by Tracy Reed
Chapter 34
KYLA LIKED SPENDING THE AFTERNOON with Sean. However, it didn’t produce the outcome she had hoped for. Ten minutes into her walk she realized the cool air wasn’t doing anything to stop the growing urge within. She needed an outlet for her frustration. She reached into her bag for her cell phone and pressed the secret number.
The phone rang three times and stopped and rang again twice before he answered. “Hello, yes I understand. Let me go down to my office and I’ll call you right back.”
Eric started walking out of the room when Olivia stopped him. “Is there something wrong?”
“It’s a new patient in crisis. I’m going to take this in my office.” He walked downstairs to his office, closed the door behind him and dialed Kyla’s number. After the third ring, she picked up.
“Hey baby,” she purred.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m feeling a little lonely and I want you to come out and play?”
He dropped his head and let out a sigh. “You know that’s not possible.”
“Hmmm…are you sure?”
Resisting Kyla’s purrs was never easy for Eric. He walked into the bathroom and closed the door. “I don’t see how I can…”
“Baby please,” she begged. “Just a quickie. I just don’t want to be alone and I can’t wait until Monday.” He flushed the toilet and turned on the water in case Olivia was lurking outside the door. He waited a few seconds before walking back to his desk. “I’ll even let you do that thing you like to do.”
His thoughts instantly turned to the menu of things he and Kyla did. His smile covered his face and his mind began racing with thoughts of how he could get out of the house. She hummed again and he was near full excitement. The panting in his voice was confirmation. Kyla was about to get her way.
“Baby, there’s no way I can get out.” He sat down behind his desk trying not to think about Kyla’s offer. “Please forgive me? I promise to make it up to you on Monday.” He looked at the door, saw the knob turning and the door open. “Mr. Curtis, I understand your concerns, but…”
“Honey, is everything okay?” Olivia asked.
“Hold on.” He covered his phone. “Yes. I’ll be upstairs in a few minutes.”
“Okay. I’m sorry.” He waited for her to close the door and continued his conversation in code.
“Okay. If you’re still feeling the same in the morning, call me and I’ll call in a prescription.”
“Is she still there?” Kyla asked.
“No, but I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
“Oh, I get it.”
“I’ll make sure my office confirms your appointments for next week.”
She let out a sigh. “Fine.” She hung up and turned around, staring down the street towards Sean’s building, and then at Winnie. “What do you say we go back and spend the rest of the evening with Sean and Simon?” Winnie barked and started walking ahead of Kyla. “I guess that’s a yes.”
Ten minutes later Kyla and Winnie were standing in front of Sean’s building. She dialed his number and waited for him to answer. “Up for a double date?”
“Where are you?” he asked.
“Look out your window.”
He walked over to the window and looked out at Kyla waving and Winnie shaking her bottom. “Come on up.” She walked inside and the doorman ushered her to the elevator. She and Winnie rode up to Sean’s loft. The elevator stopped, the doors opened and she and Winnie were met by Sean and Simon. Simon walked over and sniffed Winnie and they trotted off to play. “What’s going on?” Sean asked.
“I wasn’t ready to go home.” She looked at Sean and her head filled with more fantasies no good Christian boy should know anything about.
“So you thought you two would hang out with me and Simon?”
“We can leave.” She pretended to be offended.
“Come on.” She followed him to the kitchen. “So what happened?”
“What do you mean?”
“What did he do?”
She let out a sigh. “I thought he and I could hook up tonight.”
“And…”
“He said he couldn’t get away.” He nodded at her statement. “Sean don’t say it.”
“Say what?”
“That if he cared about me, he would have tried to see me.”
“So you think you can read my mind.”
“In his defense, Saturdays aren’t one of our nights.”
He walked over to the refrigerator, got a bottle of mineral water and placed a glass with ice in front of her. “Then why did you call him?”
“Because I didn’t wanna be alone tonight.”
“Oh.”
“And I thought maybe he and I could do something and…”
“I get it.” He filled her glass and put the bottle down and hesitated before continuing. “Let me ask you something. If he had agreed to see you, do you think that would have made you feel better?”
“Of course it would.” She sipped from the glass and placed it back on the counter.
“Think about it Ky…”
“What did you call me?”
“I’m sorry.”
“No, that was nice…like we’re friends.”
“We are friends…at least I thought we were.”
“We are, but…continue.”
“As I was saying, once he tapped that and made your body feel better,” she started laughing. “What was going to happen next?”
“Tapped that? Sean Prescott, I never would have suspected you even new words like that.”
“You forget, I wasn’t always a good Christian boy.” He smiled. “Seriously, was he gonna stay or rush back to his wife?”
“I don’t know. I guess he was gonna rush back to his wife.”
“Interesting.” He nodded.
“What?”
“You said rush back. Like he was scared his wife would be angry.”
“Of course she’d be upset. I would…too…just like…” Kyla started rubbing her forehead. “What’s happening to me?”
He patted her hands. “You’re finally realizing that you want more than he’s willing to give you.”
She looked at his large hands and her thoughts got confused. Sean was right. She wanted more and Eric wasn’t capable of more. On the other hand, she was thinking how soft Sean’s hands felt, and how she would love to have them patting a few other parts of her body. She pulled back and stood up. “Maybe this was a bad idea.”
“What?”
“I’m a little vulnerable right now and you are…wow… uhm…can we get some air?”
He looked at her and she looked flustered. “Sure. Let me get Simon.” He grabbed Simon’s leash. “Simon.” He called out and a few seconds later, the little dog came running into the kitchen with Winnie following behind him. He reached down and locked the leash onto Simon’s collar while Kyla did the same for Winnie. They boarded the elevator and rode downstairs.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“It’s a beautiful night.”
“Yes, it is. Where are we going?”
He looked at her smiling. “To the park.”
“Seems Simon knows the way.” Noting Simon pulling Sean.
“Shhh, don’t tell Simon he’s not a great dane.” They both laughed. He reached for her hand and their fingers interlocked. She looked down and smiled. “Sometimes who we think we are, really isn’t who we are. Take Simon for example, he thinks he’s the biggest, baddest dog on the block. In reality, he’s a little fella with a lot of self-confidence.”
At that moment Kyla realized she’d been playing herself short. She thought she was number one in Eric’s life, when in reality she was just the other woman.
Simon got excited and ran toward the park. Kyla and Sean followed and once inside the dog playpen they let the little dogs off their leashes to play. Kyla and Sean walked over and sat on the bench watching their dogs play. She eased up next to Sean and rested her head on
his shoulder. “Thank you.”
“That’s what friends are for.”
She sniffled and wiped her eyes.
Chapter 35
ERIC’S REFUSAL TO COME OUT and play, shocked Kyla almost as much as Sean’s observation about her position in Eric’s life. In the beginning, her relationship with Eric seemed ideal. But now it was lacking the excitement it once had. Things needed to change, but she wasn’t sure how. Eric said he would make himself available whenever she wanted. That was a lie. She wondered what else he was lying about.
When her cell rang with the secret code, she didn’t rush to answer it. When the phone rang again, she walked over to her desk, picked it up and read the screen, “Liar.” This weekend she’d finally assigned a name to Eric’s number.
He’d gone from being the man that made her body shake with pleasure to the man who broke her heart. She wasn’t sure what angered her more, letting him get close or becoming emotionally attached. She let the call go to voice mail knowing he’d call back. He was hungry and needed a big helping of Kyla to quench his appetite. She continued working and twenty minutes later her phone rang with the same signal and the same name on the caller ID. She closed the door, took a deep breath and answered the call.
“Hey baby,” she purred.
“Hey sexy. I tried calling you earlier.”
“I was in the middle of something.”
“I’ve missed you.”
“Have you?”
“Yes. About the other night, I hope you understand?”
“I do.” She understood she was just like her aunts. The other woman waiting on her lover to make time for her.
“I really wanted to see you, but…”
“Eric, you don’t need to apologize.”
“Are we still on for this afternoon?”
“Of course. I’ll see you at four. Bye.”
Kyla dropped Winnie off at the groomers for her usual pampering session and walked three blocks west to the secret apartment. She smiled at the doorman, got on the elevator and rode upstairs. She opened the door and stepped inside the beautiful post war building with the horrible view. She wandered around the apartment looking at the photos and trinkets from her and Eric’s trips and adventures. Symbols of happier times.
She stood staring out the window waiting for Eric. The slight jiggle of the door confirmed it was four o’clock. He was always on time when it came to him satisfying his needs. He pushed the door open and stepped inside. She looked at his reflection in the window and smiled.
“Hey Sexy,” he called. He closed the door, placed his keys on the table and put his jacket on the sofa. He walked over and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her to him. “I missed you.” He kissed her neck.
If he had made that confession on Saturday, it would have sent chills up her spine. It would have been followed by a rush of heat and a tingling prompting her to rip her clothes off, giving Eric permission to have his way with her. Instead, she felt nothing.
“Did you now?” she said, looking at his reflection in the window.
“Yes.” He eased his hands down the side of her thighs, but she didn’t move. “I see we’re playing a game.”
“A game?” Every statement he made she countered with a question.
“Yes. What is this one, the boss and the sexy secretary?” She faked a smile. Just like the last few times they were together, when she faked being satisfied with Eric’s performance. If he only knew her sounds of delight were the result of her fantasizing about Sean.
He kissed the side of her neck while moving his hands up the side of her body inside her blouse, and gently caressing her breasts. She blurted out, “I want to get married.” He continued caressing her breasts and she repeated her statement. “I said, I want to get married.”
He removed his hand. She thought to herself, he better burn that memory in his mind, because that’s the last time his hand would have the privilege of touching any part of her. He stepped back and she turned around to face him.
“Married? Where is this coming from?” he asked.
“You said, if at anytime I wanted to get married, all I had to do was say it and you’d make it happen. Well, I’m saying it. I want to get married.”
“I can’t marry you.”
“Why not?”
“I’m already married.”
“I know and you said it would only take minutes to change that once I was ready.”
He turned and started toward the sofa. “Kyla, I can’t.”
“Is there a reason why you can’t marry me?”
“I thought you were fine with our arrangement?”
“The other night made me realize, I want more. I want to be married. What’s the problem, don’t you love me?”
“Yeah, but I…”
“Eric, I’m giving you thirty days, and that’s more time than you need to make up your mind. It’s either me or your wife.”
“Is all of this because I couldn’t see you the other night? You know Saturday isn’t one of our nights.”
“I know that, but you said no matter what, you’d be there when I called and that I would always be number one. I’m not. Because if I were, you would have done whatever it took to see me, but you didn’t. So I’m offering you a solution, me or your wife.”
“Kyla, I don’t know what’s gotten into you. Let’s go…” He stepped closer and grabbed her by the hand.
“Let go of me.” She jerked away.
“What’s gotten in to you? We agreed…”
“I refuse to be the other woman.” She started toward the door. “You have thirty days. If I don’t hear from you, then I’ll assume you’ve made your decision.”
She opened the door and he called out, “Kyla.” She slammed the door.
Chapter 36
FOR KYLA, A VISIT FROM her mother was like having root canal surgery without anesthesia. Nadine Marshall James Henderson made these treks to the city every six weeks, invited or not. And she expected Kyla to visit once a month.
Nadine grew up outside of Birmingham and married her high school sweetheart, Daniel James, six months after graduation. They had a happy marriage until he died seven years later. She was devastated. Her older sister suggested she take a cruise to clear her head. While on this journey of healing, she met Dr. Percy Henderson, the ship’s doctor. In a few days he showed her how to cherish the memories she had with her husband while making new ones without feeling guilty. By the end of her trip, she was full of life and had fallen in love. When the ship docked, Percy went home with her. She introduced him to Kyla and three weeks later they became a family and moved to New York.
Nadine and Percy have been married thirty-seven years. A couple of years into their marriage, they had Kyla’s sister, Corianne. Corianne was following in her mother’s footsteps. She married her high school sweetheart, Dexter Abernathy. They waited two years after graduating college before getting married. They have been married almost twelve years and have been trying to get pregnant for eleven. Unlike everything else in their lives, getting pregnant hadn’t been easy. However, they were trusting God and patiently waiting on the manifestation of His word in their lives.
When Kyla’s mother came to visit, she made it a point of reminding her how wonderful Corianne’s life was and that she should consider joining the “wives club.” And just like anything else Kyla didn’t want to hear, she tuned her out.
Kyla prepared for these visits with the precision of a highly classified military operation. She made mental notes of topics to avoid during her mother’s visits. Number one on the list was Eric. Mrs. Henderson wasn’t a fan of Eric’s when he was single. And once she heard he was married, he moved to the top spot on her imaginary hit list. If she’d had her way, she’d have brought her nephew up from Selma and had him take care of the problem for her. Unfortunately, she knew she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she had. Instead, when she visited, she would hint at her disapproval of Kyla’s personal life.
The buzzer sound startled Winnie and she started barking.
“Winnie, be quiet,” Antonio barked back. He hit the buzzer unlocking the door and looked up to see who was walking in. “Hi Mama Henderson.” He walked over and threw his arms around her. “What did you bring me?” he asked.
“Good to see you too, Antonio.”
“I’m sorry. You look pretty. Here,” he reached for the green woven bag in her hand. “Let me take that for you.”
She blocked his hand. “I’ve got this, but you can take my suitcase.”
“Okay.” Winnie ran out and started barking.
“What is that?” she asked.
“Winnie, be quiet. I think it’s your grand-dog.”
“My what? Does that thing belong to Kyla?”
“Yes ma’am.”
“Oh my God, here, take this.” She handed him the green bag. “There’s plenty for everyone. Where’s my daughter?”
“She’ll be back any minute.”
“I’ll wait in her office.” She walked into Kyla’s office and sat on the sofa. Winnie came in and sniffed her feet. “Get away from me.” Winnie ignored her and sat in front of her feet with her tongue hanging out. “Don’t look at me like that. I don’t care what Antonio says, you are not a grandchild substitute.” Winnie barked and placed her face on the tip of Nadine’s shoe.
Kyla walked in and inhaled. “Fried Chicken.” She continued to her office and was immediately greeted by the sight of her mother sitting on the sofa. “Hi, mo…mo…” She walked over and kissed her mother on the cheek and saw Winnie sitting at her feet. “I see you’ve met Winnie.”
“You mean my grand-dog.”
Kyla laughed. “Your what?”
According to Antonio, this is my grandchild substitute.” She looked at her feet. “I think she likes me.”
“She only sleeps on people she likes. How was your ride?”
“Honestly, Kyla you make it sound like I’m coming from some faraway place…Westchester is just up the road.”
