Inner Circle (23 page)

Callie rested in Eve’s embrace. “Thanks, Eve.”

“That’s what we do.” Eve patted her on the back. “Listen, I’ve gotta get going. Chase is expecting me back before he gets home. He’ll shit bricks if he makes it home before me and is left alone with Amber and Olivia.”

“What are they doing at your house?” Callie asked as she walked Eve out.

Eve dug around in her purse in search of her keys. “Girl, it’s a long story. And quite frankly, I wouldn’t feel right telling you about that drama right now anyway. You’ve got enough on your plate without worrying about Amber and her issues.”

“I hear you.” Callie forced a smile.

“You gonna be all right here tonight by yourself?” Eve asked, praying for a positive response.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. It’s not often that I have the house to myself. I think the quiet will do me some good.”

“Whew!” Eve said laughing. “Chile, I was hoping you said that.
If I brought one more person home with me, Chase would file for divorce and put my ass out for sure.”

Callie laughed out loud. “We wouldn’t want that now, would we? I’ll be fine. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

Eve waved good-bye and got into her car. Her eyes followed Callie back into the house as she watched her through the rearview mirror. Once Callie was out of sight and secure in the house, Eve exhaled. The last few weeks had been exhausting, and she honestly didn’t know how much more drama she could take. She promised herself that once things were situated with Callie and Amber, she and Chase were going on a long and much-needed vacation. As she felt the knots tighten in her shoulders, she knew it was time that she started putting herself first. Normally, it would be at Chase’s suggestion, but this time, she didn’t need anyone telling her anything. As soon as things settled down, she was going to go away . . . far, far away!

21

“And
Auntie Evie got me this new toy called an Etch A Sketch. It’s really cool, Dad. I’ve already drawn a butterfly, a house, and even a car . . . well, it started out as a car, but I shook it and kinda messed it up, so I turned it into a ladybug instead. I can’t wait to show it to you,” Olivia doted.

“I’m glad you like all your new toys, princess,” Sean replied.

“Daddy, can I ask you a question?”

“May you ask me a question,” Sean corrected.

“Daddy!” Olivia whined.

“I’m sorry, princess. Yes, you may ask me anything.”

“Why are we still here? What did you do to Mommy that makes her not want to come back home?”

“It’s complicated, baby. But trust me, Daddy’s doing everything he can to convince Mommy that he loves you guys very much, okay? It won’t be long now, I promise.”

“Did you send her some flowers? Girls really like flowers, Daddy,” Olivia suggested.

“No, I hadn’t tried flowers yet, princess. You think that would work?” he asked.

“Yeah, flowers are pretty. Mommy likes pretty things.”

“What about you?” Sean asked. “Is there something pretty Daddy can buy you?”

“I want a new bike!” Olivia declared.

“Didn’t you just get a bike for Christmas?”

“OMG, Daddy! That was last year. Besides, that bike is for babies. I’m seven. I need a big-girl bike now.”

“Excuse me, big girl,” Sean laughed. “I’ll get you a new bike on one condition!”

“What?” Olivia asked eagerly.

“I want you to draw me one of your beautiful pictures so I can hang it up in my locker at work.”

“You got it. I love you, Daddy!” Olivia said.

“I love you too, princess. I’ll try to call you tomorrow. Put your mom on the phone for me, okay?” Sean requested.

“Mommmmmmy!” Olivia sang Amber’s name as she handed her mother the phone.

“Go upstairs and play. I’ll be up in a little bit.” Amber held the phone to her chest and waited until Olivia was out of sight. She looked down at the notepad containing bullet points from her meeting with Sa’Myra and sighed.

“Sean,” she said dryly.

“I haven’t seen Olivia in over two weeks. How long do you plan on keeping my daughter hostage over there, Amber? This shit is getting ridiculous.”

“I’m not trying to keep Olivia from you, Sean. I’m just not ready to come home, and I feel it’s in Olivia’s best interest if she stays here with me.” Amber’s tone was calm.

“I wish you would just tell me what it’s going to take to get you to come home. I mean, damn, Amber, I’ve apologized. I’ve given you your space for two whole weeks, and you still haven’t come home,” Sean contended.

“Are you serious? This from a man who’s cut off my credit cards, taken my phone, the keys to my car, and has practically forced me to
stay with my best friend at her house with our daughter because he’s too goddamn selfish to just leave us in the house alone for a minute?” Amber couldn’t believe her own words. Under normal circumstances she would have never stood up to Sean like that, but after her meeting with Sa’Myra, and Eve finding that loophole in her prenup, she no longer cared about sparing his feelings.

“Who the fuck do you think you are talking to like that?” Sean snapped back. “What? Your little friends got you over there feeling like you’re entitled? You think this is your own little personal waiting-to-exhale moment or some shit? Let me remind you of something, Amber. You don’t have a whole lot of choices. If you leave me, you don’t get shit but the little money I decide to give you. And if you think for one minute I’ma let you take Olivia from me, you got another think coming,” Sean protested.

“Are you finished?” Amber asked.

“Whaaaat?”

“Are you finished? Because if you are, I’d like to remind you of a little something as well. Eve’s lawyers found a loophole in our prenup. It’s a little something called a morality cause.”

“And? That doesn’t mean shit. And it damn sure doesn’t make it void just because I cheated.”

“You’re right; it doesn’t protect me if you cheat. But it does entitle me to 30 percent of your net worth should you conceive a child with another woman during our marriage.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Sean asked puzzled.

“I suggest you have your attorneys review the fine print. Now, don’t quote me, because I don’t have exact figures, but by my calculations, that puts any potential settlement right around close to twenty million dollars. I wouldn’t exactly call that ‘nothing,’” Amber said matter-of-factly.

“So, is that what this is? You ready to talk lawyers and dollars and cents?”

“No, actually, I’m not, Sean. I’m just tired of you bullying me. Saying stuff like I don’t have choices when in fact I do! And right now,
I choose to stay here and take whatever time I need in order to figure out my next move.”

“I’m not gonna wait forever,” Sean swore.

“And I’m not asking you to. I’m just asking for you to give me a minute and let me sort some things out, okay?”

“I wish you would just come the fuck home!” he whispered.

Amber knew that was Sean’s sick and twisted way of saying he missed her, and deep down inside, she missed him too. Before the situation with Sa’Myra, she and Sean had had a pretty good marriage. It had been her dream to marry an athlete and live the life of a trophy wife, and Sean had more than made it possible for all her dreams to come true. Even though she wasn’t ready to forgive him, Amber had no intention of giving up on her marriage. “I’ll have Olivia call you tomorrow,” she responded.

Amber hung up the phone and focused her attention back on the dollar amount Sa’Myra had requested to make herself and her little “situation” disappear. As she studied the number on the yellow sheet of paper, she realized that she’d placed a higher value on restoring her marriage than Sean had placed on her getting out of it. Even if it meant manipulating her way into getting greater respect from Sean, in an effort to maintain the lifestyle she had become accustomed to, she would. Amber had worked too hard and sacrificed too much to throw it all away now. In order to come out on top, she was prepared to do whatever it took to maintain her position. And as she looked at the figure that rested on the sheet of paper in front of her, she realized that if going home and repairing her marriage was even an option, it was definitely going to come at a high price.

Eve
exited her bedroom and almost collided with Olivia who came bounding down the hallway singing.

“Whoa, slow down,” Eve said, laughing, as she wrapped her arms around Olivia. “What are you so excited about?”

“I just talked to my daddy, and he said if I draw him a pretty picture he’s going to buy me a new bike!”

“A new bike? Wow, I guess that
is
exciting. Where’s your mom, honey?”

“Downstairs. She’s still talking to my daddy. I’m gonna go draw him a picture,” Olivia announced proudly.

“Okay. Well, go ahead and draw your picture. I’m sure it will be very pretty.”

“I know,” Olivia said already heading for the bedroom. “My new bike is going to be pretty too!”

Eve laughed as she watched Olivia disappear into the bedroom. She loved having a child in the house and was excited at the thought of Chase and her getting started on having a child of their own. Even though it hadn’t been long since she had stopped taking the pill, every time she and Chase made love, she secretly hoped that they were successful in their quest.

Eve rubbed her belly and made her way down the stairs. She laughed at her own silliness and the thought of actually desiring to be someone’s mother. She walked into the kitchen whistling the tune “Rock-a-bye Baby,” when she spotted Amber seated at the table, scribbling on a tablet and sipping a cup of tea. Eve made herself a cup of tea and joined Amber at the table.

“So, I hear you talked to Sean,” Eve said.

“If you call what we did talking,” Amber chuckled.

Eve glanced down at the tablet. “Two hundred fifty thousand dollars? What’s that?” she asked curiously.

“That’s the magic number to make Sa’Myra go away,” Amber sighed as she scribbled over the number until it was no longer legible.

“I told you that bitch was motivated by money, but shit, I guess I underestimated her. I guess it was all about the Benjamins!”

“No shit! And after talking to Sean, I don’t even know if I want to go back to his cheating ass. As far as I’m concerned right now, his
ass is not worth two dollars and fifty cents, let alone two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”

“True, but it’s not Sean you’re paying for. You’ve got your dignity, your reputation, and most of all, your daughter to think about.”

“That’s still a lot of money!” Amber shook her head in disbelief.

“It is,” Eve agreed.

“She rattled that number off as if she was just ordering another Frappuccino.”

“Did you counter?”

“Yes, but it didn’t do any good. She wouldn’t budge. And no matter how much I tried to reason with her, she held her ground. Said she wouldn’t even consider a lower figure. It was almost like her life depended on that exact dollar amount, and nothing I said even mattered.” Amber cupped her forehead in her hand.

“That’s what happens when everyone knows what you’re worth. Sa’Myra knows Sean has that nice contract so she’s going in for the kill. I mean, this chick ain’t bounced a ball, set a pick, put up a shot, or nothing, but she’s going all in like her ass signed the contract. These hoes should be agents the way they negotiate these deals.”

“What gets me is she acted like she was doing me a fuckin’ favor. It was all I could do to keep from slapping the shit out of her smug ass,” Amber recalled.

“Well, I’m glad to see you made it through the meeting without making a scene. I can’t have you and Callie both getting hemmed up by the police.”

“Oh, we made it through all right. And to add insult to injury, the bitch walked out and left me hanging with the bill!”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Eve laughed.

“Glad you find it funny,” Amber said fighting back a smile.

“Bitch, you know that shit is funny.”

“Whatever.”

“So what’s next?” Eve asked.

“I don’t know. How in the hell am I going to come up with that kind of money without going to Sean?”

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Eve asked raising an eyebrow.

“What?” Amber replied confused.

“The association. We didn’t spend all that time and effort for nothing.”

“But two hundred and fifty thousand dollars is a lot of money. The ladies are going to flip.”

“Hey, you heard our last financial report. The money is there. Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars is barely shopping money.”

“So you’re saying we should agree to her number?”

“She didn’t give you much of a choice! You said so yourself. She wouldn’t budge. The last thing you want is to give her time to think that she’s got you by the tits. Listen, if you don’t move on this quick, she could come back with an even bigger number. We want her to think she’s just dealing with you. If she finds out the association’s got your back, that bitch is going to the well!” Eve got up and poured herself another cup of tea. “So, how did you guys leave it?”

“She said call her when I was ready to talk details for an agreement.”