I asked Andrea, “Are you still married to what’s-his-face? Was there a divorce settlement between you two or what?” I figured I needed to know more about her legal marriage.

“We’re still working on that, but I don’t think I entered the marriage in the right way to begin with, and we didn’t have any kids.”

“You signed pre-nup papers?” I didn’t really care about that part of it. I just figured I’d ask while we were still on the subject.

She took another breath and answered, “Yes, but I’m still fighting that on the grounds of a situation that occurred due to the stress of the marriage.”

I figured she was referring to her miscarriage now. But I wasn’t going to bring that up if she wasn’t. I didn’t want to let her know that I knew. I was willing to throw it all out the window to have her back. We all had history and flaws, even painful ones. None of us was perfect.

Out of the blue, Andrea told me, “Hold on,” before she put Brazil on the phone. I didn’t even get a chance to tell her not to.

“Terrance, this is Brazil. Of course, Andrea told me about your fantasy, but the reality is, you’re in a position to be a part of what we do based on your ability to help us pay our bills. Now it’s nothing personal, and we both like you and all, but reality is what it is. You understand us?” she asked me.

I paused. I said, “But that sounds like…”

Brazil cut me off and said, “I understand you just had a photo shoot in San Francisco. Now, did you get paid for it? Because I’m assuming that you taking these pictures will eventually fulfill someone else’s fantasy, a fantasy for which a company is willing to pay and market nationally.”

Her point was well taken; we were all selling something or being sold. But I didn’t want to deal with her anymore. I wanted to talk to Andrea again. My fantasy idea was over. I had already had a threesome, and now I just wanted my girl Andrea back.

“Can I speak to Andrea?” I asked Brazil civilly. I didn’t want to hear what she was pitching.

Brazil played the go-between again and said, “She wants me to do the talking now.”

I asked her, “Is this a normal thing for you two?” I didn’t know what else to say. But as soon as I asked her the question, I realized that I should have left it alone. I didn’t want to go there. They were not young experimentalists like TaShay and Tan claimed to be. I was assuming that Andrea and Brazil were seasoned, and I didn’t want to get involved with them like that. It was destroying my individual history with Andrea. But ultimately, what did Andrea want?

Brazil answered, “It’s brand-new,” and left it at that.

“It’s brand-new?” I repeated. “What do you mean…”