Free The Available Wife by Carla Pennington Page A

declined. “I have a few errands to run before I get ready for the party tonight. Is it okay if I take off a few hours early?”
    “As long as I don’t have to take care of any messages or emails, you can take off.”
    “You know I’ve taken care of all of that,” Meagan replied in a tone letting me know that she was good at her job. Hell, she was. Ever since hiring her a month after Nathan was born, she’d shown and proved to be a very valuable asset to my label.
    “It’s kind of quiet out there,” I spoke referring to the noise that I wasn’t hearing in the halls.
    “Everyone’s in the conference room.”
    “For what?”
    “They wanted to hear Fortunes sing a few tunes.”
    “Tell those girls they better not fuck their voices up before the album release party tonight,” I joked.
    “I know, right? So, are you ready for that?”
    “As ready as I’ll ever be. Fortunes is gonna make men fall to their knees and beg to eat pussy.”
    Meagan smiled. “You’re off the chain, Niquole, but I think you’re right. The producers wrote some great tracks for them.”
    “I know. I got teary-eyed on a couple of them.”
    “Yeah, right,” she laughed. “I don’t think you can produce tears.”
    “You’ve got a point,” I replied thinking about the tears that I tried to make fall after Kingston murdered Hummer. “Meagan, before you go, I need to talk to you about something,” I added when I saw her do a ballerina twirl and start toward the door.
    “What’s up?”
    “Close the door.”
    She did as advised. “What’s going on?” Meagan asked curiously after tossing her straight, blond hair over her shoulders.
    I reached inside my desk drawer and pulled out a brand new black Louis Vuitton L’Absolu, leather bag with the tag still attached. I placed it on top of my desk and pushed it toward her.
    “This is for you. I had it delivered today.”
    “Are you serious? This is what the FedEx guy dropped off today?”
    “Yeah.”
    Meagan shook her head. “What is this for? I don’t understand.”
    “I can’t tell you now, but you’ll know what it’s for when and if something happens.”
    I had a funny feeling down in the pit of my stomach that Kingston would be making unexpected visits to the studio after what happened and I needed to make sure I had all of my ducks in a row.
    Meagan gently clutched the bag then stared at me after looking at the price. “You paid thirty-five hundred bucks for this bag?” she asked shockingly. “Are you in some kind of trouble or something?”
    “No. No, it’s nothing like that.” I smiled halfheartedly then tried to hide the worried look on my face.
    “I can’t accept this. This is too much,” Meagan said as she pushed the bag back to me. “It feels like a bribe to keep me quiet about something. If you’re in trouble, you don’t have to bribe me. You’re my friend. I’ll do anything for you.”
    “Thanks, Meagan.” I smiled. “Just take the bag anyway. I know how much you love purses.”
    “That’s true, but you’ve got to tell me what’s going on.” She took a seat in one of the burgundy and pewter, barrel shaped chairs in front of my desk. She then crossed her legs as if to say, she wasn’t going anywhere until I told her something.
    “Meagan, it’s none of your business. I just need to know if you have my back if some shit pops off.”
    “Okay, Niquole, you’re really starting to scare me,” she replied. “Does it have anything to do with the label? Germaine? The boys? Your health?”
    “Look,” I huffed letting her know that she was irritating me, “I don’t need this right now. I’ve got enough shit on my mind and I don’t need you drilling me about any of it.”
    When Meagan saw my reaction and heard the tension in my voice, she knew not to ask anymore questions.
    “Okay. I’ll see you later,” Meagan said before standing up. She clutched her new bag then left.
    In the few months that I’d known her, Meagan had never given or