Page 32 of Without You
No matter what happened tonight, he hoped she believed him.
* * *
“Good afternoon, Mrs. Burrell.”
Charisse smiled tightly at the activities coordinator as she strolled through her mother’s building at the assisted living community. Even in a big floppy hat and shades, the woman recognized her. Maybe this “disguise” was a waste of time anyway. Did the seniors really care about what was going on in the life of a rapper and his ex-wife?
She took the elevator to the second floor and knocked before entering.
“I’m out here,” her mother called outside the sliding glass door.
Charisse discarded the hat and glasses on the sofa and joined her mother on the balcony. Martha’s concerned eyes followed her as she sat down at the little round table that looked out into the back courtyard.
“Thirsty?” her mother waved at the two glasses.
“Thanks.” Charisse drank half the glass of iced water and replaced it on the table.
“You’re going to have to talk to him eventually,” her mother said.
“I know. I’ll talk to him when he gets back.”
Ever since the news broke about Terrence’s latest girlfriend, he’d been blowing up her phone. In the Gossip Bomb article, his spokesperson claimed he had not been involved with her since last year. However, JoJo provided a video of her and him going into a hotel together in New Orleans.
Charisse couldn’t believe he asked her to come see him while he entertained another woman there. One scandal ended and another reared its ugly head. Of course, her name came up because only two months ago, the rumor was that they had reconciled. She was back in the news cycle again, and she was sick and tired of being sick and tired.
Terrence called five times and sent her numerous texts, the last one stating he was leaving early and on his way back so they could talk. She texted him back, insisting he meet his obligations on set and they could talk when he came into town on Sunday.
“I was looking forward to going to see him in New Orleans, spend time with him. Then this happened.” She laughed shortly and shook her head.
Martha covered her hand. “I warned you. He hurt you before. He didn’t respect your marriage.”
“I know. You were right. I guess I wanted to believe that he changed.”
“A leopard can’t change his spots, baby. So you had sex with your ex-husband. If that’s the worst of it, you’ll be fine.”
“That’s not the worst of it,” Charisse said quietly.
“What else is there?”
She looked at her mother. “I’m pregnant.” She found out Thursday, which was why she’d wanted to fly to New Orleans to see Terrence. She couldn’t wait to tell him the news and wanted to do it in person.
Martha’s mouth fell open. “How?” She shook her head. “Never mind, I know how. But…weren’t you careful?”
“No. I just didn’t think.”
“Obviously.”
Her shoulders slumped. “Thanks, Mom.”
“Well…” Her mother shrugged. “Maybe you wanted to get pregnant.”
“No. I did not want to get pregnant.”
“Then explain to me why you didn’t use some kind of birth control. What did you think would happen? Did you forget how you ended up with the other three?”
“I don’t know!” Charisse flung up her hands in exasperation. “I was foolish. Careless.” She felt she was too old to be pregnant by accident, yet that’s the predicament she found herself in.
“Okay, okay.” Martha patted her hand.
