Awakening The Goddess

CHAPTER 9

Eriana

When we walked into the mall, I gave Liz some money to take Bria on some stationary rides and to the smaller ball pit for kids under two. Ash and I walked to our favorite store and immediately started trying on clothes. Technically, Derion was funding this trip and as I sifted through the racks, I wondered what he would like to see me in.

“What do you think of this one?” I asked Ash for the millionth time. We’d been in the store for an hour and a half already, and I was still trying to find one outfit while she had already found and bought three different outfits and three pairs of shoes.

“Mm.. I don’t know E, it’s not really flattering,” Ash said as she took my hand and making me twirl. She shook her head and sat down on the couch.

“Yeah, I thought so too,” I groaned in frustration. I plopped down beside Ash and sprawled across her.

“Help meeeeee,” I whined and poked at her face. She swatted my hand and laughed as she pushed me off of her.

“Alright, fine,” she said, as she moved to stand up just as the sales associate came back with another dress.

“Miss, I think I might have found the perfect one for you,” the young girl said, as she handed me an incredibly short gold shimmery dress with a deep v neck and spaghetti straps. The back of the dress had crisscrossed straps that would show off all of my back and small slits up the side. I laughed internally because it kind of reminded me of a flapper dress.

“Mm... alright, I’ll try it,” I said reluctantly. I took the dress to try it on. I stripped again and slipped the dress on, and it fit like a glove. It was like they tailored the dress for me. It hugged all of my curves, even if it did barely cover my ass. The front came down lower than the back, but the back seemed ridiculously short.

The struggles of having a big booty, I guess. I bent over and did a little twerk to make sure it could handle what was to come, and to my surprise, it didn't ride up anymore. I loved the way I looked in this dress, and I couldn’t wait to wear it out.

I stepped out of the dressing room, and Ash’s jaw dropped.

“YAAASSS b***h!” She screeched at the top of her lungs, attracting everyone’s attention to us. “This is the one! We’re getting it! That’s what I call a freak’em dress! Our Queen Beyoncé would be proud.”

I laughed as I sashayed like a model around the dressing area, taking in my body from all angles. I would turn heads and break hearts this weekend, and I was so ready to let loose.

After we paid for the clothes, I bought a pair of strappy gold heels that wrapped up and around my calf along with some sexy new underwear and lingerie. Ash just knew that I would need it to seduce some poor unsuspecting soul soon. We walked around the mall and found the kids and then headed to the food court when I saw two familiar faces walking towards us.

“Hey, again,” one guy from the diner said.

“Hey, y’all.. fancy meeting y’all here,” I said with a smile. “Y’all wouldn’t happen to be following me, would you?” I said it mostly as a joke, but I was also kind of serious. It wouldn't be the first time I had a stalker. I saw Ash move in front of the kids protectively out of the corner of my eye and I knew that she knew what I was thinking.

“Hah! No, we’re just passing through for the weekend until we head back home. We’re road-tripping. Trying out diners and nightclubs and we heard from a neighboring town that this place had two of the best of both,” he said with a shrug. I couldn't tell if he was lying or not, but he seemed trustworthy, so I gave him the benefit of the doubt. They seemed more protective than predatory at the diner, so I let my guard down a little.

"Oh, nice! I’ve always wanted to go on a road trip. We have two nightclubs here, one where mostly all the white folks go, Rain, and the other one, The Diamond, is for the rest of us."

“Oh, cool. When is the best time to go?” The second guy asked.

“Saturday nights, usually. That’s when we’re going anyway,” Ash interrupted. “I’m Ashlynn, what’s your name, handsome?” She said charmingly and batted her lashes at one man. I hadn’t noticed how suddenly she was beside me, but still in front of the kids.

“Oh, sorry. I’m Anton and this is Micah. We’re 'basically' brothers,” He replied as Micah nodded.

“Mm, we’re 'basically' sisters,” Ash said. “What a coincidence.”

"Oh, nice! Yeah, I've known this asshole since we were kids," Micah told us as he playfully nudged Anton in the ribs, which caused them to start a shoving match with each other like kids.

"Oh, I wanted to thank you guys for earlier," I said, interrupting their tussle.

"What happened earlier?" Ash asked, looking from me to the guys. They squirmed a bit but said nothing, letting me fill Ash in on today's events.

"Oh, Darius showed up at the diner, drunk, begging me to take him back," I said as I shrugged indifferently.

“What?! When were you planning on telling me? Why didn't you call me, I would have kicked his ass!”

"She definitely took care of it. She literally dragged him out by his collar," Anton said, as he and Micah laughed. "Plus, we wouldn't have let anything happen to her."

"Thanks for looking after her," Ash responded with a tremendous smile. "That sounds about right though, she's a complete badass. I'm sure she could take you both."

Micah put his hands up in surrender and backed away a step, still laughing. "Nah, we don't want no smoke." Anton laughed and nodded in agreement.

“We should probably get going, though,” Anton said with a small smiling. "Maybe we’ll see you tomorrow night. We’ve gotta get shopping before this place closes.”

"I hope so!" I replied as we all waved goodbye to each other. They really seemed like such nice guys, it sucks they were only here for a weekend.

We walked to the food court, laughing and joking the entire way. We ordered some Chinese food, then sat down to eat and just enjoyed each other's company.

“Ooh, maybe one of them could help you get over you know who,” Ash said as she wiggled her eyebrows at me.

“Oh my god, Ash, it’s literally been a day,” I said as I shoved her playfully and laughed.

“Well, you know what they say. The best way to get over one is to get under another.”

“You’re such a dirty…” I trailed off, remembering there was a teenager in our presence, and I mouthed the word “w***e” at her.

She put on a face of mock hurt and pouted. “That hurts me, E. That really hurts me.”

“Oh, whatever! You know I love you!” I said as I pulled her into a side hug.

After a good while of people watching, we left the mall. Ash and I went our separate ways for a while. Bria fell asleep on the ride home and Ash dropped off Liz at home. Since we were neighbors, I knew I would see her in a few minutes after making it home and tucking Bria in.

I poured a glass of wine and guzzled down the contents within seconds. I poured another glass but decided to just take the bottle instead, but not before downing the second glass. I sat on my couch and turned on the tv as I waited for Ash to come back to spend the night.

I drank my wine from the bottle as I stared off into space, letting my mind wander. I recounted the events of the last few days and cried silently. I wondered what I did wrong to make Darius cheat on me after all this time. What was wrong with me?

What did I do to deserve this? What did she have that I didn’t? I cried and drank until I was finally numb to the feeling of my heart being crushed in my chest. I curled into a ball and fell asleep.

When I woke up, I was under my favorite throw and someone had removed my shoes. When I felt a body behind me, I knew it was Ash. I got up to use the toilet and checked my phone during the process. I had 60 missed calls and hundreds of texts between Mya and Darius. If only he cared this much before. I shook my head and sat my phone on the counter to finish my business. After I washed my hands, I blocked both of their numbers and put my phone on the charger, and took a quick shower. I wrapped myself in my towel and laid across my sad, empty bed.

After a moment, I picked my phone back up and sent a quick email to my landlord about changing the locks. It was 3 in the morning, so I knew I wouldn’t be getting a response soon. I scrolled through my i********: feed for a few minutes and uploaded another picture of me and Bria from a few days ago before setting my phone down and staring at the ceiling.

My brain tortured me by replaying the scene between Darius and Mya in our bedroom. I pushed the scene from my head and I thought of Derion. For whatever reason, thoughts of him always seemed to calm me down. Maybe I should text him. He seemed nice, and he was definitely fine as hell. Maybe a one-night stand with him would do me good, as Ash said. I mulled the idea over and went for it. f**k it, you only live once, right?

I hopped up from my bed and looked through my laundry to find his business card. Once I found it, my heart started racing. I sat on the edge of my bed and typed in his number. I couldn’t figure out what to say, so I just sat there writing and rewriting messages.

Hey…

...

…...

*Seen at 3:42 am*

I laid back on the bed and groaned as I ran my hand over my face. Of course, he wouldn’t text me back. Why would he? He probably has like 3 girlfriends, a baby mama or two and eats all the kids' snacks. He's probably with one or a few of them now. As I laid there, feeling defeated my phone vibrated with a new message.

Hello, beautiful.

My heart was literally about to beat out of my chest. I looked at the message and smiled from ear to ear. He was fine enough to let him ruin my life a little.

Where are you?

Where do you want me to be, Eriana?

I sent him a selfie, displaying the space beside me.

In that empty space beside me would be nice.

Send me the address and I can be there in 45 minutes, gorgeous.