Cracking my right eye open just in time to see a drop of dog’s saliva at the edge of Lotus’ tongue.
“Aaahhh,” I hollered, rolling away just in time before her spit could connect with my forehead. “Jesus, Lotus, we’re gonna have to work on you respecting my personal space. You'd better get off the bed before the big bad wolf comes back,” I said, scratching her ear, noticing that Buddha was no longer on the bed with me.
“Lotus, again with this shit. Get your ass off my bed!” Buddha’s booming voice seemed to come from nowhere. I looked over at the bedroom door to see him standing there. Not amused that Lotus was on the bed.
“See, I told you so,” I whispered to the dog before she jumped off the bed and ran to her master.
“And you encourage the shit,” Buddha scolded me as he made his way inside the room. I frowned at what he said, not sure how I was to blame for Lotus’s bad behavior. I admired my half-naked husband. Wearing only his sweatpants from the night before. His slightly damp hair was open, touching the tops of his shoulders.
“Don’t blame me, she’s been like that since I got here,” I put up my hands in defense. I lay back down on the bed, the covers wrapped around my naked body. My very sore naked body, I swear, every part of me hurts.
“You sleep too much, you know that?” Buddha said, standing next to the bed as he looked down at me with disappointment.
“Funny, I can say you don’t sleep enough,” I replied, wondering what time it was.
“Well, if you don’t wish to continue wearing my sister's clothing. You need to hurry and get up, so we can hit up the mall.” Excited to hear I was about to get my shit, I sat up in bed. The sheets fell from my body, exposing my breasts.
“You got some nice breasts, you know that,” I looked down at my chest and cupped them playfully.
“So I’ve been told,” I said, winking at him. I squealed loudly when Buddha pounced on top of me and planted light kisses on my breasts, until my right nipple ended up in his mouth.
“Aye,” I gently grabbed his hair, forcing him to look at me. “We don’t have time. I’m excited to go clothes shopping.” I also wanted to remind him that my walls were still throbbing from last night. However, I didn’t want to sound like a punk, so I left that part out.
“You can’t wait to spend all of mysoldi(money),” Buddha said, kissing my neck and then staring into my eyes. We remained like that for a few seconds, lost in our own thoughts. I would have given my soul at that very moment to know what he was thinking, just to be able to read his mind. For me, my thoughts were: how did I allow myself to gradually develop feelings for this man?
“You need to get up,” Buddha said, his tone slightly different. I could tell his mood had shifted; he grew distant all over again. I said nothing as he walked away from the bed and out of the room. Lotus hot on his heels, always right at her master's side. Sighing softly, I got my naked ass off the bed and headed to the bathroom to take care of my hygiene.
As I slipped my feet into my sandals, I looked at Buddha. Picking his gun up from the dresser, he tucked it into his waist. Next, he picked up his chain with the B pendant and placed it around his neck. I was in full stalker mode, just gawking at this man. I smiled a little, admiring his casual outfit. A pair of black jeans with a short-sleeved white polo shirt. On his feet were a pair of Christian Louboutin low-cut sneakers. I could tell that it was an Italian thing because all of the men were always dressed to perfection.
The silent treatment I’d been getting since before I had my shower hadn’t changed. Buddha was such a difficult man to read; I had no clue what brought on this change in his demeanor.
“I’m ready,” I said softly, standing from the bed. Buddha turned and took in my appearance. A short pink tennis dress paired with my sandals, my hair was open, falling past my shoulders. I wore no makeup because I didn’t have any. I was hoping that he would give me some sort of compliment, satisfied with the way I looked.
“Good, let’s go. We have to stop by the main house first,” my heart plummeted to my feet at his dismissive way toward me. I had no idea what I did wrong. I guess this was Buddha being Buddha. I hid that his mannerism was hurting my feelings. Walking ahead of him, I stopped to rub Lotus on her head before I made it to the front door.
The drive to the main house was quiet. I kept looking at the ring on my finger, in awe that I was a married woman. The way Buddha was gripping his steering wheel told me all that I needed to know, so I kept quiet. I was happy to have Victoria as a distraction once we got to the main house. Buddha disappeared to look for his father, leaving me with his mother.
“Dior, you look a lot better than when I saw you last night,” Victoria said, trying to hide her laughter.
“I’m so sorry I got drunk. I hope I didn’t ruin anyone’s day,” I apologized, reaching for a cup of cappuccino as we sat around the dining room table. There was still breakfast on the table.
“Girl, nonsense, don’t worry about that. I got so drunk at Tomasso’s and mine wedding. Shit, I slept for two fucking days on our Honeymoon in Greece,” Victoria held up two of her fingers for emphasis. I lifted my eyebrows in disbelief before I began laughing.
“How is my son treating you? Is he on his best behavior?” Victoria’s question brought out a heavy sigh from me before I reached for my coffee and took a long sip.
“Well, everything was fine until this morning. I don’t know what happened, but his mood changed suddenly, and I can’t seem to get him back.” I shrugged my shoulders. Victoria listened intently with a grim look on her face.
“Hmmm, I told you Phillipe is a complex man,” she said, wagging her index finger at me. A thought came to me, something I had always wondered.
“How come you don’t call him Buddha like everyone else?” I asked, hoping I didn’t overstep. Victoria folded her arms and tilted her head to one side as she studied me. I could tell my question hit a nerve, and I cursed myself in my head for having a big ass mouth.
“I don’t like where that nickname originated from, so I simply do not use it,” Victoria replied.
“Oh, because of the Catalina and Edwardo fiasco,” I said softly, understanding where her dislike for her son’s nickname came from. Hearing me say those names caused Victoria to frown at me with a peculiar expression on her face.
“I’m sorry, did I say something wrong?” I asked, not sure why she was staring at me like that.
“Who told you about that?” Victoria asked almost in a whisper.
