“Sorry, I went on a tangent. Did I answer your question?” Malakai asked.
“Yes, you did. That was perfect.”
Thirty minutes later, we were ending our interview, saying our good-byes to Malakai and Tyler, and heading out the building.
“Are you going back to the office?” Tone asked.
“I was actually going to go home for the day.” He nodded, looking a little sad. “Do you want to come by and I make us some lunch?”
His eyes brightened, a smile filling his face. “I’d love that.” I grinned back, making a mental note to appreciate the little things when it came to meeting a good man. Like making him smile just by offering lunch.
TONE
WE ARRIVED at Meeka’s place in no time, and I wasn’t even trying to hide how happy I was that she’d asked me to join her for lunch.
“Here you go.” She placed a sandwich and chips in front of me. “Prepared by yours truly.”
“Thank you.” I dove right in since I hadn’t eaten today. She sat down at her island next to me and ate, too. A comfortable silence filled the room, until she asked, “Did you know who Malakai Madden was when he introduced himself?”
I nodded. “Yeah, his work as an artist and sculptor is amazing. I’ve been following him for years. Had no idea you dated Malakai Madden.”
She grimaced. “Not exactly. My mom is friends with a matchmaker Malakai was working with and she set me up on a date with him. Dragon Breath had me doing a project she refused to do, so I was in New York at the time. Since I’d lived in Brooklyn when I interned for SEN, it was nice catching up with folks, but I was nervous as hell about the date. A co-worker out that office knew I was nervous and had claimed that she’d gotten her hands on one of the best edibles that you could get in New York. Since I needed something to calm me down, I tried it and let me tell you, weed and Meeka don’t mix. Either that, or I shouldn’t have eaten the entire damn cupcake. Add weed to some medicine I was taking that my doctor had prescribed, and I was a walking disaster.
“I was bouncing off the walls during the entire date. Had even made up an alter ego by using my middle name and changing my age. It was like I’d reverted back to that time with Jeff and fast-forwarded to how my life would have been had we stayed together. It was a shit show.”
“I’m sure it wasn’t that bad,” I claimed. “It probably just felt bad because you were in it.”
She shook her head. “Trust me, it was terrible. A hashtag about me started trending.”
I almost choked on my water as realization washed over me. “Fuck. I remember that! You’re that irrational woman he went out with. The one who was talking about connecting spirits and whatnot.”
She raised her hand. “My name is Meeka and I am the worst dater in the history of dating.”
I put her hand down, laughing when I said, “No you aren’t. Sorry I laughed, it’s just, I remember it now. At least, I remember what I saw on social media. But I think you’re overthinking this. People won’t care that much now.”
“The only benefit had been that I hadn’t used my real name. Yet, now, after that interview with Malakai, it won’t take long for people to piece it together.”
“That interview went well though.”
“It did, but the internet is unforgiving, so my only hope is that something more interesting will happen after my segment airs.”
I reached over and gently touched her hand. “No matter what happens when your segment airs, I’ll be right by your side. You don’t have to face this alone.”
Bashfully, she muttered, “Thank you. That means a lot to me.”
I widened my legs and slid her seat closer to me. “Meeka, I wanted to give you some time after what you’d learned, but I wanted to say that I’m sorry for not telling you about Tabitha, and I’m even more sorry for that shit I said about you to Z before we got to know each other. I was angry at the time and I didn’t mean it, honest.”
“I know,” she said. “We’d developed a sort of love and hate relationship at work, so I can’t say I blame you. I wasn’t stupid enough to write anything about you on our work email so that the servers could catch it, but I’d texted Kelani and Layla some pretty mean stuff about you. I guess I was just caught off guard. And Dragon Breath? Really?”
“I know,” I groaned. “Talk about a big mistake. In case you didn’t piece it together, she’s the ex I had in Europe. The one who cheated on me with all those dudes.”
“I figured, but I still can’t believe it. Did you hear that rumor that she may be leaving the network?”
“It’s not a rumor. She’s leaving in two weeks. Her fiancé got a job in another state and I’m happy as hell that we won’t be seeing her again.”
“Yeah, she’s the worst.” Meeka leaned over and placed a quick kiss on my lips. “I accept your apology, but I’m starting to wonder what you’re gonna do the next time you mess up. I’m sorry can only get you so far.”
“Oh, you wanna play that game, huh?” I started tickling her, loving the sound of her high-pitched laugh. “How about this. Every time I mess up, I make sure that the make-up sex is the best you’ve ever had.”
She scrunched her nose. “Nah, you can do better than that.”
“Better than amazing sex?” I tickled her even more until she was gasping for air.
“Okay, okay. Sounds good to me,” she panted in between laughs. Without giving her a chance to breathe, I lifted her off the stool and tossed her over my shoulder.
When we got to her bedroom, I tossed her on the bed, loving the way her hair flew in every which direction.
Suddenly, her face grew serious. “Do you think I’m crazy?” she asked out of nowhere.
“Yes, I do. But I love it.”
She smiled. “After everything you’ve heard from my exes and learned, do you think you can handle dating someone like me?”
I leaned over her, placing a sweet kiss on her lips. “Yes. We all have a past and had those knuckleheads not messed up the best thing to ever happen to them, we wouldn’t be where we are today.”
She wagged her eyebrows. “Plus, thanks to Jeff’s crazy ass, you already know that I do laundry, cook, can walk dogs, give great head, and if you’re lucky, I can even give you a bomb ass pedicure and pay extra special attention to the pinky toes.”
“What the—.” I cut off my own words with a laugh so hard, I thought I might cough up a lung. “Nah, I’m good on you touching my feet.”
She raised her hands and wiggled her fingers. “That’s because your feet haven’t felt Meeka’s special touch yet. Trust me, I’d have your big toes looking like they’d been spit-shined.”
I couldn’t even tease her back because she was still wagging her eyebrows, making me laugh even more. When I finally calmed down, I gently cupped her chin. “Meeka, you’re not perfect and neither am I. But you’re unlike any woman I’ve ever met before and that’s why I’m falling for you. You’re honest, and real, never afraid to tell it like it is. What you see is what you get, and you don’t apologize for it. You have an eclectic past, but who doesn’t? Bottom line is, I’m crazy about yo’ crazy ass and I don’t see that ever changing.”
Her face brightened. “You’re falling for me?”
I nodded my head. “Yeah, I’m falling for you. Hard.”
She squealed. “’Twas the last day of filming, and all through the place, Meeka was screaming because she won the race! She was no longer single. She’d executed her plan. No more mix and mingle. Y’all Meek Meek snagged her a man.”
“What was that?” I asked, laughing once again.
“I call it a little ratchet rhyme.”
I snorted. “Do you say these rhymes often?”
“Yep. Just like the one you heard before I started chasing Vance down the street. I’m pretty good with rhyming. Then again, I am a writer.”
I leaned up on one elbow. “Okay, then tell me another one.”
She looked to her ceiling, snapping her fingers when it came to
her. “Lil’ Tone Tony grabbed his big pony to stick it in Meeka’s wet hole. But when he went in, she was tight as all sin, so foreplay became his main goal.”
My boastful laughed filled the room and I had to hold my stomach from laughing so hard. The poems didn’t end there and the rest were even funnier than the first ones.
Eventually, we did have make-up sex like we’d both anticipated, but just like Meeka, she even made me laugh while I was thrusting inside of her. She hadn’t been lying when she said she liked to talk before an orgasm. The more I made her come, the more she started singing parts of the Hamilton play we’d seen. Was it a little strange? Hell yeah. Was it just like my Meeka? Of course.
EPILOGUE
You know you’ve executed a successful social experiment when the world can’t stop watching you.
~ Madame Social ~
ONE MONTH LATER …
M EEKA
KNOCK. Knock. Knock. “Meeka, you good in there?”
I cracked open the bathroom door to let him in. Upon seeing I was sitting on my bathtub, he sat down beside me. “Why are you hiding out in here?” Tone asked.
I poked out my bottom lip in a pout. “Everyone was laughing at me when they watched my segment.”
Tonight was a private screening at my condo before my segment was due to air in a couple days. Personally, I thought production had done a wonderful job with edits, especially with Tone overseeing everything. Yet, I still couldn’t help but feel like I was on display to be ridiculed.
“They are only laughing because you’re hilarious on camera. But those are your friends and family out there. They were laughing with you, not at you.”
“I feel so raw looking at it.”
Tone slid me across the edge of the tub and into his embrace. “That’s because you didn’t hold anything back for this assignment, Meeka. You let the world know who you are and I’m proud of you for it.”
I smiled up at him, bringing his ear close to mine to whisper, “Tone, darling, I’m not wearing any panties.”
His eyes widened. “Word?” I nodded. “You really have a thing for Eartha Kitt in Boomerang, huh?”
“It’s my favorite movie,” I confirmed. “So, ah, do you feel like a quickie?”
“We have a lot of folks in your living room right now.”
“But we’re in the master bathroom in my bedroom. We good.”
He smirked. “In that case …” He brought his lips to mine, kissing me slowly. So slow, I was already whimpering seconds into the kiss.
By now, I was used to the way Tone kissed. The way he made love. The way he licked my pussy. He was provocative, yet slow and sexy with it. I’d never had a man who seemed to care so much about how I felt. A man determined to make sure I was satisfied no matter how long it took.
I’d already sucked his dick numerous times, but in this moment, I wanted to do so again. I let my kisses trail over his neck while I unbuckled his jeans, pushed aside his boxers, and watched him spring free, a bit mesmerized by the way his tip seemed to wink at me, waiting for what I was going to do next.
“Time for the Meeka Morning Special,” I whispered, getting on my knees.
“It’s not morning though,” he rasped.
“Doesn’t matter. You know what time it is.” I took his dick in my mouth, twirling my tongue around his shaft before taking as much of him as I could into my mouth.
“Shit, Meeka. I wasn’t ready for this.” I heard what he’d said, but I hoped he knew me well enough to know once I got started, it was on and he better expect the unexpected. I was a walking, talking, unprediction, and true, that wasn’t a real word. However, it was the best word to describe me.
A couple minutes later, Tone was panting and gripping the side of the tub, his knuckles turning white. “Come on, baby, get on top.” At his words, I looked up from his dick, giving him my best sexy smile before grabbing a condom out of my bathroom drawer and sliding it onto him. Yeah, things were going great with Tone, but jokes aside since I did love to name our imaginary kids, we weren’t ready for any whoops babies.
Lifting my black dress, I slid my wetness onto him, relishing in the way he filled my body. We moved in that erotic dance we knew so well, our bodies connecting in a way that always left me breathless. Making love with Tone was indescribable and I was never at a loss for words, but with him, it seemed I hadn’t found the perfect words to describe what he made me feel yet.
Using all of my concentration to tap his shoulder, I reminded him that this needed to be a quickie. Tone didn’t do quickies well since he tended to like to go at it for hours, but I was teaching his ass a thing or two.
“Baby,” I moaned. “Come on, bust a nut so I can bust one, too.”
I felt his lips smile against my collarbone. “You first.”
“As you wish.” I tilted my hips as he slid even deeper. A few more strokes and I was screaming his name, grateful when he decided to cover my mouth with his hand. Tone followed soon after, causing me to cover his mouth too because this man was groaning louder than I’d been screaming.
We took a few minutes to clean up and straighten out our clothes, running into Layla right outside of my room when we opened the door. “Oh hell no! Were y’all just getting freaky in the bathroom with all these people here?”
Tone and I both started glancing around the hallway like we didn’t know who she was talking to.
“Fine, play dumb. But, Meeka, at least let me touch up your hair and makeup before you go back out there. You’re the woman of the hour, but you look like you just got thoroughly fucked.”
I gave Tone a lopsided grin as he winked at me.
Layla gagged. “Ew. Save that shit for later, people. Come on.” She dragged me back into my bedroom and helped me fix myself up before we joined the guests in the living room.
“You were amazing,” Kelani said. “And so relatable.”
Layla nodded. “I agree, girlie. I think the media and the public are going to love this segment you did. It was honest. The realest shit I’ve seen in a while.”
Z hugged me before slapping Tone on the shoulder. “You did great, MeMe, but I knew you’d do a good job. From what I heard, Madame Social was very pleased.”
More than pleased, I thought, reflecting on a brief conversation I’d had with her last week. “I was so glad it was what she was looking for.”
“It more than met my standards.” I glanced around my condo, wondering why that voice sounded so much like Madame Social. Upon not seeing anyone I didn’t recognize in the room, I looked to a sheepish Tone who was shrugging his shoulders.
“Madame Social may or may not have asked me to connect her to your television.”
I glanced at my TV, noticing the screen was a deep blue, indicating it was on, but there was no picture. I pulled Tone down to me so I could whisper, “That’s creepy as hell, Tone.”
“I agree, Meeka,” Madame Social said. “It’s unorthodox, but he’ll disconnect me in a few minutes. I just wanted to tell you that I’m so proud of how you handled this assignment, and with Tabitha gone, I wanted to officially promote you to Director of Production Operations of The Social Experiment Network.”
I couldn’t help but squeal. Shit like this didn’t happen to a girl like me. “Thank you, Madame Social. I graciously accept.”
“I’d hoped you would,” she said. “Considering I’ve had my eye on you for a while.”
I squinted curiously even though she couldn’t see me … at least I thought she couldn’t see me. I wasn’t so sure when she continued by saying, “I’ve been watching you and Tone interact for years in the office and at work events. This assignment was never about you figuring out what you did wrong in those relationships, but rather, you realizing that you are better off without those men. You needed to heal so you could open yourself up to a man like Tone. A man who’s had his own share of heartbreak and needed a woman like you to show him how special he is. You both needed each other.”
I giggled, hugging Tone
even tighter. “Thank you for believing in me, Madame Social. I won’t let you down.”
“I know you won’t, Meeka. Take tomorrow off, but after that, you and I need to chat first thing Tuesday morning so we can prep for the new season. I have a feeling this will be The Social Experiment’s best season yet.”
I told her I’d be there, and with that, she ended the call and Tone went behind my television to disconnect whatever he’d done to connect Madame Social in the first place.
“I’m so proud of you, baby,” my mom cried, pulling me to her, showering my face with kisses. “I always knew your boy craziness would amount to something.“
I blinked. “Uh, thanks I think?”
She nodded, still wiping away tears. “Look at you, all grown up and doin’ the damn thing. Got influential women talking through your television and shit. When this airs, I bet you folks will be making #ManiacMeeka shirts and I’m gonna be the first one in line.”
I rolled my eyes. “Mom, please don’t make #ManiacMeeka a thing. I don’t want that type of publicity.”
Ignoring me, she kept on talking. “You’re amazing, Meeka. Ever since you were a baby and used to take off your diaper and run around the house chasing the boys down the block that I used to babysit, I knew your boy-crazy ways would amount to something.”
I dropped my forehead to my hand. This was getting worse by the second, and Tone, Z, Layla, and Kelani were laughing their asses off. “Mom, can you chill with the childhood memories?”
She didn’t listen, and for the next five minutes, I let her have the floor because … well, she was my mom and without her there would be no me.
Eventually, her boyfriend dragged her away from me and I was grateful for him. I loved my mama, but damn, she was so extra at times.
The party ended a couple hours later and I went from being nervous about what was yet to come, to being extremely excited to enter this new chapter in my life.
Once we were alone, I wiggled my eyebrows as Tone wrapped his arms around my waist. “Does that mean I’m your boss?”
“No,” he laughed, shaking his head. “That means you’re my equal. But honestly, you were my equal, my everything, way before your promotion.” His eyes dropped to my lips before holding my gaze again. “I wanted to tell you weeks ago, but I was waiting for tonight. I love you, Timeka Catherine Simmons.”
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