Inner Circle (18 page)

“Jai, watch her!” Eve said, referring to Jackie. “And whatever you do, don’t let Jackie get anywhere near Sa’Myra. I’m gonna handle this.”

Eve darted after Amber who was now in full pursuit of Sa’Myra. When she finally caught up to her, it was too late. Sa’Myra had already begun to cause a scene.

“Sean!” Sa’Myra yelled across the room.

“What the hell are you doing?” Amber asked.

“My attorney just notified me that Sean still hasn’t taken the paternity test. If he thinks he’s getting out of providing support to me while I carry his baby, he’s got another think coming.”

“I already told you we’d take care of it. But that doesn’t give you the right to come here, especially tonight,” Amber said, trying to diffuse the situation.

Eve positioned herself between Amber and Sa’Myra. Although Sa’Myra wasn’t showing any signs of pregnancy, she wanted to make sure there was no room for Amber to slap the baby out of her belly.

“Do you think I give a damn about this little party of yours?” Sa’Myra placed her hand on her hip and looked around at the small crowd that had begun to settle around them. “Ooooooh, I get it. You think things are over between me and Sean.”

Amber stood her ground. “They are!”

“Really? Then how do you think I knew about tonight?” Sa’Myra snapped. “Oh, hey, baby!”

Eve turned her attention to Sean who had just entered the room.

“Baby?”
Amber questioned. “Sean?” Her eyes filled with tears.

“You heard me. What? You thought we’d stopped fucking because you found out about me? No, boo-boo! Your precious husband’s been banging my back out ever since. Matter of fact, I was just with him last night. Tell her, Sean.”

“Sean, baby, now you know Mama don’t like no mess. What the hell is going on here?” Tami asked emerging from the stairwell.

“Amber, come on, let’s go.” Eve grabbed Amber’s hand and tried to pull her away.

Amber resisted and instead directed her full attention toward Sean and repeated her question. “Sean?”

“Amber, I didn’t—”

But before he could finish his sentence, Eve stopped him. “Sean, don’t do this here and for damn sure, not now!” She turned back around to face Amber. “Amber, honey, go upstairs and pack a bag. You’re coming home with me and Chase tonight.” Eve watched as Amber immediately did what she said.

“Who the fuck are you?” Sa’Myra asked Eve.

Without saying a word, Eve turned quickly around, allowing her hand to personally introduce itself to Sa’Myra’s face.

“Oooooh, shit!” Jackie shouted from crowd.

“You got two seconds to get the fuck out of here,” Eve said, pointing her finger in Sa’Myra’s face.

Sa’Myra screamed as she clutched the side of her cheek with her hand. “You crazy bitch! I can’t believe you just slapped me. Sean! Aren’t you going to do something?”

Eve watched as Sean stood still. Chase and Ray immediately escorted Sa’Myra out of the house.

“Eve, let me explain,” Sean pleaded.

“No! There’s nothing to explain, Sean. First you cheat on her and get that little skank pregnant. Second, you try to flip this entire situation on Amber as if it were all her fault. Then, to add insult to injury, you’re still sleeping with this bitch behind Amber’s back while she’s busting her ass to throw you this fucking party.”

“Now, you wait a minute,” Tami chimed in. “My son has been nothing but good to Amber.”

“No, ma’am, your son is a fucking asshole. And I’m convinced that’s all thanks to you.” Eve made eye contact with Jackie and Jai who were now standing just a few feet away. “Jackie, hand me my purse, and Jai, would you go upstairs and help Amber gather her things?”

The two ladies moved quickly as Eve took account of the room. All that could be heard were gasps and whispered remarks. She cleared her throat as she took her purse and coat away from Jackie. “So sorry you all had to witness that. Guess it’s clear to everyone that Sean and Amber have several things to work out. Thank you all for coming out tonight, but this party is officially over.”

Just as Sean reached out to Eve, she snatched her arm away. “Don’t you dare touch me!” she protested. “Chase, get the car. We’re leaving.”

Chase walked back out of the house as quickly as he’d walked in. Eve stood at the bottom of the stairs waiting for Amber. Even though it’d only been a few minutes, to Eve, it seemed as though it was taking Amber forever. When she finally arrived at the top of the stairs with her bag, Eve met her halfway.

“Chase is waiting for us downstairs.” Eve took Amber’s bag from her hand. “Don’t worry, I took care of that bitch for you.”

“Where’s Sean?” Amber asked.

“Who gives a fuck!”

“Do you want me to get him before you leave?” Jai asked.

“Jai! Hell, no.” Eve rolled her eyes as she dragged Amber through the crowd of people that had just begun to make their way out of the house. “We’re out of here, period, point-blank!”

Eve shut down the slew of people that tried to say something to Amber. Her only agenda was getting her out of that house safe and sound. Just as Amber and Eve made it to the door, Sean reached for Amber’s arm.

“Amber, please,” Sean pleaded.

“Please
what
?” Eve snapped.

“Eve, it’s okay,” Amber replied. “Sean, I really don’t have anything to say and quite frankly, I don’t want to hear anything you have to say right now.”

“There’s got to be something I can do.”

“No, Sean, there isn’t.”

Eve placed her hand on Amber’s back and ushered her out. She stared Sean up and down as she made her way through the door. She didn’t know what was worse—the fact that he allowed Amber to throw him this elaborate party or the fact that all the while, he was still cheating on her with that gold-digging whore Sa’Myra.

“Eve, there’s got to be something you can do to help me,” Sean begged. “The thing with Sa’Myra was a mistake.”

Eve cut her eyes at Sean in sheer disgust. “You can’t be serious.”

“Eve, she’ll listen to you. You’re her best friend. Come on, Eve, it’s my birthday.”

Eve watched as Chase helped Amber into their car. Once she knew Amber was secure, she turned to face Sean. She stood face-to-face with him for a moment before speaking, then leaned in to make sure he could hear her. “You’re right. It is your birthday, and you do deserve something special. So let me tell you what I’m gonna do for you.”

Sean stood in anticipation with traces of hope beaming from his eyes.

“Come here,” Eve signaled with her finger.

Sean leaned in close. “Thanks, Eve, I’ll do any—”

Before Sean could finish his sentence, Eve kneed him in the groin. “Happy birthday, you bastard!” she said as she darted to the car.

Eve knew that her little stunt didn’t help matters at all and would inevitably cause her best friend Amber further grief. But she didn’t
care. With The Wives Association finally in full swing, she’d make sure Amber was protected both emotionally and financially. And if Sean tried to make things hard for her, she’d make sure he’d get more than just a hard knee to the balls. Next time, Eve would make certain to nail his balls to the wall.

15

“There
are fresh towels and soap in the bathroom. Feel free to help yourself to anything in the kitchen if you’re hungry. Sandy said Olivia ate at the sitter’s, but there’s plenty of snacks, just in case. I’ll make sure Sandy gets you and Olivia anything else you may need in the morning,” Eve said as she stood in the doorway of the guest bedroom that Olivia had picked out to stay in for the night. Eve’s five spare bedrooms were each decorated by color, and since Olivia’s favorite color was pink, it was no surprise to Eve that she’d picked that one.

“Are you sure this room is okay? I mean, if you want us to, we can take the downstairs room. That way, we won’t disturb you and Chase.”

“Girl, don’t worry about it. What’s the point of having this bigass house with all these rooms if I can’t have my guests feel comfortable in any one of them? Besides, Olivia picked this pink room, so anything my godbaby wants, she can have.” Eve blew a kiss to Olivia who had made herself comfortable on the pink and green queen-sized canopy bed.

“Mommy, this is the room I always pick when I get to spend the night with Auntie Eve. She says this room is just for me,” Olivia cooed.

“Livie, why don’t you be a big girl and go brush your teeth
for me? I’ll be there in a minute to help you with your pj’s, okay?” Amber scooted Olivia off the bed and waited until she was in the bathroom.

“Thanks for making the arrangements to have Olivia dropped off over here tonight. She doesn’t know what’s going on with me and Sean. So far, we’ve been able to keep all of this from her. I don’t want her in the middle of this. I can’t imagine what Sean might have done if he’d gotten his hands on her first.” Amber pulled the covers back on the bed.

“Sean would never hurt Olivia, would he?” Eve questioned.

“No, nothing like that!” Amber removed the pillows from the bed. “The worst thing Sean would’ve done was keep her from me and use her as leverage to get what he wants from me. He can be so spiteful at times.” Amber kicked off her shoes.

“Well, good thing she’s here and safe. Let’s talk more in the morning, okay?”

“Okay.”

Eve closed the door behind herself as she walked across the hall to the master suite. She opened the door to the bedroom and found Chase sitting on the bed, peeling off his socks and shoes. Eve stood in the door frame for a moment and watched her husband. He wore a combination of exhaustion and frustration on his face as he stuffed his pin-striped socks into his chocolate-colored leather Prada loafers.

“Need some help?” Eve asked.

“Nah, I’m good,” Chase replied dryly.

Eve stepped slowly out of her own silver-studded Manolos, releasing a sigh of relief as her heels found comfort on the plush beige carpet.

“Crazy night, right?” Eve said, as she moved in close to Chase and sat next to him on the bed.

“I know what you’re trying to do, and I gotta be honest. I’m not interested.” Chase rubbed his hands across his head.

“What are you talking about?”

“Really?” he cut his eyes to her.

“Chase, you saw what happened. What did you expect me to do?”

“Nothing! That’s what I expected you to do. For once, why couldn’t you just mind your own fucking business?” Chase rose from the bed and entered the bathroom.

“Amber is my best friend, Chase. You mean to tell me that if the shoe was on the other foot, you wouldn’t have done the same thing?” Eve followed him closely.

“No, I wouldn’t have. Men don’t do that kind of shit, Eve. We don’t walk into problems that don’t belong to us, and we damn sure don’t create them. Unless a fight is about to break out, we stay cool and stay the fuck out of other people’s business.” Chase removed layers of clothing starting with his jacket and working his way down to his pants.

“Well, I’m not a man, and clearly we handle things differently,” Eve shot back. “What the fuck is the problem with me being loyal to my friends? Ever since I started my association, you’ve done nothing but complain. Either I’m spending too much time with Amber or I’m spending too much time with my coworkers. It’s always something with you. What the hell is it? Are you jealous because I’ve actually taken the time to make some friends in L.A.?”

“That’s classic, Eve! And you can try to spin this shit around, but we both know this isn’t about me. This is about your fear of abandonment and your need to try to control everything and everybody. It’s pathetic.”

“So I’m pathetic now?” Eve began to tear up. “That’s rich. So what? Because I care about the people in my life, I’m a control freak?”

“You don’t get it, do you?” Chase threw up his hands. “How long have we been talking about starting a family, Eve, huh? We’ve been together almost six years, and no matter how I try to get you focused on our family, you’re always too busy taking on new clients, or starting some new club, or volunteering for some new cause. Meanwhile, you haven’t seen your mother in almost three years.

“You never put forth any real effort to connect with my family and, if that isn’t enough, you clearly never had that conversation with your doctor to stop taking your pills. But you wonder what the fuck
my
problem is? Well, here’s the short answer: it’s
your
priorities!”

Eve withdrew from her arrogant stance and leaned against the basin. In the six years that they had been together and the five years they’d been married, he’d never spoken to her like that. For the first time in their relationship, Eve found herself at a loss for words.

“You don’t consult me about anything. We’re supposed to be a team, Ev. And what do you do, day in and day out? You not only call all the plays for this family, but you go out for every pass, solo. Did it even dawn on you, when you impulsively invited your girl and her kid to stay at our house indefinitely, that your husband is in the playoffs? No, you didn’t, because that would’ve been too much like right. The most important time in my career, and what do you do? You bring drama into our house. Drama that I warned you about. Drama that I asked you not to get involved in.” Chase turned on the shower and grabbed a towel before entering. “But do you listen? Hell, no!” Chase closed the glass shower door.