All I Want... Is You

by Shakir Rashaan

  I shook off my haze and repeated, “Cori, just go to sleep, I’ll be here in the morning.”

  I leaned down to give her a hug. I don’t know why I did it; she was in my arms the whole way to the room. The way she felt in my arms was nothing short of bliss. It was the kind of feeling that you never wanted to break free of, and you would fight tooth and nail to keep around you no matter what.

  No matter how much I desperately wanted to let go, my body had stronger intentions to keep it held and locked away for its own selfish intentions.

  Cori mercifully fell asleep while I was at war with myself, and I simply slipped the covers over her and walked out of the room.

  I made my way back to the spare bedroom after clearing out the last of the partygoers. I was in desperate need to calm down, and I willed my body to not betray me, but the storm was coming, and there was no stopping it once the thunder began to roll.

  By the time I made it to the bedroom on the main level of the house, I wanted to hit the shower, anything to calm down. Once I got into the room, I saw the bed and felt it was best to crash. I had a shoot to do in the morning anyway, so whatever my body wanted, it was going to have to wait until tomorrow, I guess.

  I cursed out loud because under normal circumstances, I would be in Toni’s room right now, waking her up to wear her out so that I could get some sleep. Instead, I figured it would be a bad idea, considering the one I really wanted was sleeping off her buzz.

  I stripped before I knew it, and I kept moving before I changed my mind. The pillow met me before I knew it, and I prayed for a dreamless sleep.

  ~Cori~

  I think it took me a couple of minutes to realize that I was not at home in my own bed.

  I don’t keep satin sheets on my bed.

  Damn, a sistah could get used to sheets when they feel like this, though.

  I started to sit up in the bed, and that’s when a slight headache reminded me that I’d drunk a little too much wine last night.

  God, what did I do last night? I asked myself as I took quick notice of my strange surroundings. I didn’t even remember walking into this room, much less how I got in this bed.

  I slowly slid the covers off me, noticing that my dress was still on my body.

  I tried to backtrack as best as I could, and the last thing I remembered was being pissed at Tracie for taking my keys and splitting to get broke off with a dude that she barely knew.

  Once I got that out of the way, I still had yet to solve the question of how I got up here last night.

  After finally seeing the RP Records plaques on the wall, the answer became obvious.

  Derrick.

  He must have managed to get me up here last night.

  All that did now was cause other questions to pop up in my head.

  Did I fuck him last night?

  And if I did, why didn’t he at least have the decency to stay until morning, or wake me out of the haze I was in to let me know he had a good time, or something?

  The answer to my question, if I had bothered to take the sheets and comforter off of me, came in the form of the outfit that still clung to my body, except for the heels I wore.

  Okay, Cori, think.

  What the hell happened, or didn’t happen last night?

  If I didn’t fuck him, did he leave me here because he didn’t want to be around a dick-tease?

  Where in the world was Derrick Morrow?

  I went to reach for my cell phone to call Kyra when I noticed a note on the nightstand addressed to me. I picked up the note, almost too scared to read what was inside.

  Hi Cori,

  I am sorry about leaving you last night. I slept on the couch

  instead. I arranged for a car to take you home if you like,

  and Toni knows about your car still being here, and she

  says it’s cool until you get the keys back from Tracie.

  I looked up from the note with some relief. At least I hadn’t screwed everything up completely. I looked back down at the note to finish what Derrick had left me.

  We never got a chance to sit and talk to get to know each

  other better, so, give me a call later on today so we

  can get together. Toni should still be around the house before

  her flight later this afternoon, so you’re not alone in the house.

  Derrick

  I was speechless.

  If I hadn’t known any better, I’d have sworn that Derrick was trying to impress me.

  He succeeded.

  But I’m not telling him that.

  I managed to pick up my cell phone to get an idea of what time it was so I could figure out how to hastily plan my day and then try to call Derrick back to get together.

  “Did you have fun at the party?”

  Toni found me trying to get my bearings in this house. I almost wanted to ask for directions the way I felt.

  “Yes, I had a lot of fun, thank you for having me and the rest of the group.” I replied, returning the smile that she greeted me with. “I was trying to figure out where the kitchen was. Derrick left me a text message saying he left breakfast for me.”

  “Yeah, that sounds like D, alright,” Toni grinned. “There must be something about you for him to go through all this.”

  What’s that supposed to mean?, I thought to myself as she led me to the kitchen and took out the breakfast platter that Derrick had left for me.

  I began to quickly understand why she said what she said.

  Fresh fruit and crepes…

  Bacon and eggs…

  Pancakes and coffee…

  For a minute there, I thought he was trying to give me a hint. It’s not like I’m skinny or anything, I got enough thickness in these hips of mine to give him a run for his money.

  Toni just leaned against the island in the middle of the kitchen, studying my reaction to everything.

  “Let me guess, he does this with every woman that he brings to the house?” I assumed based on her expression that she’d done this before.

  The look on her face told me different.

  “Actually, I haven’t seen him go all out for a woman like this in quite a long time,” Toni answered, taking a bite from the croissant that she’d warmed up. “Not since his last girlfriend, and that was over three years ago when he did that.”

  So, that’s why she’s wondering what’s going on, I thought again. I figured at that point it might have been to my advantage to get a little closer to Ms. Toni Richton.

  “I hope you don’t mind me being such an imposition in your home,” I didn’t want to forget my manners as we sat down at the breakfast nook to get a view of the backyard. “I am a guest in your home after all, even though my date had to leave me in your hands.”

  Toni gestured me off. “Derrick is like a big brother to me, and he’s had run of the house since high school, so, it’s fine. Besides, it gives us girls a bit of time to get to know each other, considering your group may be finalizing things in a little over a week.”

  God, I hadn’t thought about it in at least a few hours, so for Toni to bring it up again just had my mind floating again.

  “Do you really think things are that certain?” I couldn’t resist the urge of asking. She opened the door for the conversation. “We’ve come so close in the past, just for it to slip away.”

  “I know my daddy,” Toni replied, looking straight at me with the most arresting pair of eyes I’d ever seen on a woman. “He and Mr. Parker work like yin and yang, and I know for a fact that the demo tape made it to him because I personally sent it off.”

  I was ready to explode when I heard that!

  “I’m not wrong too often, and even though D is one of the best photographers in the business – yeah, I’m a little biased – he’s had a hand in the last two groups that the label has signed. One went Platinum, and the other went Gold.”

  “Oh, wow, I didn’t know Derrick had an eye like that.” I remarked, taking another bite of the pancakes in fro
nt of me. “So, were you and D an item? You seem to have a real feel for him.”

  “Yeah, we kicked it for a minute, but that was when we were young and enjoying life,” Toni said, a smirk across her face. “He’s one of the good ones, Cori, but he’s been burned… badly. Don’t tell him I told you, though. In time, he’ll probably tell you everything you need to know.”

  I was trying to keep my affections for Derrick from showing too much, but Toni could see right through me. Yeah, I still thought that Derrick was a player. A man that fine usually is. But I was willing to give the benefit of the doubt.

  For now.

  ~Derrick~

  “Okay, D, who is she, and what did she do to get you out of your funk?”

  I was in the midst of an outdoor photo shoot at the home of Terry Blanchard, one half of the producer duo of Blanchard and Barnett. It was an album cover shoot and promotional stuff with one of their newest male singers, I forgot his name because, quite frankly, I don’t keep up with the dudes all that much, that’s not my flow.

  Anyway, they wanted to do the photo shoot with some of the models that I usually work with and some new girls that the singer has a vibe with. I was fine with that; it didn’t matter to me. I was in a flow this morning, coming up with some outside the box type of stuff to match with what the cover concept was discussed with the artist.

  From the glances that I kept getting from the models that I was shooting, and the question that one of them asked me while I was reloading cartridges in my digital camera, it was safe to say I was not all that pleasant to deal with when that shit went down with Stacy.

  That’s the last time that I let a female fuck with my flow.

  The new girls were trying to flirt with me through the camera lens, giving me all the pouts and kisses that I wanted to make things even hotter for the artist that they were draped all over. I guess dude didn’t realize that they were only doing the job that they were paid for. He found that out the hard way when one of my regulars, Lita, had to take him down a notch or two when he thought that she was giving up the rhythm during a couple’s segment of the shoot for the inside of the cover.

  When will these male artists learn that the women that are in the industry have seen them all and, in a few cases, have done them all? Save that shit for the regular women and girls that are ready and willing to fuck you just for breathing in their direction.

  Anyway, Alexis, the one who asked about Cori indirectly, tried to corner me once the shoot was over so she could get a more in-depth answer from me.

  She had to be a glutton for punishment or she didn’t care, because my mind wasn’t on her at that moment. I was back in my business mode, the one where I can stay professional and not let wayward pussy fuck up my money.

  Especially when I’m on loan from RP to do what I normally do for them.

  “Come on, D, you can tell me who she is,” Alexis started in on me, still wearing the bikini ensemble that all the girls wore for the final shots. “I wanna know who it was that helped you get your swagger back.”

  I winked at her, staring at the curves that I’d managed to run my hands over years ago before I got into my last relationship. The memories came flooding back to a particular shoot in Barbados, where she damn near turned me out with another model that wanted to have me, too.

  My body betrayed me, and Alexis could feel it.

  “My swagger has always been there, Lexi,” I tried to shake off what my body wanted, and I was losing that fight with each passing second that she was so close to me. “I know I’ve been off my game a little bit, but I had some stuff to go through, and now I’m out of it and I can get back to what I do best.”

  “I remember what you did best, D,” Alexis slid closer to me, giving me an up close and personal whiff of the combination of the perfume that she was wearing and the pheromones that were begging me to take her right there in the open, regardless of who was watching. “I was hoping that we could get back to doing that again now that you’re back on the market. You sure you don’t have room for one more?”

  Lita walked around my truck, catching me and Lexi in the compromising position we were in. A slick smile spread across her face as she approached us.

  “So, is he game or what?” Lita asked Alexis. “I wanna know what it is about Derrick, too.”

  At that moment, all I could think was, This cannot be happening right now.

  I did my best to make it look like I was letting them have the upper hand on me, but two women who have a desire to have you and didn’t care if the other one watched or participated or both?

  I was just a “yes” away from making a quick phone call to the nearest hotel to get this off my chest, literally and figuratively.

  Then another image flashed in my head.

  Cori.

  I had lunch plans with her in a little over an hour. I even planned my day around it.

  By the time that I’d gotten back to my senses, Alexis’ lips were already searching for my tongue, while Lita had managed to get my shirt unbuttoned.

  I wanted this, badly. I’m not going to lie about that.

  Even though it was an especially mild day today, the heat that these two created made it feel like it was the middle of June already.

  I could smell their scent, and the exotic mix of the two nearly had me ready to succumb to the beauty that surrounded me.

  I had visions of doing some major damage to a hotel room, not giving a shit about who might hear the screams and moans that came from the room because I had planned to leave a generous tip for the housekeeping staff because I knew the mess that those two would create.

  My phone singing in my pocket was the only thing that kept me from following my thoughts to their conclusion.

  “Morrow.” I answered quickly, trying to sound like I wasn’t distracted.

  “D, I need to holla at you, man.” I heard Omar’s voice over the phone, sounding hyperactive. “I know you’re at the gig right now, but I need to get at you ASAP.”

  “O-dawg… make it quick… I’m in the middle of… shooting now, just had to… reload smartcards.” I struggled to hear what he was saying because Lexi was on my spots, triggering all kind of defense lapses.

  “Naw, bruh, I need to holla at you now.”

  “Nigga quit trippin’, you know I can’t blaze the set unless it’s life or death,” I snapped. “And from the sound of it, you’re still breathing if you’re trying to cuss me out.”

  “Nigga, whatever,” I heard him spit. “Go handle your business and I’ll be at you later on in the week.” Omar replied, cutting the connection before I could get another word in edge-wise.

  Talk about a buzz completely gone.

  Damn it, O. You can fuck up a wet dream, I swear.

  “Okay, ladies, that’s enough fun for now,” I slowly slipped Lita’s hands off my chest and hesitantly managed to get Alexis to calm her advances down. “I have another appointment that I have to make, and I don’t want to be late for it, okay?”

  I tried to keep it professional sounding, but women are very intuitive creatures, damn it.

  Alexis looked over at Lita, and they both looked at me, trying to assess what to make of my attempt at blocking their advances. Alexis moved in close again, this time to gauge the look in my eyes, daring me to change my mind.

  You know you want it, D, I could feel her saying with her intense stare into the windows of my soul. All you have to do is say you want it.

  Lita pressed her breasts against my back, kissing my neck. I cursed Alexis for giving away my

  weak spots, and my body was a nibble on the ear away from telling me that this was what it wanted, regardless of what I said I had to do.

  I don’t know where I found the strength, but I stared back into her light grey eyes with conviction, Whether I want it or not, the timing’s all wrong. There will be another time, Lexi. You know that already.

  I was taking a chance by turning her down; women can be worse than men when it comes to rejection s
ometimes, and I still wanted to keep our professional relationship intact. She was one of the best in the business, and being on her good side was always good for business.

  Her eyes widened for a moment, and then a knowing wink and another warm smile spread across her lips.

  I guess I didn’t upset her too much after all.

  “I hope she’s worth it, D.” she said as she kissed my lips a final time before she took Lita’s hand and disappeared around the front of my truck. “But if she isn’t, you know where to find me. Oh, and in case you were wondering, Lita’s game, too.”

  I slowly banged my head against the glass window on the side of my truck, trying hard to calm down the revolt that my body was waging against my mind right then.

  Yeah, I hope she is, too.

  I had Cori meet me at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse in downtown.

  I was in the mood for steak, and I remembered that Cori had a weakness for lobster and crab, so it felt like a good spot to do a lunch date.

  Considering where I came from in Alpharetta, I knew she would beat me to the restaurant and already be at a table by the time I got there. I did that on purpose because I wanted to see what she was wearing while she was seated.

  It sounds a little petty, but I wanted to get a peek at those pretty legs again, and on my terms this time. Call me a bit of a control freak, but it’s the man in me.

  “I’m sorry if I kept you waiting too long.” I said to Cori as I kissed her on the cheek before sitting down at the table. “The shoot that I told you about was in North Fulton at the B&B estate.”

  “That’s fine, D, I was just getting something to drink, so you’re not too late.” Cori let me off the hook as she winked at me. “Maybe I should order something really tasty and expensive to make you pay for making me wait an extra ten minutes on you.”