then go to him. Give up everything you worked so hard for in order to secure independence and freedom to be with Andre Jackson. A man that obviously has an extremely unstable fiancée, is a notorious womanizer, and you haven’t even known for a year. If that’s the man you want to gamble your and your son’s future on, then I’ll be the maid of honor.” Tyler turned her head, disgusted by Chrissie’s lack of understanding of her pain. “I know you think I’m being insensitive,” she said, as if reading Tyler’s mind. “But I know what you’ve been through in your prior relationships and how far you’ve come. I don’t want to see you throw it all away on a man that doesn’t deserve you.”
“But maybe it will be different between us.”
“Tyler, do you really want to take that chance? It’s nice to see that you’re still optimistic in love but I don’t think Andre is the one you need to take that chance with.”
“Maybe you’re right, but it hurts so bad.” To break the somber mood, Chrissie broke into a horrible rendition of Whitney Houston’s “Why Does It Hurt So Bad.”
Tyler couldn’t help but crack a smile. “Chrissie, you sound like a straight-up clown. Let’s get the hell up outta this house and go shopping.”
“That’s the Tyler I know and love.” Both women grabbed their purses and headed out the door.
As Andre entered William’s office building he looked down at his watch, hoping he was making perfect time. He figured William was out on one of his power lunches and he would handle his business with William’s assistant and be in and out without even running into his Achilles heel.
“Hi Stacey, I’m stopping by to sign that paperwork my agent insisted was so important,” Andre said derisively, since his agent always acted as if everything was an emergency.
“Yes, Mr. Jackson, let me get them for you.” The receptionist left her desk and disappeared into William Donovan’s office to retrieve the documents. “Mr. Jackson, Mr. Donovan has the paperwork. He said to please come into his office to go over a couple of minor details.” Andre let out a loud sigh, revealing his annoyance at having a one-on-one encounter with his adversary.
“Hi William, I’m in a rush so exactly what do we need to go over?”
William stood up from his chair, walked around his desk and directly toward Andre. Andre instantly shifted his body in defense mode, wondering if William was about to tackle him like a football player. To his surprise and relief, William glided past him and shut the door. Although Andre knew he could handle any sort of physical altercation with William, he wasn’t in the mood for an afternoon brawl.
“I don’t like to discuss any sort of business with the door open,” William explained, as he walked back to his desk.
“No problem, but can we speed this up because as I said I’m in a rush.”
“Of course. Feel free to read over the papers and just sign where you see the ‘X.’”
Andre dissected every sentence in the document and he noted in his mind that everything was just as his agent stipulated, so he had no idea what William needed to discuss. “Everything seems in order, so I’ll just sign on the dotted line and be out.”
“Actually, I wanted to discuss the press junket that I’m having Chrissie set up for you to promote the movie. Here is the initial draft for the dates and locations.” William handed Andre the paper and could see the frown on his face. “Is there a problem with the dates, Andre?”
“Not the dates but the location. All these press junkets are taking place overseas. I was under the impression that Tyler and I would do the press junkets together here and then go overseas.”
“We thought it would be more productive and cost efficient if we had Tyler doing the press here and you doing them overseas.”
“You mean you thought,” Andre said disparagingly. “You’re still determined to keep me and Tyler apart.”
William let out a small but detectable chuckle. “Keep you apart? If I’m not mistaken, Andre, you’re due for a wedding soon. I don’t have to try and do anything.”
“Then why can’t Tyler and I do the press junkets together? It makes better sense.”
“I explained that to you, so please let Chrissie know if those dates work for you. I know you’re in a hurry so I won’t keep you any longer.” William put his head down and started going through some other materials, giving Andre the sign that their conversation was over. But Andre was far from done.
“You may think that because you pushed Tyler in a corner and she chose her career over me that it means she also chose you, but you’re wrong. Tyler wants independence but she doesn’t want you. You’ll never have her heart. Whether she knows it or not, she’ll always love me and one day she will come back.”
“Do you hear yourself, Mr. Andre Jackson? You’re engaged to the mother of your child and talking about another woman coming back to you. Come back to what? A man that is tied down to a whole other life. Tyler is a star. She deserves better than that. I don’t need you anywhere around her, poisoning her with that garbage.”
“You’re one to talk. You’re a married man. You think Tyler needs to be with an over-the-hill egotistical actor who is having an ongoing midlife crisis? So you have no right to judge me or my situation.”
“I’m only married on paper. My marriage has been over for a very long time. In another year my youngest child will be off to college and I will be getting a divorce. Once that happens, I have every intention on marrying Tyler. I promise you, she will be my wife. I have everything to offer her and you have nothing. After this movie Tyler will be a superstar, and she doesn’t need to be caught up in your baby mama fiasco. The woman damn near killed herself trying to win you back. Nobody has time for that bullshit.”
Andre’s natural reaction was to punch William for making light of Chantal’s near-death experience, but something in him knew that her suicide attempt was nothing more than a well-thought-out scheme to win him back. Deep down inside he harbored resentment toward her because he believed that Chantal’s actions played a part in the demise of his relationship with Tyler.
“Understand something, William. It’s none of your business what happened with Chantal.”
“Yeah, but it is my business what happens to Tyler and that is my only concern. Personally I wish you and your ready-made family would go somewhere and never come back, but unfortunately I have no control over that. But I do have control over Tyler’s career and I guarantee you’ll never do another movie with her again.”
“You pompous son of a bitch! I may not have Tyler, but neither will you. If she does marry you, it will be out of pity. So know one thing, when you’re inside of her, she is wishing it is me.” Andre stormed out and slammed the door so hard one of William’s million-dollar paintings fell to the floor. Luckily, it was carpeted.
When Andre reached his car he started the ignition and the Ja Rule song “New York” was blasting from
his radio. He didn’t turn it down but instead got pumped up over the song about his hometown. “I need to get the fuck out of this bullshit Hollywood town and take my ass back to New York. That’s where all the real niggas at. Motherfuckers out here don’t appreciate no real nigga, they just want a house nigga that know they place. I’m done with all this. I’m taking it back to New York.” Andre slammed on the gas and speeded home.
By the time Andre reached the front door, his anger over the conversation with William was still brewing. He wanted to put his fist through the wall but when he saw Chantal lying on the couch looking through bridal magazines he decided to take his frustrations out in another way. Without saying a word he lifted Chantal off the couch and pushed her up against the wall. He ripped off her lace boy shorts and thrust his dick inside of her from the back. He grabbed her hair and pulled it back as he pounded Chantal, making it nearly impossible for her to keep her balance. Her legs were becoming weak and her knees began to buckle under the intense pain but Andre wouldn’t let go. Instead he pounded harder and Chantal had no choice but to scream for him to stop. “Andre, please stop, you’re hurting me.” But still Andre didn’t say a word. He threw Chantal down on the floor and held her head down with her on hands and knees, as he continued twisting her back out. Chantal was still in pain but was now in a more comfortable position and she began enjoying the intensity of the sex act. Her moans of pleasure became louder and louder, and Andre was actually pissed that she was now enjoying what was supposed to be a punishment. He put all his body weight into two last strokes and then grabbed Chantal’s hair, slid out and squirted in her mouth. Like the good whore Andre gave her credit for being, she swallowed all his cum like a champion. Before Chantal could finish tasting the last of Andre’s semen, he had walked off and went straight in the shower. When she followed behind him, still in “ah” of the dick down he just put on her, he locked the bathroom door. It wasn’t until then that Chantal realized that it wasn’t a fuck of love or lust, but a fuck of hate.
When Andre woke up the next morning Chantal was sitting in the bed once again going through the bridal magazines. He couldn’t believe that in just a few weeks she would be his wife. A woman that he didn’t respect or even love for that matter. But if he couldn’t marry the woman that had his heart then why not marry the woman who had his child? At least with Chantal she knew he would be fucking around and was used to it. The only woman he could imagine being true to was Tyler, and she made it clear they would never be together, so why keep torturing himself? But as he looked at Chantal he couldn’t help but wonder if it was possible to turn a hooker into a housewife.
“Good morning, baby,” Chantal beamed as she realized Andre was now up. “I was trying to get some ideas for the bridesmaids’ dresses. Baby, the dress that has been designed for me is off the hook but I can’t have my bridesmaids upstaging me, so I’m coming up with what I want them to wear. What do you think about this?” she asked, showing Andre a picture of a matronly dress.
“It’s cool,” he stated, not even glancing at the photo. “You need to pack your bags because we’re going back to New York today.”
“What, going back to New York? Baby, I have a wedding to plan,” Chantal said in a panic-stricken voice.
“You can plan it in New York. We can have a nice wedding there.”
“Hell, no, Andre. I’ve already hired a wedding planner and everything is underway. We are having our wedding in Beverly Hills. It is too late to make any changes and I’m not postponing this wedding.” Andre could hear the determination in Chantal’s voice. He couldn’t believe that less than three months ago he gave a beautiful pink diamond ring to the love of his life and now he was marrying the baby mama from hell. He was almost tempted to elope with Chantal and get the whole thing over with, since their marriage would be no more sacred than Britney Spears’s Las Vegas wedding to Jason Alexander, but he knew Chantal wasn’t having it. This was her moment to floss in front of all her chickenhead friends and family members. The only joy Andre could imagine was the happiness the wedding would bring to Melanie.
“Fine, Chantal, we can have the wedding here, but as soon as we say ‘I do,’ we’re out.” The moment Andre left the room Chantal got on the phone with Shari.
“Girl, when are you getting here? You was supposed to be back in LA two days ago.”
“Chantal, I told you that I had to make some babysitting arrangements for Alex. My mother has been straight tripping about keeping him. You know she think I’m rich now since I bought my new crib with some of Chris’s money. Now she saying she needs to be paid for watching her own damn grandson. Mind you she doesn’t even work. She would be sitting up in her house regardless if Alex was there or not.”
“So what you doing? Trying to hire a nanny or something?”
“Nah, negotiating the price with my mama. At the end of the day she is blood and she’ll look after him better than a stranger would.”
Chantal let out a heavy sigh. “You and yo mama is crazy. But besides all that, I need you here with me.”
“I should be there tomorrow morning. I’m working out the last few details because my mother wants a separate payment for transportation. Because of these outrageous gas prices she feels that’s a whole other bill. With everything she’s putting me through, I’m thinking maybe she should have negotiated my payoff from Chris. I would’ve probably got an island out the deal.”
“Girl, I still got those disgusting pictures of him locked away, so if you need that island, it’s still up for negotiation.” They both laughed. “But, Shari, I really need you,” Chantal pleaded sincerely.
“What’s the problem? You about to be Mrs. Andre Jackson. You should be on cloud nine right now.”
“Andre is having seconds thoughts. I think it’s finally hitting him that we’re about to be married. He even tried to get me to go back to New York today, saying we could have our wedding there. I shut that down on the spot, but the point is I know he doesn’t want to marry me.”
“Then maybe you should cancel the wedding, Chantal. You don’t want to marry a man who doesn’t want to marry you.”
Chantal looked at the receiver with eyes twitching. She knew Shari didn’t say what she thought she heard. “Excuse me, Shari, I think we have a bad reception because I thought I heard something like ‘cancel the wedding.’ But that couldn’t have come from you?”
“Stop tripping, Chantal, I’m dead-ass serious. This whole housewife lifestyle you’re longing for may not be all what you imagined it would be. Sometimes you have to know when to let go.”
“I know you mean well, but this is it for me. I was so desperate to hold on to Andre I had to plot a fake suicide attempt. You know I could’ve really killed myself behind that shit. Luckily, Andre found me in time. The ugly scars I have on my wrists was all in the name of love. Andre is everything to me. He might be reluctant right now about marrying me, but I’ll be such a wonderful wife that he’ll forget about his initial hesitation. The important thing is making sure I get him down the aisle. That’s why I need you here, Shari. I’m more confident when I know you’re watching my back.”
“You don’t ever have to worry about that, Chantal. If you’re determined to marry Andre then I will do whatever you need to make that happen.”
“I knew you wouldn’t let me down, Shari, so get yo ass here.” They both laughed and Chantal instantly felt better.
T-Roc was still heated about how close he had come to getting everything he wanted, and then Andre came in and took it all away. He had his spies working overtime trying to find some explosive dirt on Andre. After his run-in with Tyler there was no question in his mind that his hold on her was intact. T-Roc felt he and Tyler would be together now if he had gotten the part in Angel. William apologized profusely for the mix-up but that wasn’t enough. He was losing ground at making a romantic connection with Tyler. The only solace he found was in the fact that Andre’s relationship with her was history. T-Roc’s expectations were unbroken. Wi
lliam promised to cast him in his next movie starring Tyler, which would begin filming in the next few months. He wanted to make sure there were no obstacles this time, and decided it would be in his best interest to keep Chrissie as an ally.
“What do you want?” Chrissie asked nastily, even though she was secretly happy to see T-Roc.
“You,” he answered as he pulled out the flowers he was holding behind his back. Chrissie unintentionally let a huge smile spread across her face. She didn’t want to let on how much she missed the man who had humiliated her so. As Chrissie let T-Roc in and he handed her the bouquet, it dawned on her that no one had given her flowers in so long and she wondered if she even had a vase to put them in. Her next dilemma was figuring out what T-Roc was up to.
“Chrissie, I know how upset you are at me, but I was hoping we could call a truce.”
“Truce, that’s what the roses are for?”
“That, and because I miss you.” Chrissie eyed T-Roc suspiciously. He knew that he would have to lay on the charm thick in order to regain her confidence. “Listen, Chrissie, I want to come clean to you about a few things.”
“What has brought about this sudden urge to purge yourself?”
“Shame,” he stated. Chrissie didn’t even know that was an emotion T-Roc was capable of feeling. “Chrissie, I was wrong for the way I treated you. You’re a wonderful woman and you deserve so much better than the way I’ve behaved towards you.” T-Roc then lowered his head as if he was too embarrassed and ashamed to look at her. His little charade was essentially working. Chrissie was being taken in by his so-called profession of the truth.
“T-Roc, why did you use me and humiliate me the way that you did?”
“I don’t know if you know how everything went down with me and Tyler in the past, but after it ended she left me crushed. I was never given the opportunity to express my feelings to her. Then when I ran into her after so long she didn’t even acknowledge me in front of her so-called mentor, the almighty William Donovan. Tyler had once again shitted on me. When I had the chance to break into movies and star opposite her I thought this was my opportunity to prove she made a mistake by breaking things off with me. But once again Tyler had the last laugh. The part of Damian should’ve been mine. Andre couldn’t have been better than me, but I know Tyler vetoed it. Chrissie, all I wanted was to seize my opening and because it wasn’t given to me I decided to take it. Since you were the closest person to Tyler, I used you to get what I wanted,” he admitted, now standing face-to-face with Chrissie.
