Mercedes
My alarm clock went off, and I began to awaken, then sat up to stretch. I yawned and looked at the clock, which read late rather than time.
"Shit!" I say aloud. I jumped out of bed and started running to my closet to get the outfit I had planned for today. I dashed to the bathroom and began to remove my pajamas. I brushed my teeth and cleaned up my face after putting on my outfit. I grabbed my mini makeup bag and ran to my bed. I put on my stockings and then my heels. I dashed out of the house, picking up my briefcase and purse. I got in my car and drove away.
As I sped down the road, I noticed Miracle calling to me. I answered the phone using my car's Bluetooth.
"Girl! Where are you?" Miracle asks.
"I'm on my way. Shit! Last night just threw me all the way off!" I replied while I drove.
"He never came back home?" She asks.
"Of course, not." I sighed.
"Move out of the way, asshole!" I honked my horn and began driving around the car when another side had an open lane.
"Girl, I told you that man was no good for you." She tells me as I begin to slow down for the yellow light.
"Ugh, this morning is already starting off bad." I groaned as I stopped at the red light.
"He'll be back, he always pull something like this." I started to take out my mini makeup bag.
"He does it a little too much for me." She reacts as I proceed to use my brow pen.
"He's just a stubborn man, and when he gets furious like this, I give him time to calm down till he returns home." I sighed while I moved to the other eyebrow.
"That man screams narcissist, manipulator, and serpent all rolled into one." She scoffed, and I slid the brow pencil back into the bag before reaching for the mascara.
"He's just a strong man." I began to apply mascara to my right eye. When the light turned green, I put down my mascara and resumed driving.
"Tough? More like-" Miracle says before she stops.
"Speaking of the devil." She says and I started to sigh.
"How long has he been there?" I asked.
"Girl, he arrived early, and he appears to be in normal to me." I rolled my eyes as she responded.
"He doesn't look mad at all?" I asked.
"No, he's speaking with the fine group that managed to start here three weeks ago." She says while chewing on gum.
"And he's about to leave out of the building." She adds.
"I guess I'll talk to him when I get there. After Cross kills me for being late." I shook my head. I groaned as another red light appeared.
"What the hell is going on with all the red lights this morning?" I yelled as I slammed my hands on the steering wheel. I took out my mascara and finished both of my eyes.
"Calm down, I'll tell Cross that you had a doctor's appointment. You know I gotchu sis." She comforts me. I began by taking out my lipgloss and applying it to my lips.
"Don't, I'll take my responsibility. Don't lie to Cross." I tell her.
"You sure?" She asks.
"Yes, after all, I do need to get there. Simply sub for me until I arrive and gather any new information about the new case I've been assigned to." When the light turned green, I began driving.
"On it, Boss." She tells me.
"I'll be there in ten." I started to make a right turn.
"Alright." She responds then hangs up and I sighed.
"This isn't how I wanted to start my morning off." I thought out loud to myself.
August
This nonsense isn't a dream, I assume. For the wrong reasons, a Nigga is incarcerated. Every day, I wake up wishing that this wasn't real and that I was back in my mansion, in my bedroom, next to Kylie or some random stripper.
I let out a sigh and resumed blowing. I reclined in my bed and began to close my eyes. My thoughts immediately turned to Karen. I could feel her hands on my chest and remembered her having a sensual expression on her face. "The love I feel for you can never be compared to anyone else."
I opened my eyes while I shook my head and took another blow. I closed my eyes then mumbled, "Bullshit."
I started to take another blow while I heard footsteps. I continued to let the smoke come from my mouth and closed my eyes again.
As I continue to smoke, one of the random guards tells me, "Give me whatever you're smoking, and in twenty minutes you'll be meeting with your lawyer."
I opened my eyes and held the blunt in my hand. I blew smoke of my nose and I chuckled, "Fuck off and I'll be done in twenty."
"Don't have me come in there" the guard threatens me.
"You don't tell any other nigga in here this nonsense, man, go back to your damn desk." I was took another blow. I began to hear more footsteps before the guard could say anything. Nigga appeared dressed in a beige suit, approached me with a grin.
"Mr. Alsina." The man speaks to me. I ignored him and continued to smoke.
The man ended up chuckling and shaking his head then folded his arms, "Don't talk much?"
"Why you can't fuck off like the guard?" I snarled.
"Just know you don't have any chance of getting out or here." He tells me then I started to look him.
"Let me guess, you must be the nigga that's going against me with the state." I took another blow.
"I guess you're not as stupid as you appear." I made a face and then let out the smoke from my mouth as he chuckled.
"You're lucky I'm locked up behind these bars." I started getting out of bed. I stepped on the blunt that I had placed on the ground. I began to carefully approach this frail-looking ass nigga.
We locked gazes, and if I really had the chance, I would to kick his ass for even bothering to challenge me right now. "Are you threatening me, Mr. Alsina?" he asked, chuckling and squinting his eyes.
"I guess you are more dumb than you look." I chuckled.
"Your lawyer, whoever he or she is, will not stand a chance against me. I never lose, and you will undoubtedly be imprisoned for the rest of your life with no possibility of release." His ring sparkled on his finger as he grinned.
I smirked as I looked up "If I ever get out of here, I'm going to track down your wife and introduce myself to her as a true man. After I show her what a true man is like, I'm sure she'll leave your bitch ass." I chuckled, while his grin vanished.
"You can't get under my skin, bruh." I grinned then turned around walking back to the bed.
"I will make sure you eat those words." He says in a pissed tone.
As I sat down again, I laughed, ""I'll do it when I finish eating your wife out."
"She wouldn't even look your way." He says as he walks off.
I feel bad for whoever's married to his bitch ass.
Kylie
As I caressed my belly in the mirror, I began to sigh. I moved over to my phone as it rang. It was the number of the lawyer's assistant August had requested, I noticed. I slid and answered, "Hello?"
"Yes, I'm so sorry for the delay. Is this Kylie White that I'm speaking to?" She asks.
"Yes, this is she." I replied.
"And it's okay, I understand that you're busy." I reassured her.
"It's not okay, I'm here at the law firm and she will be arriving in five minutes to check in." She informs me.
"Okay, that's good to hear.." I replied while I started to clean up my room.
"Okay, once she gets in here, she will give you a call and go from there." She replied.
"Okay, I heard that she is the best lawyer going. I know she will get him out of there." I picked up my shirt from the laundry basket and folded it.
"My boss never loss a case in her life, he's in great hands. The both of you have nothing to worry about." She reassured me.
"That's great to hear. Thank you, and call me upon any updates and let me know when is hearing is." I picked up another shirt and fold it.
"Of course, have a great day." She tells me.
"You too." I tell her then I hang up.
I sighed and sat down on my bed. I started to go through my gallery in my phone. I tapped on the last picture I took with August before he was arrested a few days ago. My phone started to buzz and I started to read the message.
I rolled my eyes and took a screenshot. I started to text one of my friends.
Mercedes
I ran inside the building, making my way to Miracle. She was standing there folding her arms when I looked at my Apple Watch. "Girl, I assume that you wouldn't show up."
"I have never been this late before." I ran my hand through my hair.
"Well, I had to stand in for you in the meeting. And Cross has given you the recent case with Mr. Alsina." She scrolls through her iPad.
"It's crazy to say that you were highly requested anyways to be his lawyer. So Cross approved it which is but isn't surprising." She adds.
"I definitely have a lot to catch up on." I sat down at my desk.
"Yes, and can I say, this man is fine. I mean extremely fine." She smirks and I chuckled.
"Miracle, please be professional." I logged on the computer.
"Girl, looking at this man will make you become unprofessional." She responds and I just chuckled.
"Miracle." I said her name.
"Mercedes, it's not my fault that you have a have husband who acts like a square." She shrugs and I looked at her as I tilt my head.
"What? Did you just call my husband a square?" I questioned her as I squinted my eyes.
"Sis that means he's boring." She makes a face at me.
"But, Mr. Alsina is my type of tea party." She smirks.
"Oh my god." I shook my head as I typed.
I heard footsteps and the door opened. I looked and saw that it was Tony and Miracle started to fold her arms. "Tony."
"Miracle." He replies as he closes the door and leans on the wall. Miracle rolled her eyes and I sighed then started to type again.
"Mercedes." He says as he folds his arms.
"Tony." I say in a serious tone.
"I believe we have some things to discuss, alone." He hinted. I stopped then turned to him.
"Go ahead." Miracle says as she scrolls on her iPad again.
"I said alone." He snarls.
"Miracle is my cousin and my assistant. Whatever it is Tony, just say it." I folded my arms.
"You heard her." Miracle smirks.
"I really don't like you." He squints his eyes at Miracle.
"Trust me, I feel the exact way." She rolls her eyes.
"I'll contact them and remind them that you're going to see your client for the first time today." She continues to move towards the door. She made a stank face at Tony, who responded with an expression of his own. She opened the door and exited through it.
"Tell Cross that you won't do the case." He angrily demanded.
"Pardon?" I tell him.
"You heard me." He swiftly walked towards me.
"And why would I do that?" I stood up as we became face to face with one another.
"For I am working on that case and I am your husband. You will obey my orders." I tilt my head as he replied.
"Last I check, you just told me last night that you wanted a break from me." I folded my arms.
"Secondly, you're my husband, not my master." I tacked on. He didn't say anything and then burst out laughing.
"That's why you came late? Because of last night?" He laughed.
"It has to be because you look got damn awful." I sighed as he folded his arms again. Instead, I giggled and sneered at him, shaking my head.
As he smirks at me, I tell him, "I am not going to back out of this case. Cross assigned me to this client, and the client and his girlfriend had great expectations of me. In this scenario, I will accept the challenge to defeat you."
"You will regret this, Mercedes." He warns me.
"I never regret any case that I had. I won every single one of them." I tell him.
"So have I, when I say I told you so, you'll be telling me that I was right." He chuckles.
"Get out there and chat to me when you have a glimmer of hope." I turned around after starting to shake my head. I felt his hand on my waist and he pulled me back before I could move away. He grasped my wrist with his other hand.
"You still have time to think about this." He whispers in my ear.
"You give a rat's ass far too much about me to go against me in this circumstance." He continues to add as he gently slides his hand up.
"It's business, like you said previously." I tell him as I come to a halt and take his hand in mine.
He did begin to snicker and remained silent for nearly a minute. He took my hands in his and rotates me facing to him, holding both of my hands to his chest. We exchanged glances for a minute before I carefully averted my gaze. "Of course, I love you," I say to him. "But, I've made my decision and I'm sticking to it."
I took a deep breath and his smirk dropped, "Is that so?"
"Yes." I replied. He let go of me and shook his head at me.
"You will definitely regret this. Don't text my phone or anything until this case is over." He said in an angry tone.
"Seriously? Just because of this? Or this will be an add-on from last night's argument?" I said in an angry tone.
"I told you not to bring up that topic." He says.
"We have been married for almost eight years!" I shouted.
"And is it my got damn fault that you can't have any children?!" He shouts back at me.
"I told you we could have adopted or hired a surrogate and what do you tell me?!" I yell back at him.
"I told you I didn't want to do it that way because I no longer want to have children with your useless ass." He responds with a shout.
"Mercedes, you're useless! You can give me anything except a child!" He adds then I walked out of my office and brushed past him.
"If you can get pregnant, I'll reconsider!" He yelled as I gulped and didn't say anything. I looked at my phone to try to distract myself.
I'm sure everyone heard us arguing, and I couldn't care less. Miracle was making her way back to me when I noticed her. I was doing everything I could to keep the tears from falling down my cheeks."What's wrong? Do I have to beat his ass?"
"Let's get going." I respond.
"Okay, and Cross was looking to talk to you earlier, but he had to leave early. He wants to talk to you tomorrow first thing in the morning." She informs me.
"Okay." I spoke as my voice cracked.
"Tell me what happen while we drive to this place to meet your client." She rubs my back.
"Let's get going." I tell her as we started to walk.
***
Trey
"The mother fucker really been in jail for a while?" I laughed as I took blow.
"I tried to warn his stupid ass about her." Chris scoffed as he starts to lean back in the chair.
"He had the easy way out. He's stupid and ignorant. I try to persuade Josh to join me instead of working under that Nigga." I shook my head.
"Josh will never betray August." He shakes his head.
"August is falling apart and his life is over as we speak." I shrugged.
"You really think I don't know that?" He drinks from his cup.
"He really doesn't know what's going to hit him." I picked up my phone and started texting.
"He's been cheating on his bitch and got caught up with old ass broad. He gets everything he deserves." He takes another sip.
"Old broad?" I asked.
"Man, Karen Santiago." He says.
"Not the woman who owns that strip club down here?" I opened Instagram on my phone.
"Her." He informs.
"Wow, nigga really a low life." I scoffed.
"I'm glad you came to your senses about him. He will get everything he deserves." I took another blow.
"We also need to make sure he doesn't get released from prison. We need to devise a strategy for keeping track of everything that is going on in this case." I took a sip from my glass after picking it up.
Mercedes
"And we are here." Miracle takes the key out of the engine while I sighed.
"He's really mad at me because I decided to do this case." I unbuckled my seatbelt.
"He's a bitch." She unbuckles her seat belt. We both got out of the car and she locked it and started to walk after.
"I don't know why you still put up with him." She takes her phone out of her purse.
"He's just upset because of last night. Maybe I...Maybe I shouldn't had brought up last night with us trying to have children another way." I sighed.
"Girl, it is not your fault." She looks at me.
"It is, things were going fine between us and it's just like...ugh! I don't know anymore!" I groaned.
***
"Okay, stay out here and I'll be back within an hour." I tell her as she nods her head.
"Gotchu. I'll just call up his girlfriend and let him know that you have arrived and give her the update on everything since the email just came in." She replies as I nod my head.
I walked inside and I was lead towards to a room had a table with two chairs. The guard scoffed, "Good luck."
"Thank you." After clearing my throat, I saw two more guards carry in the man I was supposed to defend in court. We made eye contact as he sat down. I lowered my eyes to my file and began to open it.
"Mr.Alsina," I took a deep breath and slid my glasses on when the guard told us that we had one hour.
"Mercedes Turner." He chuckled.
"Mhm." I kept reading the file.
"I can see here that this is not you first time arrested at all. You had countless bails, Mr. Alsina." I went to reading another file.
As I asked him, I raised my brow, "And you're in here for robbing the national bank and setting fire to it while people and employees were inside?"
"Supposedly, but I'm being framed. On my life, I swear." He responds.
"Well, your record isn't great at all." I closed the file.
"So, to make things really straightforward and easy, I'll need you to start talking." I shifted in my seat.
He didn't say anything, instead chuckling. He starts sneering and licking his lips. Miracle was correct in the assessment of this man's attractiveness. With a shake of my head, I pulled out my notepad and pen.
On the notepad, I propped up my pen, "I'll wait until you speak; we don't have time."
"You right." He replied.
"Start from the beginning." I tell him as he nods his head.
"Aight." He replied.
"Let's see." He started to rub his chin.
August
(Three Months Ago)
The crowd at the strip club continued to throw money at the stripper on the pole. Trey, Chris, and I began throwing money towards the dancers we were surrounded by. "This is the shit!" Trey exclaims.
"My nigga, you ain't see anything yet." Chris comments as he throw a few bills.
"Aug, you got you one of the baddest bitches around and you are still here throwing bills?" Trey places a stripper on his lap.
"I do what I want." I scoffed while I threw some more money.
"Plus it ain't like I'm fuckin' 'em anyways." I shrugged.
"I'm surprised you're not." Trey chuckled.
"I believe he is." Chris starts to pick up his glass.
"Mmcht, A nigga really not." I smacked my teeth.
"That's hard to believe." Chris starts drinking.
"Anyways, we should definitely start searching for an abandoned building with a dock behind it or nearby." Trey rubs his hand on the stripper's thigh.
"True because we need to start making tons of shipments and it will reduce the risks of being caught." Chris agrees.
"Well-" I say right before I'm interrupted by my phone.
I checked my phone and saw that I had a message.
"I'll be back y'all." I started to stand up then I dusted myself off.
Present Day
"So, on March 18, 2018, at 9:19 p.m., you were at a strip club with two other gentlemen when you received a message from someone as the three of you discussed finding a dock with an abandoned building in front of it or nearby?" She seeks clarification from me.
"Yea." I replied as I smirked at her.
"And their names?" She asks.
"Trey Songs and Chris Brown." I replied.
"Okay, thank you." She starts writing in her notepad.
"May I ask, where was your girlfriend that night?" She asks.
"She was at home." I shrugged and I started to lean back in my chair.
"Okay, and her name?" She continues to write.
"Kylie White." I replied.
"I mean she is the one who called and hired you for me." I chuckled.
She rolled her eyes and continued to write. A nigga can't lie, shawty gotta beautiful face and cute little body. Then I saw the wedding ring on her finger and I started to chuckle.
"You know what's crazy? There was bitch ass lookin' nigga in here earlier with a wedding ring on too." I mentioned as she looks up.
"Really?" She tilts her head.
"Hell yeah, beige lookin ass suit, tall, had a ring similar to that one, got a beard, wearing a very old ass expensive watch, nigga look like he my color and had a-" I tell her before she cuts me off.
"A dark brown briefcase." We both say at the same time.
We both didn't say anything and I lifted my eyebrow up at her. She took a deep breath. And that's when I chuckled, "Oh shit, you're married to that asshole?"
"What did he tell you?" She asks.
"So that bitch ass nigga yo husband?" I asked.
"Mr. Alsina, answer the question." She says with a little attitude.
"I asked one first." I smirked.
She started to sigh and roll her eyes. I laughed and she squints her eyes at me, "I don't know what's funny, Mr. Alsina."
"But, yes. He's my husband." She sighs.
"See sweetheart? It wasn't that hard to answer." I reply.
"Well in your defense, it is." I chuckled
"What did he tell you." She asks in me in more of an angry tone.
"Beloved, calm your tits. I'm bout to tell you." I sat back in my chair with my back straight.
"I'm not your beloved or sweetheart. Please keep this professional." She attempts to re-arrange her blazer.
"You right, you right." I smirked.
"So there I was, minding my own damn business, and here his bitch ass come then say, 'Mr. Alsina.' Then tell me that I'll never get out, and whoever my lawyer is, will lose, and all that bullshit." I tell her as she begins to clench her fist around her pen.
She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. She opens them, and I can tell Shawty is having a hell of a time with this nigga. "I apologize for his actions, but he wasn't even supposed to meet you here..."
"Did he come alone?" She asks.
"Yea." I replied.
"Thank you for telling me." She starts to look at her watch.
"You may now continue." She starts writing again.
"Maybe we can take a break or something now that you've discovered you're married to that sad excuse for a nigga" I shrugged.
"You may now continue." She repeats herself.
I cautiously got out of my chair and walked over to her. She looks at me with squinted eyes. "Mr. Alsina, what are you doing-" By softly taking a strand of hair from her face, I cut her off from her sentence. I softly tucked her ear and she closed her eyes.
she asks as she grabs my wrist and opens her eyes, "Are you out of your damn mind?"
"You were slowly drifting from yours." I chuckled.
"No. I-I wasn't." She stutters.
"Alright, let's get this over with. We don't have time, so please return to your seat before anyone else sees this." She makes an enraged expression at me.
"The last thing I need is a misinterpretation that leads to my dismissal. Plus, I'm married, you have a girlfriend and I don't even know who you are." She continues as she turns to adjust herself.
I started to rise up quickly, chuckling as I did so. I soon returned to my chair and sat back down. I smiled broadly at her as she resumed writing, "I definitely understand, I can tell that nigga ain't even doing his job as a husband."
"It's our little secret," I said quietly as I smirked at her, causing her to look up at me.
Before I cut her off, she says, "There's no-"
"Now, where did we leave off?" I cut her off and resumed from where I had left off.
T̶h̶i̶s̶ w̶a̶s̶ j̶u̶s̶t̶ a̶ l̶i̶t̶t̶l̶e̶ t̶e̶a̶s̶e̶r̶ i̶n̶ c̶h̶a̶p̶t̶e̶r̶ o̶n̶e̶.