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Paxton's Peace

Page 19

by Bailey West


  It felt strange having this conversation with Roman. On the one hand he’s my brother, but on the other hand, he is my Pastor whom I have a lot of respect for. Right now, it felt like I was talking to my Pastor and not my brother.

  “I trust your judgment. We knew it was going to happen at some point. Can I ask you why now? What does this have to do with your relationship with Olivia?” He rested his elbows on the arms of his chair and ran his fingers through his beard.

  “My relationship with Olivia has gone to another level. I asked her to move in with me permanently, and she said yes. I knew I wanted her with me before the whole assault thing happened so we decided that she will not return to her house. I want to build with her and eventually make her my wife, but she’s not my wife today, and I don’t want to bring any shame or controversy to your ministry. You know I have to much respect for you and your ministry to let my life affect you. I would rather step back, give someone else the armor bearer position rather than try to stay in the position and then have someone bring up my home life to hurt or shame you. Just to be clear, Ollie and I will be sleeping in the same bed, and I plan on making love to her as much as she will let me.”

  “Do you really think I care what people say about me? I can have whomever I want around me. It’s not like you are sleeping with every woman in the church, you are in a committed relationship.”

  “Rome, I know that, but we are forward thinkers. There are a lot of church people who are not. You waited until you were married to consummate your relationship with Nette, that was admirable and the right thing to do. You represent something. You stand for something, and I’m not going to be following you around doing the exact opposite of what you represent.”

  “I’m the Pastor, Pax, I know that there is a standard that I have to uphold. I don’t force those standards on anyone else. I’m not comparing myself to Jesus, but as a point of reference, no one who walked with Jesus was perfect. They all had issues.”

  “I hear you, but like I said, I will not let my choices or my lifestyle affect your ministry, period. I’m stepping down as your Armor Bearer and letting Malcolm take over. I shouldn’t have to force this on you.”

  “You do have to force it on me because you are stepping down for a dumb reason.”

  “Roman, I am not going to argue with you. You know this is the right move.”

  “Fine. I support your decision,” he said dismissively.

  “Dude, why is this conversation going this way?”

  “This sounds like some ‘stand up in front of the church and apologize because you got pregnant’ type stuff. You don’t have to be perfect to serve God. I stand up week after week and talk about not being judgmental. I preach relationship, not religion. I talk about the Holy Spirit and not man-made rules. It’s like none of that matters to you like you don’t hear it. You are stepping down because of people and man-made rules not because you can’t do the job.”

  “Bro, there is only one man I respect more than you, and that’s Dad. I’ve seen you come through the worse a man can come through and end up on top. I listen to everything you say, which is why I’ve made this decision. I have a relationship with Jesus, a lot of which I learned from you. I know how detrimental the court of public opinion is and I’m not going to subject you to that, period. I will protect you at all cost just like I always have. I’m not quitting church, and if you need me I will be there, but it’s just time for us to move on from this arrangement. It was going to happen, I’m just pushing the timeline up a little. You started this conversation by saying you trust my judgment so, trust me, please.”

  “You do know I support you, right? I just don’t want you to think that I would have asked you to step down because you and Ollie and moving in together.”

  “Come on man, you know I know that! But when someone is for you, they shouldn’t force you to make the difficult call. You should care enough to censor yourself, sit yourself down. That’s why I had to do it this way.”

  Roman sat back again. He didn’t say anything for several minutes. I waited to see what he would come up with next. I knew it would be hard to step down from my position, but I didn’t think it would almost cause an argument. I did see it from his point of view though, he never asked anyone to be perfect, just work on being better. I always appreciated that about him, so that’s why I knew I had to sit down. If someone were to come for my brother based on what they assumed I was doing, I would hurt them, literally. So, to avoid that, I will take myself out of the equation.

  “Alright, Bro.” Roman smiled, “Thank you for always looking out for me. It was not my intention to make this hard. I just want to make sure you are doing it for the right reasons. I understand now, and you are right. I’m glad you have someone in your life that you want to grow with. I accept your resignation. I will talk to Malcolm and let him know it’s his time.”

  Olivia

  It didn’t take very long for us to pack up my house and move everything to Paxton’s condo. I got a small storage room and put my furniture and some other things in there. I figure at some point I will go through it and decide what I want to keep and what I will get rid of. Right now, it feels safer to keep my things. I am not figuring things with Paxton and I won’t work out, but just in case they don’t, I won’t have to start from nothing again. That’s exactly how I explained it to him. He said he understood and paid the monthly fee for the storage unit up for a year.

  He moved all of his things to one side of his humongous walk-in closet so that I could store my things in the closet also. I don’t have a ton of things mostly because Zanetta came back over to my house after she styled me the first time, and got rid of almost every article of clothing I own. She has been replacing my wardrobe slowly. I can say that I feel a lot better about my body and I have a lot more confidence. I feel good in my clothes now. They accentuate my body instead of hiding it. I was ready for another change in my life, so I had Zanetta make me an appointment.

  I walked through the doors of Blue’s Beauty Boutique. It was a beautiful establishment, complete with three oversized crystal chandeliers, black and white damask wallpaper and red and yellow pops of color. The clothes were sorted by color on black and white hangers. There was a separate area for accessories and another area for shoes. There were customers in every area.

  “Olivia!” Zanetta exclaimed. “Welcome to my boutique.”

  “Thanks, it’s beautiful in here.”

  “Thank you, it’s my baby. Would you like a tour?”

  “Sure!”

  I followed Zanetta around while she showed me the entire building which included the boutique, her office, two conference rooms where she held meetings and client consultations. She showed me the tailoring room where custom suits were created and altered. Our last stop was the hair and make-up studio situated in the back of the building.

  “Marsay is in the hair studio waiting for you.”

  I was ready for something different with my hair, so I called Zanetta. She recommended Marsay, one of the stylists that works on her glam squad.

  “Marsay, this is my friend Olivia.”

  “Hi Olivia,” Marsay extended her hand. “Have a seat.” She motioned to the black leather chair in front of her. I sat down, and she draped a black cape around my neck. “Now,” she looked at me in the mirror, “What are we doing today?”

  “Well,” I pulled my hair from the bun I had it in. “I’ve never cut my hair. I want something sleek and professional but fun at the same time. Also, it needs to be something that I can handle on my own until I come back to you.”

  “What about a razor cut, asymmetrical bob?”

  “Marsay is the best. You will get your whole life together with one of her bobs,” Zanetta said.

  “That was easy. Let’s do a bob,” I smiled at her through the mirror.

  She ran her fingers through my hair and said, “What about some color too? I was thinking you would look good with a honey blonde with velvet black undertones. I can do a
n ombre´ effect with the blonde.”

  “Wouldn’t the black cover the blonde?”

  “No,” she laughed. “I mean the bottom layer of your hair will be velvet black which is a soft shade of black and then the top layer will be the honey blonde.”

  “Okay, I trust you. Work your magic,” I smiled.

  “How short do you want it?”

  My hair was currently in the middle of my back when stretched. Right now, it was on my shoulders.

  “I want it above my shoulders.”

  “Okay, tell me if you hate this, but what if we tapered one side. That would give you the fun you are looking for.”

  “No, I love it! Let’s do it.”

  “Before we start, let me repeat what we just said. You want a bob that stops above your shoulders. An ombre´ effect using the honey blonde and velvet black and we are going to taper one side. You know what taper means, right?”

  “Yes, that’s what I want, and taper means shave or low cut. I got it. That’s exactly what I want.”

  “Okay, follow me to the shampoo bowl.”

  After a couple of hours of working, Marsay sprayed some oil sheen on my hair and turned me around in her chair to face the mirror. I almost didn’t recognize myself. The cut and color had transformed my face and my attitude. I instantly felt all the things Paxton told me about myself.

  “Marsay! Oh my god! This is…I don’t know the word to use, but I absolutely love it!”

  “I’m glad you like it,” she smiled. “It looks perfect on you.”

  “It is,” I said as I tried to fight back the tears that were making my face contort. “I’m sorry for doing the ugly cry on you,” I said between sobs. “It’s just really amazing. Thank you.”

  I stood from the chair and hugged her. Zanetta gave me some tissue.

  “You’re welcome.”

  “You know what you should do? You should text Paxton and invite him out to dinner and debut your new hair,” Zanetta said.

  “He will see me when I go home to get ready.”

  “Not if we find you something on the floor and you get ready at my house. Roman has a late meeting so he won’t be home until after eight.”

  “Paxton is your guy?” Marsay asked.

  “Yes.” I smiled.

  “It sounds like a good idea to me. You should do it,” Marsay smiled.

  I looked at both ladies and then back at myself in the mirror.

  “Yeah, I think that’s a great idea.”

  I smiled and pulled out my phone to send Paxton a text.

  I want you to meet me for dinner tonight.

  Meet you? We can just leave from the house together. We live together, remember? – Paxton

  No, let’s meet. I will ride back with you.

  Ride back with me? How are going to get there? And where is there? – Paxton

  Stop asking so many questions and just follow my instructions. I will send you the location shortly. DON’T CALL ME! I know your finger is hovering over the call button right now.

  You don’t know what my finger was doing. *slowly moves finger from the call button* Alright Boss. I will await further instructions. – Paxton

  “He went for it!”

  “Yay, let’s find you something to wear.”

  I followed Zanetta out onto the floor of the boutique while she grabbed several dresses from the racks. I picked out a couple also. She directed me back to her office so I could try on the dresses.

  “We haven’t really had an opportunity to talk but how it has been living with Pax?”

  “It’s been wonderful,” I said while I stripped out of my clothes to try on the dresses we’d selected. “He’s my dream. When I was a little girl, before the world tainted me, I dreamt of a man that would love me and take care of me. I promise Nette, Paxton is the living version of those dreams. His words, his touch, the way he looks at me, I love it.”

  “Olivia, that’s beautiful.”

  “It is. I know that we aren’t doing things in the right order but…”

  “That’s not even a conversation we need to have. Your order is your order. Yes, we are Christians, and there is a traditional order of things but girl, live your life. Be happy.”

  “I am Zanetta. I really, really am. I never thought that I would be in a happy, committed relationship, but I am! I hope he is happy too. I mean, I think he is. He acts like he is.”

  “He is!” Zanetta laughed.

  “I’m not only attracted to his mind, but I am so attracted to his body. I feel like I’m addicted to him. I want him to touch me all the time. It’s like I want to put a tracker on his phone so I can find him and get it anytime I want!”

  We both laughed.

  “I understand. Roman is the only man I’ve ever been with, but I’m sure that is for the best because if someone had to come after him, they would have some large shoes to fill. I probably wouldn’t let anyone come after him because I would be stalking Roman trying to get it again. I thought I felt that way because he was my first.”

  “No, Paxton is not my first, but he might as well be. I think our friendship fuels our chemistry. I just love being around him.”

  “I’m so happy he found you!”

  “I’m happy he found me too!”

  I used a car service to transport me to the restaurant where Paxton and I were meeting. I’d called ahead and reserved a table then I sent Paxton another text message:

  Meet me at Acardi’s restaurant at 7:30. Wear that Royal blue suit that I like. No tie. (winking emoji)

  Got it. I will bring the tie just in case I need it for later. (winking emoji) – Paxton

  Who taught you how to use emojis?

  I’m good at it huh? (puppy emoji) - Paxton

  What is the puppy emoji for?

  Old dog new tricks - Paxton

  OMG! LOL! What?

  I laughed at his stupid text message. He makes me laugh at least once a day. People don’t believe he is funny but he really is.

  The driver opened the door for me. I was a ball of nerves. I was nervous about Paxton seeing my new hair, and I was nervous about being out in public with this dress on that Zanetta picked out. She chose a red, form fitted, spaghetti strap, dress that was comfortable but it looked like it was painted on. It fit my curves perfectly and stopped right above my knee. I wore a pair of pointed toe, black patent leather stilettos and carried a clutch to match the shoes.

  I walked into the restaurant and told the Maître D’ my name. He escorted me back to the table where Paxton was already seated. I watched Paxton as I walked toward him and saw the moment of recognition. He stood from his seat as I approached the table and moved quickly to pull out my chair. He had on the blue suit I had requested. He looked delicious.

  “Wow, Ollie,” he whispered in my ear as I sat down. He went back to his seat and sat down without taking his eyes off me. “Baby, you look, wow! Your hair, that dress, those shoes…dinner isn’t going to last very long.”

  “Do you like it?” I asked while running my fingers through my hair.

  “Like it? I love it! You are sexy as hell, and I really don’t like that you have me in this public restaurant and I can’t touch you like I want to.”

  “Don’t worry baby. When we get home, you can touch me where ever you like,” I winked.

  He made a low growl noise then leaned across the table to close the distance between us.

  “Unless you want all these people to see a show on this table they will never forget, we should leave.” His voice had dropped several octaves causing me to squeeze my thighs together. We stared at each other for several minutes. “Are you challenging me?” He asked with one eyebrow hiked.

  I was going to try to challenge him. I know he wouldn’t, would he? I examined his eyes deciding I didn’t want to risk it.

  “Okay, let’s leave.”

  “Where is the waiter?” He asked looking around.

  Paxton

  My parents and I were on our way to their condo. They we
re visiting for a few days and checking in on Zora. My mother is so excited about having grandchildren that she is here in Houston at least once a month now. She lands, picks up BJ, rubs Zora’s stomach and takes plenty of pictures to brag about to her friends in New York. My brothers and I purchased my parents a condo here in Houston since they come to visit so often.

  “So, Sweetheart, what’s been going on?” My mother asked.

  “Everyone is doing well. Roman’s new Armor Bearer is doing a great job. The ABA is coming along nicely, and we are all well.”

  “And?”

  “And…” I glanced over at her sitting in the passenger seat, then I looked back at my Dad in the rearview mirror. “And, Olivia and I live together?”

  “How long have you had that arrangement?” My mother questioned.

  “Well, you know she stayed with me after the attack. We fell into a groove so after the guys that attacked her were arrested, and it was time for her to go back home, I didn’t want her to. She didn’t want to leave so we packed up her house and moved her in.”

  “Why did you decide to move in together instead of getting married? No judgment, I’m just asking a question,” my dad said.

  “She experienced a lot of abuse in her marriage. She’s told me about some of the horrible things that he did to her, so I don’t want to rush her. I want her to set the pace, and when she is ready, I will ask.”

  “That’s it?” Dad asked.

  “Yeah, that’s it,” I responded.

  “I told you, Roland,” my mother turned around and looked at my Dad.

  “Yeah, you called it,” he replied.

  “What?” I looked at both of them.

  “I knew you were going to like her when she came in for the interview with us. My spirit connected with her. She even had a little sassy but respectful answer when I tried to push her by asking about women being leaders,” she chuckled. “I knew I loved her after that.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, I knew she was single, and I had hoped that I wouldn’t have to intervene to get you together and I didn’t!”

 

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