Consummation

Three weeks after meeting Chad’s mother, he told Quisha of his plans for her to meet his brother and sister.

* * *

Quisha’s apartment

“Aren’t we taking this a bit too far?” Quisha asked one night when Chad came over.

“No, I don’t think we are. I have my mother right where I want her,” he said. “She hasn’t been nagging me about settling down.”

“That’s good, I guess.” Quisha said as she fixed him a drink.

“My siblings want to meet you though,” Chad said.

Quisha turned and looked at him. He read her expression.

“If we stop this now it would have been for nothing. But, I think I can give you a final payment by the end of this week,” he said. And we will be out of each other’s hair.” He furrowed his brow as a deep thought crossed his mind.

Quisha caught the look but didn’t understand why and she didn’t ask him what he was thinking.

Sometimes when he was bored, he went to Quisha’s apartment. He confused her at times—this fraud of a relationship and other times he got comfortable and talked to her as if she was his best friend. The more she got to know him, she realized that even with the looks and wealth that he had, he was surrounded by fake, shallow people.

“I really like you. I can talk to you—you keep it real,” he said thinking about Jessica and other past girlfriends who said and did everything he said. They jumped through hoops hoping they would be the one. But Quisha didn’t bend over backwards for him and he liked that.

“You don’t sugar coat things to stay in my good graces.” He had told her that on one of the nights he came over.

* * *

A week later

“What are you doing here?” Quisha asked as she opened the door with a towel wrapped around her still damp body.

Without answering he kissed her. She gave in to the kiss. The chemistry between them had been slowly growing and neither of them could deny it. He picked her up and carried her to her bedroom and removed her towel. She was a walking contradiction of sorts. One side of her was a highly sexual vixen on stage, but deep down she was really an old romantic at heart who wanted to be swept off of her feet and loved.

She wasn’t seeing anyone at the time and she had needs and Chad was there to fulfill them. He was more than just a rich pretty boy; he knew how to work a woman’s body to an intense level of passion and knew how to make her feel as though she was the only woman in the world for him at the same time.

The following morning he was gone and it left Quisha wondering what was next.

The job was lasting longer than they both anticipated. They were three months into the relationship.

* * *

Meeting the siblings

Quisha and Chad arrived first and sat down. Gretchen, Bryan and his wife Stacy arrived seconds later. His siblings were well aware of Quisha, because their mother had already given them a heads up.

Quisha shook their hands but saw right away his sister was going to be cold and unmoving like their mother; but his brother Bryan hid his displeasure a little better and his wife seemed indifferent to the whole matter.

“So, Chad, where is Jessica? You two were thick as thieves,” Gretchen asked.

“People don’t break up?” Chad retorted.

“I mean, you and Jessica were just together three months ago and now you have a fiancée?” she asked and looked over at Quisha.

“We didn’t come here for the third degree,” Chad responded.

“I’m just saying, it’s all happening so fast don’t you think?” his sister added.

“I didn’t say anything about that jerk you married. Where is your husband?”

“Don’t be an ass and don’t bring him up,” Gretchen said.

“You can dish it but can’t take it? Typical,” Chad responded.

Quisha sat quietly and listened to the uncomfortable argument between the brother and sister.

* * *

“Girl it was a hot mess,” Quisha told Heavenlee the next time she worked. “His sister was trying to shade me and Chad shut her down.”

“Interesting—he’s defending you. Interesting, indeed,” Heavenlee said.

“What are you talking about?” Quisha said. “He should in front of his family if we are to be believable as a couple.”

“I don’t know. It just seems like a lot of hoops to jump through to deceive his mother,” Heavenlee said. “I mean, he’s a grown ass man.”

“I know,” Quisha agreed. “But, they are a tight-knit family and marriage is important, even though his sister is divorced.”

“You need to get your money and leave him alone,” Heavenlee said. “Too bad he didn’t give you enough for a Bentley,” she added, laughing.

“I know. My Audi A3 will have to do. Having a Bentley is just a pipedream anyway,” Quisha replied. “At least the money I’m making is paying for school. I’ll be finished next year,” she said before hanging up so Heavenlee could get to work.

A week later she called Tamla. They had lost touch as they started building their lives and Tamla didn’t know of Quisha’s chain of events in her life or her alias.

“Come visit me,” Quisha said.

“I don’t have money for airfare, and I’m not driving,” Tamla said.

Quisha was anxious to see her friend. “I’ll pay for your ticket,” she said.

“You got money like that?” Tamla asked, surprised.

“I’ll tell you everything once you’re here,” Quisha said.

“Ok, I can come for a weekend,” Tamla told her.

When Quisha picked Tamla up at the airport, Tamla made an oh pardon me face when she saw Quisha’s shiny new car. She herself was still a struggling college student and wondered how Quisha was faring.

“How are you doing?” Tamla asked. But she really wanted to know how Quisha afforded the car and her stylish clothes.

“You look different,” Tamla said as she looked at her friend.

“I’m still in school,” Quisha said. “I have an acting job in a sense.”

“Oh, that’s great,” Tamla said, still somewhat confused.

“Honestly, it’s not really acting. It’s more like, I’m pretending to be a rich man’s fiancée,” Quisha continued.

Tamla made a face and for the first time, it seemed farfetched even to Quisha.

“I know, it’s complicated,” she said.

They pulled up in front of Quisha’s building. When they went in, Tamla was awestruck at the surroundings.

“Does he have a rich friend that needs a fake fiancée?” Tamla joked.

“No,” Quisha said with a laugh as she showed Tamla around her pricey apartment.

“Is he paying for this?” Tamla ventured to ask.

“No, I had this before he even came into the picture. He did help pay for some of the furniture and the nude portrait I had commissioned of myself. Quisha answered, “I ain’t going to be young forever; might as well immortalize this body,” she said and laughed.

“Wow,” was all her friend could say.

Tamla had more questions, but they weren’t flattering, so she kept quiet.

“I’ll let you rest and we’ll hang out a little later,” Quisha said.

A few hours later the longtime friends were out having fun. Quisha took Tamla to all of her favorite haunts and caught up with Bridget later for some drinks at their favorite club.

“Hey, Carnelle,” one of Drop it Like its Hot regulars said. “I haven’t seen you in a while. You don’t work there anymore?” he asked.

“I’m just on leave,” she answered and let him get back to his date.

“Carnelle?” Tamla reiterated.

“Yeah—that was my stage name when I danced for a while. That’s how I met that rich guy I was telling you about.” It felt weird referring to Chad as “that rich guy”. He felt like so much more than some guy she knew in passing. But she dared not think love, especially not out loud.

Wherever Quisha and Tamla went, Quisha seemed to be the life of the party. She was known around town as Chadwick Allencourt’s latest squeeze—his girlfriend…his side chick. People in the know refused to believe he would kick socialite Jessica Thornthwaite to the curb.

“How do you know him?” Tamla asked when one of Quisha’s former patrons paid for a drink for them as they ate dinner at her favorite restaurant.

“Never mind,” Tamla said when she realized he was probably just another customer of Drop it Like its Hot. She was secretly judging her friend, but she enjoyed the perks of being with her.

“Will I get to meet this Chad before I leave?” Tamla asked.

“I wish, but he is out of town on business.” Quisha responded.