Chapter 37
Trooper
After Sophie told me she’d run into Orin in the bathroom at dinner last night, I tried to let it go. Sophie claimed it wasn’t a big deal, but she was a little distant for the rest of the night.
I didn’t want to keep questioning her about it and make her think something was up, so I decided to pay Orin a visit.
She was likely still in her feelings about me moving on, but if she said some fuck shit to Sophie, I would be fucking pissed.
Since I was already out near her place, I dropped by to see what had gone down.
Maybe it wasn’t the best idea, but it was the only way to ensure Orin hadn’t said any off the wall shit to Sophie.
She wasn’t necessarily acting differently, but I could tell something was up.
This relationship thing was new to me, so I wasn’t quite sure what protocol was.
Things were good with me and Sophie and I didn’t want Orin or anyone else messing that up.
As soon as I pulled up at her spot, I noticed her coming down the steps to her brownstone, which was perfect because I didn’t necessarily want to be caught up in her place alone.
No matter how committed I was, some things were hard to deny.
I was faithful because I hadn’t been challenged and spent most of my time with Sophie.
It was fucked up, but I wasn’t sure how much will power I would have if put in a compromising position.
That was being truthful. No point in pretending when it came to certain things.
I was secure in how I felt about Sophie, but again, this life was brand new to me.
I was a man who had gone from multiple women in one week to just one over the past few months.
Not that I wasn’t happy, I just didn’t want to be tested.
“You have got to be fucking kidding me. Why are you here, Trooper? I didn’t say anything to her, but she had a lot to say to me.”
Orin kept moving and rolled her eyes at me. She wasn’t in the best mood, which I found funny.
“Fuck is that supposed to mean?”
She stopped and glared at me. “It means congratulations. Let me know where you’re registered and I’ll send you two a gift.”
“Registered? Did Sophie tell you we were getting married?”
A smirk crossed her face and she nodded. “Yes, she said for me to stay away because she wasn’t about to let me mess up her plan. The baby and marriage.”
I stood there a little confused but didn’t let her know my thoughts. I couldn’t imagine why Sophie would have told her that, but then again, she might have been trying to make sure Orin stayed away.
“You don’t sound happy about that,” I said with a grin.
“Nope, I’m good, Trooper. Enjoy your life. Looks like she got exactly what she wanted by any means necessary. You were worried about me, but seems like she’s the one you needed to be worried about. Wife and baby? Maybe I didn’t know you as well as I thought or maybe you just got caught slipping.”
She winked at me and proceeded to hop into her car and leave. I was left there thinking about what she said.
“Mr. Carter, I sincerely apologize for any misunderstanding we had the last time we met, but let me assure you I am about my business.”
“Yo… What’s your name again?” I looked up from my phone long enough to make eye contact with her then went right back to checking my account while I waited.
“Melinda Andrews.” I didn’t have to look at her to see the salty ass look on her face.
I knew what her name was, but I needed her to understand just how irrelevant she was to me at this point. How the fuck was she apologizing for throwing pussy at me instead of handling business while in the process of repeating the action?
Melinda had on a tight ass skirt that stopped about mid-thigh with a button-up, see-through blouse about four sizes too small, exposing her red lace bra while it clung to her chest for dear life.
She made a point of sitting next to me instead of behind her desk and kept crossing and uncrossing her legs, trying to bring my attention to what was between them.
Granted, she had a nice ass body, but I already had a lot of shit on my mind, so her flirting was in no way something I was currently interested in.
“Ms. Andrews,” I began, slowly placing my phone on her desk, unlocked so she could see my background, a picture of Sophie and me.
I wasn’t big on shit like that, and until Sophie changed it, my background had been whatever came on the phone when I activated it. But right now, the picture of us she’d insisted on changing it to came in handy.
I watched her eyes move toward my phone before she looked at me again when I continued.
“I’m an intelligent man, so I won’t embarrass you again by breaking down how that bullshit ass apology you just gave me ain’t worth the time you spent delivering it.
Instead, I will ask you to give me paperwork.
I’m here because I want to purchase the property you showed me.
I’m willing to have a check on your desk first thing in the morning, which will guarantee you a two-hundred-thousand-dollar commission.
More than enough for you to buy clothes that fit.
You can put those numbers in my hands or I will find another realtor who can. ”
An hour later, I was leaving the bank with a cashier's check to be delivered to Melinda by ten the next morning. Since I was done with business for the day, I decided to swing by and see what Los was up to. Sophie was out shopping with Maddie and I needed to holla at Los about my run in with Orin to get his take on it. I didn’t know why, but what she said fucked with me a little.
“Ay, Los, where you at?” I yelled as soon as I entered his apartment. I had already hit him up to let him know I was on my way, so he expected me.
When he didn’t answer, I headed straight for the bedroom he had converted into an office. If he wasn’t chilling in his living room, he was in there.
“What it do, Troop?” Los offered a nod as soon as he looked up and saw me.
“Shit, I can’t call it. You ain’t hear me calling your damn name?”
“Hell no. You know you can’t hear shit back here. I need to put a camera in here. I’ve been meaning to do get one, especially with Maddie around. She might sneak up on me and hear things she doesn’t need to hear.”
“I thought you were chilling right now.”
“Nah, not like that. Just business shit. Last thing I need is for her to walk up on me while I’m handling something.”
Nodding, I agreed and glanced at his desk. “What you up to anyway?”
“Moving money around to keep the feds off my ass,” he said, then smirked.
“I’m telling you, let that shit go and you don’t have to worry about all that.
“I’m a Black man in America sitting on millions. Even if I walk and go legit, I’m always gonna have to worry when it comes to things like that.”
I chuckled and sat on the sofa, lifting the remote to turn the sound up.
“You right, but at least then you can tell them to kiss your ass after they search your shit and don’t find anything to question you about.”
“Fuck you mean? I’ll tell them now and say it with a straight face.”
“And that right there is why you need to walk. It's just a matter of time before you piss off the wrong people. Neither of us has any fucks to give when it comes to shit like that, but I don’t move kilos like you, so I can say it with confidence and keep it moving.”
“Damn, Troop. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you forgot where you came from, muthafucker.” Los lifted the glass on his desk and finished whatever was in it. I shot him a look that said don’t fucking try me, which made him laugh.
“What’s good, though? You make the deal?”
“Hell yeah. Check will be on her desk at ten a.m.”
“Pussy free or she convince you to tap that ass before you signed.”
“Yo, don’t fucking play.”
“Ay, I’m just asking. Ol’ girl was working overtime for you, Troop.”
“And she ’bout got her ass cussed the fuck out today too.”
“Two point five, muthafucker. I told you it was coming.”
“What the fuck ever, but speaking of that, I need to run something by you.”
Los leaned back and folded his arms behind his head. “What’s up, you got problems?”
“Nah, not really, or at least I don’t think I do, but tell me what you think.”
“Aight, shoot.”
“So last night, Sophie ran into Orin while we were at dinner.”
“Damn, she didn’t show her ass, did she?”
“That’s the thing, whatever happened went down in the bathroom. I didn’t even see Orin, but Sophie told me about it. She didn’t give any details, but she was kind of in her feelings the rest of the night. I didn’t want to keep asking her about it, so I figured I’d ask Orin about it.”
I didn’t bother going into details about actually sleeping on the sofa since Sophie had been lowkey tripping last night.
“Fuck you wanna do that for? If Sophie was good, you should have just left it at that, Troop. You know Orin on some extra shit about you. She thought you were gonna marry her ass.”
“I just needed to see what went down, and I figured if I kept asking Sophie, she’d read too deep into it, so I just went by Orin’s spot to make sure she didn’t pull any slick shit.”
“What she say?”
“She told me congrats on my upcoming wedding.”
“Wedding? Damn, did I miss something?” Los looked at me confused.
“Hell, we both did. Orin knew about the baby and threw some shit at me about a wedding I didn’t know I was having.”
“Sophie told her that?”
“Had to, how else would she know all that? I damn sure didn’t tell her. Orin insinuated Sophie planned it—the baby, getting married, all that.”
“Did she?”
“Yeah, did I? I’m curious to know since your ex seems to be an expert on all things Sophie?”
Los and I both looked up to see Maddie and Sophie standing in the doorway.
She gave me a death stare. When I didn’t say anything, she turned to leave, with Maddie right behind her.
“I’ll see you later,” I heard her say to Maddie when I stood to go after her.
“Yo, I swear you got the worst luck ever,” Los said and laughed as he stood to follow me.
“Sophie, hold up,” I yelled just before she made it through Carlos’s front door.
“For what? I don’t really care what explanation you have.”
“Ay, I don’t know what you heard, but we need to discuss it.” I was wondering how much of the conversation she caught.
“Maddie, let me holla at you for a minute.” Carlos waved her his way, just trying to get her out of the room so I could deal with Sophie alone.
The funny thing was, Maddie looked at him like she wanted to take his head off, but she hugged Sophie and followed him down the hall.
“Discuss what? That you went to see your ex today to get details on a conversation I already explained to you?”
“Explained? You didn’t say shit except you saw her, then you were pouting all night like a gotdamn child. Where was I when you got up this morning?” I asked, looking into her eyes.
She just stared at me, biting her lip because she didn’t want to answer. She wouldn’t say shit to me last night and kept saying she was tired. I was over it and chilled in the living room, where I’d slept, then was gone before she got up this morning.
“What does that have to do with anything?” she asked, glaring at me.
“Shit, I don’t know, you tell me. I tried to talk to your ass last night, and you wouldn’t say shit, so I went to see her to find out what the fuck went down. I wasn’t on no bullshit, but you wouldn’t talk to me, so I needed to know what was up.”
“You got what you needed then, right? I had some master plan to get pregnant and am also planning a wedding I didn’t know I was planning.”
“Are you?” I asked and she looked at me like I had lost my mind. I didn’t know if she was pissed that I’d gone to see Orin or because of what Orin had told me. Either way, she just stood there looking like she wanted to knock me the fuck out. “Well?”
“Well, what, Trooper?”
“Shit, you tell me? What the fuck went down?”
“I don’t have to tell you a gotdamn thing. I’m going home. Believe what you want.”
“You right, you don’t have to tell me shit, but if you care at all about whatever the fuck this is we’re doing, say something.”
“Yes, I told her I was pregnant. I didn’t think it was some big secret, but how that translated to us getting married, you’ll have to ask her.
I’m sure that won’t be an issue for you since the two of you are so damn cozy.
Why would I assume we were getting married when we can’t go a week without shit like this happening? Enjoy your night, I’m going home.”
She turned to leave and I stood there massaging my temple. This shit was too stressful. I didn’t have time to worry about all this emotional shit.
“Los, I’m out,” I yelled from the hallway and headed to the front door. I didn’t bother waiting for him to respond.
As aggravated as I was, I’d learned my lesson about letting Sophie walk away from me. I was about to fix whatever the fuck I had done this time.