Alicia

“How much do you think we’ll get for it?” I looked at my big brother with a wide smile plastered on my face. We were in the middle of eating a couple of tasty treats at my favorite bakery.

Eric sat back in his chair and continued to stare at the picture on his phone. “I don’t know. A lot probably.”

“Don’t tell me you’re second guessing this” I sighed after examining his face which was full of regret.

“Maybe I’m taking this too far, sis.”

I scrunched my face up and scoffed. “Are you serious? Your girlfriend fucking cheats on you and you have the nerve to feel sorry?”

“I had it coming for me. I didn’t treat her right-“

“Seriously? Stop right there! I can’t believe you’re saying this…” Just as he was about to react, I snatched the smartphone out of his hand and started to stalk towards the exit. He immediately shot up out of his chair and ran after me.

The door to the bakery flew open before I had the chance to put my hand on the handle. “Excuse you!” I shouted, almost being knocked down by whoever’s rude ass that was coming in.

A tall Hispanic man with a dark pair of shades and a black suit towered over me. “Are you Eric Williams?” he asked, looking over my head at my brother. What the hell?

“Who wants to know?” Eric asked as he pulled me behind him in a defensive manner.

The man guided us to the nearest table and motioned for us to take a seat. “Doesn’t matter. Give me the picture you took earlier and you will not have to suffer the consequences.”

“And who the hell are you supposed to be?” I snapped.

Mr. Chulo (the name I decided to give him in my head), who happened to be extra handsome, frowned at me. “Ma’m, this has nothing to do with you and I would appreciate it if you stay out of it for your own good.”

“Hmph. This is my brother and whatever ‘concerns’ him…concerns me. We’re not giving you anything without a deal. So what’ll it be…sir?”

Eric slapped his hand over my mouth and shook his head. “Sorry about her. Did Jason Jameson send you? If so, tell him to go fuck himself” He grabbed my arm and snatched me up away from the table.  Eric’s hand fell away from my mouth as we made our way towards the exit for the second time. Mr. Chulo was on our tails within seconds.

Right as I thought we were going to get away, a few more men in black suits met us outside on the sidewalk. Eric’s facial expression transformed into a half smile. “Alicia, go home. I can deal with this.”

I nodded my head and gingerly slipped away. My legs broke out in a light jog as soon as I was out of range.

Keyshia

“Mmm…” I moaned, dwelling in the last part of my spa treatment where the little Asian lady rubbed lotion all over my body to rehydrate it.

I could totally get used to this spa thing. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this relaxed before. It was as if the previous night never happened. The therapist worked out every little kink I had.

Jason had already gone back to work to get some important business straightened out and promised that a car would come to pick me up.

The whole situation with Eric almost became forgotten about until every possible reason to why Jason’s people could not stop him from selling the picture to the press popped up in my head.

What if.

What if he got to one of the many magazine companies in Manhattan and managed to avoid all of the people looking for him? My life could change instantly. I only saw one good thing coming from this and that would be the fact that we don’t have to hide our relationship anymore. But then Jason would probably lose all of his ownership with his family’s company, his family would hate him, and my face would literally be everywhere.

Yeah, he’s constantly talking about moving to a remote place, but I couldn’t allow him to go through with such an absurd idea. See? This is exactly what love does to a person. It makes you do shit that makes absolutely no sense.

A couple of minutes after I closed the door to my dressing room, the sound of a few soft knocks bounced off the walls. I was in the midst of pulling my black t-shirt over my head.

“Who is it?” I asked, struggling to get my arms through the sleeves.

Jason’s raspy voice filled my ears. “Babe, it’s me. Open up.”

“What are you doing here?” I loudly whispered with wide eyes. “Did anyone see you?” He walked past me after I unlocked and opened the door.

I took a quick second to admire his laid back attire. The way he looked in that half undone suit did all kinds of things to me. Ever since I was a teenager, a man with his sleeves rolled up set me off. Every time. I couldn’t help but to smile along with the huge grin he had spread across his face.

“What are we smiling for?”

“It passed.”

I narrowed my eyes and gave him a confused expression. “What passed?”

“We’re going to Brazil.”

“WHAT?!”

After a full-blown year of trying to push this thing through, it finally passed! Jason looked to be on the verge of tears. He wanted to meet his mother so bad. And I’m sure he’d do whatever it takes to make that happen. Besides his Aunt Katherine, I’m 100% sure his mom is the only good thing about his family. Hell, maybe even her whole side of the family.

I let out an excited gasp followed by a loud squeal to show him that I was on the same level of happiness. I then jumped into his arms. Jason instantly wrapped my legs around his waist and pushed me up against the large mirror.

“I’m so happy for you” I started to whisper, wrapping my arms around his neck. “What made them change their minds?”

“I don’t know. I got to the office this morning and my dad called me up. He didn’t sound entirely happy about the board’s decision, but shit Keyshia…this thing is actually going to happen. It’s passed.”

My thumbs rubbed his cheeks as the rest of my fingers combed through the thickness of his hair. “Aw, you’re tearing up.”

“I don’t cry” he smiled.

“Mmhm. Sure.”

Jason smiled again and gave me a short sweet peck on the lips. “I love you so much” he began rubbing up and down the length of my legs while simultaneously placing kisses on the side of my neck.

I gripped on tighter to his neck, trying not to enjoy this too much. “Is this your way of initiating celebratory sex?”

“In some ways, yes” he shrugged and chuckled at my squinted eyes.

“We’re not having sex in here. I just recovered from last night.”

“But-“

“Nope.”

Right as Jason let me down, his phone started to buzz. He took a step away from me and held it up to his right ear.

“Hello?.....wait, speak slower. Hey, calm down.”

I grew concerned as I tuned in to his various facial expressions.

“Find it. I don’t give a damn about whatever lengths you have to go through. Find it” he brashly demanded before pressing the END button.

“What the hell was that all about?”

“Your friend supposedly lost his phone.”

“Eric?”

“Yeah. I suppose that’s his name. That picture could be anywhere right now.”

“Was he with anyone when they found him?”

“His sister was with him but I don’t see how that has anything to-“

“Alicia” My stomach instantly turned on me. “I bet she took it.” Jason looked down at me as I took a seat on the dressing room’s brown bench. “She could be selling it as we speak.”

He started to pace. “Call her.”

“She’s probably not gonna answer” I murmured, bowing my head.

Jason clenched his jaw and lowered his voice. “Call her, Keyshia. Now.” I nodded my head and pulled my phone out.

“If she answers, the first thing you do is name a price. That’s all she wants.”

After pressing the button that stated her name, I looked up at him. “How much?”

“100 million. It’ll draw her to us and we can go from there.”

With each ring that passed, I became more and more nervous. All of the “what ifs” started to reappear in my mind. My body’s temperature rose.

“Keyshia…” Alicia beamed into the phone. “Something was telling me to expect a call from you.”

Jason looked down at me reassuringly. “100 million” I gulped.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“You want a price? There you go. Meet us at my apartment.”

I hung up the phone and loudly breathed out. “What if-“

“No what ifs…c’mon” he said after tugging me up.

Alicia

“You’re not going to accept our offer?” asked one of the editors of People Magazine. By this time, she was impatiently teetering on the edge of her seat.

I sneered at her, knowing that I had suddenly became the head bitch in charge. “A better offer just came in.”

“But…but-“ she began stammering. “We need this picture. Do you have any idea how important this is to us?”

“Maybe…hm. Look, Crystal? Is that your name? Yeah…do you have over 100 million to offer me?”

The lady stared at me with her mouth slightly agape; almost as if she thought I had lost my damn mind. “Of course not” she laughed off.

“That’s what I thought.” Before I made my exit, I turned back around and flipped my hair over my shoulder. “If you realize that you do have the amount before…let’s say…thirty minutes, give me a call.”

I pranced out of that building like I was the queen of New York fucking City. In the next hour, I’d be 100 million bucks richer.

Ten years of living in this god-awful city and I finally have a breakthrough. FINALLY. And what better feeling to have the money coming from Jason Jameson’s fine ass?

Keyshia

The silence emitting from my apartment consumed Jason and I as I laid on top of him on the loveseat. His fingers danced across my back while my head remained tucked into the crook of his neck.

“What are we going to do?” I muttered. “I really hope you’re not planning on giving her all of that money.”

“Hell no. I’ll figure something out, sweetheart. Don’t worry about it.”

“Like what? She’s practically been waiting her whole life for something like this to happen.”

Jason softly kissed my left temple. “Like I said, don’t worry about it.”

For the next couple of minutes, I stayed still until there was a loud bang on the door. Jason carefully slid from underneath me and started to make his way towards the door. I sat up on the couch and nervously tapped my foot against the carpet. Alicia, in all of her rudeness, busted through the door as soon as Jason opened it. Then the bitch had the audacity to check my man out.

“Damn…shit, I forgot how fine you are.” She attempted to seductively lick her lips.

Jason heard the low predatory growl come from my lips and smirked. Alicia caught on to the sudden hostility and dropped the act.

“So where’s my money? Cash would be absolutely perfect-even though I highly doubt someone would carry that much around-checks and money orders are fine too” she lit up, clasping her hands together.

I rolled my eyes and crossed my right leg over the left. “You’ll be lucky if you leave here with a dime.”

“What was that? Oh I’m sorry. Are you talking to the one person that could fuck your whole entire life up? Show some damn respect” she spat.

“Bitch-“ I started to say.

Jason rushed to the space between us and threw his hands up like a referee. “Ladies!”

The both of us shot our heads towards him and instantaneously snapped our mouths shut.

“Please” he calmly continued, motioning towards the couch. “Alicia, take a seat.”

Alicia listened to him and plopped down on the nearest sofa. “Look, I don’t have all day to do this.”

“Where’s the picture?” Jason asked.

“Where’s my money?”

“Let’s see the picture first.”

She sighed as she drew Eric’s phone out of her coat pocket and pulled up the scandalous picture. Jason, with great speed, snatched it out of her hand and sat down right beside me.

“Alicia…” he began to say, staring deeply at the photo. “You’re doing the worst possible thing to me and that is putting the most important person in my life…in danger.”

I tried to hold back the silly little immature smile that crept upon my face as I laid my head on his broad shoulder. Staring at that picture forced me to have immediate flashbacks from the previous night.

Jason pressed the delete option and looked back up at my supposed best friend. “And for that, you will not be receiving any type of stipend. You will also be terminated from your position at Jameson Suites.”

Alicia’s eyes damn near fell out of their sockets. “What the fuck?! Oh hell no. I should sue-“

“No need for the outburst” Jason blinked. “You signed a contract to be an employee-at-will…and if you need a little reminder to what that is, it basically means I can fire you whenever I feel like it. And just so you know that I’m being fair, it also allows you to quit in the same manner.”

That’s when she started to panic. Her whole mood and confidence fell through the floor.

“But…but…you-you can’t do this!”

Jason crinkled his eyebrows together. “How come? Please enlighten me.”

“Because…shit. Uh, I can tell them! I can tell them that you two are fucking!” she basically screamed. And she had the nerve to call me basic…pft.

“Who’s going to believe such an unreliable source?” Jason challenged her. I could tell he was truly enjoying this.

Alicia dug into her pocket, obviously reaching for her phone. I quickly jumped up and unconsciously socked her in her right jaw. Just that move alone knocked her clean out. For maybe half a second, I regretted what I had just did…but like I said, it was only for that half of a second.

“Shit babe” Jason whistled, looking thoroughly impressed. I ignored him and pried the phone out of her tight grasp.

“I’ve been wanting to do that for years. She better be glad I didn’t clock her ass as soon as she tried to flirt with you.”

His looked at me like he was amused. “Were you jealous?”

“Of her? Ha, of course not” I smirked, climbing on top of his lap and straddling him. “Not after you repeatedly screamed my name out last night. I think I’ve got a hold on you.”

“Well you’re right about that” he whispered.

Alicia’s phone abruptly lit up and started to vibrate in my clutched hand. I checked the caller ID to see who it was. “It’s an anonymous number. What are the chances that it’s Eric calling to make sure everything ran smoothly?”

“I say it’s a very high chance. Answer it.”

I held the phone up to my ear and pressed the “answer” button. “Hello?”

“Alicia?”

“Nope. Try again.”

“Who the hell is this?”

“Hm, that’s sad. You don’t recognize the voice of someone you used to date. I’m not sure if I should be offended or not.”

“Keyshia” he sighed. “What are you doing with my sister’s phone? Where is she?”

“Never mind that. Look, you had a great plan. Really, it could have worked. But it didn’t.”

“And by this you mean…?”

“Don’t play stupid with me. You’re not getting a single thing from that lame stunt you pulled.”

“Key-“

“It’s ridiculous how much you and your sister are alike, ya know? That’s all I have to say to you. OH! And I’m sure by now you’ve figured out that that picture is totally gone.”

Before he could retaliate with a response, I quickly disconnected the call. “So what are we going to do with her?”

Jason looked at me and started to chuckle. “My people are on the way. They can handle the rest.”

The next couple of weeks remained free of drama. Jason and I continued to keep working together. Everything was working out perfectly. We acted professional around our colleagues and did the whole relationship thing behind closed doors.

Granted, there were times where we slipped up in the office and almost got caught, but to my knowledge no one knew what was going on between the two of us.

Alicia and Eric never contacted me after what happened. Knowing them, they probably had some sort of revenge plan brewing in the works. No matter what they could potentially throw at us, I’m sure Jason and I could handle it. Shit, if Jason really wanted to, he could get rid of them. But he wasn’t like that. The situation wasn’t even that serious. Unless Alicia put her dirty little hands on my man. That would change everything.

“Hey.”

I popped my head up from looking at the computer screen and gave Jason my undivided attention. “What’s up?”

“As you know…there’s a charity ball this up and coming Saturday. You’re my date.”

“I don’t remember telling-”

“You didn’t. I’m telling you that you’re my date.”

“But-“

“Wear something nice.” He winked before stepping out of my office.

What the hell was that all about? Since when did I ever go to these stupid events with him? And since when did I agree to publicize out relationship?

I ran out to catch him before he got back to his office. “I’m not ready to do that Jason. Not yet.”

“Calm down woman. I’ll just tell them you’re my assistant, which you are. A lot of people drag their assistants along. It won’t be a problem.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah…” he stopped himself from calling me an endearing name. A couple of people had stopped what they were doing and decided to be nosy. “We’ll talk later about this.”

I nodded and went back into my office.

WHAT AM I GOING TO WEAR?!

Jason

“Boss, you okay?” My driver, Tony, waved his hand in front of my face attempting to knock me out of the trance I seemed to be stuck in. Keyshia has just walked out of her apartment building looking like something straight out of a magazine.

“Yeah…yeah, I’m fine”

“She’s beautiful, isn’t she?”

“Yes. She’s perfect…I’m-I’m at a lost for words” I stammered over my sentence as I took in her drool worthy appearance. The woman truly looked like a goddess.

The way the long white gown clung to her smooth chocolate skin made me want to throw her over my shoulder and cancel the evening altogether. I had never seen her long brown hair braided to the side like that before.

“Jason…helloooo?” she snapped her fingers in front of my face. “Are you in there?”

“You look so sexy baby. Damn.”

She bowed her head in order to hide her apparent blush. “Thanks. So do you.”

“You’re lucky we’re running late. I would take you right here in the car.” I kissed her hand as she reached up and adjusted the bowtie to my tuxedo.

“Jason…” she drew out, acting like she was embarrassed. “Not in front of Tony….”

I shut her up with a thorough kiss on the lips. “He doesn’t care.”

“Mm, I have nosy neighbors.”

“Looks like they’re getting a show tonight” I continued to kiss her while pulling her closer to me.

Keyshia softly pushed me away and shook her head. “We have to go” she whispered.

During the whole ride over to the convention center, I couldn’t keep my eyes off of her. And it took everything in me not to take things too fast. The engagement ring was literally burning a hole in my pocket. She looked up at me and flashed a gorgeous smile.

“Ready to get this over with?”

“Can we leave early?”

“We haven’t even arrived and you’re already ready to leave?”

“Yep.”

“As much as I want to get you back to my place and make love to you all night long, I have to stick around for a while at this one. I donated a few million to Warm Blankets and the CEO wants to meet me.

“Aw, sorry. I’m being selfish. I’d love to meet him with you.”

I squeezed her hand and kissed her cheek. “Thanks baby.”

Keyshia

Halfway into the event, my feet started to deliver excruciating pain to my body. I knew I shouldn’t have chose to wear these six-inch heels.

A lot of celebrities and politicians showed up to come to this thing. I really didn’t see how anyone found it enjoyable. From my point-of-view, it looked like some sort of competition to see who had the most money.

I told Jason to go ahead and mingle with people while I sat at the bar. Within the first ten minutes of walking in, we had our picture taken at least twenty times, Jason was asked countless times about who I was to him, and I had been introduced to at least thirty new people. Multiply that by ten and you can only imagine how I felt.

Tired. I just wanted to get home and lay down on my comfy bed.

“Excuse me miss?”

I turned my head and faced a familiar looking actor. I couldn’t put my hand on who exactly he was… “Yes?” I smiled.

“I apologize if this is too straightforward…but you are honestly the most beautiful woman in this room.”

“Thank you. I really appreciate your compliment.”

He was a handsome man, not gonna lie…but the only man I had eyes for was Jason. Speaking of Jason…

“Ready to go?” he barged into our conversation and possessively wrapped his arm around my waist.

“Um-“

“Mr. Jameson? This stunning woman is your date?” The actor asked, never taking his eyes off of me.

“Yes Mr. Short. Sorry to cut this conversation short-no pun intended-but I think it’s time that we leave.”

I hopped off of the barstool and held my hand out to shake Columbus’. “It was nice meeting you. Really.”

Columbus took my hand and placed a gentle kiss on the back of it. “I hope to see you again beautiful.”

Jason cleared his throat and pulled me away before I could say anything back to him.

“Jesus can you chill out? I was actually very flattered by that” I joked.

He groaned and continued to weave me through the crowd. “Men have been hitting on you all night. I refuse to keep watching it happen”

“Okay…well did you talk to the CEO guy?” I held on tighter to his hand and tried not to stumble over my heels.

The closer we got to the exit, the more cameras that flashed into our faces. “Yeah.” He sped his pace up as the paparazzi started to ask all kinds of questions. I learned to ignore them and focused my attention on getting the hell out of there.

Words couldn’t even begin to describe how relieved I was to leave. Never again would I want to experience another event such as this one.

Reynold’s Household

Bernice Reynolds, grandmother of our main character, Keyshia Reynolds, flipped to the E! News channel to enjoy her nightly routine of catching up on her favorite celebrities.

She rolled her eyes at the many scandals being discussed. “Some people just can’t keep their legs closed” she laughed. Bernice had yet to believe that her “grandchild” had any relation to her. She’d remind her son everyday to stop giving it to every girl he met and for some reason, he never took her advice.

She sighed.

There was no way her family could produce a dark skinned child. No way. That cheating heifer Travis called a wife had to have been cheating on him. There was no other possible conclusion.

One of her favorite celebrities, Jason Jameson, popped up on her TV screen. “That is one fine young man…” she stated before adjusting her hefty figure’s position on the small worn out leather couch.

That’s when her heart suddenly stopped. She thought she was seeing things. It couldn’t be.

“Jasmine!”

“Yes nana?!’ her favorite grandchild, also her caretaker, yelled from the kitchen.

“Get in here!” she shouted back, eyes still glued to the TV.

Jasmine, who could easily be compared to Zoe Saldana, darted into the living room just as fast as she could. Poor girl probably thought something was wrong with her grandmother. “Yes nana?” she answered again.

“Please tell me that’s not who I think it is on my TV” Bernice quietly said as she held her old wrinkly hand to her chest.

“Nana, that’s Keyshia.”

Both her and her grandmother sat in silence for a couple of seconds. “Oh my God! That’s Keyshia!”

Bernice looked at her now soon-to-be-next-favorite granddaughter and let a wide smile take over her face. “Time for a family reunion.”