by Vera Roberts
“Okay, shoot.” Eli replied.
“First, there’s Xin. He likes daisies and really likes brown,” the woman replied, “and then there’s Katie. She loves begonias and favors the color pink. Then there’s Hailey. She loves roses and her favorite color is red.” The woman turned a page. “Next is Tara. She likes daffodils and the color yellow. Next up is Adam. He likes sunflowers and curiously enough, the color pink. Finally, there’s Erica. She’s British so she really likes tulips. She says they remind her of home.”
“I know a lot of people prefer roses over tulips but I really like them!” Erica laughed. She lazily stroked Eli’s midsection as they cuddled in bed. “I don’t know why; they’re just my favorite.”
Eli sat up straight and quickly jotted down the notes. He occasionally thought about her but the feelings were fleeting. He never looked her up nor did he sought her out. Now hearing her name made him realize there was some unfinished business between them. “Erica’s favorite color is…purple?”
“Why yes!” The woman exclaimed. “How did you know?”
Eli knew what time she woke up in the morning. What time she went to bed. How long she was at the gym. What her favorite shows were. What type of music she loved to listen to.
He knew what her erogenous zones were and what position made her body sing. He remembered she loved giving head and was very good at it, as if she was his personal porn star.
Eli knew Erica like the back of his hand. “I believe I did flowers for her before.”
“Isn’t she great?” The woman exclaimed. “She’ll be a great addition to the fellowship in a few months! I think she’ll make a wonderful pediatrician.”
Pediatrician. Eli smiled at the thought. It made sense. Erica was wonderful with children and showed so much love and compassion towards Nathan when she treated him. Eli didn’t get a chance to let her meet his other children but now that he knew what area of practice she was going in, he might make the time to see her. “I think so.” Eli blinked away any thoughts of Erica to focus on the order. “So, I’ll do a mockup within a few hours and send you the pictures to see if you like them or make any suggestions?”
“Great!” The man replied and stood up. He shook Eli’s hand. “Thank you so much! You’re amazing! My wife is such a fan of your show and she’ll be thrilled to see I met you.”
“Anytime, man,” Eli flashed his bright smile, “anytime.” After the pair left, Eli gave the order to Maria before he headed upstairs to start working on a mockup design.
He had to make Erica’s order perfect.
He turned on John Coltrane, and went to work. Over the course of an hour, he designed the different bouquets, making sure they all stood out from each other. Nothing too flashy, but spectacular nevertheless.
It needed to be perfect. Erica needed to know it was from him specifically.
Eli could admit he’d always cared about her, even if his feelings toward Faith were stronger. Despite how rocky things were in their marriage, Eli wasn’t going to leave Faith again. He hoped it was just a phase and once the paternity of Elena was settled, things would go back to a new normal, since they could never go back to the past.
He could only hope.
“Eli?” The security guard, Tyrell, greeted him in his office. “You have a visitor.”
“I do?” Eli glanced up at the clock. It was already seven-thirty and all of the employees had gone home. “Who is it?”
“Darren Matthews,” Tyrell smiled. “I hope you don’t mind. I got a picture and autograph with him.”
“No, it’s fine,” Eli briefly forgot there were other people who liked Darren. “I’ll be down in a few.”
Anger coursed through Eli’s body and he took a sip of water to quiet it. He didn’t know what Darren’s intention was but it was safe to say, he wasn’t there to put in an order.
Eli quickly glanced at himself in the mirror and raised an eyebrow. He already knew what the confrontation looked like. Malibu Ken, complete with football uniform and helmet, was going to talk to the roughneck from around the way. It was a scenario played out in many fictional dramas and it was always the Malibu Ken types that ended up getting their asses handed to them.
As Eli walked down the stairs, he wondered how many charges he was going to face for kicking Darren’s simple ass. “You have a lot of nerve coming here, my man.” Eli stated. “Quite ballsy.”
“I was hoping we could settle our differences like two grown men,” Darren suggested, “unless that’s an issue for you.”
Eli tightened his lips into a grin. Darren slick-called him immature. Clever. “Do you want tea?” He offered.
“Sure, I’ll have a cup.” Darren sat down at a nearby table and Eli prepared the tea for them. Once it was done, he sat across from Darren and carefully watched the older man quietly enjoy his peppermint tea. Eli smiled as he thought about how trusting Darren was. Eli could’ve easily spiked the man’s tea with arsenic and well, no more Super Bowl rings for him.
“I know you didn’t come here to talk tea so you might as well just tell me what’s on your mind.” Eli stated.
Darren eyeballed the man across from him. He must’ve just came back from a celebration. He wore black slacks, a white dress shirt with rolled-up sleeves that exposed his tattoos. His platinum wedding ring was prominently on display and Darren wondered how much Eli showed it off before his affair.
“Faith,” Darren stated and Eli remained unbothered. “She’s hurting a good friend of mine and I was hoping you could talk to her about it.”
“A good friend of yours?” Eli repeated and didn’t question who it was. “And this friend thinks what?”
“Faith is coming in the way of you two having reasonable discussions,” Darren stated. “She wants to make sure there are no interruptions.”
“There haven’t been on this end.” Eli replied. “This is a conversation, however, that should be handled between attorneys.”
“I know that but I figured we can talk man-to-man about a reasonable conclusion to end all of this?” Darren gesticulated.
Eli finally figured out what he didn’t like about Darren. He was smug. He had an air about him that geninuely brought the asshole out. No, it wasn’t confidence. It was arrogance from a spoiled kid who’d everything given to him on a silver platter from his education to his football training to the numerous Super Bowl championships he’d stolen and flaunted in everyone’s faces.
Eli briefly wondered if he would be celebrated like a national hero once he put the paws on Darren. “Any talks regarding custody will be handled through my lawyer. I’m sure your friend is well aware of that.”
“She is, but…”
“Then this conversation is over,” Eli stated. “And since we’re on the topics of getting into business that’s not yours, do me a favor and leave my wife alone.”
Darren took another sip of tea and chuckled. “I’m not the one you should be having that conversation with.”
“Oh, Faye knows exactly how I feel. I told her if you’re the one she wants, she should go after it and I won’t stop her.” Eli stated to Darren’s amused look. “Yeah, I said that.”
A small silence passed between the men. “Doesn’t it bother you, Eli? Before me, you were the only man Faith was ever with. She had nothing and no one to compare anything to. Now each time you make love to her, in the back of her mind, she’s comparing us and wondering which one stacks up.” Darren slowly sipped his tea. “That would bother me.”
“Actually, it doesn’t,” Eli leaned forward and Darren raised a surprised eyebrow. “You see, Faye had her fun with you but she came back home. She came back to Daddy. So it doesn’t matter if she compares the two of us forever. Whatever you did during that weekend clearly wasn’t enough to satisfy her for the rest of her life.”
“She still contacts me, Eli.” Darren taunted.
“No, she did contact you but you know why she stopped, don’t you?” Eli smiled. “She saw the game you were running on her an
d she quickly realized you were a nice fantasy but absolutely nothing like the reality she has every single day.” He softly chuckled. “Oh, you’ve seen her naked but can you tell me her dreams? Can you tell me a story about her that doesn’t involve you? Can you tell me her fears, her hopes, her aspirations? No, you can’t. You want to know why? Because you don’t care.
“You may have been infatuated with my wife at first, I’ll give you that much. But after a while, it became a game to you. She played a role that you made you dick-hard to direct. What we both know and Faith is slow to catch on is she’s another chick to you. She’s Harlem girl. What about the one in Miami? What about the one in San Francisco? Oh yeah, you want to be Faye’s white knight and take her away from her big, bad husband but my man, you’re no better. You’re actually worse.
“I swear you white guys slay me with your bullshit sometimes. You get a show like Scandal on TV and now every motherfucker thinks he can be president and bang a black chick on the side because that's what's trendy. Let me ask you, Darren…did you actually want my wife or did you want to channel your inner Thomas Jefferson fantasies with a modern day Sally Hemings?"
Darren stood up and Eli calmly sipped his tea as he watched the man stand over him.
“I wish you would,” Eli softly replied. “Boy, if you don’t sit your ass down somewhere.”
He watched Darren button up his blazer and calmly left Madre’s. Eli continued to sip his tea as he watched Darren speed out of the parking lot. Eli set his tea cup down and quietly counted to ten. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths.
Maybe his hands will stop shaking by the time he went home.
Thirteen
Faith wrung her hands a few times and it didn’t stop the nervousness crawling all over her body. The only sound she heard was her pounding heart. She tried to eat and couldn’t stomach any food. She tried to meditate but her mind wouldn’t let her relax.
Tonight was going to be the night she was going to ask for a divorce from Eli.
Faith’s stomach twisted like a maze. Was she really going to do this? Things were very acrimonious between them, but was a divorce really going to solve anything? She was going to be a single mother with three small children, while Eli would relegate back to bachelor status.
The odds were already stacked against her.
She wasn’t going to subject her babies to DNA testing because of Eli’s insecurities, but she wasn’t sure how to proceed with a marriage that was on its final legs. Counseling obviously didn’t work for either of them and Eli started working the schedule he had before the affair.
The man she knew since she was 16. The man that practically raised her aside from her father. The man she was about to leave.
They had weathered many storms, but maybe Elena was the Category Five natural disaster they couldn’t survive. The little girl was going to be a permanent reminder to Faith every time she saw her and it wasn’t fair to her. She was an innocent baby caught up in the foolishness of her mother and potential father. She didn’t deserve any hate.
And then there was Eli questioning not one but all three of his children with Faith. The numerous miscarriages. The fertility treatments. The announcement of pregnancies and praying they would come to term. All for Eli to doubt Faith.
Her husband cheated on her and yet, somehow, it remained her fault. Just about everyone blamed her, even if they didn’t outright say it. She already knew they were going to take Eli’s side in the divorce. She just felt it.
Faith heard the front door open and felt her heart sank into the floor. It was now or never. They’ll figure out custody and support arrangements later. “Eli?” She called out. She was met with silence. She left the kitchen and went to go look for him. She found him in the foyer, staring at old pictures of them. “Hey.”
“Hey,” his eyes didn’t remove from the pictures. He reached out to caress one and smiled. It was from their engagement party. Faith wanted to create an all-white affair, taking a cue from P. Diddy’s infamous white parties. Everyone was decked out in their finest white.
Faith and Eli stood next to each other while they each held a glass of champagne. Faith’s weave blew in the wind while she looked up at Eli. He remembered how perfect that day was and how excited both families were. He couldn’t remember when was the last time Amy and Nicola actually spoke to each other.
“How was work?” Faith carefully approached him. Eli was unusually quiet.
A small smirk formed on Eli’s mouth. He thought about the confrontation with Darren. That was another thing he and Simone had in common. They both were quite bold in their stupidity. “It was good,” he answered. “How was the salon?”
Faith forced a smile. Other than her stylists thinking she was the dumbest woman on the planet, she had a rather pleasant day at the salon. “Very good. Did a few heads and worked a few miracles,” she chuckled, “but nothing other than the ordinary.”
“Good,” Eli finally turned to his wife. Her long hair softly bounced in the air-conditioned home. Her brown eyes had the just right amount of smokiness to it, complementing her full pink-tinted lips.
How could someone so breathtakingly beautiful suck the soul out of him? She was the air he breathed, the match to his fire, and he wasn’t sure if he hated her or wanted to fuck her.
His dick made the decision for him.
“Eli,” Faith breathed, “I have to talk to you about something…” Before Faith could finish her sentence, Eli grabbed her by the waist and pushed her against the wall. He lifted both of her arms above her head and held them there with one wrist.
His free hand circled her waist and he closed the space between them. He felt her soft breath against his neck. Her nipples hardened against her shirt. She squirmed and writhed beneath him. “What did you want to talk about, mio amina?”
My soul. He’d called her by her government name for so long, Faith honestly thought there was no hope for them anymore. “Just…stop talking.”
Eli fumbled with removing Faith’s jeans and pushed them down to the floor. She clumsily stepped out of them while he stripped naked. “Are the babies asleep?” He asked.
“I just…put…them…down…an…hour…ago.” She breathed.
“Good,” Eli turned Faith around and she gasped against the wall. “They don’t need to witness this.”
“Witness what, baby?” She barely asked before she felt her cheeks spread and Eli’s wet tongue between them. “Oooh shit!”
“Shhhh….” He instructed. He spread her legs apart and kneeled down, dipping his head underneath her cunt and tasted her love. He held onto her thighs as he dragged his tongue up and down her wet slit. He sucked and nibbled in her love, letting it bounce and roll over his tongue as she squirmed and sighed above him.
It had been so long since Eli had given her head, Faith lost her mind. His tongue was perfect – wide and flat in some moments, long and pointy in others. He gave head as if her pussy had the cure and the only way he could get it was sucking it. “That’s my spot! That’s my fucking spot!” She squealed.
Eli held onto Faith’s cheeks more so he could bury his tongue deeper inside her. She was slick and hot, open and ready for him. He was obsessed, addicted to her, and was willing to fight whoever who threatened to come between them.
Faith erupted into a muffled cry as the orgasm washed over her body, shaking it against Eli’s tongue. Eli slapped both cheeks and stood up. “Good girl,” he turned her around and slid inside her, lifting her up against the wall.
“Eli...” She cried.
“Damn, baby girl,” he pressed his head against hers. Her pussy suckled and nipped along his length, greedy for more. Eli was dangerously close to the edge and Faith knew how to push him there. He lifted her against the wall and thrust hard inside of her. “Girl, you play too much. You know this is my pussy.”
“Yes, it is!” Faith breathed. She clasped her arms around Eli’s back as he relentless drove his cock into her. It had been too long since th
ey’d made love and all thoughts of a divorce went out the window. There was no way she was going to give up that dick for the rest of her life.
Eli growled Faith’s name as he felt her tremble around his thickness. She climaxed again in soft sighs and he soon followed her, coming inside her in thick, hot spurts; forever marking her as his.
Fourteen
It was a beautiful fall morning in Harlem. The leaves began to turn brown and fall. The air was crisp. It was perfect boot weather.
For the first time in weeks, Faith and Eli slept in the same bed together. They made love all night, with each time becoming more passionate than the last. Between the trysts, they talked about everything under the sun before finally getting some rest.
It was a new beginning for the couple and they both felt the shift in energy. They needed to connect with each other more and talk, they agreed. They needed to have sex more, they definitely agreed. They needed to put each other first again; no doubt.
Now Eli wanted to spend the rest of the day with his family. Work obligations called him in but they could wait. It was one of the few perks of being the boss.
He admired the outside view and slowly sipped his cappuccino. The confrontation with Darren was not the last he was going to hear from the blond and Eli wondered when the other shoe would finally drop. Darren wasn’t going to go down without a fight. Eli just hoped Nick’s connections would silence them once and for all.
“You’re up early.”
Eli turned towards the bed and saw a sleepy Faith. She was still nude as was he. He knew Faith preferred doing her hair and face and he loved seeing the different looks she could come up with.
But he honestly preferred her fresh face without a hint of makeup. Her natural beauty was stunning. He quickly joined her back in bed and kissed his wife’s forehead. “Good morning, baby girl.”
“Good Morning, Daddy.” She moaned. “Sleep well?”