by Tiana Laveen
“So, we didn’t talk much on the way over. Seems we’re both exhausted.” Stepping to a white cabinet, she pushed it and it turned around 180 degrees. She reached for a glass then closed it.
“Yeah, I was working in your office practically the entire day. Got a lot done, too. I enjoyed having lunch with you and your employees though. Many of them seem like really nice, cool people.”
“They are! We’re like a family. It makes work so much easier; I tell you that much. I saw Patrice, naturally… we didn’t speak much. I imagine we’ll be fine later. I just don’t have the patience for any drama right now.” She went to her refrigerator, pushed a button, and her glass filled with water. “Alexa, play jazz playlist, please.”
Moments later, the house filled with the sounds of sensual contemporary jazz music.
“She stopped by to see me in your office, today.”
Cassidy swiveled around to face him. “Patrice?! What the hell did she say?”
He shrugged.
“Honestly Cass, I’m still not sure what her point was but I just let her know, she was in the wrong theater. I had nothing to present to her, she didn’t buy a ticket, and she wasn’t on the guest list.”
Cassidy took a sip of her water, her lips curling up in a small smile. “I caught her staring at me a couple times during the last meeting of the day. Like I said, I’ll deal with her later. Guess what?”
“What, baby?”
“A few of the staff told me privately that you seem truly awesome.” She winked at him. “Of course, I agreed.”
He smirked before noting the time on his cellphone screen.
“Well, looks like I will be seeing more of them in the future from time to time since the plans are for me to eventually move here with you.”
“Oh yes! You just reminded me of something. Derek, our graphic designer, remember him?”
“Yeah, the tall guy… looks maybe half White and half Mexican?”
“Yes! That was a very good guess! How’d you know that?”
Tony tossed up his hands. “I’m an artist, portraits being my favorite. I look at features all the time. They interest me.”
“Okay, well, I’m impressed because most people assume him to be Indian or Pakistani. Anyway, he took it upon himself to check out your artwork after you mentioned that’s what you do during lunch. He Googled your name, I guess.” She slid her feet out of her heels and cast them aside as she opened her walk-in pantry and perused the shelves. “He said your work was amaaaaazing! And trust me, Tony, Derek is hard to impress, okay? I mean, he drives me up the wall with how picky he is about a simple border design. Anyway, he wants to talk to you later about a project and pick your brain.”
As she moved about in the kitchen, she kept talking about what various people had said about him, all complimentary stuff, from his hat to his East Coast accent. Then she went on to mention the topics they’d discussed while chowing down on the lunch of Thai food when he’d temporarily left the boardroom. His body began to heat and he crossed his arms, remaining quiet, trying to keep his cool. She turned and looked at him, pausing mid-sentence.
“Why are you looking at me like that? What’s wrong?”
Removing his sneakers and setting them by her heels, he slid onto one of the white leather bar stools arranged around the breakfast nook. Resting his feet on the footrest, he swiveled on his seat and sank his fingers in the bowl of decorative colored pebbles, enjoying the feel of them against his skin.
“Look, Cassidy.” He ran his hand along his chin and took a deep breath. “I know you mean well, but I don’t need any pity or favors from you, all right? Gassin’ me up, tryna make me feel better. I don’t need help, like a come up.”
“What?” Her brows bunched. “Is that what you think this is? You think I feel sorry for you?”
“Yeah, Cass, actually I think you do.” He sighed. “You’re just a good person and anyone you care about, you don’t want to see them hurt, or what you perceive as hurt. I don’t think you’re doing it on purpose, but I know your image is important to you, okay? And that’s fine, I get it. You stood up to Patrice on my behalf and I—”
“No, it was on our behalf, Tony… Our behalf.” She placed her hand on her hip and shifted her weight.
“Cassidy, again, I know you have an image to uphold and I understand that I’m kind of rough around the edges. You’re college educated, got yourself out of the hood and are now this beautiful, successful magazine mogul and I’m an ex-con who is struggling financially. It sounds a little crazy to people who don’t know us but I am tired of the sympathy. All the way to your home, you barely said anything, like you weren’t even sure how to talk to me about this house I was going to see. You’ve tried to downplay your success, as though I can’t handle it. And maybe I can’t, but not for the reasons you think. I don’t want this from you. Just treat me how you did before. This feels disingenuous; it feels fake. I don’t give a shit about what your ‘work family’,” he hooked his fingers in the quotes sign, “thinks about me… like you want me to have their blessing, their approval. That’s bullshit.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me right now, Tony. I cannot believe you are saying this crap to me! Nobody is tryna sell you or pump you up to anyone, and I was quiet about my house because I didn’t want to rock your apple cart. You’re ridiculous right now. My work family, as you put it, doesn’t make or break my opinion about us and what we’re doing, either. All I was trying to do was let you know that you made a good impression and I’m sorry if that offends you in some way! My God!” She huffed and grabbed a bag of pretzels out of the pantry, ripping it open.
“You’re taking what I said out of context.”
“No, I didn’t, Tony. You are the king of verbal manipulation, but I am hip to you, so don’t try to twist and turn this and blame me for somehow misunderstanding you. I graduated Berkeley with a Communications degree and a 4.0 grade average. I have a Master’s degree in Journalism, so don’t try to stand there and make it seem like my comprehension skills are questionable.” She pointed a finger at him as she chewed a pretzel. “I can be naïve sometimes, I will give you that, but I am far from stupid. You better try again.”
“I didn’t mean it how it sounds.” His eyes hooded. He’d entered the point of no return… it was a black hole and the woman was standing in the center of it, blasting away in his direction.
“Well then, how do you mean it, Tony? Because you’re making it sound as if I am insincere. In fact, you said practically those exact words… disingenuous! Wow! As if I am tossing you a bone because I think you can’t make it on your own and I’m somehow embarrassed about being with a guy who makes far less money than I do… as if once upon a time we didn’t walk barefoot in the same damn shitty soil and found love in the unlikeliest of places!” Her voice shook. He lowered his head. This was going so wrong… “You’ve got me fucked up!”
“Cassidy, listen.”
“No! You listen. As if I forgot how, at times, we had no clue where our next meal was coming from! As if we both didn’t cry and run and hug and bleed and die a little every day livin’ in that horrible yet beautiful place we called home! You’re a man! Only a man could survive prison for ten years and come out unscathed! You went in as a boy! Show me an eighteen-year-old with his head completely on right. You coulda been beaten half to death, raped, killed! All of the above, take your pick! Somehow, you survived and none of that happened to you, right?”
“It didn’t.”
“Well, good! I have never thought less of you, Tony. You’re a man’s man, and you don’t like handouts, I get that. You want to make your own way. I will confess to the fact, however, that I want to help you achieve your goals, just like you helped me when we were together as teenagers. But that doesn’t mean I don’t believe you are capable of doing this all on your own! You helped me get to school, even from behind bars! That’s called love. Now with all of that said, you need to work smarter, not harder. So what if I can help you? That wa
sn’t what was happening today, but what if it fucking was?!”
He wanted to interrupt, set her straight, but he bit his tongue.
“Tony, put your pride aside and allow me, if I have useful connections, to help you, too. Derek is one of the top graphic designers in our industry. The mere fact that he wants to sit down and talk to you says volumes. I didn’t ask him to look up your website; he did that! I didn’t ask him to do shit! He saw your work, pulled my ass aside, and said, ‘Look, your boyfriend has some serious talent and I need to speak to him.’ Period, point blank! I don’t throw pity parties for my man; I throw celebrations. Now why don’t you go run and tell that?! I’m so pissed at you right now… damn! I am going to go change into something more comfortable and calm down. I’ll be back out in a little while.”
As she marched away, he jumped out of his seat, chased her, and pulled her into his arms. He hugged her hard and kissed the top of her head. She squirmed, trying to free herself, but he refused to let go.
“Baby, I’m sorry… I love you, you know that!” He pressed his hands to her face and looked down at her. “I just want to be the one taking care of you, like I used to. It’s me… it’s not you, you’re right. I shouldn’t have said those things.” She looked into his eyes, but remained quiet. “I’m going to be honest, all right? When we pulled up into your driveway, my heart started pounding. For a second I thought, ‘Fuck. What does she need me for? She don’t fuckin’ need me!’ And yeah, I’m a man and I want to take care of you… I want to bring home the bacon, as they say. I want to do my own shit, while you do yours! I don’t want to be a kept man. There’s nothing sexy or right, in my opinion, about a grown ass man not pulling his weight and living off his woman.
“So, on one hand, I am so fuckin’ proud of you; I mean that from the heart. But on the other, I feel like… like I could be seen as a disability to you, and some might think I’m holding you back.” He swallowed and took a moment to gather his thoughts. “I don’t think that, but perception can wreck people, Cass. I don’t want to make excuses, blame it on my felony. Yes, that’s made things harder for me, but I want to somehow succeed in spite of that! This shit is hard, Cassidy! I can’t get the jobs I want because once they do a background check… you know what happens. The jobs I am offered say I need more experience but then I can’t get the experience because the fuckin’ companies that won’t hire me due to my incarceration won’t give me a chance! It’s one big-ass circle, going around and around and getting nowhere! I am self-taught, Cass. Some appreciate that, some don’t.
“I learn and pick up things very quickly, I don’t need someone coddling me and taking me by the hand. Show me one damn time and I got it, ya know? Most of the shit these young cats fresh outta art school are doing, I’ve been there, done that! I took my little money and bought all kinds of programs, then taught myself how to use them! I’ve never needed a teacher to show me how to draw, how to create shading and depth, or a computer guy to explain Adobe and other programs. I sat my ass down, watched some how-to videos, and got the shit done. Period! I’ve got the experience already, but nobody will let me prove it! Nobody will give me a fucking chance!” He hated how his eyes were watering up.
He blinked the tears away… ashamed.
“Baby… exactly. I know this! I already knew this about you. But what you need to understand is it’s not always about what you know, Tony, but who you know! You do some shit with Derek, and he can put your ass in the right circles. Companies have fought me trying to get this man from me, okay? But he’s loyal. He has been there with me almost from the beginning. He was offered almost twice his salary—that is how much in demand he is. He. Noticed. You! I promise you; I swear on everything I hold dear I did not give a sales pitch to him about you. This was no bone tossing. It was all on him! All you need is a chance. One. Chance.”
She held up her finger, tears streaming down her face. “And no, I don’t need you, baby, I just want the fuck outta you!” He held her, listened to her, loving her so much. “And you can provide for me, Tony… provide good times, love, companionship, friendship, wonderful sex, good advice, laughs… You give me all of that and more on practically a daily basis!” She leaned into his embrace.
“Cassidy, I hear you… I’m going to keep making you happy, okay? I know I have a lot of pride. I’ve been that way since you’ve known me, since we were kids. It’s a problem sometimes, but I just never want to be a burden to you and I want to marry you one day, someday soon I hope, you know? And I want to be a good example to the children we’ll have. In order to do that, I need to have my shit together. They need to be able to look at their father and say, ‘He works hard, he makes sure we have everything we need, he supports us and loves us, and he loves our mother and respects her, too.’ My father made a lot of mistakes, but he was a good dad. He wasn’t the best husband, but I need to be both. I learned a lot from that man… what to do and what not to do. I want to do all the good things he did, but even better.”
She nodded in understanding.
“And I know you’ll succeed in that, Tony. I’ve been… I’ve been happier these last couple of months than I’ve been in years! When I saw you at Grandmama’s funeral, I turned into a seventeen year old girl again, Tony. She saw you before I did, and she knew what I’d be before I became the woman I am now. All this time she’s recognized my true love while I was still trying to convince myself that I was seeing things, that it wasn’t true! My heart was beating so damn fast, my knees buckled when you came up to me at the funeral… I was grieving the woman I loved most, my grandmama, standing in front of that casket where her body lay. And in front of my face stood someone who had basically risen from the dead. I didn’t think I’d ever see you again… you proved me wrong.”
He wrapped his hand around her neck and brought her in for a passionate kiss. Sliding his tongue within her mouth, he worked it in slow thrusts… Moments later, he had her on the kitchen counter, her skirt hiked up around her hips and her panties cast to the floor.
“Shit!” She held on tight to him as he entered her, the heat of her pussy instantly baptizing him, driving him mad. Pressing his forehead against hers, he plunged deeper and deeper until he was fully submerged. Holding on to her, he forced the love of his life to accept the ruthless adoration he needed to shower her with, one quickfire, nasty dick dive at a time. Yanking her blazer open he exposed her blouse beneath and with deft fingers opened it to reveal her bra, which he unfastened in seconds.
She sighed loudly and ran her fingers through his hair while he sucked her delectable titties. Running one hand along her tender clit, he played with her pussy after each and every thrust.
“It feels so good, Tony!”
“You’ll get this type of treatment for the rest of our lives. I will always put your pleasure first, Angel Eyes… I love fuckin’ you, baby!”
“You fuck me so good, baby! Oh God! I’m about to cum!” She shook against him, while he kept chasing her orgasm, wanting her to have every tremor and aftershock her beautiful body so deserved. “Cum in me, baby… cum in me!”
Her eyes looked desperate, her need for him great. Her delicate hand around his neck, she twisted her hips back and forth, meeting his thrusts. He lowered her flat onto the counter and fucked her ruthlessly. Holding onto her hips, he held fast with all of his might until he groaned, then screamed as his dick shot his love juice within her in fast spurts. Panting, dripping with sweat, he kept moving, slowly in and out of her, juicing the last of himself within her tight canal.
Then they rested there, breathing, their bodies pressed against each other, their heartbeats in tandem. Jazz music kept playing, enveloping them in its soothing rhythm.
“I’m hungry. We need to go to the grocery store,” he said breathlessly, his eyes closed as he caressed her shoulder and rested his head against her breasts.
“I can do you one better. I brought the cookbook. Let’s find a recipe then shop for what we need. Baby, let’s make a meal…”
Crabs in a Barrel…
Jodeci’s ‘Freek’N You’ played loudly through the speakers as the monster of a man stood behind her, his tattooed arms raised in the air, snapping his fingers to the beat. Clad in baby blue pajama pants, he bumped and grinded his groin against her ass, now covered in a white silk nightgown. They danced to the sexy song, enjoying themselves.
“I wake up feelin’ so hoooorny!” the man screamed out the lyrics, and she stifled a laugh.
Tony thinks he is really blowin’…
She let her gaze drift over to the steamer full of crab legs for their crab leg steam pot dinner. The sausage, mini corn cobs, boiled eggs and potatoes also simmered, filling her home with the essence of grandmama’s kitchen in her home away from home.
“You don’t know nothin’ about this, boy!” She giggled after he finished singing the lyrics.
“What are you talking about? Jodeci begged me to be in their group, but I went to prison so I told ’em they had to wait. By the time I was released they’d already split up. If they’d had me in the group, they’d still be together right now.”
Cassidy swung around and hit him with a dish towel, mirth spilling forth.
“You so stupid! Silly!” She opened a cabinet door and reached for two rectangular white plates from her favorite dinnerware set. “Tony, let me ask you something. It’s going to sound childish, and it probably is, but I’m curious anyway.”
“What is it?” He gave her a suspicious smile and pulled out a bottle of Chateau Ste. Michelle Chardonnay from the refrigerator, then set it on the long white dining room table. When he returned, her eyes drifted to his dick print, but she tried to keep her mind steady… no matter how challenging. The man had fucked the hell out of her in the shower when they’d gotten back from the grocery store. She could still feel him inside her and her pussy pulsed, craving him more as time went by.
Two sex romps in three hours… One in the kitchen, one in the shower. I doubt we’re even done for the night. We just got started…