Chapter Five
"Prada you"
"Take a pretty girl and give her what she want, I'm just having fun" — Lil Baby
Kauner
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"You like it?"
I looked down at the silver, diamond encrusted Phillipe Patek watch latched onto my wrist. One of my many Valentine's Day gifts from Marcus. He woke me up to breakfast in bed, prepared by a Michelin star chef, then afterwards we took a hot bubble bath in his big ass jacuzzi tub that he had filled with rose petals.
Even though I'm technically single, my Valentine's Day was better than I could've imagined. Up until twenty minutes ago when Marcus told me that he had to go to the studio for a little while.
"Mhm." I nod, keeping it short with him.
"You still got an attitude? What I tell you about that?" He asks, propping his head up on his left hand while using his right to undo the button on my American Eagle distressed jeans.
We were currently laying on top of the perfectly made bed in the master bedroom of the 7 bedroom mansion he owns in Calabasas. He didn't want to leave until I told him I wasn't mad at him but I indeed have an attitude so he's not about to hear that from me.
It's not even about me being clingy, but you asked me to come all the way to LA so we could spend Valentine's Day together and when I get here you have to work. I could've stayed my ass in Atlanta if I'm being real. I hate feeling like my time is being toyed with.
"I'm not mad. I'm good." I move his hand away before he could reach inside of my jeans, I'm not in the mood for that.
"Damn so I can't even touch you now?" He chuckles, sitting up in the bed and looking down at me. "C'mon mama, give me a couple of hours then I'ma swing back and scoop you. Wear that lil' black dress that you picked out this morning, I got something special planned for you."
I looked at him out of the corner of my eye and for a second I was curious about the surprise, then I thought about him just saying that to get me to fix my attitude. I rolled my eyes at him and turned to look in the other direction.
"If you go out, you can take any car you want. Just ask the housekeeper for the keys. My Amex is on the nightstand, get whatever you want on me. I love you Kauner."
I almost stopped breathing when he let that shit come out of his mouth. Why would he say that?
"You heard me?" He asks, playfully dragging me to the edge of the California king sized bed. "I said I love you."
"Marcus will you go?!" I chuckle, breaking my hard exterior. "I'll see you later. Go."
Marcus kissed my forehead before we said goodbye, a few seconds later I was in the room alone with my thoughts. I can't stand his fine ass, if he was anyone else I would've had my ass on the first thing smoking back to Atlanta.
I let out a frustrating sigh as I fell back on the bed, staring at the tall vaulted ceiling. I need to occupy myself until he gets back and I'm not about to just sit around like some square ass bitch.
The notification sound on my phone went off, interrupting my thoughts. Crawling over to the other side of the bed, I snatched my phone off the charger and looked at the screen. It was a notification from IG.
@jru__Mx3 accepted your follow request. Now
@jru__Mx3 started following you. Now
Oh shit. I had forgotten that I even sent that. He popped up in my suggested users when I added his number to my contacts. Don't ask me why I requested to follow him, your guess is as good as mine.
I tapped on the notification and it took me straight to his page. He only had two-hundred and twenty followers, as well as twelve posts. His last post was four weeks ago, it was a snap of Central Park covered in heavy snow. He didn't have a caption on the photo, as I was scrolling I noticed he didn't put captions under any of his photos and they were dating all the way back to 2015.
His first post was a picture of him and a young white guy, who seemed to be around the same age as him. They were dressed in matching black caps and gowns, holding up degrees from the University of Oxford.
That's when my nosey ass got the idea to Google him. I just really wanted to see what his life was like. I couldn't stop thinking about that comment he made about spending a lot time alone, he never told me what he meant by that.
There was an article on Forbes that was published a few months back in October.
FORBES
Julien Moreau
COO, MJP & Sackler
Net worth: $6.1B
• Julien Moreau is the COO of MJP & Sackler, the second largest bank in the world in terms of assets.
• Julien joined MJP & Sackler in 2018 after graduating from the Wharton school with an MBA in finance at the top of his graduating class; He became COO soon after.
• He is reportedly being groomed to take over his family's $346.2B fortune when his father announces his retirement as CEO and Chairman.
Clicking off of the article, I kept scrolling to see if they reported anything about an ex-girlfriend or even a wife. All I found was another article saying how extremely private and quiet the Mérieux family is. They never talk to the media and they hardly ever attend public events so no one really knew any of the intimate details of their lives.
I liked the fact that if I wanted to know anything about him that I was going to have to ask him myself. Whenever another opportunity presents itself for us to be around each other again, he lives in New York and from the looks of things he doesn't exactly have a lot of free time.
I wonder did I put my foot in my mouth when I told him I wasn't looking for a relationship at the moment. It's not like I lied or anything, I'm trying to give myself the benefit of the doubt this time around. Something I didn't do with my last two relationships. After me and Amir's relationship ended, I used that time to heal and fall in love with myself all over again.
A part of me is grateful that relationship didn't work out, I was only twenty-three and I hadn't experienced enough to be anybody's wife at the time. I didn't know what I liked, what I didn't like, none of that. Everything is a learning experience in my opinion, hence me and Marcus's situation so.. we're dating. We enjoy each other's company. We're together when we're together and we're not when we're not.
I'm not opposed to dating anybody outside of Marcus either, just to get a feel of what I'm looking for on a deeper level.
Putting my phone back on the charger, I got up and went into Marcus's huge walk-in closet to get changed. His housekeeper had unpacked my things and hung them up on the opposite side of the closet, the unoccupied side for the female companion. Unlike Marcus's side which had stained dark wood, the side my things were on was a light color wood, almost white and there was a built in vanity with a large LED lit mirror.
I'm about to throw on some cute shit and hit the shops, 'cause ain't no way this motherfucker dragged me all the way out here just to go to the studio and make some beats. I said I was cool with it but in actuality I'm not, but whatever! I'm a Scorpio, it doesn't take much for me to get pissed off at all, but it's going to take a fucking miracle to get back in my good graces.
Asshir "Shi" Robinson
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"Ay dawg.. she gon' love this." Scar rubs his hands together, looking around the high-end steakhouse that was buzzing with waiters and waitresses. They were scrambling to set up for me and Milan's dinner in a couple of hours. "It's only gon' be y'all in this junt? How the hell you pull that off?"
Reaching down in my pocket, I pulled the keys out and held them up in front of me.
"I bought it."
"Bullshit." Scar said, smiling from ear to ear as he grabbed one of the menu's off the table. "Milan's?! Cuzzo you showin' yo' ass for yo' woman. I love that shit."
"I'm tryin' man. I was fuckin' around doing shit that could've costed me my family, I'm through wit' all that and I want this restaurant to be like.. symbolic, of a fresh start." I told him. "After tonight, Milan's is gon' be the hottest spot in the city and check this. I upgraded her engagement ring to 3.2 carats."
Milan's new engagement ring was a custom Jean Dousset diamond ring. Her mom knew her style so she helped me pick it out, just like I hired her for all of the interior design projects at Milan's. I wanted an upscale but authentic Italian vibe to this spot and that's just what it was. It's been in the works for damn near a year. Hopefully business takes off and I can build a few more in the next couple of years, and not on no fuckin' Olive Garden shit.
But I don't wanna get ahead of myself...
"This mu'fucka gleamin!" Scar said, taking the small blue velvet box from me and examining the ring with a closer eye. "Goddamn! I know you paid a pretty penny for this."
"Tssss. Nigga I did." I chuckle, taking the ring box back. I was smiling hard as hell, tryna' imagine Milan's excitement when I surprise her with both of her gifts later on. "Who woulda' thought, huh? I'm the one that's gettin' married first. Grandma always said it was gon' be you."
"Yeah well.. I can't seem to get right in that department man." He said with a slight chuckle, trying to mask that look that was on his face. "I fucked up bad wit' Kauner before I went in, then I wasn't there for her when.. you know. She was the one dawg."
"It sound like you got some cleaning up to do over there."
"Nah, I already know that shit dead. You only get one chance to make her look stupid. I'm good though, I'm spending my Valentine's Day knee deep in D'usse and dollar bills at Magic City. Good luck wit' Milan tonight, I'm proud of you cuzzo."
"Preciate you always.. I gotta' head home, get dressed and pick up my woman. I gotta' talk to you about some shit that went down on the east side this morning but I can hit ya' jack later."
"Say less."
One hour later...
Milan
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"Therapy?! He told you that he would go to therapy for you?" Kyran asks me, with his jaw damn near detached and hanging on the floor as he took a break from reading the latest issue of Vogue.
"Yeah, but you know that's always a nigga's last resort when he's trying to hold on to a good thing. He wouldn't have even had throw that out there if he would've been doing what he was supposed to be doing as a man anyway." I said, pulling down the ends of my black Dolce & Gabbana corset-style slip dress. "And I don't mean providing, hell I can provide for my damn self and my kids if I need to."
"So what are you hoping tonight is going to solve? Do you feel like this dinner determines if you stay or if you go?"
"Basically.. when he first asked me to come out with him, I said no. Next thing I know he's literally worshipping the ground I walk on, waking up early to get the kids ready so I can sleep in, picking them up from school, bringing me breakfast in bed. The whole nine bitch. Where was all of this energy before?"
Before Ky could respond, my phone started vibrating on the night stand.
"That better not be Kauner's block head ass because I called her three times today and she's not picking up." Ky scoffs. "I bet Prince Harry has her over there fixing him some tea and crumpets."
"I don't know if that's racist or not." I chuckle, shaking my head as I looked at the unknown number on my phone screen before declining it. "Did you see what she posted on her close friends this morning? He went all out."
"As he should, our girl deserves some princess treatment. Especially since this is her first entanglement after you know who, while he was looking all goofy at the party. Did you see him? Matter of a fact did you see how Charm kept staring at him? I would watch that little bitch if I was you."
"They all grew up together, plus his ex was like her best friend or some shit. I highly doubt her eyes are wandering like that. Besides, we're taking her out whenever we come back from fashion week with Kauner." I tell him, already knowing what to expect when he gave me the stink eye.
I swear him and Kauner act just alike.
"It's 2023, no new friends. Thank ya!" He waves me off, before going back to flipping through his magazine. "And how is this fashion week thing going down anyway? Are we just going to meet Kauner in New York?"
"Yeah, it really wouldn't make sense for her to come all the way here just so we could fly together, now would it?" I tilt my head, looking at him in the mirror as I secured the rubber earring backs on my diamond studs. "Plus she has an earlier flight, she's shooting one of those get ready with me video for Vogue's YouTube channel."
"Hmm. She didn't tell me. Shocking." He mutters, in an annoyed tone.
My phone started to ring again. It was the same number.
"Hello?" I answer, tapping on the green button.
"Hello? Is this Milan?" The girl on the other end of the phone asks. She sounded young as hell, like she couldn't be any older than 19 or 20. I could hear Glorilla playing in her background.
"This is she, who is this?"
"This is Gabby. I just thought you should know about me and your man Asshir." She said, popping her bubblegum. I could tell she was smirking just by her tone. "Sorry to break it to you but we been fucking around or whatever, he calls his self wanting to be a family man now so he left me all high and dry so that y'all could keep playing house?"
"Bitch how the fuck did you get this number?" I ask her. Ky jumped up out of his seat and rushed across the room to get to me.
"I took it out of his phone while he was sleep, he used to come over here to get this pussy at least three or four times out the week. Yeah and he told me everything about you too, like how you be bitching and complaining. He told me you barely even be sucking his dick anymore."
"That ain't none of your fucking business!" I had smoke coming out of my ears I was so tight. "Listen to me, don't you ever call this number again or I'ma come and see about you! On my kids bitch!"
She chuckled.
"Don't get like that wit' me Milan.. and before you let that nigga whisper sweet nothings in your ear about me tonight. I wrote my initials on the inside of his drawers every time he came over here. Happy fucking Valentine's Day."
She hung up.
Me and Kyran made eye contact.
"Who was that?" He asks, recognizing the look on my face.
I didn't answer him, instead I left the room and headed to Asshir's closet down the hall. I could feel Ky damn near walking on the back of my heels.
If the proof I've been looking for this entire time was right under my roof, right under my motherfucking nose... I know something. Thank God my mom took the kids to visit my grandma for the night because I'm liable to burn this whole motherfucking house to the ground.
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