Let Go (BWWM Interracial Romance) (3 page)

Only this time, I knew that the media outside wasn’t there for the controversial procedures that we performed inside; they were there for me.

I pulled around to the back of the building, a sigh of relief escaping my lips once I saw that none of them were back there. I quickly exited my car and entered in the key code to get into the office.

When I entered the office, all eyes shot over to me. The staff watched my every move as I walked in. The beginning of the fal
lout; I was going to have to get used to a lot more eyes being on me. As I approached my desk, my manager stopped me.

“Stephanie, can I talk to you for a moment?”

“Uh, sure.”

I followed her to her office and she had me sit down. This couldn’t be good. She cleared her throat and had a hard time mee
ting my gaze; she was obviously just as uncomfortable as I was.

“So, with your personal life on the news and all of the media attention surrounding you, we think it’s appropriate for you to take some time off. With the nature of business here, we want to protect our client’s privacy and we just can't have reporters hanging ou
tside of the office.”

I fought back the tears that welled up and nodded. She was right. The clinic didn’t need any more attention than it already r
eceived, and my presence would just be a distraction.

“I understand.”

“You’re an asset to us here, and your job will be waiting for you when all of this blows over.”

“Thank you, Pat.”

With as much confidence as I could muster, I held my head high and walked back out of the office, the eyes of everyone on me as I left. My phone rang once I got back into my car.

“Hello?”

“
Girl,
I just woke up and saw your ass on the news? What the hell did you do?”

I shook my head into the phone as Monet, my best friend, tore into me. I had to suck it up and listen to her because I needed to go to her place.

“I just got put on leave at work because of the media attention and reporters are flocking my apartment. I’m heading over to you now.”

As soon as I stepped in her apartment, she let me have it.

“I
told
you to stay away from that man. I
told
you this would happen. What the hell happened to your face?”

“Oh, did the news leave that part out? His wife busted in on us at the hotel last night and we got into a fight.”

It was barely nine in the morning, but I went to her fridge and pulled out a bottle of wine.

Monet’s face scrunched up. “Jesus, this shit is messy. Luke is scheduled for a press conference at ten to address the situation.”

“Well, I won’t be watching.”

I didn’t want to watch him apologize for wanting to be with me. I didn’t want to watch him say that he made a mistake. I knew in my heart that he wasn’t sorry for our affair, but he had to say what the public wanted to hear.

“I understand. And you know you can stay here as long as you need to.”

“Thanks, Nay.”

She watched me guzzle down my glass of wine in silence. As I refilled my glass, she suddenly burst out laughing.

“What?”

She gripped her sides and fought to stifle her laughter. “Babe, your tits are
all
over the internet right now!”

I slammed down the wine glass and stormed into her living room. I didn’t want to hear it, but I had nowhere else to go at the moment.

She must’ve noticed my lack of amusement at my newfound porn star status. She lifted her hands in surrender.

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry.” She sat on the couch next to me and took a sip from my glass. “How are you feeling?”

“Like my life is over.”

“These political scandals come and go; soon enough, another guy will get in trouble and the world will forget all about you.”

“Hopefully that will happen soon.”

“Honestly, I’m glad it finally blew up in your face.”

I rolled my eyes. “Monet-”

“I don’t like seeing you hurt, but I told you a long time ago to end things with him. Now that it’s over, you can finally move on and have a real relationship.”

“That’s true. It will be nice to not have to sneak around anymore.”

Sneaking around like a whore was embarrassing, but it was worth it to me. If it meant I would get to spend time with Luke, I didn’t mind. But I always knew that it couldn’t go on forever.

My cell phone rang, and Monet knew who was calling just by looking on my face.

“Oh, no. Don’t you dare answer that! He’s caused you enough problems.”

She tried to snatch my phone away, but I jumped off the couch and pressed it to my ear.

“Hello?”

I heard Monet scoff behind me and mumble, “I’m going to go get ready for work.”

“Hey, Steph. How are you?”

Just hearing his voice instantly calmed my rattled nerves, although the feeling was temporary.

“I’m okay. They sent me home from work until this blows over. I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself.”

“Yeah, I have a press conference in a few minutes and then I’m going to lie low today. What do you think about meeting up?”

My heart skipped a beat at the thought of seeing him again, but then reality sank in.

I sighed. “We shouldn’t.”

“What did I tell you yesterday? We need to stick together through this mess.”

His words sounded good, but they were unrealistic. Why did we need to stick together? What was the end result? I shouldn’t have allowed our relationship to continue for as long as it did, and I certainly didn’t need to continue it after the mess we created.

I gripped the phone tightly as I said my final words. “No. I think our run is over, Luke. It’s time for you to focus on your fam
ily and rebound your career and I need to focus on getting my life together.”

“Stephanie, don’t do this-”

I nodded as if he could see me. “Goodbye, Luke.”

Monet rushed to my trembling body as soon as I hung up the phone. She rubbed my back and led me to the couch.

“It’s okay, baby. You did the right thing. I have to head out to work; are you going to be okay?”

“Yeah,” I said, although I really wasn’t sure.

Knowing that I wasn’t going to see him again ripped at my soul in a way I’d never experienced before. We’d been secretly seeing each other for almost three years. Even though I never had him completely, I couldn’t help but give myself to him one hundred percent.

We’d met during his last campaign when he organized a rally at my job. His opponent wanted to cut funding for the clinic, but Luke held a big assembly to state his support for the services we provided for low income women. After the rally, he introduced himself to all the staff at the clinic. As soon as he shook my hand, my skin sizzled. Our eyes locked on each other for slightly too long, and the rest was history.

The last three years of my life revolved around waiting for his calls, thinking about him nonstop, and trying to think of new ways to please him when I saw him. And now, not only did I not have him, I had nothing.

After assuring Monet I wasn’t going to jump off of her balc
ony, she reluctantly went to work, leaving me alone. I went into her master bathroom and ran some hot bath water, refilling my wine glass as I waited.

I stepped into the seeping bath, the pain of the scorching water on my skin making me forget about the pain in my heart. I knocked back the third glass of wine and by the time I stepped out of the bath, I was intoxicated. It wasn’t even noon yet.

I was going to go stir crazy in Monet’s apartment. The best way for me to get over Luke would be to start seeing someone else. I didn’t think it was a good idea to try to start a new relationship in the midst of the drama, but there was one man I could always count on when I needed a temporary distraction.

I dialed his number and put the phone to my ear.

He chuckled when he answered. “Well, well, look who it is.”

“Hey, stranger.”

Besides Luke, David was the most stable relationship I was able to maintain over the years. And just like Luke, there were limits to our relationship. He only called me when he needed me, and I only called him when I needed a quick lay. We used each other for our bodies; it was an unspoken arrangement between us.

We’d known each other since high school, and we talked on and off throughout the years. I hadn’t spoken to him much since things with Luke and got serious.

“I see you’ve been causing a bit of trouble.” His deep, creamy voice sent a chill down my spine. Oh yeah, he was just what I needed.

“Yeah, I kind of have to hide out for a while. I could use a little company, though.”

“I’m game.”

“You free tonight? I have this brand new teddy I bought and no one to wear it for.”

He moaned. “I can't wait.”

“Pick me up at seven?”

“Sound good, baby. I’ll see you then.”

A smile spread across my face. That’s what I loved about D
avid; he didn’t judge. No matter what was going on, he could always give me what I needed- no questions asked.

Instead of worrying about the trouble I was in, I thought about how I was going to cover up my black eye. I had a man to get sexy for that night.

My apartment was quiet when I returned to get my clothes for my date with David; I guess the reporters figured out I wasn’t coming back any time soon. It was unfortunate; seeing me with a new man might’ve gotten them off my case. Or it just would’ve made me out to be a bigger whore than I already was.

As I slipped a leopard print dress over my lingerie, my cell phone beeped. I scowled as I read the message:

Hey babe. I’m going to have to reschedule. Talk to you later.

Mark never rescheduled; what was up with that?

“Well, screw him.” I mumbled to myself.

I snatched my purse and keys and headed back to my car. I was all dressed up. I may not have had anywhere to go, but I wasn’t going to waste my outfit. I drove to a sports bar downtown, one of my usual spots.

I sat at the bar and ordered a beer. A few heads turned my way, but people quickly went back to their conversations. I sighed loudly; maybe things would get back to normal quicker than I thought.

Halfway through my drink, a man sat next to me.

“Can I buy you another?”

I shrugged. “Sure.”

He flagged down the bartender and ordered me another beer.

“You look incredible, by the way.”

I smiled. “Thank you.”

I wished I could say the same thing about him, but I was def
initely lowering my standards by engaging in conversation with him. He was short, scrawny, and in need of a haircut. When he passed me my fresh drink, a gust of his musty odor assaulted my nose. I was going to have to drink something a lot stronger than beer if I was going to take him home- and he was going to have to hop in my shower.

“So, are you meeting anyone tonight?” he asked, leaning closer to me.

“No. What about you?”

He chuckled, his cigarette-stained teeth a major distraction. “Looks like I’m meeting with you. What do you say we get out of here?”

He was mighty forward. I was curious as to where he got all of that undeserved confidence from. “Aren’t you moving a little fast?”

He snorted. “Come on, baby. You don’t need to act shy; b
esides, I already know what you’re working with under there. And it’s nice.”

I rolled my eyes before slipping out of the seat. “Goodbye, as
shole.”

I headed back to Monet’s; the night was a bust. I guess I was going to be dealing with jerks until my fifteen minutes of fame passed.

“Nay, you here?” I called out as I used my key to step into her apartment.

She stepped out of her bedroom, a towel wrapped around her freshly showered skin. Her eyes widened as she looked me up and down.

“Hey, check you out! Wait… you didn’t meet with him, did you?”

I shook my head and dropped my purse on the couch, sighing deeply. “No, I tried to get my mind off of him, but the pickings were slim tonight.”

“Well, I have a drink with you. Let me throw on some clothes.”

*

I woke up the next morning with a throbbing headache. Monet and I were sprawled on her couch, passed out. I slowly turned my head and looked at the two empty bottles of wine we downed the night before. Thank God neither one of us had to work.

She groaned as my movements stirred her awake. “Morning.”

“Hey.”

She got off the couch and grabbed a bottle of water from the kitchen. “Breakfast?”

I shook my head. “I can't even think about food right now. I think I’m going to head home, though. I stopped by there last night and there weren’t any reporters. I should be good.”