Risqué 3

by Perri Forrest

  “Damn. That’s violent, Skai. You sure you good? I got some prescribed—”

  “Trevor, listen. Stop playin’ with me. Why did you leave like that, and then not respond to me after?”

  “Skai, look. It’s like this. At the end of the day, your parents were right to be concerned. And before you say, he’s not your dad, I know that. I’m just saying that as a unit, that dude and your mom were right to be concerned. You’re their daughter. I’m sure if your real dad knew—”

  “You don’t even need to bring him into the situation. He’s a non-factor. But back to my mother and Zane. I make my own decisions. I didn’t feel a threat being around you. If I did, I wouldn’t have been around you. Period. I’m grown as fuck. Zane is cool. I like that he stepped in the way he did. Was I taken back by how aggressive he was with it? Yeah. But he did right. You were holding your own, though. You shoulda kept holding your own—and stayed ya ass in that seat. I brought you because I wanted you there, to spend the day with me. And you left me hanging. That wasn’t cool.”

  “So, you wanted to spend the day with me, huh?”

  “Tuh, that expired quickly. When you left me like that, I didn’t—”

  “Didn’t what, Skai? Didn’t want to anymore?”

  “Right.”

  I laughed out loud at her. She wasn’t even ready to admit that she wanted me the same way I wanted her. Yet, there she was displaying all kind of anger about how I handled a situation. But was I about to argue with her? Nah. Wasn’t in the mood. Now, if she wanted me to sex her down before her flight, that I would be all too willing to do. Send her off in style.

  “What the hell are you laughing at, Trevor?”

  “Laughing at you. You’re funny. You’re going off about something that you weren’t going to see to the end anyway.”

  “What does that even mean?”

  “Look, the reason that I ghosted was because I’m not about to fight for a position that’s not mine to begin with. If we were anything more than friends, then I would’ve stayed there and fought the whole battle. But we’re not, so I didn’t. I don’t have to fight for a friend position. Because friends are just that. So, since I had a lot of business to attend to, I let it ride. I wasn’t trying to fight with you when your visit was so short. Yet, here we are… fighting like a real-life couple, and shit.”

  “Trevor…”

  “No, Skai. Let me finish. You’ve known for a while that I wanted to get with you, and you’ve made it clear for a while that it’s not gonna happen. So, what would I have been fighting for if I had stayed? Were we gonna walk away from that big-ass house as a couple? Were you suddenly gonna see that I was worthy of graduating from the friend zone? Fuck no. So, it became more about me in that moment. Why the fuck was I gonna stay in an environment where I was being interrogated on my character? And most importantly, as a friend?”

  Skai sighed loudly, then grew quiet for a few seconds before responding. “That was a loaded rant right there.”

  “Rant? Never.”

  “It was a rant,” she countered.

  “Okay. If that makes you feel better.”

  “You know what would make me feel better?”

  I laughed. “Yeah, I do, but you’re not ready for that.”

  “Not that, you freak.” She laughed as well. “What would make me feel better, is you telling me why it is that you have a whole Master of Science in construction management, and do nothing with it…”

  “How the fuck did we go from where we were, to that?”

  “Just happened, I guess.”

  “Shouldn’t you be getting ready to board a flight? Do you need a ride to the airport?”

  “I mean, you’re in a construction mecca that has hundreds of construction companies, because they’re constantly building. You’re holding onto a piece of paper, and years of expertise. You could be running any of these companies. But you choose to run bitches instead. What gives?” I wasn’t prepared to entertain Skai’s line of questioning. Didn’t feel that I needed to. What I was never going to do was explain myself, when I didn’t have to. My silence didn’t sit well with her, I guess. Because then she said something that got under my skin: “See, that’s that white privilege…”

  White privilege? Did she say… white privilege?

  I was stunned into silence. I couldn’t believe she had just said what she said. It stung, but it also angered me. A lot.

  “What the fuck did you just say?”

  “You heard me, Trevor. White. Privilege.”

  “What?!” I responded, angrily. “What the hell does white privilege have to do with it? Or is that just some shit you’re saying to sound like the fuck you know?”

  “Why are you so mad, if I’m not right?”

  “Why aren’t you answering what I asked, if you think you’re right? Tell me, what not using my degree… has to do with white privilege? What, Skai?” I pressed. “Cat got your tongue? Because you threw out some fucking term that you probably heard roll off another idiot’s tongue?”

  “Idiot? So now I’m an idiot?”

  “You heard me. Instead of reserving that shit for the ones that it really applies to, you threw it at me. I’m not them. I made a personal decision to do what made me happy. Nothing to do with me reaping any so-called rewards because of my race. Because that’s what it means, right?” I challenged her. “So, based on that connotation, what does one have to do with the other? I’m waiting, scholar.” It was dead silent on her end of the phone. And since she had me pissed off, I didn’t give a fuck whether or not she answered the question now, or ever. But I did have something for her, though. “You know what I think the real problem is?”

  “No, but I’ll bet you’re gonna tell me.”

  “Your problem is not that I don’t use the degree. You’re really just mad that I fuck other women—”

  “What! I don’t give a—”

  “Nah, let me finish. You’re mad that I fuck other women, and that I make a lot of money doing it. At the same time, I told you time and time again how I felt, and how I could walk the fuck away from all that shit. But you’re scared. You’d rather hide behind your barriers, when I never gave you a reason to have them up with me. But you know what? That shit you come with; I don’t have time for. We crossed the friend zone when we shouldn’t have. That was all my fault. So, let’s hit the reset button like it never happened, and you don’t ever have to worry about me in that way again. Cool? Cool. Have a safe flight back to your hiding place, Skai.”

  When the line disconnected in my ear, I wasn’t even mad. In fact, I didn’t think she would stay on the phone as long as she did. Because as much as Skai wanted to believe it, she had no argument. All she had was fear. And I was done dealing with it.

  56 | SKAI

  I popped up on my grandmother, after making her believe that I was at the mall and may not get to her house until later. She came to the door dressed in a soft pink velour jumper that had her looking like some seasoned sex kitten. The woman was beautiful, and the true definition of “Black don’t crack,” looking every bit of a woman in her forties, and nowhere near sixty-four.

  And even more so since she had dyed her hair auburn.

  “What a nice surprise! I was wondering if I’d get some more one-on-one time with my favorite, before she headed back to the other side of the country.”

  “Stop it, lady.” I fell into my grandmother’s arms, soaking up all the scent of her very sweet, very expensive perfume. “You knew I had to see your beautiful face, and get loved on by you. You’re my favorite girl!”

  She pulled back and looked at me. “Let’s go sit in the girls’ room and chat into the night. Unless you have a date or something,” she said.

  “Oh, I’m on my date.”

  “Yasss, hunny!” Animatedly pumping a fist in the air, she grabbed me by the hand, then led us to the other room.

  I looked around the room when we stepped into it. My grandmother had completely decked it out. Honestly, it w
as my favorite place to be whenever I came home. The only reason I didn’t stay with her for my visit, was because I knew I wouldn’t get much time to myself. As much as I loved both her and my mother, between the two of them, I got smothered near death. I would never in a million years tell either of them that, though.

  I took off my shoes and went straight for the fluffy Eskimo swirl sac chair with my name on it. As soon as I sat down, it conformed to my body, and wrapped me up so nicely, all I could do was close my eyes and succumb to the relaxation. Seconds in, my mind floated to Trevor and our explosive episode. And the moment that happened, I snapped myself out of it. I wasn’t about to journey down that forbidden lane of thought. My grandmother, with her damn sixth sense, would see right through it. I wasn’t prepared for that.

  “So, the party you threw for your vanilla son was nice,” I teased.

  Sitting cross-legged, on a purple sactional across from me, my grandmother belted out a hearty chuckle. “My vanilla son? That’s cute,” she said coming down off her chuckles. “And just what were you and my vanilla son doing on a couple’s visit to see your mother and Zane? Got something to tell me that I don’t know about?”

  I shook my head, looking over at her with lazy eyes. “Nothing to tell, Grams. I’m sure that if there was something to tell, Trevor would’ve already told you. He thinks you’re his mom for real; so I don’t see him keeping anything from you. Not a single thing.”

  “He’s a sweetheart that way. I love that boy.”

  “It shows. I think it’s adorable. And since his parents live so far away, it’s good he has you.”

  “So, back to this visit, Miss Thing. You know I already talked to Giselle. I told her that I didn’t think it was right for them to ambush Trevor that way. She said it was more Zane than her, but that she didn’t feel he was wrong. Needless to say, we went back and forth on that.”

  “Thank you! It was a lot. But at the same time, I kinda understood, so I didn’t let it go on for too long. But Trevor’s silly butt wasn’t answering my calls because of it. And we got into it. He didn’t say it, but I get the feeling that he thinks I set him up.”

  “Lord. Not answering the calls and you’re right across the street. Look at me,” my grandmother told me.

  I struggled to lean forward as much as I could, after having been swallowed up by my oversized seat. When I finally found my way to an upright position, I smirked at my family’s matriarch. “Yes, ma’am?”

  The straight shooter that she is, she wasted no time getting out her question. “What’s going on with you and Trevor?” Now, I knew why she wanted me to sit up. To look in my eyes when I answered, to see if I showed signs of dishonesty. “And don’t even think about telling a little black lie, either,” she warned, without so much as a blink.

  “Not a black lie!” I laughed.

  “Yeah, because we all know the little white lies ain’t so little. So, stop trying to think of a response and give the truthful one. What’s going on with you two?”

  “Nothing is going on, Grams.”

  I couldn’t wait to see if she was going to buy it. I mean, technically, nothing was going on between us. It was my truth and I was sticking to it…

  “Mmhmm. So, if I ask him, he’ll tell me the same thing?”

  I straightened my posture a bit more. “Yeah. I mean… yeah. He would… yeah. Because there’s nothing.”

  “Why the hesitation in between the phrases?” she prodded. “All the p-p-p-pausing!”

  This mind reader lady would not take her pretty, whiskey-colored eyes off me. Geez! It was like she was looking straight through to my soul and using some kind of unspoken magic to extract the factuals.

  “Grams. Me and Trevor are in two different lanes. There can’t be anything,” I said.

  When the words fell out of my mouth, they sounded like something I was trying to convince myself of.

  Was it that?

  “You know he likes you, Skai. Don’t you?” My grandmother uncrossed her legs, then planted her feet on the carpet in front of her. “And I would bet all the luxuriousness of my weekly massage that you like him too. Don’t even bother denying it. Your G-Ma is no dummy. In fact, I’m something of a master in male/female relationships.”

  I threw my head back in hearty laughter. “Since when?!” I yelled out, resuming my earlier position of comfort.

  “Since before you came out the womb, little girl.”

  “Well, alrighty then.”

  “I saw how you tried to deflect there, missy. Ain’t working. When you’re ready to admit it, I’ll be here to listen. I think it would be cute.”

  “Grams, how? He’s a man-whore.”

  “He’s also single, Skai. He’s not tied to any one woman. You can change that.”

  “Don’t want to. Just like I don’t want to talk about this anymore. I came to visit and gossip about TV and all that good stuff. And besides… never mind,” I said, changing my mind about moving any further with the Trevor conversation.

  “You’ll be back to talk about it,” my grandmother stated with so much confidence, she almost convinced me. “Until then, get your cute little booty up so we can go eat at one of these fancy restaurants.”

  57 | TREVOR

  In the last two days since Skai had left to go back to New York, shit returned to normal.

  Of course, we had talked. The beauty of our relationship was that there was a lot of respect there. So, there were no hard feelings from either side. She apologized for her comment, and I apologized for ignoring her phone calls. When she let me know that her mother and the boyfriend wanted to apologize, I felt a little bad; but the time had passed. An apology wasn’t something I was even looking for anymore. Honestly, I didn’t know if I wanted it.

  The way we closed off that chapter in the friendship, was with me telling her that if there was ever a time for us to be more than friends, we’d know it. Until then, as it had always been, I was gonna do me, and for sure she’d be doing the same.

  Something else we agreed to was that if the urge for sex came up, we would act on it. I was down with that. It felt too good being inside of her, to turn that deal down.

  In the middle of my thoughts, and in the process of responding to an email, I glanced around the restaurant once again, to see if I spotted my appointment. When I didn’t see him, I pressed the power button on my cellphone. When the time came to life, irritation set in. The one thing I couldn’t stand was people abusing time that had been set aside just for them. This dude was already ten minutes late. There was no text, and no phone call to let me know of the delay.

  Strike one.

  I decided that I would wait another ten minutes before I ordered the spicy lamb burger from the menu. Once I did that, they would have officially lost their opportunity to meet. At that point, whether the person showed up or not, wouldn’t matter; because they’d be dismissed. Plain and simple.

  I leaned forward and grabbed the Pain Killer that was recently delivered, chugging down a few gulps. My glass was half full when I sat it back down, and raised my hand for the server. Fuck waiting any longer. I was hungry. While waiting for the host to reach me, I grabbed my device to shoot off a quick text to Cicely so that she’d know she had flakers for clients. However, just as I was dialing, I heard someone. I looked up to find my server standing next to a white guy that looked to be in his mid to late fifties. He was kind of tall, and had specks of white in the black hair on his head, and his beard. His dark blue suit, shirt, and shoes were designer. No surprise there. He was well-groomed. Also, no surprise. And he smelled of money on top of money.

  No wonder his ass didn’t think it was a problem keeping me waiting. Probably had people waiting on him his whole fucking life.

  “I’ll hold off for a little longer on the food,” I notified the server, who then bowed his head and walked off. “You must be Davis Randall,” I said to the guy now sitting across from me.

  “Yes. And you are?”

  “I’m Trevor Rossi.�
�

  He sat two cellphones on top of the table, then proceeded to scoot his seat closer, his pale blue eyes never leaving me. What the fuck is your problem? were the words at the tip of my tongue because of what seemed like an attitude.

  He looked around the semi-crowded space. “Uh, where’s Cicely?” he asked. “What am I missing?”

  “The point.”

  “I don’t follow.”

  “I’m her…” I stated with mild sarcasm. “I’m taking the meeting in her absence.”

  “And, where is she?”

  “She had a last-minute obligation. A family obligation.”

  “She couldn’t call and tell me that, so that I could reschedule? Instead she sends a kid in her place?”

  How wrong would I have been to introduce his mouth to my fist? Because that’s what I wanted to do. He was an arrogant, entitled prick; and probably because he had a shitload of money. But that just meant that if I did bust his mouth wide open, he could have the whole thing reconstructed with no problem.

  I kept my tone as even as I could, for the environment we were in. “Listen, disrespect has no place in this meeting. Hopefully, I don’t have to repeat that again.”

  “I didn’t mean it, literally. What are you, like twenty-something?”

  I stared him down, heated on the inside. I wanted to reach over and touch him, but reached for my drink instead. “I’m twenty-six. Not that I have to tell you that.” I took down the rest of my drink, then placed my arms on the table and leaned in. “You know what gets me?”

  “What’s that?”

  “You have an exclusive event coming up. The order that you placed for your dates—”

  “I know, I know…” he interjected. His discomfort evidenced by the coat of crimson slowly eclipsing his fair tone. “I didn’t—”

  I stuck up my forefinger, signaling for him to pause his statement. “According to the order in the database, Davis… you want to hire three escorts. One black, one white, and one Asian. And here’s the funny part. I read, verbatim, ‘Not to exceed twenty-five years of age’. Yet, you called me a kid—”