The Available Wife (8 page)

CHAPTER 9

Why in the hell did he bring her here
? The invitation had been extended to him and him only. Not that tall, beautiful, curvaceous, caramel-skinned knockout that was falling all over him. Her big, bright smile even made me melt so I knew what it did for him. I wanted to dash toward her, snatch her by her weave, then throw her ass out. I hated watching her fall all over him and rub on his arm like that was her fucking job. As hard as it was to admit…I knew by my reaction that I was jealous. But I had to get control of my emotions because there was another matter at hand that I needed to take care of.

“Germaine, I’m not doing this here with you tonight. Let me go before I have security handle your ass,” I threatened.

“You’re gonna get security to handle me?” he laughed. “You’re a piece of work, Nikki. A piece of fucking work.”

Before I had the chance to retaliate, Jalisa jumped between us. “This is neither the time nor the place for this,” she addressed us both with worry painted all over her face. “Don’t do this here. This is not what you want to see in the papers, blogs or websites.”

Jalisa was right. I didn’t need that kind or negative publicity. Germaine knew that I was serious so he released me and walked off to escape anymore embarrassment.

“What’s your damn problem, Nikki?” Jalisa scolded me.

“Bitch, he was the one who grabbed me!”

“Did he have reason to?”

I jerked my head back at her question. “Did he have reason to?” I asked rhetorically.

“I saw you go in and out that door with a guy. I assume he’s Kingston.”

“Why in the fuck are you watching me like a damn stalker? You’re the damn model. Folks should be watching
you,
not the other way around!”

Jalisa stared me up and down. “Did you just fuck him?” she asked appalled. I assumed she drew her own conclusions when I didn’t answer. “That’s fucking nasty,” she added.

“No nastier than what you and I did in high school,” I retaliated.

I struck a nerve.

“You need to watch yourself. You’re wrong for bringing that up. Dead wrong,” Jalisa said.

“Bitch, fuck you or better yet, go find you a man to take care of that for you,” I flipped, then pushed her out of my way.

My emotions soon took their toll on me when I glanced back in Kingston’s direction again. Trying to hold back the tears, I walked to the far end of the club, pulled out my phone and quickly sent him a text. I watched as he read the message from his Blackberry then whisper something in his wife’s ear before walking away. Moments later, he was standing in front of me.

“Why did you bring her here?” I barked when he reached me. At that point, I didn’t care if Germaine was watching me or not. I needed answers.

“Hold on, sweetie. Who do you think you’re talking to like that?” he replied in a manly tone.

I quickly changed my tone. “Kingston, why did you bring her here? She doesn’t need to be here.”

“She’s with me tonight. That’s why she’s here,” he answered like he didn’t owe me an explanation.

When he spoke those words, my heart sank.
How could he fuck me and go right back to her like nothing happened between us
? Yes, I was literally in over my head. I didn’t bother to respond. My heart had split in two and confusion began to consume my brain. I gave him one last painful glare and stomped away.

“Are you okay?” Meagan asked when she saw me leaning against the bar. “Who are you staring at?”

“No one,” I responded not wanting her in my business. Besides, how could I explain that I was staring at the wife of my lover? “I’m okay, Meagan,” I lied.

“Fortunes is about to go on stage.”

“Okay,” I said before downing a glass of champagne.

I gestured for the waiter to refill my glass which he did. I could tell by the worried look on Meagan’s face that she knew something was bothering me, but couldn’t figure it out. I emptied the second champagne glass in less than ten seconds.

“What’s up, Niquole?” Meagan whispered in my ear. “Talk to me,” she said with a hint of concern in her voice.

“Leave it alone, Meagan.”

She turned in the direction I was staring. “I’m going up to VIP. Are you coming?”

“I’ll be up there in a minute,” I lied.

She gave me one last worried look before walking off. Minutes later, the four-girl group, Fortunes, took the stage. I eased through the thick crowd on the floor instead of going to the VIP section that had been set up for me. I no longer felt important and it was all because of Kingston allowing his wife to tag along to my party. Seconds later, the strobe lights clicked off, the house lights dimmed, then the music began. I listened to the soft ballad and allowed a tear to slip from my eye when they sung the hook.

I need you to walk away from me. My heart and soul won’t let me do… the thing I know I need to do…and that’s let you go. I need you to walk away from me.

The words dug deep in my heart. I quickly hated and regretted the fact that we picked that song as the first single. I didn’t want to hear that shit right now. It didn’t take long for me to locate Kingston and his wife again. She was standing in front of him and he had his arms wrapped around her. They even had the nerve to be rocking from side to side. It was in that brief moment when I knew why my emotions were running wild. I was deeply in love with Kingston. My eyes stayed fixated on him throughout the song and although he was wrapped up with his wife, I knew that he was eyeing me from his dark, stunna shades.
Why else would he have them on?
I felt him staring at me at least I hoped he was.

When the song ended, I made a mad dash to the bathroom where I shed a few tears while staring at myself in the mirror. “Why the fuck is that bitch with my man?” I asked my reflection. “She can’t have him! She can’t have him! He’s supposed to be with me!”

I caught a glimpse of two women staring at me and whispering. I’m sure they thought my ass was crazy.

“What in the hell are you looking at?” I lashed out at them. I was ready for a battle if they wanted one.

To my surprise, instead of responding they just laughed and walked out.

Trying to wipe the mascara that had run down my cheeks, I yanked a paper towel from the dispenser on the wall, and dabbed my face. I took a few deep breaths before freshening up my makeup and reentering the party. My eyes went straight toward the bar where Kingston and his wife were now standing. He caught a glimpse of me eyeing them like a hawk. Taunting me even more, he winked at me then kissed her red painted lips. I still couldn’t understand how he could be so heartless when I knew he cared for me. He had to pay for his actions. I needed to make him feel like he’d made a huge mistake.

As much as I didn’t want to, I scoured the room for Germaine. I needed to use him to my advantage. When I spotted him, I walked toward his ass like a woman on a mission. Luckily, Kingston was still staring at me. When I reached Germaine, I grabbed him and pulled his face to mine. I could tell that he was a little shocked by my actions from his resistance, but eventually gave in to the kiss. Pouring more gasoline onto the fire, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer. I cringed when I felt his dick rise. I couldn’t take it anymore.

Even though I’d pulled away, I could tell Germaine was still stunned because his dick had yet to go down. However, when I glanced over his shoulder, Kingston was no longer at the bar. I anxiously scanned the room. Neither he nor his wife was anywhere to be found. I assumed my show had pissed Kingston off and made him jealous enough to leave.

Can’t take seeing your woman with another man, huh Kingston
? I thought to myself just before Germaine came up and gave me a wet sloppy kiss.

“What’s the problem?” he asked when I gave him the look of death. After my so called display of affection, I knew he was confused.

I guess it didn’t help when I swept the back of my hand across my lips. “You need a fucking Altoid,” I said before walking off.

CHAPTER 10

“Germaine, where’d you put Nathan’s diaper rash cream?” I yelled outside when I walked to the back door.

“It should be in his crib!” he yelled back.

“Why would you leave it there?” I frowned before stomping away.

Before I could make it upstairs to change Nathan’s diaper, my cell phone rang. I pulled it from the back pocket of my True Religion jeans and frowned again once I saw Jalisa’s name. I knew that if I didn’t answer, she would hang up and call right back, so I quickly prepared myself for the conversation that I didn’t want to have.

“Yeah?” I answered irritated. I wasn’t in the mood to talk on the phone, let alone to her. She’d been more of a burden lately than a friend.

“Well, damn, that’s a nice greeting.”

“What do you want, Jalisa?” I asked as I entered the boys’ room. I quickly placed Nathan on the changing table. But instead of taking off his diaper, I paced the floor instead.

“Let’s hang out.”

“Hang out?”

“Yeah. A movie? Lunch? Shopping?”

“Naw. I’m spending time with the boys today.”

“Well, can I drop by and see them? I’m sure they’ve grown an inch since I last saw them.”

I shook my head. “Not a good idea. Maybe some other time.”

There was a brief pause. I counted down the seconds for her to bring up the album release party.

“So, are we just gonna dance around this or what?”

“I was waiting for you to make the first move,” I sassed.

“You know that shit was foul, Nikki. Germaine doesn’t deserve what you do to him.”

“Fuck, Germaine. I don’t deserve to be unhappy which I am with him.”

“If you’re so unhappy then why don’t you just leave him?”

“Trust me, it’s in the works. Me and my man are gonna be together real soon.”

The phone went silent for a minute. I knew what she was thinking about and I was more than sure that she’d be reminding me of it shortly.

“This is high school shit all over again.”

“Here we go,” I said.

“You got Mr. Hughes fired from his job because of your affair. He didn’t deserve that.”

“No, let me correct you. He got himself fired. He shouldn’t have fed me all those damn lies about us being together and shit when I graduated.”

“Nikki, you threw yourself at that man.”

“He didn’t have to take the fucking bait. All he had to do was leave his wife and he’d still have his fucking job.”

“Are you serious?” Jalisa laughed in disbelief.

It was time for me to set her ass straight because I think she must’ve forgotten her role in the Mr. Hughes incident. “Jalisa, weren’t you in the room with the two of us one night? You don’t remember the two of us seducing him?” I reminded.

“I did that shit for you!” she screamed into the phone causing me to push it away from my ear.

“But, you did it,” I laughed knowing that bitch remembered. She just wanted to forget. I remembered like it was yesterday.

Mr. Hughes and I had rented a room and I invited Jalisa. Neither of them knew about my plan. Jalisa thought it was another high school party and Mr. Hughes thought it was just another one of our rendezvous. Mr. Hughes had just stepped out of the shower when Jalisa knocked on the door. He gave me a scared look, but I assured him that everything was okay and that I had a surprise for him. I opened the door.

“Niquole, what’s going on?” he asked with a curious, yet concerned look on his face when he saw Jalisa.

“Can she join?” I asked when Jalisa stepped inside.

“Whoa,” Jalisa exclaimed. “What’s going on? I thought this was a party.”

“It is. Just the three of us. I need you to help me get my man,” I whispered in her ear.

“This is crazy. I can’t do this. I won’t do this,” Jalisa panicked.

“Yes, you can. You’re my friend. Help me get my man,” I pleaded.

I glanced back at Mr. Hughes who was still sporting a curious look on his face. I had to get things going. At that moment, I pulled Jalisa’s face to mine and kissed her. She tried to resist, but I kept a firm grip on her face.

“Nikki are you fucking crazy?” she blasted at me when I released her face.

Mr. Hughes couldn’t believe what was going on. If only he knew the lengths I’d go through to make him want me and only me.

“Jalisa, please,” I begged. “I will never ask you to do anything else like this. You know you want to. Look how fine he is.” I pointed to my man.

“Are you sure about this, Nikki?” Jalisa’s voice trembled.

“I’m more than sure,” I replied as I leaned in and kissed her pink, glossed lips again. This time, there was no resistance.

I slid my fingers between hers and led her over to Mr. Hughes whose eyes agreed to allow Jalisa in our mix. I knew that I’d have questions to answer later on, but until then, we were going to have some fun. I stood in front of Mr. Hughes while Jalisa stood behind him.

“Now, do you see how much I really love you?” I addressed him. “The feeling should be mutual and I’m gonna make sure that it is.”

I traced my wet tongue across his lips then forced it inside his mouth. After a few seconds of kissing, I pulled Jalisa from behind him and pressed them against each other. After a few seconds of uncomfortable eye contact between the two, their lips met. Mine soon joined in. The kiss turned into a three-way. Once we got the rhythm, we went back and forth to one another. He watched her remove my clothes and then watched me remove hers. We both removed his. Eventually, our clothes were scattered all over the floor.

“Are you sure about this, Nikki?” Jalisa whispered in my ear while Mr. Hughes’ lips and tongue showed much attention to the nape of my neck.

“I love him, Jalisa. I’ll do anything to get him.”

She slowly pulled my face to hers and we engaged in a long, passionate kiss. Seconds later, Mr. Hughes lifted me off of the floor and onto the desk. He positioned Jalisa on the floor between my legs. He lifted my pussy up to his face and went to town on it while he fucked Jalisa in the mouth.

“I’ll never forget it, Nikki, but I’ve put it behind me,” Jalisa said, ruining my trip down memory lane.

I snickered. “That night is something you can never forget.”

“So, what’s your excuse about that record exec, A.J.? I saw him at the party. Did you?”

I could hear the arrogance in her voice. She needed to be shut down and quick. “Really? Really, Jalisa? Are we gonna go down the list of all the men I’ve fucked or better yet, fucked over?”

“You’re so damn selfish. You always need to have your way no matter who you hurt. You’re never gonna change,” Jalisa spat.

“Why should I? I love being me. Is your life so fucked up that you have to keep yourself wrapped up in mine?”

“Don’t flatter yourself.”

“Bitch, if you’re gonna always talk about my so called wrongdoings when you call me, think twice before you do.”

I disconnected the call. I’d heard enough of that bull. Peeping outside, I wanted to make sure that my conversation didn’t catch Germaine’s attention, but it didn’t. He was lying on one of the lounge chairs playing catch with Johnathan who was still in the pool.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang causing me to jump. After forgetting all about Nathan’s soiled diaper, I erased me and Jalisa’s conversation from my mind and went to answer the door.

“Who is it?” I asked holding Nathan in my arms.

“It’s Tyrell.”

I took a deep breath and sighed before opening the door. “He’s out back,” I informed Tyrell of Germaine’s whereabouts.

“How are you today, Nikki?” Tyrell asked as if I’d insulted him by not speaking.

“I’m fine,” I answered snobbishly.

“I heard that was a nice album release party,” he said after walking inside.

“Thanks.”

“Some of the guys that were on security detail work on the police force with me.”

“Great,” I answered nonchalantly hoping he’d realize that I didn’t give a damn.

“So, when is the next party?”

I glanced back at Tyrell and slightly rolled my eyes to let him know that I wasn’t about to engage in small talk. I couldn’t help but wonder if he was trying to get under my skin. If he was, he was fucking with the right one at the right time. Jalisa had pissed me off by opening up old wounds. Not to mention, I was still pissed off at Kingston for bringing his wife to my party.

“Not sure,” was all I said.

While leading Tyrell to the back door, I couldn’t help but question what woman in her right mind would want to marry such an overly buff man. His neck was so fat that he looked like he was constantly struggling to breathe. When Germaine first introduced me to him, it took everything in me not to laugh. Now, every time I looked at him, I fought back the urge to snicker because he reminded me of the comedian, Lavell Crawford.

“Hey, Ty, what’s going on, man?” Germaine greeted when his friend stepped out the back door.

I was about to retreat back upstairs to finally change Nathan, but wanted to hear Germaine’s response when Tyrell asked if I was on the rag or something. I hid on the side of the door and waited. Germaine just laughed it off by saying I was always on the rag. I wanted to barge outside and curse his ass out, but held my cool.

As soon as I stepped away from the door, I heard Tyrell mention Hummer’s name. Stopping in my tracks, I quickly turned back around so I could hear. I was happy that Nathan had dozed off because the slightest whimper or cry from him would’ve blown my cover.

“Hummer’s mom went to the cops to file a missing persons report on him,” Tyrell informed. “No one has heard from him since the week after the frat party.”

“Y’all know how Hummer is, man,” Germaine responded. “He’s probably locked away with a few freaks doing only God knows what.”

“You may be right, but he usually calls somebody to boast about it.”

“I know. He’s gonna turn up somewhere just give him a few more days,” Germaine added.

When the conversation shifted to the wedding, I retreated to my upstairs office. I needed to call Kingston and let him know what was going on. But before I could get the chance to make that call, Johnathan ran into my office soaking wet from the pool.

“Mommy, daddy tol’ me to tell you to dry me off,” he said, dripping water all over my plush tan carpet.

“John John, stop slinging water everywhere!” I yelled while trying to press the number two button on my phone for Kingston.

Instantly, Nathan woke up from his catnap crying.

“Mommy, I’m cold. Mommy, Nathan stinks. Did he boo boo,” Johnathan continued, making me wish that I’d gone to the studio.

“John John, hush!”

I put the cell up to my ear then dropped it along with my mouth when I heard the operator inform me that the line had been disconnected.

“Mommy, I’m cold!” Johnathan whined between shivers.

Before I knew it, I slapped my son across the face which caused him to start crying immediately.

“Will you please just shut the hell up?!” I screamed.

The chaos of Kingston’s phone being turned off, Johnathan whining and Nathan crying struck a nerve and I screamed to the top of my lungs. Seconds later, I could hear footsteps racing up the stairs sounding like a herd of horses. Germaine and Tyrell rushed into my office.

“What happened?” Germaine panicked. After running over to me and inspecting Nathan, he glanced to see if Johnathan was okay.

“Take him! Please!” I begged then shoved Nathan into his arms.

“Nikki, what in the hell is the matter with you?”

I hopped out of my chair. “I need to lay down.”

“Germaine, I’ll get up with you later,” Tyrell said realizing that it was probably best that he leave.

“You don’t have to leave, Tyrell,” I addressed before he walked out. “I’ll leave.”

I started toward the door, but Germaine grabbed my arm and pushed me back into my chair.

“Sit your ass back down,” he growled. His forehead wrinkled and eyebrows connected to show that he was pissed.

I could tell that Tyrell was really uncomfortable and didn’t want to be a part of what was about to go down.

“I’m out, Germaine,” Tyrell said as he started toward the door again.

“Okay, Ty. I’ll holla, man.”

After hearing the front door open and close, Germaine tore into me.

“What in the fuck is wrong with you?” he barked.

“No, what the fuck is wrong with you?” I quickly turned the tables. “You’re getting a little bit too damn comfortable putting your hands on me.”

“Fuck that! Did you hit John John?”

“Yeah. He was getting on my nerves so I hit his ass.”

“John John, go in the bathroom, take off your trunks and get a towel to dry off,” Germaine addressed our son whose teeth were now chattering.

Johnathan did as he was told and raced to the bathroom. Germaine stared at me as if he were waiting for an explanation. If that was the case, his ass would be waiting forever because I wasn’t about to give him one. The man that I wanted was no longer available to me and I didn’t know why. I wondered if it was because of the kiss he saw me sharing with Germaine or the fact that he realized he truly loved his wife and wanted to be with her. Whatever the case, I needed to know. I wanted to know. I had to know.

Germaine stood in silence as he tried to figure out what was going on with me. No matter how hard he tried, he would and could never figure it out. However, when I thought about the way I’d just reacted, I knew my actions must’ve frightened my sons. I didn’t want that and I needed for them to know how sorry I was. I definitely needed Johnathan to know that I was sorry because I’d never hit him before. I reached for Nathan, but Germaine pulled him back.

“I don’t know what your problem is, Nikki, but you need to get your shit together,” Germaine scolded. “Nathan has had this dirty diaper on for nearly thirty minutes and you haven’t attempted to change him yet. When you’re home, be home. That’s all we ask. You need to leave that other shit at the door or at the damn studio.”

“I have my shit together,” I retaliated.

“I can’t tell.” He handed Nathan back to me.

“I thought you were going to change him?” I questioned.