Read Almost Doesn't Count Online
Authors: Angela Winters
Almost Doesn't Count (24 page)
The second she got home, he grabbed her and kissed her passionately. They sat on the only part of the sofa that wasn't covered in boxes, with her comfortably on his lap.
“I'm afraid to ask what happened over there,” he said. “Just from looking at you, I know the drama was off the hook.”
Erica shook her head. “Boy, you don't even know.”
“Wanna talk about it?”
Erica smiled. She had forgotten how great it felt to come home to a sympathizing ear and a warm body. It hadn't been that long, but now that she had it again, it seemed like it had been forever.
“You don't want to know,” she answered.
“I see. I see.” He nodded. “You three and your little secrets.”
“It's not my business to share,” she said.
“You tell them all the shit that goes on between us, don't you?”
She tilted her head, studying him. “We're like sisters. But don't worry. There are certain things that stay just between me and my man.”
“Your man.” He leaned forward and kissed the exposed part of her chest just above her breast. “I like the sound of that.”
She ran her hand over his head and looked into his eyes lovingly. “Me, too.”
He squinted. “You don't tell them about sex with me, do you?”
“Um.” She playfully pushed his face back. “Of course not. I would never.”
“Girl!” He slapped her thigh. “You better tell them I'm hurting that. You better.”
He grabbed her and started pulling her back as he buried his face in her chest. She was laughing as she grabbed his head. It felt nice to be happy and not think about . . .
“Is Nate here?” she asked, sitting up.
Terrell's shoulders slumped and he sighed. “Can we not talk about him right now?”
“Have you seen him?” She stood up, heading for his room.
“Stop,” he said. “Don't bother. He's not there. He was here, but he left.”
She turned back to him. “When?”
“After you left. He stopped by to pick up some clothes.”
“Clothes? Is he moving out?”
He shook his head. “There wasn't enough for that. Just a shirt and some jeans.”
“Well,” she said. “What did he say?”
“He didn't want to . . .” Terrell motioned for her to return to him. “Don't worry about it, baby. I told you I got this.”
Erica suddenly remembered what she had to tell him and it made her sad. She knew she would ruin the mood, but after spending the last two hours with Sherise, listening to the details of the breakdown of her marriage, Erica didn't want to keep something this important from Terrell.
“I know this isn't gonna make you happy,” she said, standing in front of him. “But I asked Jonah for help. He offered and Iâ”
“You what?” Terrell shot up from the sofa. “Help with what?”
“With Nate.” She held up her hand to calm him down. “Before you get all upset, he's just going to look into some of his new friends andâ”
“Why did you do that?” Terrell was getting angrier every second. “You don't want that man's dirty hands on this.”
“I wanted help.”
He slapped his chest. “I'm helping you!”
“This isn't a reflection on you,” Erica said.
“The hell it isn't,” Terrell said. “That man wants me to look impotent to you. He knows I'm trying to help you, so he's gonna show how my help ain't shit compared to what he can do for you.”
“Don't look at it that way, baby.”
She reached out to console him, but he moved away. Erica was consumed with regret after looking at him. He really hated Jonah this much? More than he wanted to help Nate?
“Terrell, you have to make some peace with the fact that he's my father and he's going to be some part of my life.”
“Not this,” he insisted. “Not this, Erica. Call him off.”
“I'm not going to hold off on getting to the bottom of what's wrong with Nate. I'm going to do what I can and I'm going to let you help, Jonah help, and Billie, ifâ”
“Billie?” He threw his hands in the air. “You got her involved, too? What does Billie have to do with it?”
“She offered to help, too.”
“Help with what?” he asked. “What did you tell her?”
Erica was completely perplexed by his behavior and attitude. “Everything I told you. Terrell, what's wrong with you? Don't you want to help Nate?”
“I'm trying to!” he yelled. “But I can't do it if you have everyone in the fucking city interfering. Look, I gotta go.”
“What?” She watched as he grabbed his phone from the kitchen counter and headed for the door. “Terrell, what are you . . . Where are you going?”
“Call off your dogs, Erica.” He opened the door. “Before you do more harm to Nate than has already been done.”
He slammed the door behind him, leaving Erica standing alone in her apartment in disbelief. What had just happened? She knew she had a paranoid nature, but even taking that into consideration, there had to be more to this than Terrell was telling her. Something was wrong. Something was worse than she suspected, and considering what she suspected, that her brother had fallen into the drug crowd and was using and even possibly dealing, she shuddered at what this could be.
Her cell phone rang a few times before Erica thought to answer it. She grabbed it and looked at the ID. It was Billie. She sighed before answering.
“What now?” she asked.
“This is a mess!” Billie's voice was panicked.
“What happened?” Erica imagined a scenario in which Justin came home, a fight ensued, and all hell broke out. Sherise was not the model of restraint.
“She's going to confront that bitch,” Billie said. “Get in your car and come over here.”
“Wait . . . What?”
“I went to the bathroom and when I came out she was gone and left a note for me to stay and watch Cady. She's going to confront the woman at the hotel.”
“What about the agreement to wait?”
“Obviously, she changed her mind.”
“Where's Cady now?”
“I have her,” Billie said. “You're gonna watch her and I'm gonna go get Sherise.”
At first, Erica thought to ask why she shouldn't go get Sherise, but she knew why. This was a critical-mass situation, and fireworks usually happened between her and Sherise in normally stressful situations. Billie was the peacemaker, and Erica imagined, whatever was going to go down at that hotel, peacemaking was needed.
“I'm on my way,” she said.
She would have to figure out what Terrell's problem was tomorrow. Tonight she had to help keep Sherise from making a terrible mistake.
Maybe that second martini was a mistake. Sherise wasn't sure and she really didn't care. She just wanted that bitch to get here. Try as she might, she was unable to get a hotel room number for Jennifer Ross. She was able to get the male attendant to ring her room, but there was no answer. That was the best she was going to get, so Sherise decided to wait. Meanwhile, she had a drink, maybe two, to try to calm her down.
This was not wise, a voice told her. Of course it wasn't. Had any woman yet invented the wisest way to confront her husband's mistress, the whore tearing her family apart? Billie and Erica had tried to help her. They had agreed to let the reality of this situation sink in for another day and then figure out how to confront this woman and make sure she stayed out of Justin's life forever. The girls were going to back her up to avoid anything getting out of hand or be her backup if anything went down.
But they didn't know about Cady, and Sherise knew she couldn't wait any longer. She imagined a scenario where she would kick through the door and find her with Justin and . . . Well, the truth was, she didn't know what she was going to do. She hadn't had a plan coming over, but she wasn't going to wait another second. Justin didn't know about Cady yet. She could tell that much. While she believed her marriage could survive an affair . . . or two, she wasn't sure it could survive the truth about Cady, especially if that truth came from someone other than her.
No, this couldn't wait another moment. This situation was going to be handled now, before it got worse. Before it got irreversible.
Sherise was feeling calmer, so maybe the drinks were a good idea. She wasn't sure. All she knew was that she could very possibly see her husband walk into this hotel with another woman and she needed a few drinks to prepare herself for that. A half hour later, she was beginning to wonder. Maybe they were in the room and no one answered the call because they were making love. In which case, Sherise would have to deal with seeing her husband step out of the elevators. What would she do then? She didn't want to confront Justin yet. She wanted to know what Jennifer had told him and what her plans were first so she could figure out how to best play it with Justin to keep him on her side. But could she resist confronting him if she saw him there? She didn't think so. She only hoped she was right in believing that Jennifer was not at the hotel and would be returning soon.
“I'll have another cosmo,” she told the waiter who approached her. She was sitting in a soft set of circular chairs at a small table facing the lobby of the hotel.
She wasn't looking at the lobby at that time, but the sound of expensive heels clicking against the hard floor got her attention. Sherise looked toward the lobby in time to see Jennifer walk briskly through. In her mid-thirties, she was a very attractive, held-together woman. She walked with her head held high in a peach and gold wrap dress. She was thin, but had generous curves. Her skin was a dark caramel and her hair was a shiny auburn and went in curls down her back.
“That's her,” Sherise said to herself as she shot up from the chair.
She grabbed the waiter, who was on his way back to the bar.
“Never mind,” she told him. “I'm good.”
Sherise didn't say a word until she'd caught up with her in the elevator lobby.
“Hey, bitch.”
Jennifer, who was waiting for an elevator, quickly turned around, her hair swinging with her.
Sherise smiled at the look of astonishment on her face.
“Surprise,” Sherise said as she walked closer to her. “Didn't expect to see me here, did you?”
It was clear Jennifer wasn't sure what to do at first. She opened her mouth, but no words came out.
“What's the matter?” Sherise asked. “Can't speak? Do you need another napkin?”
The elevator opened and Jennifer looked at it.
“You can run,” Sherise said. “I'll follow. You're not getting away from me, Jennifer.”
“So you do know who I am,” the woman finally said, turning to face her. She seemed to have a little more confidence now.
“You're the whore I'm gonna beat the shit out of if you don'tâ”
“I'm the whore?” She laughed. “You fucking hypocrite. This is funny because you didn't know who the fuck I was when you were fucking my husband.”
“I don't give a shit about you or your husband,” Sherise said. “Justin is my husband, and if you don't stay away from him, you're going to regret it.”
“It doesn't work that way,” she said, shaking her head. “You don't get to say âfuck you' to my marriage, but then I have to respect yours. Nothing works that way.”
“You don't have to respect shit,” Sherise answered back. This bitch was not going to tell her how anything worked. “You just have to stay the fuck away from my husband.”
“You don't get to tell me what to do. You're the fucking home wrecker. Like I said, what goes around comes around.”
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