Their Choices, Their Life

Chapter Eight.

I spent the last week preparing for this dinner. I was pleasantly surprised Janeé agreed so easily to meet me. Maybe she's wasn't into Michael anymore, or maybe she wanted to size me up as much as I wanted to do with her.

The plan was to meet at his house and I'd cook dinner for us. Michael was supposed to be here a few hours ago but he texted saying he got pulled into an urgent meeting and that he was running behind, but still should be here before she arrived.

When the doorbell rang just after seven, I cursed because I knew it was her at the door and Mike hadn't arrived yet. Ugh. I didn't know what she looked like, but I guess the pregnancy would give her away. I took a deep breath and opened the door.

"Hey. Aja?" She smiled brightly at me.

"That's me. And you're Janeé I presume," I said reaching out for a handshake. She took my hand and gave me a bottle of wine.

"Michael's not here yet, but he should be soon."

"Ok, no worries," she looked around the house like she'd never been here before. I watched her from the kitchen as she sat in the living room.

She was actually stunning. Maybe it was the pregnancy on her, but I couldn't stop looking at her for a moment as she sat and waited for Michael to arrive. I hadn't given much thought to what she might look like before, but I expected someone different for whatever reason. Michael literally had no type.

Before we got together, I saw him in the media with white women, Hispanic women, racially ambiguous women, but never any Black women. That wasn't necessary a problem for me, but I was unsure if he was interested in me at first because I'd never seen him with someone who looked like me. Janeé sounded like a Black name to me, but I was still halfway expecting a French bitch to walk up in here talking bout "oui oui" (we-we) or some shit. 

Janeé definitely wasn't French though, she was almost as dark as I was and boy did she have some curves on her. Not in that fake, over the top way, but like she earned them as a birth right. She was definitely a plus-sized woman, which also surprised me. I don't know why, but it did nevertheless.

"So this is weird right?" I tried to make small talk.

"For sure, girl. I usually would have a glass of wine to help calm my nerves in a situation like this, but ya know." She pointed down to her stomach and we both laughed.

"When Michael mentioned your name, he never told me it was you. Like the actress Aja Naomi King. I love How to Get Away with Murder. Viola Davis is the GOAT."

"Ugh! I know right? I was so nervous to work with her at first." This meet-up was going much better than I expected and Mike wasn't even here yet. Janeé had this whole sista-girl thing going on and I liked it. I was starting to feel better about this already.

"Uhhh, I hope this isn't super weird to ask, but how long were you and Michael together? He hasn't told me much about y'all's relationship."

"He hasn't? Well, uh, we've known each over three years, but only had contact like half that time, maybe. I will tell you that we were never really together, together. It was complicated."

"You know, he says the same thing." As I was finishing up my statement, Michael came busting through the door.

"Heyyyy," he drug the word out nervously as he tip-toed in the house.

"We're fine, baby. Come in," I told him.

"Hey, sorry I'm late," he said half-hugging me and looking in her direction. He was clearly distracted because he completely missed my pouted lips that wanted a kiss from him. He always kissed me when we saw each other. Was he thrown off because of this awkward situation or because he didn't want to kiss me in front of her?

He had no problem showing her affection though.

"Hey, Jay. You good?"

She nodded her head, giving him a sweet smile.   Last I asked things were just "OK" between them, but they seemed to be getting along like old friends. He sat next to her, rubbing her stomach, talking at her belly.

"Hey BJ, you miss dad today? I missed you, man."

"Michael, I told you about calling my child a boy," she giggled.

The two of them were so fucking cute that I almost forgot I was looking at my boyfriend and his baby mama.

I accidentally-on-purpose knocked over some pots trying to discretely break up their moment, which was unlike me, but I knew I had to handle this situation delicately.

Michael got up and walked over to me, placing his hand around my waist and finally kissed me as I finished stirring up some green beans. I wanted to show out and cook some soul food, but he insisted we eat healthy for the sake of Janeé and the baby. I looked over my shoulder to see if Janeé saw us kiss, but she seemed to be wrapped up in her phone. Damn.

As I finished up cooking, the house fell silent with everyone seeming to be focused on whatever they were doing. Me in the kitchen finishing up dinner, Janeé typing away on her phone and Michael reading a script. Well, he was trying to read. I watched him as he ever so often would peek over the top of his script to gaze at her.

How could I blame him, though? I had a hard time not looking at her and she wasn't even carrying my baby. How could I compete with that? They had history and now they'd have a guaranteed future because of their child. I felt my mood shift from feeling OK about all this when it was just me and Janeé, to feeling insecure after Michael arrived. I wasn't sure if it was him or her that had me feeling this way.

"Hey, I gotta take this call, ladies." Michael hopped up to leave the room, but briefly dipped down to Janeé to palm her stomach. She playfully swatted his hand away and watched him closely as he walked out of the room. I felt my temperature rising. Was this shit really happening right now?

"How long were y'all together, Janeé?" My question must have startled her because she jumped a little shifted her eyes from Michael to me.

"Remember I told you we weren't together?"
She walked over to kitchen island and sat at one of the stools to answer me. She struggled a little getting into one and I almost helped her but decided against it.

"Oh, excuse me. How long were y'all fucking around then?" She furrowed her brows, obviously picking up on my change in temperament but answered anyway.

"We weren't just fucking around, Aja. Maybe you should be asking Michael these questions, hmm?"

"I told you I have, but he doesn't seem to remember much about y'all's little dalliance. You know his memory is awful, girl," I responded sarcastically, chuckling a bit.

"I bet he remembers what my pussy tastes like, though." She looked at me blankly, with a nice-nasty smile plastered across her face.

"Bitch--"

"Aye, aye! What the fuck is going on in here?!"

----

Yep. That's it for this chapter. Sorry. I told y'all I'd give y'all something today, so there it is. That's all I got lol.

I know everyone hates Aja, but what do y'all think of Aja's actions and her inner thoughts on Janeé?