Free The Trophy Wife by Ashley, JaQuavis Page A

her hip. Her eyes watered over as she looked down at the man she desperately wanted to get to know. Why does he have to be so damn charming?
    â€œStart what with me? I know you’ve got a lot to be afraid of. I would never put you out there like that. You’re not doing anything wrong. I’m just here for Jada,” he stated with a smile that melted London’s defenses.
    â€œI’m serious. You have to stop, Kalil. Just please don’t complicate things for me more than they already are. You have no idea what I’m going through.” London looked back at her class on the stage.
    â€œI hear you, ma,” Kalil stated as he stood up, “I hear you.” He wasn’t upset because he already knew why she was reluctant to fuck with him. She began to walk away, but Kalil reached for her arm.
    â€œOww!” She grimaced and quickly pulled her arm away.
    Kalil turned her arm around and saw the red marks deeply embedded in her skin. Her arm was blotchy and swollen. Kalil shook his head in disgust. “You stay beautiful, a’ight. When you ready to leave that nigga, you let me know,” he stated as he put on his fitted Yankees cap and exited the room.
    London didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t keep her mind off Kalil. Even though she hardly knew him, there was something about him that kept her thoughts preoccupied. She couldn’t help but think about the way he looked at her. His eyes seemed to penetrate her, and his presence made her heart race. What the hell am I doing? I don’t even know him, she thought to herself each time she found her mind wandering off.
    To keep herself busy she went to the school early to prepare for her class that evening. She loved volunteering at the performing arts elementary school. Her first love was ballet, but her husband never let her pursue her dreams. She figured that since she couldn’t do it, she may as well teach other young girls how to. Now twenty-six, she’d wanted to join a dance company since she was a young girl.
    She had been dancing since she was a five-year-old, but when she married her husband she was forced to give up all of her goals. She wasn’t a dumb woman; she never had been and never would be. She was stuck in a bad situation and had no control over her own life.
    Kalil had come out of nowhere, and she didn’t know what to do with him. It was obvious that he didn’t have much, but he had the swagger of a man who was working with big chips. She didn’t know him very well at all, but the little bit of time that she’d already spent with him made her yearn for more.
    She thought of him at night when she went to sleep, and he occupied her thoughts constantly throughout the day. She wondered what it would be like to be his. She knew that he had to have someone in his life, and she often found herself jealous of Jada’s mother. What was she like? What made her so special? Why not me? These were questions she asked herself every time she saw him. She knew it was crazy, but she couldn’t help herself.
    She wanted to be a part of his life. There’s no point in starting something that I can’t finish, she thought to herself.
    On the outside, her life appeared to be perfect, but on the inside she was dying slowly. She put in the Mary J. Blige CD, positioned herself in a dramatic starting pose, and waited for the music to begin as she got lost in her creative dance.
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    Kalil kept his distance from London for a while. He knew that she wasn’t trying to leave her situation. It was evident that she was used to living the good life and he couldn’t offer her that, so he stepped off. He kept his distance from her and kept his mind focused on providing for his daughter.
    He worked day in and day out for Mr. Moretti, and the longer he worked there, the more he became convinced that there was more to the old man than what met the eye. Kalil was growing tired of getting