Kem, Mona and Charlotte were now seated in the den away from the crowd of people.
“Kem, I’m so glad to see you with Brent. You two make a cute couple,” Mona said.
“Thanks, but this isn’t about me. It’s about you,” Kem replied.
“It was really a spur-of-the-moment type thing. We flew to Vegas and while we were there, Terrance shared his feelings with me and the next thing you know, we were standing in front of a preacher and saying I do.”
“But you’ve been married a week and didn’t tell us. I don’t know if my feelings should be hurt or not,” Charlotte said.
Mona got out of her seat and squeezed her way in between Kem and Charlotte on the couch. “Terrance and I thought it would be fun to throw a party and let everyone know at one time.”
“Yes, you’ve always been one for the theatrics,” Charlotte noted.
“Drama and Mona go hand in hand,” Kem agreed.
“I’ll let you two get away with it only because I’m so happy and I could have told you before now, but to see your faces when Terrance made the announcement…it was priceless.”
Mona tilted her body forward. She grabbed two glasses of champagne and handed one to Kem and the other glass to Charlotte. She then lifted her own glass. “Can my friends share this toast with me?”
“Sure. I’ll do it,” Charlotte said. “To Mona.” They all held their glasses up in the air. “May you and Terrance’s love continue to blossom.”
Kem added, “May the romance in your relationship never die.”
They clicked their glasses. Kem took a big gulp of her champagne.
The doors of the den flew open. In walked Terrance. “There’s my baby. Everyone’s been asking for you. When I didn’t see Kem or Charlotte either, I figured you all had escaped somewhere.”
Kem stood. “Congrats again, Terrance. You make my girl happy so I’m happy.”
Kem hugged him. “Thanks, Kem. I really appreciate your comments.”
Kem held her empty glass. “I’m going to go and see if I can locate Brent.”
“Your man is probably looking for you too,” Mona teased.
“Terrance, you got your hands full. If you need to vent, you have my number.” Kem laughed and patted Terrance on the arm.
“I can handle her.” Terrance winked.
Mona tilted her head to the side. “Oh really.”
Terrance wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her. Mona blushed.
Kem said, “You were saying?”
“Girl, go find your man and leave my man alone.” Mona smiled.
Kem smiled too. She left the happy couple and Charlotte behind in the den.
Kem heard an obnoxious, irritating laugh. When she looked in the direction of the sound, she saw some brunette with her boobs all up in Brent’s face. Brent didn’t seem too happy. Kem rushed to his side.
Brent bent and kissed her lightly on the lips. “Sweetheart. There you are.”
“Sweetheart?” the woman said.
“Yes. This is my lady.”
“I thought you were single,” the woman responded.
“Well, you thought wrong,” Kem said. She didn’t know if she should be mad at Brent or not. For now, she would handle the woman who was violating her space.
“When I saw you at the Emmys, you clearly stated you weren’t dating anyone,” the woman said.
“As I was trying to tell you, but you wouldn’t let me get a word in, that was months ago. Today, I’m happily involved.”
“Oh believe me. I’m reporting this on my blog tonight. Be prepared for the media storm, buddy.” She walked away.
“Who was that? Her face looks familiar,” Kem asked Brent.
“Sandy Blair. She’s an entertainment reporter,” Brent responded.
“Oh, I know exactly who she is. She’s more like a tabloid reporter. Sounded like she was more concerned about your personal life than getting a story.”
“She made a pass at me at the Emmys and I turned her down so she was trying again.”
“I know the heifer saw you and I together. I only stepped away for about thirty minutes.”
“Are you jealous?” Brent asked.
“Now’s not the time to be joking with me.” Kem sounded angry as her insecurities resurfaced. She turned and saw the venomous look in Sandy’s eyes, but then it disappeared. Sandy held her glass in the air, smiled and then turned around.
“Are you ready to go?” Brent asked.
“Yes, I’m no longer in a party mood.”
Kem searched the room until she saw Mona and Terrance. After saying their good-byes, Kem and Brent left the party.
Brent’s attempt to lighten the mood wasn’t working. Kem seemed to have had an attitude ever since they left the party.
“Kem, we should be celebrating your friends’ marriage not fighting with each other.”
“I’m not fighting with you. I’m just not talking to you.” Kem crossed her arms and looked out the passenger window as he drove.
“Why are you giving a person I care nothing about power over your happiness? I don’t know Sandy personally. She wanted to go out. I turned her down. Now, she’s going to report what? That you and I are a couple? Oh, I get it. You’re upset people will now know we’re dating.”
“If I was really trying to keep us a secret, I wouldn’t have gone to the party with you.”
“It’s one thing to socialize amongst friends, but for the world to know is a whole different tune. Are you afraid people will think you only gave me the part on your show because we were screwing? Is that going to mess up your squeaky-clean image?” Brent didn’t mean to come across harshly, but Kem’s attitude was grating on his nerves. He loved her and he didn’t care about people knowing they were involved.
“You don’t get it, do you?” Kem asked.
“Get what? Make me understand why you’re in such a funky mood.”
“It’s the fact you didn’t do anything to keep her out of your face. You were being too nice.”
“What did you expect me to do? I was trying to avoid a scene. I told her I wasn’t interested. I made it plain. She was the one who was persistent. If you don’t trust me, then we have a serious problem.”
He noticed Kem shift in her seat from the corner of his eye as he drove.
“That’s not it. It didn’t look like you were encouraging her but with women like that you have to be direct.”
“I was direct. I told her flat out I wasn’t interested. That was before you walked over. And I shared with her that you and I were in a relationship. I did that right in front of you. There’s nothing more I could have done.”
Kem sighed out loud. “You’re right. I apologize for overreacting. It’s just been an emotional evening.”
“Apology accepted.” Brent held Kem’s hand. “Let’s have our own private celebration when we get to your house.”
“I’m down for that.”
Kem took Brent’s hand and placed it underneath her dress. Brent smiled when he realized she wasn’t wearing any underwear. He pleasured her with his fingers as he tried to concentrate on the road. He couldn’t wait to get her home so he could please her in other ways.