by Candace Shaw
Traci wasn’t one to go through a man’s things so she wasn’t going to start now. Sean trusted her in his home alone, and she didn’t want to abuse that privilege. Now she wished she hadn’t seen the boxes of condoms. And extra-large at that! She couldn’t even imagine how that would be as a cold quiver raced through her.
Grabbing her glasses and cell phone from the sink, Traci retreated back to the bedroom only to find Sean seated in the sitting area cheering on the Tennessee Titan’s football game.
“Oh! I didn’t know you were here.” When the heck did he arrive? She thought she had at least another forty-five minutes alone. She had hoped by the time he came home, her clothes would be washed and dried, but they were still on the rinse cycle when she’d last checked on them.
His eyes raked over her and a wide, devilish grin reached across his face. “Just came in a moment ago.” He perused his eyes over her once more. “You look cute in my bathrobe. Come here so I can roll up the sleeves.”
“Okay.” She put on her glasses and walked in his direction. Now she felt even guiltier for opening his drawers. He was just in the next room. What if Sean had walked in on her why she was staring at the condoms with her mouth hanging open? Another nervous shiver ran through her at the thought.
“Are you all right?” he asked, as he rolled the sleeves up to her elbows. “You look like you just saw a ghost.”
“Oh … no … I’m fine. Just a little tired.” She sat on the couch and stared up at the television so she couldn’t make eye contact with him. “How was the meeting for your parents’ anniversary?”
“It was good. I think they’re really to going to enjoy it. Mom is mad she isn’t in on the planning, but it’s their 45th and we wanted to do something special for them. However, she tries to offer input through Raven.”
“I can see her doing that. She’s a perfectionist.”
Traci’s cell phone vibrated in her hand. This time it was her mother. She’d been trying contact her mother for the past few days including going to her home that morning. Her car wasn’t in the garage and when Traci went inside the home, she checked the bathroom and Mildred’s toiletries weren’t there.
“Hello, Mom.” She was relieved to hear her mother’s voice. They never went two days without speaking no matter what.
“Hey, Tray. I was returning your phone call.”
“I just wanted to check on you. Hadn’t spoken to you in a few days. Everything okay? I came by the house this morning, but you weren’t there.”
“Oh … I … um …” Her mother’s voice trailed off into a muffled mumble.
“You what?” Traci raised her voice, and she noticed Sean glance in her direction with a concerned expression. She walked back into the bathroom for she could feel her emotions rising, and she didn’t want that to happen in front of Sean. Closing the door, she sat on the edge of the bathtub.
“I’m not in town,” her mother stated slowly.
“Where are you?” Traci asked as calmly as possible even though she had an inkling that her mother was in Tunica, Mississippi hanging at a casino.
“I’m in Vegas.”
“Vegas?” Traci yelled so loud she was certain Sean heard her through the closed door. She lowered her voice, but her anger didn’t go away. “What the hell are you doing in Vegas?”
“It was a last minute trip. I’ll be back tomorrow.”
Traci sighed as she asked the dreaded question. “Are you playing poker?” It was her mother’s favorite game and while she was actually good at it, she didn’t always win.
“Not anymore. I’m done for the day. I’m in my hotel suite resting until we go to a show on the strip. However, I won a pretty penny. I’ll give you half when I return.”
“I don’t want it, Mom. I just want … no, I need you to stop gambling. I can’t believe you’re way in Vegas.” The anger rising in her caused her chest to contract, and she exhaled to calm down.
“I’m a grown woman, Traci. I don’t need your permission.”
She bounced up from the tub and raised her voice even louder. “No, you just need my money whenever you lose all of yours.” As soon as she said, Traci regretted it. She never liked to yell at or disrespect her mother, but she was concerned.
“That was completely uncalled for. I’m hanging up.”
Traci threw her phone across the room and it landed in a broken mess by the closet door. She sat back on the tub as the tears rushed down her face. She was at her wits end when it came to her mother. She didn’t know what else to do at this point. She’d tried everything to get her mother to stop gambling. It was getting out of hand now. How many times had her mother been to Vegas without her knowing? Traci knew about the trips to Arkansas and Mississippi, but those casinos were only forty-five minutes away not a bunch of states and another time zone.
A light knock sounded on the door reminding her that Sean was there. Taking off her foggy glasses, she wiped her tears.
“Come in.”
Sean’s eyes zoomed in on her and then to her smashed up cell phone on the floor.
“Oh … that’s the crash I heard.” Striding toward her, he stooped down in front of her and wiped the tears from streaming down her cheeks. “What’s wrong?” he asked tenderly.
“I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t want anyone to know because it’s so embarrassing.” More tears fell and he wiped them away.
“You know I’m a psychiatrist, right? I’m not going to tell anyone, dimples.” He raised his right hand. “Patient/doctor confidentiality,” he said, placing a comforting kiss on her forehead.
“I’m not your patient.”
“Is your mother sick?”
“No.”
“Depressed.”
“No … well, I don’t know. Stop trying to guess.”
“I did hear you scream out Vegas and something to do with money. Did she lose all of her quarters on the slots?”
Traci sighed. Sean was not giving up. “No. She thinks the slots are for amateurs. She plays blackjack and poker, mostly poker.”
He stood and grabbed one of the decorative hand towels from the rack by the sink. After he’d ran it under the water he resumed his position in front of her. He wiped her face gently and the coolness of the cloth and his concernment made her feel a little better.
“You know I must really like you because my housekeeper is going to kill me when she realizes I’ve used one of the decorative hand towels.”
She giggled followed by a sniff. “That would explain why your house is flawlessly clean.”
“Good. I got you to laugh. Let’s go into the great room to finish watching the game. Get your mind off of what just happened. Plus, I brought you something to eat from Raven’s. Your stomach rumblings are getting louder.” Winking with a smile, he patted her stomach and pulled her off of the tub. “I won’t pry anymore, but I’m here if you need a shoulder to cry on or a listening ear. I’ve been told I’m pretty good at both.”
“Thank you. I’ll keep that in mind.”
After she threw her damaged cell phone in her purse and placed her clothes in the dryer, she met him in the kitchen where he was heating up her food in the microwave. She did feel somewhat better thanks to Sean. He was easy to talk to which probably made his clients comfortable when spilling their issues to him. Once she was settled on the couch with her salmon, baked chicken, and kale salad, she decided to confide to him what was going on with her mother. She sat her plate on the coffee table in front of the couch and turned toward him. He stopped drinking his Heineken and placed his eyes on her.
“Are you ready to talk now?” He turned the television off and rotated toward her.
“Yes. Do you want me to lie down on the couch or on the chaise lounge in the kitchen?”
A roar of laughter arose from him. “As tempting as that is, no. You can sit there. We’re just talking. I’m not Dr. Arrington. I’m your friend, Sean.”
“So I won’t receive a bill in the mail?” she asked teasingly,
even though she did want to confirm.
“No. This one is on the house. I’m ready whenever you are.”
She took a deep breath and exhaled out. “My mom has a gambling addiction.”
He nodded as if he’d already figured that out. “I see. When did it begin?”
“About four years ago. She went to the casinos across the river with some friends, won a little money, and figured she could keep doing it.”
“Had she’d ever gone to the casino’s before?”
“A few times when I was growing up my parents would take out of town guests who wanted to go, but it wasn’t an everyday occurrence. Maybe once a year and she just played the slots.”
“Mmm … any life changes four years ago?”
She pondered for a moment. Nothing out of the extraordinary had happened. “No. My dad had passed a few years before that. Um … my brother was stationed in Hawaii, but he hasn’t lived in Memphis since he graduated from high school so I doubt that could’ve triggered something. However, I know she hates him being so far from Memphis. It’s not like Hawaii is a car ride away. So maybe that’s it? Maybe she doesn’t like the change of our lives?”
“I see. Were you here?”
“I was in grad school at Vanderbilt at the time. It was my last year.”
“So she was here alone? No other relatives?”
“No. Her sister lives in Atlanta and her brother is in Florida. She has friends. They hang out. You know, shopping and book club meetings.”
“What about her dating life?”
“Mmm … occasionally.”
“So all of a sudden, at least to your knowledge, she starts gambling and can’t stop.”
“At one point she did. She went to a counselor and a few gambling addiction anonymous meetings after my brother and I persuaded her to. This was after she lost thousands in a private poker game and had to get a home equity loan. She vowed to never gamble again, but fell off the wagon a year later. She tried to stop at the end of last year, but a few months ago she started going to private poker parties.”
“And you give her money?”
“Yes. To pay her bills when she has spent her entire pension check for the month thinking she can double it. I’m not giving it to her to gamble with. Most of the time I just write the check for the bill instead of actually giving her the money except for food and gas.”
“Have you ever thought about not loaning her the money?”
“That’s what my brother says I should do, but she’s my mom. I can’t have her in a house without lights or on the street corner with all of her belongings because she didn’t pay on the home equity loan.”
A thoughtful expression reached his face. “I understand. Do you think your mom would be willing to speak to me?”
“I don’t know.” Traci shook her head and fiddled with her class ring. “She’s in denial she has a problem considering she’s been winning a lot lately. She even gave me five thousand dollars recently to pay me back and offered to give me half of her winnings from her Vegas trip.”
“Hmm … well, she’s repaying your money so that’s a start, but there’s some underlying reason. Has she ever been depressed?”
“When my dad died she was very sad for a few years, but she’s seems to be okay with his death now. I mean, she misses him dearly. We all do, but she’s not crying every day like she was the first year.”
“Anything else?”
Traci racked her brain. She couldn’t think of anything else, but she felt better getting everything off of her chest. Sean really was a great listener. “Um … no. I think that’s it.”
“So why does her gambling addiction frustrate you?”
“Because she’s my mother. I don’t want to see her spiraling out of control and ending up homeless because she has no willpower to stop. I just want her to be happy.”
“So you don’t think she’s happy?”
“I …”
“Or is it that you think she has the addiction when maybe she doesn’t and instead you’re not happy?”
“Excuse me?” she barked. “Are you suggesting that I’m the one with the problem?”
He reached over and grabbed her hand. “Calm down. I just wanted to know how you felt. Now I do. However, she apparently has some self-control because she has been able to stop a couple of times over the past few years. I’m sure with some extensive counseling she may be able to stop completely. Something is triggering this, and until me or another professional sits down with her I can’t give you an answer as to what it is. However, it’s affecting you greatly so let’s concentrate on you.”
“So you’re going to start charging me?”
He slid toward her and kissed her softly. “No. You’re not one of my clients, but whenever you want to talk about it, I’m here.”
“Thank you, and you’re right. You are easy to talk to. I just hope I don’t get too comfortable and start spilling all of my secrets.” Especially the one where I’ve had a crush on you for years.
“Well, I won’t judge no matter what your secrets are.” He pulled her onto his lap and the bathrobe came open showing her thighs. She pulled it closed considering she wasn’t wearing any panties and with her thoughts of making love in the shower still lingering in her head, she had to remain composed.
“I’m going to go check on my clothes. They should be dry by now.”
“Damn, I was sort of hoping you’d just lounge around in my bathrobe. You look cute in it.” He kissed her right dimple, causing her to giggle.
“It’s way too big for me. It’s dragging the floor.” She scooted off of his lap as he popped her butt in the process.
“Hurry back.”
Chapter Eight
Sean leaned back on the couch and took a swig of his beer. He was glad he finally knew the reason why Traci was working so hard to make extra money. That indeed had to be a strain on her. Working full-time at the botanicals gardens plus landscaping residential yards had to be tiring. Did she ever have a day to herself? Lately, when she was off from the gardens she was at his house and sometimes she would leave work coming straight there to work some more. Sure, Traci was a young woman with loads of energy, but he was certain she still needed to relax and rest.
An idea popped in his head that would help her to unwind. He figured she’d come back out in her clothes and not his bathrobe, but with the plan he had in mind, he needed her naked. His penis jumped at the thought.
“Down boy,” Sean said, retreating to the other side of his house where he had a massage room set up in one of the spare bedrooms. He’d played football in middle and high school and had been injured a few times. Plus, a car accident a couple of years ago had reintroduced the same pain, so whenever needed, he had a private masseuse give him body massages. And when that didn’t work, he would have acupuncture treatments given by Bria. Even though she was an allergist at their medical practice, holistic medicine and healing was her passion.
Sean lit the scented white candles that were on floor stands positioned around the room and turned the CD on to the tranquil Japanese music that the masseuse had given him for relaxation whenever he needed. Sometimes, after listening to his patients all day, he needed to kick back and relax his brain.
Hearing Traci calling his name, he stepped out of the room and trekked back to the great room. She was seated on the couch with her legs tucked under her and fiddling with the remote control. She was still wearing his bathrobe much to his delight. He tried to muffle a smile but couldn’t.
“Your clothes weren’t dry yet?” Gosh darn it, he thought sarcastically.
“I’m sure you’re happy. It’s written all over your handsome face. And no. My jean shorts were still damp, but I’m wearing my bra and panties.”
“Perfect. Follow me. I want to show you something.”
A curious eyebrow raised as her lips swished to side. “Um ... where are we going?”
“You’ll see.” He lifted her up from the couch and carried her in his arms
back to the massage room.
“Um …” Her eyes widened like the two huge satellite dishes on his roof. “What’s all this?” she asked as her eyes scanned the area, and her body trembled in his arms.
“I want to give you a body massage. You’ve been under a lot of stress with your mom and working two jobs. I just want to pamper you. I promise not to try anything.”
“Oh … I didn’t know you knew how to give massages.”
“You know who you’re talking to, right? Trust me, I’ve never had a complaint.” He placed her on the floor but still held her in his arms. She was straining her neck to look up at him so he stooped down to her level. “You’ll need to take off your clothes,” he whispered, patting her bottom.
She stood back and unloosened the bathrobe at her waist. She opened it, letting it fall to the floor. He bit his bottom lip and his manhood bobbed as she stood there in a matching black bra and boy shorts set. He was now having second thoughts. He didn’t know if he could control himself from roaming his hands over her body without his tongue wanting to join in as well.
“So how do you want me?” she asked, walking to the massage table and leaning against it. It was an innocent question, but as their eyes met an electric current rushed between them.
Under me. On top of me. On the side, and definitely on all fours so I can smack that fine ass of yours.