32. Ember #3
Knowing he married a beautiful soap actress crushed my heart until he told me what she did to him.
It hurt me to know another bitch hurt him in the way she had.
He and I were young the last time we were together, but Reason’s heart hadn’t changed one bit.
He was good to me, so I knew she had received the best treatment from him too. Shit, he had made her his wife.
“Ember, you too rich to still be stuck in dreamland, my girl,” Cassie jested, pulling me back into the moment.
I busted up laughing. “Cassie. Rich?”
“Yes, Rich with a capital R.”
“That’s Reason’s money, not mine.”
She adjusted her sunglasses and looked out at the pool and ocean view in front of us. “But it will be yours, too. I can guarantee that.”
I waved Cassie off as sadness filled me. “Technically, he’s still a married man, Cass. Meaning he’s off limits.”
Her head turned my way. “You serious right now? You gotta be playin’. Did you forget that fast that you just told me what that hoe ass wife of his did behind his back? That man don’t want that flappy pussy she’s been tossing around everywhere.”
The sadness I felt was now gone and replaced with more laughter. I was in tears. “Flappy pussy? How do you know what type of pussy that woman has?”
“Because she’s a bird, Ember. From my understanding, she was flapping that pussy to any man who wanted to fuck it.”
“My gosh, you’re crazy.”
“To think I was just watching her on television, not knowing she was with my friend’s man the entire time.” Cassie shook her head and smirked. “I didn’t like her ass on the show, and now I definitely don’t like her ass in real life either.”
I had no clue about the character she played on television, but I did see her face on the screen a few times while in the break room when I worked at the thrift shop.
I remember saying to myself that she was an attractive woman and applauding whoever the creator was for having a BBW who looked like me be the main star of the show.
Other than that, I never really paid much attention to it.
“I feel the same, and I don’t know the woman. Anyone who ever hurt Reason is an automatic enemy of mine.”
“As they should be,” she agreed.
I licked my lips and looked at Cassie in a daze. “Everything still feels surreal. I don’t know how to process it all.”
“Tell me about it. But take your time. Everything is still fresh. Y’all story is so fascinating. Having a secret baby with your high school sweetheart, then ending up becoming a surrogate for that same man. That ain’t nothing but God. Look how he had everything come back full circle for you.”
“I know He did,” I muttered. I would be in a state of shock for a while. “I promise I did what I did because I always believed in Reason’s potential. His life could’ve turned out totally different.”
“You’re right, and I’m not judging you. After hearing your story, I admire you more than I ever did, Ember.
You have easily become one of the most unselfish people I’ve ever met.
And I’m so lucky to call you my friend. Look how this man’s life turned out, all from a decision you decided to make.
Like, how were you able to have that mindset at that young age? ”
“Cass, it wasn’t easy at all. It was hard, so hard…
” I paused for a second. “Although it pained me, it felt like the right thing to do.” All the feelings came rushing back.
For years, I buried my emotions when it came to thinking about the day I left him.
As a grown woman now, and for the first time, I was allowing myself to feel every emotion, to face what I once ignored, and what I wouldn’t allow myself to feel back then.
I continued. “Back then, Reason didn’t act like any of the boys our age.
He had a fire in him that was lit since we met in our freshman year of high school.
He was a leader, a boss, before I even knew the weight of those two words.
Reason had potential, something I didn’t quite understand at the time.
I just knew he had it. And my feelings were strong enough for me to risk it all for him. ”
Cassie was smiling so hard as she picked up a slice of kiwi from the platter of fruit Reason had the chef prepare for us.
“Why you smiling?” I asked instead of guessing.
“Reason St. Pierre must be one special man to have you looking and smiling like this.”
“He is, Cassie. He is.” Flashbacks of him continued living rent-free in my head. “After seeing him again, I realized my feelings for Reason never died.”
“Wow, this story is everything. I thought Albert's and my love was the shit, but baby, you and Reason’s ‘continued love story’ got us beat. And the way I saw him looking at you before he left here, you would think you never missed a day in his life since y’all were kids.”
I smiled, thinking about our days as young lovers with no care in the world. Cassie’s words replayed in my mind as I sipped on my cherry and lime flavored mocktail and took a brief moment of silence to thank God for bringing Reason back at the right time in our lives.
“Aren’t I a lucky girl to have a front-row seat to y’all love story?” She giggled. “I can’t wait to see how this all pans out. A new chapter with the man your heart never truly let go of.”
“Literally.”
I didn’t know where Reason and I would go from here, but I was prepared for the ride and wherever it took us.