Eve, climbed into her tree house with hot chocolate in hand and a blanket in tow. It was a brisk fall morning and she awoke early to write before having to go downtown to the office. She's a well known writer, with her own column for a popular magazine called , ' Talk It Out'; They share the latest gossip, from the newest celebrity weddings, to sex changes. Eve's column was called Forbidden; it was her own little corner to give advice, set up blind dates, and blog about her own personal life. People were still raving over her last break up . There had been so much going on in her life lately that she barely got time anymore to catch up on her personal writing. At the time she was working on a book; usually, she just wrote poems to her heart's desires, but this time she wanted to challenge herself. That wasn't working out so well; seeing as she didn't even have a title yet.
Sighing, she sat in her comfy bean bag chair and grabbed her laptop dusting it off with her finger-less glove clad hands. Blank. The page and her mind were both completely blank . Nothing seemed to inspire her these days.
"Meow." Looking down she saw her pet cat, Gramps. She picked him up sitting him on top of the keyboard of her laptop, and stroked his fur as he purred.
"Hey, baby." She cooed," I can't seem to start, nonetheless finish this damned thing ." Huffing she watched the cold air blow from her lips and put Gramps down, despite his protest of clinging on to her with his claws, and grabbed her hot chocolate taking a sip.
Feeling eyes on her she turned to the suspect; Gramps was currently giving her the evil eye and acting snooty. She put the mug down smacking her lips, "You're such a drama king, I have work to do Gramps ." he just turned his head from her curling into a ball. Shaking her head she blew out a breath "The saddest thing in the world is when your only friend is a cat and even he gets pissed at you."
Sure, she had acquaintances, but she wouldn't dare call those snake-eyed whore bags at the office 'friends'. She knew they hated on her secretly. Talked about her when she walked out of the room, and even tried to sabotage her career a few times. Her career couldn't be touched though, but her ex-boyfriend, now that's another story. Those catty winches got their hands all over him. Well, at least one did. Eve couldn't believe the woman had the nerve to be offended that she drug her name through the mud by posting every detail about the scandalous hookups they were having behind her back on the internet. They knew better. Evette was not the one to hold her tongue, plus it was a great story for the readers, despite it being about her horrendous relationship problems. Good thing she didn't love the guy, not yet anyway, but she was beginning to. 'Nipped that in the butt' she thought to her self.
Not letting Gramps take up any more of her time she cracked her neck and started writing.
"Okay... where Shall I began."
The beginning duh.
"Let's be honest.." she wrote, "Life isn't always fair." 'Nah', she thought and backspaced not wanting this book to be depressing.
"Let's be honest, somethings are unexpected and other things you should have seen coming from a mile away. For instance..."she started over, sitting back in her chair getting comfortable as she liked where her mind was taking her and how well it lead her fingers.
Across town Troy was waking up next to a beautiful brunette; that just so happened to work in his building. Stacy was five eight with blue eyes and was a model on the side. Just like he liked them.
She turned to him smiling as he showed no emotion at all. He was tired of this life. He wanted something more than waking up to a stranger in his bed. He wanted a wife. He was twenty-seven and ready to settle down. Stacy would be perfect but she was young, twenty-two and still 'exploring'.
Hence the fact that she was in bed with a black man; despite her admitting to him early on that she's only dated within her race. To him, we were all the human race, but he didn't take time to educate her, she probably wouldn't get it no ways.
" Last night was amazing! " She said ecstatically.
Despite his previous thoughts Troy cracked a smile, " Yeah I'm good I know." he joked, but he wasn't lien.
She blushed " Gosh, I don't think I've ever had it like that before."
He propped his arms under his head and smirked " And you'll never have better."
You can say he was a cocky something or the other, and well he was; rich, handsome, a businessman and very intelligent. Most would say he had reason to be.
"It's so huge, are all black guys like that? " She was genuinely curious.
"I've only seen my own sweetheart, but legend has it that we all are blessed by the creator's hands." He settled for saying.
Stacy contemplated this.
"Guess I'll just have to see for myself how true that legend proves to be." she winked rolling on top of him.
He shrugged still lying down, "Up to you." Honestly Troy didn't care what she did after him, she was just a one night stand. "But for now.." he rolled her back over so he could be on top, "Let me give you the best you'll ever have." and with that, he showed her again, how good his stroke game was.
Two hours later Troy was dressed in a tailored suit and tie and spraying freeze to rid the smell of sex out of the air. He had already disposed of the sheets and set them to wash, Maria would be coming to work soon to clean up after him and he didn't find it appropriate to put her through that. She was like a mother to him, and he wouldn't want his own mother, to clean up after him having a good roll in the hay.
Setting the can of spray on the nightstand he straightened out his suit jacket and picked up his briefcase as he made his way to the door getting ready to head out to work. Before he could get his hand on the knob it was already being opened. He never locked his door, the Penthouse he lived in was high class and he didn't have to worry about security issues. It wasn't like the urban Harlem neighborhood he grew up in. Troy felt safe and secure where he was, there was no need for extra measures. He loved the luxury of that. Mrs. Maria looked surprised as she held a hand up to her chest, "Oh Troy, you scared me." She hit his arm playfully, moving to the side so that he could walk out the door. Troy chuckled, "Sorry Maria, I didn't know you were there."
She smiled rubbing down her apron and switching her carrier of cleaning supplies to her left arm. " I know I know, I'm so used to just walking in, maybe I should start knocking ey?" She teased. Troy didn't really have a problem with her walking in but knocking would be nice, especially when he has company. Mrs. Maria had it bad with just waltzing in without notice, even if he was expecting her. Being that she not only owned the cleaning company she voluntarily worked for, but her husband owned the very building Troy's lavish penthouse was located, Maria felt she had free reign. He shook his head still smiling lightly, "Yeah, maybe you should."
Maria just laughed waving him off so that she could get to her job and he could get to his.
"Alright Alright, I'm going." Troy began to walk away but stopped remembering something, "Wait, Maria, I forgot to tell you I put some sheets to wash, so just be sure to take them out for me and put them to dry if you don't mind.." He trailed off, even though it was her job he still thought it polite to ask. Troy didn't grow up with a silver spoon in his mouth, he learned manners and that life wasn't a piece of cake. His mother taught him to respect his elders and others no matter what they did for a living or who they were.
Mrs. Maria Obliged but huffed, though it was none of her business, she thought of Troy like her own son and saw the sense of sadness every time he "cleaned the sheets."
"You keep messing around with these young girls Troy and you're never going to find a wife," she said in a motherly tone. Troy had heard it all before, he rubbed a hand to the back of his neck, " Maria I get it, I'm working on it. Look, I got a few cases to handle so I need to get going, but thank you for cleaning my place." She waved him off again, "It's what I do Mijo, now you go make the big bucks." He never understood why a rich woman like Maria would willingly clean other people's homes for a living, but Maria explained to him once that it kept her humble and of course busy. All of her kids were grown and living their own lives, there was really nothing else for her to do. According to her at least. Troy could see him self traveling the world at her age.
He laughed and bid her goodbye as he made his way to the elevator. Pressing the button to go down he noticed a fine young thing walking towards him, she batted her eyes his way and he flashed her a charming smile but turned his head laughing lightly. She was fine, no doubt, but Troy was looking for a woman, a grown woman. He was tired of the same ole and it was time to settle down. The elevator dinged as it made its arrival and Troy entered leaving the young woman to watch him depart.
Making it into the office; Troy spotted his assistant, Avery, on the phone at her desk. He waved to acknowledge her and she smiled back continuing her conversation. "Uh-huh, yes sir Mr. Riley, he just made it in." Overhearing her and knowing now who she was talking to Troy waved his arms in a 'No way' gesture. Avery tried to backtrack "Uhhh actually he's about to go into a meeting." Troy gave her a thumbs up. "No, he's not standing in front of me." she stumbled out just as Troy was getting ready to walk into his office, he stepped back swearing as Avery's eyes met his giving him a panicked look. "He's—— No——-You don't—-." She looked away from Troy suppressing a giggle, " I can't say that to my boss Mr.Riley... Mhm, okay I'll be sure to tell him. Have a good day sir." Avery hangs up the phone.
Troy looked at her and sighed, "He's on his way isn't he?" It wasn't a question. Troy and Kevin Riley had been boys for years, best-friends since elementary and he knew him like the back of his hand. He did not have time for Kevin's antics this morning.
Avery tried to hide her smile, "He's in the parking garage." She loved it when Mr.Riley came through the building, though Mr. Alexander acted like he hated when his best-friend stopped by it somehow always put him in a good mood after he left. That meant less work for her, plus Mr.Riley was fine as hell if she had to admit it to herself.
"Damn it." He swore sucking his teeth, "Did he say what he wanted?" He didn't even know why he asked that question himself as Avery raised an eyebrow as if to say 'Are you serious?'
"Right." huffing like a big kid Troy finally made it into his office closing the door behind him just so Kevin wouldn't have easy access to his last nerve. He sat in his spin chair and looked out his giant New York-style windows at the beautiful city of L.A below. His office was decked out with Ivory wallpaper, a sturdy mahogany desk sat in the middle of his office with a picture frame of himself making a partner. An apple computer-centered it with a pair of stress balls sitting at the very corner. Stacks of paperwork fanned out on the surface being held down by a stapler and paperweight next to a phone. Behind it, was a glass wall of windows that overlooked the city below. Though it was his place of work, it was one of his favorite places to be for a piece of serenity.
"My Niggah, My Niggah" Came Kevin's loud voice as he banged the door open in his arrival cheesing from ear to ear. Troy sat back in his chair running a hand over his face, "Man cool all that down, this is my place of business." He chastised. Kevin fanned him away with a wave of his hand, "Don't act like you didn't miss me." He said as he plopped down in the chair in front of Troy's desk.
Shaking his head Troy made a noise with his mouth, "You didn't stay gone long enough." Kevin made a face, "I've been gone for two weeks." Troy smirked, "Yeah that's not long enough. In fact, It's too damn soon for you to be back." He said sitting back in his chair and crossing his leg. Kevin looked hurt, he stood up straightening out his suit jacket. "I can't believe this is how you do me after my long," he made sure to stretch the word long, "Business trip to Hawaii. I'm tellin Mama." His face was serious as Troy stared back in amusement.
Troy laughed, "Boy you better not." It was Kevin's turn to smirk now, "Oh I think I will, Matter fact I'm supposed to go over there tonight for dinner."
Shaking his head Troy let out a breath, "You would be invited to a dinner that I didn't even know about." he chuckled lightly. Kevin held his head up high, "You should visit more Alfred." He said in a prestigious voice using Troy's middle name. Not being able to take his own self he threw his head back laughing. " Shut Up." Troy laughed throwing a balled-up piece of paper at him. Kevin shrugged, "It's true, they've been asking about you." Troy didn't need to ask who they were because he knew Kevin was more in touch with his family than he was sometimes, hell all the time. Kevin didn't really have a stable household growing up, so being around Troy all the time, he was basically adopted in. They were more like brothers than best friends.
Troy sighed, "I know man, I've just been busy." he said reaching over touching some paperwork, he didn't even want to think about this new case he had to deal with. Kevin's eyes flipped to where the paperwork lied but he still shook his head, "You're never too busy for the family, man."
Kevin didn't stay much longer after that, they dapped and said their see-you-laters with Troy promising to stop by his parent's house sometime this week. Kevin was right, Family was important, Troy was just so damn tired of hearing the same thing "When are you going to settle down son?" How in the hell was he suppose to answer that question when he didn't know his self. There weren't too many women in the world anymore that was wife material, it seems nowadays everybody's after one thing. Feeling good, and feeling good only. There's nothing wrong with that, but when you want more; when you want happiness, and someone to crack jokes with, someone to come home to from a long day of work, someone to help you deal with real-life issues that don't pertain to being in the sheets; feeling good isn't enough anymore.
Troy had finally made up his mind, he didn't want to face another family dinner until he had a woman to help him start one of his own. He wanted to be able to look at his mother and father and say "I've found the one." when they ask that same question they do every time, and his mother spews that same old line "None of us are getting any younger, when am I gonna see some grandkids running around this house?" He'd pull his woman to his side and try to hide his grin as he thought about all the practice they'd get in.
Troy leaned back in his chair spinning to face the window, his smile was as wide as the city below as he flipped through his thoughts. He was in a good mood; making a mental note he decided to let Avery off early today.
___________________________________________
Much later; On the other side of town, Eve was packing up her things to leave. Work had been tiring today, but not dull at all. Writing for a magazine could never be dull, there was always so much drama. Too much drama if you had to ask Eve.
"Hey girl, wait up." Cathy drawled running behind Eve in her high heels. Eve rolled her eyes, speak of the devil and she will appear. Cathrine Washington, Cathy for short, was the definition of drama; she knew who did what, who did who, and everybody else knew that she'd be the one to deliver the news. Though she was caught up in all the latest gossip, she didn't know a thing about what was going on in Eve's life. Not that there was much, but she didn't need to know that either. Cathy was always poking around, trying to dig into her business and pull out some dirt that Eve didn't even have. She was the type of "friend" you kept at a distance because the chick just could not be trusted.
Eve stopped even though her own feet were aching from wearing heels. Instead of huffing out a breath like she wanted to, and asking Cathy 'what the hell could she possibly want' Eve plastered on a fake smile deciding to be nice. "Hey girly, what's up? Ooh, those pumps are cute Ms.Lady." She admired her red bottoms. Cathy flipped her hair not even saying thank you as if she already knew her new Christopher Louboutin heels were worth more than her personality.
There's a golden rule in this industry; you keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. These sea urchins will use you to boost their own career any chance they get, no matter how cute their shoes are. Cathy was just one of many lurking these waters.
"Oh nothing, just wanted to check-in." She stated as if she was genuinely concerned about what's been going on in Eve's life. 'Oh ya know; eating toast, hanging out with Gramps, the usual.' Is what she started to say, but she decided that boring the woman to death wouldn't be such a good look. Cathy might even find a way to turn Gramps into an older lover that Eve had on the side. So instead she kissed her painted lips together and said "That's so sweet of you. I'm fine, just working on my next article." She snapped her fingers realizing her escape, "Matter of fact, I'm gonna go ahead and head home so I can get started on that." Flashing Cathy a smile Eve made to power walk away but was stopped in her tracks when Cathy called out again, " More work after work?" Turning around Eve faced Cathy with her eyebrows raised. She smirked at Eve looking down at her freshly manicured claws and said, "Some would thing you didn't have a man to go home to." No, she didn't...
This B—- Eve closed her eyes and counted to five trying not to lose her temper. Then again, she's never been good at that, "Listen here Cathy, mind.yo.damn.business." That was as real as she could give it to her. She had had it up to here with this woman. Ever since she started working here she's been like a leech on her back, trying to suck information out of her. Cathy's eyes widened, she was shocked. "Why don't you stay out of my business and go get some of your own." For the first time that Eve had ever known this woman, she didn't have anything to say. The saddest part of the situation was that Eve didn't even have business worth the trouble anymore. Seeing that Cathy no longer wanted to hold a conversation, Eve gripped her jacket tighter to her self and walked out into the cold night air. Never a dull moment at "Talk It Out".
Finally making it home Evette threw her things on the couch and took her heels off discarding them as she walked up the steps in her Condo. She found Gramps lying in her bed and she plopped down next to him rubbing at her aching feet. Gramps brushed up against her purring lightly as if to say he was glad she was home. "Hey baby, yeah I know, I missed you too." She switched feet, swinging her short leg over her thick thighs so that she could massage the other foot. "You won't believe what happened today; I had to tell Cathy off for budding into my business again." She complained, informing Gramps of today's events. Gramps had been walking in circles making the spot he wanted to lay down in more comfortable when he heard her talking to him. He looked up as if making a face to say 'It's not that hard to believe.' Eve smacked her lips, 'Shut up Gramps, I'm not that bad. Majority of the time they deserve the mouth full I give them." Gramps was licking at his paws and cleaning his fur, used to Eve telling him about who she went off on today, and every other day. His owner was not the Shy type, far from it. Yet, she called him the drama king. Ha.
She must have felt some type of way because she started grumbling to herself, "I should have gotten a dog." Gramps walked on her lap and curled into her as if he was mentally saying "well, you got me B——." Eve rolled her eyes. "I need friends." she sighed. Nobody could take her, they all thought she was too much, it wasn't her fault people liked to sugar coat things. Eve preferred not to sugar coat her words; she had enough sugar going to her thighs already, she didn't need any coming out of her mouth.
Removing Gramps from her lap she stood up pulling her pajamas out of her drawer and going into the bathroom to take a shower. The thought of using the showerhead to destress gave her a small thrill.
Today was a long day.
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A/N: Hey Guys I'm Back! This is a new story I've been working on, I'm super excited for the adventure I'm about to take y'all on (;
Let me know what you think in the comments!
-Amber (@heartmedonthateme)