Lights Please II

3 (Part I) : That's Not Fair

Jermaine

I was in this meeting tryna focus on what was goin on—but I couldn't help but keep thinking about how Tess was doin—she'd caught a stomach bug and had been home for a couple days. I was doin what I could here and there to help out cause she really needed her rest as much as she claimed that she didn't and that she was good to keep working. I pulled out my phone real quick to send her a text.

To: babygirl

You eaten anything yet?

I put the phone back in my pocket before drawing my eyes back to this white man in a suit who was telling us about record sales and what ways he thought would be best to promote my album. He was sayin shit about how not having any singles was gonna hurt sales—shit that I'd been listening to since the beginning of my career and I was so over it, I wanted to start to do shit my way. I kind of zoned out again thinking of other shit before I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket.

11:47AM babygirl

no I feel like puking I cant eat anything :( 

I frowned a little as I read the text... I hated seeing my baby like this.

After the meeting I told Camille to forward all my calls through to my work cell phone and I grabbed my laptop so I could head back home. When I came in I seen Tess was on the couch on her laptop in a white fluffy blanket—she was always in this damn blanket. She had on leggings and one of my shirts that was a lil big on her and her hair was tied up in a bun. She looked a little pale and her eyes looked tired.

"Why you on your computer right now?" I frowned coming in and setting my backpack down.

"Cause I can't do nothing all day," she mumbled. Shit, she didn't look good at all.

"Don't stay on it too long I need you to rest up okay ma?" I knelt down before pecking her lips softly.

"Mkay," she nodded against my lips. "Can I get a cup of tea bubba...? Please?" she literally sounded five years old right now; she wanted to be babied and I didn't mind doing it.

"Yeah I'ma get you your tea, you need some solid food too though babe you aint eat nothing all day." I told her before proceeding to the kitchen to make her something.

I went into the kitchen and shit from breakfast was still all over the place; I'd deal with that later. I was makin baby girl some soup with bread on the side while playing some of the new tracks the team had been working on on the Bluetooth speaker system we had set up in the kitchen. I smiled to myself as Biggie walked into the kitchen shakin his tail around. I knew it'd take a minute to soften Tess up a bit to the point where she didn't mind him runnin around the house and shit, but she just didn't wanna play with him or walk him or nothing like that.

---

Tess

Jermaine brought my soup as I turned on the tv to see if I could catch some daytime TV. He sat next to me before his damn dog waddled his tail, following him and sitting down on the carpet. "Uh uh, I don't want him on my white rug—"

"Damn, Tess you and these rules..." Jermaine kissed his teeth before getting up and patting Biggie so he'd move.

"Are you gonna clean it?" I asked him and he just blinked at me. "That's what I thought." I mumbled before sitting up and setting my laptop down. He took the dog somewhere—probably his mancave—before coming back to sit next to me.

"Thank you for feeding me," I quietly said as I took the tray onto my lap and he gave me a soft smile and kissed my temple.

"Anything for my baby mama... I just want you to get better," he told me. He knew I hated it when he called me baby mama. Asshole.

"Mhm," I nodded, unamused by him.

"Yo—what's this you lookin at here?" he asked me as he picked up my laptop and looked at the screen frowning a little.

"PropertiesinNewJersey," I mumbled not looking at him.

"Whatchu say?" he cocked his head to the side.

"Properties in New Jersey..." I said still not looking at him.

"For what?"

"Just to look for when we decide the time is right to move and shit," I focused real hard on the soup in front of me.

"Well we not moving to Jersey that's for fuckin sure so you can stop doin that." He shut my laptop.

"Okay Ike Turner." I mumbled. "There's no use talking to you cause its like talking to a wall, don't worry though when I find my house me and my baby can go live there—"

"Why tf you gotta be like that though, Tess? Everything we do is in the city we don't gotta move."

"I'm not gonna have my children grow up in the city Jermaine, where's she gonna go to school? We don't have a backyard for her to run around in—if we lived in Jersey its literally a 30 minute drive to your office—you thinking about yourself and not your kid right now,"

"I'm always thinkin bout my kid don't say that," his jaw clenched up and I could tell that remark irritated him.

"She needs space, she needs to make friends and she needs to be in a district with good schools—plus, you got that damn dog with no space... we can't stay here forever."

"I get that, but how you just gon dictate that we're moving?" he frowned.

"I didn't dictate anything—I was literally just looking at places on my laptop..."

"Aight whatever T, do as you fuckin please and I'll follow suit as always." He sighed.

"That's never how it happens shut up," that remark pissed me off.

"Yes it is. Tess is the boss she's always right we gotta do what she says or she'll throw a tantrum and that's the end of the story." He shrugged.

"Okay that's not fucking fair—" I said with a cough, my headache becoming more apparent. "don't make me out to be some kind of evil drill sergeant its not fair—"

"I aint doin nothing, I'm just sayin the way shit always works around here," he shrugged, getting up. "Get some rest, I'm gonna go pick up Lex." He mumbled on his way out.

I didn't feel like dealing with his ass today especially not while I felt sick like this so I just sent him a text.

To: coley cole

I hate when u do that uno. Don't do that w me its not fair cole. That's not a correct depiction of our relationship and you know it... I feel like you say shit bc you know its gonna get to me that's why you throw them jabs. That remark wasn't nice and you fucking knew it and that's why you said it. U always know how to make me feel like actual shit and you do it on purpose.