“Hello, Mr. Muse,” she voiced, softly standing in front of me.
Muse furrowed his brows at me. He wrestled with his thoughts until he squatted in front of Poppy. “It’s very nice to meet you, Poppy. That’s a very cool name. Why do they call you Poppy?”
“It’s because of the poppyseed shaped freckles on my face,” she answered with a smile.
“Now, how did I miss that? I thought it was because of your big puffy ponytail like Princess Poppy fromTrolls.”
“No, silly.” Poppy was so tickled by his comment that she had to stop laughing to catch her breath.
Muse and I laughed along with her as he stood, and I removed her booster seat from my car. Once my car was locked up, he guided us over to his SUV. I spoke to and hugged MJ and introduced them to each other, as I buckled her in. When I was done, and everyone was buckled in, Muse pulled away from the curb, and we drove away to start our Sunday fun day.
Muse kept his promise, and we had dinner and a movie, except he took us to the most amazing drive-thru theater I’d ever seen. Honestly, I had never been to one, so this first-time experience was epic. Waiters and waitresses brought you your drinks, snacks, and full course meals.
I looked around at all the other happy families, and it made me wonder what if? One day, could I have this life with Muse? I smiled at the sound of Poppy and MJ’s laughter at the family movie playing before us. This was life. I would’ve given up just about anything to spend every day of my life like this with Muse. A lone tear escaped my eye, and I quickly wiped it away.
“You wanna talk about it?” Muse’s deep and soulful voice filled my ears and pierced my heart.
“No,” I answered rapidly.
I didn’t want to ruin our first family date outside by talking about Syris’s ass. Enough of my world revolved around him. When I was with Muse, I didn’t want any of Syris’s negative energy tainting what we had going on.
“Era, I have a lot of patience my love, but eventually you will have to talk to me because that burden you’re carrying will become too heavy, and you’re going to explode.”
“I know, baby. You’re the only positive light I have in my life, and I don’t want it stripped from me.”
“Mizz Lady, I could think of another reason. I don’t understand, but I know she deserves better.” He nodded to the back, and I knew what he was referring to.” I wasn’t ready to cross that bridge either, so I focused back on the movie. Well I tried to, but the vibration of Muse’s phone kept irritating me. Every time it buzzed, he hit the side button to ignore it. The shit was really irritating me to the point where I had to say something.
“Who’s that you're ignoring?” I questioned, never taking my eyes from the movie screen.
The sound of his light chuckles only irritated me more. “A ghost from the past.”
“Hmm. Are you still entertaining that ghost?” I turned to him then stuffed some popcorn into my mouth.
Muse looked at me with a soft expression on his face and gently rubbed down the side of my face. “You already know I’m not having sex with anybody. I’m also not entertaining this person. I haven’t spoken to her in four years, so I’m confused why she blowing me up now.”
“Who is she?” I quizzed with concern.
Muse gave me a smoldering look, before he exhaled. “Her name is Starry, and she’s MJ’s mother.”
After kissing Muse passionately, we said our goodbyes, and I hightailed it back to the compound. My stomach dropped to my ass when Muse mentioned Starry’s name. She was the scandalous ass ho that was fucking Syris in my shower. Starryalso wanted my position in the house that’s why she antagonized me every minute she could.
I wasn’t sure how he was going to take the news when he found out, but I’d hoped he wouldn’t do anything insane. Muse dropped a lot of wisdom on me tonight, and he was right. I exhaled because I knew Syris would never allow me to leave, but I prayed he wouldn’t mind me having him on the side.
Once I was done parking my car, I carried Poppy inside, and chaos seemed to be everywhere. I handed Poppy to Tyson and directed him to take her to her nanny. Exiting the foyer, I entered the dining hall, and I was surprised to see Temi crying, and Syris shouting angrily at her. Eric, her guard, was off to the side, but he kept his eyes on her the whole time.
“I said what the fuck I said! The deal is done, and I don’t want to hear anything else about it!” Syris yelled.
“Syris, please hear me out, love!” Temi begged and cried.
With lightning speed, Syris hauled off and slapped fire out of Temi. I gasped as she went tumbling to the ground. It’s been a minute since he’d hit her, and the rage that filled my heart was tempting me to do something real reckless. He stepped over Temi, and Eric raced to her side. “I said what the fuck I said. Butterfly, I need to see you in my office now!” he growled. Syris walked past me, and I sped over to Temi.
Eric helped her up from the floor, and I wiped her tears away. “What’s going on? Why is he so damn mad?”
“He’s made a deal and sold Yasmeen to an old fool like him. She’s going to be that son of a bitch’s tenth wife. He sold his own daughter! I just found this out like twenty minutes ago. Had I known ahead of time I could have thought of something fast, but she’s leaving tomorrow. I don’t want this life for her, sis! She’s only seventeen!” Temi sobbed.
“Oh my God, no!” My heart ached for her because no woman deserved this life, especially not a kid. I pulled her in for a tighthug, an idea came to mind. When we separated, I looked into her eyes. “Do you trust me?”
“Yes, I do, sis.”
