by Pepper Pace
“You say that as if you’re a big woman, Nicole.” Hell, she was…perfect, actually. He thought, who would be dumb enough to call Marilyn Monroe fat? Nicole stood at least 5’10” and she had full, heavy breasts, and he’d sneaked enough peeks at her backside to know that her ass was big enough to bounce when she hurried around the kitchen. Marty’s felt his semi aroused dick jerk back to life. Shit. He did not want that to happen.
Nicole humphed to herself. She was big and knew it. She was tall and big boned, athletic not exactly overweight. But she was big. Big legs, big thighs and since having a child, big breasts.
Absently she set the dishes in the sink. She turned and looked at him, opened her mouth—and it was as if he knew she was going to ask him to take her home.
“Nicole…remember when you asked me why I’m doing this for you?” He took a deep breath and then walked into the living room. She followed curiously. He sat on the couch and she sat across from him in the armchair she had sat in earlier. He closed his eyes a moment and when he looked at her again it was in that detached way that she was most familiar with.
“Many years ago I was married, had a successful business and was living the American dream. One day my wife came to me and told me she was going to have a baby. I was so happy. Everything that I was working for was coming to fruition. Then she told me that it wasn’t my child, that it was my partner’s child. He also happened to be my best friend.”
Nicole pierced her lips and tried to remain silent. Marty continued to tell the story as if he were reading from a menu.
“In one day I lost my wife, child, best friend and my business. I decided that I wasn’t going to let anything close to me again.”
She looked away briefly, a familiar pang in her chest.
“I bought the restaurant, immersed myself in it… and refused to be dependent on anyone or anything. Seeing you at the door that night…” Marty swallowed and blinked his eyes. She saw the compassion return to them. “This is the Marty I was before. I can’t turn my back now. Nicole, let me help you, just for the time being, just for a while.”
She didn’t believe that she had ever heard Marty talk so deeply about himself and his revelations brought back a lot of painful memories. Although the last thing that she wanted to do was to stay in her bosses house, she just could not see herself telling him no after all that he’d done for her and all that he’d gone through. Silently she nodded her head yes, hoping that she would not regret the decision.
Marty sat back and exhaled audibly but did not relax. “I…uh,” He cleared his throat. “don’t want you to think that my intentions are…” he searched for the correct words. “Other then what I say.” After all that he had revealed it surprised Nicole that he was turning red.
She felt her face turn warm again. No wonder Marty was so embarrassed. He was offering to help her despite the fact that she had just thrown herself at him. She was very ashamed. It was obvious that Marty’s motives were pure. Besides, why would he want someone that was as broken as she was…broken in more ways then he would ever know? Silently, Nicole vowed to never again confuse her loneliness with desire.
She swallowed past her shame. “Thank you for everything that you told me, Marty,” She sighed. “I’m not used to…relying on people or accepting help. It’s always been just me. I’ve never had anyone to lean on. But at the same time, I am afraid that I might have another…it might happen again and,” She nodded. “So I’m going to say yes. Thank you. Yes.”
Marty leaned towards her. “Consider my home your home. But, I am going to make one request.”
Nicole raised her brow. “What?”
“This arrangement stays between us. I don’t want the people at work knowing I have a soft heart.”
She smiled. “No chance of that ever happening.”
His response was just a slow grin. Her heart ached.
Marty took her on a quick tour of the condo. He had a state of the art home theater system-and she wondered when did he ever find the time to enjoy the thing? But it was his den that she was particularly interested in. He had a computer. She didn’t have one and going to the library to study and staying after class to research was a pain.
He had turned one of his spare bedrooms into a weight room and she understood now how he stayed so buff.
“There’s only one bathroom up stairs.” He apologized. “And I brought a few of your things. I swear I didn’t go looking through your drawers—I just grabbed a few things.”
Nicole shook her head. “That’s fine. I could use my school books, though. I know I’m behind on my school work.”
“I did pick up a backpack. It’s in the den-” Nicole squealed and jumped up and down happily and then regretted it when her boobs swung loosely in Marty’s oversized shirt. She pressed the sling against her chest and Marty pretended not to have noticed.
“Did you want to go back to the den and study?”
“No. I don’t think I’d be able to absorb anything.” They stood in the hallway silently. “Are you going to the restaurant?”
“No.” Marty must have noted the flash of concern across her face. “I talked to Fred while you were resting. No major problems. He’ll call me on my cell if anything comes up.”
“I feel like I’m keeping you from work-“
“Don’t be silly.” He said dismissively. “Do you want to relax a bit, take a nap, watch a movie-“
“Watch a movie!” She responded enthusiastically. Then she flushed, embarrassed. She didn’t have a television. Yeah, she could have picked up a cheap one from Walmart but didn’t want to splurge on cable and really she didn’t have time for television. But who could turn down an opportunity to watch a good movie on plasma screen with all the bells and whistles. “You have a real nice home theater.”
Marty just smiled and gestured for her to follow him down the stairs. “Pick out a movie. I’m going to go pop us some popcorn.”
Nicole’s look of admiration was genuine. “Big screen, home theater AND popcorn? Man, I’ll never leave.” Marty’s smile grew even wider.
Nicole examined the substantial movie collection and decided on the Sixth Sense. It had been years since she’d seen that one.
He returned with iced tea and microwave popcorn. “Good choice.” He said when he put in the DVD. Then he sat down on the couch next to her. “Put up your feet if you want.” He kicked off his shoes and got comfy. After a moment she slipped of her own and did the same.
Nicole had forgotten how spooky the movie could be and she caught herself jumping a couple of times. Marty laughed at her and she hit him with a pillow, completely forgetting that this was the boss that she had recently considered an asshole.
“Double Feature?” He suggested when the movie was over.
“Okay.” She got up and scanned through his movie library again, stopping suddenly with a gasp. “No you don’t!”
“No I don’t, what?” He asked.
“No you do NOT have THE PLAYERS CLUB sitting in here!”
“I’ll have you know that Bernie Mac played the hell out of that movie.”
Nicole put her hands on her hips with a scowl. “Oh? So it wasn’t the naked women?”
“Put in the movie, Nicole, and I bet you I can recite every one of Bernie Mac’s lines.” She put the movie in…and sure enough he did. Nicole laughed so hard that she had to hold her stitches. When Marty mimicked Bernie’s line about white women not wanting to dance for the white man unless they got paid, and then Marty actually had the audacity to scream ‘TITTIES AND ASSES,’ Nicole literally cried.
“Marty, have you ever dated a black woman?” She asked when she finally wiped away the last tear.
Marty loved the sound and sight of her laughter. “No. But I’ve liked a few black women.”
“Scared?”
He chuckled. “No. It just didn’t happen, either I was involved or they were.” His eyes lingered on hers. “What about you? You ever date a white guy?”
Nicole’s
brow furrowed that the script had gotten flipped. “Oh, um…yes.” The look on Marty’s face was priceless. He was shocked. “He was an Italian guy I knew a long time ago. Maybe you wouldn’t call him white, but…”
“Who was he?” Marty leaned forward intrigued, wanting the entire story.
“Tomas…It was a long time ago.” She didn’t say anything else but Marty watched her intently willing her to continue. “I was twenty-one and I lived in …” She caught herself.” …an apartment that his Mom owned. She loved me.” Nicole smiled in remembrance. “She fed me Italian food…real Italian food- not just pasta and marinara, but fish and scallops and stew. Did you know that? Italian food is more then just spaghetti and meatballs?”
Marty nodded smiling slightly. “What happened between you and Tomas?”
“Oh, I had to go home.” Marty noticed that she was trying to hide her sudden discomfort. “My Mother died and I had to go home. I planned to go back to Italy but…things didn’t turn out that way-“
“Nicole, you lived in Italy?” Again he was surprised.
She shrugged uninterested. “How did we start talking about me? What about these women?”
“What do you want to know?” He leaned back against his comfy couch and continued watching her.
“Tell me what they looked like?”
He smirked. “Are you asking me what I find attractive about black women?” She blushed. Yes, she was asking that.
“It’s not in the color.” That wasn’t the complete truth. He always thought the contrast in color was enticing, however Marty had little interest in dark or light skinned. Nicole was caramel; neither dark nor light. But he would give his left nut just to see if her nipples colored pink or brown against her creamy flesh…”I liked two women who were black. I didn’t like them because they were black.”
“Okay. Point made.”
He reached for the remote control and paused the movie, then he looked at her again. He was dying to ask her about Tomas, and about her living in Italy but knew that she was closed to the topic. He did have other things that interested him, though. “So now that you asked me, let me ask you. What attracts you to a man?”
The question caught her off guard. “What attracts me?” Flipped script again! “Well…I’m attracted to a man that’s patient, kind, strong-”
“What about looks?” He was staring at her with those piercing grey eyes of his.
“Uh…Big guys. I’m a big woman. I have to be with a big guy.” Quickly she clarified. “Uh…you know, muscular-“ Fuck! That had come out all wrong.
“Facial hair?”
“Yeah, I like facial hair.”
“Long hair, short, shaved?”
“Shaved head is cool.”
“Tats?”
She licked her lips. “I like tats.”
“Piercings?” He shot back.
“It depends where.”
“Where do you like them?”
“One ear only. No nipple or brow or facial piercings.”
Marty stroked his goatee. “Are you hungry?”
“Huh?!” She jumped a little.
“Ready for dinner?”
He watched her innocently while she contemplated why she had just sat there and described the man that attracts her…and it turns out to be a description of him! She gave him a suspicious.
“Um, sure.” She answered even though she wasn’t hungry after the large lunch, and popcorn. It was just hard to look into his sexy grey eyes and not agree with everything he said. That conversation had been strange and slightly sexy which left a pleasant tingling between her thighs.
“What sounds good?” His voice was a slow sexy drawl. God, was he doing that on purpose? “We can do Indian, Chinese, Italian-“
“Indian?” She asked curiously.
“Do you like Indian?”
“I’ve never had it.”
Marty’s mouth curved in a slight grin. “Oh what sights I have to show you.”
He had such a beautiful grin. Nicole found her eyes glued to his mouth. She jumped up. “I’ll be back. I’m going to use the bathroom and take my medicine.” More then anything she just needed to collect herself.
When Nicole was washing her hands she studied her reflection in the mirror. The soap began to dry on her hands as she took in the damage done to her. The sight of her face made her ill. Her eye was no longer closed but still swollen and discolored. Her bottom lip was split but healing with a crusty looking scab. Her normally luxurious curls were kinky and dry-looking. Her outside finally matched her insides...
When she left the bathroom her mood was decidedly somber. Marty held up a menu, smiling. Then he noticed her expression and his smile faded.
“Nicole, what’s wrong?”
“She sat back down on the couch. “Nothing.”
“Nicole?”
She touched her face. “I didn’t know I…looked so bad.” She thought the scar on her lip might even be permanent.
“Baby Girl, you were just hit by a car…and you don’t look bad.” Marty rubbed his shaved head contemplating something and then he mumbled. “I think you’re beautiful.”
“What? You think I’m beautiful—you’re nuts!” Even before the accident Nicole thought she was just okay—not beautiful.
“Okay…I’m nuts, you’re not beautiful, I just want to eat. Now can we decide on what’s for dinner? I’m starving!”
Nicole chuckled slowly. This time it was Marty that looked at her suspiciously.
They decided on what to eat and Marty called the order in. He gave her a funny look.
What?” She asked touching her hair.
“Are you going to be okay while I pick this up? Or, why don’t you com-“
“I’ll be okay. I’ll watch the rest of The Players Club. Just…” She looked around. It was starting to get dark. “Make sure all of the doors are locked?”
He picked up his keys. “Okay, I’ll just be a sec.”
Nicole turned the TV back on after he was gone. Then she sniffed under her arm. She could use a shower. She left the TV on and went upstairs. In her bag she found a denim, button up dress that should be easy to get into and best of all bra and panties.
Nicole sat on the edge of the bed and took off the sling with just a little trouble.
She gasped when she moved her arm. She tried to rotate her shoulder but it was still very sore. She had to pull her good arm and then her head through the shirt. Only then was she able to slide it off her bad arm.
She opened the bedroom door and peeped down the empty hall. She hurried to the bathroom, found spare towels in the closet, then ran a steaming shower. It felt so good.
She examined the tape on her belly. She was going to have to change the dressing.
Nicole let the hot water beat onto her shoulder and it loosened enough for her to raise her arm midway. She washed quickly wanting to be dressed when Marty returned.
She dried off careful of her sore spots, wrapped the towel around herself and hurried back to the bedroom. She put on deodorant, slipped on her panties with no trouble, but struggled with the bra. Her hand was too weak to hold the clasp so that she could hook it.