Chapter 12 Brion #2
“Ten. Thank God we only have two weeks left of filming. I wouldn’t be mad if we got to do more scenes alone, but they always want us in group settings.
Some of those women are insufferable. The ones that have been cheated on swear that no WAG can be happily married because none of the men are shit.
They think all of our husbands have mistresses and outside babies,” London rolled her eyes.
“I hate to be one of those women that acts like everything is about money, but women are catty, childish, and fake in real life. If you have to be subjected to it, at least you’re getting paid to do so. A lot of us have to suffer for free,” I chuckled.
“You know what? You’re right. I tried to give a portion of my first check to Isaac, so he could put it toward the mortgage, but he refused.
He doesn’t want me to pay any bills. Not even my own car payment.
Therefore, the money just sits. I don’t shop that much anymore because at this point, I don’t need anything else. ”
London wasn’t lying because I had seen her closet.
Envy was never a characteristic that I possessed, but to get paid half a million dollars to be on a reality TV show sounded like a damn good opportunity.
That led me to thinking about life as a WAG.
I damn sure didn’t expect to end up on a television show with Hymn, but a girl could use her imagination.
I was a housewife basically when I was with Corey even though I didn’t have a ring.
He wasn’t broke, so I lived a decent life, but to be the housewife of a football player had to be next level.
Shopping all day while wearing cute yoga sets and sipping matcha.
Barely having to cook or clean because we had people for that.
The other side of the coin was what London had said about the WAGS she filmed with.
Who better to warn a woman about dating an athlete than the women that dated them?
I believed there were some good ones out there, but I didn’t believe there were too many.
Maybe the older ones closer to retirement.
London’s phone rang again, and she groaned. “I’m already over today. I want people to stop calling me,” she whined and kicked her feet like a toddler.
With a chuckle, I misted her face with finishing spray to set her makeup, and she was all done.
London muted the phone and looked in the mirror. “Perfect as usual. Thank you, boo.”
“No problem.”
“Did you think about brunch yet?” she gave me her best puppy dog expression.
With a dramatic sigh, I rolled my eyes. “I’ll go with you.”
“Yayyyy, thank you.”
In the car, I wondered what the heck I was doing.
Two months ago, I’d been a live in baby mama with a boring, monotonous routine, trying to get more makeup clients and now, I was flying on private jets, fucking on a football player, and getting more clients by the day.
I barely recognized my own life, and I was starting to see that wasn’t such a bad thing.
Later that evening, me, Alisa, and Josie tapped our shot glasses on the table in front of us and tossed back our shots.
My mommy duties had ended. The girls were tucked in bed, and I eased out of the house to have a few drinks with Alisa to celebrate her winning her case.
I told her it was my treat because she’d been so good to me.
My parents refused to take any money from me, and the only bills I really had were my car payment, car insurance, health insurance, and cell phone.
My work checks covered those things, and most of the money I got from makeup jobs either went toward the girls or into my savings account.
I was confident I’d be ready to look at places to live in the next month and a half.
“I got good news on the way here, but I was going to wait to share it because tonight is about Alisa, but I can’t help it.”
My words made Alisa recoil with a frown. “I know you fuckin’ lying. We don’t do that. You never have to wait to share an accomplishment with me. Are you dumb?” she joked mimicking Cardi B.
“Okay, okay, so a pretty popular rapper is coming to Diamond Cove Sunday for a show, and she wants me to do her makeup. Me!” I was still shocked. I went through so many steps to make sure it was actually the artist reaching out to me and not a fake page.
“I told you it was only up from here, baby,” Josie beamed. “See how blessings start pouring in when you get rid of dead weight.”
“I’m about to go order three more shots because we are for sure going to drink to that. Congratulations, baby,” Alisa hugged me.
Slowly, I was learning to navigate my new normal.
Weeks ago, I was crushed. It felt like my life was over, and I wasn’t sure I possessed the strength to endure.
But things were falling into place perfectly.
When I saw that Hymn was facetiming me, a smile inched across my face.
He was out of town. They had an away game that his team won.
“You probably won’t be able to hear me because it’s kind of loud in here,” I smiled like an idiot as the call connected.
The room Hymn was in was dark, and I could tell he was in bed. The man was so sexy it was sickening. “You out turning up, huh? You look good.”
“Thank you. Only a few shots. I’m celebrating my bestie winning a case. She’s a lawyer.”
“That’s what’s up. I just wanted to see your face before I fell asleep. Enjoy your night.”
“I will. And congratulations on your win. At this rate, y’all might make it to the Super Bowl.”
“I hope so and thank you, sexy.”
Even after the call ended, I was still cheesing. “This nigga done fell in love,” Josie teased bumping my hip with hers.
“I am not in love.” The fact that I was still smiling was insane. All I could do was drop my head to try and hide how giddy I was. I wasn’t in love, but I was for sure in like.
“He’s a good catch and all but just have fun and do you. If he’s dumb enough to fumble you, then you pick up the pieces and keep it moving.”
“I know that’s right,” I grinned.
I loved that she wasn’t urging me to be the one to ‘keep him’ just because of who he was.
I couldn’t care less who he was, what he did for a living, or how much money he had.
If he began to be anything other than fun, he was out of there.
I’d never let another man stress me, and I for damn sure wouldn’t let one break me.
Ever again. I didn’t anticipate that I’d be doing a lot of dating, but when I did, I was going to be running a strict program.
It took me a little bit to realize but despite coming with three kids, I was the prize.
Any man would be lucky to have me, and my girls were going to help me weed out who wasn’t meant for me.
If my kids were a problem, a man could kindly get the fuck out of my face.
My phone vibrated against the table. With wide eyes, I unlocked the phone, so I could fully see the message. Hymn had sent me $1,000 via Zelle with a note that said: drinks on me.
Lord knows I was going to enjoy him for as long as I could because he gave me all the feels.
And I hadn’t had that in years. The feeling of butterflies and happiness to see or be around my man didn’t fade for me.
The entire seven years I was with Corey, I still crushed on him, but it didn’t hit the same when it wasn’t reciprocated.
He stopped acting as if the mere sight of me turned him on.
He stopped flirting and being romantic. My self-esteem took a hit wondering what I had done to make him stop being the person I fell in love with, but I knew I’d more than likely never get that answer.
Our time was up, and I had to accept that fact.
Alisa came back over carrying three shots. “Congratulations to being booked and busy,” she declared as we tapped our glasses and tossed back the second shot.
That one was a bit much, so I grabbed the lime wedge off the rim of my glass and sucked it with a frown on my face. I was buzzing and feeling real good.
“Hey, cousin. I didn’t know you were going to be here tonight.”
When I looked up and saw the smug face of the woman from the video with Corey, my pulse quickened. My stomach churned, and the shots I’d consumed threatened to come right back up. There was an uncomfortable burning in my chest.
“Hi, Imani,” Alisa’s tone was neutral. “It was an impromptu outing.”
“Hey, I’m Imani.” The way she smiled at me made me want to slap the taste out of her mouth.
I could tell by the amused gleam in her eyes that she knew exactly who I was.
It wasn’t hard to figure out. I wasn’t sure if he’d removed the pictures of me from his social media pages but at one point, I’d been up there.
Still didn’t stop his ass from cheating.
I stared blankly at Imani because I was too old to be fighting, and I damn sure didn’t want it to look like I was fighting over Corey. Ms. Thing was teetering on the edge of disrespect, however, and I wasn’t going for it.
“Imani,” Alisa’s tone held a hint of warning.
“I’m being nice,” she frowned. “I don’t have any ill intentions, and I wanted her to know there isn’t any beef.”
“Why the fuck would you have beef with me?” I snapped.
“Who is this?” Josie was ready to turn up she just wanted facts before she did.
“Corey’s side chick,” it was my turn to smirk.
“Girlfriend.” Imani corrected.
“My condolences.” If she thought I gave a fuck, she was out of her young, rabid ass mind.
Imani parted her silicone injected lips to speak, but before she could get a word out, Josie was rocking her shit.
It may have been wrong, but I felt great satisfaction from seeing my sister literally knock the smug expression off Imani’s face.
Alisa didn’t even move to break the fight up, and that said a lot.
Cousin or not, Imani’s trifling ass was wrong, so she got what she was asking for.
I let Josie punch Imani about four times before I attempted to break the fight up.
Josie was strong as hell when she was mad, and she wasn’t trying to let up off Imani.
By the time security came over, I was able to pull her off the poor girl because if they roughed my sister up, it was going to be problems.
“I’m leaving,” Josie smiled holding her hands up before the bouncer could say anything.
“You just really stood there and let that bitch run up on me?” Imani had the nerve to look Alisa up and down as if her cousin had really wronged her.
“You didn’t need help walking over here trying to be funny. Why did you need help for a one-on-one fight? What you did was uncalled for.”
“I’ll see you later,” I assured Alisa before sauntering off with a smile on my face.
The entire situation had me pissed at Corey all over again, but I was happy that seeing her up close and personal didn’t hurt me. She was beautiful, young, and her body was tea, but she had rocks for brains. Corey deserved her, and she deserved him.
“Ohhhh I’m mad I couldn’t do her dirty like I wanted to,” Josie was still hype in the car.
“I wasn’t letting you go to jail for that hoe. The fact that she thought she was going to make me mad is funny as fuck. I mean, I’m pissed about the disrespect, but if she knew how stupid she made herself look, she’d be somewhere hiding. The man literally just proposed to me.”
All I could do was shake my head. Engaging in ghetto ass drama wasn’t on my bingo card.
I hadn’t even realized that Hymn had texted me and told me to text him when I made it home safely.
I knew he’d be asleep, but I still smiled at the gesture.
I was still blushing over his text message when my phone rang.
The moment I saw who was calling, I smacked my lips.
“That Corey?” Josie whipped her head in my direction.
“You know it is. That hoe moved fast.”
My sister snatched my phone from my lap and accepted the call.
“What bitch ass nigga?! My sister doesn’t have anything to say to you, but I just want you to know you’re a low life piece of shit, and Brion deserves so much better than you.
When she finds her soulmate, I hope your chest caves in.
I hope you won’t even be able to breathe.
Keep fucking little girls with your over thirty ass.
Meanwhile, my sis needs a grown man that can handle her and three kids. Bitch.”
Josie ended the call, and I looked over at her with a slack jaw. “Damn tell him how you really feel.”
“I hate him. After seven years he really has been playing in your face, and I don’t like that. I don’t like it at all.”
“Honestly, I’m glad he’s showing me who he is.
I think it’s the reason I’m not as sad anymore.
Every day he finds a new way to disgust me.
I really could have had him back. I dead ass don’t want him.
He is so cringe and lame to me now. No way that was the man that I was supposed to be with forever. ”
“I’m with you when you’re right.”
My phone rang again, and Josie placed it in my lap. “That man has the IQ of a pretzel.”
“When he doesn’t have the girls, the first time he makes me mad he goes back on the block list. As soon as I stop this car, he’s going to be blocked. He doesn’t have anything to say to me. He needs to be consoling his girlfriend. She was the one that got beat up not me.”
When I made it back to my parents’ house, I put Corey back on the block list, texted Hymn, got ready for bed, and was out like a light.