“Oh yeah, he told me about you. As a matter of fact, he was just saying how he would like to—”
Alan nearly choked on his beer. “Hey Tonya, what are you doing here?” He quickly diverted Tonya’s attention away from Daryl.
“I had to get out. Tired of sitting in the house, so I hired a babysitter and here I am.” She twirled and ordered a drink.
Alan offered her his seat at the bar. He watched the arch of her back as her breast and butt stuck out as she sat. As she crossed her legs, Alan watched each seductive move. He swallowed hard. Her black skirt inched up more as she adjusted it. The strapless black and white striped top showed her beautiful, smooth cocoa shoulders. The large gold hoop earrings glistened against her skin and wide bangle bracelets adorned her wrists. He followed her legs, admiring the tone. Her thin-strapped sandals had to be at least five inches. The thought of her standing over him in them…
“Alan, did you hear me?” Tonya poke him in the shoulder.
He shook his head. “What? No. I was thinking.”
“When will Alison be back.” She licked a cherry from her Mai Tai drink.
Alan stuttered. “Next week or so. After she’s done in Canada she’s going to Spain.”
“Wow, that’s interesting. I think I’ve could’ve modeled; don’t you guys think so?”
Both Alan and Daryl quickly said yes. The night oozed by with more drinking and the three of them getting closer.
“Daryl, why aren’t you drinking?” Tonya leaned into him.
“I have to make sure my buddy here gets home okay and by the way it looks you need to put a hold on it too.”
“I’m fine…I took an uber.”
Alan drunk or not was always a gentleman. “Well, I’m quite sure we can give you a ride home…you don’t need to be in a cab with some strange, horny dude.”
“Maybe not strange, but horny I’ll take.” She licked her lips again focusing on Alan. “If you’ll excuse me gentlemen, I have to use the lady’s room.”
Alan helped her down from the stool and watched her walk away.
Daryl yanked Alan’s arm. “She’s fine as hell, Oh, how I would love a chance at her, but she wants you.”
“Naw, she’s flirty. Tonya doesn’t want me.”
“Bullshit! Who you fooling…I see the way you two look at each other and I really don’t care if you go for it or not, but I think you should. One time won’t hurt. I got your back, if you want to, we men have to stick together. A fine specimen like that come to me and I was married I’ll have to get with her just once.”
Alan rubbed his head and asked the bartender for two tall glasses of water. He placed his hands on the bar and stood in silence. The music and chatter were overwhelmed by the words of Daryl, “One time.”
“Alan, what man haven’t strayed. It’s in our genes. To be honest, if you hit it and can talk me into getting some from her hey…”
Alan moved close to Daryl. “I’ve told you; Tonya isn’t like that and I wouldn’t allow that to happen.”
“You wouldn’t allow that.” Daryl mocked Alan. “You do care for her.”
“Daryl, please. I don’t think she should be played like that. For crying out loud she comes to my home, I play with her daughter, and I guess by her being around I naturally care.”
“Like I said before, if I can’t get any, you should go for it, you’ll thank me later.” Daryl patted Alan on the back.
“Thank you later…what about that fucking party we were ruffied at with a bunch of gay women. We don’t even know what that was all about.”
“Obliviously nothing. Like you say, a bunch of gay women probably wanted to see some real men packages, you know what I mean?” Daryl’s mouth took a sideways slant. “A few more rounds and you want to be up?”
“Are we going to give her a ride home?”
“Where ever you like.” Daryl’s eyebrows arched up.
Tonya had returned with refreshed lipstick and brushed her hair. The music had slowed and people intertwined together on the dance floor.
“Excuse me, Daryl, may I borrow your friend for a dance.”
“He’s all yours.”
Without hesitation Alan took Tonya by the arm then cupped her around the waist. Alan pulled her closely and allowed her head to lie comfortable on his chest. Her perfume enticed his nostrils. He breathed heavily and hugged her tighter. Alan stroked her hair. He lightly rubbed her face and brushed his finger across her lips.
After the song, Alan waved. “Daryl, I think we’re ready to leave.”
Daryl winked at him and the three headed to the car.
“So where to?” Daryl looked at Tonya then turned to the back seat where Alan sat.
“My house,” Alan said quietly. “I want to talk to Tonya. I’ll take her home later.”
“Your wish is my command.”
Alan watched as cars sped by. He barely heard Tonya’s and Daryl’s conversation.
***
Alan and Tonya walked through the kitchen into the family room. They sat on opposite ends of the sofa and stared.
Tonya smiled and asked, “Mind if I take my shoes off?”
Alan’s arm stretched out on the sofa. “Go ahead get comfortable.” Unconsciously he licked his lips.
Tonya moved closer to Alan. “What did you want to talk to me about?” She rubbed his arm.
“There’s no doubt that we want to get with each other, but I’m married, Tonya, and you’re friends with my wife.”
“I understand, believe me.” She squeezed his arm. I’m not trying to cause problems in your relationship. I enjoy talking with you and yes, I am attracted to you. I cannot help myself, when I look at you, your smile and physique get the best of me. Never have I done anything to give any interest in you to Alison. I like her.”
“I know you do, but you have to understand I love her.”
“Alan, one thing you can count on is my loyalty as a friend. I don’t want to hurt neither one of you.” She placed his hand in her lap. “Alan, do you want to kiss me?”
“In all honesty I want to do more.”
Chapter 17
Drew
Drew felt it was time for him to put an end to Janice’s unforgiving ways and move back in. He was gone long enough for her to get over the small mistake he made and work out whatever problems lay before them, one being Mallory, the other his love child. He felt like a stranger at his own home, having to ring the doorbell and wait to be escorted in. Janice had agreed that it was time they talk and try to resolve the matter.
“Hey, baby, you look good.” Drew stood at the door, waiting to be escorted.
“Come in, Drew.”
He smelled pot roast with carrots, potatoes, onions and mushrooms, simmered in thick brown gravy. They walked to the large kitchen and Drew saw the nice table. A bowl of buttered rolls and a pitcher of sweet tea.
“Wow, this looks good what’s the occasion?” Drew laughed.
“Drew, at this point I’m not in a laughing mood. I cooked dinner because I feel sorry for your cheating black ass. I know you have not had a good meal since you have been gone, so least, I could do is this. I’m not a bad person, Drew, which brings me to the question of why you couldn’t remain faithful to me.”
He did not expect the conversation to start so soon, but was relieved that Janice cared enough to cook him a meal.
“Janice, this is going to be a long night because I have a lot to tell you and I really want to work this out. I miss you.”
“You can start by telling me what you’re going to do about that baby your girlfriend is carrying.”
“She’s not my girlfriend and I’m going to be part of the baby’s life.”
“What?” Janice batted her eyelids. “You tell me you want to work it out, but you going to remain in that bitch’s life.”
“This is not easy. I did not want to, I asked her to get an abortion, she agreed, but we know now…she lied. I told her I did not want any part of it, but honestly, what kin
d of man does that make me. I screwed up. The baby is innocent. It took me a while to convince myself of this.”
Janice put a big helping of roast on Drew’s plate and set the basket of hot buttered rolls in front of him. “How do you expect me to handle this, Drew? How can we go on and have that woman in our lives? I don’t think she’s going to roll over and die, since she had the nerves to show up here.”
“We shouldn’t expect her to roll over and die, yet you support me and the child. Rather, could you accept the baby?”
“I don’t know. I really don’t know at this point. I have thought about this since you’ve been gone, but I don’t know if it’s going to hurt us or be a blessing?”
“We’ll make it a blessing. I told Mallory that I love you and I want to be with you. Of course, she blew up at first, but she said she understood, just as long as I have a part in our baby’s life.”
“This feels awkward to hear you say ‘our baby’ with someone else. This will take a long time for me to get used to.”
He reached across the table for her hand, but reluctantly she pulled it back. He was asking a lot of Janice, but he wasn’t finished with his repentance.
“This dinner is great. You really didn’t have to go through the trouble.”
“I never stopped loving you, Drew. It hurt me to put you out, but I had to.”
“There’s something else we need to talk about.”
“You screwed someone else?”
“I talked to Alison.” Drew looked Janice straight into the eyes for any signs of shock. Instead, she kept her head down, chewing.
“Did you hear me, Janice?”
“Yes. Why and how did you talk to her?”
“Long story short, she’s friends with Tim. I asked him to call her.”
Janice never looked up, but continued eating. “Why?”
“You know why. All these years Alison thought I broke off our relationship and I never felt right about that. I wanted her to know the truth.”
“Other words you still love her and wanted her to know I was the jealous girlfriend.” Janice eyes finally met Drew’s.
“Truth…I loved her for a long time, I thought it was going to be she and I married, having the nice house, cars, and kids, but it didn’t turn out that way because of what you did.”
How are you going to blame some college shit on me? You and her probably wouldn’t have made it far anyway because of Alan. What girl then, could resist him?”
“That’s not the point. I had a chance.”
“What exactly are you saying, Drew? You want me to apologize to Alison, you can forget it. You are asking me to accept that girl’s baby and you back into my life. Alison is a big girl and doing well, she doesn’t need my apology.”
“Actually, I apologized for you and Alison was forgiving as I expected she would be.”
“So why did you even bring this up? You could’ve left that out.”
“I blamed what you did…for my behavior. I wanted you to hurt in some way because all these years I hurt. It’s not an excuse for what I have done, but it’s what I felt. That’s why I’m here—to apologize for everything I have done. Alison forgave me…that was one part of my life I needed to set free. Now I’m asking you to forgive me. I want to change, Janice, I really do. I want to be the husband you always wanted. I want to make things right between us.”
Drew sat back in the soft, chair and watched Janice slowly bite into a dinner roll. Her poise touched his soul. She was a good woman, but years past she let jealousy get the best of her, which stirred an event of wrongful doings. He couldn’t blame this entirely on Janice. If only he had been mature and thoughtful of his actions.
“Janice, I’m sorry, baby, I never should have slept with that girl. I do love you and you have to believe that. Alison is my past…she’s happy and that’s where I’m trying to get with you—happiness.”
Janice put her fork down, sipped the ice-tea, and let her eyes linger on Drew. “How can I trust you, Drew? You defiled our marriage by taking the most intimate thing between us and sharing it with another woman, a woman that didn’t care about me or better herself. She was willing to hop in bed with a married man regardless of the consequences.”
She was right…Mallory didn’t care about his marriage, if any she wanted him to herself…like a reminder of his past.
Drew knew that most married men swooped down on lonely and desperate women. They were the easy prey for a quick lay. Women who would spend all day and night daydreaming about a wonderful, thoughtful, and supportive man that they would put everything moral and right on the back burners for him. There were so many women who just needed to hear, “You’re beautiful,” “You have a great personality,” “If I was your man, you’ll want for nothing.” Most married men, Drew included, gave these women false hopes of a committed relationship. Instead of building these women’s self-esteem up, they tore it down with the final blow of staying with their wives.
“Janice, you can trust me again. I’ll be here at home…no more late nights out.”
“If I agree to this, what about your baby and her. How would I fit into this split family?” A tear slowly crept out Janice’s eye.
“You are and will always be first in my life, Janice. I hope you will accept the baby and help me raise him or her.
Janice pushed away from the table and slapped Drew.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Drew grabbed his stinging face.
“I can’t do this, Drew…not right now…I just can’t…I can’t accept that woman’s child.”
“I don’t know what to say, Janice. I love you. Can you think about it please—"
“It’s time for you to go. This is too much for me. I need time to think. No promise. I just can’t get over what you have done to us.”
Chapter 18
Alison
“That was nice, wasn’t it, Chantay. I loved the roof top patio, what about you?”
“Lovely I say. I can’t wait for the photo shoot to be over so we can shop at the Eaton Centre.”
The two of them sat chitchatting about clothes, music, and men. Alison missed Alan. They never went days without speaking and now, because of her betrayal, a week has gone by. ‘Was he that upset?’ her thoughts bounced around.
“Okay, Alison, let’s do some more stills here by the garden, change clothes and shoot inside. It’ll be a wrap soon my dear. François the photographer gleamed.
Casa Loma in Toronto was beautiful. The stained-glass dome lined the sixty-foot ceiling in the great hall. A library and billiard room were a meniscal of amenities. Formal and informal gardens, surrounded the castle.
“Do you want me here?” She pointed to a bloom of bright colorful flowers.
“Exactly. Let’s try you kneeling to smell the flowers…and take your hand to cupped a few.” His fingers snapped twice.
Alison gracefully abided in François instructions. Although her mind lingered elsewhere. She had to focus on work. Alan would not be a part of it.
“Alison, dear, a few shots of you walking away. As you’re walking, I want you to glance over shoulder looking down…hmm…sad, but not too sad.”
‘That shouldn’t be too hard’ the words idled in her mind.
“Perfect! That’s what I wanted. Solemn. You had sadness, but your dignity still shone through. Brave and strong.”
François had redeemed her with those words. She was no longer going to sit and be sad. Why should she. She had a choice in this family matter as much as Alan and she wasn’t going to back down because his feelings were hurt.
“Thank you, François.” She smiled. “Thank you.”
“Get changed and I’ll meet you inside.”
Her stomach quivered as she tapped on Alan’s name to call. Nothing. Quickly, she scrolled through her contact list. She waited, then pushed Tonya’s name. Again, nothing. She opted not to leave a message.
With her renewed spirit, Alison, was on top of the world and wasn’t going to let nothin
g or no one bring her down.
“Okay, Alison, I want you to hold the left side of the dress up and lean against that enormous dining table. I want to capture the Circassian walnut panels for the background,” François instructed.
She stretched her leg and on the ball of foot she arched it. Pulling the fiery red semi-sheer long dress up to her thigh. Alison head slowly lay back turned toward François; she gave a slight pucker of red lips. Click, click, and click the camera sang. After a few shots, Alison rushed to put on another outfit. This time it was a white satin lingerie. The bust line dipped to her stomach and rested slightly off shoulders. Lights and fans sat positioned. Alison sprawled across a Victorian bed, an oversized pillow placed under her head and rose petals covering her partially naked body. For an overhead shot, François steadied himself atop a ladder.
“Lay on your side Alison and bring your right leg slightly over the left…good.” He stepped down a little. “Now lean forward a little, tilt your head down and look up with your eyes…yes…that’s it. Give me a wink.”
She felt sexy and powerful.
“Guess what my dear? We are done. Go enjoy the rest of your freaking day.” François, again, snapped his fingers twice.
Looking at Chantay, “Thank God this is over. I’m starving and I want to get some rest.”
“I’m with you on that. We can shop tomorrow. We won’t have that long though. Our planes leave for Barcelona early afternoon.” Chantay huffed.
The women spent the rest of their evening relaxing in the luxurious spa scented with lavender and jasmine. They sipped herbal teas and enjoyed a full body massage. They dressed in comfortable khaki pants, over-sized t-shirts, and flip flops. Strolling through the elegant hotel, laughing, they stopped in a souvenir shop.
“Chantay, you really like doing hair, don’t you?”
With a quizzical look Chantay spoke, “Of course I do. You know that. You already know I had to work hard to get to this point in life.”
“I know you did. I admire how you put your career first.” Alison picked up a miniature sculpture of Niagara Falls.
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