by Tiece
“You are so fucking slick,” Zoe said. “Okay, so what. I’m seeing Dillon. There you have it.”
“I knew it, I knew it, I knew it,” Olivia teased. “How long has this been going on? Oh my goodness, I bet it was when we went to the Mask Your Pleasures Party. Did you fuck him that night?”
“No, what is wrong with you?!” Zoe asked with an awkward shake of the head. “We met there, but there was no sex there. Okay, you got it?”
Olivia grinned. It was good to see her sister with a new love interest in her life. “Yes ma’am, I got it.” She responded.
Zoe smiled a little. She felt just as relieved as Olivia did to get this news off of her chest. “Don’t tell mom or dad. I’d rather tell them myself.”
“My lips are sealed.” Olivia responded as she bit into her biscuit.
“Listen,” Zoe said as she looked over at Olivia with a serious facial expression. “I need to tell you something and I don’t think it should wait any longer.”
“OMG! You’re pregnant!” Olivia stated with a surprised look on her face.
“Hell Noooo,” Zoe responded. “What the hell is wrong with you this morning?”
“Nothing,” Olivia responded. “You said you needed to tell me something and it couldn’t wait. Like what could be more interesting and or important than that?”
“Lil Romeo being Mark’s son,” Zoe just flat out stated.
Olivia frowned with a look of displeasure like she’d just had a bad taste of Castrol. “Huh? Say what now? Did you just say that------ What now?” There were a trillion of other things she could’ve said, but nothing came to mind as quickly.
“I said that Lil Romeo is Mark’s son.” Olivia’s eyes filled with water. “I’m sorry O,” she said.
“How do you know this?” Olivia’s shaken voice questioned.
“Okay, so last night I stopped by Felisha's shop before heading to the club. Really, I just wanted to beat the bitch ass, but she wouldn't open door.”
“WOW,” Olivia said, feeling somewhat distraught. “Keep going.”
Zoe took a deep breath, hesitated for a moment, and then she continued. “Felisha and I had a few words. Of course I was standing outside of her shop. The scary bitch had the door locked and she knew that for her own good she’d better not open it. So, I was going in on her. You know, calling her all kinds of whorish names and she just blurted out that Mark was Lil Romeo's father.”
Olivia sat still as ever, her chest had gotten tighter like she was about to have an anxiety attack. Then her eyes turned to slits, she wanted to make sure she had heard that last statement correctly. “You sure that’s what she said?!” She asked wiping the disappointed tear that had crept down her cheek.
Zoe slowly nodded her head. “That's what the bitch said. There was no mistaking that, because she said it loud and clear.”
“You couldn’t have heard her right,” Olivia said in denial.
“Oh trust me, Sis. She said that Lil Romeo was Mark’s son.”
Olivia let out a half-hearted laugh. “She can't be talking about his biological father, right? She must mean a father figure by the way he cares for him.”
“That's not how I got it, O’. I wish that I’d heard her wrong, but I’m very positive that’s what she said.” Zoe said in a more serious tone of voice. The stern look on her face told Olivia that this news was indeed real.
Olivia was more embarrassed by this news than hurt. Mark had come at her in a way of trying to harm her while knowing that he’d fathered Felisha’s son. The only thing she could do was grab her phone which was sitting next to her plate on the table. She instantly called Mark’s phone. In no time, he answered.
“Hello,” he said.
“So not only did you fuck Felisha, but Lil Romeo is your son, too?” Olivia quickly pondered.
“Uh O’… please listen,” Mark said wanting to explain. “It’s not like that.”
“You’re a lying son of bitch!” she angrily stated. Everything started to add up in her mind. She and Mark had Lil Romeo all the time. He was like the son they never had, except he was the son that Mark had. “I can’t believe that you’ve made our marriage out of this big joke then you had the nerve to try and kill me. Wow, you are a pussy and a coward!”
“Baby please, let me explain.” Mark stated. He knew it was just a matter of time before she found out and now he was wishing that he would’ve just told her himself when he had the chance earlier.
“You have nothing to explain to me. This marriage is dead, just like you are to me. I know I said that we were done talking, but you can better believe that this time. You’ll be hearing from my lawyer very soon.” She said, and with that she ended their call.
She then looked over at Zoe. “Let’s go to this bitch shop. She’s gonna get her shit and get the hell up outta there. I got something for her ass.”
“You know I’m ready!” Zoe stated while quickly getting up from her seat. They’d forgotten about their father telling them to stay put. All they wanted was revenge on the sneaky bitch that had fucked Mark behind Olivia’s back all of those years. Felisha was going to get what was coming to her, and there was no better timing than now.
Chapter 9
In just a little under thirty minutes, Olivia and Zoe were pulling up into the plaza parking lot where Felisha’s nail salon was at. To their surprise, there weren’t any cars out front and the window sign was flipped to read, Closed.
Olivia pulled up beside the curb directly in the front of the nail salon, put the car in park, and then turned off the engine. When she opened up her door to get out, Zoe also opened hers too. As they stepped out of the car they walked up to the front of the salon, and then went up to the glass and looked in. The place was deserted on the inside.
“That bitch ain’t even got the shop open.” Zoe relented. “It’s on a fucking Friday morning, one of the busiest days of the week and she ain’t even here. What’s up with that?”
“She probably knows that we’re gonna get that ass.” Olivia said. She continued to look through the window, looking for anyone that may step out of the back to unlock the doors. Just sitting there was making her stomach churn by the second. Olivia pulled out her phone. She quickly dialed Felisha’s number, but the call went straight to voicemail. She ended the call then attempted to dial the number again, but it again it went straight to voicemail.
“This bitch is tripping,” Zoe chimed in. “She’s not answering, huh?”
“Well, it’s going straight to voicemail.” Olivia responded. She then dialed the number again, and yet again it went to voicemail. “Fuck this shit,” she said and walked back to her car, opening up the passenger door, and grabbing her black, leather Dooney and Bourke purse. She then began searching in it, pulling out a set of keys that she had to the nail salon. “No worries, we’re going in.” She said to Zoe then unlocked the door to the nail salon.
Zoe followed Olivia inside it. “What do we plan on doing?” She curiously asked while looking around and admiring the décor of the place. It smelled delicious, like the air could be eaten.
“I just want to look around. This woman has been hiding so many things behind my back for no telling how many years.” She stated. “I just don’t know what to believe anymore.” She said, immediately heading for Felisha’s office. She turned the door knob and stepped inside of it. Seeing the office reminded her of the day she helped pick out the furniture and pictures to go in it. Even though she didn’t want to admit it, it hurt.
Zoe finally entered the office space where Olivia now stood digging in a file cabinet of paperwork that Felisha had stored there. “What is that good ass smell in here? Reminds me of your hair salon except its louder,” she added.
Olivia sniffed a little in the air. “It smells like the Watermelon Lemonade Wallflowers fragrance refills by Bath and Body Works. We’d agreed on using certain smells in our salons to make our customers feel more relaxed and welcomed. Come to think about it, we’d agreed on a lot of things
like not fucking with each other’s man secretly.” She said with a swift, adamant shake of the head. “That bitch was never my friend.”
“Just to think that y’all have been friends since forever,” Zoe chimed in. “But, I didn’t ever care for her too funny. If it wasn’t for the way you took Rome in, I still wouldn’t have dealt with her ass.”
“Lil Romeo,” Olivia said, looking over on Felisha’s desk at a picture of him in a 5x7 picture frame. He was so adorable that she found herself smiling at it. She picked up the picture frame and just stared at it for a moment. Zoe turned to face her. She looked at her sister, feeling very sorry for her. She felt her pain and accepted it as if it was her own. As Olivia’s eyes wailed in the corners, Zoe’s eyes turned teary just by watching her sister. She felt extremely saddened that she was dealing with this. She’d been nothing but good to Felisha and her lowdown husband, only for them to turn around and stab her in the back.
“Sis, are you okay?” Zoe questioned while snapping Olivia out of her trance.
Olivia wiped her tears. “Yeah, I’m good.” She responded. However, looking at the picture of Lil Romeo brought back so many memories of him and Mark spending father, son moments together and she not having a clue as to what was really going on. Lil Romeo looked so much like his mom, but now that the cards were out on the table, he definitely favored Mark. His small deep brown eyes were the biggest connection to Mark. They were luring, very pretty, and they made him so handsome. She always felt that he’d be a lady killer, because the women wouldn’t be able to get around those little hypnotizing eyes of his. It was the same way she always felt about Mark.
“You know what, Sis?” Zoe said. “The bitch ain’t here, so let’s just ride over to her house and pay her a personal visit. I think she, at least, need to know how bad she’s hurt you in person. You don’t even have to say anything. Matter of fact, you can sit in the car and I’ll drag her raggedy ass out the door and give her a whooping she’ll never forget. You can just sit back and watch.”
“That’s fine with me,” Olivia said as she sat the picture back down on the desk. She then followed Zoe out of the office. They headed in the direction of the front entrance. “I think I’ll get the locks changed on her ass. It’s not like she wants to make any money, anyway.” She added.
Fifteen minutes later, the sisters found themselves heading over to Felisha’s house. Olivia just wanted to see her face so she could admit the same shit to her that she’d admitted to Zoe. Not long after that, they were pulling up to Felisha’s house. Unfortunately, her car wasn’t there.
Zoe immediately looked over at her sister. “Where do you think the bitch is?”
“I don’t know,” Olivia responded as she shook her head in disgust. Instead of leaving right away, she went ahead and pulled up in her driveway then parked, got out and went straight to the front door. She pressed on the doorbell for every bit of five minutes straight. She was so pissed now that she didn't know what to do. Zoe was leaning against the front of the car, hoping that she would at least show her face. They then waited for another fifteen minutes in her driveway while calling her phone, checking her Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts.
Nothing... It seemed as if she'd disappeared off the face of the earth.
****
Somewhere in Asheville, North Carolina, Mark was at the kitchen table with his laptop open. He was on the Augusta Chronicle’s website reading over every article in the past couple of days. To his surprise, his name neither his face was anywhere to be found in an article that covered the shooting. The article read:
Richmond County Sheriffs are looking for a black male in his mid-twenties to mid-thirties, around six-feet tall for the shooting of an Atlanta man outside of an Augusta nightclub. He’s wanted for the charges of attempted robbery with a deadly weapon and aggravated assault. If you know anything about this incident please come forward. We’d appreciate your cooperation.
Mark couldn't understand why Olivia hadn’t or wouldn’t press charges against him. Surely, she had something up her sleeve. Finding out that Lil Romeo was his and that he’d been cheating with Felisha could’ve been part of the reason why she didn’t press charges. In reality, she didn’t have to if she wanted to just get out of the divorce with no issues. However, he wasn’t planning on giving up on the things that he’d worked so hard to gain just for her to snatch it from under him.
He took in a deep sigh then closed the laptop down. He didn’t know what to think or where Olivia’s head could be after Zoe told her about Lil Romeo. Even though he felt bad, Felisha making it there to cook for him somewhat lightened his load. He looked up just as she was coming from around the island stove with his plate. She'd cooked fried fish and steamed broccoli with cheese. She was dressed in a small pair of denim jean shorts and an Old Navy T-shirt. She sat the plate down in front of him.
“You may as well cheer up a little. Eat this and hopefully you’ll feel a lil better.” She said. The aroma smelled good coming from the Tilapia fish. “Olivia can’t be pissed at you forever.” She said then leaned down and kissed his cheek. Regardless of what they had gone through, she had a genuine love for Mark and he knew it. She then walked over to the stainless steel Smart Fridge and opened it up. She fixed him a glass of extra sweet lemonade poured over ice and took that to him as well.
Mark was already chomping into a piece of fish and looking at her as she came back into view. She sat down across from him and looked straight at him. “So did you find anything saying you did it?” She asked him.
Mark’s eyes went down to the plate then back up to her. He shook his head and said, “Nothing.” He was still kind of unsure, but for the most part he allowed a smile to spread across his lips.
That caused Felisha to return a smile back as she brushed her hair away from her forehead while raking it with her freshly manicured fingernails. She looked at him with empathy, and then said, “So now what? I mean are we gonna stay up here in North Carolina; if so, how long? I have a business to run back home.”
Mark sipped his lemonade from the glass, washing down his fish and broccoli. His eyes went somewhere else and his mind flashed to yet another scene just that fast as his thoughts were taking over.
Mark was standing at the altar in a triple white tuxedo; the church was crowded from the front to the back. Cameras were flashing all around him. Just behind him people were gasping and ladies were wiping tears from their eyes at the beautiful sight of Olivia coming down the center aisle, with her arm looped around her father’s. She had on a white wedding gown made by Christian Dior that was so beautiful it couldn't be explained. She and her father were casually walking while the cameras were aimed at them still flashing. Mark couldn't help but to recognize how lovely and pretty she was coming down the aisle.
Felisha just watched him as he’d drifted off into lala land. “Mark, you heard me?” she asked him, snapping him back to reality.
He looked at her as his eyes fixated dead on her. “What was that?”
Felisha just shook her head at him like she was truly disgusted with how ‘in love’ he was with a woman that wasn’t in love with him anymore. The thoughts reminded her that she was also playing that same role with him. It seemed that Karma was coming back to bite him in the ass, yet she was still there to support him.
“Why are you shaking your head, Felisha? What did I do?” He asked her.
Felisha stood up from the table, turned and walked back to the fridge, opening the door of it. Mark then got up and walked over and stood behind her while she was looking inside the refrigerator. He put his hands on the sides of her hips.
“Felisha, you know I'm stressing.” He whispered, she turned and faced him, her eyes were already teary. Her bottom lip began trembling as if she was about to break all the way down. Mark immediately pulled her into his arms. She was hurt and he knew it. She rested her head on his chest and just cried for all the wrong she’d done in her relationship with Olivia. She cried for having feelings for a ma
n that would never love her the way that she wanted and needed him to. She cried because she desperately wanted Lil Romeo to know his father and not by just a man in his life that he called Mark.
“Calm down,” Mark whispered in her ear. “You’re going to be alright. We’re both going to be alright.”
“I don’t know about that. We’ve really dug ourselves in a hole that may be too hard to come up out of.” She sniffed, feeling bad about it. “Even though you’re in Lil Romeo’s life, he’s not aware of the fact that you’re his father. How do I even explain that to him? That’s not going to be an easy conversation.”
“I’ll help you. I won’t let you do this alone.” Mark assured her.
“It’s still not that simple, Mark. How do we tell a four year old that you’re his father when he knows that you’re his tee-tee’s husband? It makes mommy look bad.”
“You could never look bad in his eyes.”
“That’s easier for you to say.” She said feeling even worse.
“If that’s the case then knowing that I’m his father instead of just ol’ Mark is going to make me look bad. The kid is definitely too smart for that.”
“Yes he is,” Felisha agreed. “No matter how we try to spin this, we’re still going to look bad in his eyes.”
“He’s four and he’ll get over it.”
“I hope so,” Felisha responded. “I love him so much and loving him is the only reason why I’ve held out hope for us.” She disappointedly shook her head. “I know I sound like a terrible person. I’ve prayed for this day and now that it’s here I’m stuck. I don’t know how to feel. I’ve lost my best friend forever and when she finds out about Lil Romeo no telling what else I’m going to lose.”
“She knows about him.” Mark informed her.
Felisha looked at him with a frown on her face, almost speechless then she let out, “She what?! When? How do you know? Oh my God, she called you? She confronted you didn’t she!?”
“She did and I didn’t deny it. However, I did try to explain to her that it wasn’t like that.”
