Both Sides of the Fence 4: Bad Blood

by M. T. Pope

  I was sitting at a nice, charming table in the back of a restaurant that was sophisticated and classy. It had white tablecloths, candles, soft music playing, and low lighting to give off a romantic ambiance. It was enchanting as I looked around the room at the twelve or so tables that were spread out across the room. It was an adult atmosphere. I was still in disbelief that I was even in a setting like this one without causing a scene or something. I was a scene maker for sure. Well, at least I was a scene maker. I had grown up some and I was quite proud of my reserved attitude. I was wondering if it was a lasting change or one that I had forced onto myself. Well, time would tell.

  Troy had texted me a few minutes ago letting me know that he was running late but he was on his way. He was caught up in traffic on I-695. Traffic on I-695 could be problematic if you caught it at the wrong time of day or if an accident occurred. I knew that he wouldn’t be here for at least another fifteen or twenty minutes. It was all right with me because I was loving this place and the wine that I ordered was keeping me good company. I loved being an adult. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the moment. I even swayed in my seat a bit.

  My moment of solitude was interrupted by a tap on my hand that was calmly sitting on the table. My eyes popped open and then I closed them again hoping that I was dreaming.

  This couldn’t be happening. This had to be my karma or something. I couldn’t believe it. Shit! Shit! Shit! I screamed in my head.

  I slowly opened up my eyes to the reality before me. “Antoinette,” I spoke as dryly as I possibly could. I wanted her to know that she was not welcome here, at all. But then I looked at her attire. It was a chef’s uniform. This bitch, excuse me, woman, worked here. This was her place of employment. Ugh! I would have thought that since this was well outside the city limits I wouldn’t run into anyone I knew or who knew of me, but alas, here I was with a run-in in front of me.

  “I was having a rough day until I came out here for a break, looked across the room, and saw you.” She was smiling like the Cheshire cat.

  It made me sick to my stomach.

  “You a sight for sore eyes, girl. Ump, ump, ump.” She leaned over and looked me up and down from the side. “Your ass spilling out of that seat you in.”

  It made me feel creepy. “Really?” It was rhetorical, but I knew this bitch, I mean woman, was going to misinterpret it any way I said it to her. She was causing me to revert to my old ways. This is what happens when your past shows up all of a sudden and catches you off guard. They want to drag you backward. No, sah, not today!

  “Yeah, girl.” She smiled hard, again. “You got that ill na na.” She even danced a little in her seat to the beat that was probably playing in her head.

  Truth was it played a little in my head as well. But I moved past the moment because I wanted her to move on past this one. “Antoinette, this is not the time for this. Actually, there is no time for this.” I looked at her with as much seriousness as I could muster up. I was hoping that she got the point and moved on graciously and with haste.

  “Oh, you out on a date?” She looked at me with a little surprise on her face. “You got you a little bitch you about to work over tonight? Y’all want some company? I can’t promise I won’t dominate the scene but I can’t wait to taste you again.”

  “What!” I looked at her in shock. Every part of that statement was crazy. She looked crazy saying it. Her ass had to be about fifty-five or older. Who in the hell was she going to toss up? “Are you serious?”

  “You remember the way I used to do you. I know that you do. There is no denying that you liked it.” She looked at me hoping I was going to bite the bait she was feeding me called memories. This piece of fish wasn’t biting.

  “Antoinette, where are we at now?” I asked her.

  “Huh?” She looked dumbfounded. “We at my job.”

  “No, boo, we are in the present. You know, the right now. And right now I am not trying to hear any of that. I am glad you have your memories. Try licking on those for old times’ sake. Because you will never taste me again.”

  “Oh, so it’s like that.” She sat up straight and leaned back farther away from me.

  “I’ve been trying to be nice to you, but you weren’t trying to take the hint. I’m not on that side of the street anymore, if you get my drift.”

  “Oh, really.” She had an even more shocked look on her face now.

  “Yes, really.” I twisted my lips up giving her the “now get the fuck on” look.

  “Hey, baby, who’s this?” Troy said as he walked up to the table, catching us both off guard.

  “Oh, ahhh. This is . . .” My voice trailed off as I looked at Antoinette. “This is a friend of mine.”

  “Friend?” Antoinette got up and looked at me and then Troy. “We were more than that.” She cocked a slick smile on her face.

  “Huh?” Troy looked at her and then me in confusion. I wanted to melt like the Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz.

  “Girl, stop playing.” I reached out and playfully pushed her on the shoulder.

  “I’m not playing.” She looked at Troy. “She didn’t tell you that she liked pussy?”

  “Huh?” Troy looked at me confused. I wanted to punch this bitch straight in her mouth. But I kept my cool.

  I opened my mouth but nothing came out to explain the situation that I was currently in. This was not supposed to go down like this. I so wanted to tell him myself and not have it come to him like it was right now. Yeah, karma was definitely a bitch named Antoinette.

  “Yeah, man, I’m surprised you didn’t see my name tattooed across that twat of hers. I licked her so much she probably still got my tongue print down there. I used to have her twisted up worse than two wrestlers in a ring.” She laughed as she said that.

  Troy looked at me, waiting for me to say something. I did something that I never did before. I bitched up and I ran. To the bathroom that is. As soon as I got to the bathroom, I checked to see if anyone else was in there with me. After I made sure I was alone, I locked the door. I didn’t know how I was going to show my face again. The look of pure shock on Troy’s face was etched in my mind. He looked like a deer caught in some headlights. Antoinette’s face showed pure satisfaction. I wanted to crawl out of the restaurant on my hands and knees to escape Troy or my truth that was spilled all over that table. But, my purse was still at the table. I was pissed at myself for not grabbing that before I stormed off. But this whole messed-up situation didn’t allow for any thinking. Just me hauling ass out of there. That was the first time in my life that I ran from anything. I mean I hid some stuff but I didn’t run from anything. I caused people to run, but now the table was turned and here I was huddled up in a bathroom stuck on stupid.

  There was a knock on the door. I hoped it wasn’t someone who really needed to go to the bathroom because she was going to be a pissy or shitty mess waiting for me to come out.

  There was another knock on the door letting me know that the person wasn’t going away.

  “Ashley,” Troy’s voice called out from behind the door. I tensed up and got quiet. Maybe he would go away.

  There was another knock. “Ashley, I know you are in there. Come on out so we can talk. I’m not mad at you. Come out and talk.”

  The muscles in my body started to relax. I was still afraid though. Afraid of what he thought of me. Was he going to stop dating me after this? Was he going to believe anything else I said after today? Ashley, get yourself together. It wasn’t a lie. You didn’t tell him everything. You left out some stuff. People do it all of the time.

  “Right,” I said as I looked at myself in the mirror. “We can get past this.”

  I walked over to the door, unlocked it, and then opened it. Troy was standing there with a smile on his face. “Hey.”

  “Hey,” I said back trying to continue to look into his eyes as he did me.

  “Let’s go back to the table. We can salvage this.” He pulled me by the waist, close to him, and kissed me on the lips.
>
  We slowly separated and I looked at him in his eyes. “Okay.”

  It was the first time I felt good not being in control. It felt fabulous.

  As we made our way back to the table, me in front of him, there was no one staring at us. I was amazed because I was sure somebody in the restaurant heard the incident.

  We took our seats and he looked at me for a few moments before he spoke again. I didn’t really have anything to say. I was still in a vulnerable place right now.

  “Ashley, you have nothing to be ashamed of. We all have a past. My thoughts of you have not changed at all.”

  “I don’t know what to say.” I looked at him with tears threatening to fall. I was pissed that I was being this emotional right now. This was definitely a first for me.

  “You don’t have to say a thing. It’s behind us. We are moving forward,” he reassured me. The look in his eyes was sincere. It moved me on the inside.

  I was speechless once again. This moment was too unreal. All this emotion and drama was too much for me at the moment.

  “Tell you what, let’s get out of here and go to another restaurant before anything else happens in here. I want to enjoy the rest of the day. It was quite eventful enough for the both of us.” He laughed and I let a smile open up onto my face.

  The rest of the night was uneventful and both went our separate ways afterward. He called to make sure I got home safely and then it was the shower and to bed for me. A good night’s sleep was needed for me.

  Chapter 14

  Alex

  Dilemmas

  I was sitting at my desk after I got off an important call for one of my clients and I couldn’t help but flash back to a couple of days ago when I was in the police office with Jasmine. She really put on a performance. We had done no rehearsing or any of that. It was all improvisation. At the beginning when she slapped me, I was about to slap her ass back though. That shit hurt like hell. But I kept my composure and moved ahead with it. At the end when I kissed her and she stuck her tongue in my mouth, also unplanned, I wanted to take her ass somewhere and fuck the shit out of her for that one. She was definitely a firecracker. I could see why she and Ashley were friends, even though Ashley had calmed down quite a bit over the last year or so. But again, Jasmine was Ashley’s friend and didn’t want to go down that path. I reached down and grabbed my dick through my pants and squeezed it. I was envisioning me banging her back out in my mind.

  The nasty thoughts were instantly snatched from in front of me when there came a knock at my door. I didn’t have an appointment for anybody to show up at my office so I was kind of pissed off at the interruption. I was primed to take my monster out and “suicide” a few of my sperm into one of them Kleenex on my desk.

  It could be that receptionist coming in to get a piece of this wood she was avoiding this last couple of days. She knew she wanted to slide down this pole. I instantly perked up and said, “Come in.”

  One of my high-earning professional football players walked in. He had a look of nervousness on his face.

  “Hey, Lance. What can I do for you?” He was a strapping guy. All muscle and testosterone. All the ladies wanted him but he was a married man with five children. He was only thirty-two years old. I could only assume that he broke a few headboards in his life by his stature. His wife would probably fight in the street to hang on to him. Some of this he told me but some was speculation as well.

  “I’m in some deep shit,” was the first thing he blurted out of his mouth.

  I got up out of my chair and closed my door. As I walked back to my desk all manner of things popped into my head. What in the hell could he have gotten himself into that would make him come here?

  “And you came here?” I looked at him, curiously waiting for him to spill the news that he was holding on to. “I’m only your agent.” I did handle some of his personal affairs but not many. I was more of his business agent. I mostly got him endorsement deals and the like. His wife and his lawyer was on top of his money. He was a cool guy and all of that, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know what he was holding on to. I partied with a few of them but I didn’t want to know any secret or get caught up in no shit that would cause me to lose my job or my credibility. Yes, I was a little loose at times, but I did my best to keep my business life clean. Everyone had a slip-up every now and then.

  “I know, man. You seem like a trustworthy guy. I need to run something past you to get your advice.”

  “Okay,” I said as I scooted closer to my desk so I could listen more attentively.

  “I got this situation man that I can’t control. My wife/ accountant got my money on lock. My PR person is my holier-than-thou cousin. You’re the only one I can trust. And I need some serious advice on this.”

  “Whatever we talk about will stay between us,” I reassured him. It was actually true. Agents had to sign a disclosure agreement when you signed on to this agency.

  “Okay.” He paused for a long time. I waited patiently though. I was still the nosey twin. Believe that. “I went out to this private type of whorehouse to get me some freaky stuff done to me. It was a place that specialized in keeping your identity a secret.” He looked at me as he talked.

  I nodded my head in understanding.

  He continued, “Okay, so I’m in there getting my freak on and drink on. Now here is the problem: somebody slipped something in my drink. I woke up the next morning in a bed all alone. All I can remember is this chick with this banging-ass body work her magic on me before I took this drink. That it.” He placed his head in his hands and then started rubbing his face in anguish.

  “So, what’s the problem?” I asked, disappointed at the fact that what I heard wasn’t as juicy as I thought it would be.

  “I gathered my shit and got the hell out there. I was a foggy mess, man. My head was spinning and shit. I was fucked up. But that’s not the kicker. As soon as I got in my car and pulled off, I got a text with an attachment to it. Here take a look at it.” He took his phone out of his pocket and slid it over to me.

  I pushed a few buttons and a video popped up and started playing. I watched as this pretty chick give him the blow job of his life. I mean she was putting in work. She was dressed up in a little nurse’s uniform and all. Lance looked as if he was high and enjoying the pleasure she was giving him. They both were making pleasurable noises. Then the sucking stopped abruptly and I scrolled down to another attachment. It was another video. This one was of the pretty chick doing a few selfies of herself and then placing the recording device in a stationary position and she continued to record herself as she stood in front of the camera. First she pulled off her wig and my mouth hung open in shock. Next she took off her bra exposing a flat chest. The finale was complete when she pulled down her underwear and exposed a deflated penis. I looked up at Lance with complete shock written all over my face. This was crazier than what I had watched in California a few years back. This one took the cake.

  “I know.” He shook his head. “Scroll down again.”

  I did as I was instructed and it was another video. I listened as it played:

  “Hey, Lance, my name is Henry. I’m pretty, ain’t I? You like my skills? I like yours. You have a real monster in them pants. I wish I could keep it. Anyway, I know you are scared as shit right now and you need to be. Because I have all of the contacts off of your phone and one press of the send button and your life as you know it is over. All I want is some money. I can’t do this nasty shit all of my life, so I am going to need you to come up off of some of that dough I know you have. I knew who you were right out of the gate. That mask you had on couldn’t hide that big-ass head of yours and that crooked smile you have. I almost didn’t go through with it when I was giving you the head job, but then I said you fucked up the minute you crossed the seal of the door. You jocks will do anything to bust a nut. Well, you did a fifteen-year-old for that good ol’ nut you got. Was it worth it? It was to me. I am going to need two million dollars to keep this vide
o a secret. You don’t have long so don’t keep me waiting. I’ll be in touch with the specifics later. Sleep tight.” He winked and then the video faded out.

  My head slowly rose up to look at Lance. I was speechless. He was fucked big time.

  “What am I going to do?” He looked at me helplessly.

  “Do you have any money stashed away?” I asked him.

  “No, my wife has all of that on lock.” He shook his head.

  “Damn.” I shook my head as well.

  “Man, I haven’t even been home yet. I am fucking screwed. All for a nut. What am I going to do?” He looked at me. I didn’t have an answer for him.

  “I think you might have to bite the bullet and confess this to your wife.” I spoke earnestly.

  “Man, I can’t do that. This is not the first time this has happened. I have messed up before and she let me slide. This right here might take her over the edge. She can take all of my money and property if she catches me cheating again. She got me locked in an agreement. Man, this would ruin me if this came out. I could lose everything and do some jail time. I can’t believe this shit.”

  “Lance, keep calm and let me talk to my dad about this situation and see what he says. There might be a chance you get out of this.” I wasn’t sure if what I was saying was true, but I was trying to give him some hope to cling on to. Truth was, I wasn’t even sure I was going to mention this to my dad. Lance might be on his own with this one.

  “Okay,” he said as he got up out of the chair.

  “I’ll call you in a day or two. Call me if anything changes.”

  “I will.” He looked at me with fear in his eyes. “But please keep this hush-hush, bro. I’m trusting you.”

  “I got you.” I walked him to the door, opened it, and watched him wait for the elevator. He looked back once more as the elevator arrived and then he stepped on it.

  I walked back in my office, closed the door, and then flopped down in my chair. This was quite a dilemma and I was glad for once it didn’t involve me.