An All Night Man

by Brenda Jackson

  JUST WANNA

  LOVE YA

  .

  Joylynn Jossel

  .

  Jai stood in the entrance of Club Cream and scanned the place in hopes of spotting her best friend, Rissa. Every Friday evening after work, Jai and Rissa met at Cream, a downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, singles bar/bistro. Jai always made it a point to run at least ten minutes behind their meeting time of 6:00 p.m. because she hated arriving first and alone. This way Rissa was sure to arrive first and be forced to sit at the bar alone looking desperate instead of Jai. Perhaps on this particular Friday Rissa had finally caught on.

  Feeling uneasy, as if all eyes were on her, Jai continued to scan the room. She tugged the bottom of her white Liz Claiborne sweater, pulling it over the slight swell of her stomach. Even though Jai wore a size ten, she had this little gut that she couldn't seem to get rid of no matter how many crunches she did. Other than her kangaroo pouch, she adored every other part of her body. Thirty years old, standing almost six feet tall, Jai had perfectly toned medium brown legs and long slender arms. She had the breasts of a sixteen-year-old—nice, round, and perky—something she was sure to miss after nursing the baby she dreamed of having some day.

  After leaving a light brown thumbprint on the bottom of her sweater, compliments of her Mary Kay bronze cream to powder foundation, Jai then ran her manicured, natural nails through her shoulder-length multilayered hair.

  Where in the hell is she? Jai said to herself as she tapped her black Nine West strappy to the beat of the music.

  "Boo!” Rissa said, coming up behind Jai and tickling her waist.

  "There you are,” Jai smiled as she turned around and hugged Rissa.

  "I got stuck on a call,” Rissa explained. “It was my mom bugging me again about who I'm dating and when I'm going to marry him.”

  "You don't have to tell me how that is.” Jai sighed. “I get stuck on calls all of the time. Don't let one of my client's foodstamp cards not be working. They'll have me on the phone for hours.”

  Rissa rolled her eyes up into her head and began walking toward the two empty stools at the bar. How is it that Jai always managed to fuck up a perfectly decent Friday evening with talk about work? Rissa knew Jai well enough to know that once she said one little thing about work, more was sure to follow.

  "I mean some of those women are just lazy,” Jai continued, following behind Rissa. “They would be content staying on welfare their entire lives if they could. And what really pisses me off is when they bring their kids to their redetermination appointments and all the little crumb snatchers are wearing Tommy Hilfiger.

  Can you believe that? That shit ain't cute, a welfare recipient wearing designer clothes. That's idiotic.”

  "Two Coronas with lemon please,” Rissa said to the bartender as she sat down, flinging her permed blonde hair that just reached the small of her back. Rissa was one of those ideal white girls that all women envied. She was five feet eight inches with beautiful blonde hair. Her eyes were as blue as the sky with fluttering, thick lashes. Her lips were luscious and she had a body like Britney Spears. Rissa wasn't your typical dime, she was a roll of dimes. Three years ago she had won the Bud Girl contest at Cream and traveled all over representing Budweiser. Jai even tagged along to a couple of the events. Rissa posed in a calendar and everything. It was almost like she was a celebrity.

  "Is something wrong?” Jai asked, sensing some tension with Rissa.

  "No, nothing's wrong,” Rissa replied. “You know how much I love hearing you talk about your job all night long. Please, by all means, continue.”

  "I'm sorry, Riss,” Jai apologized. “I promise, not one more word about the County Human Service Department.”

  The bartender placed the girls' drinks in front of them and complimented Rissa's ocean blue eyes. Rissa thanked him with a huge grin and an eyewink like she did every Friday. This innocent flirting routine always guaranteed that the first round of drinks would be on the house.

  Rissa pushed her lemon down into her Corona bottle and with beer in hand, she turned around in her stool to check out the scene.

  "Oh my God,” Rissa said in a soft tone, as if she were talking to herself. “I swear the most beautiful man in the world is sitting right over there.”

  Rissa pointed to a table that was blessed with the company of three gorgeous males. One guy in particular stood out like a rose in a garden of weeds. He was a tall, white male. His eyes were deep brown. His lips were pouty, in a manly sort of way, and his black shiny hair waved back from his forehead and curled up at the ends. And that dimple—it was a sexy ass dimple—in the middle of his chin that had probably persuaded countless number of women to drop their panties on their first date with him. Hell, one couldn't blame them either. His dimples in his cheeks damn near swallowed up his face when he put on that million-dollar smile.

  "I think it's safe for you to say that he is, indeed, the most beautiful man in the world,” Jai agreed. “He looks like a CK underwear model, for crying out loud. Not bad at all for a white guy.”

  "Not bad at all for a guy period,” Rissa said dazed, as if she were hypnotized by his presence.

  "You got a little dribble on your lip,” Jai said jokingly as she took her napkin and began wiping Rissa's bottom lip.

  "Dribble my ass,” Rissa said, still in a daze. “I think my mouth just had an orgasm.”

  Jai laughed.

  "Oh shit,” Rissa said, quickly turning around on her stool to the bar.

  "What?” Jai said, looking over at the table with the three men, being anything but discreet.

  "No, don't look over there!” Rissa said, nudging Jai's leg with her own. “He keeps looking over here. I think he checked out the fact that we are checking him out. I don't want to look desperate.”

  "Too late for that,” Jai said, calmly turning around on her barstool.

  "I'm serious,” Rissa said in a serious tone. “That's the man I'm going to marry.”

  "Well, don't piss your pants,” Jai said, looking over her shoulder. “But it looks like the most beautiful man in the world is heading this way.”

  Rissa quickly pulled out a tube of Wet 'n' Wild clear lip gloss and began to smooth some on to her pink full lips.

  "Wet 'n' Wild?” Jai questioned, watching Rissa polish her lips. “You have on an $85-a-bottle perfume and you're painting your lips with $1.67 lip gloss?”

  "Yeah, but check out the shine,” Rissa said, puckering her lips while Jai nodded in agreement.

  "Hello, ladies,” the most beautiful man in the world spoke with an accent.

  "Hi,” Jai said nonchalantly.

  "Hello to you, too,” Rissa said in a sensual tone as she turned on her barstool to face him. “I love that sweater.”

  Rissa took her thumb and index finger and began to molest the neck of the black ribbed turtleneck sweater he was wearing.

  "Thank you. It was a birthday gift from my mom,” he replied.

  "Oh, how sweet,” Rissa flirted. “Do you live with your mom?”

  "No,” the gentleman said, smiling. “My parents live in Columbus, Ohio. I live alone here in Cincy.”

  "Oh,” Rissa said, relieved as she uncrossed her fingers from behind her back. Jai smiled at Rissa and turned her attention to her half-empty bottle of Corona.

  "Can I get you something?” the jealous bartender interrupted, directing his query to the unwelcomed stranger.

  "Actually you can,” the gentleman replied. “I'll take a rum and coke and bring the ladies another round of Coronas please.”

  "Thank you,” Rissa said with a wink and a smile. “By the way, I'm Clarissa, but my friends call me Rissa, and this is my best friend, Jai.”

  "I'm Sloan,” he said, extending his hand to Jai and Rissa.

  Jai turned in her barstool to face Sloan, giving him a stern handshake. Rissa, on the other hand, extended her hand as if she was a princess expecting her prince charming to kneel and kiss her hand. Sloan politely shook Rissa's hand.

 
; The bartender rolled his eyes and went to fill the order. Just then the disc jockey put on “Beautiful” by Snoop Doggy Dog.

  "I like this song,” Sloan said, nodding his head to the beat. “Do you want to dance?”

  "Ooohhh, I like this song, too,” Rissa said.

  "That's nice,” Sloan replied. “So, Jai, what do you say? Come on, let's dance.”

  Sloan grabbed Jai by the hand and pulled her towards him, eliminating any possibility of refusal. Stunned, Jai stared at Rissa in shock as Sloan dragged her onto the dance floor.

  Once Sloan finally got Jai to the center of the dance floor he began to do this cool, smooth ass dance around her, checking out every inch of her frame. Not knowing whether to blush or feel guilty that she was on the dance floor with the man her best friend had smothered her lips in cheap lip gloss for, Jai just stood there. She stood there feeling sexy as hell. She felt like a juicy piece of meat smothered in gravy and Sloan was a biscuit about to sop her up.

  "Move something,” Sloan said, snapping his fingers and bobbing his head to he beat.

  "Excuse me?” Jai replied, uncertain of his request.

  "Let me see you move something. Come on, dance.” Sloan closed his eyes and snapped his fingers as he began singing the hook of the song, “Beautiful, I just want you to know that you're my favorite girl.”

  "You have a wonderful voice,” Jai said, shocked at Sloan's soulful timbre.

  "Thank you,” Sloan said, grabbing hold of Jai's hands.

  Jai loosened up as she began to sway a little bit. She freed her hands from Sloan's, tugged her sweater down over her stomach, and began to swing her hips from side to side, like they do in the Midwest.

  This is a sexy motherfucker, Jai thought, watching Sloan croon on the dance floor. She had no conversation what so ever. She couldn't tear her eyes off of Sloan's sultry movements. She would smile on the occasions when he caught her trying to peek at what he was packing down below, but other than that, Jai just tried to concentrate on her nerves.

  The song was over much too soon. It was now Christina Aguilera's turn to have her say on beauty as her song, “Beautiful,” floated throughout the room. Jai already knew she had some “splainin' ” to do with Rissa. She had broken girlfriend rule number one. When your friend places dibs on a guy, he's off-limits. To now slow dance with Sloan would have been to commit an atrocity.

  "Thanks for the dance,” Jai said as she backed up and prepared to go back over to the bar with Rissa.

  "You're not going to just leave me on this dance floor butt naked are you?” Sloan asked, smiling.

  "Excuse me?” Jai asked, confused.

  "You just undressed me with your eyes throughout the entire song and now you're going to just leave me out here alone, and naked?”

  Jai swallowed as Sloan held our his hand to her. Jai stared at him for a moment before softly placing her hand inside of his and rejoining him in the center of the dance floor. Sloan placed Jai's hands around his waist and his around the nape of her neck. He left a few inches of room in between them. This was Jai's space to do with whatever she pleased.

  The scent of Sloan's musky cologne was like a drug and Jai was getting high. If this was what it felt like to be a bird flying high in the sky, hell, Jai didn't want her feet to ever touch the ground again. It was only a matter of seconds before Jai moved in close and pressed her body against Sloan's.

  "You know my girlfriend had been checking you out,” Jai whispered in Sloan's ear.

  "I hadn't noticed,” Sloan replied, closing his eyes as he tightened his hold on Jai, “1 was too busy checking you out.”

  "I shouldn't have even danced with you, especially not a slowdance,” Jai said, breathing a sigh of guilt. “She's going to kill me.”

  "1 don't want to be the cause of any discord between you and your girlfriend,” Sloan said, staring down at her. “Do you want to stop?

  How in the hell did Sloan expect Jai to say no while staring down at her with those bedroom eyes, gleaming with that “fuckme” look?

  "No,” Jai replied. “I don't wanna stop.”

  Sloan pulled Jai up against him even tighter and began massaging her neck, Jai tensed up a little bit and glanced over at Rissa. Rissa sat at the bar watching them like a hawk while throwing down shots of gin and juice. Jai quickly looked away.

  "I've never seen you in here before,” jai said with an expression on her face as if trying to recollect ever seeing him before. “Rissa and I come every Friday and I'm sure I've never seen you in here before.”

  "How can you be so certain I've never been here before?” Sloan asked.

  "I would have remembered you,” Jai was quick to say in an appealing tone.

  Sloan smiled. “You're right,” he gave in. “I've never been here before. This is my first time.”

  "Well, what brought you here tonight?” Jai asked.

  "I know those guys from the gym,” Sloan said, nodding to the two gentlemen he had been sitting with. “One of them has been here before and suggested we come here for drinks.”

  Jai nodded and smiled. “Just hanging out with a couple guys from the gym, hey?”

  "Yep,” Sloan confirmed, as he spun Jai around and pulled her back close to him. “You smell good. What's that you're wearing?”

  "I honestly can't remember what I put on this morning. I can't believe you can still smell it,” Jai said, smiling at him.

  "Mmm,” he said, inhaling, and Jai's heartbeat began to pick up pace. “It must be your natural scent. Usually things that smell good taste good, also.”

  Jai felt heat pool between her legs. She laughed. “Is one of your friends holding up cue cards for you or something, because you are feeding me some lines.”

  "Then I hope you're hungry, because there are more where those came from. I could feed you all night long.”

  "And you're quick on your feet, too.”

  "Yeah, us Italian guys are,” Sloan replied as he dipped Jai, staring deeply into her eyes.

  "You're Italian?” Jai asked as Sloan pulled her up close to him.

  "Yeah. My parents moved to the states from Italy when I was then

  "And of all the places on the map to relocate they chose Ohio?”

  "Nah, we started off in New York. That was a little too fast for the Mama Mia. So we pitched a tent in Slowlumbus, otherwise known as Columbus. I got a scholarship at the University of Cincinnati and my internship at LaVater Insurance turned into a permanent position. I'm now an adjuster there.”

  "Interesting,” Jai said, very interested in hearing more about Sloan.

  "You from the Nasty Natti?” Sloan said, turning the table to find out information about Jai.

  "Born and raised,” Jai sighed.

  "This city has the most beautiful skyline.”

  "And you have the most beautiful eyes,” Jai couldn't resist saying, then blushed.

  "You're beautiful,” Sloan said, staring into Jai's eyes.

  "These song titles must be getting to us.” Jai laughed.

  "Yeah,” Sloan said with a smile as the song faded out. “I really enjoyed dancing with you, Jai.”

  Jai blushed. “Me too.”

  "I hope your girlfriend doesn't give you too much hell.”

  "Ahhh, she'll get over it.”

  "Do you think maybe you could give me your phone number? I could call you sometime and maybe we could go dancing again ... all night long this time.”

  Jai looked over at Rissa, who was still staring them down. The bartender was effortlessly whispering game in Rissa's ear, trying to hook up with her for the night. Jai knew that Rissa would have a fit if she saw her giving Sloan her phone number. Jai looked back at Sloan and decided to risk it.

  "867-5309,” she quickly rambled off.

  "Excuse me?” Sloan said.

  "My number . . . it's 867-5309,” Jai repeated. “Can you remember that?”

  "I'll never forget it. Those are my lucky numbers.” Sloan winked, then turned and joined his friends at their table.


  Jai took a deep breath before rejoining Rissa back at the bar.

  "Hey, girl,” Jai said nonchalantly as she sat back down at her barstool.

  Rissa forced out a “Hey.”

  "It's hot in here,” Jai said, fanning herself.

  "If I had been all hugged up and sweaty on a man, I would be hot, too,” Rissa said, signaling for the bartender, who dropped everything to respond to her.

  "Yeah, baby?” the bartender said to Rissa.

  "I thought about it,” Rissa said, taking a pen out of her purse and grabbing a napkin. “The answer is yes. I'd love to hook up with you tonight. Here's my address.”

  Rissa wrote down her home address on the napkin and slid it to the bartender who snatched it up before she could change her mind.

  "I'll be there as soon as I get off,” the bartender said, walking away, planting a kiss on the napkin before sticking it into his pants pocket.

  "You're kidding right?” Jai said, her mouth dropping open.

  "What?” Rissa replied as if daring Jai to say something about it.

  "Look, Rissa. I know what you're doing and I'm sorry. I had no idea the most beautiful man in the world was going to come over and ask me to dance,” Jai said sincerely. “Besides, he's Italian. You said you'd never date another Italian after Tony.”

  "That was different,” Rissa snapped. “Tony was an asshole. He had this obsession with John Travolta and Saturday Night Fever. His real name wasn't even Tony. It was Farco. And he really wasn't Italian after all. He was Irish.”

  "No, kidding?” Jai said, amazed that Rissa hadn't mentioned this before. But it was just like Rissa to hold out on something that might embarrass her. “Well, look at the bright side.” She smiled. “He could have been gay. I mean his real name could have been Shaquan.”

  Rissa didn't smile back.

  "Come on, Rissa,” Jai begged. “You didn't know he was coming over here to ask me to dance.”

  "And I had no idea that if he did you would say yes,” Rissa said, disappointed in her friend.

  "Rissa, you saw him pull me out there. He didn't even give me a chance to decline.”

  "What about the second dance, the slow one?” Rissa said, rolling her eyes.