Chapter 11
eleven
. . .
Cassidy
I woke up hours later, feeling like a new woman.
We’d gotten fucked-up so early in the day that when I woke up that evening, I felt like it was the next day.
After sitting up slowly, I stretched and drew in the lingering scent of warm, blue skies and fields of amber from Hendrix’s cologne against my comforter.
After stepping out of the shower and doing my hair and makeup for the night, I decided on a short, dusty blue silk dress and strappy four-inch black heels.
With my cell turned back on, ignoring Omar’s calls for the umpteenth time had me fighting the urge to get fucked-up all over again.
We stepped into the club and were immediately greeted with blue, pink, and purple neon-hued strobe lights.
The DJ was on the mic hyping up the crowd that was packed shoulder to shoulder on the dance floor.
As soon as word got around that a professional NBA player was in the building, we were all quickly rushed to a private VIP section.
Soon, our section was flooded with bottles of Casa Migos, C?roc, and Hennessy, causing my girls and their men to cheese from ear to ear.
“Lauryn, you’re the smartest bitch alive,” Shauna said, nudging her.
“I know, right.” Lauryn giggled.
“Order anything y’all want on me,” Hendrix announced.
“Hell yeah! Thank you, Hendrix! I'ma fuck up all the Hennessy in this bitch just for you!” Brielle cheered.
As the hours passed, I couldn’t help but find my eyes perched on him from wherever he was.
It was clear he had all my attention. When the DJ started spinning Essence by WizKid and Tems, my body moved as effortlessly as a flag in the wind.
I began twerking in my seat with one hand in the air and swaying my head from side to side.
The bold, recognizable scent I’d spent time inhaling earlier wafted past my nostrils, indicating he was near.
My eyes popped open just in time to see him take his place in front of me with an outstretched hand.
“I know you ain’t gon’ sit on all that ass all night. Go on and shake somethin’ for a nigga, Cass.” There he was with that Cass shit again. I admired the way my name rolled off his lips with ease.
“Is that your way of asking me to dance?” I chuckled.
I looked around at all my girls who were in their own zones with their men and then back at Hendrix, whose eyes pointed upward toward the dance floor.
The cute, but uncomfortable heels I wore had my dogs barking and as much as I wanted to sit and look cute, I wasn’t about to pass up a chance to shamelessly brush up against all he had to offer.
I took his hand and stood to my feet as his fingers appeared around my waist. I began winding my hips to the beat as my ass grated against his dick.
With my waist encircled by his grasp, his hands guided my body like a snake charmer.
“Bust it open for a nigga,” his deep-throated voice hummed against my ear.
As much as I wanted to ask, now or later? I refrained and continued to grind my body against his for the remainder of the song.
When the mix went from one song to the next and I found myself still caged in between his muscular arms, I continued to dance as if we were the only two people in the vicinity.
It was clear the liquor or my true feelings had taken over and before I knew it, his beautiful pink lips were attached to mine, and my hands were tangled in his beard in the middle of the VIP section.
Hendrix pulled his lips away from mine before flashing a subtle smile. I stood there, stalled in awe like a moth to a flame. The fuse had been lit. Before I could even wrap my head around what happened, my phone vibrated violently in my left hand.
“I, uh—excuse me,” I said before turning to walk out.
I darted out of the club, trying to find a quiet place to slow down my racing heartbeat and thoughts.
Omar had been calling at least twice an hour all day.
Even after cutting my phone off for hours at a time, he’d resorted to leaving multiple voicemails.
My heart had come to a fork in the road.
As much as I knew I needed to leave him right where he was, I was torn between my heart saying answer and my mind rebelling against it.
Before I had time to weigh the pros and cons, the phone stopped vibrating.
The universe had made the decision for me.
Just when I thought I could exhale, the vibrations started up again.
Acting off alcoholic impulse and annoyance, I hit accept and put the phone up to my ear.
“So, that’s what we’ve resorted to? Calling me from multiple numbers back-to-back all day long?” I quizzed.
“What else was I supposed to do, Cass? You blocked me on everything,” Omar said on the other end. The sound of his voice instantly coated my skin in goosebumps.
“You damn right I did, and I’m about to block this number next. We don’t have anything to talk about.”
“We both know that’s not true,” he disagreed.
I scoffed. “Oh, but it is.”
“Listen, Cass. I—I just need you to hear me out, okay? That’s all I’m asking for.”
I huffed. “Please don’t waste my time with this shit.”
“I just need to tell you that I’m sorry.”
I sucked my sparkling white teeth, trying to drown out his empty ass apology.
You apologize when you step on someone’s foot or say something offensive.
He’d went off and procreated with a bitch he told me he couldn’t stand, and he thought a simple I’m sorry was going to make up for that?
His mistake would soon have a birthdate.
We were far from cards, flowers, and apologies now.
“What is it about the words we have nothing to discuss that you don’t understand? I said what I said, Omar.”
“I let you down, and I’m sorry for that, Cass. Okay? I fucked up, and I know that. I—I just feel like I still want this.”
An annoyed grunt slipped past my lips. “Nigga, have you lost your fuckin’ mind?”
“Isn’t the love we have for each other enough to make you want to find a way to make this work between us? We can do counseling or anything.”
My lips curled with anger. “Counseling that I’d have to front the bill for, Omar?
The problem with our entire relationship was that I loved you more than you could ever love me.
You let me come in last to the job that I got you, your wants, your needs, and even your ex.
My only mistake in this entire waste of a relationship was making you a priority when I was nothing but a second thought to your ass! ”
“I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”
“The baby or the fucking? Which one? I’d like some clarity.”
“Cassidy, I—"
“No, fuck you, Omar! You were the one that decided you ain’t want this shit no more the moment you stuck your dick inside that bitch.
And when you found out she was pregnant, what did you do?
You chose to hide it from me until just when you were about to pack your shit and have your fuckin’ mail forwarded to Florida!
Now, you wanna come back into my life with the I’m sorry bullshit, and I’m tellin’ you to stay where the fuck you at! ”
I wanted to emasculate him and make him feel as small as an atom.
It was best to leave things where they were.
The second I heard him sob through the receiver, I ended the call.
I was back where I started, with my guard up and my heart under wraps.
I was beyond tired of synthetic love. He could ride off into the fuckin’ sunset and have rainbows and unicorn sprinkles shoot out of his asshole with that pregnant bitch as far as I was concerned.
I quickly swiped away angry tears and tried my best to regain my composure by counting backwards from twenty.
One call from him and his ass had me right back in my feelings and raging all over again.
Instead of going back inside the club, I went back to the villa to sulk in peace.
Twenty minutes later, I heard a knock on my door. “Yeah?” I called out.
“Everything good?” Hendrix asked.
My shoulders locked up. I’d been so caught up with a surprise second helping of bullshit from Omar that I hadn’t even gotten the chance to dissect the brief kiss that Hendrix and I shared in the club. My lips tingled with passion at the thought of it.
“The way you ran up outta there so fast, I figured I should come check on you,” he continued.
“Uh, yeah. I’m good. I’m fine.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah,” I said, resting my palm against the cold door.
“Then, open the door and let me see you.”
My heart danced with butterflies as I quickly got in front of a mirror to confirm what my eyes already knew. I looked a mess. Mascara was smeared underneath my glossy-teared eyes, and both my makeup and edges were sweated out. “I, uh—”
“Open the door,” he demanded.
His paralyzing, baritone voice set my lungs on fire as I walked back over to the door and obliged him.
The second his eyes pinned on mine; I was completely disarmed.
There was no need in letting my heart get in the way of what my head already knew.
If he could make me feel like I was breathing underwater with just a look, I wouldn’t be able to handle anything else he had to offer. He was a hazard to my health.
“You got some bad news or somethin’?”
“Why do you ask?”
“I saw you pacing back and forth outside the club on your phone. By the time I came out to check on you, you were gone.”
I shook my head, putting his suspicions to rest. “No. I was uh, on the phone with my ex.”
He bobbed his head before running his hand down his beard. “Mmm, I figured it was nigga problems.”
My teeth clicked together with an attitude, shifting the energy in the room from somber to defensive. “Why you say it like that?”
“I’m a smart nigga, Cass. Plus, you not as lowkey with your feeling as you think you are. More importantly, I know a bad bitch when I see one, so why you lettin’ a nigga treat you like you anything but?”
I wrinkled my nose at him. “You don’t even know what he did.”