3 Chapter Three

The next day, after a sleepless night with all her dreams being invaded much like her actual life, Savvy made her way sluggishly to class. Her class today wasn't too bad, but she couldn't wait to get to her clinical classes. For the moment, even though she was a sophomore, she had yet to do any hands-on medical work. The lecture was always boring, but she told herself every day that the choices she made today would only make tomorrow easier or, when she thought of the latest obstacle, harder.

Savvy did not know what to do about Tyron. She was eager to talk to someone, so she texted her bestie for life, Maria, and told her to meet her for lunch after she finished with class. Part of her wished she had someone with more business sense to talk to. She already knew that Maria would tell her to take that money and quit acting like a child. Maria was her closest friend. She had a grandmother, but Alzheimer's was getting worse every day.

On her best day, her grandmother made her smile the most. She enjoyed gardening and painting. So, savvy made sure she had access to both and always joined in when she went to visit her. She used to go see her every week, and that had turned into months. Now it seemed like every other month. The last visit she had with her grandma had not gone so well. The old lady had scared her.

They had been painting when Mapel had suddenly started crying, and then she had called her by her mother's name. In the blink of an eye, she was attacking her, no recognition in the older ladies' eyes. Savvy had thought she had lost her forever. She still called her even when she couldn't get to the home to see her, but as her closest living relative, it just wasn't enough. A stray tear escaped, and Savvy caught it before it hit the desk she was sitting at. Alzheimer's sucked. It sucked when the person going through it was the last actual family that you had. Sure, she had distant cousins and a few aunties, but she didn't know them. They may as well be strangers. To watch someone so strong-willed and caring, forget who they are or who you are, was awful. Once Maple got her wings, she would only have Maria.

Savvy smiled, thinking of Maria. That girl hadn't changed so much since high school. She was still wild and crazy. Had Tyron had given her the same proposition, Savvy wouldn't have known until she was packing to move out. That was one thing everyone said about Maria. She had her mind, and she made it up quickly. She never said, 'I'm thinking about this, or 'I want to do this. She simply did or didn't.

After class, she made her way to Houlihan's and saw Maria sitting at their usual table, but she was not alone. There were two very attractive guys sitting across from her and she was smiling, like she was enjoying the attention. She looked up and waved happily.

"Hi honey," Maria greeted her with her usual enthusiasm. "This is him and him and, as you can see, they are bothering me. I told them my girlfriend doesn't like me talking to guys, but they thought I was playing and stuck around."

Savvy almost smiled at the old game she and her friend played whenever they were being pestered by a guy they didn't want around. Instead of smiling like she wanted to, she looked at the two guys and looked them up and down like they were small. Even though they were both rather large. One of them was smiling, and the other was looking shocked.

"Get lost boys I got this, that's all me right there." She said, sounding stern and serious, but also like she didn't care too much like it happened all the time. Which it did.

"Come on, ma," the ugly one that kept the smile on his face said, "ain't no fun like a foursome."

"Boy stop," Savvy said waving him to the side, "If you were what we wanted we could get it in, but unfortunately you are not on the menu. So keep it pushing before I have to go in my purse and embarrass your ass by making you drop their pants and show everybody what you working with."

Maria picked up her phone and pretended to dial a number. "Hello 1800-little dick, I think I found your missing employee."

He sure wasn't smiling now, and he quickly stormed off. The tall, handsome guy was still standing there, looking amused.

"What you waiting for the check?" Savvy asked.

He seemed to come out of his daze and he looked Savvy right in the eyes and smiled. "Naw, I think you got it, partner. By the way, I have a sister and she plays that role all the time. It was nice to see they ain't the only ones who can pull it off." Then he walked away, still smiling.

Savvy sat down laughing, "There was something so familiar about him, he was kind of cute too, and he saw right through our bullshit."

Maria twisted up her lips and said, "Yeah, he was cute, but his friend was doing all the talking and he was getting on my nerves."

"Want to share the nachos?" Savvy asked.

"Yes mama, my favorite." Maria waved over the waiting server and ordered the nacho plate and two apple martinis.

"So where was the fire? You sounded so stressed last night when I got home and you seemed like you didn't want to talk about it, which hurt my feelings because, bitch, I tell you everything. You know we all we got." Maria said as soon as the server walked away.

Savvy had to agree with that one hundred percent. She and Maria had met in ninth grade by accident. Savvy had arrived at school to find a fright going on in stairway six. Except there was no fight. The reality of the situation was that Maria was in a corner, scared of two girls who were doing some major bullying. Savvy had taken one look at the situation before she made her way through the crowd of people waiting for something to happen. She had placed herself between Maria and the girls, before letting them know there would be no fight that day. She had given them the stamp that they deserved. Bullies and punks. Savvy had mouthed off until the crown and the girls eventually dispersed, and then she and Maria had gone to eat and skipped the rest of the day.

Since then, they had become inseparable. In school, it had been rare to see one without the other. Even in adulthood, they worked together, lived together, and told each other everything. They were, in fact, sisters from different parents and ethnic groups. Their food came, and they both dug into the nachos. They both really could eat, not as much as comfort eating, they just really enjoyed food. When the nachos were halfway gone, Savvy spoke up.

"I got proposed to last night," Savvy announced.

Maria almost knocked over the table as she stood up and started talking in Spanish. Savannah hated when she did that. After all these years, she thought she would have learned some of her gibberish but she hadn't and it never helped the situation. So she waited patiently for Maria to calm down a bit before speaking again.

"Will you shut the hell up and sit down?" Savvy said in an urgent, but calm tone as she looked around the semi-crowded restaurant. People were staring.

"What do you mean, someone at the club?" Maria's whisper yelled as she sat back down. "It better not be that asshole Damond, I swear to God Savvy, they will not hold me responsible for making you a widow if that's who you are talking about."

Savvy could tell she was really worried, so she ordered two more martinis' and told her everything. Maria had been eating the whole time and by the time she was finished laying it all out on the table, the nachos were gone.

"Okay," Maria said, slowly nodding her head. "So fine, tall, rich man. Wants to pay you to marry him... Made a deal with a friend... worth millions..." Savvy nodded her head in agreement.

"And you told him you had to think about it?" Maria continued. Savvy nodded again, rolling her eyes at the breakdown.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Savannah?" Maria asked. She didn't sound angry. Her tone was more like pity. She was still shaking her head slowly. It was then Savvy knew it was just the calm before the storm. So when Maria started her Spanish rambling again, she was prepared and relieved that she stayed in her seat. Savvy raised one hand and quieted her down.

"He only wants to marry me because I'm a stripper, Maria. It's risky because he is all the things you just listed and probably more. I ain't got time for that, girl. Men like him got problems we know nothing about. He got rich people's problems okay. What if I catch feelings for him or something? He's so handsome. He's also an asshole to the fifth power and he will be a pain in my glutinous Maximus."

"If you won't do it, I will. And if you want to do it, I'm always there for you no matter what time of day. If you felt something, I'll be there to knock it out of your head, but you need to get this money, girl. You could pay for school with all that money. Savvy, you wouldn't have to stress about the bills for your granny. This is a real come-up opportunity here." Maria paused for a minute, letting all of that sink in, and then she said, "All your dreams you could finally make them happen, girl. Don't let a handsome face throw you off."

Savvy was nodding her head, brooding. What got her was the thought of taking care of her grandma. She was behind on the nursing home bills. The director luckily took pity on her and had placed her on a payment plan to catch up. It had seemed like a good idea, however, it only made the monthly payments higher and harder to pay. The thought of her granny there had a warming effect on her chakra. Just thinking about getting caught up felt good.

"Think of this," Maria said, "if you don't do it someone else will and you will always wonder what if," Maria held her hand across the table, "I know Damond hurt you babe and if I ever see him I'm still going to take his head off his shoulders, but not every guy is like him. Plus, this is a business thing you have to keep in mind that it's not real and if ever it gets too much, call me. I'll come to you or you come to me. But for the sake of all that's holy, marry that man."

*****

Tyron was in his TV room watching reruns of The Game. Well, he wasn't watching for real, just kind of looking at the TV. He did not know what this episode was about. All night he had thought about Savvy and those angry, intelligent eyes of hers. What was her problem anyway, she acted like he was some ugly bum? He was well dressed, well paid, and lived the good life, mostly. She was catfish nuggets compared to him, a stripper for fuck's sake, and she was haunting his dreams.

Any other woman would have jumped at the deal he'd laid on the table, but not her. Naw, she had to "think about it." If it was him and he was living like her, he would have agreed right on the spot. He had to choose the only stripper with a conscience in town. They should have gone on the east side. He would be married by now if they had.

He looked down at his silent cell phone once again. He should have got her number, he thought to himself. It was already three o'clock. Surely she didn't have classes this late in the day, she had said morning. He needed to know. The sooner they started this sooner this could be over.

To top it off, his mother had called him again this morning, just to remind him he wasn't getting any younger, and that he needed to settle down. This time he had shocked her by telling her he had met someone, and that he was getting married. His mother had cried her tears of joy and made him promise to bring the girl to dinner this weekend. That's something he didn't really think of. He had a big family and they would all want to meet her. It would not work out well for him if she declined the offer.

Then the thought hit him: he knew nothing about her family. Was her family large, too? This little lie could easily get out of hand if he let it. Tyron took a deep breath and tilted his head back. Maybe he was in over his head here. If she didn't accept, he was already in too deep, having accepted his mother's dinner invitation. How was he going to explain that? He had been way too optimistic about acting before he had even spoken to her.

He almost fell backward when his phone vibrated on his chest and caught him off guard. He frowned at the unidentified number. "Tyron," he answered quickly.

There was silence, and then what sounded like a tussle. "Hello?" he called.

"Ahh, hi," said a small feminine voice on the other end of the line.

"Savvy?" he guessed.

"Yeah, it's me. How long does this show have to last?" She said like she would rather be doing anything else but talking to him at this moment. That caused him to smile.

"At least six months, maybe longer, up to a year," Tyron answered.

There were more sounds in the background and it was muffled like she had her hand over the mouthpiece. "Hello?" he said again.

"And no sex?" she asked again.

He smiled, faintly, his little shy stripper. "No, that's not a requirement."

"I want it in writing the complete agreement," Savvy said sternly.

Tyron was a little shocked, but then remembered she was an educated woman and she entered nothing half-cocked. "Sure, I'll have my lawyer draw up the papers. Does that mean you'll accept?"

"What do you think? Is that even a question?" She humphed, and he pictured her rolling her eyes. "When you draw up the papers, I would like my lawyer to look them over as well."

"Not a problem." He said.

"So when do I get my money?"

"Half after we're married, the day of. And the rest at the end of the agreement." He answered.

"Sounds cool, so when's the wedding?" Savvy asked.

He almost laughed out loud. She sounded like she was not even involved. "I was thinking soon. The sooner we started, the sooner this can be over. I can give you a month. That gives you time to plan, quit your job, tell your folks-"

"No parents to tell, they're dead, and my grandma won't remember a thing. Best to just not tell her. I just need to tell my landlord I'm moving and my best friend and sister already know."

He just barely stopped himself from asking about her parents. If she wanted him to know, she would tell him, he thought. "Well, my mom and dad are alive and they are very nosy, so be prepared."

"When do I meet them?" She asked.

"Saturday, they are having dinner to congratulate us."

"You already told them?" She asked in a surprised voice.

"Yes. So put on something pretty and comfortable and I'll pick you up at around five Saturday." He said, daring her to disagree.

"Whatever, I'll be ready." Then she clicked off.

Tyron laid back and smiled to himself again. She was still hesitating, but she had agreed, and that made him a fortunate man. If he could fool his parents, then he had this in the bag.