Chapter 4
four
. . .
I invited the girls over for one last birthday night before everything turned back into routine.
Nothing big, just margaritas, tacos, and karaoke.
Treasure was in the kitchen blending up a second batch of frozen margaritas.
Tara was on her phone as always, half paying attention and half not.
We were having a good time. I missed life being this soft and carefree, but my mind kept drifting back to him and his very insane request.
A slow sip of my drink bought me a second, then I set the glass down and looked between them. Because conversations between us were predictable, I knew how this would go. Treasure was going to hype it up, Tara was going to question it, and I would fall somewhere in the middle.
“So… Kier wants me to spend the summer with him.”
Treasure choked on her Margarita. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah. But I’m not jumping into that without thinking it through.”
“Sibley, this man invited you on a paid vacation. Wait, he is paying, right?”
“Yeah, girl.”
“What’s there to think about?”
“Everything. For one, I don’t know him.”
“Well let me run the stats down for you. He’s been one of the most talented and consistent producers of the past 7 years, and he just recently started his own record label. He is worth like 100 mil. He signed that new girl Kaori, and-”
“Okay, who is he outside of his accomplishments?” I asked.
“Um, damn I mean technically that doesn’t matter.”
“Girl!” I laughed then got serious. “ Treasure, I can’t just abandon my job.”
“Now as long as you have been there, I know you got tons of vacation time. Besides, you’re in promotions and marketing for one of the biggest media platforms, get creative! This can work out for you as well.”
“Treasure, no, I don’t know that man.”
“He’s a millionaire, Sibley!”
“And I make six figures.”
“And he makes eight, bitch!” Treasure raved, inciting a laugh from both me and Tara.
“It just feels random. Why me?”
“No, the question is why not you?! The man met you on your birthday, and set you up in the hottest club after knowing you for what, five minutes? He did more in a day than Damien has done in a year.” Treasure raved.
“And speaking of Damien, did you officially break up with him? Because if you haven’t, technically this is cheating and I can’t be part of that. You know that’s my friend too.” Tara added.
“I haven’t crossed the lines with anyone, so technically it’s not cheating. Besides, if I did, oh well. Damien ain’t no saint. His shit just hasn’t caught up with him yet. And you know what, Tara, I don’t give a fuck about him being ‘your friend’ as you state.”
“You need to relax. It’s not that deep, Sibley.”
“It is that deep, Tara. You’re supposed to be loyal to me, and he ain’t been shit for a very long time. Don’t be defending him in my presence. He disappeared on my birthday, and hasn’t committed to any real plans, and he’s not truly apologetic.”
“But he did say he was sorry!”
“Sorry means you won’t do it again. How many times have I been stood up by him? Like, do you pay attention, Tara? You stay on his side! Do you defend me like you defend him? Because what you should be saying is you deserve better, friend!”
Tara and Treasure were both quiet. I wasn’t taking back anything that I said. I loved Tara, but her self-righteous attitude took the fun out of everything.
“Ahem. Well, that was awkward,” Treasure chimed in. “So, what’s up, Sibley, you in or you out?”
“I’ll only go under one condition, he said I could bring you two. If y’all don’t go, I’m not going.”
“Well, I can’t stay the whole summer, but shit, say less. I’m there!” Treasure beamed. “I’m about to get so much content. Baby, we hit the jackpot.”
“What about you, Tara?”
“Well, while the two of you decided to go for the easy path in radio and television, I was actually getting a real education-”
“Ohhhhh, Tara! Stop!” Treasure yelled in frustration.
“First of all, let’s be clear—wasn’t nothing easy about my degree.
I need you to stop saying that, because it’s getting old.
You chose your path, we chose ours. You’re molding young minds, and we’re changing the entertainment industry.
Bottom line, we are all in the careers we wanted.
Now, second of all, it ain’t a party without you, Tarabug.
It’s summer, you can take a quick trip. Them principal duties ain’t going nowhere, girl. ”
I let Treasure say whatever she needed to say. I avoided confrontation, especially with Tara. She was a Negative Nancy and required too much attention. Listening to her and Treasure was comical. Tara was tripping as always, acting like she was better than both of us.
Tara rolled her eyes. “Okay, I will go.” She didn’t look fully convinced, but she agreed anyway. “Just for a few days. But Sibley, you need to-”
“Mind my business.” I cut her off. “I’m going to mind my business, Tara, and I want you to do the same. That’s the only way we will all have a good time. Deal?”
Tara playfully rolled her eyes and agreed. “Deal.”
“Yesssss! Cheers to the summer, bitches!” Treasure screamed as we all clinked our margarita glasses together.
Packing started that night. I pulled dresses from my closet and tossed them onto the bed without much of a system.
Every time I thought I had it figured out, I’d stop and second-guess it.
The Vegas Heat wasn’t the problem. It was everything else.
I was excited, nervous, and a little unsettled because this wasn’t like me.
I planned things, dotting all of my I’s and crossing my T’s.
I couldn’t do that this time since I wasn’t in control.
That was the part I kept coming back to.
It bothered me, and still somehow, I’d agreed to spend the summer with a man I barely knew.
Another thing that plagued me was breaking up with Damien.
It had to happen, and Kier was not the deciding factor.
Damien had shown me too many times that I wasn’t a priority, and my birthday was my final straw.
I didn’t owe him an explanation, but I did want to tell him to his face.
I’d called him a few times since my birthday and sent a text too.
As expected, Damien moved when he wanted to, and whatever guilt he felt clearly wore off.
When he finally showed up, he caught me packing for the trip.
“Are you going somewhere?” He asked, sitting on my bed, which he knew would piss me off.
“Damien, sit on the chair, please.”
Shrugging, he got up and plopped himself onto the chair by the floor lamp. “I asked you a question.”
“Damien, listen, we need to talk.”
“Yeah, let’s talk about that nigga I heard you was with.”
I said nothing as I perused my closet trying to figure out what to wear.
I was also trying to figure out how Tara could once again betray me and tell Damien about Kier.
I mean, how else would he have found out?
I continued to toss clothes from my closet to my bed.
The plan was to choose the sexiest dresses and tiniest shorts to match the vibe that Vegas had to offer.
Then again, I didn’t really know what to bring since I was supposed to spend the whole summer with this man.
The closer it came, the more excited I got.
I ignored Damien’s question as my mind was consumed with finally deciding to live on the edge a little.
“I asked who the fuck you been with, Sibley?”
“Man. Gone man,” I muttered, still flipping through hangers. Before I knew it, he was towering over me, standing in my closet.
“You don’t hear me talking to you?” Damien asked, yanking my arm and turning me towards him.
Immediately, I yanked away. “Have you lost your mind, grabbing on me like that?”
“I needed some way to get your attention, so who was he?”
“Tara loves to tell you everything, huh? That’s crazy.” I smiled, continuing to avoid his question, which added to his aggravation.
“Oh, so she knew too? She didn’t tell me. Rod saw you. He said he saw you at the club in the VIP section!”
“Now how would he do that if he was in the tournament with you? Somebody lying.” I laughed, shaking my head. “You lied to cover up for Tara, or you weren’t really at the tournament. Which one is it?”
“Naw, bae. You got my head fucked up. What I’m saying is-”
“I’m done, Damien.” I cut him off. “You walked in my apartment trying to find out who I was with. Did it ever dawn on you that, had you shown up, I wouldn’t have been with somebody else? I waited for you for hours and didn’t hear a peep from you.”
“Look Sibley, I ju-”
“Then the next day you show up with a balloon and a fuckin teddy bear like I’m a teenager on Valentine’s Day? I don’t deserve half-ass effort. The only person I’ll ever let play in my face is a makeup artist.”
“Look baby, can we please just be done with this? I promise I’mma start putting you first. I’m sorry.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry too. But um, give me my keys, Damien.” I requested, gesturing to him. Without hesitation, he took my two keys off his keyring, scoffing as he set them on my dresser.
“So, this is it? Over one birthday? A year and some change gone down the drain over a little mistake?”
“It’s been a long, lonely, frustrating year, Damien. The fact that you going ghost on my birthday is a ‘little mistake’ to you is crazy. So yeah, this is it.”
“Sibley, I’m not about to beg you.”
“And I don’t want you to. Goodbye, Damien.”
Damien turned quickly on his heels and left without saying goodbye. That was fine because I wasn’t running after him. I was done settling for the bare minimum. If that meant I’d die as an old lonely cat lady, so be it, but I was going to go to Vegas first.
One decision at a time.