Almost Doesn't Count

by Angela Winters

  “Let me wrap these around you.” He placed one towel over her shoulders and another on her lap.

  When he went back for more, Billie suddenly felt extremely cold and started to shiver all over. He noticed it when he came back to her.

  “What’s wrong with you?” His voice sounded on edge. “Did something happen? Did someone hurt you?”

  She shook her head.

  “Well, something is wrong.” He knelt down on the floor in front of her. With the remaining towel, he started wiping her bare arms. “You have to talk to me.”

  She looked around. “Where are we?”

  “This is my private bathroom,” he said. “No one will come in here. Don’t worry. Do you want me to call the police?”

  “They can’t help me,” she said.

  “Help you with what? Can I help you?”

  She shook her head. “I didn’t come here for help.”

  “Well, what did you come here for?”

  She could tell he really wanted to know. He looked confused, concerned, and frustrated.

  “I don’t know,” she replied. “I just came.”

  He leaned forward, lifting up a bit so he could put the towel on her head to dry her hair. His body pressed against her knees and his face was very close. She liked the way he smelled and liked having him close to her, pressed against her. Feeling his hands massage her head, Billie closed her eyes.

  “That feels good,” she said.

  Sensing that he had stopped, she opened her eyes. He was looking at her intensely and the concern had been replaced with desire. She felt powerful. She felt in control.

  “Why are you here?” he asked. “I thought you said . . .”

  “Shut up.”

  Feeling suddenly overcome with arousal, she grabbed his face and pulled him to her. She kissed him hard, her hungry lips pressing against his unexpecting lips. He quickly responded, kissing her back with a sensual urgency. Billie was starting to feel her senses spinning like a whirlwind when his lips left hers and he pulled away.

  “Do you know what you’re doing?” he asked, his voice breathless and his eyes intent and pleading.

  Her body was already on fire as she nodded and wrapped her arms around him. There was no hesitation on his part as he pressed his body against hers and claimed her lips again. Their mouths explored each other, their tongues searching to satiate the growing desire that threatened to consume both of them.

  When he lifted her up and carried her into the bedroom, she felt weightless in his arms. He was still kissing her as he gently laid her on his bed, but the second he joined her, their lovemaking became more desperate, more frantic as their need grew. Their kisses became more and more aggressive in between grabbing and pulling at each other’s clothes.

  Billie didn’t think. She didn’t care. She just wanted and ached. She couldn’t have Ricky inside of her soon enough. She moaned softly as his lips explored every inch of her flesh. He left satisfying but brief kisses on her chest, his tongue tasting her breasts, caressing her hardened nipples. She let out a tormented groan as his fingers traced her body, making their own mark on her, her skin tingling everywhere in response.

  He took her with an aggressive vitality that made her want to surrender everything to him. His movements were slow and tender at first, but quickly built up, urged on by Billie’s assertive movements. She wrapped her legs around him and ran her nails down his back. She called out his name as the fire inside of her grew out of control.

  He let out a tortured groan as he reached up and pulled her hair back and she yelled out his name. She felt waves of pleasure slamming against her, drowning her in ecstasy as her entire body shook underneath him.

  Erica wasn’t sure how long she had been shaking her head, but as soon as she caught herself, she stopped. She slipped the flank steak out of the marinating bag on her kitchen table and placed it in the pan. She was having a hard time concentrating on making dinner, considering all that had happened in the last twenty-four hours. Terrell running out on her and making her wonder what the hell was wrong with him was hard enough. Hearing that Cady might not even be Justin’s was what really floored her.

  “What the fuck is wrong with you, girl?” she asked herself as she moved over to the sink.

  As she heard the door opening, Erica sped up washing her hands. It was either Nate or Terrell. Either way, someone was getting an earful.

  “Hi,” Terrell said as he entered and closed the door behind him.

  “Don’t hi me,” Erica said. “Where were you?”

  “Can I apologize?” he asked, walking over to the kitchen, but staying on the other side of the counter.

  “Not before you tell me where you’ve been?”

  “I slept at Slade’s last night. Look, Erica, I know I was wrong to walk out on you.”

  “You make me question the decision to have you move in with me again,” she said. “Terrell, how can you just walk out? That tells me I can’t rely on you.”

  “That’s why I left, baby.” He leaned against the counter opposite from her. “I just felt so . . . I know I shouldn’t have, but you made me feel impotent.”

  “How?”

  Terrell looked around. “Is Nate here?”

  She placed her hands on her hips. “What do you think?”

  “Look.” He walked around the counter toward her. He stopped just inches from her. “Baby, I love you and I want you to rely on me. I thought you’d put your faith in me when it came to Nate. You asked me for help in dealing with him, and I know how much you love him.”

  “You didn’t expect me to?”

  “I did,” he said. “What I didn’t expect was for you to ask everyone else. It made me feel useless. It made me feel like a failure.”

  Erica felt awful. “You’re not useless, Terrell. You’re the one who got him the construction job. You’re the one talking to his friends to find out what’s going on with him.”

  “So why did you get Jonah and Billie in on it?”

  “They’re helping in a different way,” she said. “I’m sorry, baby. I was desperate. I should have just been patient, but I can’t. It’s Nate. He’s my responsibility.”

  “He’s not,” Terrell said. “But we don’t need to go into that again. It was wrong for me to leave, baby.”

  “Don’t ever walk out on me again.” She leaned into him and kissed him on the cheek. “That just makes a bad situation worse.”

  “What kind of make-up kiss is that?” he asked. He leaned in and kissed her deep on the lips. “I love you so much, Erica.”

  “I love you, too, baby.” She sighed. “I’m so sorry for making things hard on you.”

  “I want to be your shoulder to lean on,” he said. “I want to be your everything.”

  “You should know,” Erica said, wincing. “Jonah is probably gonna call me tomorrow with some news. I don’t want to turn him away.”

  “I don’t want you to.”

  Erica’s eyes widened in pleasant surprise. “I expected some protest and a little name-calling.”

  Terrell cleared his throat as he stepped away. He walked over to the refrigerator and opened it, looking for a can of soda.

  “You won’t get it from me,” he said. “As a matter of fact, I’m glad he’s helping you.”

  “This is insane,” Erica said. “You’re really trying to make up with me.”

  He grabbed the can and lifted up, closing the door. Turning to her, he managed a wide smile. “No, I’m serious. Look, I’m not gonna pretend like he’s my boy or nothing, but he’s trying to help you and that’s a good thing.”

  Erica eyed him curiously, searching for a smirk or a sarcastic grin as he passed her and headed into the living room. Nothing. She followed him.

  “You know, baby, it’s not going to just be this. We’re kind of... We might try and have some kind of relationship.”

  Terrell pretended to be more focused on starting up his Xbox system than their conversation. “That’s okay, baby. Look, w
e got a new beginning. Who am I to deny that to anyone else?”

  Erica felt like she was in The Twilight Zone. She watched Terrell as he nonchalantly started up one of his games, waiting for him to say he was kidding, but nothing happened. She shrugged, thinking she should be happy as she returned to the kitchen. Why wasn’t she?

  There was that suspicious nature of hers again. She could use some peace in her life, but the second it was offered to her, she didn’t accept it.

  14

  “Dammit.” Sherise hated this.

  This was the third time she’d called Billie and gotten her voice mail.

  “Billie, where are those damn test results?” she asked before hanging up.

  She didn’t want voice mail. She wanted some answers. Where were the results of the DNA test? This wait was killing her. She was grateful to Billie for using her connections to speed this test up, but it had been two days already.

  Once they agreed that finding Cady’s heritage was the priority, Sherise did what she had to do. She got the physical evidence and gave it to Billie the very next morning. Billie told her she could get it done ASAP.

  Sherise couldn’t stand waiting. This was her life. This was everything. In her heart, she knew that Justin was Cady’s father in every way possible that mattered, but no matter how many times she said that to herself, it didn’t work. Justin would be devastated.

  “Baby?”

  Sherise, having been lost in her thoughts, hadn’t even realized that Justin had arrived in the living room. She smiled nervously at him. He had called her baby again. Since making love the other night, Sherise felt like she was getting him back, bit by bit.

  “You’re going to work?” she asked, pouting.

  He smiled. “I have to go in at some point. I can’t stay home all day. You’re looking better.”

  “I still feel awful,” she lied.

  Sherise felt fine, but she had to keep Justin believing she was feeling bad because it kept him close to home. While she was waiting for the test results and putting together her plan of attack against Jennifer, she needed to do her best to keep him from her. Yes, things had been a little better between them in the last few days, but ultimately Jennifer would try to get to him, especially now that she had been exposed. The jig was up and telling Justin about Cady was the last weapon in Jennifer’s arsenal. Sherise needed to keep him home, and playing sick usually did the trick. She needed him to look after her and help watch Cady.

  He looked at her, his eyes squinting in some disbelief. “You look okay.”

  “Of course I look okay.” She smiled, tilting her head flirtatiously. “I always look fabulous no matter what.”

  “That you do.” He walked over to the sofa, tightening his tie. He looked down at her. “Seriously, I have two meetings.”

  “You can’t teleconference?”

  “When the client bothers to come in,” he said, “I have to come in.”

  She made another sad face and could tell it was working. He softened.

  “The meetings are from twelve to two,” he said. “I’ll be home by three.”

  “Promise?”

  “I promise.” He knelt down and kissed her on the forehead. “By three.”

  She touched his cheek gently before he stood back up and headed for the door. She would be calling him to make sure he didn’t make a little pit stop at the Fairmont to see that whore. No, she couldn’t prevent Jennifer from communicating with him via e-mail, text, or phone, but she had a feeling that this was news Jennifer would want to tell him to his face, and if Sherise could prevent that from happening, she had a chance.

  Her phone rang the second after he was gone. Hoping to see Billie, she was disappointed to see LaKeisha’s name before remembering that this was exactly the woman she wanted to talk to.

  “LaKeisha,” she said. “How are you?”

  “I’m fine,” the other woman answered. “I was . . . Sherise, is something wrong?”

  “Nothing. Why?”

  There was an awkward silence before, “We were supposed to meet this morning.”

  “Shit.” Sherise suddenly remembered that she had agreed to meet with LaKeisha this morning to make up for running out on her and Northman after the fund-raiser.

  “I am so, so sorry, LaKeisha,” she said. “I just completely forgot. My life is insane right now. I never do this, but I just forgot.”

  She heard an annoyed sigh on the other end of the phone. “Do you want this opportunity or not? Sherise, I’m the one who recommended you.”

  “About that,” Sherise said. “Jennifer. Who else knows her?”

  “What?”

  “Jennifer Ross! You don’t know her very well, but you’ve spoken to her a couple of times. Who knows her well? Who else has been around her when you’ve met her?”

  “Sherise, do you understand what I’m calling you about? I’m telling you that Northman is upset that you’ve been MIA since the fund-raiser. He doesn’t feel you’re committed to—”

  “LaKeisha!” Sherise stopped herself and took a deep breath. “I’m dealing with an emergency right now.”

  “What is your obsession with Jennifer? She’s really not that relevant in our game these days.”

  “I’ll explain later,” Sherise said even though she had no intention of ever telling this woman anything. “Who is she still friends with up here?”

  LaKeisha sighed. “I don’t know. They were very benign encounters and . . . I know she knows Teresa Sampson pretty well.”

  That name didn’t ring a bell for Sherise. She hadn’t been out of the game that long? She usually had some idea who everyone worth mentioning was.

  “She belongs to the Chains,” LaKeisha continued, “So there is a ninety-nine percent chance she’s friends with Lindsey Jackson .”

  “Lindsey!” Sherise couldn’t believe she had forgotten her.

  Lindsey was one of the most famous women in DC black high society, and Justin had done business with her husband. Lindsey was the woman who allowed Sherise the chance to participate in a fund-raiser for Chains.

  “Yeah, you probably know her,” LaKeisha said. “Now, what about the matter at hand?”

  “Look, LaKeisha.” Sherise wasn’t usually in a position where her career meant nothing to her at the moment, so she wasn’t sure how to word her feelings correctly. “I want to work for Northman, but the honest truth is that I haven’t even told my husband yet.”

  “Still? What the hell, Sherise?”

  “I have a lot going on, and if I can get this taken care of, which I can and will, I would love to sit down with Northman and tell him how I can help him win the White House. Right now, I have bigger fish to fry.”

  “Bigger than a White House run?” LaKeisha asked. “Northman doesn’t wait, Sherise.”

  “He will if he wants the best,” Sherise answered. “I’m sorry about missing our meeting. I’ll talk to you soon. Thanks!”

  Sherise had to work fast. She had to give Lindsey a reason to help her and get the information she needed to have some leverage on Jennifer. She had to cover all her bases if she was going to save her marriage to Justin and make Jennifer pay for having the nerve to try to go after her.

  Billie had been pacing the office bathroom, but as soon as she heard someone near the entrance, she ducked into a stall and closed the door behind her. She couldn’t show her face to anyone. First of all, they could tell she’d been crying and that was a no-no. You do not cry at work. Her first female mentor warned her that this was the death knell for a woman’s career.

  Even besides the red in her eyes, Billie imagined she looked terrible, considering all the stress she was under, most of it self-induced. Richard had noticed it the second he came in that morning and pressed her for an explanation. He was just trying to be nice, but Billie snapped at him to mind his own business and left. She hadn’t been able to return yet. She couldn’t face him. She couldn’t face anyone. She felt so ashamed.

  She had slept with her client. W
orse, she had slept with him twice. Even worse, she wanted to sleep with him again.

  Ricky had been amazing the other day. So amazing that he made Billie forget about all her problems, all her worries, and that what she was doing was highly unethical. It felt too good to stop. She wanted only more and more. He’d taken her and taken her away, and she loved every second of it.

  When it was over, Billie came crashing back to the earth. Not only had all her other worries come back to her, but the huge mistake she’d just made crushed them with its weight and made her panic. It was lucky for her that a kitchen emergency called Ricky away. Shortly after they finished making love, someone came knocking on the door asking for help. Ricky told Billie he’d be right back, but she took that chance to grab her clothes and sneak out. It was horrible, she knew, but she imagined it would be much worse if she had to face him.

  He’d been calling and texting her ever since, asking if she would call and if she was okay. She hadn’t replied to any of them. What was she going to say? She had come there unannounced and within five minutes she was all over him. She went to the bathroom to try to figure out what she was going to do. She wanted to call him. She knew she would have to talk to him eventually.

  Just as the woman who had come into the bathroom left, Billie’s phone rang again. She had been holding it in her hand the whole time, waiting to gain the courage to call. It was Ricky again and she felt her stomach clenching again. It was crazy. She was consumed with regret, but just seeing his name on her phone made her want him again.

  “Shit,” she said out loud as she clicked on the answer button. She was just going to do it. She had to get on with her day. “Hello, Ricky.”

  “Billie? What the fuck?”

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “I know you’re pissed.”

  “I’m pissed,” he said, “and I’m worried about you. Why would you leave? We made love. I thought it was great. Was I wrong?”

  “That’s not important,” she said.

  “In what universe?” he asked. “Seriously, you’re horrible for a guy’s ego. I thought I did a good job . . . both times. Then I come back and you’re gone. I think I deserve an explanation.”