“Since you are all in my business, can I ask you a personal question?” he asked me.
I shrugged my shoulders and turned to look at him while waiting for his question.
“Who broke your heart?” he asked me genuinely, as he stared into my eyes. For a moment, it felt like we were the only two people in the gym. The machines buzzed around us, music played, TV’s were turned to sports, but it seemed like everything melted away and we were the only two people there.
“What makes you think someone broke my heart?” I asked him as I averted my eyes and looked down.
“You are wrapped in hurt. Your soul seems like it’s weighed down by disappointment,” he retorted.
“Well, I didn’t know it was that obvious, but I am recently divorced. If you can call almost two years recent,” I replied and his expression shifted slightly.
“Divorced?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said quickly. “We don’t need to talk about it. It’s behind me. Just do me a favor and the next time you offer a ‘show and tell’ make sure you have a clear schedule. From where I’m sitting it looks a little packed.” I threw shade at him.
He laughed and nodded his head to agree with me. I rolled my eyes and stood to my feet.
“Now, can you get back to punishing me? I think I’ve rested enough. How am I going to fight off the advances of womanizing men with these weak arms?” I put one arm up and flexed my muscle.
Cozart laughed loudly, slapping his leg and throwing his head back.
“You right about that. Face to the floor, give me 20 pushups and remember this is what you asked for.” He licked his lips as he stood to his feet and towered over me.
I gulped as I looked up at him, then got on my knees and laid face down on the floor.
Remember this is what you asked for sounded a lot like this what you wanted right? And my pussy clenched violently as I tried to focus on the pushups but I knew as soon as I made it home, I was going to get in the shower, throw one leg over the rail, and fuck myself while imagining my dildo was my fine ass, married, personal trainer.
Chapter Five
Trallis McDaniel
I knew it before I even took the test, and even though I knew it, I still had the nerve to be surprised when the little stick on my bathroom sink confirmed it. All of that, “this is your pussy CO” and “NUT IN ME DADDY…”
Hand landed me in this position. The lines on the test were dark pink like I was very pregnant, not slightly, or barely. I stared at the stick like it had personally betrayed me, but I had no one but myself to blame. Me and Co had been fucking for a whole year. It was supposed to be a fling, but one time turned into two, and two turned into ten.
“Lord how am I supposed to tell this married man that I’m carrying his child?” I asked myself as I held the pregnancy test in my hand. I walked from my bathroom into my bedroom and flopped back onto my Tempur-Cloud Mattress that one of Brick & Co’s customers had purchased for me. I looked around my bedroom, and it looked like luxury. Wooden poles on every end of the king sized canopy bed, 75 inch mounted screen TV above a built in fireplace, an oversized smart mirror surrounded by LED lights and mounted on the wall in the corner, a Tuft dresser, and a hanging chandelier light, my bedroom like the rest of my apartment was a mixture of all of my favorite things; even down to the Baccarat Rouge 540 candles that I burned every morningand night. My condo in the heart of Buckhead cost more than I made in a year at the gym but luckily there was an old white dead man that was very generous with his credit. I had been in Atlanta for years and the condo was paid up.
I figured if I wanted to stay here, I could pay it up for another three years, if not, I would be on to my next destination.
“You would have been on to your next destination, but what if that man doesn’t want you to leave with his child?” I asked aloud as I placed my hand on top of my flat belly.
I had never been pregnant before.
I had always been safe, and made sure a nigga pulled out or wore a condom, but I had gotten sloppy with Cozart. I let my feelings get in the way of logic. The thought of carrying his baby made nervous flutters fill my stomach. What would he say when I told him? Would he be angry? Would he be happy? What if he was excited? What if he wanted to be a family with me, and leave his wife and kids? Could I be heartless enough to take a man from his family?
If my girl Alicia Keys could snatch Swizz Beats from his wife and make a new family with him, I could too. She didn’t ruin his happy home; it was already ruined.
“How do I tell him?” I asked myself aloud as I grabbed my phone and unlocked it. We had shared room service in a hotel room a time or two, but he and I had never been to dinner. He didn’t want to potentially be caught having dinner with another woman and he was married, so I didn’t think anything of it. Maybe I could treat him to dinner and tell him that way. I went over to Red Table and made reservations for NOBU, then suddenly the thought came to me. If I planned dinner for us in another city, he would have no choice but to go because the chances of running into his wife or anyone who knew her would be slim.
Maybe I could convince him to come away with me for a night or two. I had watched Brick cover for her brother before; he could convince her to do it again.
“Yes, that’s perfect! Then we could go on a real date.” I said aloud as I made the reservations, booked a room, and rented a car for us to take a drive to Miami for a couple of days. The entire mini trip cost three thousand dollars, but it wasn’t coming out of my pocket, so I didn’t give a damn. Jeffrey Lovell was paying for us to take this trip so I could tell my man I was carrying his baby. The more I thought about it, the more excited I became.
“Thank you, Jeffrey,” I giggled as I locked the phone and rolled out of bed. I didn’t know how far along I was, but I think I had only missed one period so I couldn’t be over four weeks. I made a mental note to make an appointment with a OBGYN. I smiled at the thought of Cozart coming with me to my appointment, sitting next to me, and looking at the screen as the doctor did an ultrasound on my belly. I was sure me being pregnant was the push he needed to end shit with his wife and be with the woman he really wanted, me.
I went to my oversized closet and pulled out a green Lululemon set. One of the things I loved about my job at the gym was the fact that I could wear cute athleisure wear every day of the week. I pulled out my green and grey Bottega Orbit sneakers to match, placed everything on the bed, and went back into my master bathroom to shower. After showering, exfoliating, and completing my skin care routine, I curled my hair and put it in a bomb updo. I couldn’t wait to lay eyes on my baby and tell him that I planned a trip for us to go away together.
When I made it to the gym an hour later, the contractors were in full swing knocking down walls in the conference room, and they had even put up a cute little sign that announced a juice bar was coming soon. I snickered to myself at my competitiveboss who was really building a juice bar in the gym just because someone had moved in next door offering fresh juices. I shook my head, and walked back to the front to clock in. After typing my information into the system, I went over to the manifest and scrolled through the list of BRICK & CO members. I noticed a few members who had been consistent and fell off. My log showed me the last time they checked into the gym and the last time they paid for their memberships. I grabbed two people from this list and went over to our billing system. After getting all of their information, I pulled out my iPad and went over to Wells Fargo to open a bank account in each of their names. I then applied for five credit cards in each of their names.
