The next morning around 8:15 AM, Lashelle was riding in a black traveler van, on her way to the beach house. She ran her fingers through her now dark brown hair and fixed her Ray-Ban shades on her face. She felt a little bit of nervousness stirring in her stomach. She hadn't been around everyone since the lunch at Stassi's house and she hadn't spoken to Trey since their fight. She'd seen him, but only on Snapchat and Instagram.
He was always showing himself either partying in the club with his friends, working out or in the studio. He'd grown his hair out and his facial hair, he looked more on the scruffy, hardcore side instead of the short haired, clean cut man she was used to for so long and he even seemed to adopt more of an "I don't give a fuck" attitude. He still held that sweet, gentle side, but he also allowed his Virginia roots to take over more and let it be known that he was not to be messed with.
She didn't even really know who he was anymore. He was a different Trey. He was an extra muscular, brash, scruffy, intense and rougher version of him......and it turned her on to no end. She wanted him bad as ever, but she was scared. Scared of rejection. Scared to face him. Scared he'd say those two magic words--it's over.
But she knew she had to face him sooner or later. Her therapist told her that making up with her mama and her sisters were important, but her making up with Trey couldn't compare. Family would always be there, a good man would not if she continued to act up.
Her thoughts were interrupted by her phone ringing. It was Stassi calling.
"Hola, mama." Lashelle said.
"Hola, angel. How are you feeling?" Stassi asked her.
"Nervous, mama. I'm not even going to lie. I mean, what if it's really over between me and Trey? We haven't talked or seen each other in months."
"It's not over until he says the words. You love him, right?"
"Of course I do." She expressed.
"You want your marriage?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Are you willing to make the changes needed to make it work?"
"Absolutely."
"Then there you go." Stassi said, "You fight for your marriage, sweetie."
"I'll try, mama."
Lashelle looked out of the window and realized that she arrived to the beach house.
"Alright, well, I'm here at the house. I'll talk to you later." She informed Stassi.
"Ok, sweetheart. I'll talk to you later. Mama loves you."
"I love you too, mama. Take care of yourself."
She hung up and placed her phone into her purse. She got out of the van and Dwayne the driver helped her with her bags. She inhaled deeply and exhaled sharply.
"Here we go." She told herself.
Dwayne took her bags inside of the house and she followed behind. As she walked into the house, the smell of pancakes, sausage, bacon, grits and eggs filled her nose. It smelled mouthwatering. She gave Dwayne a tip and he thanked her and smiled before leaving. She placed her bags aside and saw everyone outside on the deck, eating their breakfast. She removed her shades and walked outside towards them.
"Good morning, y'all." She greeted them with a wave.
"You made it!" Anastasia exclaimed excitedly and hugged her.
Lashelle laughed and hugged her back, "Yes, I did. I said I would."
"We're so glad to have you here, sis. Now the group is complete." Stephanie smiled.
"Thank you. By the way, cute hair, little one."
Stephanie blew a kiss her way and took a bite of her pancakes.
"Welcome, Lashelle. Glad you could make it." Patrick got up and kissed her cheek.
"Thank you very much. This place is phenomenal."
"Make yourself at home. Get yourself something to eat and then you can get settled in." He told her.
"But first, can we talk about how big sis done darkened her hair and thickened that body? Girl, what the hell have you been doing?" Anastasia said, playfully slapping her ass.
Lashelle laughed again and shook her head, "Well, I still work out and everything like that, but I had been hitting up Popeyes and In-N-Out more often than I should be."
"Well, you look amazing. You always have, but girl, thick fits you good."
"Thank you." She smiled.
"You got here just in time. The food was fixed only five minutes before you came in. Get yourself something and come on out here with us." Stephanie told her.
"Alright, I'll be back."
"I'll take your bags up to your room for you while you eat." Patrick informed her.
"Oh, thank you. That's very sweet of you."
Patrick nodded his head and smiled as he walked inside of the house. Lashelle followed behind, walking into the kitchen. The chef smiled at her and waved.
"Good morning, Miss Lashelle. Would you like me to fix your plate?" He asked her.
"No, no. I've got it. Thank you." She nodded.
She grabbed a plate and began fixing herself some food. She also got a smaller plate and placed fresh fruit and yogurt dip onto it. She grabbed a fork and her two plates before walking out onto the outside deck. She decided to sit next to Anastasia and Jermaine on the couch and she placed her plate of fruit on the table next to her.
"So how was your trip over here?" Drew asked her.
"It was nice. I left around 9:00 last night so I could get here early in the morning. Truth be told, I wouldn't even be here if Chris didn't damn near threaten me to take some time off." Lashelle chuckled and took a bite of her syrup drowned pancakes.
"Now how is it he got you to come, but we couldn't?" Stephanie said.
"Actually, you threatened me too, so I don't know what you're talking about."
Everybody laughed and Stephanie winked at her.
"I am quite persuasive." She bragged.
"Yeah, whatever. But Chris was going to originally push my album back to allow me to take a break, but I wasn't going to let that happen and he knew that. So after my album came out and I started touring, he told me that once my tour was over, he demanded that I take at least a month off. No working at all. That's going to be hard especially when I love what I do." Lashelle explained.
"You deserve a break though, girl. You've released two albums so far and both have went to number one, you've won five Grammys in one night and continue to win other awards, always traveling for photoshoots and shows. I know you've got to be at least a little tired. Even superstars need a break." Anastasia told her.
Patrick came back and sat down next to Priscilla, "I must agree with that. Whether you're a celebrity, working for yourself or even if you work for someone else, everyone deserves a break at some point. If you don't, you'll lose your mind."
"My mind's felt lost since a young age. I doubt I've ever really known what it's like to not have one." She shrugged and took a bite of bacon.
Anastasia rubbed her back and laid her head against Lashelle's shoulder. Jermaine gently tapped Lashelle's arm and she looked at him.
"We've all been through tough shit, sis. I've felt like you before. Where I felt like I was losing my mind and I was lost and didn't know what to do with certain things. But you can't let that stop you from living. Don't give it that kind of power. You'll never be happy. You're in control of your life and you can take it back from the negative. Look at you. You're still here now, right?" Jermaine explained.
Lashelle nodded her head.
"There it is. And if it's any consolation, I think you are a warrior just like your mama and your sisters. Keep your head up, alright?"
Lashelle felt tears fill her eyes and she cleared her throat, "Thank you, Jermaine. That means a lot."
"No problem, sis."
She wiped her tears and groaned playfully, "Man, got me up here shedding tears and shit. Do you know how hard it is to make me cry in front of somebody?"
Everyone shared another laugh as they continued to eat their breakfast. After they all finished eating and took their plates inside to the kitchen, Priscilla tapped Lashelle's shoulder.
"We need to talk." She informed her.
Lashelle nodded her head and followed Priscilla upstairs to her and Patrick's room. Priscilla closed the door and climbed up onto the bed, sitting down with her legs criss crossed as Lashelle took off her shoes and folded her legs under herself.
"Look, you and I have been beefing, bitching and passing verbal licks at each other for years now. I'm tired of it. It's not helping anything." Priscilla told her.
"And you think I'm not tired of it? I couldn't walk into a room without you taking pot shots at me. You think I liked being at war with my own sister? I admit it, alright? I was a bitch, but you were no better than me. I mock you for not having a man and you tell me I don't deserve to have a baby and defend Milo for hitting me." Lashelle reminded her.
"I was wrong for that, I'll admit. I was out of line and I'm sincerely sorry for that. I shouldn't have ever said that."
"You were."
"I didn't mean it. I was just angry and upset at the way you treated mama and us. I understood your anger more when I found out what happened, but you know if mama knew what to do, she would've handled it better. She loves you and she was devastated when you just left and never came back to see her. She hated just seeing you on tv or hearing you on the radio and not seeing you in person or hearing from you. And me, Steph and Ana didn't do anything to you. Why shut us out and punish us?" Priscilla said.
"Because I knew all y'all would do is try to make me fix things with mama and I wasn't ready. I'm sorry I shut y'all out. But everyone just assumed I was being "bitchy" instead of wondering why."
"You wouldn't allow anybody to." Priscilla pointed out.
"I didn't think I would have to. Think about it. I had no problem with Milo before. He and I were cool for the longest. Then all of a sudden, whenever he was around, my whole body language would change and so would my facial expression. Nobody could put two and two together that something must've happened? No. Instead, my feelings were thrown out as me being a bitch and him being the golden child. You and I were best friends, stuck together like glue since I came out of the womb. You couldn't see that?"
Lashelle could feel the tears filling her eyes again and she wiped one tear that fell down. She could see Priscilla's eyes turning watery also.
"I was wrong, I was a bitch and I should have done things differently. But I'd never felt so alone like I did back then." Lashelle managed to choke out.
Priscilla sniffled softly, "She-She, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry for being such a terrible big sister and saying the things I said. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. I just missed my sis and I missed how close we used to be. You were my ace, hermana."
Lashelle chuckled softly at her childhood nickname Priscilla had for her, "I do too. I'm sorry for shutting y'all out and for saying the things I said to you. We've both been bratty and petty for too long. Can we go back to being She-She and Ci-Ci again?"
"Hell yeah, of course. Get over here."
Priscilla pulled her in for a hug and Lashelle felt yet another huge weight lift off of her shoulders. Who knew that taking the time to talk things out and genuinely forgive felt this liberating? They pulled away from their hug and did their signature little handshake that they came up with when they were younger.
"By the way, I'm really happy for you. You and Patrick look great together." Lashelle confessed.
"Thank you. Now when are you going to make up with your man and mama?" Priscilla asked her.
"Have you not been looking at my Instagram or my Snapchat?"
"No, why?"
"Me and mama are good. I flew her out to Richmond the day before my show and we talked things out. She stayed in my room with me, helped me get ready for my show and even watched the show from the side of the stage. I flew her out to at least, three more shows after that." Lashelle explained.
"Say what?! How come I never knew about this? She didn't tell me anything." Priscilla exclaimed.
"I'm guessing she didn't tell anybody. She probably told Uncle Carlos, though. I guess she wanted to just work on things with me in peace." She shrugged.
"That's great, though. I'm glad to hear it." Priscilla smiled.
"Me too. We're slowly getting back to where we used to be."
A knock came at the door and Lashelle looked at it.
"Who is it?!" Priscilla asked.
"It's me and Steph! Can we come in?" Anastasia said.
"Yeah, come on in!" Lashelle nodded her head.
The door opened and Stephanie and Anastasia came into the room and sat down on the bed.
"Well, there's no blood anywhere, so I'm guessing y'all are all good." Stephanie joked.
"Ha ha, very funny, pequeña azada." Priscilla rolled her eyes, "But it's not like that."
"Yeah, we're fine. She-She and Ci-Ci are back again." Lashelle informed them.
"Thank you, Jesus!" Anastasia cheered.
They all laughed.
"Now when are you going down there and talk to your man?" Stephanie asked Lashelle.
"I don't know. I doubt we'll ever be the same again. He didn't even barely look at me or speak to me when I walked in." Lashelle shook her head.
"Oh, please. That man is still stuck on you and he still loves him some Lashelle. That I know for sure." Anastasia confirmed.
"And how would you know that?"
"Because I look past photos on The Shade Room and videos of him in the club. That man misses you, but he wants you to feel as hurt as he did all those years. He's paying you back in a way. He loves you. Anybody can see that. But he's not going to take your shit anymore and he wants you to know what it's like to be without him." Anastasia explained to her, "How does it feel?"
"Not so great, to be honest." Lashelle sighed.
"There you go."
"Go talk to your husband, Lashelle." Priscilla told him.
"I plan to, don't worry. Just not right now." Lashelle said.
"Ok, well, you don't have to right now. We're all about to get ready to go to the beach, have a drink or five and probably go out to dinner. We have a driver for the whole week while we're here, so let's take advantage of it. I want to do a little shopping later this week too." Anastasia encouraged.
"Sounds good to me. Let's go." Stephanie got up and left to her room.
"And I'll go tell the fellas to get ready." Anastasia gave the ok sign and left the room also.
Lashelle got off of the bed and walked out of the room, looking for her own. She saw her things in the room a couple of doors down the hall from Priscilla's and she closed the door to get ready.