Merci (The Protected #2)

1. Merci

MERCI

“Just because a clown invites you to their circus, that doesn’t mean you have to perform,” my mother, Neo, said.

I was itching to go live and share my side of the story.

We were at Ariel’s filing-for-divorce party, and I should have been getting drunk with my family.

Instead, I was sitting outside, smoking a blunt, trying my hardest to calm down.

All the pacing, smoking, and cursing in the world did nothing to make my anger subside.

I’d convinced myself the only way to rid myself of my anger was to go live and expose my ex-best friend for her lies, but I wasn’t sure even that would work.

The truth was, I wasn’t just angry. I was hurt…

heartbroken… and it was coming out as anger.

Being betrayed by someone was already like a stab to the heart, but for it to be coming from her, it felt like she’d taken that knife out of my heart and put it in my back as well.

“She’s lying, Ma,” I said, voice shaking as I rocked in my seat. “And the stuff that she’s saying that’s true, she’s twisting it and not telling the complete story.”

“I understand that,” Ma said softly, covering my hand with hers.

“Your father and I didn’t raise you to feel the need to defend yourself during a situation like this.

The opinion of others means nothing in comparison to yourself.

You know your character. You know your truth.

And you know you have always been a good friend and boss to her.

There’s power in silence. The more she talks, the crazier she looks. ”

“Yeah, but they don’t know I’ve been good to her,” I all but yelled, tightening my grip on the phone as she tried to take it from me.

“I mean… they should. Hell, we’ve been friends for ten years, and now she’s getting online, saying I’ve been fake and disliked her the whole time?

That doesn’t even make sense. If anything, she’s projecting, and she’s the one that’s hated me the whole time.

Emmy benefited far more from our friendship than I ever have, so I’m unsure how she can even fix her mouth to suggest I’ve been fake toward her when I’ve done nothing but love her, care for her, and always make sure she was good.

She has me looking like I did her wrong, and they’re just believing her.

The shit she’s saying doesn’t even make sense, yet because it’s drama, they’re just accepting it and automatically taking her side. ”

“Baby, I saw what she posted, and her posts look just as out of control as her mind seems to be. I won’t excuse her bad behavior, but something seems off with her.

The girl that’s posting isn’t the girl who’s been like another daughter to me.

If anyone believes what she’s saying is true, those aren’t the kind of people you should want around you.

Your family, friends, and supporters know the real you. That’s all that matters.”

My head shook as I sat back in my seat.

“I hear you, Ma, and I’m trying to let it go. I’m just… I don’t want people to question my character, integrity, or professionalism. What if a potential client searches my and my company’s name and sees that? If this goes viral, she could potentially damage my brand.”

“And you don’t think you going online, especially while you’re mad, will have the same effect?

” My shoulders slouched as I considered her words.

“Compare what you have to lose to what she has to lose. You’re running a seven-figure business, baby.

Stay silent. The truth always reveals itself.

” As I nodded my agreement, she added, “I’m going to have our attorney send her a cease-and-desist letter immediately.

She will have to remove her posts and never mention you again.

If she continues to spread lies about you, we will sue her for defamation and slander. ”

Sniffling, I allowed my body to relax further into the chair.

Her solution sounded good enough. I knew it would drive me crazy waiting to see if Emmy would remove the posts and do the right thing, but that would be better than me going online trying to defend myself, especially knowing I hadn’t done anything wrong.

I take that back. I had done something wrong.

I never should’ve been her friend, and if I was, I shouldn’t have allowed her to work for me.

Hell, the first time I found out she’d betrayed me, I should have forgiven her and kept her out of my life, but no.

I just had to reconcile because I was her best friend.

And though I may have been her best friend, she was never mine.

Not with the way she’d treated me over the last decade.

Not with her disrespecting me and talking shit about me, the way I run my company, and my relationship in a group chat with a few of my other employees.

Not with her taking advantage of our friendship and expecting more than two times the amount I would have paid anyone else to do the job I hired her to do.

Not with her feeling like I didn’t appreciate her work, while she was doing an often late and half-ass job, then quitting and complaining about working for me, just to turn around and repeatedly ask to work for me again.

Not with her using me for my knowledge and connections while working under me, to not only try and steal one of my employees, but also start her own event planning and party hosting company like mine.

What made the whole situation even crazier was the fact that I was completely blindsided by her going on social media, telling half-truths and full lies.

One minute, I believed our friendship was secure, and the next, I was getting screenshots of her complaining about how I treated her unfairly and didn’t pay her properly for the business she believed she helped build; though if we were to pull receipts, I was in debt the whole time Emmy worked for me.

When we parted ways professionally, my business flourished, and after restructuring and changing my entire staff, I started making seven figures a year.

That should have been my sign from God that I needed her out of my life, professionally and personally, but I didn’t heed the warning.

Instead, I remained her friend, and now I was paying for it.

“What made her do this crazy shit anyway?” Ma asked as she sat down next to me.

With a sigh, I looked toward the setting sun. We’d been over my brother’s house all afternoon, and now, I suspected everyone would start clearing out.

“Apparently, her and Shyanne had a disagreement, and Shyanne wanted to expose her to me before Emmy could do the same to her. Shyanne emailed me screenshots of their conversations about me, and when I called Emmy out on it, she basically said Shyanne had her brainwashed and that she was so sorry.” My eyes rolled as I chuckled.

“I forgave her for the shit just for her to turn around, get back cool with Shyanne, and then do this. I don’t know what I did to deserve her doing this to me, when all I’ve ever tried to do was be her friend and put her on.

I’m starting to feel like I’m the worst judge of character.

First, Andre cheated on me and lied about it last year, and now this. ”

“Aww, baby, no,” she cooed, pulling me into her for a side hug.

“You’re not a bad judge of character. You just see the best in people and don’t think they’re capable of doing you wrong because you would never do the things they do to you, to them.

You navigate your relationships as if people are your mirror, and that’s not always the case.

Usually, you cut a person off as soon as they prove they don’t deserve to be in your life, so I’m surprised you gave Emmy a second chance, but I can understand why.

Y’all have been best friends for the last decade, so I can see why you’d want to try and restore that relationship, even if she’d done you wrong over the years. ”

“Yeah, well, that’ll never happen again. I’m not giving anyone else a second chance to play in my face and prove they don’t give a fuck about me. Sorry for my language.”

She chuckled as she released me. Even though I cursed around my mother, I usually never said fuck or bitch, so she had to know I was really disturbed by Emmy’s actions.

“Don’t worry about that. I know you’re upset.

I know it’s going to take you some time to get over this, but I don’t want you to give that girl more of your time and energy than you already have.

She’s going to wake up one day and realize just how wrong she is, and she’s going to deeply regret betraying you.

And even if she doesn’t, it’s her loss, baby.

Not yours. You’re too pure, and your heart is too kind to ever let people in who won’t value and protect it.

When a tree bearing no fruit tries to give shade, everyone will still feel the sun.

You are light, Merci. She can’t dim or destroy you, and I don’t want you to feed into her darkness. ”

After that, she kissed my temple and left me alone with my thoughts. It wasn’t long before my brothers, Marz and Neptune, came out, demanding I take a shot with them. Usually, I would never turn down a shot, but since I was hosting a party tonight, I didn’t want to get too lit before the event.

I followed them back into the house and said my goodbyes to everyone, then congratulated my sister again on finally choosing to put herself first and divorce Raheem.

Ariel and I may not have had the same mother or father, but she’d been my sister for life because she and Marz had the same mother.

Mama had gotten pregnant with me shortly after Aries gave birth to Ariel, so we grew up together and dealt with our menaces, aka brothers, together.