by Mona Love
“I don’t need a surprise if it’s not you,” he said.
I felt a warm feeling envelop my body and an involuntary smile spread over my face at his words. “Well, it’s not me. It’s a surprise,” I replied.
“But I hate surprises,” Malek protested.
I wasn’t listening to him. “Come here,” I commanded. I covered Malek’s eyes with a blindfold and led him off of the elevator that opened into our new loft.
“Are you trying to peek?” I joked, guiding Malek by his hand.
“Nah, I can’t see shit,” he laughed as he stumbled forward.
I guided him until we reached my intended destination. “Okay. We’re here. You ready?” I asked.
“Man, if you don’t get me out of this blindfold,” Malek joked.
I chuckled at his playful impatience. I had stopped him at a doorway.
“So, we are not walking anymore,” Malek said, stating the obvious. He reached both arms out and touched either side of the doorway frame. He inhaled deeply. “Smells like brand new,” he said.
“Brand new? Is that a scent now?” I joked back. We both laughed. “You sure you ready?” I teased, feeling palpable anticipation.
“Baby, c’mon. You dragging this out for real now,” Malek said, in this whining voice that he knew made me horny.
“Shit, you know how much that voice turns me one. Maybe I have to get something before I make the big reveal,” I said, still stalling. It was fun.
Malek let out a long breath. I moved in front of him. My stomach quivered with nervousness. What if Malek thought my surprise was stupid?
I slowly and gently pulled off the blindfold. Before Malek could see anything, I kissed him. Our tongues danced. Still kissing him, I walked Malek backward into the bedroom. Abruptly, I ended the kiss and stepped aside.
“I want to give you this and more,” I said honestly, opening my arms wide. “I want to share everything I have with you.”
Malek’s mouth fell open. He looked strangled, and I saw the tears rim his eyes. He turned around and around like a kid inside a candy store.
“Yo, I never had anyone do shit for me,” he said as he stared in amazement at the huge professionally commissioned portrait of him hanging behind the bed.
“I just wanted you to know that it wasn’t all mine. I wanted to let you know that everything in the room belongs to you, including me,” I said, fighting back my own tears.
“This shit is boss, and I love it,” Malek gasped.
“It came together much better than I expected,” I said.
Malek pulled me into him. He just didn’t know how badly I needed his love. Growing up hand-to-mouth, this was more than I ever expected out of life.
“I love you,” Malek whispered as he pulled me down to the gleaming hardwood floors. Overwhelmed with emotion, we held each other tight. Breathing heavily, Malek moved on top of me and ground his pelvis against mine. I immediately clawed at his shirt buttons.
“I want you, now!” I urged.
Malek let out a gust of breath, turned on by my assertiveness. It worked every time. I leaned up and forced my tongue into his mouth, grinding into him harder.
“I like when you take charge,” he moaned into my mouth.
“Take off your clothes,” I ordered, my voice throaty and harsh. Honestly, I didn’t know what had come over me. “Hurry up,” I demanded, my eyes going wild roving his body.
Malek smiled as he unbuckled his pants and slid out of his boxers. He was aroused. Thrilled. Taken aback. I licked my lips and grabbed Malek’s manhood roughly and tugged on it.
“Whoa! That thing is connected to me.” He winced at the rough handling.
I didn’t care. I was possessed as I took him into my mouth.
“Shit!” he hissed. I was ravenous as I moved my mouth up and down on him. I could feel the swell of blood rushing through his vein. That made me work my jaws harder, faster. The slurping sounds were driving Malek crazy. He grunted like an animal. Sweat glistened on my temples, and saliva trickled down the sides of my mouth. I moved to his balls and took them into my mouth. It was deliciously daring and kinky as hell.
“Damn, this is something new,” Malek murmured, his legs beginning to shake. I gently sucked then blew air on them. I did that over and over as I moved my hand over his shaft.
“You fucking me up, baby girl,” Malek gasped on the verge of exploding. I knew I had him now. I stopped on purpose. Malek’s eyes popped open incredulously.
“Lie down,” I instructed seductively. Malek did as he was told. The cold, hard floor stung his back and ass cheeks, and he let me know it. I didn’t care, and he didn’t either. We wanted each other. We needed each other.
I got completely naked in front of Malek. I didn’t hide shit. I straddled him, skin to skin.
I lowered my body onto his, throwing my head back as he filled me completely. I rocked my hips, feeling his girth take up all of my space.
“Cum for me,” I growled as I ground into him so hard he lost his breath. Malek gasped for breath as I swirled, rocked, and ground on his dick. My insides throbbed with every inch of him.
I glanced down at Malek to find his eyes tightly shut. “Look at me,” I instructed, lifting his face to meet mine. “Look into my eyes.” Malek’s eyes opened wide. It was like he was under a spell as I pumped up and down fast, slamming my big body into his.
“Are you all mine this time?” It was an important question. Malek couldn’t catch his breath to answer. I stopped moving, but I squeezed the muscles inside of my pussy around his manhood.
“Shit! Oh, God!” Malek huffed.
“Answer me!”
“Yes! I’m all yours, Keisha,” Malek proclaimed just as he exploded inside of me. I smiled and followed his lead, wetting him with my juices. I collapsed on top of him, my body rising with each heave of his chest. Silence enveloped us. This was the life, I hoped.
Chapter 6
Fate or What?
Leitha whirled around and opened her arms, resembling an enchantress in the batwing black designer dress she was modeling.
I giggled. “Okay, Morticia from The Addams Family, cast a spell on my ass why don’t you.”
Leitha laughed.
It was so good to be hanging out with my best friend again. I had been spending all my time with Malek for the past three weeks. Having money was still new to me, to us. I had called Leitha up and demanded that we do an all-expenses-paid shopping trip on me. She tried to have an attitude at first, but you know me, I didn’t give up. Leitha could never resist my bubbly personality.
“Let me see yours,” Leitha said.
I mimicked her Bride of Frankenstein movements and opened my arms wide and spun around. I could feel the dress hugging me in all of the right places.
“Bitch, now that dress is on fire,” Leitha complimented me.
“Are you sure?” I asked, letting my arms fall at my sides as I turned to the mirror and looked at myself in the deep maroon gown one last time. “I’ve never worn anything this damn fancy. Now I have to make sure I have a place to go in it,” I said.
“First of all, you’re rich now so you can just wear that shit to walk down the street. Second of all, that shit was definitely made for you,” Leitha replied, rolling her head like she did when she was making a point.
“Okay. I’ll take your word for it,” I said, walking back into the fitting room. “Come get it. And add your stuff to mine.”
Leitha sighed and snatched the dress over the fitting room door. She tossed it on top of the huge pile the salesgirl held on her arms.
“What about shoes and bags?” I called out as I got dressed.
“You know what? We are playing ourselves really. When you have the kind of money you got, you’re supposed to hire a damn personal shopper. They bring everything to your house, and you can sit in your shit and pick out what you want. We definitely acting like new money,” Leitha preached.
“Well, bitch, we are new money. Shit, I ain’t sc
ared to admit that,” I said as I emerged from the fitting room. “You’re also the one dressed up like we were going someplace fancy just to come shopping. If that ain’t some new money shit, I don’t know what is,” I joked.
Leitha looked at her perfectly placed makeup and slayed hairstyle in the mirror. “Shit, you’re right. I wasn’t about to come in here and be profiled like I’m some broke bitch.”
I raised a brow and nodded at Leitha as if to say, “I know that’s right.”
“I missed you,” I admitted.
“Yeah, right. Your ass been giving me the shaft for weeks. That dick must be great,” Leitha chuckled.
“Lord, you sound like my mother.” I rolled my eyes.
“Well, if we all saying the same thing, then it must be true,” she said, moving her hips like she was humping the air. “Good dick will make you lose your damn mind.”
We laughed.
“Let’s get out of here. I’m starving.” I signaled the salesgirl, who by then had a sweaty upper lip and quaking arms. “I’m ready to check out.”
The salesgirl craned her neck to see behind the pile of clothes we had stacked on her, and she smiled. We followed her to the counter, lost in conversation.
“Wait a minute.” I stopped Leitha. “Girl, I have always wanted a Chanel bag. You have no idea how I’ve dreamed about one day buying one,” I said, pulling her into the Chanel salon inside of Neiman Marcus.
“Eww, girl, five thousand dollars or more on a bag makes my stomach hurt,” Leitha said. “But it ain’t tricking if you got it.”
“And I definitely got it,” I said dreamily.
Another saleswoman walked over to us as we stood in front of the glass showcase literally gawking at the beautiful Chanel bags. I picked up on her little suspicious eyes, but I ignored her. I wasn’t about to feed in to her “shopping while black” silent stereotyping.
“I’ll take two of those classics. The aqua green and the red caviar leather.” I leaned into the counter and pointed at two bags on the shelf behind it.
“Whew,” Leitha huffed, playfully fanning herself.
“Girl, stop. I think you should get two too. Let’s start our collection together,” I chimed. If this saleswoman was going to act suspicious, I was going to act over-the-top. I could be a snob too. I was getting used to it.
The tight-faced white saleslady widened her eyes at me, but she tried to keep that fake smile on her face. I could tell she was probably secretly judging and she more than likely instantly thought I couldn’t afford these expensive-ass bags. It was amusing to me to watch her struggling to keep it professional, because she also knew just as well as I did that my purchase of these two $5,000 Chanel bags would be a payload of commission for her. And if Leitha took my advice and got her bags, she’d get even more.
As the ugly saleslady worked to retrieve my items, I kept shopping with my eyes. Now I felt like I had a little point to prove. I smirked to myself, and for spite, I decided to make her feel like she might need to call somebody. I bet when I walked in she had immediately looked at my race and my size and pegged me as a window shopper or credit card scammer. I was about to show this bitch a thing or two about judging books by their covers.
“Wow, these are beautiful too. Hmmm, I think I should take every color of these as well,” I said, pointing down into the counter at the Chanel brooches. “Oh, and give my friend one of each too, please. Why not? You only live once.”
“YOLO!” Leitha belted out.
We both busted out laughing. The saleswoman almost dropped the pocketbooks as she clamored over and grabbed the merchandise I was asking for with the quickness. I could hear her cursing in her head, probably green with envy about how two chubby black girls could afford all of this high-end shit while she was an old white bitch waiting on us hand and foot for the commission she would make from our sales. I chuckled to myself with satisfaction and eyed Leitha knowingly.
“Is that all?” the saleswoman asked me, barely able to get the words out clearly.
“I think I’ve done enough damage for one day,” I said snobbishly.
Then I slapped my American Express Plum Card down on the counter. Can you believe that bitch of a saleswoman had the nerve to squint at my card like she couldn’t tell what it was? She picked it up and looked it over like it was a piece of shit. I could the questions glinting in her eyes: is this really hers? Is she stealing someone’s identity? How can she afford to have a plum card?
I quickly began feeling indignant. How dare this bitch!
“Do you do that to all customers or just the black ones?” I asked through my teeth.
“Yes, please tell us,” Leitha added. “Because it’s real obvious that you’re profiling us.”
The saleswoman’s eyes popped open like we each just dashed a cup of cold water in her face.
“Oh, don’t act surprised by the question, now. You’ve been acting suspicious of us since we walked in here,” I said. “Why is that?”
“Correct. I’m sure if we were of any other race, you would have picked up my friend’s card with a smile and run to the register without a second thought. I’m just wondering what all the extra examination of the card is all about,” Leitha said through gritted teeth.
“I don’t know, do you think we need to speak to your manager?” I asked, the underlying threat readily apparent.
The saleswoman’s cheeks flushed deep red, and she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. She parted a halfhearted, embarrassed smile and broke eye contact with me. “No, ma’am, and I apologize if you feel that way,” she replied meekly.
“That’s what we thought. Now I think you can stop scrutinizing the card and ring us up, or this store will be all over the news when I’m done speaking to the media about the blatant discrimination we experienced here,” Leitha snapped.
Leitha and I laughed as the saleswoman raced to the small area in the Chanel suite where they rang purchases over a certain amount. We laughed, but it wasn’t really a laughing matter. As someone who’d dealt with discrimination based on how I looked all of my life, it was ridiculous to keep going through the shit. Honestly, being fat and discriminated against was a lot, but being fat and black was worse. Oh, and the fact that I was a fat black woman didn’t help the situation any, either. This incident just served to show that it really didn’t even matter how much money you had. The world was a cruel fucking place.
I could tell Leitha and I had scared the holy shit out of the saleswoman, which was what we wanted to do after her disgusting behavior.
As we stood there waiting for her to return with our nicely bagged and wrapped items, my cell phone buzzed. I looked at the screen and bit down into my jaw. It was Malek.
Should I answer? Should I answer? I contemplated. I didn’t want Leitha to feel like I wasn’t into spending time with her. A cold sweat broke out over my body.
Leitha rolled her eyes. “He better not even come between our time together today, Keisha. I mean, I’ve hardly seen you in weeks. You can’t throw money at me and think I’m just going to stop being your damn best friend. Only fake bitches would do that,” Leitha said, noticing the struggle playing out on my face.
“He really likes you, LeLe,” I said, pressing IGNORE on the call.
“Whatever.” Leitha waved me off. “He likes me now, but he ain’t like me when he left you all fucked up back in the day and I had to be there.”
“Oh, God, are we going to keep bringing that up? I forgave him. I think you should too at this point,” I said pointedly.
Leitha sucked her teeth. “Look, I just want the best for you. Hate it or love it, I got your best interest in mind, no matter what.”
“Your total is $16,256.33,” the saleswoman interrupted us all of a sudden with a smile.
“Thank you,” I said, matching her phony smile.
“That was some damn damage,” Leitha said, shocked. “I take my wig, hat, and my whole damn scalp off to you. I hope you don’t go spending like that too of
ten and damn sure not on that nigga Malek.”
“Stop!” I shot back. “You’re starting to sound like a nagging mother instead of my damn best friend. I know I am a fat girl who you think has to buy a man, but I’m not. Malek loves me.”
“All of a sudden, though?” Leitha asked. “Why all of a sudden? That’s all I want you to see. Where has he been? Why did it take until everyone found out you hit the lottery for him to show up? Why? What? I just can’t wrap my mind around it, Keisha.”
I knew Leitha had been waiting for the opportunity to ask me all of these questions. Ever since the day in the apartment with Leitha, I’d felt like I was torn between my man and my best friend, each tugging me in a different direction.
“Listen, I love you, but this is on me. We’re just fine. It’s like nothing has changed. Malek has been so attentive. He’s been at my side and with me every minute, of course except now while I’m with you.”
As I said the words, a cold chill shot down my back. The truth was Malek had disappeared twice, and I had been afraid to ask where he’d been. He’d come back with flowers or some of my favorite food each time. Malek and I had been living like nothing had happened, and since I didn’t want my new lifestyle to change, I didn’t press him. I was actually afraid to lose him again.
I knew Malek still had things to take care of outside of our relationship, and that’s what I told myself. No, I convinced myself. That was it. He was just out taking care of business. If I pressed him, I might push him away, and I refused to do that.
“Just be sure, Keisha. That’s all I’m saying,” Leitha said.
I waved my hand and chuckled nervously. “Girl, that man is never going to let anything come between him and his Keish Keish ever again,” I joked.
Leitha shrugged. “His Keish Keish better be smart smart and not dumb dumb when it comes to her coins coins and niggas trying to use her,” she said.
“Ugggh, please stop. Enough. This is supposed to be a happy day, right? We are together. We are shopping. And I ignored my man’s call all for you. Let’s make the best of it,” I said.
Leitha had always had an unwavering protective streak when it came to me, ever since we were kids. She was like my cheerleader, protector, mother, and advisor, and even when I was wrong, Leitha would always stick by my side. She’d always be right though, so I was slightly uneasy about the things she’d been saying about Malek.