The Boy Is Mine - The Finale (BWWM Romance) Read online

  “Told me what?”

  “He and I used to be, sort of, an item. Our relationship was pretty hot and heavy back in New York. I was the bar manager at a place where he was a regular and one thing led to another after that. What we had was short before he moved on. But as far as I’m concerned, him head hunting me for this job is a sure sign that he wants to start things back up again.”

  My heart was pounding through my chest. I wanted to call her a liar but I could hear truth in her words. I sat there, speechless.

  “Awww,” Julie said as she looked at me in sympathy, “I’m sorry that you got pulled into this mess. You know how men are but you’re simply a rest stop until he can go for what he really wants. I guess he just wants to sow some wild oats one last time.”

  My shock turned to anger. I couldn’t believe that she had the audacity to say those things to me. Didn’t she know that I would pull all of the hair out of her head? I then heard Jasmine in my ear and tried to calm down. I was not going to let this bitch get to me.

  “Me and Michael are in love with each other. He’s not leaving me for some bimbo like you. You were something that he fucked and discarded. Why would he go back to scraps?”

  Julie scoffed, “You don’t even believe the words that are coming out of your own mouth. You know that Michael is a man that likes to play the field, and there is no way that he’s settling down with a black girl, get real. A man like him needs a trophy wife like me, with nice white trophy children too.”

  I couldn't believe the words that were coming out of her mouth. I tried to get a word in but she went on further.

  “I’m damn near running his business and soon, I’ll be running him also, Patrice. Why do you think that you weren’t the one that went to the networking event with him the other night? Just give up, baby. That boy is going to be mine.”

  “I’m not your fuckin’ baby. You’re lucky I’m trying to turn over a new leaf. Under any other circumstances you would have a busted lip right now.”

  “Go ahead, get arrested bitch.”

  “You’re not worth the five hours in jail. So I’m going to get out of here before things get even uglier than your personality.” She opened her mouth to say something, but I cut her off, “Don’t say another motherfucking word. If you do, the cops will be able to pull me off of your ass.”

  Julie scoffed again but she kept her mouth closed. I left the bar and quickly headed to my car. I drove around for at least an hour aimlessly. I ignored my assistant’s phone calls. Everyone was going to have to wait for me to be in a better mood. Interacting with a client at that moment would have been career suicide.

  I knew Michael was a player but he genuinely seemed to have changed. Either she was lying or he was a really good actor. I wasn’t sure if my heart could take the latter. I stepped outside of my comfort zone by dating him and I hoped that he wasn’t going to make me regret it.

  My mom had apologized but I kept thinking about what she said to me. Michael and I hardly ever went out on public dates. But he sure didn’t mind parading that bitch all over the city. We usually met at his apartment. Did he not want to be out in public with a woman that he’s dating or was he ashamed of me? Either way, I didn’t like it.

  #Chapter8

  “I’m caught between a rock and a hard place.”

  Michael

  I eventually went back to work the same day. I calmed myself down and got some much needed business done. Before I walked out the door for the day, Michael called me.

  “Hey babe,” he said smoothly.

  “Hi.”

  “You want to hang out this evening?”

  “Sure, let’s go somewhere.”

  “I was thinking that you could just come over and we could have dinner at my place.”

  “No, it’s okay. It’s my treat.”

  “I’m really tired this evening. I would prefer to just order in. I know you love a good take-out, Patrice.”

  I bit my tongue again because I wanted to stay calm. It took me hours to get back to a normal state. I even shed a few tears and I don’t usually cry. His insistence on staying in did nothing to ease my concerns. I couldn’t just sit around and let him treat me that way; I had to say something before I burst.

  “No Michael, we’re going to meet at the pool hall.”

  “You okay?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “But I just told you…”

  “Meet me at the pool hall, I’m on my way now.”

  “Ummm, okay.”

  I was done with this part of our relationship. I was over all of the apartment dates, either we were going to be together completely or we were going to be apart. My mom would just have to be disappointed in another one of my failed relationships.

  Michael arrived twenty minutes later than I did. I chose a table that was directly in the middle of all of the others. I know I was being petty but I didn’t care. I was annoyed and he was going to hear all about it.

  “Hey babe,” he said before he kissed me on the cheek and sitting down. So far, so good.

  “Hi.”

  “So, how are you doing?”

  “I’m doing okay.”

  “How was your day?”

  “My day has been…interesting.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means you and I have a lot to talk about.”

  His facial expression completely changed. He looked genuinely afraid, as if I’d caught him in the act of something. My stomach tightened and I was afraid that everything I heard was true. He probably talked to Julie and he knew what to expect.

  “So what’s going on?” He asked.

  “I’m really having a problem with the way that things are going. I don’t feel appreciated and it seems like you want to hide me. Most of our dates take place in your condo. Why is that? Is this who you are? Or are you ashamed of me?”

  “Absolutely not! Patrice, I can’t believe that you would even come to that conclusion.”

  “Well, believe it. Because I’m tired of this shit.”

  “I don’t know where all of this is coming from but I can assure you that I’m not ashamed of you. I’m not trying to hide you or anything of the sort. I love you and I’m damn proud to have you as my mate. You mean the world to me. I would love to go out and do more stuff but you know how things are for me right now. Most of the time, I just want to go home, eat and have a drink. I also want to spend time with you. I’m sorry if you feel like I’ve been hiding you. It’s just that I’ve been too tired to do anything extra after I get off work.”

  “But you’re not too tired to go out with Julie?”

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “You know exactly what I mean, so let’s just stop this. I know about your history. ”

  He gave a guilty sigh, “How did you find out?”

  “It doesn’t matter how I found out! What matters is that I should have found out from you. I don’t know what to think, but this doesn’t look good.”

  “It’s true, we went out but it was a long time ago. It’s strictly business between us now.”

  I shook my head, “I don’t think Julie feels that way. I think that she may feel like this is the start of a new relationship.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. She’s a businesswoman and she wouldn’t think like that. She knows that I’m happy and she seems to be happy dating. She wouldn’t think like that.”

  I couldn’t believe how naïve he was. He had no clue who she really was. Good thing I had a trick up my sleeve.

  I gave an evil grin, “Are you sure?”

  “Of course I’m sure.”

  “Okay, just checking. I’ll give you a few more seconds to rethink what you’ve just said to me.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  I pulled my phone from purse and sat it on the table, “Well Michael, I went to see Julie at your office earlier today. But before I went in, I knew I should be prepared. I decided to use my handy voice record app. Are you rea
dy?”

  He ran his hand through his hair, “OK. Play it.”

  “Gladly,” I said before I pressed the button. I fast-forwarded it to the portion when things got out of control. Michael’s face turned red as he listened to the recording. The sound was crystal clear, which is quite impressive considering it was in my purse the whole time. He looked at the phone in disbelief when he heard the horrible things that came out of her mouth. When it was over, I put the phone back in my purse.

  “I don’t even know what to say,” he admitted.

  “Well, you have to do something.”

  “I’m caught between a rock and a hard place. The launch is two days away and I need her as a manager. I don’t know if I can get anyone to manage the place on such short notice. But I can’t work with her if that’s her motive, especially after she was so blatantly disrespectful to you.” He appeared to be deep in thought before he rose from the table and gave me a kiss on the cheek, “Patrice, I love you. And I need to go sort this out right now. Don’t you ever think that I’m ashamed. I’m going to prove to you how wrong you are.”

  Michael quickly left the table.

  I sat at the table and enjoyed the rest of my cocktail at a snail’s place. I needed him to handle Julie so that I wouldn’t have to. I also planned on letting him know that we needed to go out more if we were going to be together. He wasn’t going to be able to use the tired excuse. I couldn’t sit at home all the time: that shit gets boring. I was glad that things seemed to finally be going the way I wanted them and I was proud of the way I had handled the situation. I was definitely curbing my temper.

  As I was glowing in my own sense of achievement, I heard a slight buzzing that got my attention. I checked my phone to see if someone was calling me but it wasn’t my phone and then I saw that it was Michael’s phone. He had left it on the table. His phone kept buzzing back to back. I picked it up to make sure that it wasn’t for business purposes.

  It was from a number I didn’t recognize and it didn’t have a name attached to it. The person kept calling. I didn’t want to invade his privacy, so I chose not to answer. But his phone started buzzing in quick pulses as if someone was sending him a lot of text messages. I stole a quick glance. It read, “Answer your fucking phone. You will not ruin my life.”

  My brow furrowed. Whoever it was seemed really pissed and it was obviously a big deal. Who could be that upset with him? Whose life was he going to ruin?

  Leaving his phone alone was eating me alive. I knew as soon as I picked up his phone to read his messages, he would walk through the door and accuse me of invading his privacy. He would’ve been correct but the risk suddenly became worth it. My nosiness had got the better of me.

  I picked up his phone and read the messages from the mystery number.

  It read:

  Answer your fucking phone. You will not ruin my life. What we had is over. I told you that I want nothing to do with you. You had your chance with me. I chose my husband over you, just like you chose your ex-wife over me. I respected your decision to move on, please do us both a favor and just go away. Do not make me regret ever knowing you.

  My heart dropped. I didn’t have any clue as to who that person was. What kind of shit was Michael into? My hands shook as I recorded the number. I hoped he wouldn’t catch me as I was doing it. I deleted the text messages and the calls. I don’t know why I did it, I just did.

  When I put his phone back onto the table, he walked in hurriedly. “My phone!” He said.

  “Yeah, I was going to call you but your phone was here with me.”

  He laughed, “I’m sorry, my head was all over the place. I didn’t even leave you any money. Do you want me to take care of your drinks?”

  “Of course not, get out of here. This was my treat remember?”

  He smiled, “All too well. I’m going to get out of here for real this time. Love you.”

  I gave a tight-lipped smile and watched him walk away. I kept looking at the number in my phone and I contemplated calling it over and over in my head. What if the person on the other end of my line told me something about Michael that would ruin my perception of him? Then again, that message did not look like something that would end well for any of us.

  I had to figure out something. The only way that I would have peace of mind is if I called the number. I dialed the number before I changed my mind.

  An angelic voice answered the phone cautiously, “Hello?”

  “Umm hi, I’m so sorry to call you this way. But I see that you’ve been calling my boyfriend.”

  “Your boyfriend?”

  “Yes.”

  “Michael’s your boyfriend?”

  “Yes, he is.”

  “How did you get my number?”

  “I saw your number in his phone and I was concerned.”

  She sighed deeply, “I have enough drama in my life right now. I don’t need anything extra. Everything with him and I are over. You don’t have to worry, I want him out of my life.”

  “Umm okay, but I see that you have a New York number. Isn’t he out of your life?”

  “That’s what I wanted. He seemed to want the same things in the beginning. We decided to have a clean break but now he’s harassing me.”

  “Forgive me, my name is Patrice. What’s your name if you don’t mind me asking?”

  “Ummm, I’m Maggie.”

  I choked on my own spit, “Maggie?”

  “Yes.”

  “Oh my god.”

  “Is there something wrong?”

  I rocked back and forth in my chair. He was a huge liar. He was involved in Maggie’s life! He never told me that he had something going on with his long lost love.

  “No, no, I’m fine.”

  “Oh okay. Tell Michael I’m here in Atlanta. I want to see him today. Do you have an address for him?”

  I thought quickly, because I wanted to see her. I had to get to the bottom of everything that was happening.

  “Where are you located?”

  “I’m at a hotel in Buckhead,” she said.

  “Can I come see you? I have some questions that I would love to get answered. This is the first that I’ve heard about you. Well, this isn’t the first that I’ve heard about you but I had no clue that you were recently involved. Why is he harassing you?”

  “You say that you’re his girlfriend?”

  “Yes I am.”

  “Wow, umm sure you can come meet me in the lobby of the hotel. It will be nice to know what he’s been up to. Maybe you can help get him out of my life for good.”

  I shakily grabbed a pen and paper out of my purse and took her address down.

  “I don’t want him to know that I’m coming to see you so I deleted everything. Please don’t contact him again until we’ve spoken. Maybe we can sort all of this out,” I said.

  “If you think talking to me will help you, than I’m all for it.”

  #Chapter9

  “You have to help me stop him from ruining my family.”

  Maggie

  I allowed the valet to park my car and slowly walked into the lobby. I looked around for Maggie, and I instantly spotted her. She was just the way that I imagined: beautiful with long blonde hair, stood about 5’8, and a size 4.

  I walked over to her and she gave me an awkward smile.

  “Maggie?” I said as I extended my hand to her, “I’m Patrice.”

  A look of confusion crossed her face before she answered, “I’m sorry, I think you have the wrong person, my name isn’t Maggie.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I thought…”

  “You thought she was me,” a voice from behind me said.

  I turned quickly to see almost a mirror image of myself: a woman about 5’6, a size 14, chocolate skin and wild curls. She smiled her perfect pearly whites at me and shook my hand.

  “You’re Maggie?” I asked.

  “In the flesh.”

  “You’re Michael’s ex?”

  “I would expect surprise f
rom other women but definitely not from you. I mean come on…look at you.”

  “I know, it’s just that…”

  “Michael likes them thin and blond.” She said, finishing my statement.

  “Right.”

  “Newsflash: he likes them thick and black. So don’t be so insecure.”