Nina's Got a Secret (9 page)

Still, with all the dysfunctional behavior surrounding her, Nina's eyes ignored the controlled hysteria and focused solely on Sharrard as he moved his hips from side to side. She silently marveled at his athletic physique that was on full display as his form-fitting, short-sleeved, crew neck shirt hugged his biceps. His tattooed covered forearms symbolized the defiant streak that made him insatiable to like-minded women and the guilty pleasure of even the most conservative women.

Sharrard was no dummy. He knew Nina was looking at his every move. As the song was ending, he whispered something in
Val's ear. Val smiled and nodded her head in agreement. A few seconds later, the two of them left the room and went upstairs.

Nina watched closely, secretly longing to be in Val's place or maybe even join the two of them. What she didn't realize was that while she watched them, her husband was standing in a dark corner on the second floor balcony watching her. He had been sipping on a glass of wine and watching her for the past twenty minutes.

A few minutes later, Nina could see Val and Sharrard vanish as they entered and closed the door of the guest room. She looked around for Larry, but realized that finding him amongst the sea of people was going to be impossible. As she stood there fidgeting like a junkie eager to take a hit on the crack pipe, Nina contemplated whether or not to follow her best friend.

Larry watched Val and Sharrard go into the bedroom and then focused his attention back on his peculiar-acting wife.

“Mrs. Dennison, how are you?”

“Hi. Jim, right?”

“Yes, I'm Jim; Larry's coworker. This is my girlfriend, Susan.”

“I'm Nina. Welcome to the party.”

“Thanks for having us. Where's Larry?”

“I don't know. I haven't seen him in a while. He can't be too far. Please enjoy the party. Susan, give me your shawl, and I'll put it in a safe place.”

“Thank you, Nina.”

Nina took Susan's shawl so that she could take it to the empty guest room where the guests' clothing was being kept. Her offer to take the shawl had less to do with a desire to be hospitable, and more to do with having an excuse to go upstairs near Val and Sharrard.

Nina walked up the stairs at a brisk pace. She avoided looking
down at the partygoers and focused on the stairs so that she wouldn't take a spill in her three-inch heels. Once she reached the top of the stairs, she turned left and started to go toward the guest room Val was in. Her momentum was stopped when someone grabbed her arm. It was Larry.

“Hey, baby, where have you been?” Larry asked.

“Oh, hey. I've been walking around mingling, tryin' to make sure everything is going as planned,” Nina replied nervously.

“Where are you going?”

“I'm going to put this shawl up. It belongs to Susan, Jim's girlfriend.”

“I know who she is. The guest room where the jackets are being kept is this way. Have you forgotten? You already put a few items in there,” Larry said as he pointed at the guest room located in the opposite direction.

“Oh yeah, I forgot. Well, baby, you should probably go say hello to Jim. Try and have some fun. I'm gonna go and put this up.”

Larry took a long sip of his wine, never taking his eyes off of Nina. He walked downstairs and started mingling with Jim and some of his other coworkers. Nina threw the shawl on the bed in the guest room and then stood in the exact same spot that Larry had stood in when he watched her. Once she was sure he wouldn't notice, she quickly walked across the hallway, which overlooked the living room, and headed toward Val's room.

Nina placed her ear against the door and tried to turn the knob. The door was locked, but the little slender key that was used to unlock the door was sitting on the top of the doorframe. Looking like a burglar trying to break into a house, she peeked over her shoulder while she reached up and grabbed the key. Her heart started to beat faster as she used the key to unlock the door.

The only thing that illuminated the room was the lamp that sat
on the nightstand. The dim light created an environment that proved to be a breeding ground for lust and salacious behavior. A marijuana-induced cloud lingered lazily in the air like low-hanging storm clouds. Trying to take a deep breath proved challenging as the strawberry-scented plug-in responsible for keeping the room fresh was being bullied and rendered useless by the scent of Mary Jane that dominated the air.

Once Nina was inside the room, all she could see was Sharrard sitting on the edge of the bed staring back at her with a devilish grin. Positioned between his legs on her knees was Val, stroking and caressing his penis as she prepared to wrap her thick, sultry lips around it. Located on the bed a few inches away from Sharrard was a mirror with two and a half lines of powder cocaine.

“Come on in, baby girl,” Sharrard said as he gestured for Nina to come over. “You wanna hit this weed?”

Nina stood there, speechless, with her back against the door. Val glanced over her shoulder. Her eyes seemed glazed, the look on her face was distant, and her reaction was slow and zombie-like. The residue on the tip of her nose provided evidence of where that missing half-line of cocaine now resided.

Sharrard smiled at Nina and then patted the bed, trying to entice her to come over. Nina's nipples were standing at full attention by this point. Sharrard tried to entice her once again as he winked and used his index finger to gesture for her to come over.

Nina appeared to be coming under some type of trance as she took a step toward the bed and stopped. Sharrard stood up as he witnessed his spell start to entrap another female victim. Even as he stood up, Val didn't move. Her lips were latched onto his penis so hard that a vein started to protrude from her forehead.

Sharrard noticed how Nina ignored her opportunity to leave. He took that as a sign that she wanted in on the action. To make
her feel welcome, he decided to give her the show she'd obviously come in there to see.

Sharrard turned sideways so that Nina could get a better view of what he was working with. He grabbed the back of Val's head and started stroking her mouth like it was a vagina.

Nina was totally turned on by the size of Sharrard's penis and the definition in his thighs and butt cheeks. At this point, she was standing close enough to Sharrard that he was able to reach out and grab her hand. Nina didn't pull away. She didn't move any closer, but she didn't pull away. He took her index finger into his mouth and started sucking. He then took his right hand and started rubbing her breast while he sucked her finger and rammed his rock hard penis into Val's mouth.

Nina's eyes closed and opened slowly like a person on the verge of falling asleep. Her body's desire for good sex was starting to supersede her need to be cautious. She placed her hand on top of Sharrard's and guided it around her nipple. As a fire began to burn in her loins and her toes started to curl inside of her pumps, there was a knock at the door.

“Nina, are you in there?” asked the male voice.

Nina's eyes opened, and she was suddenly aware of her surroundings and the predicament she was in.

“Nah, she ain't in here,” Sharrard replied.

A few seconds later, the knob on the door started to turn. Nina saw it turning and quickly stepped back and hid in the corner behind the door. She stood in that corner and held her breath like a white lady hiding from a serial killer in a poorly directed, low-budget horror movie.

Larry opened the door and stood in the doorway.

“Wuz up, dog?” Sharrard asked as he helped Val to her feet. “You wreckin' my flow.”

“My bad, man. I'm lookin' for my wife.”

“Well, she ain't in here, playa.”

“My bad,” Larry replied as he glanced at Val as she tried to look the other way, clearly embarrassed by the scene.

Larry stepped out of the doorway and closed the door. He walked back down the stairs and joined the party. Nina exhaled once the door closed. Cognizant that Larry could have been standing on the other side of the door listening, the three of them stood in the room for nearly ten seconds without making a sound.

“Well, since we're all here, we might as well get this shit on and poppin! He's gone now, baby girl; let's do this.”

Nina looked at Sharrard and then at Val. Her hands started trembling and her knees started shaking. She adjusted her dress and left the room in a hurry.

No one saw Nina leave the room. Well, one person did. Maria had been standing in Precious' bedroom with the door cracked, listening to everything. She'd watched Nina go into the guest room. She'd watched Larry knock on the door looking for her. She'd heard Sharrard tell him that Nina wasn't in there and then she saw Nina run out.

Nina made it to the stairs and then looked back. Her eyes focused on Maria peeking out of the door like an eagle hovering fifty feet in the sky, zeroing in on his helpless prey. Maria slammed the bedroom door shut. Her heart fluttered as reality set in; she'd seen too much. Her days in the Dennison household were numbered and she knew it.

“C
OME ON
, V
AL; WE HAVE TO MAKE IT
to San Francisco in less than two hours,” Nina screamed as she threw her makeup bag in the backseat of her truck.

“I'm comin'! I'm comin'; damn!”

“Girl, you don't understand. This is the opportunity of a lifetime for Precious. This is one of the reasons I was so excited about moving to California.”

“Nina, stop being so damn dramatic. This is California. If Precious doesn't make it to this audition on time, there'll be another one next weekend.”

“That may be true, but I want her to make it to this one. I love Old Navy clothing. Not only is this a nationwide campaign, but the children that are chosen get a year's supply of clothes.”

Val didn't bother to respond. She stared out of the window at the ocean as they rode north on Highway 1. The sight of the ocean waves and the hang gliders hovering over the Pacific Ocean had her awestruck.

As they skirted past Santa Cruz and onto Highway 17 where the road cuts through the mountainside, Val started to compare the beautiful landscaping to what she'd grown accustomed to in New Orleans. She pondered her life and the stagnation that awaited her upon her return.

With each passing second, Val's mood started to reflect the growing resentment she was feeling toward Nina's new standard of living. Nina had a millionaire husband, while she was stuck with Tyrone and his long dick, but short finances. Soon her thoughts drifted toward her sexual encounter with the new multi-millionaire Sharrard Hogan.

“Has Larry said anything about Sharrard?”

“Like what?”

“I don't know, anything.”

“He hasn't said anything about him since Sharrard signed his contract last weekend. Girl, Larry got him a five-year contract worth thirty million dollars. He got ten million of that in a signing bonus.”

“Ummm . . . that's nice.”

“It damn sure is, and I can see your eyes twinkling over there. Have you heard from Sharrard since the party? I know y'all didn't talk much that night because you had your mouth full,” Nina said with a chuckle.

“Aww, bitch, stop frontin'. If your man had knocked on that door a few seconds later, he would've seen you pushing me off Sharrard's dick so you could have a turn.”

“Val, watch your damn mouth! Precious can hear you.”

“No, she can't. She's asleep.”

The two of them sat quietly for the next five minutes. Val's temperature was coming to a boil as she thought about the life she could have with Sharrard, and then compared it to her current life back in New Orleans with Tyrone. Eventually her curiosity got the best of her, so she asked once again about Sharrard's contract.

“How much was Larry's cut?” Val asked.

“Larry's cut of what?”

“Sharrard's contract!”

“He didn't tell me, but I've been on the Internet doing some research. Larry's fee was somewhere in the ballpark of one million dollars after the firm got its cut and after taxes.”

“Damn! I didn't know Larry was ballin' like that.”

“Yeah, child, we're ballin' like that. Sharrard is his biggest client, but he ain't Larry's only client. He's been quiet about his exact
net worth, but he's worth a few million. He even invested in some of those new Vitamin Water drinks. I've been playin' it cool, but I'm going start snooping harder in a few months. I'm tryin' to wait until we've been married for a little while. What's his is mine.”

“I ain't tryin' to get too far into your business, but did he make you sign a prenup?”

“Yes, you are tryin' to get in my business, but that's all right, you my girl. Yes, he did make me sign a prenup.”

“Why did you sign it? As much as that nigga was sweatin' you, he would've married you with or without a prenup. I wouldn't have signed it.”

“The prenup I signed doesn't give me any child support; after all, Precious isn't his biological daughter, and I didn't feel right about stickin' him up for money based on that. But it guarantees me a hundred thousand in cash if our marriage lasts at least one year and two hundred fifty thousand in cash if we last at least two years.”

“That ain't shit if he's worth as much money as you said! What if y'all last more than two years?”

Nina smiled and looked at Val. “If we last more than two years, he has to tear up the prenup, and I get half of everything he owns.”

“Bullshit!”

“I ain't lying. He even put it in writing in the contract. Trust me, since he got all that money for Sharrard, his phone has been ringing off the hook. It seems like every free agent in the league is tryin' to get Larry to be their agent. That means that in two years, his net worth is going to be double what it is now.”