Drix met me on the couch. He threw an arm over the back and looked at me. I became self-conscious almost immediately. I’d worn a black dress to dinner that went below my knees with sheer sleeves and flowers embroidered on them. His eyes trailed from my now bare feet, over my body, to the slicked back ponytail I’d spent too long trying to perfect. He nodded three times then scoffed and shook his head.
“You smoke in here?” he asked.
“Not often.”
“Can I smoke in here?”
“Sure.”
He grabbed a magazine from my coffee table and immediately started rolling up. I sat in silence. Then, he lit up, took a long drag of his joint, and offered it to me.
“I’m good.”
“A’ight.” He took another couple hits while we sat in silence.
“Berlin, what are you doing here?”
“You didn’t see Niecy’s post?”
“Yeah. I saw it.” I picked my leg up on the couch to tuck it beneath me. Drix’s gaze bored into me. “What are you doing here?” I repeated.
He shrugged.
“I missed you,” he confessed. “You my dog.”
I scoffed. “I missed you too,” I admitted.
“Then why you screening my calls?”
“Because you hurt me, Berlin.”
“Because you got embarrassed?” he clarified.
“No. Because the night I fought Niecy you told me there was nothing there but you’re not the type of man to let people touch you unless you want to be touched. You’ve proven time and time again that you don’t play about your space and your boundaries. The picture leaked and my first thought wasn’t about my brand. It was ‘damn. I thought we were friends or at least cool and he lied to me’.”
“You think I would do that?”
“I think when we discussed this whole staying married thing you said you wouldn’t be embarrassed, and when I asked if that was mutual, you shrugged me off.”
“Myome, I don’t want Niecy, and if I did, you’d know. I ain’t even really focus on that hand thing. I guess because she was around for so long and we used to be so close it didn’t even really register to me, but what you saw in that picture is the most that went on. She came in with Trapp. She told me she was done with me. I told her that was cool. She cried. She stormed out. That was it.”
“You don’t owe me an explanation. I’m not your real wife, Berlin.”
“Except you are. We’re married. Legally and publicly. Mothafuckas have built more on less.” He took a hit from hisjoint. “As long as you’re my wife, I’m gon’ respect you and I want you to believe me when I say that. I’ve got you, Yo. For real. I want the best for you.”
I stared at his handsome side profile and did my best not to let his words get to me.
“We’re getting more negative publicity than good,” I said softly.
Drix let his head fall back against my couch and looked over at me.
“I don’t really care.”
“All publicity is good publicity?” I guessed.
He nodded. “And we good over here.”
“Right now,” I clarified. “So what happens when you actually want to run off and fuck somebody? Are you just going to be super discreet, are we going to call it right before, or what?”