Chapter 1 #2
“I’m just saying liven up some.” She flicked her blond bundles over her shoulders.
“How about you worry about not throwing up tonight and let me handle myself.” I flashed a fake smile her way.
Savannah snickered and passed me a drink she’d just poured from the bottles on the table in front of us.
“Ignore her. You know how she is.” She lifted her glass to me.
I smirked. “Yeah, being a hater is just in her DNA. I forgot.” I tossed the drink back.
Aaliyah scoffed across from us.
“Can we all just get along tonight? It’s been too long since we’ve all been out and I want to party!” Angel announced. She had just gotten out of rehab and was supposed to be clean now, but by the way her eyes were dilated and her words slurred, I was sure she’d already relapsed.
“You’re right, Angel! Let’s get fucked up!” I announced, leaning over for one of the bottles before standing.
“That’s what I’m talking about!” Tiara shouted. “Shout out to us being rich bad bitches!” She lifted her cup, prompting all of us to do the same.
While Aaliyah and I often got into it because the bitch always had something to say, I couldn’t deny she was a good time to party with. After a while, the spat we just had was a thing of the past.
“Oh shit, we got a royalty in the building. Y’all show some love to Jrue and his lovely fiancée, Xiomara.
” The packed club went crazy, all yelling Jrue’s name.
He grinned and gave a salute, making sure to keep Xiomara close to him.
Her pregnant belly was on full display in the see through dress she wore.
Her nipples and bikini area were covered, but everything else could be seen.
Their security guards made sure to keep a wall between them and the crowd.
“Whew, they know they make a fine ass couple,” Savannah exclaimed.
“Right and he don’t play about her either. That’s the kind of love I need. I don’t know what prayer she did, but she needs to send it my way,” Tiara said, finishing her drink.
“You can say that again!” Angel slurred. “Men suck nowadays.” She scoffed.
“That’s because you all still want little boys. You need to get you a real man,” I expressed, crossing my leg at the knee.
“Well, we all can’t have a fine ass, millionaire husband at our side. He doesn’t have any brothers, does he? Hell, even a twin?” Tiara joked.
I snickered. “Nope.” I made sure to pop the p dramatically. “Hubby’s one of a kind.” I held my left hand out and examined my rings.
Over the years I had been able to make everyone believe that me and Yosiah were a happy, loving couple.
He didn’t always make it easy, but there was no way I was going to show outsiders any different.
There had been a lot of backlash these past five years about how different we were and questions about if our marriage was real.
It was irritating, but I made sure to shut down those claims every time.
Yosiah was mine and no one was going to take that away from me.
“Besides, if he had a twin, I would have dibs first,” Savannah jumped in.
“You have enough of a rotation. Leave some men for us,” Aaliyah said.
“Not my fault, I’m a prize they all notice.” Her smile beamed in Aaliyah’s direction.
“Yeah, putting out all the time doesn’t make you a prize.”
“Ew, we don’t slut shame, Aaliyah! I’m all for sex positivity!” Angel cut in.
“Tell her again!” I boasted.
Everyone but Aaliyah agreed, but we didn’t pay her any attention. Out of all of us, she was the most conservative.
“Anyway, Xylina might not be the only one with a ring on her finger.” We all gave Aaliyah our attention. “Me and Prince are working on things and I think he’s gonna pop the question.”
My nose balled up. “He’s such a stick in the mud. I don’t know why you even want to fix things with him.”
“Xylina’s right. You can do better. He’s more of a diva than the four of us combined,” Savannah agreed.
Prince was a guy her dad set her up with. The two had been dating for years, but their relationship was lackluster to say the least. He was just as stuffy, if not more, as Aaliyah.
Aaliyah scoffed. “Just because he has morals and standards doesn’t make him a stick in the mud. Plus, he’s next in line as heir to the largest energy company in the world. You can’t get any better than that.”
The three of us shared a look but kept our mouths closed. Aaliyah was someone I partied, occasionally went to brunch, and shopped with, but we weren’t close enough to the point I cared about her life choices to go back and forth with her.
As the night continued, Jrue eventually was passed the mic and he spoke to the club.
The drinks in our section continued, the vibes were good, and the conversation changed into random gossip.
At one part of the night, I sent a few pictures to Yosiah that Savannah had taken of me.
I looked good enough to eat and I was sure there was no way he could stay silent once he saw them.
The breasts I’d paid for sat up perfectly in the halter of the jumpsuit and my waist was snatched.
The heels I wore made my legs look good too.
While I waited for Yosiah to respond, I scrolled through the compliments on my InstaFlik. My followers always showed love and I knew if no one else would appreciate how good I looked they would.
I snickered at the replies to my story from random guys. It wasn’t anything new and I thought it was cute how they never failed to shoot their shot.
As the night got close to ending, I had a nice buzz and the dampened spirit I was in when I first got here had vanished. I was swaying to the current song, bobbing my head, and sipping my latest drink when Aaliyah plopped down next to me.
I barely gave her a glance as my eyes swept the room. Since the marriage conversation she had been chill, which didn’t shock me. Aaliyah was one of those people who liked to air out everyone’s dirt, but didn’t like her shit brought to her door.
“You know I heard something funny the other day I forgot about until I saw you.”
“Oh yeah?” I sipped on my drink, still not looking at her.
“Yep!” She popped her lips and moved closer. “I don’t know if you’re aware, but according to a little birdie, your daddy is in some financial trouble.” I paused, this time slicing my eyes in her direction.
“What are you talking about?” She smirked and shrugged.
“Just repeating what I heard. Word on the street is there’s trouble in paradise, money’s drying up, and he’s scrambling to fix things. I figured you didn’t want the group to know, but if you’re having money troubles, honey, then maybe Daddy can—”
“I’m not!” I shut down, not even bothering to hear the rest of what she said. It was gonna be nothing but foolishness anyway.
Aaliyah’s family owned a bunch of banks and credit unions. It was where their wealth came from. I was sure she was gonna suggest they could help whatever imaginary issues she was speaking on.
My stomach twisted, my jaw clenched, and my skin felt tight. The good spirit I was just feeling suddenly was overturned by annoyance and disdain. Straightening my spine, I turned, giving Aaliyah a blank stare as my grip on the cup in my hand tightened.
“I don’t know where your information came from but it’s false, and unless whoever is spreading it wants a defamation lawsuit on their hands, I would advise them to shut the hell up and stop spreading lies.” My blood buzzed with heat.
The nerve of her to come to me with those senseless allegations.
“Relax.” She grinned. “I was just repeating what I heard. No need to get all offended.” She rolled her eyes and sat back in her seat.
Normally I entertained Aaliyah’s gossip, but this time she went too far.
“Next time don’t come to me with bullshit and watch what you repeat unless it’s about the doctor your mom is allegedly sleeping with to keep getting those happy pills.”
The smile was quickly knocked off her face. “Excuse me!” she shrieked.
Ignoring her, I stood, no longer in the partying mood. The music around us was suddenly too loud and a headache had started to form.
It was disrespectful for her to even suggest such a thing.
Forget the fact that my husband was now worth millions.
My daddy was one of the richest men in the city.
His net worth grew as the years passed. Not only that, our family came from money.
Anyone who said otherwise was jealous and didn’t know what they were talking about.
I made an excuse to leave, brushing off the complaints from my friends. Savannah gave me a look, but I shook my head, indicating we would talk later.
As I waited for my car to be brought by the valet, I thought about this morning and the issue with my card.
Now I wondered if there was a specific reason why my card didn’t work.
Quickly I shook that thought out of my head.
Of course that sounded crazy. Aaliyah didn’t know what she was talking about, just running her mouth per usual.
She was nothing more than a hater wanting to get a rise out of me.