Rich or Famous...Rich Because You Can Buy Fame (15 page)

“I need to be with you too. I feel so alone.”

“But you’re not. I’m here for you no matter what.”

“I love you, Lorenzo.”

“I love you too. I’ll see you tonight.”

“Ok.”

A sense of relief came over me when I got off the phone with Dior. I had been debating the decision I would make about where to go with our relationship up until the very moment I got her on the phone. It wasn’t easy for me because there were certain aspects of my life I would have to open up to her about, if I let her into my world on a personal level. But last night the fury that overcame me when I saw her at that party with Sway established to me that without a doubt she was the woman I wanted to be with.

Now that I came to my decision I needed to get the rest of my life in order, starting with Alexus. When I rang the doorbell I heard the dog barking and a few seconds later Alexus came to the door.

“Lorenzo, what did I do to deserve a personal visit from you? I’ve been home for a little over a week.

I was beginning to think you were never coming.”

“You knew I was coming. Things have been out of my control lately but I came to see you the first chance I got.” I gave Alexus a hug and we went to sit down in her living room. “It’s got to feel good to be back home.”

“It does. I know I told you over the phone but thank you for paying the ransom. When I heard the amount they were asking for I wasn’t sure if you would think I was worth paying that much for.” She gave a half-hearted laugh as if she was joking but I knew she was serious.

“Of course I was gonna pay it, no matter what the amount. But I was surprised they thought to make it that high. I mean how many people know I have access to that amount of cash.”

“That’s true but I guess desperate people do desperate things.”

“Where is Deon?”

“Still visiting with my mother.”

“It’s a good thing he was in North Carolina when the kidnapping went down because getting him down there might’ve been difficult.”

“Yeah, speaking of kids how is Tania doing?”

“She’s good.”

“You seem to be spending a lot of time with her and Lala.”

“Why do you say that?”

“A couple times I talked to you when I got back
you were either on your way or had just left from

being over there.”

“I want to make sure they’re good.”

“I think that’s noble, especially under the circumstances but be careful.”

“Why do I need to be careful?”

“I know you Lorenzo and I hope you don’t cross the line when it comes to Lala. I care about you and I would hate for you to make a mistake like that.”

“I appreciate your concern but I got everything under control.”

“I don’t doubt that for a second. But like I said, I care about you and only want what’s best for you.”

“Thank you,” I said, not convinced that was how Alexus really felt. The main reason it had taken me so long to visit her was because I still wasn’t sure if she was friend or foe which was disturbing since she had been one of the few individuals I felt I could trust. My people were meticulously investigating how the whole kidnapping went down, not leaving nothing or no one off the hook. Alexus was at the top of my list although I hoped she hadn’t committed the ultimate betrayal like Darnell had. So far everything was coming up clean on her but something didn’t feel right. Normally, to put my mind at rest I would’ve had her killed just for thinking she was somehow involved but because she had a very young son, I held back. I wouldn’t want to leave a child motherless
unless I had no other choice. I prayed for his sake that she wasn’t involved.

“Not to get off the subject but did you hear what happened at that artist’s party you do some work with?”

“Yeah,” I said, not letting her know I was dead in the center of it.

“It’s a damn shame people who got everything going for them can’t pull it together long enough to stay out of trouble. I mean look at this shit.” Alexus held the front of the New York Post up. “Sway Stone who got all of hip hop and even pop on lock is in jail for beatin’ some chick’s ass.”

“Let me see that.” Alexus handed me the paper and I tried to read it without it appearing that I had a personal investment in the situation.

“I have to make sure I call Phenomenon to see if everybody involved is okay.”

“They all okay I’m sure. The only one probably hurting right now is Sway. He got caught red-handed beating up on that girl. I don’t see how he’ll be able to get out of this. That is what I would define as a sticky situation.”

I had no idea that Sway went off on Dior to that degree until after reading the article in the paper. Now I understood why she was on the brink of having a nervous breakdown. This shit ran much deeper than I initially thought. I couldn’t waste any time finding a public relations firm to get to spinning.

Unless Dior was ready to be the poster child for domestic violence this mess had to be cleaned up. I was positive Sway and his dream team machine were coming up with a creative list of actions to take to correct any damage currently done and bring a halt to what might be coming up. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that step one would be to shut Dior down. So I had to set Dior’s plan in motion before Sway had an opportunity to jumpstart his own.

** *

By the time I left Alexus’s house and arrived at Lala’s place, I had been on the phone with a few PR firms that all came highly recommended. I wanted to personally speak with the person who would spearhead the project because I had to make sure they knew what the fuck they were doing. They needed to hear in my voice that I wasn’t interested in them just talking a good game I wanted results. Also, with Sway being such a high profile celebrity I knew they would all be trying to jump on it so I had to be extra cautious. I narrowed my decision down to two firms that had equally impressed me. Once I received their written proposal that would determine my final decision.

When I got to Lala’s front door Tania was right there ready to greet me, “Hi, Uncle Lorenzo!” I lifted her up and she gave me a hug and kiss. Tania had quickly turned into the daughter I would never have. Being a father had always been something I wanted but having to deal with the pain of my mother’s mental disorder changed that. So having a Goddaughter like Tania was a blessing for me.

“How’s my favorite girl doing?”

“Great! I’m drawing you a picture. I can’t wait to show it to you.”

“I can’t wait to see it. Go get it.”

“There are a couple more things I have to do to it, so stay right here. I’m going to finish and I’ll be right back.”

“You do that. I’ll be right here waiting.” Tania ran upstairs and all I could do was smile. I started to think about Dior and when she said she wanted us to have a baby.

“That little girl is something else.”

“She is and she absolutely adores you, Lorenzo.”

“I adore her too.”

“And don’t forget about her mother,” Lala said, giving me a kiss. “My mother will be over here shortly to pick up Tania so we can have some private time. I can’t wait to feel you inside me.”

I had been intimate with Lala a few more times since the first time we had sex but my intention was
to stop. I didn’t want to hurt her. She just wasn’t some woman I was fucking. I cared about her and I knew I didn’t want anything serious. Now that I was going to try and make it work with Dior I knew it would be a huge mistake to keep sexing Lala.

“Listen, Lala, I bought a house for you and Tania.”

“What! When did you do that and why?”

“I bought it recently. This neighborhood is cool but Tania’s getting older, she deserves a big backyard, a pool, you know all the stuff that little kids enjoy.”

“The house has a pool! Lorenzo, you are too good to us! It seems like a pretty big house. Why don’t you move in with us?”

“That’s the thing, Lala. I don’t think we need to continue on with that type of relationship.”

“I don’t understand. I thought things were going great between us.”

“They were but I don’t wanna lead you on. Nothing more is gon’ come outta this. You deserve to eventually find that man who wants to take it to the next level with you.”

“And what you telling me is that it’s not going to be you.”

“Exactly.”

“So why buy us the house, Lorenzo. To ease your guilt ‘cause you don’t want to fuck wit’ me no more?”

“That’s part of it. You’re a good woman and Tania is my Goddaughter. I’ll always take care of her and you. I want both of you to have a better quality of life and since I can provide it why not.”

“A house is not going to replace my relationship with you, Lorenzo.”

“Maybe not but living good will at least make you feel a little better.”

“Are you still going to come visit Tania?”

“Of course and that’s why I’m ending this thing between us. I don’t want our relationship to jeopardize the relationship I have with Tania. I’m not gon’ call what we were doing a mistake but we were both going through a difficult time and got caught up.”

“Maybe that’s what it was for you but not for me. I’ll respect what you want to do because you’ve been nothing but good to us. I ain’t gon’ lie though. I hope one day you might change your mind about us but I won’t push it.”

“You truly are a good woman.” I held Lala and kissed her on the forehead. She was nothing like Dior, who was completely complicated but that’s who I wanted. I only hoped that it didn’t turn out to be the worst decision of my life.

Dio
r
The Fam
e

“I’m not doing this shit!”

“Dior, they’ve already paid you for it.”

“Tell them to sue me. Or better yet, baby, refund them their money.” Lorenzo just gave me that look. I was used to it by now so I simply laughed it off.

“It doesn’t work like that.”

“Abby, what part of I’m not doing that shit don’t you get.” I watched as she started fidgeting in her chair, something Abby did when I was irritating her, which was often. I knew she thought I was a nightmare as a client but Lorenzo was paying her out the ass so she dealt with it.

“Lorenzo, will you please speak to her. I have some phone calls to make.”

“I’m still not doing it,” I laughed as Abby walked out the room.

“Why do you like fuckin’ wit’ her?”

“Because she takes herself way too seriously.”

“She should with the amount of money she’s making off me.”

“So she needs to shut her mouth and do what I tell her to do.”

“Dior, you’re the one who told her you wanted the co-host job for the new music video show. She had to bust her ass to get the network to even consider you. But you said that’s what you wanted so she made it happen. Now the contract has been signed, they cut a check and you want to back out!”

“Nobody told me I would have to be on set at five o’clock in the morning.”

“It’s only three times a week.”

“I don’t give a damn if it was once a month, I’m just gettin’ in the bed at five o’clock. I don’t need that video bullshit anymore anyway now that I just got my reality show deal. I was only doing it so people would have something else to talk to me about besides Sway. That shit happened months ago but every interview I do that’s the main topic. I’m over it and I’m over doing that video show. Baby, if they want their money back just give it to them.”

“Dior, that’s not the point. You don’t conduct business like that. Abby works for a highly reputable firm. It makes her look unprofessional and it makes you look bad too. The contract is only for three months. A driver will pick you up every morning. Just do the show. It’s gon’ be a minute before the reality show starts airing so this will be a good look for you in the interim.”

“Fine, I’ll do it. These three months can’t be over quick enough though.”

“That’s my girl. Now come give me a kiss.”