Black Rose || The Outtakes

Black Rose || Outtake 8

1990 – The Penthouse, California

BRENDA

The next morning, I woke up to nearby voices. A two-sided argument. My ears almost raised like a dog at the sound of Prince's voice. Grabbing at the floor, I hurried to slip on a large tee-shirt and rushed out of my own bedroom. This living room had been completely silence, but m y eyes popped at the sight before me.

Michael returned.

They stood feet away from one another and disputed over my affection once more. I scoffed and left, slamming the bedroom door. I lowered my head in shame while hiding as knocks from Prince rumbled on the wooden. I slammed my back onto the same area, sliding down Tears welled in my eyes from the frustration brewing inside of me.

If I opened the door, Michael would bombard me with desperation. If I opened the door, Prince would instantly resume me in with a loving embrace. I rose to bare feet and slowly backed away to give myself room to walk as well as moments of silence to myself. The voices of men I treasured rang out of concern.

One last knock from Prince snapped me out of thinking to myself.

"Come on out, mama." Skipper asked in a quiet voice.

"Baby?" Michael nearly sang from outside the door.

I rolled my eyes and walked over to slip on sweatpants. On the edge of my bed with Prince, I tugged these on leg by leg with a small grin on my face. Exhaustion from a lack of sleep the night before almost made me chuckle.

I finally pulled the door open and peeked out to see Michael heading my way. I brushed right past him and fell into Skip's arms, allowing him to trap me with a kiss. I laughed as soon as his hands greedily held onto rump of all things. Short curls of my mine tickled his forehead.

"What the hell?" Michael grumbled.

I turned back to face with Prince still behind me and we clutched hands before long. Michael nearly popped his brown eyes at the view, but could've cared less anymore. Skipper loved me and I finally gave him a chance after being hurt for too long.

I looked over to see Prince kissing our locked knuckles and he smirked watching Michael. I blushed from cheek at cheek at the sensation of his lips. Michael stood across from us with pained eyes, but there was only guilt I knew he'd been feeling.

"He doesn't care about you." Michael croaked.

"Wrong." Skipper kissed our knuckles again. "I've loved her for eight years. She feels the same way."

"No." Michael's fedora dropped right off. Strands of curly hair fell around his guilt-ridden face. "He's lying, Baby Girl. You love me. He's tricking you, baby. He'll leave you for someone else tomorrow. I promise."

I shook my head honestly, never turning away from eye contact with Michael. "We both love each other. He's not the perfect man, but I'm done with you."

Michael squinted. "You'd rather waste time on a gigolo?" I only slept with Tatiana. What's happened to you, Brenda?"

Skipper draped his arm around my shoulder, but I refused him to stand my ground. "And you exactly how I felt about her. She stalked and you still found the nerve to keep in contact. What does that tell me?"

I allowed Skip to drape his arm once more, bringing me near his cologne. I nearly dropped out at the familiar scent, nuzzling into him for a moment. A sneaky grin crept onto my face watching Michael. I quickly looked over again to see Prince smiling wider than me. We broke out into laughter and shook our heads.

"Sorry, Mickey." Skipper joked. "Minnie's got a new man." It didn't help that his voice dropped with the delivery now. I rolled my eyes but smiled kissing his cheek.

"You can't be serious, girl." Michael addressed me. "In a way, you left him for me in the first place."

"That don't matter because you ended up being a hypocrite. Stop preaching." Prince moved away from me to speak up out of nowhere.

"You never proposed and you did, it wasn't to her." Michael failed to come up with something else valid by now.

I wouldn't change my mind about Prince anytime soon. As I've said countless times, Michael betrayed me in the worst way possible, with someone I couldn't stand. To say I'd grown tired of his begging would be quite an understatement.

"Messages, gifts and definitely barging into my house is only gonna drive me away from you, Michael." I defended myself.

Michael scoffed back. At the same time, I didn't waver. "What? How? I've done the same things and you've come back to me. What changed your mind now, girl?"

I stepped right back shaking my head. My thumb pointed to the "gigolo" alongside me. Prince and I exchanged arched eyebrows with smirks. Before I knew it, Prince clutched my hand leading us back to the bedroom. I perfectly winked and stuck out my tongue at Michael laughing before the door shut.