Miss Independent, Volumes 1 - 4

by Kiki Leach

  “Did you and your wife buy this place together?” she asked, strolling down the hall, peeking inside every room she passed.

  He tossed his keys in a bowl near the door and loosened the collar of his shirt. “My brother purchased it, actually. He handed over the lease when he decided to downgrade. My ex got the main house, and the ranch in Connecticut.”

  She spun around and without thinking said, “My parents live in Connecticut.”

  William nodded, while silently hoping that the ranch was nowhere near them. “Shall we?” He waved his hand and she walked ahead of him to a large room straight ahead of them, which appeared to be the study. William strolled over to the small bar set up in the corner, complete with a kitchenette, while Nikki admired his plethora of books and paintings that covered every scope of the walls.

  She walked over to the highest one she saw and pointed. “Is that a Rembrandt?” she asked.

  He appeared surprised, though kept his eyes down as he began mixing drinks. “You know art.”

  “Not so much, no. Vanessa has a painting just like that in her house so I happened to recognize it as soon as I saw it.”

  He frowned. “Her house?”

  She turned back and grinned. “What?”

  “You said ‘her’ house, as if you didn’t live there too.”

  “Really?” She laughed, surprised at her own choice of words. “I didn’t mean to say it like that. It’s our house.”

  “Understood. But if you’re ever looking to break free from that Three’s Company-esque environment, I have a few extra rooms here.”

  “Thanks. But… I like living with them, for now. Though, I might take you up on that offer in the future. Things could get awkward at some point since she and Maurice have started to get more serious in their relationship.”

  He squeezed the juice from two fresh lemons into the drinks. Nikki knit her brows and peered, wondering what the hell he was concocting and if she would be forced to swallow it with a smile on her face. “Good for her,” he said with a nod. “Has she told Alexis about it?”

  She felt squeamish upon hearing that woman’s name. When she saw pictures of them together after the Angelino’s opening, Alexis began asking William questions as to the status of his relationship with her daughter’s best friend. As a favor to Nikki, he kept quiet and explained to Alexis that she was working with him on a new project regarding one of his up and coming businesses – but she was no fool. She continued going on about it with other people they knew mutually until Vanessa finally urged her to drop it, as she didn’t want to create even more problems between them at home than what they already had.

  As the sick feeling passed, Nikki did her best to push the thought from her mind and cleared her throat. “I don’t think V’s told her mother anything about them being together. Why?”

  “Alexis mentioned something about them dating when I visited her at the office a few weeks ago. Now that it’s finally happened, I would think she’d be thrilled about it.”

  “As far as I know, Vanessa hasn’t told anything to anyone. She wants to keep it quiet for now, hoping that the press won’t hound them like every other relationship she’s ever been in.”

  “You think they’re good together?” he asked, handing her the drink.

  “I don’t know. Maybe. She cares about him and he’s been in love with her since we were kids. I’d never tell him this, but I hope for her sake that it works out.”

  “I hope for her sake that it does too,” he said. “Maybe if she’s happy, everyone else can finally be as well.” He raised his glass to hers. “Cheers?”

  She clinked her glass against his and timidly drank back the concoction. Once the liquid splashed across her taste buds and hit the back of her throat, she made a bitter face as if she had just licked the side of a pavement and tried as best as she could to ease the drink back into the glass without being obvious or insulting. She wanted to scrape her tongue with a spoon until a new one grew in its place, but sufficed for the roof of her mouth instead.

  “How do you like it?” he asked her.

  She swiped the back of her hand across her lips and turned her head to cough. She lifted the glass to look at what was inside and grimaced. “Oh it’s… it’s something. Something indescriptible.” As she looked at William, she saw the hope in his eyes of wanting to make her happy and didn’t want to crush his ego. But at the same time, she wasn’t really known to bite her tongue about anything, especially when it came to something she didn’t like, and she couldn’t afford to keep quiet about this if they were serious about moving things forward. He was guaranteed to see that part of her sooner or later as it was, and she thought it was best to see it sooner. “I don’t mean to offend you or your bartending skills because you look really good behind there with your muscles and everything, but … what exactly is in this shit?”

  He chuckled and lowered his head. “Um, lemon juice. Cayenne pepper. Vodka, whiskey, mint, and gin.”

  She breathed out and felt like a fire dragon as the mixture burned her lips. “Ok – well just to put it bluntly, it’s terrible.” She coughed again. “I don’t know how much of everything you put into what you just gave me, but here.” She sat the glass down and backed away from it as if she were trying to keep a ferocious dog from attacking her. “I don’t want any more of it.”

  “Is it really that bad?” he asked.

  “I think it’s worse. Just out of curiosity, how many people have you actually made that el veneno for?”

  “That means poison in Spanish, right?” She was mortified that he understood her as she didn’t mean it to hurt his feelings, but he brushed it off. “I’ve been studying up over the last few weeks.” She rested her hands on her waist and nodded. He grinned. “I’ve only made that drink for one person. Myself.”

  “In that case, it’s probably a good thing you let me try that before you tested it out on any other unsuspecting parties,” she said. “On second thought, I don’t know if that really is such a good or a bad thing.”

  “Well this” – he held up his glass – “is bad, just like you said.”

  She tossed her head back and laughed. “If you think that shit is just as bad as I do, why did you bother to make it for me?”

  “Because I was trying to impress you with my ‘bartending skills’, and it’s the only drink I’ve ever made.” He tossed the liquid down the drain of the sink and rested the glass on the edge. “But what you said is exactly what I needed to hear to finally stop. I started making that drink after my divorce became official. It helped me cope with a lot of things and also made me feel like a man. That makes me sound like a bit of an asshole, but it’s true. When Patricia and I were married, we drank red or white wines and that was pretty much it. No vodka, no gin, no whiskey. So when she left, I started buying everything near the bourbon – whatever I could get my hands on that was considered a ‘masculine’ drink.”

  “How old were you two when you first got married?”

  “In our early twenties. We tried for kids from the very beginning, but for some reason, she just couldn’t get pregnant. It started a lot of problems between us, caused a lot of fights.” He took in a breath. “I cheated on her once with someone that we knew, a doctor friend of hers, and that nearly crushed her. That’s why I didn’t judge you when you first told me about your relationship with Oscar. What happened between me and the other woman was a mistake and I knew it, but I loved my wife and wanted to try and make things work with her. So we stuck it out, and then we finally had Corrinne, who has been a blessing in my life ever since. But now, Patricia wants to start up another unnecessary battle just to prove that she can win – despite knowing that there’s a reason why the judge never awarded her full custody in the first place.”

  “Why?” she questioned. “Not to say that you’re a bad father, but most girls are oftentimes placed with their mother’s, right? Why wasn’t she?”

  William silently refused to give an answer, making Nikki even more cur
ious of their situation. They stared at one another for a while until the phone began ringing in another room. William excused himself and offered her access to anything in the room until he got back. She went behind his bar and reached for a bottle of vodka, pouring what was left of it in her glass (after dumping the previous contents) and tossing the bottle in a can in the corner. She found old scraps of newspaper sitting on a desk and stuffed them on top of the trash, hoping that he wouldn’t notice the large cap sticking out of the side.

  After guzzling some back, she heard a beeping sound coming from her purse and almost jumped out of her skin. She sat the glass down on the counter and ran over to pull it out, only to see Oscar’s name flashing across the front. She initially balked at answering it, dreading what he would have to say to her, angry that he would even have the nerve to call her up in the first place, but also desperate as hell to hear the sound of his voice. She withered and dithered, watching as it continued to rattle in her hand. And just as it had reached its last ring, she pushed the button and pressed it to her ear.

  “What?” she snapped.

  Oscar didn’t know how to respond to her tone. He wasn’t used to her sounding so cold with him, especially when he had felt he had done nothing wrong. As he stood behind the counter at his shop, waving at departing customers and readying himself to close, he tried hiding his concern and chalked it up to her having a bad night. “How are you doing?” he asked. “I haven’t heard from you in the last few weeks.”

  “That’s because I’ve been busy.” She roamed around the room and ran her fingers across the back of William’s caramel colored leather couch to keep her mind off of how sexy Oscar’s voice sounded on the phone; how deep and clear, and how much she missed hearing it so close to her ear when she was about to come. She looked down at her hand and saw it shaking. She tried holding it still, pressing it down hard against the couch and curling her fingers around the leather. But the more she thought of being with him, the stronger the shaking got. “Not to mention, your wife gave me time off on the same days that you were there, remember?”

  “I remember. I remember.”

  “That’s what happens when you give her free reign,” she mumbled.

  He dropped his head and nervously scratched the back of his neck. “What have you been up to?”

  “Is this a random phone call?”

  “What?”

  “I haven’t seen you at the shop in weeks and you haven’t bothered to call me any time before now. What gives?”

  “I was just… curious to know how you were. And I had some time to be alone.”

  “I take it your wife isn’t back yet from her night out.”

  “How did you know about that?”

  She peeked around to see if William was on his way back. “Never mind…. What about you, how are the girls?” She didn’t really care to ask about his children, but she wanted to keep the conversation going in a way that didn’t lead back to them.

  “They’re good – How did you know about Melanie’s night out?” he asked. “Nik?”

  “Listen, I’m kind of in the middle of something right now and I need to go--”

  “Not so fast. Not until you answer my question.”

  She leaned her head back and groaned. “I went out tonight and I saw her with Sheila of all people, alright? She was out with Sheila.”

  “Sheila Harris?”

  “Yes.”

  “I knew she was going out tonight, but I didn’t know it was with her. Where did you see them?”

  “Bar Nineteen.”

  “I heard that place was pretty tough to get into with it being new and all. But I guess Vanessa is allowed access into any club in New York City, right?” He laughed.

  She anxiously wiggled her foot inside her shoe and stared directly at the wall. “I didn’t go out with Vanessa tonight. I went out with William.”

  He tightened his jaw and glowered. “You’re still seeing that guy?”

  “Why wouldn’t I be?”

  “I don’t know Nik, maybe because he might be a little too old for you?”

  “And what were you?” she said in a low voice. “Look, who I see now is really none of your business, alright?”

  “I still care about you. That doesn’t change things just because we’re no longer together.”

  “It changes everything, Oscar. You stopped being a part of anything to do with my dating and sex life the moment you decided to stick with your wife.”

  He shifted his stature and angrily pounded his fist against the counter. The customers who remained inside the shop became alarmed in his sudden change in behavior. “You two are having sex now? Don’t you think that’s a little soon?”

  “I never said anything about us having sex. But if we were, it would be none of your business.” When she heard a pair of footsteps gliding down the hall and back toward the room, she turned her lips into her phone and murmured. “Look, I have go to.”

  “Are you at his house right now?”

  “Yes.”

  “Nikki, I don’t think--”

  “I don’t care what you think – I have to go.” She clicked the off button on her phone and reached for her place to slam it inside. She placed a hand on her face and scrunched her brows as she felt a headache coming on.

  “Everything okay?” asked William. He became worried when he saw the look of uneasiness on her face.

  “Not really. I just got a phone call from someone that I didn’t really need to hear from right now, and into a conversation that I really didn’t want to have.”

  He stepped up and casually shrugged his shoulders. “Anything I can do?”

  She swallowed hard while staring at him, and said the first and only thing that came to her mind. “Show me to your bedroom?”

  He jerked his head back, surprised but intrigued by her sudden overzealous attitude. “Don’t you want to see any other rooms inside the house first?”

  “No.” She rushed over and gave him a sweet kiss on the lips. He became more than intrigued, he was practically spellbound. “I just want to see your room,” she said.

  He instantly took her in his arms and lightly pressed his lips against hers once more. “Okay.”

  Without giving it a second thought, they headed upstairs to his bedroom, peeling off each other’s clothes along the way and dropping every item to the floor. They laughed while stumbling into things, but stopped once they were in his room and completely naked in front of each other.

  William smiled wide, but questioned the sincerity on Nikki’s face. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

  “More than sure,” she said. “I’ve never been so sure of anything before in my life. Not until right now.”

  “That’s just what I like to hear.” He slid back onto his king size bed and showed her his hand. “Sit on my lap.” She moved closer to the bed and placed one leg on the side of him as he pulled her forward. She fell into his arms, laughing. He smiled and stroked her face, then pushed his fingers back into her hair and kissed her until her eyes fell shut. She drove her tongue into his mouth, never realizing she had settled on top of him. His dick sprang up against her and she felt herself becoming wet. She slid her hands around his throat and turned her head this way and that to match the passionate motion of his lips. She pulled away for a moment to look at his face. His eyes were still closed, his lips fresh from her kiss. She thought back for just a split second of the last time she was with Oscar, how he held her like this, how he touched and kissed her like he had never planned to stop. She wanted to forget those memories in William’s arms, to pretend as if those times had never even existed from the amount of pain they seemed to cause now. And so she kissed him again, with much more fervor than she had ever kissed anyone before.

  William had never been with a woman as sexual and carnal as Nikki before. He knew that she was trying to prove something to herself, and maybe to him as well, given her eagerness and intensity. He wanted them to slow down and take their time, to explor
e and understand each other’s true wants and needs before they really began to take things further. But he was also just as anxious as she was to see if the electrifying chemistry shared between them verbally was just as powerful sexually too.

  As she tightened her legs around him, he adjusted on the bed and pushed himself into her, making her come before he was even fully inside of her. She clamped her hand around his shoulder, easing herself into the feeling of his dick, and fixing her body to accommodate the size, length, and width of it. She hiked her legs a little and he moved further and further in until she only felt his balls slapping against her. She accepted him completely, smiling as the sensation he provided overtook her mind and soul. They looked into one another’s eyes, studied each other’s faces and bodies. Both of them were quite pleased in knowing that they were able to connect on a much more profound level. The intensity grew as she ran her hand down the smoothness of his back and sank her teeth into his skin. The response freed him from any willingness to hold back. She threw her head back and screamed out his name. He pounded and pounded into her until there was nothing left for him to give.

  They held each other for a few moments after. He looked at her face, wiping her hair back and making sure she was still completely satisfied. “You okay?”

  She licked the sweat from her lips and nodded crazily. “Yes.”

  “I’m going to get us both some water.”

  “Okay.”

  She rolled to the side and covered herself with his blanket. He got up from the bed and slid on his briefs before heading to the kitchen.

  Nikki looked down at herself, feeling emotionally content, but physically drained. She felt herself closing her eyes but heard a rattling sound coming from the hallway. She groaned, initially refusing to get up from her place of comfort to see what it was, but realized it might have been her phone again. She grabbed William’s shirt from the arm of the chair and put it on, then poked her head outside the room and looked down the hall in the direction of the sound. When she saw her phone, she picked it up and saw a text message from Oscar. She refused to read what it said while heading back into the bedroom, believing that whatever it was would take her out of her current feeling of euphoria. Luckily she was prevented from doing so anyway when William came back with two bottles of water and a bowl of fresh cut strawberries.