by H.H. Fowler
Chapter Ten
Tonight was Friday night – game night for the girls. It’d been three days since I’d last seen or heard from Taj, which was perfectly fine with me. Though in the back of my mind, I questioned why he hadn’t called to at least apologize for his presumptuous behavior. I needed the time anyway to regain my peace of mind. However, that peace was disrupted when Jennifer called and told me that she and Taj were minutes away from my condo. By then I’d already rehearsed in my mind a dozen different ways I was going to act when I saw Taj.
I already knew he altered my senses, simply by the way he walked into a room. It was that experience at the maid’s cottage that was making me feel uncomfortable. Would Jennifer be able to detect that her fiancé had been trying to mess around with me? I felt bad that I couldn’t say anything to Jennifer about it because my own attraction for Taj had bought my silence. This wasn’t me at all. Being smitten with a man that didn’t belong to me was one thing, but the fact that I couldn’t shake myself out of this spell was frightening. The only thing that I could surmise was that this was a trial designed to test my will to remain pure.
Despite the doubts Reuben had tried to plant in my head about Taj, in addition to an unsettling curiosity I had of Taj’s character, I could not get past that handsome face. The way he looked at me with that intense gaze sent electricity flying through my veins. When I heard the doorbell buzzing, I quickly worked my feet into my four-inch heels. I straightened up, but before I left my bedroom to answer the door, I stopped in front of a full-length mirror to get one last look at my appearance. I wore a yellow form-fitting dress, which hugged my hips a little too tightly. Hopefully, no one would really notice as this dress had been the easiest thing to iron.
I opened the door, but was surprised to see Taj standing alone with that devious smirk on his face. My throat suddenly went dry. Those three days I hadn’t seen him, seemed to have accentuated his dashing looks. With brazen hunger, he bathed me with his eyes.
“The way you look,” he said to me, “is going to get me into trouble with Jennifer.”
I looked over his shoulders, ignoring his inappropriate comment. “Where is Jennifer?”
“She had a run to make; she’ll be right back.”
“I don’t believe you.”
He grinned. “I swear, I had nothing to do with it. She told me to keep company with you until she arrives.”
Wow. The devil just doesn’t know when to stop. I’m trying to run away from the temptation, now he’s bringing it to my doorstep.
I peered at Taj with as much resolve as I could muster. “Listen, Taj. About that incident in the maid’s cottage…I don’t feel good about that. That is so not my style. In fact, it absolutely goes against my Christian beliefs.”
The mention of my holy standards didn’t wipe that lustful leer off of Taj’s face as I thought it would. He tilted his head, allowing his gaze to slowly climb up and down my body. “Well,” he said, “we really haven’t done anything…yet. And I’m sure God won’t mind if I give you one little kiss. Didn’t the bible say something about greeting each other with a kiss?” He reached out and ran his fingers along the outline of my lips. “You are so beautiful...”
I stepped back to get away from the sensation. “It says a holy kiss and there’s nothing holy about what you’re doing right now. Please don’t use God’s word to justify sin.”
“Is that what you think I’m doing?”
“Yes and I’m disappointed that you would do something like that”—I folded my arms— “because I believe that this has been your intention all along.”
Taj held my gaze. “What?”
“To get me alone so that you could run your game on me, which makes me wonder how many women you’ve already done this with behind Jennifer’s back.”
Taj tossed his head back and laughed. “Well, what can I say? You’re quite sharp, but I am usually a one-woman man. Whether you believe this or not, I wish I’d met you before meeting Jennifer…” He paused as if to let his words marinate my thoughts. “Besides, why does it bother you that I’m now showing interest? I assumed it was what you wanted.”
“That is very presumptuous of you to say,” I spat. “Your assumption is wrong. Jennifer is my best friend and I would never do anything to hurt her.”
Taj smirked, as he moved in to resume tracing his fingers around my lips. “Never say never,” he said. “Because I have a pretty good handle on recognizing a woman’s weakness. You want me, as much as I want you…”
The way Taj continued to graze his fingers against my skin caused my heart to slam harder against my chest. The adrenaline paralyzed me, leaving me exposed to Taj’s blatant advances. He pushed me inside and closed the door behind us. He wasted no time attacking my lips, trying to find those areas on my neck he wanted to mark as his territory. Warning bells were ringing loudly in the back of my mind, but I had suddenly been caught off guard by the insidious flames of passion.
Thankfully, the buzzing of my doorbell knocked me out of my stupor. I was frantic, upset and guilt-ridden – all in one, as the voices behind the door belonged to Maya and Kimone. I pushed Taj away from me, knowing that as soon as I opened that door, those two inquisitive birds would know something sinful was going on between me and Taj, who on the other hand, was as cool as a cucumber. He turned away and strutted into my living room with that devilish smirk. He then laid back against my sofa and flicked on the flat screen TV as if he were a guest in a five-star hotel. I stared at him in shock, because it made me wonder if he’d been caught in a situation like this before.
When I opened the door, Maya and Kimone came in with a racket. Maya, who was close to my age of twenty-nine, catwalked into my foyer and swung her perfectly-toned hips straight toward the minibar. She was Asian mixed with something else, but who cared with what? Her blemish-free skin and long black ringlets always made me give her the evil eye. Kimone kept a low haircut, but her high cheekbones and her expressive eyes were distinctive. She was at least five feet ten, and undoubtedly, one of the most beautiful-looking black women I’d ever come across on this side of the world.
My gaze found Taj, who was lazily moving his eyes back and forth between Maya and Kimone. Both of them had impressive bodies, curves turning every which way. I sighed because jealousy was about to kill me, which was a reaction I’d been battling with for a while. However, nothing was killing me more now than the way Taj kept looking at my friends, particularly Maya. It wasn’t overtly sexual, but obvious enough to make me wonder if he wanted them as well.
I twisted my neck to Jennifer’s high-pitched screams as she stood in the front door and waltzed her way in. I swore, each time Jennifer did that, my heart took a dive to the floor. It’s worse now since I was afraid of being caught doing something I shouldn’t be doing with Taj. She walked up to me and greeted me with a kiss to the cheek. She then handed me a small gift bag filled with little Hersey delights.
“I’m apologizing for my behavior the other day when we were in Starbucks,” she said. “You are a true friend to me, Sierra, and I can’t say enough how blessed I am to have you in my life. I love you, sweetie. By the way, I love this yellow dress you’re wearing. It’s so-not-you, but it’s sexy.”
My guilt roared back to life and pinned my words against my throat. I didn’t put on this yellow dress to be sexy, but because Jennifer was my best friend, I took her observation as a compliment. Suddenly, vivid images of Taj’s cornering me in the maid’s cottage flashed through my mind, coupled with that passionate kiss we’d shared just moments before everyone else walked in. I wanted to run and hide my wickedness beneath the ocean’s floor. When Jennifer wrapped her arms around me with tears in her eyes, I thought I was going to die from regret. I vowed from that day onward to avoid Taj and pray that my integrity be fully restored. Because giving in to temptation wasn’t worth losing my relationship with God, or throwing away eighteen years of genuine friendship with Jennifer.
“Sierra, honey,
” I heard Maya call from the minibar. She had already fixed herself a soft drink and was sipping it slowly. I wished I had her dove-looking eyes. “What game are we playing tonight?”
“Dirty Minds,” Kimone called out as I stepped out of Jennifer’s embrace. I could no longer look my best friend directly in the eye. “We haven’t played that one in a while.”
“Oooh, I love that game,” Jennifer jumped in. “Gets my juices flowing.”
“Now that is just plain nasty,” Maya snapped. “Ain’t none of us gon’ be cleaning up after your gross behind!”
Everyone exploded in laughter even though for me it was only a show. I was too sick of my mess to enjoy a genuine laugh. Again, my gaze found Taj en route to the famous game table – just to see if he was looking in my direction. He was. Right before I turned my head away, he gave me a subtle smile that said, “I want you.” I knew he was aware of how dangerously sexy he was, but he hadn’t any idea of the amount of misery it was costing me.
“Honey,” Jennifer called out to her fiancé, “do you want to play Dirty Minds with the girls?”
“Naw, I will sit this one out, babe,” he responded. “If I may say so myself, my mind is already filled with all sorts of dirty things.”
Jennifer gasped at her fiancé’s response. “Honey,” she dragged, “have a little respect for the girls. They don’t want to hear about what we do in the bedroom.”
I rolled my eyes, knowing how much Jennifer enjoyed bragging about her sexual escapades.
Kimone cleared her throat and said, “Let the man talk. My life is empty and quite dull. Ever since I lost my little Fergie, life has been at a standstill.”
Maya flipped her black ringlets to one side, and spat, “You need to be committed to a mental institution. Who the hell keeps rats as pets?”
Kimone exploded, “I keep telling you and Sierra that Fergie is not a rat! He’s a hamster!”
“Girls, girls, girls, let’s not get carried away,” I jumped in. “I don’t intend to be here all night. I’m tired and I’m looking forward to going to bed real soon.”
Maya huffed, “Not with that hot-looking yellow dress you have on. It looks like you’re planning to do one of those late-night booty calls. Tell the truth, boo, that’s the reason why you want us to leave.”
I didn’t appreciate Maya talking to me as if I were a low-priced whore. Whenever a bunch of women got together, you could expect unnecessary drama. I wisely ignored Maya, and then moved swiftly with the instructions of the game once we all were sitting at the table.
“Please listen carefully to the clues. I will give a short demonstration just in case someone has forgotten how to play the game.” I picked up the first clue and read it. “Schwarzenegger has a long one, Spike Lee has a short one, but the pope doesn’t use his. What is the answer?”
“That’s easy,” Taj said behind me. I turned my head and he was near enough to touch.
“It’s not what you’re thinking, honey,” Jennifer explained. “It’s a play on words, designed to mess with your mind.”
“How do you know what I’m thinking?” Taj smirked. “My answer was going to be…their last names. Think about it: Schwarzenegger has a long one, Spike Lee has a short one, but the pope doesn’t use his. Easy enough, right? Now, whose mind is dirty?”
Everyone looked at me for confirmation. “He’s right,” I said. “It’s says it right here.”
Taj said, “Please, carry on, I was simply on my way to the bathroom.”
I willed myself not to look at Taj as he walked away. He had a very sensual strut and I didn’t need anything to provoke my lust. Because as far as I was concerned, I already had a lot of repenting to do.