“Well, what can I say?” He flipped the page. “Mother knows best.”
“And your father wants the association with Ricardo for what reason?” Justin questioned.
Ocean softly shook his head as he read over Ximena’s file. She was a plain looking woman with an average body. That wasn’t the problem. True to form, she was a waste of space. She was a social justice warrior behind the keyboard but there was no documentation of her donating her time, money, or anything else to said causes she championed about.
Even Stevie Wonder could see Ximena was an opportunist. “Latinos are going to become the majority in a few years. He wants to get in before it’ll be too late. This is purely political. He doesn’t give a damn if I hate her or if we don’t work out. Ricardo needs a favor from my father, and my father was more than happy to oblige at the expense of my happiness and time.” Ocean tossed the dossier aside.
“And Aaliyah?” Justin dared to ask. “What does she think about you going out with Ximena tonight?”
“She doesn’t know.” Ocean replied and Justin’s eyebrows rose. “She says she doesn’t care what I do and she’s made it very clear we’re not dating. We’ll find out tonight if she really means that or if she’s playing a game and hope I’ll go along with it.”
“My man,” Justin shook his head, “you’re playing with fire, bro. You know how the Montezes get down. You’ll be all over the society pages and IG blogs in a heartbeat. Ricardo has been trying to get in with the Senate and Congress for years. Lobbying is the best he can do but he actually needs an ear who can lead to other ears.”
“And I’m that dumb asshole courtesy of our parents.” Ocean rolled his eyes. “Even if I sleep with Ximena, it doesn’t mean anything. I don’t even want to fuck her, to be honest. There’s only one woman I want to fuck and she’s currently in Atlanta paying me dust.”
“Oh, she’ll pay you more attention after this stunt,” Justin chuckled.
“It’ll take the heat off Aaliyah at the risk of me being labeled as a playboy.” Ocean shrugged. He was used to the press stalking his every move with the Midwestern housewives clamoring over the blonde women he was seen with in past years.
Since the pictures of him and Aaliyah came out, Black Twitter labeled him as “Senator Bae,” with commentators joking Ocean traded inFriendsforLiving Single. “We’ll see how she reacts when the pictures come out. She might be done with me for good at that point.”
“Or…” Justin rubbed his goatee. “…you might gave her motivation to work on things with you.”
~~~~~
Aaliyah’s workday went by as quickly as it started. Her clients were respectful and didn’t ask any questions about her and Ocean. Not that Aaliyah would’ve given them any details. She was in that awkward ‘What are we?’ stage that she loathed in high school and college with previous boyfriends.
Ocean was not her boyfriend. But he wasn’t quite just an ex. He was…something else.
She shrugged off the emotions. She was scheduled to see Ocean within the upcoming month. They would go out to dinner, maybe catch a show somewhere, and then Aaliyah would go back to her room and Ocean would go back to his condo.
They could be complete professionals and adults about whatever was going on. No shade, no angry, scathing Twitter messages or nasty posts alluding to one another. A pure, platonic relationship.
Even Aaliyah couldn’t buy that.
Sexual tension crackled between them whenever they were together. She could still remember how soft and warm his lips felt on hers. The way he stared at her as he cupped her breasts when she stood naked in front of him. Aaliyah was wise enough to know sex alone didn’t make a relationship. Love, trust, and honor were other big factors in that and Aaliyah wasn’t sure how much Ocean had of each.
She had to be realistic. Was she ever going to be Aaliyah Ellison? Was she simply fulfilling a need within Ocean until someone more appropriate came along? If that was all he wanted, why would he tease her with the possibility over again? She didn’t need the publicity for her new show that bad.
By the time Aaliyah was done with her clients, the press had dissipated and went away once they realized there wasn’t a news story and she wasn’t about to give one. She had to go home and think about what she really wanted to do with her life.
How was she going to handle a reality show and newfound association with Ocean?
As Aaliyah stepped outside of Watercolors with the awaiting AMG Mercedes, all worries slipped away. She walked up to the driver, who had the backseat passenger door opened for her. “I’m Aaliyah Smith. You are?”
“I’m Julio Rodriguez,” the driver introduced himself. He was a Puerto Rican man with a light complexion and light eyes to match. “I’m your driver and bodyguard, Ms. Smith.”
Julio looked like he was a minor bodybuilder with broad, wide shoulders and a muscular frame. He was bigger than Ocean and Aaliyah quickly realized that was the point. If Julio was around, no one was about to try anything on Aaliyah. “How long are you supposed to protect me?”
“Until Senator Ellison says not to,” he replied, “his personal money is paying for my services and not the taxpayers.”
Aaliyah didn’t have to ask why Julio shared that tidbit. She was also pretty sure that news would also make its way to the press in some form or another by the end of the night. “Okay.” She gave a soft smile. “Are you going to pick me up from my home tomorrow morning?”
“Yes and where ever you need to go. I’m at your service 24/7.” Julio stated with a nod.
“Well, I don’t want that because you need sleep.” Aaliyah stated. “We’ll work something out. I don’t want you to put your life in danger.”
“I’m under Senator Ellison’s orders, Miss.” Julio repeated. “Am I taking you home?”
