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Silverware clanked loudly against the glass plates set out nicely on the dining room table, most of the occupants of the table obviously enjoying their food but Israel definitely wasn't. He was doing a good job at making it seem like he was though.
"So, Israel, how's business going man? Everything doing good?" Jada's stepfather, Jerome, looked at him from across the table.
"Yeah, it's good. We putting some more properties down in Colorado right now; winter cabins for the people who vacation out there." He cleared his throat, grabbing the napkin off of the table to wipe his mouth even though he hadn't ate literally anything.
"Really? What cities you looking at? The big ones, like Aspen?" Jada's mother, Kemi, asked with some green beans piled up on her fork.
"Yes ma'am. It's some more cities in that same area but they not as known, we building there too. Not as family homes though, the company just joined AirBnB-so that's a few hundred million a year just from that area alone." He over-explained, which is what he did when he was full of anxiety and simultaneously put on the spot.
The dinner started over half an hour ago and the conversation was just now being initiated, and honestly if Israel would've had to go another minute in a room of silence-and there was literally five people at the table-he would've walked out.
Jada's mom, Kemi, had invited him over for this dinner with the reasoning of too much time passing since they'd last seen him, which was true. It had been close to a year or so since he'd visited. He didn't really like them and had begun to feel the same way about their daughter so he didn't see a reason to.
They were the type of parents that tried to live through their kids-more specifically through their daughter who was married to a man who owned a billion dollar company.
They often tried to get in Jada's ear to convince her to persuade Israel to give them money here and there, or a share of one of the stocks he owned. Unfortunately for them, the only person who influenced him to do anything involving his wealth was his own mother. And here lately his new mistress, Bria, too.
He'd been away from her for two days and he missed her presence already. At first he really was onboard with the idea of having sex with her for money and that being the end of it, but it didn't take long for him to realize that she was much more worthy to him as a friend than she was as some type of sex doll.
It had been such a long time since he'd had an ear that he could honestly vent to without feeling as if he was being judged or made fun of for the real life issues he experienced everyday with his wife. His friends often made a joke out of it, not knowing the actuality of his situation. He didn't blame them.
Bria was so understanding. She always seemed more worried about him than he was for himself; as if she genuinely care about him and his wellbeing. He'd been trying not to get so attached because he knew that being there for him just a 'job' to her, but it was hard.
