First Queen II

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

MALIAH

Malasia stirred in her bed as I laid her down. I kissed her forehead before going into Lai's bedroom to see her making the bed. She smiled to me while flipping the pillows. A pair of nice underwear fell from the pillowcase. I stared at them, questioning myself.

"Are y'all trying to make babies?" I pointed.

She shrugged while grabbing her underwear and tossing them to the hamper. I walked over to the mirror while shaking my head. Maybe I was tripping and just being nosy. Still, I needed to sit my friend down and have a talk with her.

With lots of encouragement from Brandon, I finally decided to try my friend again. He knew how much she loved Michael and how much damage I almost done to our friendship once. Brandon said that no matter what, I needed to inform her if I was her real friend. She always looked out for me when I was being a weak girlfriend, so it was only right I returned the favor.

Some people just didn't want to be helped. I could tell Lainni one thing and she would do the other. Last week I gave her advice to take Michael to meet Corey. Instead, she took Malasia herself and introduced her daughter to her biological father. That proved that she made decisions based solely on her own benefit. I knew she wasn't going to listen to me, her daughter barely even liked me.

Lai grabbed her laundry basket, eyeing her underwear then walking out of the bedroom. I followed her down the staircase to the laundry room. She seemed irritated today. Michael was out with Trell and Chris, whom flew in for a couple of days.

She loaded the clothes into the washing machine. I watched her complete this whole process until she walked into the kitchen.

"I came by to talk." I took a seat in the stool at the island counter.

"I'm listening." She opened a pack of meat, while glancing at me.

I took a deep breath. "Brandon and I rented a room the other night across town for our purposes, and I seen Michael there. Um, I was just heading downstairs to the pool area but he was leaving a hotel room. We didn't speak to each other because I didn't want him to see me. A little while later Brandon came down to the pool area saying he had seen Chloe."

"Where is this headed?" she interrupted.

"I'm not even sure but after putting two and two together, I came down to one thing. It dawned on me how clingy she seemed to be to him the day of Pam's cookout."

Lainni stared at me while closing the stove. She walked back over to the counter and leaned against it. I could sense something was wrong with her. It was my news. I knew she would be broken about this which is why I didn't want it to be true. I wanted to at least have a coincidence on my hands but, unfortunately, it most likely wasn't.

The silence was so uncomfortable. Her eyes were fixated on nothing in particular. I expected some type of reaction but the serenity she had possessed was scaring me even more. The rim of her eyes began to get watery. I knew this was worse than anything.

"Are you saying you think they might be seeing each other?"

I nodded.

She hesitated. "I'm going to see. I just want to be sure before I accuse him. Thank-"

The footsteps interrupted her as Chris and Michael came walking in. Michael invaded the refrigerator as Chris settled himself on the countertop. His face softened once he seen the look in Lai's eyes.

"What's wrong?"

Michael closed the door to the refrigerator while eyeing her. He looked at Chris, who was looking back at him. I knew they were saying something to one another which made me mad. This was true and I wasn't no dumb ass. The two were catching on to the tension in the room.

"It's something him and I need to discuss alone. Sorry."

Michael eyed her, then threw a knowing glance to his friend. Chris gave her a kiss on the cheek which Michael discreetly pushed him off. I watched this all while grabbing my purse, then giving her a you-know-what-to-do look. Lainni nodded.

"Hey, Chris." I caught up to him, touching his shoulder. He turned around with a weak smile.

"Can you please be honest with me for one moment? I know you and Michael are close, and I respect that but she is my friend. I don't want her to have to settle. No woman should ever have to deal with being betrayed by her own boyfriend. Is he cheating on her?"

Chris took a deep breath. His eyes averted to mine before he spoke, lowly, "Yeah, he's cheating on her with someone. I got a lot of love for him, and I try not to get involved in that mess. Sometimes I covered for him but I just saw we're getting too old to be still playing these games. I want both of them to be happy and this just tears them apart."

I walked away from him, getting into my car then leaving out of the driveway. I kept my phone by my side just in case she called. I wanted to be the first person there for her.

No names were given, but my gut told me it was Chloe. I just always sensed her uneasiness around Lainni. I wanted to ask her why she never came around when everyone got together, or why she never took the guest room at Pam's, or why she was always in our faces smiling when she knew that her and Lainni had shared the same thing. Most of all I wanted to ask her why.

Brandon greeted me at the door in his work clothes. I gave him a gentle peck then rubbed his shoulders. "I was finally talking to Lai so I couldn't cook. I apologize."

"It's cool. I stopped by Dee's and his girl cooked. What was Lainni saying?"

"Not much, I just told her and she said she would ask. But I already know. Chris told me as soon as we left Michael and her to talk. I'm just waiting on her to get back to me. Just in case she does, I'm going to leave the guest room open."

"If I was her, I'd get that nigga money and keep his house. I know she stacking from dancing all those years."

"Probably, but I know she might want to still save it. Brandon, promise me something."

"Like what, baby?" He kissed my neck then moved to my cheek. I wrapped my arms tightly around his torso.

"Promise me that if you're unhappy, you'll tell me so we can fix it before I get hurt."

"I promise you, baby. I never know what the future holds but I promise you I will try with everything inside of me to make this relationship work."

Brandon stroked my cheek as we stood there. I kissed him gently again then slowly pulled away. I was falling in love with him. These months were he'll as he stuck by me with my insecurities. Now, he deserved to know that I truly cared.

And right after I sorted this situation out, which I was determined to do, I would make sure my relationship was taken to the next level.

My phone rang, and I jumped for it hoping it was Lainni. I answered with zero hesitation. "Hello?"

"What the hell are you telling Pam, you psycho?" Chloe spat.