No Place Like Home

by Trina Crooks

  “I know. I trust you. You have never done anything to make me think that you were that type of man so I won’t believe any less of you until you give me a reason. So, what do you want to order?”

  Antonio moved closer to her and immediately pressed her back to the kitchen island. He stared at her so intently that she started to chuckle. “What is wrong with you, silly man?”

  “I really lucked out when I found you. I don’t deserve you.” He laid a gentle kiss on her lips which made her smile.

  “Oh really?” Sonya wrapped her arms around his neck a little tighter, pulling him closer to her again. This time Antonio intensified the kiss by sliding his tongue in her mouth, tasting the flavor of her that he missed while he was away. He let one of his hands linger lower on her body, letting it rest in between her thighs. This excited Sonya, causing her to moan sexily against his lips before sticking her tongue in his mouth, allowing it to slide against his.

  “Shit,” he muttered. “I want you so bad.” Antonio unbuttoned her slacks and slid them, along with her silk panties, down her legs before coming back to look in her eyes. He placed his hands back in between her legs, this time meeting hot, wet flesh.

  “Ah.” Sonya opened her legs wider giving him easier access to her which allowed him to slide two fingers inside. She sighed deeply as she leaned back against the island, gripping the stone to keep herself upright. A few minutes of that was not enough so he lifted her up to sit on the counter and then fell to his knees. “Antonio…”

  He silenced her with his tongue. Antonio licked and massaged her pleasure point while she moaned and panted with delight which excited him. He kept on with this act for a long time before he finally had to shove his pants to the floor so that he could be inside her. Antonio pulled her from the cold marble and turned her around so that her back was to him. The sight of her nice, round ass caused his erection to get rock hard and once he slid inside her, they both sighed.

  “Damn Sonya,” he grunted as he moved inside of her, forgetting all about the dinner they were supposed to order. Antonio just wanted this woman right now and for the rest of his life.

  Chapter Nineteen

  “These cookies girl,” Daphne gushed as she talked with her mouth full, “are the bomb.”

  “Thank you. I love to bake and since Antonio can’t possibly eat all of these on his own, you guys get the benefit of that.”

  I’d been here in New York for a month and as the days have passed, it’s gotten a little better. Just a little bit. But there were plenty of days where I was still questioning this decision. So far, today was not one of those days so I was thankful.

  “Well these cookies are great. You sure have a gift.”

  “I’ve heard that a time or two but it’s always good to hear.”

  “Did you make sure boss lady got some?”

  I nodded my head as Daphne got up from the corner of my desk which was her favorite place to sit. “Yes. She got her own platter this morning.”

  My day passed by rather quickly with me mostly fielding phone calls and setting up appointments to meet clients at different homes the rest of the week. Now I was ready to go home and relax. I picked up my purse and began walking toward the elevators ahead of everyone else so that I could be one of the first to board. If you waited too long to vacate your desk, you ended up waiting forever at the two elevators and I was not in the mood for that today.

  I exited the elevator and my cell phone began to ring out. I stopped so that I could fish it out of my purse and to let everyone else walk on past me so that I didn’t feel like I had to walk at warp speed like all of these New Yorkers always did. I was a stroller and preferred to take my time. I finally pulled my phone out and saw that it was Laya which put a big smile on my face. “Hey girl!”

  “Hey. I hadn’t talked to you since you left me for greener pastures.”

  “I am not going to say this is greener pastures. More like whiter ones.” I always wanted to see snow but even I was tired of it now. It snowed at least once a week. I began walking through the parking lot trying to locate section G where I parked my car on most days and chatted with Laya. She told me that she’d been on quite a few dates with that construction worker and really liked him.

  “But he might be leaving soon. The condos are almost done. He normally lives in Dallas.” I could hear the sadness in her voice. I turned to look behind me as Antonio instructed me to do for safety and saw a gentleman who appeared pleasant enough but was staring right in my face. I smiled and he returned the gesture before I kept walking and trying to give my friend advice.

  “Dallas is not that far away. Don’t be discouraged.” I got to section G and within moments realized I didn’t park over here this morning. This area was full when I pulled into the covered parking because I was running late, so I ended up over in section I. That was two rows over. I turned in that direction as Laya kept on talking.

  “I know and that is what he said but I don’t want a long-distance relationship. Maybe it was just fun while it lasted.”

  “I’ve never known you to be a Debbie Downer,” I commented.

  “I know.” She rattled on about happenings in Jasper Springs when I turned my head to see the mystery man still behind me. He lifted his hand to wave I guess but I turned away from him and moved a little quicker to my destination.

  “Laya, a man is following me.”

  “What?”

  “A man is following me,” I stated in a hushed whisper as I power walked over to my car. My mind started thinking about all of the horrible stories I saw on the news each night. I was getting so traumatized that Antonio tried to keep me from watching the news at all. My car felt like it was miles away but when I was almost to it, I felt like he was literally right behind me.

  “Scream Sonya. Get someone’s attention.”

  I opened my mouth but nothing came out just as he touched my shoulder. “Excuse me.”

  “I have pepper spray.”

  He smiled before shaking his head. “I apologize if I startled you. I didn’t mean to. I just didn’t want to interrupt your phone call. And for future reference I always tell my wife don’t tell the crazy person what you have, just use it.” As I stood there staring at him with my heart beating out of my chest, I could see that he was not so crazy.

  “Sonya! Sonya!” Laya screamed from the phone that was now down by my side. I lifted it to my mouth again.

  “I’m okay. But I am keeping you on the line.” I turned my attention back to him as I kept my friend on the phone. “You shouldn’t follow people like that.”

  “I’m sorry. I work in your office and had some of your cookies. I was wondering do you accept orders. My daughter’s birthday is coming and I think they would perfect. If you can make cupcakes that would be even better.”

  I couldn’t believe this man had practically stalked me in the parking lot because he wanted to talk about my cookies. “No, I don’t take orders sir.”

  “Well you really should think about it.” He walked away and I entered my car to steady my breathing.

  “Sonya!”

  “Oh shit. Sorry Laya.”

  “What did he want? Did I hear cookies?”

  “Girl yes. After scaring me half to death, he talking about some damn cookies.” I let my car warm up as my mind wandered. “Maybe this was a sign.”

  “A sign of what?”

  “That I should still be in Jasper taking over The Sweet Tooth.”

  “Don’t let this one scare make you change your whole life. Give it more time,” Laya said taking her turn at being the encouraging friend, but I was not really listening.

  “I hear you. Let me call you later tonight, okay.”

  “Okay.”

  I hung up the phone and made my way to Antonio’s house with all sorts of thoughts running through my head. I had to make some decisions about my life and I had to make them fast.

  *~~~*

  “Thanks for meeting me man. It has been forever,” Antonio sai
d as he gave his longest and dearest friend a hug. He and Darrell Washington became quick friends their first day of the fifth grade and had been inseparable ever since. Darrell was the one man he could call on when he was in a bind and would always be there if he needed him.

  “I have been in London for what, three months,” Darrell stated as they sat down across from each other at a table in Ophelia, a restaurant close to Darrell’s job. Antonio chose to work from home today so he figured it would be best to make it more convenient for Darrell. “I haven’t seen you since then.”

  “Yeah. How did you like it?”

  “It was nice. I was busy a lot of the time with work so I didn’t get to hang out as much as I would have liked to.”

  “All work and no play makes Darrell boring,” Antonio joked as they ordered sodas since Darrell was still on the clock.

  “Well I played a little bit. The London women were kind to a brother, if you know what I mean.”

  “For real? Always a player, no matter where you go.” The waitress brought back their drinks and they both ordered burgers and fries since that would probably be cooked in quick fashion. Even though Darrell had an hour lunch, Antonio didn’t want him to feel rushed because they ordered something extravagant.

  “Actually, after I was a player,” Darrell said with a smile, “I met a nice woman that lives in the States. We spent quite a bit of time together.”

  Antonio stared at his friend before he sat back in his chair. “So, you like this woman huh?”

  “Yeah. She lives in Philly which is not too terribly far so we plan to see if we can keep this up. See where it can go.” Darrell set his cell phone on the table after he answered a text. “What have you been up to? I haven’t even heard from you since right before Thanksgiving.”

  Darrell was his best friend but they didn’t have to talk all of the time. Antonio knew he was away on business so he was not going to bother him. “Well I went away with Gigi for the holiday.”

  “Doesn’t she always go to Texas?”

  “Mm-hmm. We went to a small town called Jasper Springs for the whole month of December. It was really nice. The town was tremendously small but it had a family feeling. And Christmas felt more like Christmas there.”

  “I’m surprised your father let you go for that long.”

  “Yeah. I really needed the break though. I’m happy I went because I met a wonderful woman down there. She is amazing and we had a great time hanging out.”

  “You have got to be kidding me,” Darrell exclaimed. “This is crazy. We both had to go away to find someone special. But Texas is far my man, how are ya’ll going to handle that?”

  The waitress brought their food to the table and they both dug right in. “She moved here. She lives with me.”

  “You are shitting me.”

  “Well Sonya—that’s her name, she planned on moving here anyway because she was tired of small-town living. She’s been here for a month.”

  “How is she liking it?”

  “She’s still adjusting but I am doing everything I can to make her feel at ease. I helped her find a job and I am being more of my usually charming self.”

  “Of course.”

  “So, all is well I guess.”

  “Look at us,” Darrell said with a big smile. “We are finally trying to grow the hell up.”

  They played catch up for the hour before Darrell went back to work and Antonio ran errands. He finally showed up at the house and found Sonya sitting quietly at the large dining room table. “Hey baby. How was your day today?”

  “It was fine.”

  Antonio stood in the doorway of the room and looked at her long face. At her job she had good days and bad days so he was getting used to her up and down emotions. He was trying to be understanding because Sonya did uproot her entire life, but it was getting frustrating that she was not enjoying her move as much as he would have liked her to.

  “Okay. You remember that we are supposed to go out with Rashad and Angela tonight?”

  She let her head hang a bit before she lifted it and looked at him. “I did forget but I guess I should change. How dressy do I have to be?” she asked as she stood up and they both began to climb the stairs.

  “We are going to The Fox Den which is on the top floor of a building downtown. It’s dressy but not like suit and tie dressy. Jeans is fine as long as you snazzy it up.”

  “Okay.” Sonya immediately went to get into the shower and Antonio pulled out what he was going to wear so that he could jump in the shower when she exited. The whole time they moved around each other rather quietly until finally they were both dressed and ready to go. Antonio pulled her into his embrace so that he could talk to her.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.”

  “I can call and cancel if you are not feeling up to it.”

  She shook her head and wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled. “No, we already cancelled on them once. We need this night out. I need this night out.”

  “Great.”

  The Fox Den was only ten minutes away on a good light traffic day but that was not usually the fact so it took them thirty minutes to finally reach the upscale restaurant that also doubled as a bar on most weekend nights. He valeted the car and they entered the building with a number of other people before they waited to enter the elevator. Antonio took this time to compliment Sonya who was dressed in tight, dark blue jeans and a silver glittery top that practically sparkled on her body. “You look beautiful.”

  “Thank you.”

  A woman then tapped Sonya and asked her where she got her shirt from. He saw her eyes light up when she described a specialty shop in Jasper Springs and how she might be able to order one from them. The elevator finally arrived and the group all got on with Sonya giving the store information to the woman.

  “It’s about time you guys got here,” Rashad said when they arrived at the table.

  “Sorry. Traffic.”

  The group enjoyed a delicious dinner and good company which was something that Sonya looked like she needed. He had never seen her laugh so much as she did tonight.

  “You promised me dancing,” Angela mentioned as she turned to Rashad. They ran off while Antonio and Sonya held the table for the group.

  “It seems like your mood is picking up.”

  Sonya just nodded her head as she glanced over her shoulder at Rashad and Angela. “Yes. I have had a lot on my mind but I’m working through it.”

  “That’s good. I hate to see you sad.” Antonio kissed her forehead and then took a swig of his alcohol. Sonya talked to him about how much everyone loved her cookies at work and even got a request for her to make some for a party.

  “But I told him no.”

  “You can always set up a side thing sweetheart and maybe in a couple of years we can look for a storefront for you after you build up your clientele.”

  “Oh my God,” Angela huffed as she sat down bringing their conversation to an end. They had been on the floor through several songs, fast and slow. “I am not as young as I used to be.”

  “You still look good to me,” Rashad complimented as he kissed his wife. Antonio turned to Sonya.

  “You want to dance?”

  “That sounds great.” He took her hand in his and they found a spot in the middle of the growing crowd. The first song was kind of medium tempo which he appreciated. Antonio was not a fan of sweat your ass off dancing. He was too old for that. This establishment played a nice mix of music, mostly R&B, a little Hip Hop, which was one of the reasons he liked coming here. The business was black owned also and Antonio wanted to support it. They danced quietly for a moment before a slow song popped on. Antonio grabbed her hand and pulled her closer to him as they swayed to Musiq Soulchild’s Love.

  “I love this song,” she whispered.

  “Me too.”

  “I wanted to talk to you about something tonight.”

  “What is that?” Antonio pulled her tighter but she leaned
back so that she could look at him.

  “I want to go home.”

  “Okay. Let’s look at flights. We can go next weekend if you want.”

  Sonya sighed and then looked into his eyes again with tears coming to them. “I want to go home for good. I am not happy here. I love being with you, absolutely adore being with you, but I am not happy in New York.”

  “Oh.” He couldn’t think of anything else to say to that.

  “Please don’t be mad at me. I’ve just haven’t been happy this whole time. I really tried.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Antonio, maybe you can come live in Jasper Springs. You said you would love a slower pace of living and you can do your job anywhere and…”

  “I can’t move. My life is here.”

  “My life is in Texas.”

  Antonio felt himself checking out of this conversation. “Okay.”

  The rest of the night was a blur for him. They returned to the table and Antonio tried his best to engage in the conversation but he was at a loss of words. Sonya was ready to leave him. That thought just never occurred to him. He thought she was happy here with him but he was wrong. By the time they made it home, after a very quiet drive, he immediately entered the house and climbed the steps to his room. Antonio sat down on the bed and pulled off his shoes.

  “Are we going to talk about this?”

  “What else is there to say?”

  “You told me that you wouldn’t mind a slower lifestyle,” Sonya brought up again as she came to sit next to him. She placed a hand on his leg as she talked. “Maybe you can move there.”

  “That was wishful thinking. My job is here; my family is here.”

  “Mine are in Texas.”

  Antonio stood and placed his watch on his dresser. “The difference is that you wanted to move.” He then came back to stand in front of her with hurt in his heart that he was trying hard to conceal. “Please Sonya. Sleep on this. I don’t want you to leave me. We can make this work. You just need more time.”

  They took separate showers and climbed in bed, backs to each other and Antonio knew he was not going to sleep a wink. His thoughts were going over what could he possibly say to her to change her mind until he finally drifted off to sleep.