Then the shit hit the fan. When my PR team released a statement declining Erika’s accusations, the public responded harshly. I was deemed insensitive and irresponsible. Apparently, the world got too attached to Erika and me being a couple and weren’t ready for us to part, and certainly wouldn’t have me denying “our baby.” What the hell? Erika knew that was Shirez’s baby just as much as I did. She knew I had iron clad proof of their affair. He even knew. He’d bragged about it to mutual friends.
But the lid really flew off when pictures of Zoey and me together that week surfaced. The night we went out to eat and ran into Kenneth James at Bajwa in Philly and let his photographer take flicks of Zoey in my arms, wanting the world to see my prize, emerged at the wrong time. Our days in the Hamptons when Zoey swore she saw a camera flash? Sure enough, that shit hit the Internet, too. The fondness of having her on my back and in my mouth at the same time was tainted by the timing of it all. I couldn’t give a damn about the world knowing about my time and connection to her. What I didn’t want was her exposed to the negativity of it all.
And negativity it was. Zoey attacked me and the world attacked her. The morning after she hung up on me, I got a call to check her Facebook page. Zoey posted the lyrics to Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know” and left the signature of “ImOverIt.com” at the end. Because I wasn’t familiar with the lyrics of the track, only the popularity of it when I was a kid, I Googled it. I was sick. The spirit of the song was vile. The lyrics laced with pure anger.
A day later, I got a call about hecklers harassing Zoey and her staff at her bakery. In another incident, eggs were plastered on the glass windows when she arrived to open for business. Overnight, her safety became an issue. My life had once again spun out of control.
~~~~~~~~~~
~Zoey~
My life had gone from bliss to crap in a matter of hours. Tynisha sent me the press release about Erika’s baby and I fell backwards, hitting my head on my desk behind me. Thank goodness I didn’t hurt myself too bad. No matter how many times I told myself not to call Stenton, my anger got the best of me and I did it anyway. When he shouted into the phone that he was at dinner, it was a gut blow. I couldn’t believe he betrayed my trust. Was I that easy? Did he not have to work at all to get into my bed? He certainly owned my heart, that was no difficult feat. I felt like a fool. I’d disappointed myself.
My troubles didn’t end there. Just days after that announcement hit, pictures of Stenton and me frolicking around like two having an affair, flooded the Internet. Viewing the total bliss in my eyes while wrapped around or under Stenton drove the dagger in my chest even deeper. Bloggers were speaking against my character, creating false backstories about me and why Stenton never married me. Others labeled me as victim number one. E! Network even contacted me, offering a few episodes on “Envying the Ercegs” where I would “assist” Erika through the pain Stenton caused her. How pathetic.
I closed the bakery for almost a week, losing revenue to keep my staff safe when we had eggs cover the windows and my cleaning guy almost got into an altercation when he found someone rummaging through the trash. Chesney encouraged the closing and even provided solutions as to how to pay the staff while business was suspended. He actually flew to Philadelphia to check on me. His presence was welcomed support from a friend. We’d softened toward each other tremendously over the years. I needed his friendship and services during this dark time. It was horrible.
While we were on the hiatus, Angela informed me of her and Timmy’s separation. I knew they were experiencing rough times over the months, but had no idea they were the type that put them on the road to Splitsville. She attributed it to getting married too young, before being fully developed beings first. It reminded me of Angela’s and my old pact to not get married before we decided we were ready and not anyone else. Overall, she appeared okay about it, which relieved me. Her news was still disappointing, though.
The morning we opened back up for business, I arrived early to Ni?a’s Sweet Cakes to be sure everything flowed smoothly. Seconds into preparing to start the day, two burly men walked into the door, appearing suspect, too official for my comfort.