Cutting Loose

by Dash, Jayson

  “Yes, I do.”

  Sabrina smiled and said, “That I can tell.”

  Brett smiled back.

  Then silence fell between them.

  More silence.

  Brett broke the silence and asked, “Are you doing anything today?”

  “Um, yeah. Work.”

  He paused. “You’re working on a Saturday?”

  “Yeah. Why?’

  “I was hoping you and I could go on that second date.”

  Her heart skipped a beat. She was glad to hear those words and couldn’t believe herself when she said, “I’m not going to be busy all day. And since you won the bet, what do you have in mind for our second date thing?”

  Brett chuckled. “You’re saying it like it’s a bad thing.”

  “Sorry,” she said apologetically. “I don’t like the word ‘date.’ It makes everything all formal and mushy.”

  “I see,” said Brett. “I’ll try to use another word like engagement or meeting or rendezvous or—”

  “Okay, I get it.”

  He smiled and said, “Just throwing it out there.”

  A moment or so later Sabrina said, “If we’re going to do this rendezvous thing, I need a time frame so I can get ready.”

  “How much time do you need?”

  “At least two hours.”

  “You need two hours to get ready?”

  “Yes,” snapped Sabrina. “Unless you want me looking like a hot mess.”

  Brett laughed and said, “Okay. I’ll get going and give you a call around seven or eight.”

  “Sounds like a plan to me.”

  Hours after Brett left her house she hurried to the mall and bought a new outfit. She didn’t want to be caught dead in some old outfit she ducked away in her closet. Tonight she was pulling out all the stops. Tonight Sabrina was going to get some sexual healing.

  Chapter Ten:

  Getting Close

  Sabrina sat on the sofa dressed in a new outfit she bought with a matching new hairstyle just for the occasion of going out tonight with Brett. In the midst of her shopping she even managed to throw in a manicure, pedicure and even a facial that she hadn’t had the time to enjoy in a long time. At first she wanted to hold back and not look as if she was trying too hard but all the while, she wanted to look her best.

  With all that had gone on throughout the day she had neglected to inform Larissa and Cassandra that she was going out, not to mention it was going to be their second date and she didn’t even tell them about the first date she had. In the back of Sabrina’s mind she wanted to tell them but then again, she figured she might as well keep her mouth shut for the time being, so as to not jinx her new relationship that was going so well.

  Considering the fact that Brett didn’t necessarily tell her where it was that they were going, she hoped like hell hat she wasn’t too overdressed in her elegant ensemble which consisted of a white cashmere top and denim skinny jeans and a pair of Gucci boots that caught her eye while shopping. Everything inside her told her not to wear boots but hell, she liked the way she looked in them, even if by the end of the night she was going to have blisters on her feet.

  Her nerves were starting to get the best of her and she had to get up and walk around to try to shake the jitters off. Then there was a knock on the door that made her jump a little.

  She walked over to the foyer and opened the door. Brett stood there with a big smile on his face and his hands behind his back. He brought his hands in front of him to reveal a dozen red roses.

  “For you,” he said, holding them out for her to take.

  “Wow. They’re beautiful. Thank you,” she said, as she took them and pressed a rose to her nose and inhaled the amazing scent. “Would you like to come in while I find a vase to put these in?”

  “Sure,” Brett said without hesitation and followed her inside.

  Sabrina pranced into the kitchen and searched for a vase until she found one and displayed the roses on the granite counter.

  “Nice place,” Brett said as he took in the place.

  “Not bad for a college grad, right?” Sabrina asked from the kitchen.

  He whistled. “Right. What was your major?”

  “Journalism. I grew up around fashion and my mother talked me out going to design school.”

  When she returned, he glanced over her body-hugging dress with an appreciative smile. “You’re definitely dressed to the nines.”

  Sabrina gazed over his black jacket over his V-neck t-shirt and fitted jeans, a style that she had been seeing a lot lately that didn’t work for a lot of men. But Brett, he made it work for him and then some. “You look handsome,” she finally managed to say.

  “Thanks. For a moment there I thought you were going to insult my outfit. If only you knew how long it took me to put this together.” He laughed and sent her a wink.

  “It was definitely worth it.” She held his gaze before grabbing her handbag. “I don’t know about you, but I am starving.”

  They left Sabrina’s house and jetted off to Brett’s secret location he claimed Sabrina was going to like. After about fifteen minutes of driving Brett pulled up to a place that looked like it was overflowing with people waiting to get inside. Sabrina thought to ask Brett how in the world he knew about the place and if they were going to have to stand in line with the rest of everybody else.

  As if he was reading her mind he said, “No, you will not have to stand in line, so stop worrying.”

  She was at lost for words and couldn’t respond, just nodded her head as if to say, “Okay.”

  After they got out of the car, Brett gently held her hand as he lead them inside and met a hostess who was beaming at them as they walked up to her.

  “Good afternoon and welcome to The Chill Grill! May I have the name of your party, please?”

  “Deltour, party of two,” Brett said distinctively.

  The hostess scanned a paper in front of her for a moment or so and looked back up and said, “Okay, sir. Your table is ready and a server will be right with you momentarily. And don’t forget tonight is karaoke night and happy hour starts at eight-thirty. Enjoy your meal!”

  A young girl who looked to be in her early twenties with crimson hair tied into a fierce ponytail greeted them and escorted them to their table in a dimly lit area.

  “Hi, I’m April and I will be serving you tonight,” she said energetically. “Can I start you off with a drink?” she asked as she placed a menu in front of them.

  “Sure,” said Brett without even glancing at the menu. “I’ll have the strawberry and lemon daiquiri.”

  She jotted down on her notepad and turned to Sabrina. “And for you, ma’am?”

  Sabrina opened the menu and after a few seconds finally decided on the same thing Brett ordered.

  Once the waitress disappeared, Sabrina said to Brett, “You handled yourself quite well.”

  He laughed softly. “It wasn’t much. Besides, I come here way too often. I’ve practically got the menu down to the T.”

  “That’s really sad.”

  Brett laughed his ass off, his face turned scarlet from laughing so hard. “That was a good one.”

  Sabrina smiled. “I guess you won’t have a problem ordering for me then. Just don’t get anything nasty.”

  Brett tilted his head to the side and said, “It won’t be a problem at all.”

  The waitress emerged with their drinks and sat them down in front of them and placed a basket of steaming bread rolls in front of them.

  “Would you guys like to start out with an appetizer or do you need more time?”

  Brett closed his menu and looked at the server. “We’ll have the Buffalo wings with ranch and sauce dipping as our appetizer and for dinner I’d like the pepper steak, medium done with the Clam Chowder soup and for the lady, she’ll have the Caesar chicken salad with Ranch dressing on the side.”

  The waitress smiled and said, “Great. Is everything going okay so far?”

  “Yes
, it’s perfect,” Sabrina said as Brett opened his mouth to speak but didn’t get the chance.

  She giggled and said, “Okay,” as she collected the menus and walked off.

  “That was mean,” said Brett.

  “What?”

  Brett leaned closer to Sabrina and said, “You jumped in before I had a chance to say anything.”

  “Aww, did I hurt your feelings?”

  In the dim light Sabrina could see his face tense a little. He chuckled and asked, “Are you serious?”

  Sabrina picked up a warm bread roll and nibbled off a piece and said, “This bread is good.”

  Brett shook his head and said, “Wow. That’s all I can say.”

  Sabrina popped the remainder of the bread roll into her mouth and picked one from the basket and asked Brett if he was up for a sample.

  He replaced the seriousness on his face with a semi-smile and said, “Sure.”

  Sabrina leaned forward and placed the bread roll on his tongue and watched as he closed his mouth and licked his lips while chewing the remainder.

  He had no idea how bad Sabrina wanted lean over and tongue him right there as he licked his lips again in a way that told her he knew she was watching him.

  “So um, Brett,” Sabrina said a moment or so later, “what do you like to do when you’re not fixing computers?”

  He leaned back and said, “Uh, most days I like to go fishing or stay at home and watch TV. If I’m not doing that I’m probably trying out a new recipe from TV.”

  “Can you cook?”

  “Can I?” said Brett rhetorically. “I can throw down in the kitchen! If you had some of my cooking you’d think it was prepared by a professional chef.”

  Sabrina laughed. “That’s good. I suck at cooking.”

  “Are you kidding? You can’t be that bad.”

  “Actually I am,” she said nonchalantly. “The only thing I know how to make is small stuff like breakfast stuff, nothing major. I tried to make a casserole once and it turned out horrible.”

  Brett chuckled and said, “So I guess that means you eat out a lot then?”

  “Yep.”

  He tilted his head to the side. “Jeez, woman. How do you live like that? I bet your pockets hurt.”

  “Nah. Not really.”

  Brett took a sip from his daiquiri and said, “If you’d like, you could come over to my place and it would be an honor to whip something up for you.”

  “That would be nice.” Sabrina sipped on her daiquiri as well.

  Brett waited a beat and asked, “So, what do you do for a living?”

  She paused before saying, “I’m the co-editor-in-chief at Fabulous magazine.”

  He looked at her closely. “Really?” He thought for a second and said, “That must be an awesome job. My sisters love that magazine. I kind of hate it.”

  She pushed her drink to the side. “You hate it? Why?”

  He hunched his shoulders and said, “Because it’s a magazine read by females and the male-targeted one, Finesse, is read by closeted gay guys who spend way too much time in front of the mirror. But hey, that’s just my opinion.”

  Sabrina waited a beat. “Just because some men like to take the extra time to dress nicely doesn’t make them gay.” She looked at him and added, “You look like you spend some time in the mirror, do you not?”

  “Of course I do. I’m just saying I think you should broaden your target market to real men who don’t look like they’ve been getting dressed by mommy all their life.”

  For the first time in a long time, Sabrina was hearing the opinion of a man who wasn’t afraid to be brutal honest about the way men dressed. Over the years at Fabulous some men spoke out but never actually had their opinions voiced in print because they were too afraid to come forward.

  At first she thought Brett was being a bit cocky but then again she liked his boldness. She always liked the kind of guy who wasn’t afraid to say what was on his mind, even if it was something she didn’t like to hear. That was one of the reasons she didn’t understand Carl; every time they had gotten into an argument he was always quick to back down and let her get the last word. It was cute in the beginning but after a while it became quite pathetic.

  She knew why at Finesse few men had a hand in the magazine because the name of course appealed to a nice target audience that were often overlooked because it was never really brought up. But she was new to fashion journalism and definitely needed to do some research.

  She pulled herself from her thoughts and said to Brett, “That’s a good point. I’ll be sure to mention it to my coworkers.”

  “Cool,” said Brett. He changed the subject and asked, “What do you like to do in your spare time?”

  “I don’t know. I barely have time to myself most days. I guess I like to shop for new shoes if I get a chance. And I also like to hang out with my friends whenever the opportunity comes around. Oh and I like romance movies, comedies and dramas. Anything that keeps my attention I guess.”

  “You don’t like scary movies?”

  “Heck no! The last scary movie I watched was back in middle school and I had nightmares for days.”

  Brett exploded with laughter. “That’s terrible. I love a good gory movie. How can you not like scary movies?”

  “Hey, I’m afraid of the dark so whatever.”

  Brett smiled and said, “That’s cute. I love all the Jason movies. I just love watching people scream and run around like idiots.”

  “Don’t even think to ask me to see any horror movies ‘cause the answer will be no.”

  “C’mon. The only way to get over your fear is to face it head-on. It’s just a movie. It’s not even real.”

  “You think you’re slick, don’t you?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  Sabrina glared at him and said, “You’re trying real hard for a follow-up date, aren’t you?”

  Brett smiled and replied, “Maybe.”

  Just then the waitress brought the hot wings they ordered and asked how everything was. Then she was gone again.

  They ate up the hot wings and not before long the waitress brought their entrees.

  They ate in silence and a few minutes into their dinner the stage to their left was lit up and someone announced that it was time to start karaoke. Several moments later people were going up to the stage embarrassing the hell out of themselves as they tried to sing different songs.

  Sabrina couldn’t help but laugh her ass of as a guy stood on the tiny stage and butchered Vanilla Ice’s “Ice, Ice Baby.”

  “That’s so embarrassing,” Sabrina said more to herself than anyone in particular.

  Brett heard her and asked, “You think you can do better?”

  “I never said that. But if I wanted to I’m sure I can.” She sipped her daiquiri and added, “Don’t even think about it.”

  “What?” he smiled and looked towards the stage and back at Sabrina.

  “I’m not going up there.”

  “I didn’t say you had to.”

  “Yeah, but you were thinking it.”

  Brett chuckled and said, “What are you afraid of? Don’t tell me you’re a chicken.”

  “I’m not a chicken.” She looked at the stage and back at Brett and said, “Fine I’ll go for it. I don’t back down from anything.”

  He smiled. “Let’s see what you got.”

  Sabrina’s stomach was swarming with butterflies as she sat and watched other people go up on the stage and humiliate the hell out of each other. She would have loved to see Brett go up there and try to sing his heart out and laugh her ass off at the outcome. He looked like he could carry a tone, probably could sing her right out of her panties if he wanted to.

  She liked taking challenges and this was necessarily in that category, but all in all, it was something she figured would show her personality and show that she could be spontaneous. And since this was their first date, she wanted to leave a nice impression so that the chances of him calling h
er back for a second date, or even a third, was very high.

  “Why don’t you go up first,” Sabrina offered coolly, just to see how he would react.

  He smiled and replied, “Ladies first.”

  Sabrina laughed it off and grabbed the microphone from the guy who had just finished and went on the stage. They threw a couple songs randomly at her that she didn’t think would fit her voice or something close to it. She felt silly when she realized Brett has his blue-eyed gaze on her as she tried her best not to look like she was about to melt from his glace.

  She had to admit that she was very picky when it came to the songs and finally decided on the ‘90’s classic, “Another Sad Love Song” by Toni Braxton.

  She couldn’t stop giggling within the first few minutes because she was so busy watching Brett laugh his ass off while she stuttered the words to the song.

  It was only a matter of time before she was able to find her rhythm and sing the song close to how it was supposed to be sung without giggling too much.

  Once she was done with the song people applauded her as she made her way back to the table. She took her seat and finished off her daiquiri.

  Brett was still laughing when he said, “Wow. I must say that I’m impressed.”

  “Oh, whatever, Brett.” She laughed and said, “I told you—I don’t back down from anything.”

  “I see.” He looked at his watch and said, “It’s getting a little late. Feel like heading home?”

  “Yeah,” Sabrina said as she looked at her watch as well.

  Even after they pulled into the driveway of Sabrina’s place they were still laughing about Sabrina’s karaoke performance.

  “So, I guess this is good night,” Brett said as he walked Sabrina up the walkway to her door.

  “Yep.” She looked at him and said, “I had a good time tonight.”

  “Me, too.”

  Silence fell between them.

  She looked into his eyes as she looked back into hers, unsure what to do or say.

  Brett broke the silence and asked, “You won’t freak out like the other night if I kissed you, would you?”

  “Only one way to find out.”

  Instantly, she closed her eyes as she felt Brett bring her body close to hers, his lips on hers, his hands probing and rubbing on her ass. He squeezed and she jumped in surprise but she didn’t want him to stop. But she had to because she knew where things were going to lead.