Shocking Generosity
NICOLE
I've just started on dinner for me and Haley when my best friend, Esmeralda, comes bursting through the door, carrying a ton of shopping bags.
"Nicooole!" she exclaims, dragging out my name. "You'll never believe what I have here with me!"
I guess just by glancing at the bags she's carrying. I wipe my hands on a kitchen cloth and approach her. Haley is upstairs, taking a shower. Esmeralda rummages through one of the bags and pulls out a shimmery silver dress. "See?"
"Oh, it's beautiful!" I remark as I reach for the dress and feel the material between the tips of my fingers. "This looks like it cost an arm and a leg!"
"And it did, but you know how Armand is," she gushes. Armand is, for all intents and purposes, her sugar daddy. He's married and she's well aware, and they've been together for about six months now.
I don't necessarily agree with what she's doing, even though they're both adults, and honestly, even though she's my best friend, I have no say in her personal affairs. Getting involved with a married man is just...too messy. What if his wife finds out? What if she causes a scene?
They're influential people. Things could get ugly.
"Anyway, I asked him this for my birthday. You know, I wanted something that would—"
My phone vibrates and I tune out her words as I reach for it. When I see a bank notification, my heart practically jumps out of my chest.
A million dollars?
A million!?
"Uh...Nicole? Are you listening to me?
I look up at Esmeralda's face and nod. I'm pretty sure that sweat is trickling down the nape of my neck. I feel hot all over. I put my phone down and say, "Sorry. I w-was...I was caught up in something."
Are my eyes tricking me?
Esmeralda narrows her eyes at me. "You don't seem okay. What happened?"
"I'm fine," I lie, inching closer to her. I fold my arms across my chest. "So...the dress?"
Esmeralda laughs in my face, then says, "Do you know what I think? I think you need a man. And no, not Dan. That guy was never good enough for you. You need someone to take care of you. Spoil you. You work too hard. I could hook you up with someone. Armand has so many contacts. You're gorgeous—any man would die to have you as his sugar baby."
Without meaning to, I make a face. "No, thanks. I can't bear to suck the cock of a man I'm not in love with."
Esmeralda doesn't get offended at all. She knows where I stand on this point. "Ooh. Sentimental. But you'd been sucking Dan's dick long after you realized you didn't want to."
"Hey, that's not fair. I was in love with him at some point."
"I think you're a damn liar. You never loved Dan."
"Yeah? Then why was I with him? He was broke, Esmeralda. He didn't have any money."
"He wasn't the best-looking guy either," she states.
"There's more to relationships than just looks," I point out. "Dan was really nice to me. He was the first man who ever made me feel safe, you know? If it weren't for his insane jealousy issues, I don't think I would've ended things between us."
"He had jealousy issues because you're so out of his league. Come on, Nicole. You're beautiful. You can attain so much. Why won't you just give it a shot? I want you to have nice things. Every woman deserves that."
"It's just not for me, Esmeralda."
I wish I could tell her about Roman and how he made me feel last night. Hell, I'm sitting with a million dollars in the charity's checking account, and the worst part? I don't know what to do with the money. Things between us ended on such a bad note. Do I send him a text thanking him? Do I call?
What's the right approach?
"Nicole." I turn my attention to Esmeralda. "You're zoning out again."
"I heard what you said," I claim. "I'm just...processing a few things."
My best friend sighs. "Alright, then. Look, I have to go. Armand and I have a thing tonight. Don't forget, alright? You have to be there. You know how much you mean to me."
I take her hand in mine. Esmeralda and I have been friends for some years now—since we met in college, to be exact. She graduated two years before I did, but we never lost touch, and it's thanks to her that I met Dan. She dragged me to this party, where he and I met, and we'd been together ever since.
Mason, of course, doesn't like her—according to him, she's a bad influence. Honestly, I think he hasn't really noticed that I'm an adult now, and have even for like seven years.
Mason's too protective. I can't hate him for that, though. It was just him, me, and Ma. Our father abandoned us a long time ago. Hell, I don't even remember his face. Ma told us he'd been to jail a few times. He was a mess of a person, and never wanted kids.
Well, we didn't need him. We've always had each other.
I think it's just a shame that things ended the way they did.
Haley steps out of the shower a few moments after Esmeralda steps out of the front door. She finds me with my phone really close to my face. "Everything okay?"
Why does everyone keep asking me that? I have to be more careful about my reactions. "Yeah. Just checking to see if we've received something. A donation or something."
Dammit. Why did I say that!?
"And? Did we?"
I can't tell her about the one million, not yet. I need more time to figure things out. Actually, I need to know why he would send such a big amount after what transpired between us. This whole situation just doesn't feel real.
It doesn't.
"Not yet."
"Don't lose hope. I'm sure we'll have something by the end of the week."
Little does she know that we've received our biggest donation yet, and this is the kind of money that could seriously change lives.
But I can't count on it, not yet. I have to figure out what he wants.
"Is dinner ready?" she asks, peering into the pots to see what I've done so far. Spaghetti and meatballs have always been my specialty, so that's what I'm sticking to.
"Not yet. A few more minutes and it'll be done. I'll be back."
I head upstairs with my phone in my hand. My fingers are trembling as I shoot Roman a text. I don't know if he blocked me or what. I guess I'll have to find out.
Why would you send so much?
Five minutes pass before my phone starts ringing, and my heart drops quickly. It's not Roman, but my brother. The bastard never answers my text, and I keep an eye on my phone the whole night.
This is enough for me to forget about Esmeralda's birthday party completely. I should've set a reminder for it, but I didn't think it'd be necessary because I've never forgotten it before.
That's exactly how much that man's affecting me.
Is it bad that I have this feeling that things aren't over yet, not as they should be, at least?