Chapter 24 The Birthday Dinner
Natalie
I applied a fresh coat of lip gloss onto my lips as I pulled into the parking lot of a steakhouse that Lawrence loved.
Thankfully, I was able to secure a private section for his dinner in such a short time.
I wasn't crazy about how much the shit cost, but I took it from the money he gave me. If Lawrence knew he was paying for his own birthday dinner, he’d have a baby cow.
That thought had me burst out in laughter.
A knock at my window had me smiling as my two best friends, Amanda and Mya, stood by my door.
Amanda had on a red cocktail dress that complemented her honey brown skin and petite frame.
Her burgundy bob was fully activated and slightly bumped at the ends, and it demanded your attention.
She was towering over me because of her gold stilettos; without them, she'd be right at my height.
She wore gold bracelets wrapped around her wrists and finished her outfit with a pair of gold teardrop earrings.
Mya, on the other hand, had on a black lace sleeveless bodycon midi dress that stopped right above her knees with a pair of black peep-toe heels.
Her dreadlocks were pulled back into a low bun, showing off the silver studs going down her ears.
Her silver charm bracelet was on her right wrist, which matched the silver anklet on her left ankle. Mya's look was classy yet sexy.
“Okayyyy!” I said, snapping my fingers. “Both my besties are some baddies.”
“Girl, look at you, though!” Amanda said, eyeing me up and down with a smile. “Baybae, your body is tea.”
I had on a white, wide-leg, satin jumpsuit with a sweetheart neckline and embellished trim from my spaghetti straps down to around my padded bust. I finished the outfit with a pair of low heels. I straightened my hair and had it falling to the middle of my bare back, showing off my pearl earrings.
“Thank you, babes! I am sooo happy that you both are here. I don't think I would be able to make it through this dinner without y’all.”
“To be honest, I'm surprised that you threw that ass hat a party,” Mya said, adjusting her purse on her shoulder.
“Agreed. After everything that man put you through, I would have told his bald-headed mama to make that fool a ham sandwich and kick rocks.”
Mya and I stared at Amanda before we burst out into laughter.
“This Amanda, I miss!” Mya said, giving her a high-five. “I was tired of the bitchy Amanda.”
“Me too,” I said, locking my car door.
“I'm really sorry. I'm kind of in the middle of some drama myself, and I haven't had the courage to tell any of you. Honestly, I'm quite embarrassed by the whole situation.”
“Whenever you want to talk, let us know,” Mya said, wrapping her arm around Amanda.
I went to her other side and wrapped my arm around hers, too. “Yeah. We are here for you, and we will not judge.”
“I might a little,” Mya said, shrugging her shoulders.
“Wench,” Amanda laughed, bumping into her.
“I'm kidding. We may bump heads, but you know I love you down. Hell, we both do. Natalie's the sweet one, and I'm the blunt one that's going to tell you like it is, but we're both here for you.”
We embraced each other in a group hug. No matter how hard life was going for either of us, we always had each other's backs, and I was grateful that God placed these two women in my life.
“Okay, enough of all that mushy stuff,” a voice said behind us.
Turning around, I saw Ricky and Leonard walking up towards us. I laughed and pushed him on his shoulder before hugging him. Taking me by surprise, Leonard reached over and wrapped me in a hug, too. I couldn't remember the last time my older brother embraced me in a warm hug without being forced.
“You look good, kid,” he said, ending our hug.
“T-thanks, Leonard. Thank you both for coming. I know it was kind of last minute.”
“Yeah, what's up with that?” Ricky asked, a smirk dancing on his lips.
“I uh, I've been busy. You were there during the Spring Festival, and how packed it was. Since then, our business has had constant foot traffic.”
“Right,” Ricky dragged out.
I glared at him as Mya and Amanda snickered behind me.
They all knew that Lawrence and I weren't together, but Leonard didn't. It's not like he would go blabbing to my parents, but we didn't have a strong relationship with one another.
Hell, on the outside looking in, it was like we were strangers and not siblings.
However, tonight was telling me that all that was about to change.
“What time is the birthday boy coming?” Leonard asked, checking his watch.
“Oh, um, in the next hour or so. In the meantime, let's go get the room put together.”
Ricky opened his mouth, but I quickly pinched him under his arm.
Between the three of them, I hoped we could get through the night with no accidental slip-ups because they wanted to run their mouths.
All I needed to do was get through tonight, and then I would come clean at my parents' family dinner.
There was no need to cause chaos this evening.
After about forty-five minutes, we decorated our private room in blue and gray, Lawrence’s favorite colors, and pinned up a big happy birthday sign on the back wall.
Everyone except the main guest had arrived.
He thought it would be only me here because I lied and told him I wanted us to celebrate his day together.
My phone chimed with a notification from Lawrence stating that he was walking inside.
“Okay, everybody, he's here. Let's gather around his chair to surprise him.” I said, gathering everyone together. I stood right behind his chair and got into character to play the devoted, in love fiancé.
The private curtain separating us from the main restaurant floor slid back, and the wide smile I had on my face immediately faltered. As everyone shouted an excited surprise, I couldn't help but glare and clench my jaw. Standing in the entrance were a shocked Lawrence and a smug-faced Sandra.
“Who the hell is that?” I could hear my dad whispering to my mom. Before she could come up with an answer, Mrs. Freeman's loud voice filled the room.
“Happy birthday, my sweet boy!” she said, walking up to throw her arms around his neck.
I snapped out of my haze of anger and walked up to Lawrence as well.
“Sandra, thank you for being a dear and giving Lawrence a ride. You know Natalie here had to get everything ready. Granted it was last minute, but she did her best.”
I clenched down on my back teeth and tried to keep the sneer off of my face.
“It's no problem at all,” Sandra said, embracing Mrs. Freeman. “Maybe next year I can help so it's not so thrown together looking.”
My lips pressed into a thin line as I balled my hands into fists by my sides. Both of these hoes were about to get knocked the hell out.
I heard someone smack their lips and noticed that it was Mr. Freeman walking up. He grabbed Lawrence's hand and clapped him on the back. “Happy birthday, son.” Turning towards me, Mr. Freeman wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “Don't listen to the nonsense, Natalie. You did an excellent job.”
I smiled. “Thank you, Mr. Freeman. C'mon, babe, let me get you to your seat.” Reaching out my hand, I entangled Lawrence's fingers with mine.
Looking over my shoulder, I could see the scowl all over Sandra's face, and it took everything in me not to laugh.
Stopping next to his seat, I wrapped my arms around Lawrence's neck to make it look like I was embracing him in a loving hug.
“I'm sorry. I didn't know everyone was going to be here,” he whispered into my ear.
“You still chose to bring your whore to a place I invited you.” I leaned over and placed my lips next to his ear. “Consider this our parting ways party. I'm telling my folks everything tomorrow.”
I could feel Lawrence's body stiffen as I planted a kiss on his cheek.
I could hear a few people singing out in collective awe as I stepped back and winked at him.
Lawrence's lip twitched before he got back into character.
He helped me into the seat next to his as Sandra slumped down into the chair next to Mrs. Freeman and across from me.
“Sandra,” Mrs. Freeman began, a wide smile on her face. “I meant to thank you for telling me about Buckingham's Country Club. I fell in love the minute I laid my eyes on the place.”
“Of course! My uncle is the owner there, and he takes pride in being the best country club in the county.”
“In the county?” My mother scoffed.
“Patty.” I heard my dad warn.
“Yes,” Sandra stated matter-of-factly. “Buckingham earned the number one spot in overall appearance and appeal, according to recent research.”
“Child, please.”
“Excuse me?” Sandra snapped, a little more bite in her tone than I liked.
“You heard me loud and clear. Everyone knows those studies are designed to elevate one demographic over others.”
“Patty, come on!” Mrs. Freeman interjected. “This is not a race thing, and you know it. Buckingham has more resources and better quality than your little club.”
“What?”
“Latrice!”
My dad and Mr. Freeman snapped at the same time.
“Oh, shit,” Ricky said, taking a sip of his water.
I waited to see if my mom would scold Ricky for cursing, but she fixated her eyes on Mrs. Freeman and Sandra.
The one thing my mama did not play about was her man.
She was the sweetest, God-fearing woman that you'd ever meet, but she was ten toes down for her family.
Even Jesus flipped tables and whipped grown men for disrespecting his Father's house.
Tension was so thick in the room that you could slice it with a knife.
I didn't know what was going on with Mrs. Freeman and Sandra, but this nasty attitude duo they were displaying was about to get their teeth knocked in.
Before anyone else said another word, the waiters and waitresses brought out our drink orders and appetizers.
“Right on time,” Leonard said, grabbing his cup of scotch.
“Amen,” Mya chimed in with the same drink.
They glanced at each other with a smirk and gave each other a cheers gesture before throwing back their shots. Thankfully, the waiter had left the bottles in the room because I had a feeling it was going to be a long night.
“I apologize,” Mrs. Freeman said after taking a sip of her wine. “I did not intend for my words to come out as harsh as they did. However, I was only stating facts.”
My mom rolled her eyes. “We'll agree to disagree.”
Sandra scoffed as she took a sip of wine, causing my mom to cut her eyes at her. “Anyway, Mya, is it? I enjoyed the food at your restaurant regardless of the fact that it made me nauseous.”
Mrs. Freeman rolled her eyes. “So now we have to argue about facts and research, Patty?”
“Nauseous?” Mya said, cocking an eyebrow. “All you had was half a BLT and some lemonade.”
“I guess you didn't cook it all the way.” Sandra shrugged, taking another sip of her wine.
I could feel Mya's body tense next to me as she crumpled her napkin that was in her lap into a ball.
“Oh, and I saw your car, Natalie. Crazy how you got two flats.”
“Yeah. Good thing my fiancé was able to get that paid for. You know,” I chuckled. “We’ve been building our savings account for a little bit, but lately it’s like we get extra deposits every month.”
Sandra glared at me as I winked.
“Latrice, we're going to drop the subject, okay?” I heard my mom say.
“Uh, Sandra, are you sure you should be drinking wine?” Lawrence asked, his brow furrowing. He meant to say it in a low voice, but at that exact moment, everyone ceased their own conversations.
“Why are you so concerned?” I asked nonchalantly. I shouldn't have said anything, but I figured, why not? He should have never brought this hoe here, and she was causing problems.
“I uh,” Lawrence stammered, all eyes on us now.
“I told my boss that I was pregnant,” Sandra chimed in. “Mr. Lawrence, it's only a little wine.”
“Wait, Natalie, I thought you and Lawrence ran L&N together,” Leonard asked, looking over at me.
“We do!” Lawrence quickly answered. “I usually take care of the employee matters.”
“You sure do,” I said, pouring myself another glass of wine.
Ricky snorted out a laugh, but quickly pretended he was coughing as Lawrence glared at me.
“Boy, slow down! That's your second glass of rum and Coke,” My mother chided.
“I think we should all slow down on our drinks,” Lawrence said, staring at Sandra. “I mean, I don't think that is safe for the baby, and we, I mean you, wouldn't want anything to happen to him.”
My eyes bulged as I stared between him and Sandra.
I knew she was pregnant, but I didn't realize that she was further along than I thought.
So, they were having a baby boy. Although the child had nothing to do with this, I was pissed off.
Observing Lawrence, I could see the pleading look on his face as he watched Sandra drink her wine.
He really cared about her and the baby. The fact that he repeatedly told me he never wanted kids, but showed so much compassion for her, was a punch to the gut.
Sandra's words came flooding back into my mind.
I guess I wasn't good enough to be his wife or have his children.
If I were, he never would have hurt me the way that he did.
I could feel a small lump forming in my throat, and I looked down at my drink to hold back any tears that were trying to form.
Then I remembered Dexter's words. I am more than enough.
I was the best thing that happened to Lawrence, and he knew that.
Hell, that's why he kept sending me money so that he could stay comfortable with my dad's connections until he used them for his own leisure.
Not anymore. I was tired of playing this game with him.