Wednesday at Noon

by Teneka Woods

  Nate walked further into the center of the field. “I’m just going to do some basic poses, alright? Nothing too over-the-top,” he said. He turned around to face her and stood with his legs slightly apart, his fists at his hips.

  Tora raised the camera and his face went into serious mode: set brow, no-nonsense eyes, tight jaw.

  She clicked.

  He turned slightly, moving his arms behind him, clasping his hands.

  Those arms. Tora clicked away as he moved from one pose to the next. He was beautiful. The sun beaming down on him, the perspiration that was beginning to form on his forehead and across his shoulders was making it difficult to concentrate and the shoot had only just begun.

  “Maybe we should’ve waited until later in the day when the sun is not so high up,” he said, and turned his back to her.

  “You think?” Tora said. “I don’t know. I kinda like the way they’re coming out. Maybe you should take off—”

  He was removing his tank top before she could finish her sentence.

  Tora swallowed the Damn! that threatened to escape her mouth. This is a client. Remain professional at all times, she told herself. “This looks good,” she said to him instead as her eyes took in his symmetry: wide back, tapered waist, tight ass. The camouflage pants he wore were sexy on him. “You should undo your locks.”

  “Oh okay. That’s cool.” He reached up to remove the tie and Tora watched as the muscles flexed beneath his skin.

  Another click.

  “Don’t you have gloves on the table? You should get those and put them on.”

  He jogged over to the table and Tora dropped a hand from the camera, rubbing it down the front of her shorts, and then the other hand. Her palms were sweaty.

  “Got ‘em,” he said when he returned and slipped his hands into the fingerless gloves.

  “I like this look.” Tora aimed and clicked. “Shake your head a bit to loosen the locks some more.” Another click. She squat down in front of him. “Look down at me.” His hair fell, framing his face. “Perfect.”

  He smiled and Tora squint her eye to remain on the task at hand: keeping her mind on getting a great shot and not on the rivulets of sweat traveling down his abs. “Now, run your hand through your hair like this,” she said, demonstrating.

  He chuckled. “Umm… this is for my fitness website. I don’t think that will be a good look. It won’t fly with the male clientele.”

  “Fine,” she laughed. He went through five more poses, including a handstand and a crouching position—which Tora thought was the sexiest pose of them all—before she stepped next to him to let him review the shots. Heat radiated off his body, his breathing labored from trying to get that handstand just right.

  “Let’s go back under the shade,” he said. “I have some water in my truck if you need some.” He picked up his shirt from the grass.

  “Yes, I’ll take one.” She sat at the picnic table while he went to his vehicle. It was the hottest shoot she’d ever done, and she wasn’t referring to the weather. She clicked through the photos reliving those poses. The man was gorgeous and knew how to look into the camera to make her feel his intense stare.

  “I’m sorry, they’re not as cold now.” He set a bottle down on the table and took a seat next to her on the bench.

  Her arm flinched slightly because she wasn’t expecting it.

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” he said, moving a few inches away from her. “I don’t mean to crowd your space. I just thought we were going to look at them together.”

  Tora laughed nervously. Why am I nervous? I never get nervous. “It’s okay. I just… I just….” She fumbled with the camera. “My hands are a little sweaty,” she said and set the camera down gently in front of him.

  He picked it up and she tried to keep her eyes on the table as long as she could, but they had a mind of their own and slowly traveled the length of his arm up to his elbow. Traveled up and over the rock-hard bicep, the curve of his shoulder. His neck. The Adam’s apple that bobbed in slow motion. They settled on his mouth.

  He caught her staring. “Huh?”

  “I said they look good. I like ‘em.”

  “Oh. Okay.” She took back the camera. “Is there another place you want to have some taken?”

  He chewed his bottom lip. “Let’s go to the fitness area. There’s some bars over there I think will make some pretty cool shots.”

  They walked from the picnic lot down to the fitness area. For the next half-hour she had the pleasure of watching that body flex as he performed pull-ups, flags, push-ups, and more handstands. He was drenched in sweat by then and Tora kept clicking. He used a nearby restroom to towel off and change into a pair of shorts and matching sleeveless hoodie. She suggested he take a few photos in front of some trees.

  “Well, that was cool,” he said when she snapped the final photo. “Can’t wait to see how they turn out.”

  “I will start working on these tonight and get the link over to you no later than tomorrow evening. You can choose however many you want, but only five edited shots are included in the price of this session.” She turned off the camera and placed it in her bag. Holding her hand out to him she said, “It was nice meeting with you, Nate. I will email you soon”

  “Wait… you’re leaving already?”

  “Is there something else you want me to do?”

  He smiled. “Well, I was about to get me a bite to eat and wanna know if you would like to join me.”

  She returned the smile, but in her mind she was wondering why it was the same scenario each time. She was looking down on him when she wanted to look up. “Thanks for the offer, but no. I don’t wanna—”

  “Waste my time?” he said. “It’s not a waste of my time. What does that mean anyway? Are you involved with someone?”

  A lot of times—more often than not—when she was asked the question she would say yes, that she was involved with someone even if she wasn’t. It was a way to spare the gentleman’s feelings, to say she was taken versus ‘you’re not my type.’ This one, however, had everything right in the looks department, but still, there was that one thing.

  “It’s just lunch,” he said. “Nothing major.”

  She looked at him. “When is it ever just lunch?”

  His brow furrowed.

  “No man asks a woman out without a motive behind it,” she said.

  He chuckled. “Well, it’s my way of trying to get to know you better. Why do you think I had that cashier dig your business card out of the trash?”

  Tora’s eyes went to his arms again. It was difficult not to stare. “I don’t believe you.”

  “Huh?”

  “You said it’s nothing major.”

  Confusion crossed his face.

  “If we go to lunch then you will expect another lunch and so on and so on.”

  He nodded. “Well, yeah, if we have a good time, I can’t lie, I will ask you out again.”

  “Exactly. Which is why I said I don’t want to waste your time.”

  “So you are involved with somebody.”

  Why is it always like this, too? Why can’t they take no for an answer and move on? “Nate,” she said, “I just know I wouldn’t be a good fit for you.” It was easier to make the situation about her. She adjusted the bag on her shoulder and stuck her hand out again. “I’m going home to get to work on your photos.”

  He took her hand. “Alright. Talk to you later, Tora.”

  She got into her jeep and threw her head back on the headrest. She wanted to scream. He had to be the finest man to approach her in years. The finest man to approach her, period. There had been many: handsome ones, tall ones, skinny ones, a few overweight ones, but even the tall and handsome men of her past couldn’t compete with what she witnessed behind her camera lens today. She could still see the slow stream of sweat traveling down his smooth stomach and settling in his navel. The way his muscles pulsed with each pull-up.

  “It was torture, Mom,” Tora said to Sharon late
r that night.

  “I’m sure it was,” she laughed, “but you could’ve at least taken him up on the lunch offer. He was being nice.”

  Tora sighed. “I don’t even want to get his hopes up.”

  “Your daddy wasn’t my type either, but he still found a way to make me fall in love with him.”

  “Mom, are you serious? You never told me that.” Tora settled underneath the covers.

  “Oh yeah. I didn’t like him in the beginning. He talked too much and was too loud. I didn’t have time for all of that. My girlfriend Jan thought he was so handsome and charming. She liked him, not me, but he didn’t want her. Go figure.”

  “Isn’t that the craziest thing? That’s what I don’t understand. The people we don’t want are the ones to hound us the most.”

  Her mother laughed again. “It is.”

  “But how did your friend feel after you and Dad got together?”

  “I think she was a little upset about it at first, but she quickly got over it. It wasn’t as if I’d stolen her husband or something.”

  Tora pulled her laptop over to her and logged onto Soul Meet’s website. The biker had left her another message earlier and she’d replied back with the same information she told Jason—that she preferred they meet in person versus messaging back and forth and talking over the phone. He said he was free anytime during the upcoming weekend. “Well, I’m going to go now so I can call Dad. I work the opening shift tomorrow and should’ve been asleep a long time ago.”

  They exchanged I love yous, and then she hung up and called Myles.

  Before she logged off the computer for the night she agreed to meet the biker at a sports bar Friday night.

  It has to be much better than that fiasco with Jason, she thought, and rolled over on her side and closed her eyes.

  NINE

  He flipped through each page. He couldn’t bring himself to look at the report again until now, after he’d gotten over being angry. His mother was the most meticulous woman he knew and it didn’t surprise him how detailed she was in recording his college expenses. She’d even included the postage for the care package she sent, which included several boxes of condoms after he and his girlfriend at the time had a pregnancy scare. Nate shook his head. Why was she doing this to him? He appreciated everything his parents did for him and he’d taken his career as a criminal attorney seriously, so for Victoria to say he blew their money was not fair. There was no way he could add an extra job to his already busy schedule and still maintain his client list.

  Grabbing the remote from the coffee table, he blew out a breath. He wished he had somewhere to go, someone to spend time with that would take his mind off things. It was late and Tora still hadn’t sent him the email she promised. He took a chance and called her anyway. It was Thursday night and he was bored.

  “Hey, Tora. This is Nate. I hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time.”

  “Nate? What’s going on?”

  “I was just calling to check on that email you were supposed to send me. I haven’t received it yet.”

  “You didn’t? I sent it a few hours ago.”

  “I didn’t get it.” He went to his computer to check his email again. “Did I catch you at a bad time? I was just anxious to see how they turned out.” What he really wanted to tell her was that he was anxious to talk to her again. She’d said she wouldn’t be a good fit for him, which had been stirring in his mind ever since, and he was curious about what she meant.

  “It’s okay,” she said. “It’s not a bother and I want to make sure you get it. I will send the link to you again.”

  “Thanks. And I’ll hang on in the meantime.” He couldn’t let her get off the phone.

  “Alright, just give me a minute to get my laptop going.”

  He cleared his throat. “So how was your day?” he asked as he waited.

  “It was good. Thanks for asking. How was yours?”

  “Cool. But I couldn’t stop thinking about what you said. What did you mean when you told me you wouldn’t be a good fit for me?”

  She made a sound that was half laugh half snort. “Oh god.”

  “What? It’s a fair question, right? Since you didn’t tell me?”

  “Mr. Walker, are you sure you didn’t receive the email? I show it delivered at five-thirty. Have you checked your junk folder?”

  “Mr. Walker?” He chuckled. “I guess that means I’m strictly in the client zone and can’t ask any personal questions, huh?”

  “Yes, I prefer to keep it that way.”

  The message was in his junk folder, but he wasn’t ready to give up just yet. He said, “Well, it’s been bothering me. From the day you walked in that sandwich shop I knew I had to get to know you. Why do you think I went through the garbage? I was serious.” Her laughter made him smile.

  “Sounds kinda creepy don’t you think?”

  “Not to me. That cashier you gave your card to had no use for you, but I did. One person’s trash is another one’s treasure.”

  She sucked her teeth. “Mr. Walker…”

  “Tora, I’m serious,” he said. “How do you know you’re not right for me if you don’t even know me? What is it? You don’t like guys with locks?”

  “I just sent the link again. Did you get it this time?”

  He refreshed his inbox. Now he had two of the same message. “Yes, it’s here now. But—”

  “Just select the five you want and I’ll get those touched up for you as soon as you reply back. The email has more detailed instructions.”

  Her avoidance of his questions only made his curiosity that much greater. “Just answer this one question for me and I’ll drop the issue. How do you know you’re not a good fit for me if you won’t even meet me for lunch to have a conversation?”

  There was a long silence.

  “Tora?”

  “Look… I just know, okay? Can we leave it at that?”

  “Unacceptable. You can’t even give me a legitimate reason.”

  She laughed, then quickly said, “Mr. Walker, I will be waiting for your email. Good night.”

  He hung up the phone smiling and shaking his head at the same time. There was no way he was letting her go that easily. Why wouldn’t she just come out and tell him why she could not have lunch with him? He decided he was going to have to come up with another excuse to see her again.

  * * *

  “Give me one more. Come on.” Nate stood at the head of the weight bench, his hands hovering beneath the bar as Jordyn struggled through her final chest press. Her arms trembled, she grit her teeth and he knew she had nothing left, so he gripped the bar lightly and helped guide it to its resting place. She let out a scream and he laughed.

  “I’m so tired of this!” she said, sitting up.

  “It’s been three months. You should be used to it by now, Jordyn.”

  “I will never get used to exercise. I hate it! Hate it. Hate it.”

  “Why? Look at the results so far. I’m seeing a difference in your shoulders. Look at your legs.”

  Jordyn stood up and walked over to the mirror, turning sideways to check out her legs. “Yeah, but my weight isn’t budging all that much.”

  “That’s because you’re building muscle. It may seem like you’re not losing weight, but it’s just that muscle is heavier, more dense, so I wouldn’t focus too much on the scale.”

  Jordyn sighed. “I just want to be my college weight again. It was the last time I wore a two-piece bikini.”

  Nate grabbed her bottle of water from the floor and led her to a pulley machine. “You’ll get there, but you gotta stay committed. And leave the snack cakes alone.”

  He coached her through three more exercises to work her chest and back before they moved to the floor for core training.

  “I won’t be here Monday, Nate,” Jordyn said as they completed their final stretch, ending the workout session. “My family reunion’s this weekend, which is why I came in early today.”

  “Oh, that’s c
ool. Where is the reunion?”

  “In Beaumont. It’s an all-weekend event, which means lots of good food and beer!”

  Nate chuckled. “Had I known that I would’ve made you do a little extra today.”

  “I’m telling you right now I’m having a slice of my Aunt Randy’s German chocolate cake. Without question.”

  “Alright, since it’s a special occasion I won’t give you a hard time, but just promise me you’ll still get some exercise in.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I don’t even know if this hotel has a gym, Nate. The one we’re staying in really isn’t top tier. More like a Best Western-type.”

  “You don’t necessarily need a gym. Just go for a walk or do some of the exercises we do here. You can do jumping jacks, some high knees, mountain climbers right in your room.”

  Jordyn let out an exasperated sigh. “I just want to relax this weekend. I need a few days off.”

  Laughing, Nate told her, “Jordyn, I only see you three times a week. You already have four days off. Come on… you have to remember your why. Why are you doing this? To get into your swimsuit for your Virgin Islands vacation and to get down to your college weight, remember?”

  “I know.”

  He held up his hand to give her a high-five. “I’ll call you this weekend to check up on you, alright? You did a good job today.”

  “I don’t think I get good phone signal out there in Beaumont, Nate,” Jordyn laughed.

  “You’re a piece of work,” he shook his head. “See you Tuesday, Jordyn.”

  She turned the corner and headed towards the women’s locker room.

  He sat at his desk waiting for Vaughn. Leticia had sent him a text message letting him know they were stuck in traffic and would be a few minutes late, so Nate took out his smartphone to pass time. All last night as he lay in bed he was thinking about Tora and how to get her to meet him again. The photos she’d taken were as great as he’d expected them to be based on her portfolio, but that couldn’t be the end of their communication. He called Sunny. “What’s up, baby sis?”