Raven's Pov
Aubrey and I sat in the judge's chambers for what felt like forever listening to our lawyers litigate on our behalf. Once it was understood that neither of us was seeking any kind of spousal support, they moved on to the matter at hand which was getting us out of this marriage as quietly as possible, but it's just our luck that the judge doesn't want to be cooperative.
"Listen your honor, I think I speak for myself and Mrs. Loeb when I say that for the sake of both our client's we ask that you grant this a private annulment. A full on scandal like this could be damaging to their careers." Aubrey's lawyer did his talking and slid the annulment papers across the judge's desk.
Judge Barker, as the name plate on his desk stated, adjusted the glasses on his face as he skimmed over the papers. The room was in a dead silence. I glanced over at Aubrey who sat beside me in these hard wooden chairs, but he wouldn't even look my way. As a matter of fact, he hasn't spoken more than five words to me since we left the hotel.
"So let me get this straight." The judge drug out in a slow sarcastic drawl, directing my head back in his direction. He sat the paper work down and folded his hand atop of it. "Because your client's happens to be some famous rapper and an actress, you think that they're entitled to special treatment?"
"Our clients entered this marriage under the heavy influence of alcohol, which is clearly grounds for an annulment." My lawyer interjected standing tall at my side. I felt like I was a kid in the principal's office having my parent defend me.
"Yes, this is true, but you and I both know that I do not under any circumstances have to grant a private annulment." The Judge stated in a matter of fact tone while giving both of our lawyers a look that put them in their places. No argument followed. The mood in the room digressed and our lawyer went back to their corners. Judge Barker's eye glanced down at our paper work, and then sharply cut to Aubrey and I. "Have you two consummated the marriage?" He questioned.
"No."
"Yes." Aubrey and I spoke at the same time, his yes cutting over my no. Judge Barker looked back and forth between Aubrey and I while tapping his pen on his desk as if he was trying to figure out which one of us was lying.
Our lawyers, along with myself, turned to him looking confused as he sat there without a care in the world tapping his fingers in the arm in the chair. If this judge wasn't in room with us I would slap the side of his face. We were both sat down with our attorneys and agreed that we would deny having sex on our wedding night to make the annulment go smoothly, but he picks today to be honest.
Judge Barker sat his pen down "Being that the union was consummated, annulment is no longer an option, you're looking at divorce." When he said the word divorce my hands got sweaty. This is what I wanted to avoid. I always said that when I get married it's going to be forever, now look at me. I've been married all of 24 hours now and I'm about to get a divorce. "Counselors, I would like to speak to your clients in private." He said, leaning back in his oversized leather chair. Not wanting to frustrate the judge any further, our lawyers left the office, closing the door behind them.
"Now, from my understanding you two do share some type of history... this isn't a complete random occurrence..."
"Aubrey and I were once engaged and we have a three year old son." I muttered as I looked away. It was like pouring salt in the wound of our failed relationship.
His bushy grey brows rose as he slowly nodded his head assessing our situation. "Well that's a lot of history... so what happened for you to call off the engagement?" He questioned while staring directly at me as if he knew that I was the one to end our engagement.
Aubrey and I both looked at each other, after laying everything out in the open this past weekend I wasn't quite sure how to answer that question and I think Aubrey could tell. He turned to Judge Barker speaking up for me. "I'll take the blame for that. I wasn't always honest and kept a lot of things from her which built some trust issues." I couldn't take my eyes off of Aubrey as he spoke. I admitted my regret in the part I played in our breakup, but hearing him take responsibility lifted a weight off of my chest that I didn't even know was there.
The judge took his glasses off and ran his hand down his tired face. I could tell he was at a loss with our situation by the way he leaned back in his chair surveying us closely. His sat there with one hand on his grey goatee and the other tapping away on the arm of the chair. All you could hear was the constant pitter pat against the rough leather when suddenly his fingers stopped moving. That concealed deadpan expression changed into one more curious as his eyes brightened as if he had a stroke of genius.
"Okay, this is me speaking out loud, but I think it's something still there between you two. Take it from a man who's been married for 30 years, there are going to be obstacles along the way, but it's up to you to face them and get through them, especially since there's a child involved." He got up from his chair to walk around to the front of his desk where he leaned against it. "So, with that being said, I may be willing to bend a little. I'll see to it that you're granted private divorce that won't be public record... on one conditions of course." He said with a mischievous smirk on his face. Once again I looked at Aubrey and he looked at me, both with curiosity written on our faces. This was the first time I'd seen the judge show any trace of amusement since we stepped into his chambers and I'm not too sure if that's a good thing.
——
Tiana wasn't talking to Chubbs, Aubrey wasn't speaking to me; it was just a chilling uncomfortable feeling floating around in the air. Aubrey's lip was poked out from the moment we left the courthouse, which I'm not completely sure why. The judge agreed to grant us a private divorce on the condition that we put forth a true effort to make our marriage work. It's something like a trial period. If after two months and we still want out he'll grant us that option. Although I'm not too thrilled about the idea of being a divorcee before I'm even thirty, the idea of a spur of the moment wedding that I don't even remember isn't pleasing either. Now that's a story to tell my grandchildren.
Everyone was trying their hardest to act like the other person is invisible when we're all sitting just a few feet from each other. I sat on the sofa across from Aubrey's chair silently observing him through my sunglasses. I knew he could feel my eyes on him, but he wouldn't look up from his phone to acknowledge me. I've been getting a cold vibe from him ever since this afternoon, so I got up from my seat and went to sit beside him causing all of our friends to look in my direction.
"What's wrong? You haven't said a word to me since we left the courthouse." I whispered to him so that our conversation wouldn't reach our friends ears.
Aubrey's fingers suddenly stopped scrolling through his phone. He looked me dead in the eyes with an "are you serious" expression etched on his face, and shook his head; turning back to his phone.
"Nothing's wrong Raven. We're gonna head back to LA and do what we have to do to get this divorce." He responded in somewhat of a snappy tone that left me a bit lost.
"If nothing's wrong then why do you sound like you have an attitude with me right now?" I questioned once more.
Without speaking a word, he got up and walked over to the bathroom, flinging the door open only to slam it behind him. 40 raised his glass to his lips giving me this look like he knew exactly what was going on with his friend. Ignoring that knowing expression that Noah seemed to always have, I got up from my seat and followed Aubrey to the bathroom.
When I opened the door he was standing with his back to me with his palms pressed against the sink as he stared into the mirror. "You know, I'm trying to talk to you because you obviously have a problem, specifically with me." I said as I shut the door behind me to avoid any eavesdropping.
"I don't get you. I think you like messing with my head." Aubrey turned around to face me and I could truly see the frustration in his eyes as he vented. "First you don't want me, then you do want me, then you don't again. This past weekend reminded us of how we used to be, and marriage aside, you can't blame what happened between us on alcohol, because that I don't believe. I-"
I pressed my lips against his to shut up his ranting. When I pulled away he narrowed his eyes down on me looking confused which made me smile. His emotions always lead him to jump to conclusions. "I'm not blaming it on anything, I meant every single word I said to you during this trip."
When those words left my sober mouth, Aubrey was wearing the biggest grin on his lips reminding me of Cameron, but then it faded away being replaced by a more serious expression as he pulled me closer to him by my hips. "If you meant what you said, then why are you pushing so hard for a divorce?" He asked with his lip poked out looking even more like our son by the second.
Letting my hands run up his chest I wrapped my arms around his neck. "Because Aubrey, having a quickie ceremony in some cheap wedding chapel, in a rented dress isn't how I planned that day at all. I want to get married the right way, in a white dress with both of our families there, and most importantly I want our son there. I want "Your Precious Love" to play in the background when I have my first dance with my husband, not a 70-year-old tone death lady playing Barry Manilow." His chest vibrated as he laughed a little.
"You really thought this through, huh?"
"Yes, I did. I want to take it slow and see where this goes, but marriage definitely isn't the place to start, our relationship isn't ready for that."
Aubrey let out a light sigh and nodded his head. "Okay, so we take things slow. Maybe we can start by having dinner tomorrow night... and if something happens then we'll just let it happen." Aubrey slyly threw that last part in there making me blush at the sound of his voice. It was low, yet smooth at the same time giving me little butterflies in my stomach. Without breaking eye contact, Aubrey reached behind me and I heard the lock on the door click.
A smile spread across his lips; I knew that mischievous gleam in his eyes too well. Aubrey wasted no time placing me on the bathroom sink. "They're gonna hear us." My warning fell on deaf ears as he continued to kiss and nip at my neck.
"Then try not to scream so loud." He chuckled, bunching my dress up around my waist. His intense lust filled stare held mine while slowly slipping my panties down my legs until they dangled around my ankles.
"What happened to taking things slow?" I asked, allowing my hands to slip under his shirt, roaming up and down his back. I couldn't help but notice the added muscle to his body these days, it made even harder to resist him.
"Trust me, I'll go slow..." He leaned down, softly pressing his lips to mine in the gentlest passionate kiss that made my legs feel like jelly. The next thing I felt was him entering me with one swift thrust. My head flung back as my nails dug into his shoulder blades. See, this is why he always end up with scratches and bruises whenever we have sex. I bit down on my lip, it took everything in me not to let loose and scream his name. I swear this man is my one kryptonite.
——
Cloud nine is what I was on. The words pure bliss couldn't begin to describe what I was feeling. Aubrey and I may have had some issues in our relationship, but we've never had any problems in the bedroom, or bathroom for that matter. As I was in the mirror fixing myself up to go back to my seat, I felt Aubrey's strong arms wrap around my waist and his juicy lips press against my necks giving me chills throughout my body. When we locked eyes in the mirror, goofy grins were on both of our faces. Times like this I hate how things have to be so complicated between us.
"Get Alex to clear your schedule for tomorrow, I want to take you and Cam somewhere special." Aubrey practically demanded as held me in his arms.
Having my curiosity peaked, I shrugged my shoulders thinking why not. The three of us haven't spent time together since that catastrophe in the Hamptons. "That's shouldn't be a problem. I don't think I have any plans."
"Speaking of plans, when do you plan on telling what's his name about us?" Just like that our moment was ruined. My fantasy bubble was popped and I was brought back to the real world.
Rolling my eyes at Aubrey's not so subtle pettiness, I turned around to face him seeing a small pout displayed on his lips. "Let's not do that, you know his name."
He shrugged his shoulders like a child would do, keeping his pout perfectly intact. "I really don't care, I just want to know when you're gonna handle that." Aubrey put the spotlight right on my situation with Michael. It was a simple question, but I honestly didn't know what to say. I didn't even notice that my focus had drifted off somewhere else until I felt his hand on my chin directing my attention back to him. "Raven, you know you're gonna have to tell him." Aubrey spoke softly.
I knew what he wanted me to do, but something like that is easier said than done, especially with someone as genuine as Michael. "I know Aubrey, I just need time to work this out. I don't want to hurt him."
"But you can hurt me?" Aubrey snapped at me.
"Aubrey, I don't want to hurt either of you. I just need a little time." I explained, but he wasn't trying to hear it.
"You've been with this nigga for a few months and you're really gonna stand here and act like you can't choose between us! On top of that I told you that he was fucking around with somebody else. If that was me, you would've been left my ass!" He barked out in a loud enough tone that I'm sure caught the attention of everyone else on the plane.
I placed my hand on his chest to try and calm him down, but jerked back telling me not to touch him. I was in absolute shock. How did this is moment escalate so quickly? "Look Aubrey, you don't understand. I know you don't want to believe it, but I do care about Michael. He made me feel special when you could've cared less at the time."
"Couldn't have been that special if you cheated on him with me." Aubrey blurted out. Regret surged through my veins at the truth of his words. Aubrey took a step forward backing my body into the sink as he held me with his intense glare. "What was it Raven? Michael wasn't handling business in the bedroom and you needed me to scratch that itch that he couldn't reach?" He asked as his hand caressed my bare thigh in a way that now made my skin crawl.
"You know what Aubrey, fuck you." I said as I knocked his creeping hand away from me.
"You already did that, remember?" He shot back with a satisfied smirk. I could do nothing but glare at him. I could start a fire with my eyes, he would be up in flames. Why is it that every time I have sex with Aubrey, he says or does something that makes me want to hit him so bad? I pushed past him and unlocked the bathroom door.
As soon as I slid the door open and stepped out of the bathroom, I was met by every curious eye on the plane. I wasn't sure which part of my encounter with Aubrey they heard, but at this point I didn't even care. From the "what the hell?" look Tiana was giving me, I could tell her ears was just begging for info, but I put her on the backburner. I grabbed my headphones from my bag and move to a seat in the back of the plane. I didn't want to see Aubrey or hear his voice for the rest of this flight. This plane can't get me back to Los Angeles fast enough.
So after my disastrous flight home from the city of Sin, and I must say I did a lot of it... I was finally pulling up to my front gates. The plane landed around 7:00 P.M and we all pretty much went our own way. My driver was waiting for me at the clear port and Aubrey didn't even look my way as he climbed into the back seat of his awaiting Mercedes sprinter. To my surprise Tiana decided to get in with him and Chubbs, but not before setting up a much needed lunch date with me for tomorrow. We've both had our fill of drama with the men in our life, but hopefully she and Chubbs can work out their issues. I mean they are living together so they're gonna have to see one another. Anywho, I said my goodbyes to everyone except for Aubrey and now here I am back at mi casa, where I should've never left.
While the driver was busy unloading my luggage from the black Suburban, I dug out my keys and opened my front door causing the alarm to make its alert that the door is open. As soon as I crossed the threshold, the smell of fresh greens and fried chicken hit me smack in the face. My mouth instantly started to water and a friendly reminder came from the grumble in my stomach making me realize that I haven't eaten all day. I guess I was right on time because from the smell of things, my mama was throwing down something fierce in the kitchen.
There was mixed laughter coming from the living room, so I followed the sound and found my sister play fighting on the floor with Cameron. I leaned against the wall just quietly observing them. Karris was on her back and Cam was on top of her whacking her with throw pillows.
"Okay Cam, you win. I give up!" Karris shouted in direst while putting her hands up to block the pillows being smacked against her head, but it wasn't working. Cam was like the little energizer bunny with the energy of six, five year kids hopped up on cotton candy. He wasn't stopping anytime soon.
"It's not over until I say it's over." Cam yelled as he brought the pillow crashing down on my sister's head. See what I mean? Who knew my baby was so violent?
"Cameron, stop beating up your auntie." He froze in mid swing and turned his head. As soon as his bright eyes landed on me, a smile stretched from ear to ear on his chocolate stained face making me realize just how much I missed him.
He climbed off of his aunt and took off towards me with his arms stretched out. "Mommy, you're home!" Cam leaped into my arms and wrapped his arms around my neck.
"Hey doodlebug, I missed you so much!" I squeezed him tightly and attacked his chubby cheeks with kisses. When I looked up I saw Karris standing in front of us holding the back of her hand up.
"Look at this. Your son made me break a nail." Said Karris. My eyes peered at her hand seeing a missing red nail on her fresh manicure. I shook my head and turned to Cam who had the most innocent expression that he knew how to use whenever he wanted to ease his way out of trouble.
"Why does my son look like he was dipped in chocolate?" I asked. This little boy had sticky dried up chocolate dripping all down his chin to his shirt.
"Mom-mom made brownies and let me have the bowl." He so proudly boasted with a grin. I see he was just having a good old time while I was gone. My mom lets him do whatever he wants which is why he loves it when he spends time with her. "What did you bring me back?" He asked while searching over my shoulders for shopping bags, but there was nothing there but my luggage.
"You know what, I picked out this really cool toy for you, but I forgot to pay for it and they made to leave it at the store." I said to Cam and his face instantly dropped making Karris and I crack up. This boy thinks every time I go somewhere I have to bring him something back. His lip poked out giving me his mean mug scowl, kind of identical to the one his father gave me not to long ago.
"That's not funny mommy." Said Cam before climbing down from my arms. I squatted down to his level and pulled him to me by the front of his t-shirt.
"How about an, I missed you mom? I'm glad you're home, 'cause I was so miserable without you."
"Okay, okay, I missed you, but you still coulda brought me something." Cam sighed and then flashed a small grin and wrapped his arms around my neck, purposely squeezing me in a tight hug. When Cam let me go he stared back at me with this strange confused look in his eyes as he scratched his head of curls. "Mommy are we gonna have to live with daddy now, because uncle OB always eats always eats my snacks and I don't like it."
I smiled knowing how dead serious he was about his snacks, but that was quickly masked by my confusion. "Why would we live with your father?" I stared at my son, completely lost as to why he would ask that.
"Because the tv said you and daddy got married." Cam responded, leaving my face frozen in shock. I immediately directed my attention to my little sister who was desperately trying to hold back a grin.
"Welcome back Mrs. Graham. How was your trip?" I stood up and turned around to see my mother entering the living room with my grandmother not far behind her.
I could tell by the way they both stood there eyeing me with that dead on steady gaze and their arms folded across their chest that they have a lot to say at my expense. Just great! Now I have to deal with these two tag teaming me. It was evident that I wasn't getting a good night's sleep until I cleared the air.
"It's late Cam, why don't you go get ready for bed."
"But mommy, mom-mom said I can watch tv with her." He whined, his face twisted in a pout at the fact that his night had come to an end.
"You had enough tv, now no buts, I'll be up soon to tuck you in." I told him. Cam drug his feet with his head down doing the snoopy walk out the room and up the stairs. Once he was out of ear shot, I glanced back to my mother. "Okay, so I can explain."
"I can't wait to hear this." Karris chimed in, an anxious expression on her as she went to take a seat next to my grandmother. The only thing she was missing was her popcorn.
I sat down on the sofa while my mother stood in front of me, arms folded, tapping her foot with a stone glare etched on her brown face. Here I am, a grown woman and mother of my own child, and with one look she had me feeling like a kid again coming home with a bad report card.
"My first born daughter, whom I spent 12 hours in child birth to bring into this world runs off to Vegas and gets married without so much of a phone call." Her fiery voice boomed through the room guilting me even further.
I lifted my head, looking into her brown eyes that were awaiting answers that I barely had. "Look mom, I'm sorry, but it wasn't like that. I didn't go there planning to marry Aubrey, I was barely on speaking terms with him. It just happened, I don't even remember it."
"What the hell kind of drugs were you doing that you don't remember saying, I do?" Grams eyes squinted in confusion.
The room was silent as they awaited my response. Feeling slightly embarrassed by what I was about to say, I took a deep breath and let it out. "Well... we were drinking and-"
"I knew it! I knew she was on something." Grams interjected, throwing her hands in the air, turning to Karris, both exchanging knowing glances.
I shook my head, ignoring those two to focus back on my story. "Anyway, we talked and finally got a chance to clear the air about what happened between us; and you know, it's Vegas, we started having fun, had a few drinks and some feelings got involved; the next thing I know I woke up married."
"So did you two annul it?" My mom asked.
"We tried, but we couldn't. The judge is forcing us to stay married for two months, that way he'll know we at least gave it a try."
"So it's kinda like you went to Vegas and won a 60 day free trail marriage." Karris smirked which turned into full on laughter that was of course, joined in by my grandmother.
"This isn't funny." I huffed watching them laugh at my expense. I grabbed the pillow beside me, throwing at my little sister's head to shut her up, but she only laughed harder. When I turned to my mom to back me up, even she was giggling. I tilted my head to the side, "really mom?"
"Oh come on baby, it is funny, just a little bit." She spoke, pinching her finger and thumb together. "I always knew deep down that you and Aubrey would get back together, I just wasn't expecting this." She held up my left hand getting a glimpse of the ring that I had been trying to get off of my finger. "So where's my son in-law and why didn't he come in and say hello?"
"Aubrey's kind of upset with me right now."
"You know, I'm getting tired of this never ending soap opera with you two. What happened now?" My mom asked, taking a seat beside me.
"We talked about giving it another try, you know, taking things slow, but then he blows up on me about Michael, demanding to know when I'm going to break up with him." I explained everything in a nut shell. My mom, Grams and Karris just unblinkingly stared at me, speechless for a moment.
"You know, I think if I slap her hard enough, it'll knock some sense back into her." My grandmother finally spoke looking at my mother.
"Raven, baby do you hear yourself, because to me it sounds like you're trying string both men along and that's probably how Aubrey took it too."
"I'm not trying to string them along. Michael's a really sweet guy, I like him, Cam likes him-"
"But do you love him?" My mom asked looking me dead in the eyes, but I was unable to answer with the truth. The truth is I care for Michael, but I could never love him the way I love Aubrey. I know this doesn't end without Michael getting hurt and that made me feel like the worst person in the world. I felt a slight tap on my leg from my mother as she got up from the sofa. "I'm not gonna preach to you. You're a grown woman and can make your own decisions, but you know what's right." She said to me and made her way back to the kitchen.
I know I have to end things with Michael in order to move forward with Aubrey, but knowing is the easy part. There's no a step by step manual on how to break someone's heart. Even though I don't really know how to feel about Michael after Aubrey pretty much exposed his little side relationship, I could see it in him with each passing day we spent together; he had definitely invested some feelings into this relationship, feelings that I can't return in all honesty; not when another man still has my heart.