Second Time Around

by Darrin Lowery

  “So you are just going to up and leave Vaughn?”

  “No. But I’m curious as to what both men are putting on the table.”

  “Well, from where I’m sitting, the only thing Darren has offered thus far is sex.”

  “He says he wants more.”

  “Like R. Kelly says, don’t talk about it, be about it. You need to see what he’s bringing to the table. Vaughn actually probably owns the damned table. So maybe you should ask Darren what it is that he owns or at the very least what are his plans. Let you tell it, he’s known for his damned planning, right?”

  “Jayna . . .”

  “Okay, okay. I’ll stop. So I guess we aren’t going on our run, huh?”

  “Can I take a rain check? I obviously have some things to sort out here.”

  “Yeah, I guess. Handle your business, girl.”

  The two women hugged.

  “Okay. Have you heard from Brandon?”

  Just saying his name made Jayna’s heart throb with ache.

  “No.”

  “Call him.”

  “I can’t.”

  “You can. Girl, he was going to marry you. That’s why he was so upset.”

  “Where did you hear that?”

  “Vaughn. He loves you. I know he loves you. Maybe you need to go to him. Maybe you need to get closure with him. In either case, you need to see what’s up with him just as I need to see what’s up with Darren.”

  “I’ll think about it.”

  “Jayna, pray about it.”

  “I will.”

  The two women hugged again and Jayna left. Minutes later, Darren walked out of the shower. He was fully dressed in the clothes he came in. He came out and walked into the kitchen. He began making two plates for them to eat, first kissing her on the cheek.

  “Good morning.”

  “Good morning.”

  “That bitch gone?”

  “Darren . . .”

  “I’m sorry. That was wrong and I apologize. Is Jayna gone?”

  “Yes, she’s gone.” Korie sat in the recliner.

  “Ready to eat?”

  “Eat and talk.”

  “Talk? Okay.”

  “You didn’t just think you were going to walk in here, have your way with me, and I take you right back, did you?”

  “Nope. That would be too much like right.”

  “You know, you are one arrogant son of a—”

  “You have known that for years and that’s what you love about me.”

  “It’s also what I hate about you.”

  “Okay. That’s fair.”

  “Darren, what are your intentions?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “How serious are you about all this?”

  “Very serious.”

  “How serious?”

  “Marry me.”

  That took Korie completely by surprise. She wasn’t expecting to hear that. Vaughn hinted around about marriage, but Darren said it. He said it crystal clear and sounded like he meant it.

  “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

  “I said, marry me.”

  “Do you have a ring?”

  “Is that a yes?”

  “No, it’s a question. Do you have a ring?”

  “Maybe, maybe not. If not, or if it’s not the ring you want, the jewelry stores open in a half hour.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “As serious as cancer.”

  “That serious, huh?”

  “Yep. So is that a yes?”

  “I don’t know. I have to think about all of this.”

  “What is there to think about?”

  “I don’t know. What about your five-year plan?”

  “Done.”

  “What about living arrangements?”

  “You move in with me. I have a beautiful condo that overlooks Lake Michigan.”

  “What about babies?”

  “Let’s have a hundred of ’em.”

  “I’m serious.”

  “So am I. Look, what’s there to think about? This is what you’ve always wanted, right?”

  “It’s been five years.”

  “And my feelings for you haven’t changed.”

  “But mine might have.”

  Where did that come from? Korie thought.

  “Where did that come from?” Darren asked.

  “I don’t know. This is all so sudden, so fast. I need to think. What about Vaughn?”

  “What about Vaughn?”

  “What am I supposed to do? Am I supposed to just go tell him that my ex, the man who I told him left me like a piece of used furniture, has returned and I have to go?”

  “I would choose different words, but yes.”

  “He’s a good man.”

  “I know he is. But is he everything that you are looking for in a man?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Korie, I can be that man.”

  “You should have been that man five years ago.”

  “I know, sweetheart. I know.”

  “So what do we do now?”

  “We eat. While we eat, you think.”

  “I don’t know if I am ready to eat just yet.”

  “You wanna go back to bed?” Darren looked at her seductively. Like two teenagers, the air was filled with hormones and pheromones.

  “You know what? I do.”

  “Then let’s go.” Darren smiled at her and pointed toward the bedroom.

  “Okay.” Korie got up smiling. She wanted to finish talking, but she wanted her physical needs met again and again and again if possible. She got up and headed toward the bedroom. Darren wrapped the food in foil so it would keep.

  “But we will finish this conversation,” Korie said.

  “You can count on it.”

  Darren walked to the stereo and turned on V103. “Thinkin’ Back” by Color Me Badd was playing. Korie waited in the bedroom doorway for him. He pulled off his pants and shirt again and she pulled off the pajama top. He walked up to her and she jumped in his arms. They made up for lost time and stayed in bed until late afternoon. Darren cleared most of his schedule and Korie cancelled all of her appointments.

  Chapter Thirty-one

  When Korie awoke, there was a single rose beside her bed. When she awoke again it was 6:00 P.M. She had slept all day. Her and Darren’s lovemaking session was intense the first time around, but that was nothing compared to the second time. She awoke to a single rose and a box with a ring in it. It was a two-karat solitaire, a ring that they had been looking at years ago. Attached was a note.

  I HAVE BEEN WAITING SIX YEARS TO GIVE YOU THIS

  -D

  She took the ring out of the box and placed it on her finger. It was beautiful. She held it up and it gleamed with light.

  This is all happening too fast. Way too fast. Korie couldn’t figure out why she was apprehensive. This was what she wanted, wasn’t it? She turned on her iPod. “Walk Away” by Christina Aguilera was playing.

  How appropriate, she thought.

  Korie got up from bed and searched everywhere for her cell phone. She eventually found it in a pile in the corner with her running gear. She looked at the screen and she missed about eight calls.

  Six were clients.

  One was from Darren.

  The last one was from Vaughn.

  She hadn’t been up ten minutes before her phone rang again. Again it was Vaughn. This was the first time that she was unavailable since they began dating. This was the first time that she missed a call and took longer then fifteen minutes to call back.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey sweetheart, it’s me.”

  “Hey babe.” She felt weird even calling him babe after this morning.

  “You just getting home?”

  “Yeah. I was just about to jump in the shower.”

  “Did you get my message earlier?”

  “No. I’ve been busy all day. I was just about to check them now.”

  “Well,
no need. Listen, can I send the driver to come get you? I’d like to do dinner at the Chicago Firehouse this evening.”

  “Oh, yeah. Sure. What time did you want to eat?”

  “Well, I wanted to eat now. But I’m just now getting in touch with you. How about eight?”

  “That’ll be fine.”

  “Okay. The driver will be there in forty-five minutes. I can’t wait to see you. Did you enjoy yourself last night?”

  “At the party? I loved it.”

  “And afterward?”

  He was looking for validation. He needed a verbal pat on the back. Korie decided to reassure him.

  “Afterward was even better.” She stroked his ego. That’s what a good woman does, she thought.

  “Okay, well, I’ll see you in a few hours.”

  “Okay.”

  Darren spent the last few hours of the day screening clients. He began seeing the clients that he met the night before at the party. Many were impressed by his résumé and equally impressed that Vaughn Harris recommended him so highly. He did initial interviews with new clients, wealthy clients. He interviewed them and filled his schedule book for the remainder of the month.

  Some men were battling drug addiction. Others were workaholics. Others still were emotionally unavailable to their wives, mistresses, and girlfriends. They all needed help. They all had a world of things that they needed to get off their chests and they all tipped well.

  Darren screened his clients and made his money. The time went by super-fast because his mind was somewhere else. His mind was on Korie and the wonderful morning that they had. He was just wrapping up with his last client when his cell phone buzzed. He looked at the message.

  SEE YOU TONIGHT FOR DINNER

  -K

  “Dinner?” he said aloud.

  Shit. I forgot about dinner with Karen tonight. Tonight he was supposed to meet her son. Tonight the three of them were going to have dinner. Karen wanted to begin incorporating Darren into the life of her child. It was a huge step and one that he reluctantly agreed to. He let out a heavy sigh as he looked at the phone screen.

  Shit, he thought again. He left the practice that he worked at and headed toward Karen’s place.

  An hour later he was at her place. He walked to the door and rang the bell. Karen opened it and on the other side was Jacob. The same boy he saw at the barbershop. Darren looked at the young man and shook his hand. The little man frowned a bit when he opened the door. It was clear he was not fond of his mother having company. Darren handed the little guy a gift. It was a basketball. His frown immediately turned into a smile. The second the boy smiled, Darren saw something familiar in his face.

  Darren had a look of confusion on his face as he walked in. Karen’s son ran and showed the ball to his mother. She smiled at him and told him to place the ball in his room.

  “Thank you for the ball, but you shouldn’t have. You didn’t need to bring him a gift.”

  “Hey, I’m not too familiar with children outside of counseling them.”

  “Oh, so you decided to bribe him?” Karen said, smiling.

  “I did.”

  Darren laughed a bit. But there was something about her son that was familiar to him now that he saw him up close. He watched the boy and looked at his facial features. It took a few minutes for things to click, but when they did, Darren had another question.

  “Karen?”

  “Yes?”

  “Is Gucci his father?”

  The question hit Karen like a ton of bricks.

  “How did you know?”

  “I didn’t. Not until I saw him smile. Not until I saw him with the basketball.”

  “Oh. Well, yes. Gucci is his father.”

  Great, Darren thought. He really began to feel like shit.

  “Does he know?”

  “No. He doesn’t know.”

  “Do you plan on telling him?”

  “I thought tonight was about us?”

  “It is. But perhaps that’s something that we should talk about.”

  “Tonight?”

  “Well, maybe not right now, but maybe a bit later.”

  There it is. I have my out, Darren thought. He figured they would talk about Gucci and his feelings for Karen and that would be his out in order to pursue Korie. In the meantime, they were about to have dinner.

  “So, what did you cook?” Darren asked.

  “Burgers and fries. That’s my son’s favorite.”

  “Cool. That just happens to be my favorite too.”

  They sat down, they ate. They played video games and by the end of the night, Jacob was open to Darren coming around. The thing was, Darren had no plans on coming back. He came over to break things off with Karen.

  By 9:00, Karen put her son to bed. In her mind the evening was a success. She tucked her son in and Darren relaxed on the couch. After Jacob went to bed, an hour later she resurfaced in a baby doll teddy. She walked in the living room with heels on and took Darren’s hand. She led him to the bedroom where he had been many times before. Only now, her son was home.

  “Karen, wait. I thought we were going to talk.”

  “Can we talk after?”

  “I’d rather talk now.”

  “I’d rather talk later.”

  She closed the bedroom door. In the bedroom were candles everywhere, “Hypothetically” by Lyfe Jennings was playing. Karen knelt before Darren, unzipped his pants, and looked up at him and smiled.

  He tried to stop her.

  He protested.

  “Karen. I really want to talk to you about your son and about you and Gucci. I really want to—”

  He wanted to tell her good-bye. He wanted to break things off. He wanted to tell her that she should be with the father of her son. He wanted to tell her that Gucci missed her.

  Then he felt the warmth of her mouth.

  It was sweet warmth.

  It was warmth that made a man forget his words.

  Their discussion would have to wait until morning.

  He could give Karen one more night. They would talk in the morning. Right now, he couldn’t think. The only thing on his mind was the mind-numbing head that she was giving him.

  She had great skills.

  Why let them go to waste?

  Chapter Thirty-two

  “I have to leave town for a few weeks.”

  This is what Vaughn told Korie in the middle of dinner.

  “What? Why?”

  “I have a business deal that I’m trying to close in Germany.”

  “Germany? What the hell is in Germany?”

  “Just another merger that I’m working on.”

  “Exactly what kind of merger? I mean, what the hell is in Germany?” Korie asked.

  “Beer.”

  “Beer?”

  Korie was confused. She placed her hands on her hip. She came to see Vaughn to talk to him. She went there to possibly break up with him. Or to solidify what they were doing. She didn’t know exactly what she was doing. She got dressed and went outside where his driver was waiting to pick her up. Her plan was to talk to him at dinner. Her plan was to weigh the cons of being with him versus being with Darren. When they sat down to eat he kissed her and the first thing that came out of his mouth was that he had to leave the country and go to Germany.

  “So how long will you be over there?” she asked.

  “A week. Maybe two.”

  He seemed both depressed and frustrated at the same time. He was so visibly upset that she decided to put off talking to him about their relationship, at least right now. Right now he needed her to be understanding. Right now he needed her to be patient.

  “Is there anything else wrong?” She placed her hand over his to comfort him.

  “Well, yes and no. The therapist that I introduced you to at the fund-raiser thinks that he no longer needs to see me. He says that I’m fine and the stress that I’ve been dealing with is normal for a man in my position.”

  “That’s a good thing, r
ight?” Korie was relieved to know that Darren would no longer be seeing Vaughn as his client.

  “It is. But the brother is good. I mean, talking to him put me at peace. Talking to him sometimes helped me to keep things in perspective.”

  “Are you worried about making a mistake?”

  “No, no, nothing like that. It’s just that having him on my payroll gave me a sense of security.”

  “Did he say why he made that decision now?”

  “Yes. He said that I didn’t need to second -guess myself anymore. He said that it was time. I know that this is going to sound crazy, but I feel . . . depressed a little that I won’t be meeting with him.” Vaughn laughed and smiled. “It’s almost like breaking up with someone. That’s what it feels like. Isn’t that crazy?”

  Korie’s heart skipped a beat as he made the comment. Strangely enough, she knew exactly what it was like to break up with Darren. She knew exactly what it was that Vaughn was feeling. Darren had that effect on people. There was no way she could bring up her relationship with Vaughn now. If she did, it would be like two people breaking up with him in the same day; two people who shared the same bed and the same embrace just hours ago.

  Korie could still feel him inside of her. She could still smell his scent. Vivid memories of her and Darren in a passionate embrace burned in her head. She enjoyed their passion this morning; she even enjoyed him biting her. She allowed her thoughts to distract her. She was in a slight daze as she remembered this morning. She let out a soft sigh. As she thought about this morning she could tell that she was moist.

  “Honey? Honey, are you okay?”

  Snapping out of her trance, Korie tried to pay attention to Vaughn, her boyfriend. Her ex had to wait. She tried desperately to push thoughts of both Darren and this morning out of her head.

  “Huh? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. So, two weeks, huh?”

  “Yeah. Do you want to go with me?”

  “Uh, no. I can’t. I have a ton of work to do. I have a host of new clients that I need to see and I am working on quite a few projects over the next two weeks. You should go alone. We could use the break.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  That came out wrong. All wrong, she thought.

  “I mean, if you go . . . you’ll miss me more and things will be just that much better when you get back. Besides, when couples spend too much time together, that’s when things get boring or routine.” She thought quickly on her feet.