Dangerous Ground

by Smith, Stephanie Jean

  She stared out the window as she tried to decide what to do about her living arrangements. Loretta had been living with Xavier for the last two weeks, and it has put a damper on her freedom, as well as her relationship with Xavier. He wanted her to call him anytime she was working late or making a stop on the way home, and she was tired of living that way. Loretta knew that Xavier was concerned with her safety, but he had changed from being her lover and turned into her jailer.

  She loved Xavier, but somewhere along the line they’ve lost touch with each other. Xavier was behaving the same way he did their last night in Kansas City. He was shutting her out, and she didn’t know why. They haven’t had a physical relationship since the day of the accident. Loretta thought it was time for her to move back to her own home, she didn’t want to be a burden to Xavier anymore.

  She left work earlier than usual. Loretta just couldn’t concentrate on her work and she needed to clear up some issues with Xavier. Loretta parked her car on the street in front of Xavier’s house. She noticed that Xavier’s car was already there; she didn’t recognize the car parked behind his. Xavier didn’t usually get home until later in the evening.

  Loretta walked in the house and looked for Xavier. Loretta put her briefcase on the dining room table as she walked toward Xavier’s den. The door was closed, but Loretta decided that she couldn’t wait to talk to Xavier any longer. She opened the door and saw Xavier working in proximity with a woman she had never seen before. Both of them looked up at the same time. Neither one of them seem guilty, but Loretta saw the cynical smirk on the woman’s face.

  Xavier got up to greet her. “Hey baby what are you doing home so early, I wasn’t expecting you for another hour.”

  Loretta didn’t have a reason to feel jealous, but that didn’t stop her from being annoyed. She wondered about the ‘Barbie Doll’ and how Xavier would explain her presence. The woman was pretty, had short curly hair, and to make matters worse she was an inch taller than Loretta.

  “Sorry I barged in, I’ll wait until you’re finished.” Loretta turned to leave the den, but Xavier stopped her.

  “That’s okay Loretta let me introduce you to Yvonne Demeris.”

  The only woman named Yvonne that Xavier ever mentioned was his ex-wife. Xavier couldn’t possibly be meeting with his ex-wife. “Nice to meet you Yvonne.” Loretta stuck out her hand for the other woman to shake, but Yvonne ignored the pleasantry.

  “How quaint, Xavier has himself a new girlfriend.” Yvonne looked Loretta up and down as if Loretta was lacking in some way. “Xavier forgot to mention that I’m his ex-wife.”

  Loretta could see the cruel satisfaction in Yvonne’s face. She wanted Loretta to be upset; Loretta refused to let her win. “Xavier, when you’re finished with your guest, I’ll be waiting for you in our bedroom. Don’t make me wait too long,” she said as she kissed him before leaving the den. Loretta had been appeased; her comment wiped that little smirk right off of Yvonne’s face.

  After leaving Xavier’s den, Loretta headed straight for the guestroom that she had been sleeping in for the last two weeks. The last thing she was thinking about was a sexual rendezvous as she led Yvonne and Xavier to believe. Loretta pulled her suitcases out of the closet and started packing her clothes. She was almost done when Xavier walked in the bedroom twenty minutes later.

  “What are you doing?”

  Loretta looked up to see the perplexed expression on Xavier’s face. “I’m packing.” Loretta ignored Xavier and continued to pack.

  “I can see that, I want to know why you’re packing.” Xavier turned Loretta around to face him.

  “I don’t want to get in the way of your reconciliation with your ex-wife. So, if you let me finish packing, I’ll be on my way as soon as possible. I should have known that you wanted to get back with your wife when you called me by her name. This is the last straw Xavier, I’m moving back into my own home, and you can go to hell.”

  Xavier had the audacity to laugh at Loretta. “Admit it, you’re jealous.”

  Loretta picked up a pillow off of the bed and hit Xavier in the face. Xavier was laughing so hard he fell on to the bed and pulled Loretta down on top of him. It was getting harder for Loretta to keep her temper in check. “What was she doing here Xavier?”

  Xavier saw the hurt in Loretta’s face, and it sobered him up immediately. “Baby, Yvonne just stopped by for me to sign some papers, we had to clear up some old business. I don’t need another woman. I’m having enough trouble trying to handle the one I’ve got.” Xavier started unbuttoning the buttons on Loretta’s blouse. Loretta got him excited when she came in the den with her eyes were shooting off sparks of jealousy.

  “Xavier, this is one time that I refuse to let sex cloud the issue. You mean to tell me that Yvonne just came by for you to sign some papers, and she couldn’t drop by your office, huh. She had to bring them by your house instead.” Loretta eased off of Xavier and buttoned her blouse.

  Xavier laid on the bed watching as Loretta buttoned up her blouse. “I’ve been working home all day today. I got a call from my secretary telling me that Yvonne had called. I called Yvonne back, and told her to swing by the house.”

  Loretta looked at Xavier, “You’re ex-wife is a bitch. You should be happy that viper left you.”

  Xavier got off the bed and stood in front of Loretta. “You know all the women of my acquaintance say the same thing about Yvonne. She not the type of woman that gets along with other females, Yvonne prefers men friends. Yvonne likes male attention, and she’ll do whatever it takes to get it. From all accounts, she’s a happily married woman.” Xavier watched as Loretta walked to the closet to pull out another suitcase.

  “Why are you still packing?”

  Loretta stopped what she was doing and gave Xavier her undivided attention. “I’ve imposed on you enough, and I’m ready to go back home. Besides it seems as though you’re getting tired of having a house guest. You don’t have to spare my feelings Xavier. You can just tell me that you don’t want me anymore, and we can go our separate ways.”

  Xavier grabbed hold of Loretta’s arm and turned her around to face him. “What in the hell is that suppose to mean?”

  “Lately you seem distracted, and you won’t tell me what’s going on. I feel like some faceless woman who just happens to be sharing your house.”

  “First of all, you’re my woman, not some guest in my home. I’m sorry if I’ve been acting like an ass lately. You seem to be preoccupied yourself.” Xavier put one arm around her shoulders. “What’s wrong baby?”

  Loretta laid her head on Xavier’s shoulder. “I just feel tired. Lately, I’ve been real irritable, and seeing your ex-wife in your home just brought everything to head. I don’t like being jealous, I’ve never had a reason to be until I started dating you.”

  “Now you know how I felt that night you went out on a date with your so-called friend.” Xavier kissed Loretta on her forehead and rocked his body against Loretta’s. “Why don’t you take a nap, while I go make us something for dinner?”

  Loretta smile was genuine when she replied. “Don’t you mean that you’ll check and see what Lorraine made for dinner tonight.” Loretta unbuttoned Xavier’s shirt and ran her hands up and down his chest.

  Xavier pushed Loretta down onto the bed. “I’ll have you know that I’m the best cook in my family. If you keep teasing me like this, we’ll be eating at midnight.”

  Loretta pulled Xavier down on top of her and put her arms around his neck. “I think a midnight dinner sounds remarkably romantic. Why don’t you stay and take a nap with me?” Loretta kissed Xavier with everything in her being.

  “The last two weeks have been hell for me. I put you in one of the guestrooms so I could keep my lecherous paws off you. Are you okay baby, can you withstand the rigors of lovemaking.”

  “You mean to tell me that we’ve been sleeping apart because you didn’t want to hurt me. All this time I thought you didn’t want me anymore.”

  Xavier
couldn’t get enough of her. “You foolish woman, I’m never going to stop wanting you. I could get used to taking an afternoon nap.”

  Loretta laughed as Xavier tried to undress them both in a hurried fashion. “Stick around me sport, and I’ll show you a lot of neat tricks to do in the afternoon.”

  ***

  It was the day before Thanksgiving and Loretta was writing up her grocery list so that Xavier could get the supplies for their Thanksgiving dinner. Loretta invited six people over to celebrate Thanksgiving with her and Xavier.

  The annual fundraiser for the King Center took place last week and everything went as planned. This year brought had the best turn out that she had ever seen. Loretta felt that a lot of it had to do with the publicity surrounding her kidnapping. The local news media kept hounding Loretta for a story regarding her captivity.

  At first Loretta was hesitant to give an interview, unless she could give a summary of her involvement with the King Center and the upcoming fundraiser. If local news stations wanted to know about the terror Loretta experienced at Marcus Dupree’s hands; the King Center should benefit from it somehow.

  Loretta had been working part time at the bank. She felt she would be ready to work full time after the holiday season. Loretta thought about taking a leave of absence, but she needed some mental stimulation to keep her from thinking about the kidnapping. Her leg wasn’t sore anymore, but sometimes it stiffened up if she didn’t exercise. The road to recovery had been a long and painful one. Every now and then she had a nightmare, but Xavier was always there by her side, making the bad dreams disappear.

  Loretta heard Xavier entering the house as she finished her grocery list. He only worked half a day at the office today, he wanted to clear some things up so that they would have an uninterrupted four day weekend.

  “Loretta.”

  “I’m in the den Xavier,” Loretta yelled back to Xavier.

  Xavier walked into the den and pulled Loretta up out of the chair and kissed her soundly on the mouth. “Are you sure that you’re up to cooking dinner tomorrow? You haven’t been out of the hospital that long, and you’re still having a lot of problems with your leg.”

  Loretta shut Xavier up by kissing him again before she replied. “I’ve been out of the hospital for over a month. So stop worrying about tomorrow, I’ve got everything under control.”

  “I still don’t understand why we can’t have Thanksgiving dinner over here. My kitchen is bigger than yours, and that’s got to be easier for you to move around in.”

  “Xavier, you know that I would spend half the day looking for the cooking utensils I needed if we stayed here. My kitchen is smaller, and I know where everything is. You may not know this, but women prefer to cook in their own kitchens. By the way are you sure that Vincent can’t make it. I invited him over for dinner, and he gave me some excuse about not wanting to intrude.”

  “He’ll be there if I have to drag him over here myself. Enough about him, I think we need to talk about us. I have something urgent to ask you, and I don’t know if I have the nerve.” Loretta sat down on the sofa under the painting of the kissing couple. Xavier smiled briefly at Loretta when he thought of how apropos the jester was. Xavier began pacing back and forth as he tried to gather his thoughts.

  Loretta could tell that Xavier was nervous, so she let him take his time with whatever he had to tell her. She loved him and would follow him to hell and back. Loretta knew that the new branch would be opening in Chicago next week, and she wondered if that had something to do with Xavier’s nervousness. She wondered if Xavier wanted to move to Chicago to take over the branch himself.

  Xavier stopped pacing back and forth and pulled up a chair and sat directly in front of Loretta. He rubbed his hands together as he gathered his thoughts. “Loretta we have some things to talk about before our relationship can go any further. I know that you have been hurt by Alan, but he’s not the only thing that stands between us.”

  “Xavier nothing stands between us?” Loretta cut Xavier off quickly. She wondered what Xavier thought stood between them.

  “As I was saying, I know that sometimes the people we love the most can hurt us the most. Your parents may not have had a terrific marriage, but they stayed together for a reason.”

  “Yes, my mother loved my father, and he used her love against her to fulfill his own selfish needs. What has this got to do with us?”

  “You see I love you, and if you’re honest, you’ll admit that you love me too. You told me that you loved me once when I was in a hotel five hundred miles away. You told me that you loved me a second time when the medication in the hospital made you delirious. Why can’t you tell me that you love me face to face? Whatever problems you’re having about the past we can work it out.”

  Loretta placed both of her hands on Xavier’s face and looked into his eyes. “We’ve wasted a lot of time because I thought it was you who was living in the past. I thought that your marriage to Yvonne had blown our chances at being happy together. I know that she hurt you by asking for a divorce. I also know that there is something else in your past that you don’t want me to know about. Sometimes I have the feeling that you want to tell me something, but you just don’t know how. I want you to know that there’s nothing you can say that will diminish the love I feel for you.”

  Xavier took Loretta hands into his. “You’re right, there is something in my past that I’m ashamed. I told you that I was in the army; however, I didn’t tell you what my specialty was.” Xavier looked into Loretta’s eyes, he didn’t know what he would do if she turned away from him. “I was on special teams for the U.S. Army; an assassin for the United States Government.” He laid everything on the line.

  Loretta squeezed his hand. “Did you think that I would turn my back on you because of the things you did while you were in the Army?”

  “Loretta I’ve got blood on my hands, the pain and suffering of people all over the world can be attributed to some of the things that I’ve done.”

  Loretta clutched Xavier’s face in her hands as she kissed him softly on the lips. She saw the fear and loneliness in the eyes of the man she loved. Tears began to flow as she imagined the pain of a teenager forced to become a man. Xavier joined the army with the enthusiasm of a boy wanting to serve his country. He returned home internally wounded by the ugliness of the world and the part he played in it. “I love you, and nothing and I mean nothing can ever change that. So if, you’re looking for an excuse to get rid of me, you’ll have to do better than that.”

  Xavier took a small jewelry box out of his pocket and opened it. Inside the box was a three carat emerald ring encased with diamonds. “I’ve been carrying this around for the last two weeks trying to find the perfect time to ask you to be my wife.”

  “Yes. Yes. Yes.” Loretta threw her arms around Xavier and hugged him as if she would never let him go. “I love you Xavier, I think I’ve loved you when Carter first introduced us.” For so long she’d been on dangerous ground, and all it took was the love of this man to place her on solid ground.

  Xavier returned her caresses. “Why didn’t you tell me? We wasted so much time trying to figure what was going on in each other’s mind. I won’t rest until you’re Mrs. Xavier Johnson. I want us to be married before Christmas.”

  “I can’t possibly arrange a wedding before Christmas.”

  “You’ll do it, or you’ll be standing in front of the justice of the peace.”

  “I can see it now you’re going to be an impossible man to live with.”

  Xavier got real quiet. “Loretta there’s a lot of things I can’t give you. You know I can’t have children, I couldn’t bear it if you left me because of it.”

  “Xavier I can live without children, but I can’t live without you. There are children out there begging to be loved. We‘ve seen evidence of that first hand at the King Center. Loretta started kissing Xavier, and he returned the kiss for full measure. “Now, I know I told you that I needed some items from the store, b
ut I need you for something more important right now.” Loretta started undoing Xavier’s tie and unbuttoning his shirt.

  “Yes, the store can wait; we definitely have more important things to do.”

  ***

  Loretta put the turkey in the oven at Nine o’clock on Thanksgiving morning. With Xavier’s help, she made the dressing and a couple of apple pies last night. Cookie was supposed to bring a sweet potato pie, and the other guests were bringing side dishes. Loretta only had a few items to make on her own. The potatoes were already peeled. All she had left was the homemade yeast rolls and the gravy. By her calculations, dinner should be ready around one o’clock this afternoon.

  Loretta and Xavier were too excited about their engagement to wait until after dinner to tell everyone one their good news. Xavier brought out the champagne while everyone was in the living room. He poured everyone a glass. “I’m glad all of you could make it to shared Thanksgiving dinner with Loretta and I, but that‘s not the only reason we wanted you here. Loretta has made me the happiest man in the world by consenting to be my wife.” No one seemed surprised by Xavier’s announcement.

  Cookie squealed as she hugged Loretta. “I’m so happy for you Honey. I told you that you and Xavier were made for each other. So when’s the wedding?”

  “Xavier doesn’t intend to wait to claim his bride.” Diane said as she hugged Loretta.

  While May and Lionel came over and congratulated Loretta. John came over to congratulate Xavier, had the baby in one arm, and he shook Xavier’s hand with his free hand.

  Loretta put her arms around May and Lionel as they walked into the dining room. “Xavier made me a happy woman when he asked me to marry him. I’m so glad that the people I love and respect are here to share the good news. Today is truly a glorious day, and we have so many blessings to be thankful for.”

  ***

  Thanksgiving dinner was excellent, there was more than enough food and everyone got what he or she wanted. Loretta couldn’t help noticing that sparks were flying between Diane and Vincent. Vincent was quieter than usual, and Diane who’s usually reserved was overly chatty. Unless Loretta missed her guess, Diane and Vincent are attracted to each other, and both of them were trying to hide it.