It's Either Me Or Her: A Side Bitch Story Read online

Rayne nodded her head. She was tired of running from his questions and decided to just lay it all out on the line for him. “Look Chase, like I told you earlier. I won’t play second fiddle to your baby mama. I know what it’s like to be cheated on. Hell, just about every boyfriend I had, cheated on me. Because of that, I can’t and won’t allow myself to be the other woman. I don’t want to get hurt again. ” She shook her head. “And even though I’m not to fond of Brooke at this moment, it would be wrong for me to sit up here and be with you knowing that she is still your girlfriend.”

  Chase smacked his lips. “See, there you go. Talk about being difficult,” he responded feeling somewhat discouraged. He was seriously tired of hearing Brooke’s name.

  “I’m not being diffifult, Chase. I’m just speaking the truth. It will be wrong for me to be other woman. I want to be the one and only, not a side bitch. It’s either me or her. You can’t have us both. Matter of fact,” Rayne said pulling his arms from around her waist and standing up. “This right here is wrong.” She stated, feeling mad at herself for having a moment of weakness around him. “I shouldn’t be all caught up here wrapped in your arms with barely no clothes on.” She hadn’t had sex in over a year and a half, but being around Chase in that manner could easily lead to something else.

  Chase couldn’t even argue with her, because he knew that she was right. She had told him a lot about her past relationships and about the many times she had been hurt; mostly by the same dude. He wanted her bad, it was no doubt about that, but it wasn’t fair to make her play the side chick role when she’d protested so long against it. “I hear what you’re saying Rayne. I gotta be honest here. You got my nose wide open, girl. I’m feeling things for you that has fizzled out a long time ago in my relationship with Brooke. And, even though I try, I can’t seem to get you out of my system. Most of the time when I’m with her, I’m wishing that I could be with you instead.” He confessed.

  Rayne smiled, but knew that she had to hold her ground. “I understand exactly how you feel, because I’m feeling things for you, too. I’m not going to lie and say that you’re not on my mind all the time, because you are. You just need to handle things with your baby mama first, and then we can talk about us being together.”

  “You’re right.” Chase said standing up and grabbing his shirt to put it back on.

  “Are you leaving?” Rayne questioned while watching him.

  “Yeah, I think I’m going to head over to Jeremy’s apartment. I’ll probably stay there tonight.”

  “Okay, well you don’t have to leave. You’re welcome to stay here. You can sleep in the guest bedroom.” Rayne offered.

  Chase let out a laugh and glanced over at her. She was looking very tempting to him and his dick was still partially hard as he pushed it down with his hand. “Naw, I think it’s best for both of us if I just leave.” He said while licking his lips and giving her a seductive, handsome smile.

  Damn, Rayne thought as her juices started to flow just from the look he gave her. “Yeah, you’re right.” She agreed. She followed Chase to the door. Before leaving he leaned down to give her a hug.

  “Just so you know your ass is already mine.” He whispered in her ear. She giggled like a high school girl flirting with her crush. He kissed her on the side of her neck, and then pulled away. “We just haven’t made it offical yet, but it’s coming real soon.” He added, and with that being said he gave her a soft kiss on her lips before walking out the door.

  Chapter 5

  Brooke woke up the next morning and looked to the side of her. She sighed with tears in her eyes, because Chase hadn’t come home. She was hurt. This was the first time in the three years that they’d lived together that he actually called her bluff and stayed out all night. She had called all through the night, yet his phone continued to go to voicemail. Her text messages were unanswered which probably meant that he’d turned his phone off and wasn’t planning on turning it back on.

  “Damn,” she whispered as she crawled out of bed. She walked into the master bathroom to wash up and get her thoughts together. Had her jealous rages finally caused her to lose her man? As she stood in the mirror disappointedly shaking her head, thoughts that she was losing him to another continued to play in her mind. “I can’t give up on what we have. I got to do something to make him realize that I love him and that I’ll do whatever it takes to mend our broken relationship.”

  She stood there staring at herself in the mirror. “Brooke, why you always gotta act so insecure?” She questioned herself. “I look good.” She said admiring her flawless facial features and the one dimple that showed in her right cheek everytime she smiled or talked. Her eyes were bright, round and light brown. They matched the color of her light brown hair that was pulled up in a straggly ponytail with the edges hanging loose like she’d had a rough night. “I’m a good woman to my man and he should know that he’ll never find another that’ll take care of him the way that I do.” She said while turning on the sink water.

  After washing her face and brushing her teeth, she walked out of the bathroom and headed straight over to the nightstand to call him again for the umptenth time. As she listened to the phone now finally ringing, she whispered, “Please, answer the phone, Chase.”

  “Yeah,” Chase answered in a sleepy tone.

  “Chase,” she said with a sigh of relief. Just hearing his voice had certainly brightened her mood and just that quickly she’d forgiven him for not coming home.

  “Brooke, what do you want? It’s seven o’clock in the morning. Why are you waking me up, because I really don’t wanna hear nothing you gotta say?”

  “I know you don’t wanna hear me out, but please let me explain. I’m sorry. I’m sorry I acted out yesterday. I don’t know what got into me.”

  Chase sighed in the phone. “You never know what’s gotten into you.”

  “I know and I’m sorry. Please, come home.” She pleaded in a soft tone.

  “I thought you didn’t want me there.” He stated turning over in the bed wishing she’d get off of his phone line.

  “I know I told you not to come home, but I honestly didn’t mean it. I was just upset at the moment and that was the only thing that came to mind. I really was just trying to get your attention.”

  “You’d gotten my attention when you showed up to the studio acting reckless.”

  Brooke took in a deep breath, and then let it out. Chase was acting cold towards her and she didn’t have anybody to blame, but herself. “Baby, please don’t treat me like this. I know I don’t deserve to be even talking to you right now, but damn give me a chance. You gotta know how I felt to hear you say that you’d take that woman home in my car. I mean, what were you thinking?”

  “I was thinking that I was going to take Rayne home since she didn’t have a ride then I was going to have our weekly meeting with the fella’s, and then come home to you and Mason. But noooooo,” he dragged with annoyance in his voice. “You acted like that was so wrong.”

  “Damn right it was wrong. I don’t want no other female riding in my car. What is wrong with you?”

  Chase irritably shook his head. “There is nothing wrong with me, but I’ll do what I have to do make sure that my artist are taken care of, because at the end of the day they’re helping me make money just as I’m helping them make money.”

  “Chase, I’m no fool. I saw how the two of you looked at each other like I wasn’t even in the room with y’all. You expect me to believe that you don’t have feelings for this woman?”

  “Right now Brooke, I don’t care what you believe. Rayne and I are just really close, we work together, and yes I like her. Do you know why?”

  Brooke sat on the edge of the bed almost with tears in her eyes as she dreadfully asked, “Why?”

  “Because she’s her own woman, she’s secure in her own skin, she’s strong minded, and she believes in her dreams of making it big. I’m going to be that man that’s going to take her there with or without your support.” He stra
ight up told her. “And, if you can’t handle that then I guess this relationship may as well be over. I’m not going to deal with you or your foolishness anymore. I’ve done it long enough.”

  Brooke sniffed in the phone. Chase could tell that she’d started crying, but he didn’t even care. “Chase, don’t act like you’ve not cheated on me in the past with other women.”

  “I never said that I was innocent or that I’ve not hurt you. I’ve done all I can to prove to you that I’m a changed man, but you’re too blind to see it.” He said thinking that this was one of the main reasons why he couldn’t connect with her anymore or at least try to. “I’m tired of the calls when you’re just sitting on the phone trying to listen to my background. I’m tired of you going through my phone checking to see if you can catch me in some kind of lie. I’m tired of you being so insecure and showing your ass all the time. Yes, in the past I may have deserved some of that, but now it’s just ridiculous. The sad part is that I thought we’d gotten past it until yesterday. You knew that I was wrapping up Rayne’s song. That was a big moment for the both of us, yet you spoiled it, because of your insecurities and beliefs that I’m fucking around on you.”

  “An…and I’m sorry,” Brooke sniffed in the phone. “I know I’ve pushed you away and I’m sorry. I just don’t wanna lose you.” She confessed.

  “Well, it may be too late for that.” Chase told her.

  “Please, don’t break up our family. I’ve worked too hard to make this last.”

  “You’ve done nothing, but work hard at ending it way too early. I love my son to death and you know this. I didn’t have a father growing up even though I wanted him to be in my life. There is no way that I’d miss out on my own son growing up, but you even threaten me with taking him away if I don’t agree to your demands. And, let’s not forget that I’m so tired of you bringing up the money that you gave me to start up my share of the business,” he said raising his voice a little bit then continuing. “Like I’ve not repayed that back to you a few times over. Yes, you may have been there for me when I was down to nothing, but hopes and dreams. I’ve never denied that. You came along at the perfect time. You made me happy, but a couple of years into our relationship you changed, Brooke, to this selfish woman that I hardly even know anymore.” He said thinking some five years back how Brooke showed up in his life and changed things for the better. However, that quickly changed when she felt that she could control him since she looked out.

  “That’s because I’d gotten pregnant with your son and I was feeling vulnerable to all the women that was hanging around you.”

  “You always came first. I don’t care what I did, but you only wanted to see the bad in me.”

  “That’s because you were bad at the time and cheating on me.”

  “Let’s get something clear here. You never caught me cheating. You just sat your ass on the phone calling these women back and…”

  Brooke cut in. “Getting information that you were fucking them.”

  Chase sat up in the bed feeling a bit frustrated now. “You act like you trust them women more than me. Oh, they gotta be telling the truth, huh?”

  “Stop trying me, Chase. What about Selena? Your lil Puertican Princess.” She said thinking about the two fights that she’d had with Selena, one of Chase’s first artist’s that had straight up told her that she fucked Chase right in his face. She also admitted that she was his other woman for at least six months. Brooke preferred to use the terms side bitch instead of other woman. It suited her better; especially since she hated her with a passion.”

  “Ain’t nobody talking about Selena.” Chase shot back at her.

  It was true that he and Selena were an item at one point, but it was only after Brooke kept accusing him of fucking her. It was almost as if he did it out of spite, but Selena became someone that he really liked. Unfortunately for him, Brooke harrassed her every chance she got and even jumped on her twice. The second time was worse than the first time, because she bruised Selena up pretty bad. After that last incident, Selena threatened to press charges against Brooke. Chase couldn’t let that happen to mother of his one and a half year old son, at the time. So he and Selena parted ways all together.

  “You just don’t get it, Brooke. You will push a nigga in the arms of another woman with your selfish ways and your insecurities. I’ve tried my best to work it out with you. I really wanted us to be a family so my son will grow up in the same house as his father, but you have made this relationship so hard to be in. Don’t get me wrong. You’re not a bad person. You just have some fucked up ways and that has done nothing, but drive me absolutely crazy.”

  Brooke sat in silence on the phone for at least a minute. What Chase was saying was absolutely true. She did have a problem with trust and she hated it. Being a recovering sex addict had taught her a lot of things. One being that men couldn’t be trusted. She’d slept with many men that had cheated on their wives or girlfriends just for a good fuck session with her. Not that she was complaining back then, but now it was all coming back to haunt her. To top it off, the one time that she’d decided to let her guard down, she ended up broken hearted.

  Finally after wiping her tears and regaining her composure, she said. “Please Chase, I didn’t call you to argue. I just want to make things right.”

  Chase rubbed his eyes while shaking his head. Brooke was definitely unpredictable in her feelings. “I don’t know.” He said not sure of what else to say at that point.

  “Just come home for dinner. I’ll cook you something nice to eat and we’ll sit down as a family and talk things out. Please,” she softly pleaded. “Give me this chance. Do it for our son, for our family. Just come over so we can talk to each other.”

  Chase sat there contemplating what he was going to do. “We’ll see, Brooke. We’ll see.” He said, and with that he ended their call.

  ***

  Brooke dropped the phone down beside her on the bed. There was no way that she was going down without a fight. She loved Chase and had changed a lot of her ways for him. She had tried desperately to let her guard down and just accept his love for her, but it was much easier said than done. Plus, finding out that he’d slept with Selena, and no telling who else, had made it even harder.

  “Damn,” she whispered realizing that she did have a problem and she truly needed to do something about it before it was too late. She picked up her phone, scrolled through her contacts, and then hit the call button to call someone that could probably help her.

  As soon as the woman on the other end of the line picked up, Brooke responded. “Hey Dr. Jackson. This is Brooke Mendez.”

  “Hey Brooke,” Dr. Jackson spoke. “How have you been?” She paused already knowing exactly who it was that she was talking with. “It’s been a while.”

  Brooke softly smiled with a light hum that escaped her lips. “Yeah, it’s been about five years now.”

  “Well, not exactly. I saw you about three years ago in the supermarket, remember? You were pregnant then.”

  Brooke nodded her head. “Yeah, you’re right,” she said. “I had forgotten about that.”

  “So, how is your baby? And, how are you?” Dr. Jackson questioned in a concerned tone.

  “My baby is good. He just had a birthday a month ago. He’s three years old now.”

  Dr. Jackson smiled over the phone. “That’s good to hear.”

  “And, I’m fine too.” Brooke continued. “But, I think it’s time for me to make an appointment. I need to see you.”

  “Okay,” Dr. Jackson responded. “Let me pull up my appointment log.”

  Brooke sat silently waiting as she felt that making this call was probably the best thing she could do to try and save her relationship.

  “Okay Brooke,” Dr. Jackson called out after pulling up her schedule. “I have an opening a week from today if you’re available at nine o’clock in the morning.”

  “Next Tuesday at nine a.m.” Brooke nearly repeated. “Sure, that’ll be perfect
timing.”

  “I’ll see you then.” Dr. Jackson softly responded, and then they ended their call.

  ***

  Chase walked into the kitchen as Jeremy was leaned over in the refrigerator door looking for something to drink. “What’s up, Cuz?” Chase spoke as he sat down to the island countertop on a barstool.

  “Bout to head to the studio in a little bit.” Jeremy responded as he stood up with two V8 fusion drinks in his hand. He passed one over to Chase. “Drink this, it’ll get you right.”

  ”Yeah, I need this.” He responed as he took the drink. Thoughts of how he, Jeremy, and James had stayed up talking about business and life while drinking Dos Equis all night replayed in his mind.

  “I heard you this morning snapping on the phone.” Jeremy told him.

  Chase frowned like he was aggravated. “You already know who it was. Something told me not to turn my phone on before I laid down.”

  “Well, she was either gonna catch you then or later. Either way, she was gonna catch you.” Jeremy said speaking of Brooke.

  Chase nodded his head up and down, and then responded, “I know.”

  ♪♪♪“I had to leave that bitch alone to get my mind right.”♪♪♪ Jeremy sang. “Cuz, you need to listen to that song. That’s the homey’s, TK & Cash.”

  Chase laughed. “I know who that is.”

  “Listen, I know you love Brooke, but something is off about her.” He truthfully stated. “Who just shows up to somebody’s place of business and show their ass like that? Nobody, but Brooke.” He answered his own question.

  Chase regrettably shook his head. “You’re right.” He agreed. “I don’t know what to say about her. She used to be my girl when we first met. She was sweet, understanding of my dreams, overly caring, and concerned. Then she just ups and gives me the money to put up for my share of the studio. What female you know just does that for a nigga after only knowing him for six months?”

  “An obsessive stalker, name Brooke.” Jeremy said followed by sarcastic laughter.

  Chase grinned. “Cuz, you crazy. You think it’s the D? Yeah, I think it’s the way I slang this D.” he teased causing Jeremy to laugh out loud.