HBIC: Head Barbie in Charge

14 - Come Clean

BUNNY THOROUGHLY ENJOYED not having to ride around with Xavier's mother, having her breathe down his back as she critiqued his every turn. It was so incredibly uncool and Bunny was above it. That's what she liked about Greg. He was eighteen years old and could drive wherever he wanted without a chaperone. That was the kind of man Bunny deserved. Instead, she was stuck with a little boy. How on earth did Tammy catch him? They were cruising around the city in his brand new red sports car his parents had given him as a pre-graduation gift, and yet Xavier had been chauffeuring her around in his mother's wagon—mother included. It was so unfair. She wanted to hate Tammy as she sat comfortably in the passenger's seat, but more than anything, she wanted to hate Candy. Candy was the one who had told her not to even think about going after someone like Greg, that he was out of her league. She should have never listened to her, just like she should have never listened to any of those girls. But the past was the past and she had to let go of her aggression with Barbies of before. She didn't want anything to get in the way of becoming Head Barbie, but the temptation of Greg was just too hard to ignore.

Greg pulled into the diner he had been raving about. Bunny was sick and tired of diners, but at least she wouldn't be taking orders at this one. She watched as Greg darted around the front of the car to escort Tammy safely out of it. Xavier did the same for her, but she didn't respond so graciously. She clutched her pink cardigan close to her as they headed in to get out of the cool air. They were quickly seated and given menus. Bunny peeked over her menu as Greg nibbled on Tammy's ear. She despised the way Tammy was giggling and squealing right about now. She had no right to be laughing and giggling and smiling with her man.

Bunny jumped in her seat when she felt Xavier's hand rest on her knee. "You're so tense. Is everything okay?"

Bunny tucked a curl behind her ear and held her menu up high enough to block the awful display of affection in front of her. "I'm fine, Xavier," she whispered. "If I wasn't okay, I wouldn't have come."

She tried to give off the impression she was interested in the menu in hopes that Xavier would drop it. "I know what this is," he whispered back.

She threw her head down and laughed. "No, you don't, Xavier. You really don't." Naively, he had no idea she had settled for him all because he was a poor man's Greg.

"Yes, I do," he said matter-of-factly. "It's about the whole car thing. My mother having to ride around with us. I know how uncomfortable it must be for you. It is for me too, but I promise you it will be over before you know it."

"Xavier, we've had this discussion over and over again. I told you I'm fine with it. It's not like I have a choice anyway."

He was relieved to know Bunny had no intentions of leaving him anytime soon. It only made her more miserable. Xavier and Greg kept cutting their eyes to the Panthers and Broncos game that was playing on all four plasmas in the diner. "That's gonna be you one day, bro."

Greg smiled sheepishly and Tammy giggled as she gripped his chin in her dainty hand. "That's right, baby. One day, we're gonna be watching you up on that screen."

"You'll be watching me from the sidelines, baby," he said to her, "and X, you'll be the one catching my passes, that is if we're not duking it out on the field."

Xavier jokingly sighed. "I would hate for us to be rivals."

Bunny was livid. They were sitting there talking about this fairytale future that the three of them were going to endure with no Bunny in sight. Why didn't Xavier mention anything about Bunny watching him from the sidelines? Did she not look good enough to show off to the world? Was she not athlete's wife material? Or was he beginning to sense she was growing bored with him, and for that reason, didn't see her in his future? Bunny was going to have to learn how to peel back. No matter how badly she desired Greg, she had to keep becoming Head Barbie her priority and let Tammy enjoy him for the moment. Having power was better than having a man with power. Beyoncé may have chosen a rich man, but not accumulating her own wealth and success had never been an option for her. Oprah wouldn't even allow Stedman to put a ring on it because she didn't want a man to have any legal claim to her billions. She with those women could one day be the trifecta. Woman power first and foremost.