by Leila Lacey
‘Well, if they got up on time, why didn’t they wake me up,’ she was thinking as she started down the steps. “Girls, why didn’t you wake me up? Get your stuff together…” she stopped mid-sentence and ran into the kitchen to find a shirtless Julian standing in front of her stove cooking breakfast.
“Good morning,” he said looking up and smiling at her. “Sorry about the shirt. I spilled some coffee on myself earlier and I had to wash my shirt out. It’s in the dryer.” Angela could not believe what she was seeing. First all the sexiness of this man in her kitchen shirtless making breakfast was a little more than she was prepared to see this morning. She was instantly hot in all the wrong places.
“What are you doing in my house? Where are the girls?” she said looking around. Angela felt like Alice in Wonderland.
“Oh yeah, uh, well the workers came bright and early today. They are hoping to finish up on my house today. Since I had to get out and I knew the power was out on the whole block, I came over and woke the girls. When they were ready to go and you still were not up, I offered to take them to school,” Julian said as he walked to the table to sit down and eat. He had been fixing a plate for himself and Angela as he spoke to her like they were two lovers who had awoke to their regular routine this morning.
“Maybe I need to say it again. What are you doing in my house?” Angela said again.
“I wanted to talk. When I came over, I saw that you might need some help so I helped,” Julian said sitting a plate on the table for her with her favorite breakfast on it.
Taking a deep breath, Angela pulled a chair out at her kitchen table and sat down. Sensing that her demeanor was lighting up a little, Julian grabbed his plate and coffee and sat down across from her. The tension in the room could be cut with a knife.
Angela could barely focus on food with all of the chocolaty goodness that was sitting across the table from her in the form of the delicious man that was Julian.
“I wanted to say that I am sorry for the way I spoke to you last night. I was pissed and I said things I didn’t mean,” Julian started taking a sip of coffee. “That is no excuse for the way I spoke to you. I just wanted to tell you where I was coming from and that I will never speak to you like that again,” he finished looking her in the eye. He reached across the table and caressed the back of her hand with his index finger.
Smiling, Angela turned her hand palms up and squeezed his hand. “It ok, I am sorry about yesterday, too,” Angela started. “My relationship with my ex is, well, bad does not begin to cover it. He uses the threat of me losing the girls as a way of controlling my life. He married and lived with me under false pretenses and now he tortures me for the fun of it because I refused to remain the fake wife of a gay man,” she finished sliding a strawberry in her mouth.
“So he is gay?” Julian said smiling. Angela looked up at him and smiled. “You knew? How?” she said.
Shrugging his shoulders and digging into his omelet, Julian said, “I don’t know gay-dar, I guess. I can always tell when a man is hiding something. Your ex’s “secret” is his sexuality.”
Giggling behind her hand, Angela said, “If a stranger can tell on the first meeting that he is gay, I think the only person that thinks his “secret” is actually a secret is him.”
“Did you know when you married him?”
Angela and Julian spent the next three hours talking and clearing up a lot of things between them. After they ate, Angela called in to work sick. Spending the day together only cemented the feelings they were both having. After the workers left getting his electricity back working in his house, Angela helped him to get things cleaned up from the mess the workers had left and organized his linen closet.
“What are you doing?” he had said putting his arms around her from behind. He had found her in the hall knee deep in the two dozen sheet and towel sets the women in his family had given him when he moved in.
“I am organizing your closet,” Angela said. “Julian, your sheets and towels can’t be on the same shelf and your bathroom rugs and comforters shouldn’t be all mixed together. Who put this closet together?” she said leaning back into him loving the feel of his arms around her.
“Uhhh...me,” Julian said. “And you are lucky that stuff is in the closet and not in the guest room on the floor,” he said laughing.
Angela laughed and turned around in his arms. “You are such a man. I thought military men were really neat,” she said.
Slowly kissing her lips after each word, Julian said, “If you look in my closet, my boots, shoes and clothes are perfectly lined. My bed is made to perfection. I could care less about my linen closet.”
They stood there kissing, lips, hands and bodies coming together in an almost uncontrollable passion. Whenever Angela was close to Julian, she was always instantly turned on. It wasn’t just his delicious body and face or his wonderful scent and smile. It was that when she was with Julian, she felt sexier than she had ever felt in her life. He made her feel like her body was the most perfect thing God ever made and she felt safe. As things started to get over heated, she pulled away and said, “I need to go and pick the girls up,” smiling at him trying to catch her breath. Julian pulled her back in close saying, “Ok, I will let you get away, this time.”
He tipped her chin up so he could look her in the eyes. “I won’t be a secret, Angie and I like you too much to be just friends. Either we are together or just neighbors; I can’t and won’t accept anything else. Can you handle that?”
Angela nodded her head quickly saying, “We are together,” before she kissed him again passionately and dashed down his steps and out the door before they both got worked up again.
CHAPTER 14
“AHHHHH!” Toni screamed. “Girl, please tell me you sat on his head and rode him like a Brahma bull!”
“SHH,” Angela said laughing at Toni’s excitement. They were at lunch at a local pub right next door to their office building. Toni had been chomping at the bit all morning to find out what happened with her and Julian over the weekend especially since she had missed work the day before. Now that Toni was screaming and wiggling in her chair like she had to pee, Angela was glad she had made her wait.
“Don’t be shushing me!” Toni said excitedly. “I was starting to get concerned that the last penis you were ever going to see was that of your gay ex-husband, and let’s just be honest, everything about him is a crime and shame against nature.”
“Toni, you have so many issues,” Angela said laughing.
“Girl, you knew I was crazy when we met. Some things are just too hard to hide,” Toni said. “So what now?” Smiling, shrugging and digging into her salad Angela said, “I don’t know. I am willing to just take things slow right now. I am not ready for more than what we have right now. Andre is still one of the worst decisions I have ever made in my life. I need to take things slow.”
Taking a bite of her sandwich, Toni waved off her friend’s protest.
“I wish you would relax. Yes, Andre was a bad choice but Jesus, woman, everyone has had a nightmare ex. That does not mean you can’t make good choices. Please don’t mess this up with all of your over-thinking things,” Toni said.
“I am not over-thinking! Toni, I thought Andre was the man for me. I thought I was going to be sitting on the porch of our home swinging and watching our grandchildren play in the yard after fifty years of marriage. He doesn’t even like women, let alone wanting to spend the rest of his life with me,” Angela said. “I just know that I get wrapped up in the feel of the moment and I don’t want to make that mistake anymore. I am just trying to make sure this is as wonderful as I am thinking it is right now.”
Toni leaned in and hugged Angela. “Honey, I understand you wanting to take it slow. I totally agree you should go at your own pace. I just don’t want you to not trust your heart because of Andre’s stupidity,” she said.
Angela put her two fingers in the air saying. “Scout’s honor, I will do my best not to let anything Andre d
oes keep me from being happy anymore.”
“Thank God!” Toni said happily. “Now, back to Julian. So is he swinging? Did he club you over the head with his war hammer?”
*******
For the next couple of months, Julian and Angela were practically inseparable spending every chance that got together. On the weekends that the girls were with Angela, they all did things together. The girls loved hanging out with him. Angela could not believe how happy she was. She could not remember a time she felt happiness in her heart and not just on the surface.
Angela had met Julian’s family and he had met hers. She was staring at him as they drove to a luncheon to honor an old mentor of his that was retiring. Angela reached across the seat to stroke his cheek.
Julian glanced over at her and smiled. “Happy?”
“Very,” Angela said, “Which is why I am nervous that it’s about to hit the fan.” Julian took her hand from his face and kissed the palm. “Stop worrying. Think positive and have faith. You deserve to be happy and I am going to make sure that you are.”
Just then Angela’s cell phone rang. It was the girls’ school. They needed Angela to come to the school right away. Imani was in trouble and her Dean wanted to meet with Angela and Andre as soon as possible.
“Ok, I am on my way. Can you tell me if you called my ex-husband yet?” Angela asked hoping that she would say ‘no’ so that she could tell them it was not necessary; she would update him herself. Angela would have to have good luck for that to have happened.
“Yes, I did and Mr. McMillan is on his way here also.”
Angela dropped her head in her hands saying, “Ok, I will be there in twenty minutes,” before she hung up.
“What’s wrong?” Julian asked looking between her and the road.
“Imani is in trouble at school. I have to go there now. Can you take me back to the house so that I can get my car and get up there?”
“Why would I do that when we are three blocks from her school?” Julian said to her. “I will take you, no big deal.”
Angela did not know how to tell him that she actually didn’t want Andre to see them together. She had managed to avoid him being in her personal life this far but that streak was about to break.
When Angela and Julian got to the school, they both went in. Andre was not there yet. Julian sat in the lobby while Angela went into the Dean’s office where Imani and her teacher were waiting.
Angela sat down in the chair next to Imani.
“Thank you so much for getting here so quickly, Mrs. McMillan. Unfortunately, Imani was caught in the bathroom with another student making out during her lunch,” the Dean said after she sat down behind her desk.
“IMANI!” Angela yelled.
Before Angela could get another word in, Andre busted into the Dean’s office like a raging bull.
“Kissing boys! Making out in the bathroom!” he screamed at Imani along with a ton of other expletives that took everyone by surprise except Angela.
“Calm down, Andre!” Angela said.
Andre grabbed Imani’s arm yanking her out of her seat. “Let’s go. You are coming home with me tonight.”
He started to drag her down the hall toward the front office with Angela following close behind along with her Dean and teacher all trying to calm Andre down.
“Daddy, you’re hurting me. Please let go!” Imani said. She was now crying and shaking in fear.
“Andre, you are not taking my daughter anywhere like this,” Angela said grabbing Imani’s other hand.
Andre jerked around and came toe to toe with Angela looking down at her furiously.
“I knew I should not have let my kids go home with fat black trash like you,” he seethed at her.
Angela did not even see Julian stand up let alone see him get close enough to hear what Andre had just said to her. But he had and before she knew it, Julian had grabbed Andre and put him into a defensive hold like you would see on one of those wrestling shows with Andre screaming in pain.
“Call the cops,” Angela heard the Dean say to the secretary.
“If you ever touch either of those girls or speak to her in that way ever again, I promise you next time,” Julian started telling Andre quietly in his ear. “Next time, I will rip your arm off and shove it down your throat. Got it?”
“Get your hands off me,” Andre said. Even though he was trying to save face, you could see that he was scared and had heard everything Julian had said to him.
Julian loosened his grip and pushed Andre further away from Angela and Imani, standing in front of them so that Andre could not get close to them again without going through him.
“This is who you are torturing with your bad sex and fat body now?” Andre said nastily. “You will be hearing from my lawyers,” he said before turning to walk out of the office.
Angela dropped her head in her hands. The one thing she had been trying to prevent happening she knew she was going to happen. Frustrated and scared, she turned on the one person trying to help her.
“Why did you do that!?” she yelled at Julian.
“ME?” he said to her. ‘Wait, is she mad at me?’ he was thinking.
“I was handling it, Julian and now I am going to have to deal with him trying to take my girls! I told you to stay out of my relationship with my husband!” Angela yelled back. She was not even thinking anymore; she was reacting on terror now. The Dean and other office personnel were pretending not to listen to their conversation. Since Andre had left, things had calmed down enough for them to back off... a little.
“Don’t you mean your EX-husband, Angela?” Julian said. “Look, this guy came bursting in here bullying his way around like a bull in a china shop and you expect me to say nothing?”
“You should have minded your own business!” Angela said coldly.
Julian felt like he had just been gut punched. Was she serious? He loved her. He was minding his business. Her and those two wonderful girls and their safety was his top priority but she wanted him to “mind his own business”. He loved her; didn’t she realize that? Looking at her, Julian realized the answer to his question. Yes, she knew. She didn’t care. She was not his business.
Shaking his head, Julian said to Angela, “I told you I won’t be a secret. I also told you that I protect what is mine.”
“Who said I was yours?” Angela said.
“Really?” Julian said shocked. “No one, Angie. You’re right; this was none of my business.” Julian took a hundred dollar bill out of his pocket and threw it on the desk next to Angela.
“That is so you can get a cab home. Keep the change,” he said and walked out of the office.
Angela felt like someone had just kicked her in her stomach. She wanted to scream, ‘WAIT, DON’T LEAVE,’ but she was so confused right now. All she did was stand there and watch the love of her life walk out of her life.
CHAPTER 15
It had been two months since that day in the office at the school. Julian had been unwilling to open his front door or answer his phone to talk to her just as she had expected. Andre had taken her to court to try and take custody of the girls. What he had not expected was that Julian was paying a lawyer to defend her in court. It had shocked Angela too. After the lawyer had gotten done with Andre, his visits had gone to supervised visits until he completed three-hundred hours of anger management and came up to date on his child support which he was forty thousand dollars behind on. The judge had made Andre cut Angela a check that day for the past due amount.
Angela had wanted to share her happiness with Julian that day but he was still unwilling to talk to her.
Angela had missed him so much these past few months. Things had been so bad with her and Andre at the end of her marriage that she had been relieved to not hear from or see him for a little while, but with Julian she felt like someone had ripped her heart out.
He had continued communication with the girls, checking in on them when she was not around. That was how she had found out
where he was going to be tonight.
He and a couple of his friends were going to a sports bar that was not too far from where they lived. She had decided the only way she was going to get him to listen to her was to seduce him into her bed and they could chat after.
Angela got a little nervous as she walked into the bar in nothing but heels, a trench coat, stockings and a smile. The bar was packed with fans from both teams that were playing. TV’s were blaring and music was playing. There were a few women in that bar but it was mostly packed with men. The women were obviously there to get the attention of a whole lot of men at one time. Angela only wanted to talk to one. Glancing around the bar, she finally spotted Julian. Walking up to him and sitting on the stool next to him, she said, “Hey, handsome. Long time no see.”
For the first time, Julian looked at her and was shocked at the way she was dressed. Trying not to let his dick get hard Julian said, “What do you want, Angela?”
“You,” she whispered.
Angela ran her hand along his leg seductively trying to pull him in. He glanced down at Angela’s perfectly manicured hand and immediately felt his cock stir. He felt her soft breath on his ear then heard, “Please fuck me, Julian.” Julian laughed a deep rolling chuckle when he heard her use the phrase. If Angela thought being a tease was going to work she was sadly mistaken.
Julian turned toward her ready to comment, but he totally lost his train of thought when he saw Angela standing before him; every man’s fantasy brought to life. Her breasts were practically falling out of a short cropped trench coat, her hair free and curly. Her legs were wrapped in black soft silk stockings which seemed to go on for miles from the short coat finally ending at a pair of black shinny high heels.
Before Julian could regain the slightest thought, Angela placed her shoe on the bottom rung of his bar stool, took his hand off of his drink and placed his chilled hand on her knee. She was standing close to the bar and in the darkness, no one noticed when she moved his hand higher, sliding it over her silk encased thigh and then higher.