Page 22 of 10,000 Hours With A Rich Menace

She grew excited as she quickly ushered over toward the table and scooted in the chair. “Was it that cute bartender that kept flirting with you?”

“Yes,” I lied knowing that she wouldn’t let up until she was satisfied that I was with someone.

As much as I admired my friend, I could also point out that she was very motivated by men. Men were her entire life, and that wasn’t my reality. I didn’t need a man to live. The one man that should have been there for me never was. He was too busy doing and being everything else to anyone beside his daughter and wife that needed him.

Wantedhim home.

I had only experienced love when it was broken, never when it was whole. Never when it felt like an old school song. The heartbreak is what I witnessed; the disappointment of the person you vowed to do life with. All of that scared me, and aside from the Tony situation, it caused me to shut men out.

My mother thought she would have the man she married forever. He promised to love her, right before God. He gave her his word, and the minute that the signature on the certificate dried, he was doing him, breaking those very promises he had given her.

I never wanted a love like that to find me.

Stevie

A bunchof bags sat at our feet as we sat at an ice cream shop in the resort. Priscilla said she wanted to do damage when it came to shopping, and she did exactly that. We had went to every designer store and boutique that was on the resort, and she swiped my card and purchased everything.

I got a pair of shoes and some things for both Skyler and Estella. As much as I loved to shop, I didn’t want to spend the day in and out of stores. I wanted to explore the Bahamas. Do a few excursions, lay out by the pool, and actually enjoy the trip. Aside from shopping, Priscilla continued to stop because her boyfriend kept asking her where she was.

When she put that baby voice on, I knew it was him on the phone and rolled my eyes. I realized today that the rest of this trip would be filled with me being alone, doing what I wanted to do. She wanted to stick up her boyfriend’s ass, and I wasn’t about to beg her to hang out with me.

“Are you sure you don’t wanna come tonight? His friend says he wants to meet you and you’ve been hiding.” She sipped her milkshake while I enjoyed my cone.

It made me real uneasy how she kept trying to push her boyfriend’s friend on me. Every time he called, she would askme if I was sure, as if I didn’t make it clear multiple times that I didn’t want to hang with them.

Priscilla vouching for them meant nothing to me. She switched men like wigs, so did she really know any of those menwell?

Exactly.

“I have my own plans, remember?” I reminded her like I had been doing each time she asked me.

She giggled. “Girl, nothing is off the table with them… big money. I’ve never fucked with a nigga that has money like this. Girl, it’s damn near spilling out his pockets.”

“I love this for you.”

She was so tickled as she swung her crossed legs while looking at her phone. “I could love it for you, too, but you want to play hard to get. How about we come back to our suite later on?”

“How about you don’t.” I smiled.

“Fine, Ms. Boring. How do you expect to ever find a boyfriend if you never open yourself up to being loved?”

“You think a man that’s not even your boyfriend, and his friends is where I’m going to find love?”

Her phone chimed and she jumped up. “Oh, we need to be getting back to the suite… he told me what time he’s coming to get me. My baby is taking me to an exclusive restaurant on the resort.”

“Fancy,” I muttered as I helped her collect all the bags so we could make the trek back to our suite.

The suite was nice and quiet now that Priscilla was gone. Between the music, the chatter with her other friends on facetime, and trying on a dozen outfits before settling on one that looked like it needed more material, she was finally gone.

Of course, she couldn’t leave until she asked me if I was sure I didn’t want to go. This time, I closed the door in her face and locked it while heading to my room to take a relaxing bath.

She wouldn’t be back tonight, and I knew it from the way she popped her birth control and washed it down with rum. I’ve always suspected that Priscilla was a wild card.

Other than drinks and a few dinners, we’ve never been on vacation together. It was like being in a relationship with a man, and you didn’t really know him until you moved in with him.

Even though she hadn’t been in our suite that much, I could see her differently than the friend I was always excited to see when she made time for me.

I used to stare at her in admiration because she played these men like they played us. That admiration was slowly fading away, and I was seeing her as thirsty, and money hungry. All that man had to do was call, and she was breaking her leg to go run to be with him.

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