Cassiopeia Odette.
Manhattan house
August 7, 2021
4:30pm
"How was the shoot?" Melo asks as I plop down on the couch next to him with a loud groan
"Exhausting" I mumble
"What happened"
"Just a lot of makeup and outfits and hair and stuff" I sigh and reach over Melo to pull the blanket off the arm of the couch and onto me
"Scuse you fool" Melo flicks me
"Shh"
"What if I was cold?"
"Shoulda got off that phone and put the blanket on. Just talkin to ta- AGH" I flinch away from his ice cold hand at the back of my neck
"Talkin to talk huh?"
"Man shut up" I scooch closer to him and pull the blanket over the both of us
"Tell me more"
"Ain't much to tell, just got ushered around and photographed the whole day. I'm exhausted tho"
"Mm" he mumbles
"How was your day?"
"Chill"
"Tell me more" I mock
"Nah, you'll see"
"What you mean"
"Take yo ass to sleep. Askin all dem questions,"
I suck my teeth and get up, yanking the blanket off of him to stretch around my shoulders
"Ain't neva meet a guy with so much unprovoked sass"
He sucks his teeth and looks down at his phone "You lucky you pretty, cause I swear-" he begins mumbling and making stank faces
"Lamelo, shut up" I roll my eyes and begin the walk to my room. Finally, I could take a nap after hours of camera flashes and tasking poses
~~
"Ow!" I jolt awake from a pillow being thrown at my head. Melo stands at the other end of the room staring at me with a small smile
"Wake up and get ready" he says
"Get out fo I get mad" I hurl the pillow at him and lay back down
"Ain't nobody scared of yo lil ah, get up" he throws the pillow back at my head
"Fo what" I pull the covers over my face, partially because I'm ready to go back to sleep and also because I don't feel so cute after waking up from a nap and I have a feeling I've got drool crust
"We got stuff to do"
"Like?"
"Like get ready"
"For?"
"Woman, get yo funk ass up n let's get going. I run a tight ship round h-"
"Get out my room fo I lose my mind bruh"
"Get ready" he makes his exit, slamming the door behind himself
~~
"What's your love language, Lamelo" I look down at his fingers intertwined with mine
"Touch. Don't call me dat" he doesn't glance back while guiding me through the streets of Manhattan
"Why not? I don't like Melo"
"Ow," I run into Melo's back when he stops abruptly. He quickly pushes me off him and turns around
"You rude, you know dat? I'm tryn do sumn nice fo yo sake so Ion have to hear you bitchin bout it later but you makin it real hard"
I scrunch my brows as my cheeks flush "What are you even talking about?"
"Why would you say you don't like my name? Dats rude."
"You right, my bad"
"Coo" he turns back around, grabs my hand, and walks two more blocks before stopping in front of a glass storefront
"Surprise" he mumbles
I look up at the store name: Cartier
"What are we doing?" I look up to Melo who's already staring at me
"Picking out yo ring n everything" he shrugs
"A ring for wh- Oh..." I push a small smile onto my face "Right"
"Cmon, we late cause yo ass wanted to get ready in slow motion" Melo quickly pushes me inside
"You made an appointment??"
"Yo momma did"
I hmph in response while shrugging my shoulders
"Hello, welcome. I'm so glad you both could make it" a worker shakes hands with us "I'm Rachel, I'll be helping you find the perfect ring today"
"Dee, nice to meet you" I shake her hand with a smile and wait for Melo to greet her.
After a pause Rachel begins, "So, do you have any ideas or specific details you would want for your ring?"
I side eye Melo who's already looking at me
"No, not rea-"
"Why'd you jus side eye me" Melo interrupts
"Umm," I scrunch my face "I don't have any specifics, but I would prefer a smaller ring"
"And scrunch yo face?" Melo stares at me waiting for an answer
"Could you excuse us for a moment?" I smile at Rachel
"Oh, of course. Let me go get some of my favorite rings that I think you might enjoy" she smiles and turns to the back room
"I ain't did shi, but I feel like I'm in trouble" Melo sighs
"That's not how you speak to someone that's working for you, it's rude"
"I- I didn't say... anything...?"
"Exactly. You don't greet people? 'Hello, how are you? I'm Lamelo'? Like we just don't have manners?"
"They- She know who I am"
"That's not the point."
"What's the point then?"
"It's common courtesy. She's doing something for you, you treat her with respect"
"She's getting paid to do-"
"You paid to play basketball, but yo coach still greet you right? The execs of your team still greeted you because they respect you. Correct?"
Melo sighs, "Alright bruh, you got it"
"Problem?"
"You talkin to me like you my momma n you not"
"So stop actin like a overgrown child"
"Stop lookin like a under grown child"
"Let's just shut up n get this over with" I huff and turn away from him. Melo sighs
"I'm not gonna keep doing this with you, Dee"
"So don't"
He shakes his head and smiles dryly, "You got it bruh"
"Got wh-"
He cuts me off by shoving his card at my chest, "Take the card, get the ring, I'm going home"
I'm left standing in the middle of Cartier's ring department as Melo fast walks down the streets of Manhattan.
Maybe I had pushed him too far away. This whole time, all I had thought about was myself; how I was discontent with the arrangement, how it messed up my plans, how I was being forced to give up part of my freedom for someone I had never had a genuine conversation with. But, I never stopped to wonder how he might have felt. He was set in his life. While I was just graduating college, he sas already in his adult career, living in his own house that he had paid for with his girlfriends (granite he didn't like her much), his whole life had been uprooted by his parents. While my world had just been adjusted and negotiated, his had been completely uprooted and rebuilt, and yet he was still a gentleman to me for the most part.
Slowly, the guilt set in. Quickly, I picked a ring that was medium sized and paid with my own card, since I felt like using his money for it would be insult on top of injury.
And then I fast walked back to my moms house
"CASSIOPEIA ODETTE RUTHERFORD" I had only cracked the front door open when I got my ass chewed out by my mother
"Mom, I will talk to you after, just lemme find Melo first" I try to push past her up the stairs
"Oh no, you've done enough. The poor boy already found me thirty minutes ago when he came to say his goodbyes"
"What do you mean?"
"You're fiancé is already on a jet back to LA because you couldn't have the decency to get to know him and respect him"
"Mom-"
"No, you need to go get on a plane and apologize to him"
I sigh and roll my eyes "I think he deserves to have his own life, I think we both deserve that. He's not happy with me and I know it's my fault, but I'm not chasing after him when I know I can't make him happy. It's not fair to either of us"
"You don't get to take the easy way out, Dee. Go apologize"
"I'll apologize, but I can't marry him"
"So why'd you buy the ring?" she crosses her arms
"Wh- Because- I don't know. I was confused, I was there, the ring was there"
"You need to figure out how to fix things and build a relationship with him"
"Mom, this is not what either of us want I-"
"Figure it out"