Chapter 6
Yosiah
“I’m proud of you, son. You set out to build your company on your own, and in five short years, you did exactly that,” Mom gushed, squishing my cheeks between her hands.
I had stopped by their house to help my mom remove a virus she had gotten on her laptop from a phishing email. Tomorrow was the award show and my parents would be in attendance.
I chuckled and grabbed her wrists, pulling them. “C’mon, Mom, relax.”
“Yeah, Zoya, stop babying the boy,” Dad commented.
She scoffed with an eye roll. “Well excuse me for being proud of my only son. Being honored by the Black Excellence Foundation is a big deal. They’re one of the largest, well-respected organizations around, even the NAACP has acknowledged them.
Knowing they see our son’s talent is worth being excited over. ”
I smirked. “I appreciate it, Mama.”
My attention went back to the screen. My fingers worked on the keyboard as I focused on the task at hand.
“Mom, next time don’t open any emails that look off. I upgraded the security on here, so you should be good going forward.”
“Well how was I supposed to know they were trying to steal my information.”
“It’s a common thing with hackers. Good thing you didn’t log into your bank or anything, so they shouldn’t have gotten any important information.”
“Good. That’s the last thing I needed to happen.”
My mom wasn’t tech savvy. She was able to do the basics, but phishing scams weren’t something she was familiar with.
“Is your wife gonna be in attendance tomorrow?” Dad asked after a while.
I paused for a second before nodding. “She is.”
“Mhm, I assume it wouldn’t look good for you to be there alone,” Mom interjected.
“How are things going between you two?” Dad asked.
For the most part, he had stayed out of my marriage. I believed the guilt of the marriage caused him to keep whatever opinions he had to himself. My mom, on the other hand, was more vocal about her dislike for my wife’s bratty, stuck-up attitude.
“Same as they’ve always been. We’ve learned to live together and that’s it.”
Last night after dinner, Xylina was surprisingly quiet.
I wasn’t expecting the wives to bring her into conversation, and even after inquiring about her social media and styling help, they kept the conversation going.
Most of the time during dinners she was hardly acknowledged, but last night she seemed pleased to be brought into the conversation.
When we got home, she grabbed a pickle and a bottle of water from the kitchen and went straight upstairs without saying anything else to me.
This morning, she was already gone with Princess by the time I left for the office.
It made me wonder if she had something up her sleeve.
When I got home yesterday evening, it wasn’t uncommon to see her sleeping on the couch.
What caught me off guard was how puffy and red her eyes were.
My mind was on securing the deal last night so I didn’t give it a second thought.
Afterwards, I’d planned on asking what was wrong, but it was clear she wasn’t in the mood for any more conversation, so I let her be.
“You know I’m surprised you two didn’t grow closer over the years. It’s amazing that two people living together for as long as you’ve been, have stayed so distant, but you are your mother’s son; so I guess it makes sense.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Mom turned toward him, lifting a brow in the process.
“You two are stubborn is all. You’re also not the most welcoming people.”
“Well, considering how we got together, can you blame me?” I gave him a blank stare.
Dad cleared his throat and loosened his tie. “Regardless, that girl’s gonna have a tough time going forward. Her dad’s created quite a mess for himself and it’s only a matter a time before those around him are affected too. Makes me feel sorry for the girl.”
Mom scoffed. “It may be good for her to be knocked down to reality.”
Dad chuckled. “Just as mean as can be.”
“Anyone that plays with my son for their own personal gain is an enemy of mine.” She narrowed her eyes. “You should remember that.”
I shook my head but kept quiet. I had forgiven my dad a while ago for his role in my marriage.
I understood his back was against the wall and he wouldn’t have forced my hand if he had another choice.
It was water under the bridge between us now.
Since then, his business has been thriving too.
My mom was a little slower to let him off the hook.
She felt more betrayed by his secrecy more than anything.
Dad pulled my mom down on his lap, kissing her in the process. “Trust me, the last thing I want to do is be in the doghouse with you again. I learned my lesson.”
“Good.” She smiled, kissing him back.
Stifling a laugh, I finished the work I needed to do on my mom’s computer before preparing to leave. My parents had overcome a lot in their marriage, including my mom’s infertility issues. Their love was the pillar I based my example of marriage on.
Ichecked my Rolex to see how we were doing on time. The car I’d ordered for tonight should be arriving at any moment. My foot tapped rapidly and my eyes darted to the top of the steps as I waited for Xylina to come down. It always amazed me how much time it took her to get ready.
Pulling my phone out, I was getting ready to call her when she appeared at the top of the steps.
I froze briefly as I took her in. Her tall, gold heels clicked as she slowly walked down the steps.
They wrapped around her visible ankles, a gold diamond anklet right above the left one.
I couldn’t lie and say it didn’t make her legs stand out more than normal.
What caught my attention more than anything was her dress.
It was black, wrapped around her neck with a slit down the middle showing off the center of her chest in a modest way.
Tonight I could honestly say I appreciated her breast implants.
The waist hugged her hips then flared into a mermaid style once it got closer to the bottom.
There was a long slit that stopped just at the top of her thigh, and from what I could tell, her back was out.
Once at the bottom of the steps, she stopped in front of me, grinning.
The smell of caramel cake, and maybe amber, filled my noses in a pleasant way.
Xylina kept her jewelry simple with gold dangling earrings in her second hole and diamond studs in the front.
On her right wrist, she had two tennis bracelets, one that matched the anklet and a narrow, wired one right under it.
In her hand was a black, boxy purse with a gold handle.
Her hair was pulled up in a loose, braided ponytail, parted down the middle with a few stray hairs pulled out in front of her ears and curled.
It gave a clear view of her sharp cheekbones, heart-shaped face, and perfectly arched brows.
She had an ombre lip with nude on the inside brownish-black surrounding it.
This wasn’t the first time I’d seen her done up, but for some reason it caught my eyes more than it normally would.
“No, no, no. Absolutely not.” She balled her face up and shook her head. She eyed me from head to toe. “You’re not really wearing that, are you?”
I glanced down. “What’s wrong with what I have on? It’s a suit.”
Again, her face balled up. “It’s boring, for one, and that tie doesn’t match.”
I blinked slowly and brushed my hand over my tie. “This is my favorite tie.”
She gave me a tired look and reached toward my neck. “Your favorite tie is going to have to sit out tonight.”
“What are you doing?” I complained when she started loosening my tie.
“Trust me, hubby! You’re going to have the spotlight tonight. The last thing you want is to go out there looking basic as hell.”
Lifting my wrist, I checked the time. “We don’t have time for this. The car should be pulling up any second now.”
“Just hold on.”
Removing the tie, Xylina stepped back and squinted. Her head cocked to the side and the tip of her tongue poked out of the corner of her mouth.
“Do you have a bowtie?”
My face went blank. “I hate bowties.”
She rolled her eyes. “Such a complicated man. Humor me tonight, please.” Xylina turned and started for the steps again. When she noticed I wasn’t coming with her, she looked over her shoulder. “Well c’mon, let’s go look in your closet.”
It felt like a switch had been flipped between the past two days and today. Whatever was bothering Xylina must not have been too serious because she was back to her perky, upbeat self.
“Xylina.” I sighed.
“Yosiah.” This time she turned to face me.
“I know what I’m talking about, okay? Just trust me.
” She turned for the steps again. “Plus, there’s no way I can allow you to leave here with me looking this good and you’re basic as hell.
” This time she didn’t give me any room to argue.
I watched her walk up the steps. I never noticed the weight her ass had gained over the years.
The way the dress hugged her made it easy to see it switch underneath.
Tucking my bottom lip into my mouth, I had to check myself.
Xylina was attractive in every way, but that was where the interest in her ended.
Dropping my head with a slight shake, I decided to pick my battles wisely tonight.
I didn’t have time to sit and argue with her.
This was the one time I’d allow her to have her way if it would get us out of this house faster.
In the end, Xylina ended up changing my whole outfit.
Instead of the black suit, she put in me a midnight blue suit with black on the inside that displayed at the top.
Underneath was a white button up and a black bow tie to tie it all together and black loafers.
She switched out my silver Rolex with the gold to match her too.
Although I fought it, even I could admit I looked good and stood out against everyone in attendance.