by Zane
“Yes, Rayne is gorgeous, but she’s much more than that. Opal’s lovely as well.” I tapped him on the arm. “You seem extremely happy, man.”
“I am, Yardley. I think she might be the one.”
“This must be the year of finding the ones because Rayne’s definitely the one for me.”
Dwayne laughed. “This must mean that we’re finally growing up, huh?”
There was a commotion at the entrance. Felix entered with two half-naked women; one on each arm. They both could’ve just finished shooting the latest female-degrading music video, or stepped off the stage at the Skylark Lounge over on New York Avenue.
All the men were staring and the women were gawking at the scantily clad females with disdain.
“Some of us have grown up,” I told Dwayne, “and some of us never will.”
Dwayne crossed his arms and shook his head. “Now why would that fool step up in here with those hoochies?”
“That’s easy, man. Felix wants all the attention. This night is supposed to be about Mike, but he can’t handle it. I’m glad he canceled his traveling plans to come, but he should’ve brought Mona and called it a day.”
“Oh, is he still seeing that chick?”
“Felix will always be seeing Mona as long as Mona lets him troll for pussy at will. I don’t get it. Then again, maybe I do. Some women don’t feel desired unless they’re mistreated. Backwards ass logic, but it makes sense to them,” I said, thinking about the purple-eyed skank cousin of Mona’s who’d asked me to keep her.
Felix made his way over to us and I was ready to dodge back inside. “Hey, my brothers. How long before the show starts?”
“Hey, Felix.” Dwayne peeped at his watch. “There’s only about five minutes left before curtain call.”
“Then I’m right on time,” Felix said. One of the women cleared her throat, reminding him that they were clinging to him. “Oh, Dwayne and Yardley, I’d like you to meet Vivacious and Miracle.”
Humph, stage names if I’d ever heard any.
“It’s nice to meet you,” I said, forcing a smile. Dwayne didn’t open his mouth. He was searching the lobby; probably to make sure Opal wasn’t watching him anywhere near the two women with stilettos on that made them virtually the same height as all of us.
Rayne snuck up behind me and put her arms around my waist. “You ready to take our seats?”
“Sure, baby.”
“Hello there,” Felix said loudly, being all too obvious by trying to get an eagle’s eye view of Rayne’s body; even though she was braced up behind me. “I’m Felix.”
“I’m Rayne.”
“It’s a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance, Miss Rayne. You’ve got my boy’s nose wide open.” Felix licked his lips. “You must be something extra special to take Yardley off the market for good, and so swiftly at that.”
Rayne giggled. I sensed she could decipher his bullshit.
“Felix, don’t even think about it,” I told him.
He let go of both the chicks, like they were suddenly contagious. “Man, why do you have to go there tonight? I was only speaking to her. Don’t be so insecure.”
“Felix, first of all—” I started in.
“Yardley has no reason to feel insecure,” Rayne chimed in. “There’s not a man born who could distract me from him. He’s compassionate, thoughtful, and he knows how to crack my back.”
The two women giggled while Felix and Dwayne both stood there with their mouths hanging open.
Rayne let go of my waist and took my hand. “Come on, baby. Let’s go sit down before they stop letting people in.”
Curveballs was funny, heart-warming, and an instant hit. The cast got a standing ovation at the end and Mike was practically attacked out in the lobby when he and the other two main leads came out to sign programs and press photos. The women were all over his pretty ass.
There was a cast party later on that night at Foreplay, a trendy private club in Northwest; not too far from my office. Rayne and I decided to pop our heads in since Mike had insisted we come through. Rayne was complaining of a headache so she excused herself to the ladies room. When she hadn’t returned a few moments later, I went downstairs where the restrooms were located to check on her.
I was about to knock on the ladies room door when it swung open. Roxie came out. When she spotted me, she started grinning—more like smirking. I could see Rayne standing in front of the vanity and glaring at me in the mirror.
“Hello, baby,” she said. “Your slut and I were just getting a few things straightened out.”
“How dare you call her a slut?” I lashed out at her. “You fucked my best friend, on my damn balcony, and you’re calling someone else a slut.”
Roxie smacked her lips and pushed me out the way. “Whatever, Yardley. It’s only a matter of time before you come running back to me. Once you realize what you gave up, you’ll be kissing my ass to get me back.”
“What are you doing here?” I asked. “Are you stalking me, Roxie?”
“No, I’m not stalking you. I don’t have to since you’ll ultimately be stalking me. I’m an event planner, in case you’ve forgotten. I organized this party so I have every right to be here.”
She let the door close behind her. I could no longer see Rayne.
“You don’t have a right to go into the bathroom and talk shit to my woman. That’s for damn sure!”
Roxie pushed past me and headed for the stairs. “I have to get back to work. See you next month, next week, or maybe even tomorrow. I think Miss Thang got the message so I suspect the two of you are done. See you in my bedroom, Boo!”
“When they start manufacturing Pintos again, bitch!”
Before I could turn around, I heard the bathroom door reopen. “Yardley, can we please leave now?”
Rayne had obviously been crying. She’d attempted to cover the evidence by refreshing her makeup but her eyes were red.
“We’re definitely leaving now; right this second.”
I took her hand and led her upstairs and straight out the front door without saying our goodbyes to the fellas and their dates.
I decided to take Rayne to my office. We walked since it was merely a few blocks away. We needed to talk.
After I’d given her a brief tour of my suite—something she would’ve undoubtedly been more interested in under different circumstances—we settled in my private office.
She was standing in the middle of the floor, staring at a chart of the human spine on my wall. “Can I ask you a question?”
“You can ask me whatever you like.”
“Do you ever have any doubts about us?”
“No, never,” I replied. “Do you?”
“No.”
“Then why ask me that?”
“I was simply curious.”
I sighed and walked up behind her. “Rayne, if this is going to last we have to be completely open with one another.”
“I totally agree.”
I ran my fingers down her back. “Then talk to me. Look at me instead of that stupid ass chart and tell me what’s on your mind.”
“Yardley, the situation with Roxie earlier tonight made be extremely uncomfortable.”
“I know it did and I’m sorry that you had to be subjected to her nonsense.”
Rayne finally turned to me. “Are you sure it was nonsense?”
I laughed uneasily. “I don’t understand what you’re implying, Rayne.”
“She said that you’re still emotionally attached to her. She said that you’re only using me as a substitute to soothe your pain. She said—”
“She said?” I lashed out in anger. I took her saddened face in my hands. “Listen to me, baby. Roxie can’t tell you what I’m feeling. Only I can do that and I’m telling you that I adore you. I want this relationship between us to work. I was as leery as you in the beginning. Hell, I’ve been hurt just like you have. Maybe even worse between the jobs Sheila and Roxie did on me back to back. We’re not goin
g to compare heartbreaks though. They’re in my past. You’re my present and my future.”
Rayne bit her bottom lip. I drew it into my mouth and bit it gently also.
“You bring out so many deep emotions in me, Yardley. It’s almost scary.”
“Don’t be afraid, Rayne. I meant what I said to you in my parents’ home. I’m in love with you and I’m prepared to spend the rest of my life proving it to you. Can’t you see that Roxie was jealous? I didn’t hear the bullshit she laid on you in the bathroom but she was completely delusional when she was speaking to me in the hall.”
“She’s obsessed with you.”
I backed Rayne up against the wall, knelt down, and buried my nose in her belly button through her silk blouse. “And I’m obsessed with you, Rayne Waters.” I pushed her skirt up over her hips. “Damn, I can smell it calling me.”
She had on these satin black thongs and thigh-high black silk stockings. I wanted her so badly.
“You think seducing me will get my mind off what happened tonight?” she whispered.
“Shhh, Rayne.” I lowered my head as I pulled the thongs down and lifted each one of her feet so she could step out of them. I licked the front of her pussy. “Um, you taste so good; so sweet. Put your leg on my shoulder.”
Rayne lifted her left leg and placed it over my right shoulder. “Anything else?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
“Play with your nipples for me.”
Rayne unbuttoned her blouse and let it cascade from her shoulders, down around her waist where the wall caught it from behind. She lowered her bra straps just far enough for her breasts to extend beyond the cups. I watched her from below, fingering her pussy while she ran her manicured fingertips over her nipples. They were hard; like diamonds.
She raised her left breast up so she could flick her tongue over the nipple. She moaned as I licked the lips of her pussy. She rubbed the back of my head with her free hand as I buried my tongue inside her; searching for her essence.
“You keep this up and you’re going to spoil me,” she whispered.
I stopped long enough to say, “Good.”
“It’s so quiet here; so peaceful.”
“Only at night,” I said. “Turn around.”
“Why?”
“Just do it.”
Rayne took her leg off my shoulder and faced the wall. “What are you about to do to me?”
“You’ll see.” I changed my mind about what I wanted to do the second I saw her scrumptious ass in the dim lighting from the X-ray wall; the only light I had on in the room. “Come here,” I said, as I pulled her by the waist over to my desk. “Bend over.”
She giggled. “You’re getting awfully demanding.” She turned around and pecked me on the lips. “But I like it.”
She leaned over the desk and I scooted my ergonomic chair up right behind her. Her pussy was dripping wet. I took some of her onto my fingers and smeared it on her ass cheeks. Then I started eating her out from behind.
“Did you not have dinner tonight?” she asked jokingly after about ten minutes.
I unbuckled my pants, still pleasing her. By the time Rayne exploded on my tongue, I was primed and ready. I’d been stroking myself to hardness. I’d even managed to get a condom out my pocket and slip it on. Swiftly, I rose up so I could stick my dick right in.
“Oooh, my dick,” Rayne whispered as I invaded her walls.
“Did you miss him?”
“Um, hmm.”
“Can you tell he missed you, too?” I asked as we caught a rhythm with our strokes.
“Yes!” she exclaimed as I pulled her back more onto me by yanking her hair.
I’d always had this fantasy about making love in my office but in the years I’d been practicing, it had never happened. I was glad because now it meant the only memories of it would be with my wife. Rayne would be my wife. I didn’t know how and when it would happen, but it would. I didn’t want to scare her off by blurting my thoughts out right then. All in good time.
After my desk, I took Rayne in another room and laid her on the rolling table, where these small balls vibrated up and down her spine while I made love to her yet again. We fell asleep on that table; me and my future wife.
Twenty-eight
Rayne
One month later, April 2004
“Chance, what’s the emergency?” I asked, having answered my phone on Saturday morning to her voice yelling, “You’ve got to get over here!”
“There’s no emergency,” Chance responded. “I want you to come over and see my new place. Is that an issue? I mean, you are my best friend and shit.”
I plopped down on my sofa, relieved that there was indeed no true emergency. “Aw, vicious, aren’t we?”
“I’m saying though. Just because you got a man now doesn’t mean we can’t hang out, does it?”
The sarcasm in her voice was as thick as lard. It had been a while since Chance and I had spent time together outside of the bank. That had never happened before. No matter who we were dating or how serious we were with them, Chance and I always hung out. Things were different now. I was caught up in Yardley.
“No, we can still do things,” I told her. “I’ve been wanting the four of us to do something together anyway. You’ve seen Yardley hundreds of times but haven’t really gotten to know him.”
“This much is true, chica. That’s because you’ve been hogging Mr. Wonderful all to yourself.”
We both giggled into the phone. I bit into my saltine crackers and took a sip of sparkling water. Hell of a breakfast.
“So how about this? Yardley and I can come over tonight and help you and Ricky unpack.” Chance didn’t respond for a few seconds. “You there?”
“I’m here.” She paused. “Actually, can you come by yourself?”
“Why?”
“Ricky’s going out tonight and I thought we could spend some girlfriend time together.”
I hesitated and then said, “Okay, that’s cool. Yardley and I didn’t have any concrete plans anyway.”
“Great!”
“You want me to bring something to eat? We haven’t had any Horace and Dickey’s for awhile.”
“You bring that over here and both of us will be laid out on the sofa.”
We both laughed again. Horace and Dickey’s was this carryout on 12th Street in Northeast that always had a line down the block. They had the best fried fish and the macaroni and cheese was “saying something.”
“You have a point. We do pig out on it,” I admitted.
“That’s because it’s some good ass fish.”
I needed to get off the phone and do some laundry, which I hated even contemplating doing. “Let me run, Chance.”
“See you around eight?”
“I’ll be there.”
“With some salads?”
I paused. I was feeling the fried fish and macaroni and cheese idea more. I caved in. “Sure, with some salads.”
I called Yardley on his cell phone to see what he was doing. He was out shopping with his mother for an anniversary gift for his dad. They were celebrating their thirty-fifth and Yardley was also helping his mother plan a surprise party. I’d gone with her to scout out locations and she’d booked the Atrium at Treetop in New Carrollton.
Yardley asked if I wanted to meet them at Blvd. at the Cap Center, a new outdoor shopping center that had recently opened up in Largo. As with all new shopping spots, it would be overcrowded and therefore, I didn’t need to be anywhere near it. I hated crowds and preferred to shop right before stores closed and mostly in out of the way places.
I told Yardley that I’d catch up with him later on, but informed him that I would be spending the evening alone with Chance. He thought it was a good idea and said he might see if the fellas wanted to come over to the penthouse and play poker. They’d given up basketball on Saturdays for a while until the weather warmed up.
I spent the afternoon cleaning up my place. I hadn’t real
ly had a chance to do it since Momma had headed back to Alabama; reluctantly. She was hinting at possibly moving to D.C. and I was open and honest with her. I loved Momma but she and I could never live together again; or even in the same city, for that matter. She was too animated for me and I didn’t want us to end up hating each other after we’d finally been able to hash some of our drama out.
She was still teetering between going and staying when Truck called and sweet-talked her into coming back to be with him. I couldn’t figure the two of them out but it wasn’t for me to understand. Truck knew Momma slept around and I suspected Truck was getting his groove on with other women as well. What was the point of having a long-term relationship if it wasn’t exclusive?
I’d seen Roxie—that bitch—again once, coming out of a restaurant in Georgetown. She was with a date and I know she spotted me. I started to go up to her and bless her out in front of him. That would’ve served her right. I decided against it; grateful that she’d apparently moved on. That night at Foreplay, in the ladies room, I wanted to rip Roxie a new asshole.
I was finished tinkling and was standing at the sink washing my hands when she came in the bathroom.
“Good evening,” I said, always one to address strangers when only two of us are present in the room.
She stood there and glared at me.
“Do I know you?” I asked.
“My name’s Roxie!” She threw her hands on her hips as I recognized the name. There couldn’t have been two of them. “You know who I am, don’t you?”
I sighed, preparing myself for looming drama. “Yes, I know who you are. You’re Yardley’s ex.”
“So he’s told you about me?”
“He and I have both briefly discussed our pasts. Everybody has one.”
“Did he tell you how long he chased after me?”
“Yardley told me that he had a crush on you in high school, that you lost touch for a long time, and then reunited for a bit. No big deal,” I stated nonchalantly as I applied a fresh coat of lipstick in the mirror.