by Nicky Fox
“You’re a riot, you know that? What would Mr. Clemmons say?” I stand to the side and wait for my food. She’s such a tease.
“He knows he has his hooks in me.” Lucy looks back toward the kitchen as if thinking about her husband. Mr. Clemmons works as the cook. They make a great team. After twenty-one years of marriage, they’re still in love. “How about you? Got yourself a boyfriend?”
I give her a big smile. “As a matter of fact, I do.”
She slaps the counter and motions for me to continue.
“His name is Jake, he’s an accountant.”
Her eyes search mine and she nods her head.
“Yup, I can tell he’s going to be a keeper.” She winks at me once more and hands me my lunch. I blush and tell her I’ll see her next time. I arrive at my office and set my lunch down on my desk. Lately, I’ve been working through lunch with all the projects I’ve had on my agenda. I’m really looking forward to Becky becoming part of the team. We could have lunches together. I pull my sandwich out of the bag when I hear a click. It sounds like a door closing.
“Hello, baby.”
Every hair on the back of my neck stands up. I gasp and quickly turn around. There, standing in my office is Jerry Smite, my ex. I take a step back and hit my desk.
“I can see you’re surprised to see me. You shouldn’t be. Didn’t you get the flowers I sent and the other messages?”
I scramble to think what I should do. The security installers won’t be here until two. It’s only one. I doubt I can just keep him talking for an hour. He must have broken into my office and hid in my storage closet. And then it occurs to me . . .
“Other messages?”
He begins to slowly step toward me. “Yeah, the dates I painted on your car. Then what I did to your car after?” A sinister smile spreads across his face. He looks like the devil. He acts like him too. I grip the edge of my desk, not knowing what to do. This man is capable of killing me.
“What dates? I don’t understand why you would do that to my car?”
Jerry comes to a stop right in front of me. He lightly grazes my cheek with his fingertip. It makes my whole body on alert. I’m frozen to the spot I’m standing. I can’t move.
“The dates are all the times you broke up with me or put me in jail. You needed to be reminded of those.” He sucks in a breath through his teeth. I turn my head so I don’t have to look at him. Jerry grabs my chin and forces me to look his way. “Your car is a pile of ash because you belong to me. You don’t leave me. Who the hell is the suit?”
I take in Jerry’s appearance. He looks dirty, unwashed, and unshaved. I don’t think he’s showered in a week. He smells rancid. His hair is stringy and hanging in his face. His eyes look red and I wonder if he’s on drugs right now. I don’t answer his question, I continue to stare at his haggard appearance.
“Now, we can do this the hard way or . . .” He shrugs.
Suddenly, my cheeks are wet. I didn’t notice when I started crying. I don’t want to give him the satisfaction. I angrily wipe away my tears.
“I’m not yours. I’ll never be yours.” I attempt to push him away from me but he doesn’t budge. That’s when I feel the slap. It’s a sensation I’ve never forgotten. I don’t gasp or move. I guess I’m still vulnerable to his behavior. “I hate you!” With a surprise counterattack of my own, I’m able to knock Jerry off-kilter so he falls. Then I’m on him. I wail on his ass, continuing to strike him. One blow after the other. He’s in complete defense mode and shouting at me. I have no idea what he’s saying. I put all my anger into hitting this pitiful excuse of a man. Quickly, I begin to tire and Jerry senses this. He rolls us over swiftly and then pins my hands down beside my head. I spit on him. “Get off me!” I scream. “Get off me!”
Jerry is panting and bloody. For some reason I’m able to smile about that.
“You think that was funny? I’ll show you what’s funny. You’ll never spit on me or attack me again, you understand?” He pulls both my wrists together and pins them with one hand. Then with the other he begins undoing his belt.
I begin to kick and scream. I’m not going down without a fight. This is not happening again. Jerry laughs. It’s the most horrible sound in the world. I don’t give up. I continue to kick and scream.
Then suddenly, Jerry is hauled off me. Jake grabs Jerry by the neck of his shirt and punches him. “You son of a bitch!” Jake yells. Jerry is a little delirious from that punch, but he still tries to fight Jake. The two go at it as I rise from the floor and rush to the phone to call the police. By the time I have the police dispatched, Jake has Jerry restrained on the floor. He’s face down with Jake’s knee in his back. Both men are panting, but Jake barely has a scratch on him.
“Jake.” I sob while I’m still on the phone with the police.
“Hey, baby. I’m here,” Jake replies. I kneel to the floor but continue to speak with the dispatcher.
The police arrive quickly and drag Jerry away in handcuffs. After we both give our statements, I’m finally able to be in Jake’s arms.
“You came. You’re here.” My cheeks are wet with tears but I’m too happy that this whole ordeal is over and I’m in the arms of my love.
“I’ll always be here.” His lips hover over mine. “I love you.” Jake’s mouth crashes to mine. I welcome it and hold on to his neck. Our kiss slows and I pull away to rest my head on his shoulder.
“I love you,” I whisper.
We’re finally able to go home later that evening. We had to go to the police station and by the time we came out it was dark. It felt anything but dark to me though. Finally I’m able to close a chapter and not worry about it coming back to haunt me. Jerry is being charged for attempted rape and breaking and entering, along with the other things he confessed doing to my car. It looks like he’s going to be in jail a really long time.
19
We’re riding back to Jake’s apartment when he asks me about Jerry. “That’s why you didn’t want to talk about it? Because he used to beat you?”
I reply with a simple, “Yes.”
“Did he used to rape you too?” I can tell Jake’s throat is tight by his voice.
“Yes.” I look down in my lap. His hand covers mine as he drives through the lit up city streets.
“I’ll never let him touch you again.” Jake brings my hand up to his mouth and kisses it. His lips don’t leave my hand. He rubs his lips back and forth against my skin there reverently. He understands now why I didn’t want to talk about it and he’s not going to push me. I don’t think Jake wants to hear about what Jerry used to do to me. I close my eyes and think of a future with this amazing man. It makes me smile. The nightmare with Jerry is all over and I’m with the man I love.
We pick up some food on the way home and have a picnic on the floor of his apartment. He feeds me pieces of his food. I can’t help but think how different Jake is to Jerry. I’m so glad I finally found a good guy. I thought he was an asshole when I was first getting to know him. Now, I couldn’t be more in love with this man.
I’m pretty exhausted after we eat. I ask him to take a shower with me. He’s been very careful about touching me. It hasn’t gone unnoticed. I know he’s trying to be respectful of my situation and I appreciate it, but I need his soft touches, kisses, and his body against mine. I need to feel him. He obliges and even slowly takes off my clothes. I remove his clothes as well. I love having intimate moments like this with him. After we’ve removed each other’s clothes, we step into the hot shower.
I squirt some body soap onto a sponge and run it up along his chest. I soap up his body. Jake moves his arms for me and watches me intently. He whispers that he loves me when I shampoo his hair and pelts my face with kisses. After he rinses off, he grabs the sponge from my hand and soaps me up. He starts on my breasts, which makes me giggle. I reach up to his lips for a kiss and he obliges. I slip him my tongue and he opens for me.
Jake continues to move the sponge over my body as we kiss, only
separating when he reaches for my feet. The man is washing my feet.
“I love you,” I whisper.
He smiles up at me. After he’s done soaping me up, I rinse off and we step out of the shower. He rubs me down with a towel and then lays me on the bed. I watch as he removes the towel from his waste.
“Can I make love to you?” The point that he’s asking means the world to me. Jake wants to make sure I’m okay. That we’re okay, that he can touch me. I close my eyes and moan a yes. I need him, I need for us to make this connection again. He slides up my body kissing as he goes. It’s like he’s worshipping me. Some bruises have appeared on my body from my altercation with Jerry. Jake kisses them all. I bring his scraped knuckles up to my lips and kiss them, rubbing my lips over them.
I spread my legs and wrap them around Jake’s waist. He kisses my forehead, my nose, and my lips. Jake lingers there. I grab him by the neck and slide my tongue along his bottom lip.
“I need you.”
At my declaration, Jake moans. He begins kissing me fervently and rubs his cock against my core.
“I need you too,” he says. Jake moves his hand to the back of my head and lays his forehead against mine. “Are you on the pill?”
I gasp. If he doesn’t want to use a condom . . . This is huge. That means he trusts me completely. After what his previous girlfriend did, I never expected him not to use a condom. I hold on to his face.
“I’m on the pill and I’m clean.” I hold my breath to see what he does next.
“I want you bare. If we’re really going to make love, I want to feel you.” Jake rubs against me on the last word. I moan while I become more and more wet. I grip his back in anticipation.
“I want to feel you too,” I reply. He reaches down and kisses me again. Then, he slowly slides inside me. I gasp as he pushes in to the hilt.
“Jake.”
“Fuck. You feel so good. So good, Evie.” Jake takes one slow withdrawal and then gently pushes back in. He lingers inside me, feeling every inch, and taking the time to enjoy this moment. We’ve made love slowly before, but this is completely different. I can feel his heartbeat through his cock, feel every ridge, every vein.
“God, Evie. You’re so wet,” he moans. I clutch at his shoulders as his ministrations increase in speed.
My pussy is pounding and aching for a release. He must notice my yearning because he angles his hips in just the right way and I’m done. That sweet release comes like a wave and crashes against me. My body quakes and burns.
“Oh my God. Yes!” I scratch down Jake’s back and then he starts pounding me in earnest. His cock expands in my core and then I feel his seed spill into me. His moans trigger small consecutive orgasms inside me.
“Fuck.” He rears up and pumps one last time. Then he stares at me from above. Sweat mars his brow and his hair is a gorgeous mess. I sweep it out of his face as he pants, “I love you.”
I close my eyes and soak in his words. We did make love. That was the most intimate I’ve ever been with anyone and Jake knows just what to say. He knows what I need to hear after a day like today. He knows how to touch me.
“I love you, Jake.”
He leans over me and kisses my lips.
“Always,” he replies.
I smile with tears in my eyes.
“Always.”
Lee was furious with me. “Next time you’re in trouble, you tell me!” She’s holding her beautiful daughter in her arms and yelling at me. She officially acts like a mother. I can’t help but smile at her. “What are you smiling about? You’re in trouble. I’m your best friend. You’re supposed to tell me everything. If you needed help, you have to know I’d be there for you.” Lee holds onto my hand. I sandwich her hand between mine.
“I know, Lee. I love you for that, but you had a new baby and . . . well, just a lot to deal with. Jake was helping me.”
She finally relaxes.
“You love him, don’t you?”
I give her a knowing smile.
“I knew it from the start. I could see it coming from a mile away. I’m surprised it took you two so long.”
I shake my head.
“Well, you can blame that on Jake. He was slow to see how fabulous I am.” Lee and I snicker.
I reach my hands out, asking to hold the baby, and she obliges. I love being like an auntie to baby January. She’s such an agreeable baby. At that moment she decides to start crying.
“I’m here!” I hear Maggie clamor in through Lee’s front door.
We stand up to greet Maggie. We both give her a hug. January continues to cry while I’m holding her. I don’t know if I would be cut out for this mom stuff. I wonder how Jake feels about that. We haven’t even talked about the future really.
Maggie steals the baby from me and she immediately quiets down. “There, there. Auntie Maggie is here, baby.”
I roll my eyes and sip on my sweet tea.
“Did you have younger brothers and sisters growing up or something?” I ask.
Lee grabs the pitcher and pours Maggie a sweet tea.
“Nope. I babysat for a bunch of kids in my neighborhood back in the day.”
Lee and I just nod at her.
Maggie rocks the baby as we all sit on the screened-in porch. We’ve decided to meet here once a week. Lee can’t wait to have a tequila night with us but she’s still breastfeeding and doesn’t want to lose any milk supply. Apparently, January feeds a lot.
“Maggie, we’re going to need to schedule to have our nails done soon.”
Lee shakes her head at me.
“Uh, uh. You’re not changing the subject, girl. We’re talking about you and Jake.” Lee sits with her arms crossed. I roll my eyes and look to Maggie for help. She just avoids eye contact and stares at the baby intently. Traitor. When she meets a guy, I’m going to give her so much shit.
“Well, he’s my boyfriend. I’ve agreed to move in with him. But, I want to give Maggie a chance to find a roommate if she wants one.” I hope changing the topic to Maggie will deter from any more questions about Jake. Although, it’s very pleasant to be able to call him my boyfriend.
“Evie, you know I’m fine. I don’t think I’ll get another roommate anyway. You should move in with Jake permanently this week!” She grins big at me. That turd. She knows what I was trying to do. Dang. I can’t get anything past these women.
“Okay,” I say simply.
“All right, all right. We’ll lay off the boyfriend for a while. I’m just glad you’re safe now and that horrible ex of yours is going to be rotting in jail.” We all toast to that and then the talk moves to Maggie and her lack of a love life. I grin from ear to ear.
“I just can’t find a man that can handle all these curves is all.” Maggie grabs her boob in the palm of her hand and squeezes. She has a great rack. I can see a man being a bit overwhelmed with those knockers. “Plus, I come off a tad bit weird, I think.”
“Ya think?” Lee’s eyes widen. “Did I say that out loud?”
Maggie and I nod. “We love your weird though, Maggie. Don’t we, Evie?” Lee smooths her sundress out and looks down. She seems embarrassed. I know she didn’t mean anything by it. Everyone knows Maggie is weird and quirky. That’s one of the reasons we love her. Plus, she can always makes us laugh. She’s so fun to be around.
“Yup! Even though you’re annoying sometimes, especially around cars, you’re still adorable.”
Maggie smiles.
“Thanks. I take all of what y’all said as a compliment. I don’t want to be like everyone else. It just seems a bit too much for a guy sometimes. Either that, or I attract the wrong ones.”
“You’ll find one, sweetie.” I pat Maggie’s leg. “I found my guy. I never thought I’d find a good one. He’s out there . . . just you wait.”
Lee hits me on the shoulder. “Who are you and what have you done to my best friend? You used to be a bit of a pessimist.”
I rub my shoulder where she hit me.
“
Ow. Well, since I’ve fallen in love . . .”
“Ha! I knew it. I’m always right about these things.” Lee looks smug.
Maggie coos at the baby and looks over at me. “Well, duh. Anyone with eyes could see y’all are head over heels.”
I sit there with my two best friends and can’t fathom how much my life has changed in just the time I’ve moved to Dallas.
Lee was right. I used to be such a cynic. After Jerry, I wasn’t looking for a committed relationship anymore. It was hard to trust men again. Who could blame me? Whether I was ready for Jake or not, he came out of the woodwork and warmed my soul. He made me experience things I never thought I would. He opened my world to trust, commitment, and most of all love. I listen to Lee and Maggie talk about mani-pedi’s and can’t help but bask in the wonderfulness that is my life. I’m surrounded by so many people I love. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Later that evening, Jake and I are lying in bed. I can’t help think about the future with him and what he sees for us.
“Do you want children?”
His hand stops rubbing my shoulder. He chuckles.
“Did Lenora or Maggie ask you today or something?”
I look up at him from my spot on his chest.
“No. I was just thinking while I was holding January that I’m not that maternal. It got me wondering if you wanted children. I’m not sure I’m ready or if I’ll ever be. How do you feel about that?” I hold my breath as I await his answer.
He tips my chin up and rubs it.
“I want what you want. If you want a baby . . . later, much later on down the line, then I’m with you. If you don’t want any children, then that’s fine too.”
I blow out my breath and kiss him.
He chuckles. “Were you worried about this?”
I hold his hand to my face in endearment.
“Yes.”
He rolls me over quickly and I giggle. He plants a big kiss on my mouth.
“Are you happy?” Jake looks deep into my eyes.
“Yes,” I say immediately.
A big smile spreads across his face.
“Are you happy?”