by Roy Glenn
Melinda kicked off her pumps.
“You make my legs shake when you touch me like that.”
She grabbed his head and slowly tried to move it closer to her. Mike stopped her, removing her hands from his head. Melinda leaned forward and kissed him on the neck working her way down to his chest, then stood straight up again. She moved a step back, but Mike did nothing to stop her. Mike sat back in the chair and looked at her body. Melinda really was a beautiful woman.
“Turn around,” Mike said, and Melinda quickly complied.
“You like this ass, don’t you? You want this ass, don’t you?” Melinda said looking back at him over her shoulder.
Without a word Mike stood up, grabbed her by the throat and kissed the back of her neck. Melinda’s eyes closed and her head went back as he rubbed her stomach with his other hand. Mike let go of Melinda’s throat and began to move his hand slowly over her chest without touching her nipples. Melinda’s back arched as his right hand glided between her legs. He lightly squeezed her nipple. He began to move her body, arching her back and then bending her over and back up again.
Melinda moaned, “Baby.”
“Bend over and grab your ankles.” Melinda spread her legs and bent over. Mike took off his robe, ran his hands over her ass and then up and down her back. Melinda’s body shook a little when he ran one finger down from her clit, along her lips to her ass, squeezing it with the other. Melinda moaned, “I want to feel you inside of me.”
He spread her lips; Melinda moaned louder.
“Oooh yes, it feels so good. Fuck me!”
Mike rolled over and looked at the clock; it was 6:15 am. He still couldn’t sleep. He looked at Melinda. Like a junky that just had her fix, she was in a deep nod. He felt bad about having sex with her.
“First you can’t make up your mind and then you feel bad about getting some pussy. Bobby was right, I do need a doctor.”
Mike got up and put his pants on, grabbed his robe and went outside. He sat down on the porch and watched the sun come up. He’d seen the sun rise before, but he had never watched it. Mike was right about one thing. Melinda did take his mind off Cassandra Sims for a couple of hours. But that was then. Now she was the only thing on his mind.
Wondering what she was doing?
Was she asleep like he should be?
If she dreamed and did she dream about him?
Had she even given him a second thought since she sent him the rose?
Mike tried to rationalize the fact that someone was trying to kill her and that she blamed herself for someone dying.
“Fuck that! She coulda called and at least said, hey mutha fucka! Sorry I didn’t call, but I’m feelin’ pretty shitty right now.”
At least he would know that she felt something too.
If only he knew that Shy spent the night in much the same manner that he did. Shy sat in her favorite spot by the window most of the night, gun at her side, thinking. Thinking about her business and how the price of doing business had just gotten a little higher.
Everybody, including Trevor, tried to tell her that Janet getting shot like that was not her fault and to a point, she agreed. Trevor, like everybody else who worked for her, is responsible for their own security, but somehow she still felt responsible.
“She didn’t have to die.”
Then there was Mike Black inside her mind. Shy tried unsuccessfully to focus on her problems and a solution to them. No matter how she tried to push him away, Black stayed on her mind. So she sat, looking at the moon, thinking about Black.
Naturally, there were a few differences in their night. Shy spent the entire night alone and tried not to think about him. But just like Black, she absolutely refused to pick up the phone and call him. She wanted to call him and tell him what was going on with her. Explain why she thought that it was a bad time for her to be starting a relationship with someone.
Although it had been more than a year, Shy was still feeling the pain that Ricardo had caused her. At one point, she had even thought about changing her life-style and marrying Ricardo. Each time she brought the subject up, Ricardo would tell her that he wasn’t ready and that their relationship was going too well to spoil it by getting married. But Ricardo had been living a double life. Shy had no desire to feel that pain again.
On the other hand, she wanted to tell Black how much she had been thinking about him. How at times she felt overwhelmed by everything about him. The way he looked, the way he walked, the way he talked, the way he looked in her eyes and how good it felt in his arms.
“Take your lovesick ass to bed.”
Shy went to sleep.
Mike sat outside until about 7 am before going back inside. Melinda was still asleep, so he quietly got in bed with her and finally went to sleep. When he woke up Melinda was gone. It was almost 5 pm. Mike looked at the phone. Melinda had turned the ringer off. He called to check his messages. Bobby called twice; Freeze called to tell him that Shy hadn’t been out of her apartment since late last night. Sylvia called to say that Kenny had nothing new to report. But not the call he’d been waiting for.
No Shy.
He called Freeze to get the details. Freeze told him that she just sat in the window for hours. The light finally went out about 4:30 am, which, coincidentally, was about the time Melinda showed up. As far as he knew she was still there. Mike told him to send Jap home to get some sleep, but to be ready to go when he called.
“What about Shy?” Freeze asked.
“Don’t worry about it.” Mike hung up the phone quickly.
Freeze held the phone in his hand and shook his head. “We in trouble. That niggas in love.”
Mike wasn’t sure how to take the report from Jap. It only gave him more questions. Why was she up all night? Since she was up all night why didn’t she call him? Mike could no longer contain his pride. He dialed her number.
A still sleeping Shy picked up the phone, “Hello.”
Mike smiled when she answered. “Hello, Cassandra. Did I wake you up?”
Shy sat straight up in the bed when she realized who it was. “Yeah, but it’s cool.”
She started to tell him how much she had been thinking of him, but she didn’t.
“What time is it?”
“It’s a little after five.”
“How you doing?” she asked.
“I’m fine.”
Mike wanted to tell her that he had thought of little else but her since seeing her. How he had stayed up all night wishing she would call.
“I was hoping that if you didn’t have any plans for tonight we could have dinner together, maybe see a show or something. Do you like the theater?”
“I love the theater and I would love to have dinner with you, Black, but I can’t,” Shy said knowing she had nothing to do. “I got some business to take care of tonight. Maybe we can get together Saturday night.”
She couldn’t tell him that she didn’t want to see him because she was afraid that she was falling in love with him.
“I wanted to say thanks for the rose. It was my first. I got a standing ovation from my staff at the club when the guy brought it in.”
“I’m sorry. I knew that was gonna happen. I gave the guy specific instructions to give it to you when you were alone. I didn’t know where else to send it. Which reminds me, how did you know where I lived?”
“I have friends. They have friends who have cop computers. Probably because they’re cops. I hope that it was okay. I don’t want to invade your privacy. I wanted to say sorry for tripping on you that’s all.”
“That’s okay, baby. But it’s me who should be saying I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have went there about whatshername.”
“I like it when you call me baby.” Mike paused awaiting a response. When none came he continued, “No, it’s just that her name’s been coming up a lot lately. Which is my fault for asking Bobby’s wife how she was. But since then, everybody’s been throwing it at me.”
“Maybe one day you’ll f
eel comfortable enough with me to talk about it. You seem like the type of guy who doesn’t like to talk about stuff like that.”
Mike smiled when she said that. “Does that mean you’ll be staying around long enough to get comfortable with me?”
Shy laughed it off, “Who said that? Did I say that? But seriously, you probably have never talked to anyone about it. It might make you feel better if you talk about it.”
“You’re right. I never have talked about it. And just how did you know that expressing my feelings is not one of my strengths?”
“It takes one to know one. I kinda have a problem talking about mine too.”
“We’re gonna have a problem, aren’t we, Cassandra?”
“For some reason, baby, I don’t think so.” Shy laughed to herself when she said it. Because she was having a problem with it right now. She didn’t know about him, but she could write a book filled with all of the things she wanted to say to him. “Don’t ask me why but I feel very comfortable talking to you.” Shy kept telling herself that this is not the time for this. I got too much going on right now. It’s just not a good time. “It’s like we’ve known each other for years.” Like she couldn’t stop herself from talking.
So the conversation continued in much the same manner for hours. Each very careful not to say what they were actually thinking. Mike thought about telling her about him and her father, but he didn’t. He wanted to see her face when he told her to be able to gauge her reaction. Besides, he didn’t want to ruin the relationship before it ever started over something that happened years ago. Timing would be everything, so he decided to take it slow. The way Mike saw it, he was taking a huge risk here. He hadn’t felt this way about a woman since Regina kicked his insides out. He would not allow that to happen again. Especially since he really didn’t know how she felt about him. And he was afraid to ask.
Fear.
Another unfamiliar and unwelcome emotion.
The longer they talked, each found more to like about the other. It had been a while since Shy had a conversation with a man that had nothing to do with business.
“You know what I haven’t done in years, Black?” Shy asked.
“What’s that, Cassandra?”
“I used to love to go to Great Adventure and ride the roller coasters. My Moms would take us at least twice every summer.”
“You’re not going to believe this, but I never been to Great Adventure. We used to hop the train and go to Coney all the time. I dug the coasters, but my favorite was the bump cars.”
“Naturally. What else would Vicious Black like, but delivering pain?” Shy joked. “Look at the time. It’s almost eight o’clock. Have we been talking for three hours?”
“I guess we have. You’re not going to be late are you?”
“Hell no,” Shy replied with a hint of arrogance. “I run things in this camp.” Especially since I have nothing to do and no place to go. She had to laugh at herself. “I gotta get dressed and get out of here. But I still want to have dinner with you Saturday night.” She was hungry and she really wanted to go tonight, but she had already put her foot in that one and she wasn’t about to back off now.
“Why don’t I pick you up around six,” he said. “And after dinner we’ll catch a show.”
“That’s sounds wonderful. I’ll see you Saturday. I’ll wear something black. I believe that’s your favorite color. By the way, I love talking to you. Bye, bye.” And Shy quickly hung up before Mike could say anything and before she could say anything else. “I love talking to you? I can’t believe I said that.”
Mike sat holding the phone and laughing. “So she loves talking to me.” He rolled over in bed and began to dial Freeze on his cell phone. “Be careful, Ms. Sims. Its little comments like that that’ll get your fine ass in trouble.”
“Yo.”
“This is Black. Get Jap back on her. And, Freeze, I really don’t need to know where she goes or what she does. Just keep her alive.”
“You still want him undercover?” Freeze asked.
“Hell yeah,” Mike said quickly. “She don’t need to know all that.”
“She oughta appreciate a nigga trying to protect her. With them three low stress toy gangsters she got,” Freeze said, but Mike didn’t comment.
“Where you at?” he asked.
“At the club. You coming up here?”
“Bobby up there?”
“Yeah, he’s here. Maybe you shouldn’t come up here, man. Bobby’s in the zone. He’s been workin’ you over for about an hour. He thinks you’re in love.”
“What are y’all doing up there, I mean other than working me.”
“Just listening to Bobby trip.”
“Who’s up there?”
“Me and Pauleen, Bobby, Pam, a couple of bar backs working, but he’s cracking them up too.”
I might come up there later. Tell Jap he’s got about forty-five minutes to catch her.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
On Saturday night Mike began to prepare for his dinner engagement with Shy. He put on some music and headed for the shower. As the running hot water hit his body, he felt excited and yet at the same time he was very nervous about seeing her again. Bobby and Freeze kept telling him that he was in love with her.
This was a concept that he was unwilling to accept. But how else could he explain his inability to concentrate on anything without thinking about Shy? The rush of conflicting and unwelcomed emotions. His newfound need to lie about what he was thinking or feeling. The sudden attack of morals he felt about Melinda. This one in particular bothered him. Mike had always considered himself a ladies man. He had never been tied up with any one female. So why did he feel so bad about having sex with Melinda?
Especially since it’s so good. A man shouldn’t feel guilty about anything that feels that good.
And besides, as much as he had thought about it, he hadn’t even so much as kissed Shy, a situation that he planned to remedy this evening. Mike got out of the shower dried himself off and opened up the closet to pick out something to wear. He pulled a black double-breasted suit and a charcoal gray silk shirt and tie. He proceeded to get dressed imagining what Shy would wear. Mike got in his Seville and set out for Shy’s apartment.
You know, maybe if you stopped listening to all these love songs, maybe you wouldn’t be feeling this way.
He reached in the glove compartment and put in some vintage James Brown, ‘Cold Sweat’. The horns jumped off, backed by a heavy bass line, then Brown opened up; ‘I don’t care… about your past. I just want —our love to last.’
“Damn, James, not you too,” Mike said shaking his head as he drove off.
He stopped at the florist to pick up some flowers for Shy and then headed for her apartment building. On the way there, Mike gave some thought to how he would tell Shy about her father. First, whether it was worth telling her at all. After all it really wasn’t all that. But he would rather it come from him than have it come out later. Mike had no idea who else was in on it, although he was pretty sure that this was not the type of thing that André wanted to get out. He didn’t think Angee would tell her anything, but in any given circumstance, Mike had no delusions that Angee would if he had to. Yes, telling her now is the best way. Question was how and when.
“You can’t just bust out with ‘Oh, by the way’.”
Timing is everything. Which brings up another matter. Something in the back of his mind told him, Fuck her a few times first, then tell her. No. For once be straight up with a woman, especially this woman. No lies, no secrets, since you plan on keeping this one.
Then he thought about Melinda. Mike laughed, “Ain’t no point being that honest, at least not yet. Besides, you’re getting just a little ahead of yourself anyway.”
Mike pulled up in front of the building expecting to see Jap on the case, but there was no sign of him. Either Jap wasn’t on the case or Shy wasn’t there. He checked the clock in the dashboard. It was a little before six. Mike went inside
and rode the elevator up to the fifteenth floor. He knocked on the door and as he expected there was no answer. Standing there with an arm full of roses and no one to give them to. He felt kind of foolish. What now? Should he leave or continue to stand there looking stupid? He chose the latter.
After fifteen minutes of that Mike decided to leave. Laying one rose at her door. The elevator door opened, and Mike got in. He had hoped that the door would open and Shy would be standing there, but the elevator was empty. Which was exactly how he was feeling. Getting stood up was something new. He had never had anyone stand him up before. It was usually him that did the standing up. It didn’t feel good at all. Mike thought to himself, I’m not sure if I’m built for this shit.
The elevator door opened in the lobby, and there was Shy; out of breath, dressed in a black leather coat and pants, silk charmeuse turtleneck, with a scarf tied on her head. Mike smiled and everything that he was feeling was now a blur.
“Oh, hi, Black!” Shy said grabbing the scarf off her head.
“Hello, Cassandra. It’s too late. The damage is done.”
“I guess so. I really didn’t want you to see me like this, Black. I’m sorry I’m so late.”
“It’s okay. I’ll forgive you, but only because you look good in black.”
“Thank you. It’s funny, for some reason it’s all I’ve felt like wearing lately,” Shy said smiling as she looked at him. “Are those for me?” Pointing to the roses.
“Yes, they are. I almost forgot,” Mike said, handing her the roses.
They got out of the elevator and walked down the hall to her apartment each glancing at the other and looking away before being discovered. Shy stopped, “Wait a minute, there’s only eleven roses here.” Mike stopped and pointed down the hall to her door. “Were you up here already? I was sure when I ran up and heard the elevator door close, that you had just got here.” Shy unlocked the door and they went inside. “How long have you been here?” Shy asked looking at the clock.
“Not long,” Mike replied, looking around her apartment.