After The One (The One Series Duet)

by Danielle Allen

  I whipped my head around to see who it was and my eyes narrowed at a woman in a backless, pale pink slip dress. Wavy, light brown hair cascaded down a bare back and long, toned legs ended in an expensive pair of shoes. She turned around dramatically and my eyes went from narrowed to a blatant glare as I recognized the woman before me.

  “Oh, sorry! I didn’t see you there,” Leah Trotter shouted over the music. The smirk on her snobby face indicated that she wasn’t sorry at all. Her eyes shifted to Julian. She took several steps closer to us, stopping with a foot of space between us. Her tone changed considerably as she eyed my fiancé.

  “Did you push me?” I snapped, wanting confirmation before I had her tossed out.

  Julian must’ve heard me because he turned and looked.

  “By accident,” Leah replied, shifting her body toward him and tossing her hair over her shoulder. “You know I would never do anything like that on purpose. You know me, Julian.” She batted her eyes. “But how are you? You look good. Very, very good.”

  I gaped at her incredulously. She flirted like she didn’t see him having a conversation with someone and didn’t see me standing right beside him.

  “He’s great,” I answered for him. “You’re not welcome here.”

  Leah’s eyes cut to me, flashing with unnecessary hostility. “I am an invited guest. Is this the way you treat invited guests? That’s unbelievably rude and unbecoming of a celebrity’s wife.”

  “Showing up to an event where you are unwelcome is unbelievably rude and unbecoming of a decent human being,” I retorted, my irritation rising. “But that’s to be expected. You proved you weren’t decent a long time ago.”

  “It’s a shame you’re so jealous of me. I mean, the press said so. The—”

  “Jealous?” I interrupted almost breathlessly as rage boiled under my skin. “You are crashing my wedding weekend in a desperate attempt to get attention and stay relevant. I have nothing to be jealous of.”

  “Oh am I getting under your skin because you know deep down Julian will marry a girl like you because you’re safe?” She smirked. “He may marry you, but he won’t ever stop wanting a girl like me.”

  “Leah, he chose me. This is desperate and sad. Grow the fuck up.”

  Seconds passed as she glared at me and I glared right back.

  In our silence, I heard Julian and the security guard exchanging goodbyes. Even if I didn’t hear it, I knew his conversation was over courtesy of the way Leah’s face transformed from snarky to flirty in a flash. I rolled my eyes.

  His hand settled on the small of my back. “Everything all right?”

  Leah twisted her body toward him, sticking her chest out. “I’m great.” She scrunched her nose up and tilted her head toward me. “But she’s aggressively angry for some reason. I mean, look how angry she is.”

  “It’s time for you to go. You’ve overextended your welcome and your fifteen minutes of fame. Get the fuck out.”

  She lifted her eyebrows and her shoulders. “And this is the type of woman you say you want to marry?”

  My breaths were coming out in short bursts as Julian tightened his arm around me. I wasn’t a violent person, but I wanted to launch my body toward her and knock that smug smile off of her face.

  This bitch has some nerve! Breathe. Just breathe. First of all, I’m pregnant. Second, there are cameras everywhere. Third, the show and the media will twist it to paint me as “angry” and “irrational” while painting Leah as the victim. She’s baiting me. She wants me to act irrationally because she wants to reignite her fifteen minutes of fame and that’ll be exactly what happens if I put my hands on her. Just breathe.

  I had to look away from her to calm myself down and I noticed a camera crew noticing us.

  “…woman I will spend the rest of my life with and you won’t talk to her like that again. I don’t give a damn who invited you. You don’t disrespect my girl or our relationship. I didn’t want you then. I don’t want you now. And we don’t want you here. Period,” Julian concluded, his full lips curled in disgust.

  I was so consumed by my thoughts that I only caught the tail end of what Julian said, but what I heard of his words was enough to settle me down and compose myself.

  I love him. She’s jealous and trying to get under my skin. End of story.

  I unclenched my fist and rubbed his back. As I gazed up at him, a realization hit me. I hadn’t been mad enough to want to hit someone since being on The One. I didn’t even dislike that junior associate who asked me to ‘fetch’ him some coffee during my first week at Parker, Lee & Associates as much as I disliked Leah. Being in the company of the one person in the world that I loathe riled me up and that was exactly what she wanted. She wanted me to get mad and cause a scene so she could get more airtime—and she was trying to get between Julian and me. She probably hoped we’d call off of the wedding so she could snake her way in. So the most important question of the evening rolled around in my head.

  Why am I even acknowledging her or this conversation?

  Being on The One was such a horrid experience because of the way the women in the house acted. I realized the reason I felt like strangling Leah was because she brought me back to that mindset from the show.

  I need to end this now.

  “Leah,” I said sweetly, smiling as the camera that was pointing directly at us fought through the crowd. “I know what you’re doing, but it won’t work. Good luck with your career though.” I used air quotes to emphasize the word career.

  The camera crew appeared just as Leah spat, “I give your marriage six months tops.”

  I glanced at Pepper as she silently directed the camera into a new position. I tilted my head and forced a pout. “We’re sorry you feel that way, Leah, and because you have such strong negative feelings toward our impending marriage, you are no longer welcome here.”

  Leah flipped her hair over her shoulder and startled when she noticed the camera crew.

  “Security will be showing you out,” Julian added with a satisfied chuckle.

  “I was invited here by Robert Brady and—”

  Julian took my hand into his and walked off, pulling me behind him. My head fell back and I laughed as he led us through the crowd toward the VIP area.

  “Where have you two been?” Koko called out as she danced with a drink in her hand.

  I rolled my eyes as I walked around the velvet rope. “You don’t want to know.”

  Julian chuckled. “We had a run in with your favorite person.”

  Koko smoothed her hand over her hair. “I know. Bryce was just over here trying to talk to me.” She finished her drink. “I told him to leave so I could think. He said he was going to find you two.”

  Julian shook his head. “No, not him, but that’s rough.” He lifted his hands in surrender when we both whipped our heads, giving him a look. “Not the time?” He frowned and backed away slowly. “Okay, I’m going to see what the fellas are talking about.”

  Koko and I giggled as he rushed toward Omar and Scott.

  She pointed at me and lowered her voice. “You just missed it! We’ve been here for less than an hour and so much shit has gone down.”

  I wiggled my eyebrows. “Well, I already see one thing,” I whispered, gesturing with my head to Lenny and James as they talked. She was up against the wall and he was up against her. “They look like they are about to have sex.”

  “About to? I think they are having sex,” Koko quipped.

  My head lolled as I laughed.

  “No, but there have been some crazy matchups on the dance floor. They’re people you wouldn’t know because you don’t watch the show, but the ones you would know are going to blow your mind.”

  I playfully slapped her arm. “Well stop with the suspense and tell me!”

  “Omar…and…Keisha!”

  My mouth dropped. “Shut up!” I glanced over at Keisha who was standing beside Omar. “That’s awesome! They’ve had this fiery connection for the longest time
. I’m glad they are feeding into that.” I poked my bottom lip out. “But at the same time, poor Scott. He had a crush on Keisha too.”

  Koko pursed her lips and gave me a look. “I think Scott’s going to be okay.” She paused dramatically. “He actually ended up getting someone’s number and they were all over each other on the dance floor.”

  I laughed. “Oh wow! Who is it?”

  She bit her lip as if she were trying not to smile. “I was going to tell you, but now that she’s on her way back over here—don’t look!”

  I had only turned my head a fraction of an inch, but quickly readjusted it so I was staring just at Koko. “Sorry! Where is she? You have me super curious now!”

  “She’s coming!” Her words sped up and her voice lowered to a hiss. “I’m going to go over with them so you can chat with her. She’s on her way back over here and she’s walking up…now.”

  Who could it possibly be? Please don’t be a hot mess. Please don’t—

  I felt a tap on my shoulder and my eyes bulged at Koko before turning around.

  “Mya!” I screeched in surprise as her big brown eyes widened.

  “Hi, Zoe,” Mya squealed as we embraced. “You look beautiful, as always.”

  I stepped out of the hug and gestured to the red mini dress and slim silver belt that covered her petite frame. Her dark brown hair with big soft waves brushed her shoulders.

  “As do you! I love your dress.”

  She lifted her arms out from her body. “Thank you. Thank you.”

  Our smiles were still wide but an almost awkward silence fell between us.

  “It’s been a long time,” I pointed out.

  “Yeah…” Tucking her hair behind her ears, Mya looked down at her silver pumps before meeting my eyes again. “I know, I know.” Her voice trailed off.

  As the live finale for The One had wrapped up, Mya told me she would need a couple weeks to deal with the heartache associated with not being chosen. I’d understood where she was coming from so I didn’t think anything of it. Once a couple months had passed and press surrounding our session of the show had died down, I’d reached out to Mya. She had declined my call and just sent a text message saying it was ‘too soon.’ I didn’t reach out again and as I’d suspected, I hadn’t heard from her again.

  I looked at her blankly as she seemed to struggle with what she was going to say next.

  She made a face. “I’m sorry.”

  I nodded slowly. “Apology accepted.”

  Mya shook her head and touched my arm briefly. “No, I’m sorry. I am really sorry.”

  “What happened?” I asked, lifting my hands, palms up. “I thought we were friends.”

  She closed her eyes and ran both hands through her hair. Letting out a sigh, she explained, “It sounds so stupid now, but I was jealous. I felt so rejected and embarrassed.” She started to wring her hands. “Once I got back home, I just…I wasn’t in a good headspace. I was lonely and my hometown is small so everyone knew. The library had to replace me since I was gone for so long, so I went home to nothing—no job, no boyfriend, no life. I had a lot of time on my hands and I kind of just…fell into a depression or something.”

  “Oh Mya.” I reached out and hugged her.

  She hugged me back and when we released, she smiled. “I’m fine now, but I just kind of let myself get into this dark place. I don’t want you to think I wasn’t happy for you, because I was. I swear, I was and still am, Zoe. But I was too unhappy with myself to celebrate your happiness. It took me months of therapy to pull myself out of it. Then, I got a job in Phoenix and after moving and getting settled, I found my happiness again. But…a year had passed.” She looked down at her shoes again before giving me the remorseful look. “I felt like it was too late to reach out so I didn’t. I truly am sorry and when I was contacted to attend your wedding, I knew I had to be here. I may not have been there before, but I’m here now, because it’s your happy day and I am happy for you.”

  My heart felt heavy, full of the sorrow in her words as she recounted what she had gone through, but I also felt uplifted that she had finally found herself.

  And she finally looks at peace.

  “Well, I’m glad you’re here. I’m glad you’re happy,” I said, meaning it from the bottom of my heart.

  “I am. I really am.” She was beaming. “And tonight is looking like it’s going to get even better.”

  I followed her eyes and found Scott grinning back at her.

  This is a good match.

  I nodded in approval. “Scott is a great guy.”

  Her cheeks reddened. “I haven’t had much time to get to know him, but I can see that. I just get this feeling.”

  A camera crew came over, interrupting our conversation. They wanted a quick exchange with Mya before they moved on to an argument that had popped up on the other side of the ballroom. The names of the women were stated over the walkie-talkie, but I didn’t recognize either of them.

  “What was that about?” I laughed as I watched the group surge through the crowd.

  “Drama called.” Mya rolled her eyes. “The two they said were arguing were on the spring session from this year. They were both basically the Tori of their session, but with a lot of Leah thrown in.”

  “So two parts aggressively mean and one part conniving manipulator?” I asked jokingly.

  “Yes!” She giggled. “Lots and lots of drama. They made the final two and the guy ended up choosing one of them…and then changed his mind! It. Was. Epic!”

  My eyebrows flew up. “What?”

  “What was that about?” Julian asked as he snuck up behind me. His hands slipped around my waist, pulling me against him. “How’s it going, Mya?”

  “Hi Julian! I’m good. How are you?” Mya chirped happily. “Oh and congratulations!”

  “I’ll be better when tomorrow comes and I am able to make Zoe my wife,” he answered, kissing my neck before letting me go.

  A shiver ran through me as I gazed at him over my right shoulder.

  “You two are truly meant to be together. I’m happy for you.” There was sweet sincerity in Mya’s well wishes. “And what you just witnessed was an interview with us that was positive and loving and then the camera crew breaking away as soon as a fight broke out.”

  “Yeah,” I agreed. “Mya was telling them how happy she is for us and then they got a call saying two random women were arguing and we were old news.”

  Scott lumbered over to us with a goofy look on his face. “Mya, will you dance with me?”

  “Of course,” she gushed as she took his hand and they practically skipped to the dance floor.

  Julian draped his arm around my shoulders as we watched the pair move against each other to the beat.

  “I hope that works out,” I murmured as I put my arm around him. “They’re cute.”

  He leaned down, whispering in my ear, “Not as cute as you.”

  With my eyes closed, I nuzzled against him. “You’re biased and a flirt.”

  “We have to give a short interview at some point tonight.” He turned me around so I was standing directly in front of him. “The security guard from earlier was letting me know it’s going to be set up in a room upstairs.” He cupped my face. “At eleven o’clock, we do our last sit down interview for The One.”

  I stared up into his grey eyes, letting my head nuzzle into his hands. “Just a twenty-minute interview and a wedding and then we owe them nothing.”

  Julian licked his lips and my eyes immediately followed his tongue. “Well…”

  “Well what?”

  He allowed his lips to hover over mine. My breath hitched as the anticipation started to build. He held my head in place as I started to lean in to connect our mouths. I wanted to kiss him. The need grew so strong that as my hands moved up and down his back, I had to forcibly resist the urge to touch him inappropriately.

  It felt like an entire minute had ticked by before he pulled away. His tongue slid over his bottom li
p again. “Well, I will forever owe them for one thing.”

  “What’s that?” I whispered breathily. The uptick in my breathing was a direct result of the desire I felt for him.

  He said nothing. The silence stretched between us and as the music pulsed, a throbbing began deep in my core.

  “I will forever owe them because they brought you to me.”

  I tilted my head up to maintain eye contact. My heart thumped against my chest cavity. “I love you.”

  He leaned down and kissed me lightly. His soft, full lips only fleetingly grazed mine before he pulled away, pressing his forehead against mine. “I love you, too.”

  As soon as the words were out of my mouth, Julian’s mouth covered mine. He parted my pouty lips with his tongue and kissed me hard and deep. I fisted the back of his shirt as I tried to pull him closer to me and the kiss deepened. When he attempted to pull away, I whimpered and pulled him closer.

  He groaned in response to my movements. One of his hands moved from my face to my hip. It slowly roamed over the curve of my ass and squeezed before settling on my hip. I could feel him beginning to harden beneath his pants. I moaned in his mouth.

  A wave of heat coursed through my body. I forced myself to pull out of the kiss, raising my eyes to his. My heart stammered.

  I put my arms around his neck and brought my lips close to his ear. “How much time do we have between now and the interview? I want you to take me somewhere and finish what you started.”

  Julian’s grip on my hips tightened as a groan rumbled in his chest. “Are you saying you want me to take you to some dark corner of this place and have my way with you?”

  I nodded, biting my bottom lip. “Yes please.”

  “Say please again.”

  I closed my eyes and made my voice sexier. “Please…please take me somewhere and stick that big dic—”

  “Dude! Dude,” Bryce interrupted, slapping Julian’s back twice. “People are taking pictures of you two as you dry hump each other.”

  Julian and I stepped away from one another, laughing.

  “The one and only Bryce Wilson.” Julian greeted the host of The One with a handshake-hug combination. “Good to see you!”