Eve's Real-Life Love Affair Story Is Amazing

The talented and stunning Eve is out and about promoting the latest addition to the beloved Barbershop franchise while also approaching two years of marriage heaven with her British hubby Maximillion Cooper. (Her flawless ring mesmerizes in the best way possible.) According to the Philly native-turned rapper-turned big screen star, life is good. But it wasn’t always.

In Barbershop: The Next Cut, out April 15th, Eve’s character Terri finds herself in a messy love triangle when Nicki Minaj’s character Draya attempts to come between Terri and her husband Rashad (played by the very sexy Common). I won’t give away any spoilers, but it goes without saying: Stuff goes down. Unfortunately for Eve and surely other women as well, the story hits close to home. Years before she tied the knot in June of 2014, Eve tells us she found herself in a love affair when she learned she was being cheated on.

When asked how she would approach a similar situation compared to Terri, she admits: “I probably would be a lot more aggressive.” But a “drag-down girl fight” isn’t her thing. “At this point in my life,” she says, “I’m too grown for that.” However, it’s clear the star always had an admirable and innate level of maturity I could only strive to achieve one day.

Something both Eve and I appreciated about the film is the way it “showcased a real thing:” the all-too-common (no pun intended) struggles of monogamy and temptation that perhaps we see more these days than ever. The actress loves how the characters “approached it in a very grown-up way,” and it’s no wonder why. When she learned she was being cheated on in real life, she wanted answers — and answers she got.

I am an adult now, I like to [talk it out]. It’d probably be all of us sitting at a table trying to figure it out. Which is torture for people, but… I’ve been in a situation like that and I did that. I called the girl and was like, ‘Can you come pick me up? And we’re gonna go see him.’ He thought I was crazy. But you get answer real quick that way. [Laughs]… It’s surprising. Which I love to do. I do, I love it.

The beautiful thing is, she walked away from the circumstance with exactly what she wanted: closure. “I got answers and I was able to move on with my life,” she tells us. “The way I needed to.”

Another crucial take away from Eve’s story is that she placed equal blame on her ex and his mistress, which is sadly not always the case. Movies, TV shows and music might fill audiences' heads with the idea that the “side chick” (the mistress, if you will) is at fault. Let’s get it on paper: The “side chick” is blamed far too often. Eve agrees, and better yet, sheds light upon why:

As women we go after [each other] all the time. It’s just in us, like, "Who’s that girl? What’s going on?" When a lot of the time, the blame is with the man. I don’t think we can see past love, confusion. You don’t want to believe that a person close to you would be doing something. You’re not gonna trust this person you don’t know. You have no sympathy because she’s trying to mess things up.

It’s easy to point fingers in these situations, but as Eve so eloquently states, sometimes the difficult part is looking within. “Ultimately, you never know,” she says. “It could be something that’s happening in your relationship. It’s a hard thing.”

Clearly Eve's actions and exemplary mindset worked in her favor, because from the looks of it, she's on top of the world. As she should be.