by Simply BWWM
“I’m sorry too. I really want to see you,” he answered earnestly.
“Shane…” She trailed off, staring at his name on his card and wishing that it could somehow be different. “I can’t see you again. I’m in a relationship. You know that what happened between us, that was just a one-time thing. It can’t happen again, no matter how amazing it was, and it was incredible, but it can’t happen again.”
She heard calm confidence in his voice. “Oh, it will happen again.”
“Shane!” she chastised him gently, wishing that he wouldn’t push quite so much. It didn’t change anything, and it didn’t make anything any easier.
“I will see you again. I’m patient. I can be very patient, but I will see you again. I’m not going to stop. I’ll be honest with you about that right now. I’m not going to stop trying for you. I know you’re with him, but you shouldn’t be, and you know it. You should be with me. I want you with me. I want to see you again, and I want you with me.
You’re special, Tamika, so very special, and I’m not going to just let you go like that, like you were nothing, because you’re not nothing. You’re not disposable. You matter, and I know we had the arrangement and it’s done, but I got such a taste of you, and I got to see inside you so deeply, that I can’t walk away now. I can’t get you out of my thoughts and off of my mind. You’re still here with me, Tami. It’s like you’re still here, and I know it’s fast, and it’s a surprise. It is for me too. I don’t feel things like this for women, but I’m telling you, when I feel this way, this strongly about anything or anyone in my life, I pay attention to it. I’m paying attention to this… to you. I’m not leaving, and I’m not letting you go. I’m going to see you again, no matter how long I have to wait.” He wasn’t demanding, and he even sounded patient, but he was also determined, and she could hear it, and she knew that he meant it.
Her breath caught in her throat, and she blinked in surprise. She didn’t know how she was going to change things with him, how she would be able to handle them, and even though she knew that she had no business feeling the way that she did, she had to admit that she liked that he wanted her so much, and that she actually meant something to him.
It was a wonderful surprise to her to be so wanted by someone who wasn’t willing to walk away and give up on her after one night with her. She was more than a one-night stand to him, and the really ironic thing was that that was all that she was ever supposed to be to him in the first place, but she wasn’t. She was much more, and it made her heart feel like it was glowing.
“You really are amazing, Shane. Did you know that? You are. I wish so much that I could see you again, I do, but I’m telling you now that I’m committed to Maurice, and that’s not going to change. We’re going to get a place. We’re going to move in together. Him and me. That’s the plan.” She hated saying it to him, but she didn’t want to give him any false pretenses. He had been much too good to her for her to lead him on or let him think that there was any chance in the wide world that he could ever have her again.
“Plans change.” He sounded like he was smiling, as if there was some secret happiness in him that she wasn’t fully aware of. “I’m patient. I’ll wait, and I’m not giving up on you.”
Shaking her head with a wide smile, she laughed softly. “Well, suit yourself, my friend. It is good to talk with you. Thank you for the flowers and lunch, and for everything else. I appreciate your thoughtfulness and kindness.”
“It is truly, absolutely, my pleasure,” he replied with his calm and pleasant tone. “I’ll talk with you soon.”
“Goodbye, Shane,” she said with some disappointment, not really wanting to let him go, but knowing that if she and Maurice had any hope of succeeding in their relationship, then she was going to have to let him go.
They ended the call, and she laid back in her bed and closed her eyes, letting herself think back to the night she was in his arms, and he held her so close to him. She thought of the fires that had burned so brightly between them, the desire and intense pleasure that had been so hot. She thought of the smiles and laughter that they had shared, the moments outside of the bedroom, sharing meals and talking about everything under the sun, and the helicopter ride.
She thought about all of it from the first moment when he had approached her at the bar to the last moment, when she had turned away from him and stepped into the elevator. It had been the time of her life, and she knew that she couldn’t let herself go back and think about it too often, but she could allow herself now and then, from time to time, to have the luxury of indulging in such sweet memories with such an incredible and good man.
After a long while, she pushed herself back up again and told herself that it was time to come back to the real world once more, to reality and the future of her life ahead. A life with Maurice. She felt bad about the fight that they had been in that day, and she wanted to make it right with him.
Picking up her phone again, she called him, but his cell phone went straight to voicemail. She rolled her eyes, thinking that he must have let his phone battery die or some such thing, and his phone was off.
She rose from the bed and straightened herself up, tidying her hair and clothes. She went to the kitchen and picked up her keys, heading for the door. If she couldn’t call him, she would go and see him. They had a lot on the line, and she needed to make up with him, make it right, talk things out and fix it all so that they could go forward together, strong and whole, and build a good future with each other.
Tamika pulled up in the parking space beside his new little red sports car and rolled her eyes at it, wondering how much of the money he’d spent on it. When she got up to his place, she could hear loud music playing, but when she knocked, there was no answer. Giving the doorknob a twist, she found it unlocked and pushed it open, looking around. More of his belongings were packed up, and there were boxes and bags stacked up beside the door.
She thought she heard him over the music, and she headed for his bedroom. The door was closed, and when she pushed it open, she stopped in her tracks, staring in horror at the scene before her.
Maurice was nude, laid back on a great big brand-new bed, and sitting on top of his groin, riding him like a cowgirl rides a wild stallion, was one of their mutual friends, Lisa Latimer. Lisa was a full figured black woman with bleached blonde hair and long painted false nails. She wasn’t wearing anything but thigh high hose on her legs and red vinyl high heels. She was so into her aggressive movements on Maurice’s groin that she hadn’t even noticed the door had opened.
Lisa wasn’t the only woman in the room. Another woman, redheaded and pale skinned, someone that Tamika barely knew as a neighbor friend of Maurice’s by the name of Carla, was naked as well, and she was sitting on his face, riding it as he had his hands clamped over her hips, moving her back and forth over him, though less wildly than Lisa Latimer was riding him. Carla and Lisa were both shouting out in pleasure as they moved with Maurice.
Tamika was horrified, and for a long moment, frozen to the spot, but her anger thawed her, and she slammed the door all the way open and shouted out loud to him. “Maurice Little! Just what in the hell do you think you’re doing? Lisa! Carla! What in the hell is going on here?”
Her voice was much louder than the music, and all three of them in the bed together stopped what they were doing and looked at her. Carla had the presence of mind to look stunned, scooting back off of Maurice’s face and cowering on the other side of him behind his shoulder, at least as much as she could be. Lisa didn’t bother to look too shocked or to move. She stayed in her spot on his groin, her hands planted on his torso almost in a possessive way.
Maurice sat up halfway, his eyes wide and his mouth dropped open. “What in the hell are you doing here?” he demanded in shock.
Tamika planted her fists on her hips. “What am I doing here? Oh, I don’t know, I guess I came to see my boyfriend, who I’m about to move in with. I didn’t realize that you were in the middle of an orgy
with these two whores! Do you want to tell me just what in the hell is going on here?”
“Don’t you come in here to my place and start yelling at me! These ladies ain’t ho’s! You the ho! You was out screwing that other man four times! This is just me getting even with you, getting a little bit of my own back. Now we square. You screwed him four times, I get to screw my own choice of ladies four times. That’s fair! That makes it even! That don’t make them ho’s!
Now get the hell out of my place, and I’ll talk to your cheating ass later after I’ve had my whole night with these two ladies in my bed, just like you already done! Then we’ll be even! Then we’ll talk about everything! But till then, you drag your ol’ cheating ass out of my home!” he shot viciously at her.
She shook her head at him and raised her voice even more. “Oh my god, Maurice! You’re only doing this to be spiteful! How could you? I did what you told me to go do for the money, Maurice! That’s totally different than this! It’s completely different!”
He shook his head, moving his hands to close them around Lisa’s hips firmly. “It ain’t different except that you right about one thing. You done it for money, and that make you a hooker. Now get the hell out of here while I have my whole night with these two fine ladies! Get out! I talk with your cheatin’ ass later!”
Her throat was so tight that she could hardly breathe, and tears stung at her eyes as she saw Lisa laugh and begin to ride him hard again while he reached for Carla to pull her back onto his mouth. She turned on the spot and rushed from the room, from the apartment, with tears streaming down her face and sobs of misery choking her as they erupted out of her.
When she got to her car, she was too upset to drive, and so she just sat in it, sobbing against the steering wheel, wondering how it had gotten so bad, astounded that it had gotten worse than she had ever imagined that it could, and all for the sake of a million dollars.
She cried long and hard, and when she had calmed down enough to drive safely, she backed her car out of the parking space, shooting a nasty look at the little red sports car, and then she pulled out of his parking lot and went home alone to cry herself to sleep in her own bed.
Chapter8
When she woke up in the morning, everything from the night before came rushing back to her. It made her sick to her stomach to think of Maurice with Lisa Latimer and Carla. It was disgusting. She wanted to dump him just because of that, but the words he had flung back at her so callously had stuck to her. He had told her that they were even, that she had slept with Shane four times, and not just the one time that they both thought she would do.
He told her that she liked it, and while she would have loved to argue that point with him in a fight, the simple truth that she couldn’t deny to herself was that she had in fact liked it. She had liked it so much that it was her who went back to him for the fourth time, and it was her who agreed to the other two times in bed with him after their first time. He wasn’t wrong. She had slept with Shane four times by choice, and she had liked it. She had loved it. Shane was the best lover she had ever had.
Those points were the only thing stopping her from telling Maurice that they were through. There was just enough guilt in her heart for enjoying what she had done that she couldn’t find it in herself to tell Maurice off and leave him. He had a point, and though she hated that he had been with other women, she would be the pot calling the kettle black if she told him he couldn’t do it.
She thought that perhaps his heart had been hurt enough by her admission of multiple acts of sex with Shane that he felt that he needed to even the score. Even so, the sight of him with them, and the consequence of her walking in on it and subsequently getting thrown out of his apartment so that he could have sex with other women, was positively revolting to her.
She sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes a little, opening them to the new day. With a sigh, she looked around, and her eyes fell on the business card that Shane had given her. Feeling a sense of defiance and total justification because of what Maurice had done to her the night before, an idea began to form in her head, and she acted on it.
Picking up her cell phone, she called Shane. She didn’t know if he would be up, it was so early, but she was willing to take the chance. She was glad that she did, because he answered almost right away.
“Tami, good morning, it’s so great to hear from you! How are you doing?” He sounded genuinely thrilled to hear from her.
She wanted to tell him what Maurice had done, and share her bitterness about it with him, but she knew that it wouldn’t really be fair to Maurice, and it wasn’t the kind of person that she wanted to be. Instead, she put a smile on her face and only went with how she was feeling just then, because it was considerably better than she had felt the night before. It was all a matter of perspective, she told herself.
“Oh, I’m doing really well now. I’m so glad to get to talk with you!” She couldn’t help the grin that formed over her face just at the sound of his voice, and she loved the way that she felt even just hearing him.
“I’m really glad to talk with you too. It’s going to be a great day now, because it started off with you. Thank you. What can I do for you?” he asked, sounding pleasant and easy going as always.
She bit at her lower lip and felt her heartbeat pick up its pace. “Well, I was wondering if you’re busy. I thought it might be nice to visit with you. Just… simple, you know, as friends,” she hastened to add, just so that her intentions were clear. She knew that it was a metaphorical slap back at Maurice, but he had two women in his bedroom the night before, and he hadn’t laid a finger on her since the night she had been with Shane. She felt that she had every right to spend some time with someone who made her really happy, even if it was just a platonic situation.
“I’d love that! I’ll clear my schedule for you. We can visit anytime. I know you have work; is there a time that works best for you?” he asked, sounding as if it was Christmas morning for him.
“Well, I have a lot of vacation time stored up that I can use. I never take it off, and it just keeps building up every year and rolling over, so I wouldn’t mind taking a day off tomorrow to see you. Would that work for you?” she asked, hopeful that it would while simultaneously feeling tremendously naughty for leaving work for a day, as if she was skipping school or something.
“Tomorrow works like a charm for me. I’ll be glad to spend it with you. How long can I have you?” he asked with a note of interest and perhaps even a little mischief in his voice.
Tamika grinned; she couldn’t help it. “I could spend the whole day with you. I wouldn’t have any other plans except whatever time you’d like to be together.”
She could hear his big smile through the phone. “That’s perfect. It’s like a daydream come true. I’ll pick you up at eight in the morning if you like; we can have breakfast together, and then I’ll take you out for a little adventure for the day. How is that?”
“That sounds so perfect! I can’t wait.” She was beaming with joy and happiness, and she could tell that on the other end of the telephone, so was he. “Just let me know what to wear,” she added.
He was thoughtful for a long moment. “What to wear. What to… hmm. Tell you what. Wear light pants, something like capris, and a blouse with it. Bring layers to add to that in case you get cold, and bring a swimsuit. You’ll want it.”
Excitement thrilled through her body, and her hands tightened around the phone. “Okay. I can’t wait! Thank you!” She was trying her best not to gush.
“Just text me your address, and I’ll be there at eight. Until tomorrow, and I’ll definitely be counting the moments until then.” He hadn’t sounded that happy since she had gone back into his arms once more at the door of the penthouse, when they had made love one last time.
She ended the call and wondered if it would be strange for them to be around one another and not act with romantic gestures. It had seemed to become almost second nature for them after the first time they had been int
imate at the hotel; it had felt totally natural to her to stand near to him, to wind her fingers into his when they held hands, and to nuzzle near him and let him keep his arm around her, touch her back or her waist, or even lower on her hips, as if they were together and she was his, rather than her just being there for one purpose and then leaving.
Tamika promised herself that it would just be platonic, and that she was just going to spend time with him as a friend, partly because it was her getting back at Maurice for being with other women, but more than that, much more than that, it was because she wanted to be happy, and she felt awful, and no one had made her as happy as Shane had in the short time that she had known him and been with him. He was her first thought when she was searching her mind and heart for some way to overcome the heartache that she was feeling.
She went to work that day and told her cubicle mates that she was going to take the day off the next day, and when they asked her why, she told them. Giving a look of joy at her massive bouquet of colorful flowers on the end of her desk, she told them that she was just going to spend some time with him as friends, and every one of them told her that they were glad that she was doing it, that she more than deserved the time off, and that if she could manage it, she should be much more than friends with Shane, and dump Maurice.