Heartbeat

by Ellis, Tara

  Taylor smiled at the compliment then motioned her head for me to come in closer. Taylor was a big gossiper in the salon so it didn’t surprise me that she wanted to share somebody’s personal business. I usually didn’t entertain it but I leaned in closer to hear what she had to say anyway.

  “Girl, look at that fine specimen of a man over there.” She shot her head in the direction of our waiting area where several women sat pretending to read magazines, but all of them were staring at a man who was actually reading one.

  My eyes skimmed over him but shot back up at him. Not only was he gorgeous, sitting there in a purple polo shirt that hugged his bulging biceps, he was the dreadlock wearing stranger who pulled me away from my street brawl a week ago. A huge lump formed in my throat and my mouth went dry. I was shy all of a sudden but I didn’t know why.

  “Girl, that’s her brother,” Taylor whispered nodding her head in the direction of her client sitting in her chair. “He brought his sister here to treat her to a day of pampering.” She winked when she finished her sentence then brought her voice even lower, “I’m gonna put my bid in before anybody else try to get at him. Look at all those vultures over there.”

  I laughed because he had most, if not all, of the women’s attention in the salon. “Well, do you, girl,” I said even though there was a piece of me that didn’t want her to get at him. I shook the feeling off because he wasn’t my man and I had no right to feel jealous but for some reason, I did.

  “So, is your brother single?” Taylor asked her client with a stifled laugh.

  “Yeah, he just moved back down here from Houston. He isn’t seeing anyone yet,” the girl in her chair said.

  I stared at her, hoping she would divulge more information about her brother, but she didn’t say anything else. So I headed toward my office in the back of the salon and for the first time ever I hated the way my heels clicked against the hardwood floors. It seemed to be the loudest sound in the salon. Even louder than the chit chatter of gossip and hairdryers.

  As soon as I made it to my office, I closed the door behind me and took a deep breath. It really was a small world. I never thought I’d see the handsome stranger again, but here he was, in the last place I thought I’d ever see him. My salon. The last thing I needed was for him to say anything about what happened the other night in front of the wrong person. All of my business would be all around the salon and then all over Dallas.

  A part of me wanted to peek outside of the door and get another look at him but I knew better. Besides, I had more important things to worry about, like finding a divorce attorney as soon as possible, no matter how fast Mama thought I was rushing to a decision, it was my life and I was the only person that had to live it. I just couldn’t forgive and forget this time. We were no longer college students and just dating. We were married. We were supposed to be building a family. A sick feeling gathered in my stomach as I thought about the baby we’d lost. While I was mourning the loss of our child, he was out fucking with the next bitch!

  I buzzed my receptionist to tell her to bring me a cup of tea and was glad when there was a knock on the door to take me out of my tortuous thoughts.

  “Come in,” I said expecting for Arian to walk in with her late weekly dues. But when the door opened and it was the beautiful dreadlocked stranger, my voice got caught in the middle of my throat.

  He was standing there smiling at me like we shared a juicy secret. In a way, I guess we did.

  “Well, well, well, if it isn’t the troublemaker.” His eyes met mine and I felt like I would fall out of my office chair.

  I jumped up from my desk, grabbed him by his hand and pulled him into my office, hoping no one had the chance to notice him entering.

  “What’s that all about?” He said with half of a laugh. His smile was so beautiful, it momentarily paralyzed me but it didn’t take long for me to come back to my senses. I dropped his hand but that didn’t stop the electricity that was already running through my hand from his touch.

  “What are you doing here?” I whispered. I had no idea why I was whispering, my door was closed and there was no way anyone on the other side of it could hear what we were saying.

  He pointed at the door, “My sister getting her hair done.” The look of confusion on his face made me realize I was hyperventilating. “I didn’t have anything else to do so I stuck around.”

  I sat on the edge of my desk and forced my eyes away from his hazel- green eyes. Man, he was gorgeous. “I’m sorry. I just wasn’t expecting to see you here.” I focused on the picture on the wall across from me to keep from looking at him but everything in the office seemed so mundane, so uninteresting, with a man this fine, this beautiful, standing across from me.

  “I wasn’t expecting to see you here, either,” he said with a short laugh. And there was that smile again. I subconsciously crossed my legs in reaction to it. “I’m Amir Rover, by the way. I didn’t catch your name the other night, but I’m assuming its Ali. Or is it Mayweather?”

  I narrowed my eyes at him but couldn’t stop the smile. “Nice to meet you, Amir. I see you’re a comedian.” I wanted to stick my hand out for him to shake but was afraid of the electricity that would be produced between us if I touched him again. “I’m Charlie.” I was about to say Charlie Johnson, but since that part of my life was just about dead, I gave him my maiden name, “Charlie Smith.” I kept both of my hands in my lap.

  “So, you run this place?” He looked around my spacious office then returned his intense eyes back to me.

  “Yes.”

  He scratched his head and cocked it to the side. I eyed him from his brown dreads to his black Maison Margiela sneakers. Everything about this man was sexy. Every time I tried to keep my eyes off him they always landed right back on him. He was a pretty boy but the dreads made him look rugged.

  He seemed to be nodding his approval when he said, “Businesswoman, huh? I like that.” And with that it was his turn to look me up and down. I so wanted to know if he liked what he saw as much as I liked what I saw when I looked at him.

  Desperately wanting to change the subject and the tense atmosphere, I said, “So you brought your sister to the right place. My girl, Taylor, is going to hook her up right.”

  He rubbed his scruffy chin and nodded. “Yeah, she said she wanted to go to the hottest salon in Dallas since I was paying,” he laughed, and something funny happened inside my stomach at the beautiful smile the laugh produced. “And look at you! Owning the place.” He laughed again and I couldn’t help but think that his laugh sounded better than my favorite song.

  “So, Miss Charlie, what was up with you the other night? You don’t look like the kinda’ chick that would be out in the streets scrapping.”

  And there it was. I sighed, stood, and walked to the other side of my desk. I sat in the oversized leather chair and said, “I’m not that kinda’ chick.”

  He cocked his head to the side like he was studying me. “So what was all that about? That was your dude or something?”

  I tried to keep his eye contact but something about the way he was looking at me caused me to drop my eyes to the hardwood floor. I didn’t look back up at him when I said, “Yeah. That was my husband.”

  “Husband!” The shock in his voice made me look back up at him.

  Damn, he was so fine.

  I nodded my head, “Yup.”

  “Damn. Your husband was out there fucking with Kia?” He looked at me as if he were waiting on me to say I was joking.

  I shrugged. “It seems that way.”

  Amir shook his head, “That nigga a got-damn fool.”

  The corners of my mouth rose involuntarily and I knew I was blushing. It felt good to hear someone say what I was thinking since the night I found Rick with his downgrade. When I looked up, he was still shaking his head in disbelief. Even though I really didn’t want to know, I had to ask him, “How often does my husband be in that neighborhood…with her?”

  “To be honest, ma, I have no i
dea. I mean we’ve seen the nigga car every now and then but nobody has ever really seen him outside of it. I couldn’t recognize that nigga if he walked right past me right now. That night you kicked his and Kia’s ass, I didn’t even get the chance to look at him then. All I saw was this fine ass chick wildin’.” He leaned against the wall and stuck his right hand in his pocket. “Plus, I don’t live over there I just be visiting one of my patnas’ so I really can’t say.”

  A knock on my office door caused me to jump. I didn’t know why I was so nervous but I knew rumors would spread like wildfire if anyone saw him in my office with the door closed.

  I quickly looked around my office for a place for him to hide but realized how ridiculous I would have sounded if I asked him to do such a thing. Instead, I stood and ran my hands down my fuchsia shift dress, threw my shoulders back, and opened the door. To my loathing, it was Arian. And it didn’t take long before her eyes darted in the direction of Amir and then back to me with a sneaky smile that confirmed that rumors would indeed be all over the salon before we closed for business tonight.

  “Here’s my dues,” she said with an underhanded drawl in her voice. She looked Amir up and down, raised her left eyebrow and said, “Hi, I’m Arian. And you are?”

  I bit my bottom lip to keep from telling this bitch to mind her business and get the hell out of my office. Amir seemed to sense the tension building inside of my office because he stepped forward, took Arian’s hand and said, “Nice to meet you, Arian. I’m Amir.”

  Arian was smiling so hard at Amir. You would have thought he’d just complimented her.

  He continued to say, “My sister is getting her hair done here and I was just admiring Charlie’s well designed establishment.” He paused to take a look around my office to emphasize his statement. “I was just trying to solicit my services in case she’s ever in need of remodeling.”

  It was my turn to raise an eyebrow. I noticed how effortlessly and believably Amir had just lied but nodded my head along to his story.

  “Uh huh,” Arian said.

  I was waiting on her to turn around and go back about her business but she just stood there looking back and forth from Amir to me.

  “Matter of a fact, let me show you some of my portfolio,” Amir said heading for the door.

  I followed him but was thinking he was doing the most. Arian stepped out of the way and watched us walk toward the front door of the salon. If she didn’t believe Amir’s story by now, I didn’t care.

  When we were out of the salon I said, “Thanks, Amir.”

  He gave me half of a smile and I felt my knees go weak. “I can tell by the way she was looking at us that she’s a shit starter.”

  I nodded, “You don’t know the half of it. She just looking for a reason when it comes to me.” I followed him to a late model dark green Buick.

  “I have something for you,” he said.

  “For me?” I pointed at myself as if he could have been talking to someone else.

  He opened the backseat of the car and pulled out the cheetah Giuseppe shoe I’d lost during my fight with Kia. I gasped because I thought I’d never see that shoe again.

  “You found my shoe!” I jumped up and hugged him. I didn’t realize I was actually hugging this man until he wrapped his arms around my waist. Instinctively, I pulled away and when I did he was smiling at me. It was the second time I noticed that he had one of the most beautiful smiles I’d ever seen and my cheeks flushed from the thought.

  “I didn’t think I’d ever see you again but just in case I did, I kept it,” he said.

  I clutched the shoe and looked from it to him. “Well thanks for keeping it for me. It’s one of my favorite shoes.”

  There was an awkward silence with us just staring at each other. He finally spoke, “I really am a contractor. And if you do ever wanna do any remodeling, hit me up.” He reached in his back pocket, pulled out his wallet and handed me a business card.

  I could think of a million reasons why I wanted to call him, but remodeling was not one of them. I took the card and looked at the phone number on it.

  “You ain’t ever gonna call a nigga,” he said.

  “Not for remodeling,” I said with a smile.

  He cocked his head. “Is that right?”

  I turned away and began walking back into my salon making sure I threw my hips a little harder while I walked.

  “Say, Charlie!” He called after me.

  I stopped and turned around as he jogged to catch up with me.

  “What are you doing tonight?”

  My voice got caught in the middle of my throat and I strained to say, “Nothing. Why?” It’d been so long since I’d been asked on a date that I didn’t know how to react. But I knew before he finished his sentence that I’d agree to go to the moon if he asked me to.

  He licked his perfect lips and said, “One of my boys is having his birthday party at Club Aqua tonight. You should come through.”

  I hadn’t been to a club in forever. I actually couldn’t stand the club scene but it didn’t take me long to agree to come to a dude’s birthday party who I’d never even met before.

  “Cool.” He had a smile on his face. “I’ll put you on the guest list.” He licked his lips and I wondered if he meant it to look as sexually explicit as it had.

  “I’m gonna bring two of my homegirls, is that ok?”

  He nodded his head, “Of course. The more the merrier.”

  I took in his face and amazing biceps one last time before I turned to walk back into the salon. I ignored the way a few of the stylists were gawking at me as I made my way back to my office. I immediately texted Kesha and told her not to make plans tonight because we were going out. I forwarded the same text to Lake. Then I scrolled through my contact list for my client, Rochelle, the divorce attorney. When I called her, I was thankful she picked up on the second ring. I hated exposing my dirty little secrets, especially to a client, but when Rochelle assured me that we would get Rick for everything he was worth, I didn’t feel so bad. It wasn’t that I was after Rick’s money, I had plenty of my own, it was just the fact that I held him down for ten years with my love and faithfulness and he gave me lies and deceit in return.

  “Don’t let it get you down, sweetie,” Rochelle said, trying her best to keep her voice even toned.

  “Thank you, Rochelle. I’ll be by your office first thing Monday.” I hung up with her and felt as if a weight had been lifted from my shoulders, if only momentarily. My marriage was officially over, whether Rick knew it or not. And seeing as though he hadn’t been home or even reached out to me in a week, I doubted he even cared.

  Charlie

  Nerves gathered in the pit of my stomach. This was the first time I’d been on a date in years. No, Amir hadn’t asked me on an official date, but I still put just as much effort into my appearance as if he had. It took me four outfit changes because nothing and I mean nothing, seemed to look good enough.

  Finally, I found a dress that screamed, “I’m that bitch”. I’d never been into the nightclub scene and hardly ever went out, but there was nothing that was going to keep me from Club Aqua tonight.

  I stood in front of the full length mirror inside of my bathroom and admired the way the cobalt blue bandage dress hugged every curve of my perfectly sculpted body. I smiled at my reflection but the smile was short lived once the thought of Rick crept inside of my mind. No matter how sexy I thought I was, it was obvious that I wasn’t sexy enough for Rick to remain faithful. I turned away from the mirror and returned to my vanity, adding the final touches of makeup to my face. I had to keep reminding myself it wasn’t that I wasn’t woman enough to keep my husband faithful but that he wasn’t man enough to remain faithful.

  I’d decided to part my hair down the middle and wear it bone straight tonight. Something about the hairstyle coupled with heavy black eyeliner had me looking exotic. I looked at the time on my rose gold watch. It was almost ten and Lake and Kesha were late as usual.

/>   I finished my makeup and slid on my Louboutin Isolde platform heels that looked so dangerously hot. I was sure all eyes would be on me tonight which was good because I needed the self-esteem booster. By the time I finished putting on my shoes, the doorbell was ringing.

  “Look at you, bitch,” I said after opening the door for Kesha who was wearing a neon yellow deep plunge dress that looked great on her. “Looking like you got some hips.” Kesha’s never ending legs were so shiny it looked like she bathed in baby oil.

  “Your makeup looks flawless,” I complimented.

  “Thank you, girl.” I thought about bringing up her working part time in my salon again. I mean, I knew she made plenty of money being a pharmacist, but the way I saw it, you could never make enough money.

  “Now, tell me about this Amir guy.” She sat her oversized clutch on my island and headed to the cabinet for the wine glasses. “I can’t believe you ran into that nigga again. That sounds like some destiny shit.”

  I smiled at the thought and tried to describe Amir the best I could but words wouldn’t be enough to illustrate Amir’s perfection.

  “Well, look at you! You’re smiling all big. I haven’t seen you smile this big since…”Kesha’s voice trailed off. “And you’re dressed like you trying to get pregnant tonight, too. I mean it ain’t even been a month and you’re all like fuck Rick.” She threw her hand in the air like it was that easy to dismiss Rick from my life.

  My smile faded at the mention of Rick’s name. “You know I still haven’t heard from his ass.”

  Kesha sucked her teeth and shook her head. She searched my small wine shelf. “Where’s the good shit?”

  I pointed to the small wine shelf above one of my cabinets and headed to the front door after the doorbell rang. Lake was on the other side. “You late as usual.”

  She rolled her eyes, “Late? How you gonna be late to the club?” She walked past me. “Besides, we ain’t gotta get there before 11 to get in free, right? Aren’t we on the guest list?” She headed to the kitchen as if she knew Kesha was pouring some wine.