She was in Miami much more often than she was in Philadelphia, and Miami was beginning to feel more and more like home. She and Hayden had an amazing connection and he had brought up the subject of living together more than once, but Bailee wasn’t ready for that level of commitment.
Trent was dragging his feet on the divorce, and she was still in recovery mode over the avalanche of shock, hurt, and betrayal that accompanied the breakup of their ten-year marriage. Additionally, she was on a personal journey of self-discovery, and it seemed wiser and healthier to let her relationship with Hayden develop at a cautious speed.
She had grown weary of living out of a suitcase, and decided it was time to get out of the hotel and start looking for a place she could call home. Trying to hold on to her Philly condo seemed pointless, and she was ready to let go of everything associated with her old life.
At seven-thirty in the evening, Bailee prepared to wrap up an eleven-hour day. The muffled sound of music, grunting, and groaning that emerged from the far end of the hall told her that Hayden was still going strong, rehearsing with a group of attractive and physically fit women he’d selected to join him in his next Workout King DVD.
Deciding not to interrupt him, she headed for the elevator stairs and pulled out her phone to send him a goodnight text. She hoped to see him later on, but was careful not to appear pushy or needy. Her tendency to lean on a man for emotional support and validation was the reason she was determined to live alone and experience being single before attempting to take the relationship to the next level.
The moment the elevator doors opened, her phone buzzed against her palm. She looked down and saw “Mom” on the screen. Startled, she took a few backward steps before turning around and walking toward the stairs.
Ensconced inside the stairwell, where there was privacy, she took a deep breath before taking the call.
Instead of hearing, Hello, Bailee, in Giselle’s cool, aristocratic voice, she heard a shriek that was similar to the sound of a wounded animal, and the pained cry was interspersed with frantic, indecipherable words.
“What’s wrong, Mom?” Bailee asked. She was so sincerely concerned, her heart began to pound. No matter how deceitful and unmotherly Giselle had been, hearing her in distress sent jolts of alarm throughout Bailee’s system.
“I can’t understand a word you’re saying. Calm down and talk to me,” Bailee implored her while strongly suspecting that Giselle’s lamentations resulted from the discovery of Trent’s double life.
“He’s gone, Bailee. Trent’s gone.”
“Where’d he go?” Bailee asked calmly.
“It happened so suddenly,” Giselle said, gasping and crying.
“What happened? Is he gone—like in dead?” Bailee’s heart tightened in her chest. She was infuriated with Trent, but she didn’t wish death upon him.
“No, he’s not dead, but I wish he were,” Giselle hissed. “I gave that bastard everything. I funded his new law practice. He said he wanted to drive something luxurious that would give him the appearance of being successful and established while making his clients feel pampered when he took them to lunch, so I bought him a new Mercedes.”
Bailee inhaled sharply but didn’t say anything.
“Then, when he complained about needing his space, I bought him a beautiful home in my upscale neighborhood.”
“What? Mom, are you kidding me? The cheapest houses in your area cost several million.”
“Don’t you think I know?” Giselle snapped. “It’s cruel of you to judge me when I’m down. I’m going through too much to fight with you, Bailee.”
“I’m not fighting you. What else is going on?” Bailee braced herself to hear that Trent had moved a strange woman and two kids into the lavish home that Giselle had paid for. Karma was truly a bitch, but amazingly, Bailee took no pleasure in her mother’s suffering.
“Trent hadn’t been answering my calls. When three days went by without a word from him, I drove to his home. What a shock I had when I saw a ‘For Sale’ sign on the lawn. I gave him an obscene amount of money for that house, and he put it on the market like it was nothing.”
“I don’t understand why you’d be so generous with someone you should have regarded as nothing more than a boy toy?” It was difficult to speak of Trent as if they weren’t connected, but she managed to emotionally disassociate in order to hear Giselle out.
“There’s no explanation for how a woman responds when she’s in love,” Giselle said softly.
“Did you go to his office and confront him?” Bailee asked.
“Yes, and it was the most humiliating experience of my life.”
“What happened?”
“I was barred from entering the premises by Trent’s security detail.”
“How is he able to afford a security detail?”
Giselle wailed in agony. “I paid for it.”
“Oh, my God, Mom.”
“I don’t understand how he could treat me so cruelly, especially in my condition.”
“Are you sick?” Bailee asked, her voice high-pitched and fearful.
“No, I’m not sick. I’m pregnant.”
“Pregnant?” Bailee said, incredulous.
“I felt bad for him. He told me that you refused to have a child with him, and that it made him feel less than a man, so I—”
“But you’re over fifty,” Bailee reminded her, cutting her off. “How is pregnancy even possible? Wait, did you freeze your eggs a long time ago? No, you wouldn’t have done that because you never wanted more kids. Mom, I’m so confused. How did you get pregnant?” Bailee demanded.
“I used an egg donor.”
Bailee sighed. “Why? If you and Trent…” Bailee paused, finding it difficult to refer to her mother and her husband in the same sentence. “If you two agreed to lead separate lives, why would you go to that kind of trouble and expense to get pregnant?”
“It was stupid of me, but I hoped a child would bring us closer.”
“How many months are you?”
“Three, but I’m seriously considering an abortion. I refuse to be stuck raising this child without a father,” Giselle proclaimed, sniffling. “This fetus that’s growing inside me doesn’t have a drop of my blood. I doubt if I’d be able to love the child without Trent in my life,” Giselle admitted mournfully.
“Surely, you wouldn’t abort a baby that you went to such extreme measures to conceive.”
“I can’t imagine going through labor as a single parent. It’s vile and low-class. I refuse to put myself through that kind of pain all alone. I need Trent,” Giselle cried. “I need him by my side when I give birth to his only child.”
Uncomfortably, Bailee shifted from one foot to the other. She wondered if she should tell Giselle about Trent’s secret or if she was better off not knowing. A dull ache began throbbing at her temples, making it apparent that her mother’s self-inflicted problems were affecting her. She’d left Philadelphia to live in peace and serenity, but if she allowed her narcissistic mother to draw her into her nightmarish world, all the hard work she’d put into building her confidence and self-esteem would go down the drain.
“Mom, I wish I could be there for you, but the wound from your betrayal is still open. On an emotional level, I can’t afford to get involved in the mess that you and Trent created.”
“I already apologized; what more can I do? Why’re you trying to punish me for something I had no control over?” Giselle whined.
“This is not payback, Mom. It’s called survival. I have to do what’s best for me, and helping you deal with your current problems would be emotionally unhealthy for me. It would be disastrous. I’m going to hang up now. You can call me if there’s an emergency, but otherwise, you’ll have to work out your problems on your own.”
Bailee heard Giselle take a breath, gearing up to say something else, but she disconnected the call. Overwhelmed with sorrow, she leaned against the wall, and took a few moments to pull herself together.
She opened the door, and there was Hayden, standing by the elevator looking down at his phone.
He gazed up in surprise. “Hey, pretty, I thought you went back to your hotel.”
“I was on my way, but I had to take a call.”
“Wanna grab dinner?”
“Yes, I’m starving,” she said, giving him a warm smile.
“We can’t go anywhere fancy. I’m too sweaty from rehearsal.”
“I don’t care if we eat at a taco truck. Anyway, you look sexy and masculine when you’re covered in sweat,” she said, leaning in and kissing him on his damp cheek.
The elevator dinged and the doors slid open, revealing an empty car. The moment they stepped inside, Hayden enfolded Bailee inside his perspiration-soaked arms and kissed her deeply.
All the unpleasant, chaotic emotions that Giselle had dumped on her began to instantly evaporate and she felt engulfed in serenity.
Chapter 32
Dressed in fashionable business attire, Jayla and Derek made a striking couple, and they looked extremely dignified as they swept into the auction.
No one at the auction would have guessed that they’d fallen asleep last night to the sweet melody of triple orgasms echoing in harmony throughout their bedroom.
Their fellow bidders would have been hard-pressed to imagine that the morning after a lewd ménage à trois, the elegant pair awoke to the overpowering scent of illicit sex hanging in the air. It was a pungent smell that permeated their bedsheets and clung to their skin.
No one would have been able to picture a scene where Jayla’s thighs were clamped around another man’s head while Derek crouched behind the same man, rhythmically slow-stroking into his tight anal passage.
A person would have to possess a truly warped and unstable mind to conjure an image of Derek working his hips and building momentum until he progressed from gentle gliding motions to deep driving plunges, inciting the third-party lover to deliver intense tongue-thrusts into the moist depths of the woman Derek intended to marry.
When it was time to bid on the house on Dearborn Street, Jayla’s palms began to sweat and her pulse throbbed rapidly. The fear that a wealthy developer would outbid her and Derek prompted her to begin petitioning the Lord and pleading for His assistance.
Jayla bid on the property and amazingly no one tried to outbid her. Upon hearing the words, going, going, gone, she leapt to her feet and hollered. Derek joined her in the rowdy celebration, bellowing, “Yeah,” as he pumped his fist into the air.
Neither Derek nor Jayla had any interest in prolonging the dignified and stately charade. They were ecstatic about their financial future and didn’t care who knew it.
* * *
When Lorraine discovered that Jayla had used her money to invest in a raggedy, ghetto property, she flew into such a blind rage, her blood pressure went sky-high, and Jayla feared she would have to be hospitalized.
The only thing that calmed Lorraine down was the solemn promise that Jayla and Derek would stop living in sin and get married at Lorraine’s church with her beloved pastor officiating.
Jayla had feared Lorraine would make her use part of the loan to pay for the wedding expenses, but to her surprise, her mother sprang for all the costs.
During the nuptials, Lorraine shed tears of joy and shouted “hallelujah” several times as she watched Deacon Webster escort her daughter down the aisle.
Bailee flew in from Miami to serve as Jayla’s maid of honor, and of course, James, the pastor’s son, stood beside Derek as his best man.
No time for a traditional honeymoon, the newlyweds and James spent a lust-filled night in the honeymoon suite at the Loews Hotel.
Returning home after the honeymoon, Derek and Jayla were unable to find a vacant spot in the parking lot of their building, and they were forced to park in front of the green house across the street.
Derek opened the passenger’s door and bent at the waist, preparing to lift Jayla into his arms.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Jayla asked, laughing.
“I’m carrying you across the threshold.”
“You’re not supposed to pick me up until we get outside the door of the condo. You’re so silly, boy,” she said as she eased out of the car.
Outside trimming his rose bushes, Mr. Murphy glared at the happy couple as if they’d committed a crime by parking in front of his house.
Derek popped the trunk and he and Jayla moved to the rear of the car, laughing heartily. At the tinkling sound of their laughter, Mr. Murphy’s frown deepened.
“What’s old dude’s problem? Why is he giving us the screw face?” Derek asked. “I never did anything to grandpop. Maybe his face is all twisted up because he needs a laxative,” Derek said, causing Jayla to laugh even harder.
“The reason Mr. Murphy was looking at us all sideways is because he was offended that we parked in front of his house without giving him an explanation,” Jayla clarified. “He swears he’s the mayor of Mount Airy.”
Derek grunted. “That petty muthafucka better get a life.”
“Plus, he can’t stand me,” she further explained.
“What’s his beef with you?”
“He’s got a stick up his ass. A while back, he got in my face and told me that I was a loose woman with no morals.”
Derek reared back in his chair. “He disrespected you and got in your face?”
“Yeah. He talked to me real greasy. I used to attend his stupid community meetings because I thought we were cool, but I haven’t spoken to him since that day he showed his true colors.”
“I’ll fuck that old bastard up if he even thinks about coming out his mouth to my fuckin’ wife!”
“Let it go. He’s a miserable old man, upset because he can’t get his fuck on without taking a cocktail of pills.”
Derek made a chuckling sound, but Jayla could tell by the way his brows were knitted together that he was still pissed.
Later that night, after making love, instead of going to sleep, Derek sat on the side of the bed, studying the screen of his phone.
Jayla cracked an eye open. “What are you doing? I know you’re not attempting to call up a nigga or a bitch and start cheating on me already,” she said, half-joking and half-serious.
“Nah, why would I have to do that when we have an understanding?”
“That’s what I’m saying, so, what are you doing?”
“I’m looking for something on eBay—a tool I need to work on the house. It cost a fortune at Home Depot, but I can get it much cheaper online.”
“Oh, okay.” Jayla patted him on the arm.
“Get some rest, babe. I’ll be zonked out right next to you as soon as I make this purchase.”
She giggled. “Check you out—the man who used to be intimidated by technology is wheeling and dealing on eBay.”
“And don’t forget that I can hold my own in restaurants. No more anxiety about ordering food—thanks to my baby for being patient with me and helping me out.”
“Of course.”
“I don’t know what I’d do without you, Jayla.”
“Hopefully, you’ll never have to find out.”
He flashed a smile, gave her a kiss, and then returned his gaze to the screen.
Three days later, when Derek’s package arrived, Jayla handed it to him, noting that it was an extremely lightweight tool, but she didn’t ask any questions.
“I’m gonna put this in the trunk, so I don’t forget it when I work on the house tomorrow.”
“Cool,” she responded.
Derek left the condo, and she felt the intense loneliness that engulfed her whenever they were separated. Her love for Derek grew stronger every day, and she hated being apart from him, even for a few moments.
She found herself meandering toward the window, so that she could watch him strut across the parking lot. The way he held his broad shoulders erect when he walked was so damn sexy, it was no wonder that both men and women lost their minds over h
im.
As she secretly watched Derek with admiring eyes, it was a jolting surprise when she saw him exit the parking lot and strut across the street, still carrying the package.
Mouth agape, she wondered what he was up to when she observed him knocking on Mr. Murphy’s door.
Smiling broadly, Mr. Murphy opened the door and welcomed Derek inside.
Fuming over Derek’s deceit, Jayla stormed away from the window and began to pace back and forth.
What the hell is he up to? I know he’s not sneaking around, getting his dick sucked by that disrespectful-ass, old man.
An hour later, Derek put his key in the lock and came inside, whistling.
This sneaky motherfucker is actually whistling after he did his dirt. Jayla’s heart sank. She’d put her love and trust into Derek and had accepted a new lifestyle. A bitch couldn’t win. Muthafuckas always had to feel like they were getting over on somebody.
“It took you long enough to put the package in the trunk,” she said, baiting him.
“Yeah, I had to make a stop,” he said casually as he pulled the fridge open and peered inside.
“Oh, so it’s like that? You go across the street and get your dick sucked and now you’re hungry after busting a nut.” She fired off the words with her fist balled, ready to fight Derek.
“Huh? What’re you talking about?” he asked, frowning in confusion.
Jayla stalked toward him. “I was looking out the window, and I saw you sneaking inside Mr. Murphy’s house. I thought you had better taste, but I guess you’re just a sleazy ho wanting the new thrill of getting your dick gummed by a senior citizen.”
Derek burst out laughing. He laughed so hard, he stomped his feet and doubled over. He couldn’t stop laughing, and when he finally got himself together, he said, “Babe, ain’t nobody gumming my dick.” Then he started laughing all over again.
“Ain’t nothing funny, Derek,” Jayla said in a hurtful tone of voice.
“Your accusation is hilarious. But, I can explain.”
“Please do,” she said through gritted teeth.
“I didn’t want to violate my probation by whipping that old man’s ass. So I approached him in a friendly way and told him I wanted to get involved in the community meetings. When he invited me inside, I sat and talked with him and his wife. And while we were kicking it, I slyly unleashed the present I bought for them.”
Sharp Curves Ahead Page 25
