Distracted

by Warren, Alexandra

  Her tone reeked of sarcasm as she replied, “Terminate me. Please. I’m begging you.”

  I opened the door for her, but not without saying, “You and I both know that’d be way too easy. And besides, if I terminated you, it wouldn’t exactly be the best look on your record.” The least I could do was let her go out legit.

  But she still brushed me off as if it was no big deal. “I already have a job lined up, but I appreciate you thinking about someone other than yourself for a change.”

  &

  “What’s your last name?”

  She looked confused, pushing her salad around her plate as she asked, “Come again?”

  I stared at her for a few seconds longer, knowing this little impromptu lunch that Leslie insisted on setting up was incredibly pointless, before I asked again, “What’s your last name? If you’re supposedly carrying my child, the least I could do is know your last name.”

  She blushed, dropping her fork to her plate before she answered, “Oh. Right. It’s Cooper.”

  “Hmm… Nicole Cooper. The gold-digger that’s trying to ruin my reputation. Got it.” She smacked her teeth, snatching her napkin from her lap before tossing it on the table.

  “Nobody forced you to have sex with me, Bryson. You chose, you wanted it, and you got it plus more.” She even emphasized her point with a little belly rub that made my belly turn. I was still pretty confident that she wasn’t carrying my seed, but just the fact that she was encouraging the idea made me sick.

  “No. You got it plus more from some unnamed mothafucka that’s walkin’ out here scot-free since you’re so desperate to tie the baby to me and my legacy.”

  She picked her napkin back up, using it to dab the sides of her mouth as she tossed back, “Your words don’t hurt me, Bryson. I know what happened and I know it’s yours. That’s all that matters when it comes to you and your precious little legacy.”

  I was desperate to know more, so I pried a little deeper. “Just out of curiosity, what’s in it for you? I mean, other than the obvious… money, fifteen seconds of fame, maybe a reality show with a bunch of other thirsty bitches…”

  “Excuse me?! I am not thirsty. If anything, you were thirsty when you tried to get me up to your hotel room.”

  My eyes rolled on their own. “There really wasn’t much trying involved, but I’m not here to argue semantics. I wanna know your motive.”

  She took a sip of her water, shrugging as she answered, “I don’t have a motive. I’m just here to get what I deserve. And you wouldn’t have moved me out here if you didn’t know that to be true.”

  “That didn’t have anything to do with me. That was all my agent’s doing simply because she didn’t trust you to stay quiet, though I assured her you had nothing of substance from the jump.” I still couldn’t believe Leslie had gone through all the trouble of bringing the girl to town.

  “Whatever. All I know is I’m here now and I already have shit that needs to get paid. So you gonna write the check or deposit the money into my account?”

  I tried not to draw too much attention to us as I answered straight up, “I’m not giving you shit, Nicole.”

  She brushed me off again, looking at her nails as she replied, “That’s not what Leslie said. She guaranteed $15,000 Pre-DNA test and another $20,000 contingent on it being confirmed as yours.” I choked on my water.

  “She did what?!” I just knew Leslie wouldn’t sell me out without at least telling me first.

  But Nicole smiled confidently, leaning into the table to say, “That’s right, baby. And mama has her eyes on a new pair of shoes and a bomb ass stylist. So I’ll ask you again; are you gonna write me a check or deposit the money into my account?”

  Kennedy

  “Landon, we need to talk.”

  Walking around the house with the guilt from the night of my birthday gathering had officially become overwhelming. It probably would’ve been easier to have the conversation while the situation was still fresh, but there was no time like the present when it came to finally getting stuff off your chest.

  He hardly looked concerned as he wiped his hands on a towel and turned the stove down to a simmer. “What’s going on, babe?”

  “I umm… I’m quitting my job.” I figured that was the safest starting place.

  His face scrunched with confusion as he asked, “What? Why? I thought you liked working with Bryson.”

  “I do. I… did. But we…” I choked on my words, pulling my bottom lip between my teeth as I tried to hold back the tears that were begging to be unleashed. It surprised me that I even had any left after crying every lonely night to sleep.

  Now hisconcern fell in as he walked over to me, wrapping me in an embrace. “Babe, just tell me. What is it?” I felt guilty for even letting him get this close, knowing my news would surely tear us apart.

  “We… we… we kinda developed umm… feelings for each other that were… far from professional.”

  He let me go, taking a step back as he said, “I don’t understand.”

  A single tear sprang free without my permission and it hurt me even more when he reached in to wipe it.

  “We… we kissed. And we… did some things that weren’t appropriate. And I’m just so sorry, Landon.” A few more tears joined the pity party, but this time I was forced to wipe them myself as Landon looked completely outdone.

  His eyes were slanted and his arms were crossed as he asked, “What the fuck do you mean, ‘things that weren’t appropriate’? Did you… did you fuck him, Kennedy?” A fresh batch of tears dinged from the oven.

  “No! I didn’t have that kind of sex with him. I just… he just…”

  He cut me off. “He just what? Fingered you?” I shook my head no. “Sucked a damn titty?” No again. “Saw that pretty ass pussy of yours? Tasted that pretty ass pussy of yours?” I froze.

  His scowl became fierce as he digested the information. “How could you, Kennedy? I… I trusted you.”

  My emotions were everywhere as I admitted, “It was a mistake. A big, stupid mistake and I’m just… I’m so sorry, Landon.” I could hardly breathe, let alone speak as he watched me cry myself silly, completely unfazed.

  “A mistake? You really expect me to believe that bullshit, Kennedy? I saw the way he looked at you the night of your birthday; the way you looked at him. And I told myself over and over again, ‘Nah, man. We’re talking about Kennedy. My Kennedy. She wouldn’t even think to do something so…. grimey.’” My breath caught in my chest once more as my eyes became hazed by the overflow of tears.

  “But you know what? I can’t even blame you for that. It’s my fault for being so damn naive when it came to you, believing that you were as perfect as you make everything seem.”

  My voice was hoarse as I told him, “I never meant to hurt you, Landon. I swear.”

  “Even if that wasn’t your intention, that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, Kennedy. I’m just so damn… disappointed.”

  My chest felt like it was caving in as I begged, “Landon, please…”

  He put his hands up to stop me. “No, Kennedy! Don’t please me. Don’t sorry me. Don’t do any of that shit! Just… let me figure this shit out for myself, alright?”

  He made his way to the door, stuffing his feet into his tennis shoes as I asked with the little voice I had left, “What do you mean figure it out?”

  He yanked the door open as he answered, “This whole… relationship, the engagement, us in general. Just… give me some time.”

  I knew there was nothing I could say that would make him stay.

  So I let him go, closing and locking the door behind him before I fell to the ground and cried every drip of water I had left.

  Bryson

  I wasn’t sure how I ended up back at the same strip club we went to on Kennedy’s birthday, but it felt like a good idea to get rid of the stress of my day. After dealing with Nicole, and Leslie, and Kennedy, then playing yet another shitty game, blowing off some steam felt like the only
thing that would keep me sane.

  I strolled in through the back of the club so no one would see me, stopping by to dap up a few familiar faces before I found my designated section. I felt lonely as hell being in the strip club without company, but the solitude gave me a real chance to unwind and think some shit through; like what I was gonna do if Nicole’s baby was somehow miraculously mine. I knew the chance was slim to none, but all it took was a few percentage points for it to be true.

  I was tempted to take a shot from the thought alone.

  As I scanned the crowd, subconsciously thinking about who I wanted to give me a lap dance, my eyes landed on Landon who was all smiles as he smacked one of the strippers on the booty. Then he swept her money from the stage, putting it into a container before handing it to her. She smiled at him, exchanging some kind of energy that made him smack her on the ass again then follow her to the back.

  My curiosity got the best of me, so I hopped up from my seat to follow them. Thankfully the security recognized me, letting me go past the prohibited area sign without a problem. I peeked into the first room which looked more like one of my high school locker rooms except instead of basketball jerseys and shoes, there were platform heels and lingerie.

  I continued my quest, peeking into the second room that turned out to be an office.

  Maybe they didn’t come back here.

  “Shittt, Brandy.”

  My ears perked up on their own as I followed the noise to a third room. I looked inside and saw the same stripper from the stage on her knees sucking Landon’s dick. My first instinct was to beat his ass for fuckin’ Kennedy over, but that was just a bad headline waiting to happen. So instead, I cleared my throat as loud as I could to get their attention.

  The stripper took notice before Landon did, and he had the nerve to look down at her wondering why she stopped. She nodded her head my way and Landon’s eyes flashed up to mine in shock. He pulled her from the ground while simultaneously pulling his pants up like I hadn’t already figured out what was going on.

  “What the fuck are you doing back here, man?!”

  I shrugged. “Self-guided tour, I guess. Was actually thinking about investing in something like this. It seems to be pretty… profitable.” I looked over to the stripper who was beyond embarrassed as she fixed the little bit of clothes she had on and darted out of the room.

  While Landon kept working on his belt, I kept running my mouth. “You know, it’s kinda funny that I caught you like this, bro. I mean, while Kennedy thinks you’re here working to save up for the wedding and shit, you’re really in here gettin’ your dick sucked every night. And to think she actually felt guilty about the little she did.”

  He had the nerve to get all riled up like I’d be even remotely intimidated. “Mothafucka, I should beat your ass for touching my woman!”

  “Should you? Eh… maybe. But after this, it probably wouldn’t be in your best interest. For one, the only ass gettin’ beat would be yours. And for two, even if you did win, I could still tell Kennedy what I saw. So do you really wanna get your ass beat and get your girl snatched? I have a hard time believing that.”

  He wore the smuggest little smirk as he tossed out, “Kennedy’s at home crying over me right now. She’s never gonna leave me.”

  I couldn’t help but bruise his little ego. “You wanna know why she’s with you? Because she’s loyal. But you just broke that, man. So now there’s nothing holding her back from going after what she really wants, which I can already assure you is me.” I thought about dropping her direct quote just to fuck with him even more.

  “You really think she’s gonna believe you over me? Even if you did have something with her, she’s getting away from you solely because she loves me. I can go home right now and tell her I forgive her for that shit with you and she’ll be sucking my dick just like Brandy was.”

  Now this cocky little mothafucka is gettin’ on my nerves....

  “Bro, I swear to God. If you even think about pullin’ some shit like that on Kennedy, I will kill you with my bare hands.” Even if we weren’t on the best terms, I would forever consider her a friend. And friends protect friends at all costs.

  I almost snapped when he brushed me off, but instead I just bit the inside of my cheek to hear him out. “Whatever, Bryson. You’re all talk. That’s how all ya’ll ball players are. Think you can just do whatever you want to whoever you want. Stay away from me and mine, bruh. We good.”

  I couldn’t believe he really thought I was just gonna let his sorry ass go back to Kennedy with no repercussions. Even if she didn’t end up with me, Landon was no longer an option.

  But I knew talking to him anymore than I already had was useless. So I acted like I no longer cared, tossing my hands up and leaving the room.

  &

  I watched Kennedy mosey around the boutique, sifting through the racks of clothes as she tried to find a few things for me to add to my closet before a new stylist would take her place. This time around, I refused to be a part of the hiring process so I could pretty much assume that Leslie had hired the ugliest person she could find.

  Hell, she probably hired a man.

  But that was the least of my concerns.

  I was busy trying to figure out how to ask Kennedy about Landon without sounding like I was hatin’. If Landon hadn’t said anything - which I could pretty much assume he hadn’t -, then it would probably seem like I was just trying to start trouble though that was hardly the case. I wanted the best for Kennedy, I cared about her, and she deserved much better than a fool like Landon.

  So when she took the clothes to the register to checkout, tossing them on the counter, I casually asked, “So… how are you and Landon doing?”

  To no surprise, she kept it short. “We’re fine.”

  “So he… came home last night?”

  She turned to me with an attitude speckled with confusion. “Of course he did. Why wouldn’t he have come home, Bryson?”

  I shrugged, trying not to spill all the beans at once. “I don’t know. I just… you don’t mind him working nights at the strip club? Being around all those ass-shakin’, half-naked women?” Maybe laying the facts on the table first would make the news less alarming.

  She still wasn’t catching my drift, using my card to pay for the clothes as she tossed back, “It's a means to an end.”

  I signed the receipt, grabbing the bags as I worked to get my point across. “End. That’s exactly what I was thinking too. Like how you need to end your engagement with Landon.”

  Oops.

  Her eyes went wide as she shot me a scowl from the store all the way to the car. She waited until we were in route back to my house to respond, “You have got to be kidding me, Bryson. I mean, where do you even come up with this stuff?”

  I tried to keep my eyes on the road as I explained, “Kennedy, I… look, I know you probably won’t believe any of what I tell you but just hear me out, alright?” I watched from my peripheral as she rolled her eyes, but nodded her head allowing me to go on. “I was at the club last night and I… I saw Landon with a girl; with one of the girls.”

  She brushed me off. “Well he works there, Bryson. I’m sure he has to interact from time-to-time.”

  “Nah, Kenn. Not like that. She was giving him some umm… some sloppy toppy.”

  She turned in her seat to look at me. “Sloppy.... toppy? Is this some kind of joke, Bryson? Cause I’m really not in the mood today.”

  “I’m not joking, Kennedy. I saw it with my own two eyes; her on her knees in front of Landon and I can guarantee she wasn’t checkin’ his prostate.”

  She was more annoyed than convinced as she sarcastically asked, “So you want me to believe that some stripper was giving Landon head in the middle of the club for you to see? Oh. Okay. Got it.”

  “No. I found them. In the back.” She tossed her hands up as she turned to the window, completely outdone by the conversation.

  “Oh, so you were looking for something to be wron
g with him? Even better.”

  I tried to make her understand my motives as I explained, “Kennedy, I went back there for you. To look out… for you.”

  “And instead you just threw a new wrench at me to make my life a little worse than you’ve already made it. Thanks a lot, Bryson. You’re a class act.”

  “I’m serious, Kenn. I could tell he was on some slick shit, so I went back there to see what was going on and… that was what I found. So you can be mad at me if you want to, but I needed you to know the truth.” Her demeanor completely changed as she turned back my way, leaning over the middle console to get in my face.

  “The truth? You wanna talk about the truth? Fine. Let’s talk about how you truthfully have a child on the way.” Wait what? “Yeah, I met your little baby mama. She actually hired me to be her stylist.”

  That’s the position she was talking about?

  “Kennedy, you didn’t…” She fell back in her seat with a smirk like she was actually proud of that shit.

  “Yes I did. Because regardless of our past dealings, I still have bills to pay. So while you can go around playing with people’s minds and hearts, the rest of us have priorities to align.”

  For some reason, the first thing that came to mind to respond was, “It’s not mine.”

  “Well then why is she here?”

  There was really no reason to lie about it, so I told her straight up, “Leslie did that. Leslie guaranteed her some money which I’m assuming she gave you part of. But that’s the last of it, so I would advise you not to accept the position.”

  She shrugged. “Already signed a contract.”

  “Kenn…”

  “Don’t Kenn me now, Bryson. The decision was mine to make so I made it. Now I appreciate the opportunity you gave me to work for you, but I’m done with this. I’m… I’m done with you.”

  Kennedy

  I watched with skepticism as Landon got dressed for his shift at the club. The bad bitch in me wanted to pull every last stitch of his clothes from the closet and burn them like Angela Bassett in Waiting to Exhale, but I wasn’t quite ready to get arrested for arson until I had definite proof that Bryson had actually been telling the truth.