American Woman: Book 2

Chapter 17

The next couple weeks leading up to our LA trip, Prince and I laid low at Paisley. He had limited his staff's workload and hours considerably. Maria kept all her housekeeping duties, but her cooking duties were not expected daily anymore. She only cooked when asked, which was mainly just an occasional lunch. Prince had hired an assistant on a trial basis, but seemed to think she was capable of being offered the job. Diana was working at lot of hours just bc there was still a steady stream of calls and messages about Prince's side of the story. He assured her once everything died down, she would only being working normal office hours and he didn't expect late nights or weekends from her anymore. As far as I knew, my mom or Lenny weren't calling, or at least I wasn't being told about it if they were, which was fine with me. The only person I had talked to was my lawyer who told me that Lenny had been served papers and now we were just waiting for his response.
I spent a lot of time with Prince in the studio. When I wasn't watching his genius at work, we were stealing kisses and touches, and sometimes a little more. We started our workouts back up, but those usually ended up in a make out session or full fledged fuck by the mirror. I had gotten so comfortable with viewing us in the mirror, that I would watch all the positions and angles we managed to find ourselves in...with pleasure. It's like I could literally see the love radiating from our bodies...the expressions he would make, the way his hands would touch different places on my body, the way his mouth would kiss and tongue would lick me all my erogenous spots. He truly made love to me with his whole being. When we weren't in the throws of passion, we did all the normal things couple do...talk and laugh, watch tv and movies, play games...I had done a lot of reading the vegetarian cookbooks and asked Maria to grab me somethings at the store. Each night, I would try a new recipe and Prince would stop whatever he was doing to come try it. I would ask him to rate it on a scale from 1-10 so I would know which ones to earmark and make again. He made it hard though bc he never rated anything below a 7, and I wasn't sure if he was being completely honest, but I would write it on the page so I knew to go back to the 9s and 10s the most. Amongst the high scores, I found a couple dishes I even liked. But I still ate meat majority of the time.
Even though I was throughly enjoying spending so much time with him, I longed to be able to go places with him. I knew we would eventually be able to, but the thought of having to lay low or feel shame in public for weeks, months, or even years to come, would creep into my mind from time to time. I tried to not let it bring me down and trust that whatever Prince was planning on doing would solve the issue enough to be able to function more normally. Or as normal as possible for him and his partner. He still hadn't told me exactly what his plan was, only that when we got back from LA he would be calling a press conference. I was shocked when he first told me bc I can't see him opening himself up to reporters for a free for all about his personal life. I knew there had to be something more to it than allowing reporters to just start firing questions at him, so I didn't say much and just trusted he would do what was best for me, him, and us.
The day finally arrived and we boarded his private jet for LA. While in flight, I thought about how just three short weeks ago I had come on this plane and literally changed my life and his...now I just needed to tie up all the loose ends and move on with my life...with Prince. As much as I really didn't care what Lenny or my parents were going to say once I was face to face with them, I was still nervous, especially about seeing Zoe. I have no idea what she has or has not been told so I will be going in blind. Even though Prince would probably ever admit he was on edge too, I could tell he was. The whole way there we pretty much sat in silence, only communicating with our gentle touches in attempt to calm one another.
After leaving the airport, we went straight to Prince's house and unpacked for our brief stay. We had agreed that it would be best if I went alone to Lenny's house, but he would join me tomorrow when I planned to visit my parents. I didn't want to delay it any longer, so after an hour or so I prepared to leave. Prince gave me a lingering kiss as I left and told me to call him if he needed to come or to just leave if the conversation was getting nowhere. On my way there, I started thinking about how I wasn't even sure if he would be home. Part of me almost hoped he wasn't and I could just go in, grab my belongings, and never have to face him. But that was cowardly. He at least deserved a goodbye in person and to hear an explanation from me, instead of what he may have read or seen on tv. As I pulled up the driveway, it looked like he was home. I took a deep breath and walked up to the front door, contemplating whether I should knock or let myself in. I decided since I no longer considered this my house, I would knock and pray he answered. I gave three firm taps on the door and stepped back, waiting for him to come. Within thirty seconds the door swung open and Zoe stood there, looking surprised.
"Hey Zoe. How are you?" I blurt out.
"Jen, what are you doing here? Dad said you moved out."
"Well....I have....but I have some stuff I need to get...and I wanted to talk to you and Lenny."
She looks down and nods slowly, making my heart shatter a little. She steps aside and lets me in. "I'll go get dad." She says and makes her way towards the studio. I could only imagine the conversation they were having before he made his way into the room, without Zoe, a couple minutes later.
"Well well well! Look who's back! Has he dumped you already? Do you really think you can come crawling back to me after what you've done?"
"Lenny please..."
"What did you expect Jen? That he was going to stay with you? Marry you? You are out of your fucking mind if you think..."
Trying to staying as calm as possible, I cut him off by saying "He and I are still together."
"Oh is that right?! So why the hell are you here?"
"I wanted to talk to you and Zoe. And I want to get my stuff..."
"Your stuff?! What in this house is yours Jen? I don't remember you buying a damn thing."
"Oh so I can't have any of my clothes?"
"Did you buy them?"
"No..."
"Then no...what else?"
"Well there are pictures and jewelry and other items I want....I'll make sure if you bought it I'll leave it since you are wanting to be so petty."
"Petty? Like I owe you anything?! You left me! You were the one having an affair. So tell me what do you deserve?!"
"Lenny, I did not have an affair."
He doubles over, letting out a booming laugh. "Oh my god! You're still trying to deny you were fucking him! You know for a college educated woman, you sure are stupid!"
"I'm not stupid! And I'm not lying! Prince and I only became a couple after I left you..."
"A couple?!" He started laughing more, angering me profusely. "You dumb bitch! As soon as he's used you up, he will drop you. You left a faithful husband to get your kicks, but you'll see soon enough what it's like to be on this end of it. You'll be on the receiving side of his dalliances. I will say this for him...the man has more women throwing pussy at him and trying to ride his stick then anyone I've ever seen. And I rarely see him turn anyone down...."
I had enough. I wasn't going to listen to it any longer. "Lenny just shutup! You don't even know what you're talking about! I don't care what you believe but for what it's worth, I didn't leave you for Prince. I left bc you are an alcoholic, weed smoking, son of a bitch! I haven't been happy in years but I stayed and was faithful to you, hoping you would be the person you used to be. But I have come to realize you were never who I thought you were. I worshipped the ground you walked on and you didn't and don't deserve it. I just want to get my stuff, talk to Zoe, and get out of here. I don't want to see you or hear from you ever again. I only wish you well for Zoe's sake."
"You're not talking to MY daughter. Don't act like you care about her..."
"I do Lenny. I've loved that girl since she was born. If you aren't going to let me see her, at least let me call her..."
"No. Just leave her out of it."
"What have you told her?! Please tell her the truth!"
"It's really not any of your business what I have or haven't told her. Doesn't matter anyway, she has ears and eyes. She goes to public school. Think she doesn't know what her whore of a stepmom did?"
"Fuck you Lenny. Just be gone for a few hours tomorrow so I can get my stuff, give your response to my lawyer, and stay out of my life."
"Oh I'll stay out of yours. But I doubt you'll stay out of mine. When he throws your ass away like he did Mayte's, who are you going to turn to Jen? Your parents? Your nonexistent friends? If you choose him, then you will have to deal with the consequences that come with him."
"I do choose him. I'm in love with him. More than I ever was with you!" After that last sentence left my lips, I regretted them. No matter how mad I was, or how true it was, I shouldn't have gone there. As Lenny stood there with a sad, stunned expression, I turned and ran out of there with hot tears streaming down my face. I wasn't even sure the reason behind them. The breakdown of my marriage? The fact I didn't get to say my peace to Zoe? His harsh words about me? Or was it what I feared the most...that he could be right about Prince?