The Last Great Seduction

Chapter Thirteen

Shawn actually did handle it. I was more than shocked when I logged on to the Internet to hear about the split. It was confirmed right from Shawn's mouth about their decision to not get married. A part of me was laughing my ass off inside, but another part of me felt bad. I had been left for another person, hell I was cheated on, so I had a slight bit of sympathy.

Sadly, my dislike for Rihanna wouldn't allow me to hold much sympathy for her. She had crossed many lines, and I didn't appreciate her running to the blogs with a damn thing. I was a private person and I enjoyed my damn privacy.

"You ready, Bey?" Julius asked me from the door. I smiled at him.

It wasn't long before we both burst into laughter. I was attending an event today, and instead of getting dressed, I was sitting on the Internet, laughing. The event was going to be very interesting. Since it was planned months ahead, I would be sitting with Shawn and Rihanna. Before? It always sucked being the third wheel at their table. They were a loving couple in the public eye, meanwhile Shawn and I's friendship was noted as one that everyone wanted.

"Get dressed, girl," Julius said as he closed the door back. I giggled and closed my MacBook.

I got into my dress and looked in the mirror. We had already done hair and makeup, so I was fine in that aspect. "Y'all ready?" I asked once I emerged from the room.

"We waiting on you!" My stylist, Ty, yelled. I giggled at that. We were always late for some shit, but it didn't matter to me.

The red carpet was wonderful. I made a mental note to avoid all interviewers. I didn't want to be questioned about Shawn's split, because how was I supposed to pretend to be sad?

Inside of the building, we all sat front row. The tension was there. It was awkward at times, especially for me. I didn't know what to do or say. We all had our plus ones with us. Rihanna had brung her best friend, Melissa. She was the same girl from Shawn's benefit concert. Shawn decided that Corey was going to be his plus one. Can I say that he stole my idea? My plus one was Julius. I didn't have anyone else. The kids didn't want to attend, so I didn't bug them. Julius preached about how since he didn't have a new suit, he wasn't able to attend.

"Enjoying the show?" Rihanna asked everyone.

No one said a word to her. Corey sat next to me and I couldn't control it. He knew me. Rih and I were against one another during a few awards, and I won them all. The rolling of the eyes, the smart comments, and the glares – chile I was over it.

"I'm leaving," I said once all my categories were called. I wasn't going to sit there and ruin my reputation any further dealing with this damn girl. I could see that everyone was shocked, but I was getting heated. I was learning to not punch people in the face, but no one could tell me that Rihanna didn't deserve it.

"Where you going?" Shawn asked as I began gathering my things.

"Home," I simply said.

"You aight?" I could see the concern on his face.

I smiled a little bit, "I'll be fine. I just don't want to be in this atmosphere much longer."

"I'll leave with you, Bey," Shawn said.

Quickly, I stopped him. "You have one more award to win. Stay. I'll be fine."

I felt like I was the only one thinking right now. I knew that we both wanted to just scream out that we were together or whatever, but I felt like we needed to wait. It wouldn't look good to just pop out a happy couple after Shawn's split with Rih.

"Go with her, Jay. I'll accept the award and bring it home." Rihanna smiled at the two of us.

I looked at her briefly. Before I could open my mouth, Shawn shook his head.

"Stay. I'm tired," I said and simply walked away. Julius was right behind me. I knew that he was probably wondering why we were leaving so early. I hadn't told him about Shawn and I, but I felt like that wasn't any of his business anymore. We were over, and he was simply my bodyguard now.

"What's going on Bey? What's wrong?" Julius asked as we were walking to the exit. I knew not to say anything in this building. People were all around, and reported anything they heard. I wouldn't be surprised if I were to read that I was storming out madly before the show. In reality, I was walking calmly and with a smile on my face.

We got in the truck, and I immediately let it out. "I really can't stand that damn girl."

"That's why you left?"

I laughed and shook my head. "No, I'm actually tired. I'm supposed to be on break, remember?" I still had a few shows of my tour before my official break started. I was thankful for that long break that I had. I was able to spend part of the summer with my baby boy.

Julius drove me home and made sure that I was okay. I didn't want to invite him in. It wasn't that Julius was annoying, but for some I just didn't want to be as close to him. He was good with handling the break up, but I just didn't know about me.

"Ma!" I yelled throughout the house. She was over my house watching the kids today. Danny had expressed that he wanted to start sleeping back in his bed, so I gave her the keys to my house and told her that she stay there while I was on break. I was praying that my mother didn't try to move in my damn house. I would happily move out.

"Stop all that yelling, girl!" She hissed at me, coming from up the stairs.

"They sleep? What you cook up in here?" I asked as I headed to the kitchen. I could smell the aroma of a pasta dish.

"Danny's not. He's watching that little device thing. And some shrimp linguini."

"They ate that?" I asked curiously as I started fixing myself a plate.

"Yes. Why wouldn't they?"

I shrugged. "They not fancy eaters, ma. Except Julian when he trynna pretend to be a celebrity."

She shook her head once I put my food in the microwave. "You not gone ask about your sister?"

This was a conversation that was becoming a weekly thing. I was tired of her asking me if I was going to ask about her. Clearly, there was something that my mother wanted for me to know. "Ma, just say it. I'm not going to ask. I don't need to stress of worrying about that chile. I ain't in the mood!"

I was more agitated lately. I knew that, but I couldn't explain it. A lot of people were pissing me off.

"She back on them streets, Melanie!"

I shrugged my shoulders, wondering why that was any of my business. "She was a junkie with a home," I simply stated as I retrieved my food from the microwave.

"Watch your mouth! Your sister changed her life around!"

"Really? So the drugs just happened to walk in my house by itself?" I asked her. "Ma, open your eyes. I know that's your child and she's my sister. But I refuse to help someone that don't want to be help. For five years, she had a place to stay. She had a baby that loved her unconditionally. You will NOT make me feel guilty about kicking her out when she was putting children at risk. I tried to help her. Milena will get better when she wants to. IF she wants to."

I was sick of being blamed for Milena's mistakes. I didn't care how everyone felt about it. I brought her into my home with no judgements, and she fucked it all up – not me. If my mother felt so bad, why didn't she let her stay with her?

"You watch your mouth when you're talking to me, Melanie!"

"THAT'S NOT MY NAME!" I shouted at her. I could see my mother's intentions right in my face. She shook her head and began grabbing her keys to leave. She was leaving the kids there with me tonight, and I didn't care.

I went to lock my door before going upstairs to get out this gown. I hung it up in the closet where it belonged and changed clothes. I was very behind on Scandal, so I caught up and ate the food she had cooked. I ended up finishing the show. When it started to get to the parts that you just knew you couldn't miss, I ran from my bed to the bathroom to vomit.

"Ole nasty ass pasta," I groaned.