Queen Media Collective

Seven years. That’s how long Brian had been working for the insurance agency. He was one of the top agents in the office, and the plaques decorating his office backed that up, as he was running out of space in his office. Even with the success, Brian was becoming bored at what he was doing. He often would find himself staring out the window of his third-floor corner office.

“Man! I sure would love to be outside right now enjoying this weather.”

It was a balmy 95 degrees outside in Atlanta and Brian was just about to go on lunch break to enjoy that weather he was so desperately wanting to be in. Brian already had his lunch all planned out. He was going to Jerry’s to get a plate full of sweet potatoes, green beans and his favorite, pork chops.

“Your usual, Brian?” asked Jerry as Brian walked in the door.

Brian nodded and Jerry quickly got his food ready. As Brian enjoyed his food, he gazed out the window and then there she was. She was 5’5″, dark-skinned, long black hair and had a voluptuous figure.

“Hello, Brian. Didn’t expect to see you here today. How are you?”

“Good afternoon, Lacey. How have you been? What’s it been? Ten years?”

“Yep. That’s correct. Well, just came in to pick up a plate. You have a good day.”

And just like that, Lacey rushed out the door. Brian hadn’t seen her in years and now he could not stop thinking about her and what made her rush out of Jerry’s so fast. And then it hit him as to why she was so quick to get out of there.

Ten years ago was the last time Brian and Lacey were in the presence of each other. Brian was dating Lacey and his eventual wife, Charlotte, at the same time and he couldn’t choose. Lacey just enjoyed the time with him and although she knew he was dating another woman in addition to her, she did not care as long as she got to spend time with him. She was banking on Brian eventually choosing her, hoping in her heart of hearts that he would see her as the best option. Charlotte, on the other hand, had no intentions of allowing Brian to make this decision on his own. She grew up the daughter of a former NFL football player and millionaire businessman and had gotten everything she wanted in life whenever she wanted it.  Charlotte was determined to get rid of Lacey and she had tried several times to convince Brian to let Lacey go and she had tried everything she could think of. But in that thinking one night, she came up with her best plan: pay Lacey off.

Lacey did not grow up with the same things Charlotte did. She was in school on an academic scholarship and if it weren’t for that, then she probably never would have went to college. Her mom and dad were struggling to pay bills and she was working a job while in college to help take care of bills at home. Charlotte was aware of her home situation and made a call home to her dad.

“Dad, I want Brian and I need you to give me $50,000, now.”

“But, Charlotte…”

“Don’t ‘but Charlotte’ me, Dad. I want him and you have to help me do it.”

“You sure, Charlotte?”

“Yes, Dad.”

And with that, the plan was in action. All Charlotte had to do was find the cell phone number of Lacey. And with Brian coming over later that night, it should be easy for her. Charlotte let Brian in her dorm room that night and they hung for a minute until Brian excused himself to go to the restroom. At that point, Charlotte got Lacey’s number from the phone and programmed it into her phone for later usage.

The next day, Charlotte text Lacey, letting her know that the two needed to meet regarding Brian. Lacey refused at first, but after a few more text messages and some convincing, Charlotte got Lacey to show up and meet her at the library later that afternoon.

When Lacey showed up to the library, she noticed a white Mercedes Benz sitting right outside the library was honking at her and noticed that it was Charlotte motioning her to come to her car. Lacey walked slowly over to the car, not knowing what Charlotte had planned for her.

“I’m not going to hurt you, Lacey,” said Charlotte while chuckling.

“Well, you were waving me over to a car, Charlotte.”

“Well, let’s cut the chitchat, Lacey. I know your family needs the money and you’ve been helping them out. What if I could do something to help out this situation?”

“What do you mean, Charlotte?”

At that point, Charlotte went into her glove compartment and pulled out $50,000.

“Is this enough for you to leave Brian alone?”

Lacey saw the money and immediately thought of how she could help her parents but then she quickly snapped back into reality.

“I cannot accept this money Charlotte.”

“Lacey, I was trying to be nice. Brian doesn’t want you. He wants me. I was trying to at least let you leave with something. ”

“What do you mean he doesn’t like me?”

“He is just with you for a cheap thrill Lacey. Take this money. I know you need it. I just need you to stay away from Brian.”

Lacey knew Charlotte was lying about Brian not liking her at all.

“Are you serious? You’re trying to pay me to stay away from Brian? Are you crazy?”

“Well, I am crazy Lacey. That’s true. One thing I want to tell you though, is you don’t want this to get ugly. I can make things really uncomfortable. Like ‘lose your scholarship’ uncomfortable. Just stay away from him and we won’t have any problems.”

Lacey didn’t want to accept the money, but she was tired of seeing her parents struggle and she did not want to lose her scholarship, so Lacey agreed to the deal.

That night, Brian saw her at a party and approached her. Lacey promptly left and went outside. At that point, Brian was confused as to why she moved away from him.

As they went outside, Brian grabbed Lacey’s arm to slow her down.

“What’s wrong, Lacey?”

“Just tired of you, Brian. That’s what’s wrong. Just do me a favor and leave me alone for good.”

“But Lacey…”

At that point, Lacey was on her way down the street and there was nothing Brian could do about it.

As Lacey was walking down the street, tears began to stream down her face. She knew she did not want to leave Brian like that, but she had to make a choice and the choice she made seemed like the best one for her at the time. And just like that, Lacey disappeared from Brian’s life.

Brian was stunned. He never expected things to end that way with Lacey. And even though he moved on with Charlotte, he never really got over the Lacey leaving like that.

At this point, it was neither here nor there and the reality was it didn’t happen and he had to move on with life. He finished his meal at Jerry’s and then exited the building on his way back to work, but as he left and throughout the rest of his day, he just could not stop thinking of Lacey.

After completing his day at work, Brian arrived to the mini-mansion he and Charlotte shared together. Charlotte’s dad had bought them a home when they got married six years ago as a wedding gift and the two had resided there ever since. Even though it was bought for both of them, he was often made to feel like it was bought for only Charlotte.

“Take your shoes off in my house when you enter,” ordered Charlotte.

Brian had gotten used to hearing orders barked out from his wife, as Charlotte had gotten more and more controlling over the years of them being involved with each other. Brian thought it was Charlotte showing she cared at first, but then he realized she was a control freak way too late and he was already committed. He loved her and his emotions were involved and he did not want to leave her, but she was driving him crazy and he wasn’t sure how much more he could take. He rolled his eyes and responded to Charlotte.

“I got it. Anything else you want to tell me to do?”

Charlotte wasn’t an imposing woman. She was 5’3″, light-skinned with a slim build and green eyes, but with how she was staring at Brian with anger in her face, it made her seem as if she was a giant ready to pounce.

“You better take that back. Did you forget who you’re talking to? My dad got us this house and I can put you out of it anytime I want to.”

Brian fumed in his mind, but he sucked it up and apologized to Charlotte to keep the peace in his house.

“I wish I would have chosen Lacey,” he said in his mind.

All the rest of the night, he was thinking about Lacey and their meeting today, and how he could have changed how it ended.

When Brian fell asleep that night, he had an unusual dream. It was he and Lacey spending time together as if they never parted. They were walking in the park, holding hands and laughing. The connection was magnetic. He also noticed in his dream that he and Lacey both had wedding bands on. In his dream, he ended up back at Lacey’s house and of course they ended up capping off their day with some sex. The sex in his dream felt so real to Brian, like it was happening in real life. He even was even dreaming Lacey was on top of him, riding him. In his dream, they both went to the shower and went at it once again. And after that, both passed out in the bed.

The alarm clock woke Brian up the next morning, as usual, at 6 am.

“Good morning, Charlotte.”

Brian got no response. He did notice the shower was running and he figured he may as well get ready for the day. Brian thought it may be a good thing to surprise Charlotte with some shower sex as another apology for last night. Brian was rubbing his face as he got in the shower.

“Did you enjoy last night?”

As Brian looked up, he went from wiping his eyes to complete shock.

“Lacey?!”