Several Weeks Later
The Night of the Premiere
Colby
Colby left fuming and outraged. He was so angry for what had gone down and even angrier with himself for allowing Tressa to involve him with such foolishness. He didn’t stop and think about the outcome. He just went with it. He never stopped to think about his actions jeopardizing his career or what bad publicity he’d bring on himself. With Tiffany on the road to success and now one of Mr. Green’s favorite persons, there was no way he would get a series on TiMax. Definitely not after all of the drama that had occurred.
“Why did I listen to your crazy ass, Tressa?” he mumbled as he got into his car. He wanted to choke the life out of her. He never thought things would spiral out of control as they did, and he definitely had lost Tiffany for good.
Never intending to fall for her when he signed up for the bogus affair, he slowly but surely fell for Tiffany. She was like an around-the-way girl, down-to-earth, smart and sexy. She was flirty and funny, and he remembered the way her eyes used to dance when she was excited about something.
Very low-key and drama-free he had the best times with Tiffany, and he was going to miss it all. “I just wanted to apologize, Tiffany, and say I’m sorry, but as soon as I blinked, you were back with your high school honey. Man, I want to beat yo’ ass, Kory, and that cheap shot you got in on me was just a lucky punch. Next time I see you, you gon’ learn who I am, that’s for sure,” he rambled on. He was heated and wanted to turn his car around and head back to the party and wait for Kory’s ass.
“Son of a bitch,” he grumbled. “That’s okay, though. I got you, and I’m going to get Tiffany back.” He continued to mentally battle with Kory and apologize to Tiffany when his phone rang. He looked at the screen in the dash. It was Tressa.
“You gotta be kidding me,” he said, and then hit ignore. A few short moments later, his cell rang out again, and again he hit ignore. The next minute he got a text alert.
He hit delete on the screen and continued on, but Tressa started to call and text him back to back. Ignoring her, he went home . . . to find her at his gate.
He pulled up, but her car was blocking the drive.
“Tressa, move your car now!” he demanded. Tressa looked at him with a look of refusal, and then placed both hands on her hips.
“Not until we’ve talked, Colby. I paid you to do a damn job, and you fucked up.”
“Tressa, if you don’t get yo’ ass in your car and get the hell out of my drive, I’m going to call the law.”
“Call them, Colby. Be my damn guest. I don’t have shit to lose at this point, and I know you want exactly what I want. Just like me, I know you want to get back at them.”
“No!” he yelled, even though she spoke the truth. He didn’t want to have a thing to do with Tressa, not anymore. She had caused him enough troubles. “I don’t want to get back, get even, or do anything of that nature. I want to move on with my life and pretend that this ignominy never happened, Tressa. I’m at the height of my career, and I’m not going to allow such foolishness anymore. I will not let you or Tiffany, and that punk ass Kory make matters worse for me, so I’m asking you nicely to get in your car and get the hell out of my drive. I don’t have shit to say to you, and I don’t want to be a part of your schemes and scams. Go find another sucker to toy with, Tressa.”
She stood there for a few seconds like she hadn’t heard a word he had said. He then examined her closer and wondered why she looked a mess. Like a prom date from hell. She wore a lovely gown, but it was hanging off of her as if it wasn’t the right size, and her hair looked like she was going for an updo, but she didn’t have enough pins left to finish pinning it up. Her makeup was a completely different look for a princess, and it dawned on him that she was high. He really wanted her as far away as possible at that point. “Don’t make me call the law, Tressa. I’m serious, I will.”
“You will never work in this town again!” she yelled. Huffing and puffing, Colby looked at her with a look of confusion. She had turned into a lunatic right before his eyes, but he wasn’t having it.
“Save your empty threats, Tressa. You are a nobody, a laughingstock. Everyone in this city knows you are a joke. You’re yelling, but nobody’s listening. You are a fucking cokehead, Tressa. You look like a homeless idiot in that dress. You are washed up, and not even your daddy wants to claim your ass right now, so get your crazy ass into your vehicle and get off of my property. If you don’t go now, I’ll have you locked up for trespassing,” he threatened, and then reached for his phone.
Tressa stood there with her chest rising and falling as she breathed deeply with rage.
“Okay,” he said and dialed 911.
“911, what’s your emergency,” his wireless headset blared, and he knew it was loud enough not only for Tressa to hear, but also his neighbors. In an instant, Tressa dashed to her car and cranked her engine.
“No emergency, ma’am. The problem is now leaving,” Colby said and watched Tressa back out like she was trying to get away from a robbery. He waited for her taillights to speed down the road before he drove up and keyed in the code to get into his gate.
He felt foolish, thinking back on his actions of how he allowed Tressa to talk him into dating Tiffany for money and a lead role at her father’s network. He knew the bad press was going to taint his image, so he decided he’d get on top of the game by apologizing in person to Mr. Green, and then working with his publicist to make public apologies for his actions, because he had come too far in his career to be suddenly washed up. He had worked too hard to be placed on the has-been list. He was too young and had a bright future, and he instantly went into the save-his-career mode. Tressa was the loser, not him, and Tiffany and Kory were not going to be a sore spot in his life.
He made a conscious decision to let them be, get over Tiffany Richardson, and squash the plans to whip Kory’s ass.