Back to Life

by Danielle Allen

  Once inside my building, I made my way to the mail room. I carefully got my mail without leaving many smudges. After flipping through my mail, I felt a strange sense of déjà vu. The mail was all bills and solicitations—no surprise letters. But something still felt odd. I walked to the elevator quickly and looked around the beautifully decorated lobby. I entered the elevator and carefully went through each letter one more time to make sure I didn’t miss anything. There was nothing out of the ordinary, yet I couldn’t shake the odd feeling. And furthermore, I couldn’t figure out where it came from.

  The elevator dinged and as I stepped out, a large frame barreled into me. Knocking me back into the elevator, I dropped my handbag, phone and mail. I grabbed the railing in the elevator and just narrowly missed falling to the ground.

  “Shit! Sorry about that!” the man burst out as he reached down and grabbed all of my belongings. His large hand grabbed my elbow and ushered me out of the elevator. He ensured I was steady on my feet before he handed me my things. He looked like a professional football player—bulky muscles, thick neck, huge hands. He was good looking with straight white teeth, piercing hazel eyes and tanned skin. He wore his curly brown hair short and he was clean shaven.

  “What or who are you running from?” I quipped slightly annoyed. I checked my phone to make sure it wasn’t cracked or broken.

  “Nothing and no one. I was trying to catch the elevator. And then I ran into you, literally. And now here we are. Hmmm, must be fate,” he flirted.

  “I doubt it,” I disagreed with a shake of my head.

  “You’re hot. I’m hot. We obviously both have business on the 9th floor so let’s meet back up right here tonight.”

  “I’m so not interested,” I said curtly.

  He continued as if I didn’t shut him down, “Do you have plans tonight?”

  “I do. And you are not a part of them,” I leaned over and pushed the elevator button so he could leave. There was no way I was letting this creeper know which loft was mine.

  “Why not? Are you dating someone? I don’t see any rings on your fingers so it must not be serious,” he noted as he leaned against the wall.

  “My relationship status has nothing to do with the fact that I’m not interested in seeing you again, let alone doing anything with you,” I declared loudly as the elevator dinged to announce its arrival.

  “Ahhh so you are single,” he stated, again without acknowledging my lack of interest. He backed into the elevator, holding his foot out to keep the doors from shutting.

  “No, I’m just not interested. Goodbye,” I said with disgust. I glared at him as he smirked back.

  “You’ll come around. They always do,” he called out just as the doors forced their way shut.

  “What an ass,” I uttered under my breath as I made my way to my loft.

  Walking in the door, I instantly felt like I was in my safe haven. I put my keys on the hall console and I went straight to the bedroom. Taking off my clothes, I showered and picked out my outfit for the surprise Ty spoke of earlier. He didn’t text me instructions on what to wear so I picked out a navy blue knee-length one-shoulder Michael Kors dress for the night. Figuring we’d be doing something upscale, I decided on my cream Prada pumps with my Chanel pearl necklace and earring set and a cream ¾ sleeve blazer.

  Laying across the bed in my robe, I thought long and hard about the events of the day. A smile crossed my face when I thought of the flowers from Ty, the note from Ty, the phone conversation with Ty. He is so sweet and thoughtful, I thought dreamily. And then I thought about the not so great moments of the day. My smile faltered a bit when I thought of the conversation with Mr. McMannus and the fact that I have to talk to Ty tonight about things. I thought we might have sex tonight, but unfortunately we’ll be having a relationship ending conversation, I thought as my eyes filled with tears. Maybe the conversation can wait, I reconsidered, wiping my eyes.

  I almost drifted to sleep when I heard my phone vibrate on the nightstand. Rolling over, I looked at the text message and smiled.

  Tyree Barker: I’m on the way home now baby girl. Something has come up so our plans will be altered tonight. I’ll make it up to you though. Wear something dressy tonight. I’ll pick you up at 7 :)

  Sahara Lee: Looking forward to seeing you. Crazy stuff happened after work. Tell you later. Drive safely! :)

  Stretching, I decided to take the extra time I had to do my hair. Combing, twisting, and pinning my hair, I achieved a creative up-do. I spent time doing my make-up and nails. Finally, I pulled on my outfit. When it all came together, I spent a few minutes admiring myself in the mirror. I looked both sexy and sophisticated. I clean up nice, I admitted to myself as I did one more spin around in the mirror. Carefully making my way down the steps to the kitchen, I grabbed a bottle of water and waited. A couple minutes early, I heard his knock on the door. As usual, my heart fluttered and I got butterflies in my belly.

  When I opened the door, I was sure my expression matched his as we gawked at each other in awe. He looked amazing. Wearing a tailored navy blue suit, he wore a white, navy blue and grey checkered shirt with grey dress shoes. He was clean shaven and smelled of his musky cologne. Wow…and I thought I looked sexy and sophisticated, I thought as I looked him up and down.

  “Sahara… you look exquisite,” Ty finally said as his eyes slowly inched up my body. Once our eyes met, my mouth went dry. He looked like he wanted to devour me. He walked toward me and let the door close behind him. Taking my hand, he spun me around in a circle so he could see all of me. “Baby girl,” he groaned softly. Instantly, I felt that pull deep in my belly as my arousal grew.

  Once I completed my circle, he pulled me into his arms. “You look amazing baby,” I said against his lips before kissing him.

  “You are amazing,” he countered as he kissed me back.

  “That’s you,” I said hugging him tightly and breathing him in. “Oh and how crazy is it that we both went with navy blue!” I laughed.

  “It was meant to be,” he said while he looked at me adoringly.

  “Agreed!” I smiled the huge smile I always get when around him. “So, where are we going all dressed up?”

  “Well we are going to dinner at Mecca and a gallery opening in Baltimore,” he looked hopeful.

  “That sounds great!” I said excitedly. “What kind of food does Mecca have?”

  “It’s a gourmet steakhouse,” he responded as we walked out of my loft and toward the elevator.

  “Yum!” I exclaimed as we stepped inside the chrome elevator.

  Being in the elevator reminded me of my encounter with the creeper. “Oh, let me tell you about the B.S. I had to deal with when I got off the elevator this afternoon. This creepy guy comes running at me, knocks me over. And then proceeds to hit on me. And I don’t mean, asking me for my name and number. I’m talking about telling me that he’s coming over later type of stuff. And before he left the hall, he told me that he always gets what he wants. It really creeped me out,” I recalled with a shudder.

  Ty jaw clenched as I told him the story and his arms, which were around my waist, tensed. “Did he touch you?” he asked in a low and controlled voice.

  The chill in his voice gave me pause. I looked into his eyes and put my hands on his cheeks, “Absolutely not.”

  A look crossed his face and he kissed my forehead. “You don’t have to worry about that asshole anymore. I’ll make sure of that,” he warned through gritted teeth.

  An older couple who I’d only seen a couple of times got on the elevator on the 4th floor. We exchanged pleasantries and they complimented us on being a good looking couple before they exited on the 2nd floor. I couldn’t hold back the beaming smile.

  “We are a good looking couple,” he said with a contented smile. Ty’s tone was back to normal and no longer cold.

  “Oh we’re a couple?” I joked nervously.

  “Absolutely,” he laughed and gave me a lingering kiss on the lips. Is he serious? Is h
e joking? I really hope he’s serious, I thought as my heart thundered out of my chest.

  The elevator dinged and opened into the first floor lobby. “Oh and what I meant to tell you earlier but I was distracted my you and this dress… I got a call from Bennett this morning and he is coming to Richland tonight. I’m not sure what time though. I told him that we are going to dinner and the art opening and he said he’d stop by to say hi before we headed out. If he’s not already here or close by, we will just catch him later.”

  “Cool,” I offered hesitantly as he looked around the lobby for his best friend. I’m not excited about meeting Bennett tonight because I don’t know how the conversation I might have tonight is going to go. I don’t want him to open his loved ones up to the disaster that is me, I thought sadly. I looked down at my beautiful shoes.

  Ty turned to me with his face awash with concern. “Sahara, what’s wrong?” he said gently, touching my cheek. I looked up at him and I had to look away instantly.

  “Nothing is wrong. I do need to talk to you when we get back tonight though. Can we have a night cap and a pow wow?” I lamely attempted to joke my way out of the funk I was putting myself in.

  Ty looked at me for a beat too long, studying me. “We can talk now. We don’t have to go out.”

  “You look way too good to be cooped up in the loft. And the art gallery will be an awesome experience!” I smiled at him and then closing my eyes, I reached up to hug him.

  I got the weird déjà vu feeling that I had earlier. Opening my eyes, my body tensed. Of the 20 or so people milling around the lobby, one stuck out. “That’s him, that’s the creepy guy I was telling you about,” I hissed quietly.

  Ty’s body tensed and he turned around quickly, tucking me behind him and looked around the lobby. I peeked over Ty’s shoulder and said, “That’s him! In the red shirt!” I turned and put my back against Ty’s back, not wanting to be seen.

  Ty was facing the creeper who was only about 15 feet away as he quickly crossed the lobby. “What’s up Barker?” The creeper’s familiar voice rang out. I felt Ty’s body move away from mine and I turned slightly to see the tail end of their brief man-hug. In that moment, I knew and my heart sank.

  “What’s up Bennett?” Ty responded uneasily.

  Awkward, I thought, shaking my head.

  “Not much man. Glad to get out of Boston for a minute,” Bennett replied. “Who’s that with her back turned?” Bennett didn’t even try to keep his voice down.

  “My girlfriend,” Ty said evenly. He wrapped his hand around mine and I turned around. “I believe you’ve met her.”

  “Oh shit!” Bennett exclaimed, shocked. He looked from Tyree to me and back. “Sorry man. Didn’t know she was yours,” he shrugged and stuck out his hand toward me. “Bennett.”

  “Sahara,” I retorted shortly, briskly shaking his hand.

  The awkward silence was too much for me to take so I turned to Ty. “I’m going to wait in the car while you catch up with your friend.” I kissed him chastely. I could see in his eyes he didn’t want me to go, but I couldn’t stand to be around Bennett a moment longer.

  “I—” Ty started.

  “No baby, he drove all this way. Catch up. I’ll be fine in the car. I should check my messages anyway.”

  Reluctantly, Ty gave me his keys. He let me know he parked on the 2nd floor and promised to be right there. He kissed me once more before letting me go. I was rounding the corner to the garage entrance when I heard Ty say, “Bennett you need to chill with the way you come on to women. What you said to Sahara crossed the line.”

  Curious, I stopped in my tracks and flattened myself against the wall so that no one would know I was there listening. I’m so glad he called him out on that, I thought with a sigh of relief.

  Bennett sounded shocked. “I said the same stuff I always say. You’ve never had a problem with how I pick up broads before,” Bennett reasoned.

  Ty responded coolly, “Well first let’s clear this up right now; she isn’t ‘some broad’. How some of these females let you talk to them is between you and them. How you talk to mine is completely different.”

  I could tell Ty clenched his jaw because his tone echoed the tone he used in the elevator when I first told him about the incident with the creeper aka Bennett.

  “No offense Ty, but are you really coming at me over this? Over this girl? You just moved down here a few weeks ago and now you have a girlfriend? I mean, don’t get me wrong, she’s hot and she seems nice, I guess. Definitely uptight. But you’ve been single forever… you get down here for not even a full three weeks and you’ve already made some girl wifey? Something is not adding up,” Bennett scoffed.

  “First of all, she’s not just some girl. And you will never talk to her the way you did earlier,” Ty warned. Tell him again baby, I thought with a grin.

  “Fine, whatever man. I said my bad! I didn’t know she was yours. But back to her being your girlfriend… what the hell? You just got here and you are in a relationship! You don’t even know her!” Bennett’s voice raised slightly in frustration.

  “We know each other,” Ty said simply.

  Laughing, Bennett said, “Ohhhhhhh I get it. She put it all the way on you huh?”

  “That’s the shit I’m talking about Bennett. I’m not going to tell you again not to disrespect her,” Ty threatened cutting Bennett’s laughter short.

  “Sorry man. Look, I’m just trying to understand. I’m trying to look out for you homie. Is this about Grandpa Jimmy?

  “What is that supposed to mean?” Ty sounded incredulous.

  “Well Grandpa Jimmy passed away and as soon as you move to his hometown, you throw yourself into the first relationship you can. You’re not alone. Part of the reason I’m here is because my mom and dad wanted me to come check on you. Mom said you sounded off when you first got here. I told her it was probably the opening and then she didn’t hear from since then. You know she thinks you’re her son too so she blew my cell up until I agreed to make this hellacious drive.”

  He paused before continuing, “I just don’t want you to act recklessly and jump into something just because you miss him. We all miss him.” Bennett’s voice sounded thoughtful.

  Is that what this is? Is our relationship predicated on grief and heartache? I thought shocked. I held my breath because I didn’t want to miss the answer.

  “Bennett, man, I appreciate your concern. I do. And I’ll call Mom tomorrow, I promise. But that’s not what this is. Grandpa died in January. And jumping into relationships has never been my style. But if I wanted to just jump into something for the sake of jumping, I would’ve done it when the pain was fresh. Yes, I miss him. He was my only family. I know I have you and your family but losing him broke my heart man. But when I met Sahara…I don’t know how to explain it.” Laughing, he continued, “Anything I say next is going to sound soft, but when you know, you know. And with Sahara, I know.”

  My heart pounded in my chest and I exhaled noisily. So there’s the confirmation, I thought feeling a familiar mix of excitement and dread. I will tell him tonight. No backing out. No matter what. Even though this conversation will change everything. Deciding I had eavesdropped enough, I walked to the parking garage as I heard Bennett say with a laugh, “Alright man. You’re right. You do sound soft.”

  Chapter 10

  “Dinner was delicious! Second favorite restaurant of all time,” I said as we walked from the restaurant to the car hand in hand.

  “Second favorite?” Ty asked as he opened my door for me.

  I turned back to him before getting in and wrapped my arms around his neck. “Yes. Second favorite,” I whispered against his lips. Pushing my body into his, I kissed him slowly, sensually. Our lips parted to deepen the kiss and when his tongue touched mine. I felt it everywhere. Pulling away, I gazed deeply into his eyes. “Jimmy’s is my favorite restaurant of all time. I’m quite partial to the owner.”

  Leaning in to kiss me again, Ty responded, “How do y
ou know the owner?”

  Grinning from ear to ear, “He’s my man,” I said.

  After showering kisses all over my face, he replied, “It’s good to hear you say that baby girl.”

  “Is that right, baby?” I flirted.

  “Oh yeah,” Ty leaned in to give me one final kiss before I got into the car.

  We drove the 45 minutes to the art gallery in Baltimore. Walking in, I noticed large abstract pieces that individually were beautiful, but collectively, were awe inspiring. I stopped and admired the pieces.

  “Baby girl, I’m going to go find Frank and say hi. I’ll bring him over so you can start the tour of the exhibits. They are arranged by section.”

  “Have you seen these before?” I ripped my eyes away from the pieces to look at my handsome date.

  “I’ve seen this exhibit, but not most of the others. Frank is a business associate from Boston. This is called Love. When I get back, we can discuss why,” Ty winked at me before he walked toward one of the security guards.

  I looked back at the Love exhibit. The four pictures were vibrantly pixilated and visually stimulating. I blocked everything out and focused on the work. I tried to get caught in the mood of the pieces, but two women behind me jarred me from my art trance.

  “Yes! In that navy and grey!” shrieked woman Number 1. The hair on the back of my neck stood up. Are they talking about Ty… my Ty? I thought as I turned around. Their backs were to me but I could see they were double fisting alcoholic beverages.

  “I could just eat him up! Yum!” laughed woman Number 2 as she threw her curly blonde hair.

  “Do you think he’s single?” asked woman Number 1.

  “Men who look like that are never single. The question is, is he happy? Because I’ve been known to make a man or two forget whoever he has at home,” the blonde remarked. That shifty bitch! I thought as I pursed my lips.