She reached into her purse and pulled out a folded sonogram picture. My heart started pounding. Ashley unfolded it slowly, looked down at it for a second, then held it out toward Rome. "You keep acting like this baby don't exist. By the way, it’s a girl.”
Rome never reached for it. "I don't want that shit." His words came out so cold they almost didn't sound real.
Ashley blinked acting as she was taken back. "You don't mean that."
"The fuck I don't."
The little girl looked up at Ashley, then at Rome, confused by what was happening. "Mommy..."
Ashley swallowed hard before continuously looking at him. "You really gone say that in front of my daughter?"
"I don't give a fuck where we at,” he told her.
I stood there looking from Ashley to Rome, wishing like hell the floor would split open and swallow me whole. My heart was beating so hard I could hear it in my ears, but I refused to let either one of them see me lose it. This wasn't the place nor the fucking time and especially not with everybody in the store pretending they weren't listening while hanging on every damn word.
I finally let out a slow breath and looked at Ashley. "I'm sorry,” I told her and the words surprised even me. "I really am." I said. Ashley's eyes met mine, and for the first time since she walked into the store, neither one of us looked at Rome. "I don't know what he promised you," I said, keeping my voice calm even though my chest felt like it was caving in, "and I don't know what y'all got going on, but I'm not about to stand here and argue with you over a grown man even if I do have rights to his trifling ass."
Rome turned toward me. "Navy?—"
I held my hand up without taking my eyes off Ashley. "No Rome, I've heard enough."
Before anybody could say another word, I heard a familiar voice behind me. "Navy?"
Every muscle in my body locked up.Please, not today. I thought knowing damn well that voice was all too familiar. The sound of somebody calling my name made my stomach damn near hit the marble floor.
"Navy?" She said again.
Out of all the damn people. I slowly turned around, praying I was hearing things, but of course I wasn't. Natalie stood about ten feet away with her husband, with two Louis Vuittonshopping bags hanging from one arm while a smaller Gucci bag was in the other hand. The smile she'd walked into the store wearing disappeared the second her eyes bounced from me to Rome and then landed on Ashley standing there with that little girl still holding onto her hand.
A slight crinkle formed in the middle of her forehead. "Girl,” she laughed nervously, looking back at me. "Is everything okay?"
Lord, please don't do this. I forced the biggest smile I could, even though I could feel my face getting hot with embarrassment. "Yes, everything is okay.”
Natalie looked around one more time, trying to figure out what she'd just walked into. Ashley hadn't moved and Rome still looked irritated as hell. The other customers were still trying to pretend they were looking at belts and purses while listening to every damn word.
"You sure?" Natalie asked again, lowering her voice this time. "Because I can come back."
I shook my head. "No" I laughed, and even I could hear how fake it sounded. "It's, nothing. I promise it’s just a misunderstanding."
Natalie looked at me for another couple seconds like she wanted to call my bluff. As a woman, I knew she knew exactly what was happening here. She especially knew that I was lying like hell right now.
"Alright then." She reached over and rubbed my arm. "I'll see you at work tomorrow."
"Yes, see you at work." I smiled.
"And if you need anything..."
I cut her off and continued to smile. "I know."
She nodded before taking her husband's hand again. As they walked away, I caught him looking back over his shoulder one last time before they disappeared around the corner. The second they were gone; I let out the longest deepest breath of my life.
"This right here…" I said as I looked over at Rome, with my voice barely above a whisper. "This is exactly why I don't like going nowhere with your ass."
Rome took one step toward me. "Navy, listen…"
"No." I held my hand up, stopping him before he got another word out. "Do not stand here and insult my intelligence."
"Baby…"
