Chapter 17 #2
Charlie held her hands over her mouth in shock as Lauren stood over the stove making homemade soup.
“I swear to God he did. Demi would run my baby raggedy. He swore DJ was his personal little servant. DJ, hand me the remote. DJ, go grab this, go grab that. Girl, he asked my four-year-old for some water, and I guess DJ said enough, damn it. That boy scooped Demi a cup right from the toilet bowl. Let him swallow it and everything.”
Charlie was in tears she was laughing so hard. “I know he diedddd!” she exclaimed.
Lauren nodded. “Served his ass right,” Lauren said. “Bet he didn’t ask DJ to get him nothing else ever again.”
“His OCD was probably in overdrive!” Charlie snickered.
“Girl, that man was detoxing for a week after that,” Lauren laughed. “I swear that feels like yesterday. They grow up so fast.”
Charlie leaned against the countertop and tried to fathom how things would be. “I just can’t imagine this baby being real. I mean, besides feeling sick, I really don’t feel like anybody’s mom. Like, what will this baby be like? Look like?”
“I remember asking those questions. I remember trying to envision how Demi and I would mix into one little face. Truth is, I could have never imagined how perfect our chemistry could be. You’re going to predict an entire little personality and appearance for this baby, and when it gets here, it’ll be more than you could have ever pieced together in your mind.
God just works it out that way. Your baby will be a perfect blend. ”
Lauren prepared a bowl for Charlie. “Try this. If you can’t stomach the veggies, you can just drink the broth. It literally got me through all forty weeks of my pregnancy,” Lauren said. “You have to take better care of yourself, Charlie. It’s not just about you anymore.”
Charlie gave a halfhearted smile. “I always thought he’d be here to take care of me.”
Lauren lifted a brow. “Listen to me and hear me good. Don’t bank on anybody on this earth to take care of you and that baby, except for you.
Don’t get me wrong, Demi ain’t one of these dead-beat-ass niggas out here.
He’s going to do his part, but your part, the mommyhood of it all, is a 24-hour job that doesn’t let up.
Nobody will know that baby like you. Nobody will love it like you.
Nobody will care for it like you. Your priority must be you because if you’re not good, that baby isn’t good.
Demi and everybody else come after you and your child.
So, if he’s here to take care of you, cool, but if the day ever comes when he isn’t, or he can’t be around, you stand tall for you and yours.
You’ll understand that more when you give birth.
There is a switch that just flips. It tells you that you have the right to rip a motherfucker apart with your bare hands if they ever try to harm you or your kid.
I don’t know. Motherhood turns you into a superhero or something.
You’ll literally go to war with the world over your child. ”
Charlie took a sip of the soup, and to her surprise, it didn’t make her gag.
“Mmm,” she moaned, closing her eyes as the soup warmed her entire body.
Lauren smiled. “Good girl,” she said. “You eat that, and you’ll start to feel better. It’ll put some strength back in your legs. I made enough for you to last a few days. I’m going to get out of here.”
“Why couldn’t we do this before?” Charlie asked.
Lauren paused. “I was at war with you over my family. You were a threat to me, Charlie…To my son’s sense of normalcy. You were my enemy.”
“And now?” Charlie asked.
Lauren’s eyes misted. “I don’t have anything left to fight for,” Lauren whispered.
Charlie’s eyes betrayed her, too. “I don’t know what I’m doing, Lo.
I don’t have a mom. My sister isn’t a mom yet.
My dad and I are estranged. I don’t have anybody.
Right now, I don’t even have Demi. I know this is weird, but this baby is DJ’s blood.
I admire you, Lauren. I think you’re so strong and smart, and that’s probably why I’m terrified that Demi is going to come back to you one day.
You make me feel like I’m not nearly enough woman for him.
God, and the type of mother you are! I would be okay with you being a part of this baby’s village, Lauren.
No one can tell this baby about DJ like you.
I mean, if you want to. I know it’s weird, and I know you kind of hate me, but if you want to be a part of our world, you’re welcome here. ”
Lauren didn’t even try to stop her tears. She just stared at Charlie in amazement.
“You are probably the most endearing person I’ve ever met, Charlie. From the moment he met you, no one else stood a chance. I’ve been so hard on you, and you’re still here, welcoming me into your child’s life to ease the pain of me losing mine.”
“Not to ease the pain, Lo. To share it so we all can help you carry it. I just wanted to help you carry it, that’s all,” Charlie said.
Lauren nodded and wiped her eyes, clearing her throat as embarrassment flooded her.
“Thank you for showing me grace, Charlie. I’m going to head out. Eat that soup and put the rest up for later,” Lauren instructed.
Charlie nodded and walked Lauren to the door.
It felt like they had made some progress, and Charlie was relieved.
Being in battle with another woman was never good for the spirit.
As jealous as she had been of Lauren, oddly, she didn’t want Lauren out of their lives.
Lauren felt like someone Charlie would need or could learn from.
That was the beauty of feminine connection; in belonging to a community of women.
It came with empowerment when the world made you feel weak.
She couldn’t put her finger on how or why Lauren held significance in her life, but her intuition was telling her that Lauren had the potential to be more friend than foe.
“He wants me to do what?” Stassi asked in disbelief.
“Mr. Night would like to contract your services for a company brunch. If you check your email, we’ve sent over a very generous offer. As we know, this is a last-minute engagement. A rush fee has been added to the offer. We just need you to fill out a new W-9 and NDA.”
Stassi hadn’t even gotten into her house well before she had been hit with this unexpected phone call.
He just knew how and when to burst her bubble.
Whenever her thoughts drifted to another man, here came Day as if he had a radar on her vagina and could tell when someone else was sniffing dangerously close.
She was still frazzled and discombobulated from her rendezvous with Grayson, and here Day’s ass was, by way of his damn assistant, trying to throw her a curve ball.
“I don’t sign NDAs. Day knows that. I’ll look at the email today and let you guys know,” she replied.
Stassi hung up the phone and shimmied out of her clothes.
She felt like a dirty-ass ho. She had let Grayson slut her out in the firehouse, and she was semi-ashamed but wildly intrigued.
He was a good boy with a touch of bad, and something about that combination seemed thrilling yet safe.
He was different than any man she had ever dated.
His level of non-toxic, was perfect. A quick shower reset her day before she threw on a lounge set and gathered herself in front of her laptop.
She opened the computer and found the email from Dynasty. The offer was so lucrative that her heart raced when she saw it.
“This motherfucker here,” she scoffed. Day was a man of means.
His paper was long, and he was used to the power that came with being the richest man in the room.
He yielded that bank account like a sword to win all his battles.
She knew he would never offer this money to any other event company.
He wouldn’t even come close. He was trying to buy her, and his audacity to think she would be that easy was infuriating.
She picked up her phone and dialed his number.
“You got that attitude together?” Day asked as soon as he answered.
“I’ma pass on the job,” she said, cutting straight to business.
The words tasted like shit. Day was playing with M’s like children played with toys.
He had the capability to change her entire life, and Stassi knew the opportunities he was extending would put her right back in business, but she didn’t like the power dynamics he was establishing between them.
“Ayo, hold up, bruh, let me take this,” Day said, speaking to someone in the background.
Bet you wasn’t expecting that, were you? She thought snidely.
“Anastassia, you trying me,” Day warned.
“You’ve been buying me since day one. You buy everybody around you. It’s how you influence the room. Are you offering me this job because I’m good or because you want to win?”
“I been winning, baby. I ain’t concerned with shit like that,” Day responded. “Lauren isn’t an option for obvious reasons. Your work is credible. You’re good at what you do, but I can find somebody else if you ain’t feeling it,” he stated. “Say less.”
“So, this has nothing to do with you trying to make me get over the bullshit you pulled?” she asked.
His pause told her everything she needed to know. “You can’t buy forgiveness,” Stassi said. “You have to earn it.”
“And I intend to, but I also intend on handling this business. I’m able to separate the two,” Day said.
“Good, because I’m honestly only interested in business. I’m dating, and I just want to be clear that I don’t intend to stop seeing other people. When I was on that, you were off it, so it’s just better if we just stick to business.”
Stassi wanted him to protest. She wanted him to be jealous and to object, to claim her for himself. She wanted big energy from him. She wanted confirmation that she wasn’t crazy for having butterflies in her stomach every time she heard his voice.
“Business it is,” he replied. “If that’s what you prefer.”
Her heart sank. How he could go from full-court pressure, buying cars, and professing his intentions in a room full of people to just business was beyond her.
It matched every single rumor she had ever heard about him, though.
He lost interest quickly. He swapped models and ‘it girls’ in and out on his arm monthly.
Her frustration with him was immeasurable because when he was in the mood to act right, he pulled her in effortlessly.
He gave her glimpses of who he was behind the cameras and behind the fame, but the man the public received was almost intolerable.
He was arrogant, dismissive, and inconsiderate.
“Is that what you prefer?” he asked.
The audacity of him to give her the option as if she was choosing any of this shit. His actions were dictating the course of their involvement with one another. She was just reacting to his bullshit. The hardest part was knowing that behind the visage was a man that made her feel so damn good.
“You aren’t consistent with me, Day,” Stassi said.
“I prefer that. I prefer a man who is so consistent with the way he moves that I can predict his next step. I want to be able to finish your sentences. I want to be able to look at the clock and know exactly where you are because your routine is the same. Our every interaction changes. One minute you’re feeling me, and you want to be with me, the next minute, some weird-ass industry bitch is your focus. ”
“My focus is on you, Stassi. Even when you think it ain’t,” he replied. “Even when you deny me access. A nigga moving every single piece around the board just to get you to enter the room so I can see you.”
She didn’t know if he was sincere, or if he was doing what he did best, having his way with words. It was what he was famous for, after all. Writing music. Using lyrics to tell stories through his art. It sounded good, but was it real?
“You’re doing all that,” she said with a heavy sigh.
“Exerting all that energy, trying to control how I move, when all you got to do is control how you move. I’d come willingly if you acted right, but you don’t do right by women, Day, and I ain’t trying to have my heart broken. I’d just rather be friends, honestly.”
“You want me to be your friend?” He asked the question like it repulsed him.
“The shit I think about when I see you…” He paused and scoffed.
“I don’t think about my friends like that.
” He sighed in exasperation. “This shit wild, man, but whatever you want, Anastassia. The world is yours. Sign the contract and return it to my office tomorrow. Don’t miss this paper because you in your feels. We got work to do.”
“Prove something to me, Day. If I’m worth anything at all, prove it.”
He was silent, and she wondered what was running through his mind.
“I hear you,” was all he returned with before the line went dead.
Stassi blew out a sharp breath. She wanted to keep things light with Day because the depths that he could take her would drown her.
He was a walking, talking, red flag, and although he checked so many boxes, his lifestyle would ruin her eventually.