by J. D. Rivera
She grabbed both of my hands and spoke slowly. “Listen. You are nothing like the douche, Shane. You’ll be divorced in a month after a nine month separation. If you had kissed Jackson, you wouldn’t be a cheater. Let someone show you how amazing and gorgeous you are.”
“Well, it was a day to remember, but I’ll probably never see him again.”
Jackson
I WALKED into my home and threw my keys into the bowl on the entry table. Vanessa had gotten under my skin in just a few hours. I wasn’t sure why, though. She was different, but I couldn’t figure out what made her different. She was amazingly gorgeous, but it wasn’t her looks that had drawn me to her. I could have spent the whole damn day and night with her.
I tried to think about everything she had told me. I knew her name was Vanessa Smith, she was a teacher, and she was married. Couldn’t forget that. At least she said that she was getting divorced, which was something. I thought that maybe if I gave her a month or so, she’d be in a different place. I knew that, in that moment, the best thing for me was to try and get her out of my head.
I ran upstairs and showered. I planned on going out and forgetting all about that girl. I washed up and dug around in my closet. A button down shirt and jeans would do. I’d just call up a friend and go to a club.
My friend from high school, Ray, had been living in Oklahoma City for a few years and knew of a dance club for us to meet at and have some fun. I walked into the club and immediately scoped out the place. Beautiful, young girls were everywhere. I figured it would be easy to forget about Vanessa in a place like this.
I walked up to the bar and placed my drink order. Feeling a pat on my shoulder, I turned around to see Ray with two young girls with him.
“Hey, Jackson, I got us a table over there,” he pointed.
“Okay,” I said as I stood from the barstool. Immediately, one of the girls, a skinny blonde, fixated herself on my side and I draped an arm around her.
We walked over to the table and sat down. She was all over me from the moment we sat and it was a huge turn off. I knew that the reason I had come out was to find a girl and take her back to her place, but I wasn’t feeling it. Or at least I wasn’t feeling this girl. Her perfume was causing my head to hurt and her voice was annoying as hell.
My mind kept flashing back to the afternoon and I knew there was no way I was going to get Vanessa out of my head with just a random one night stand with some girl.
I was drawn out of my thoughts when a hand started stroking me. I just sat there. She had to feel that I wasn’t into it. She leaned into my ear. “Are you as turned on as I am?” Apparently, she had no clue I wasn’t.
I wanted to be nice, but it didn’t come out that way. “No. Not really. I’m sorry. I’m just gonna take off.”
I stood up and headed to the exit. I felt like an ass. I was never mean to anyone, but she had to have known I wasn’t into it without me answering.
Lying in bed that night, I decided I would give it time with Vanessa. I would let her work out her issues and then I’d find her. With the internet or even if I had to pay someone, I’d find her. Then I would figure out why I was so drawn to her.
I WAS seated on my couch flipping through different sports channels while Ray sat in a recliner huffing for the fiftieth time. He really wanted to go clubbing and I didn’t want to go out.
“What the hell, man? It’s been like two weeks since you met that girl and you haven’t seen her since. Get over her,” Ray finally said instead of huffing.
“Sorry, I just don’t want to go out and meet random girls. She got under my skin and I can’t seem to shake this feeling of wanting to know her.”
“You can shake the feeling by going out and finding some other chick. Face it, you’ll never see her again.”
“Oh, I’ll see her again. I’ve got a plan.” I told him with a grin.
“What’s that?”
I finished off my beer, “Don’t worry about it. I just know I’ll see her again.”
“Whatever, I’m leaving. You have fun with your beer and TV.”
I nodded as a response and he left. What was the point of going out when Vanessa probably wouldn’t be there? I had a plan. I’d see her again.
Vanessa
“OKAY, CLASS, I need you to clean up what you’re working on so we can go to P.E,” I told the group of fifth graders. I looked up from my desk to see a small red haired girl named Megan standing in front of me. “Mrs. Smith, I heard we’re having a special visitor today.”
I had no clue what she was talking about, but she was the secretary’s daughter, which meant she might know something. “Not to my…”
I was interrupted by a knock at my door. “Come in,” I yelled toward the door. I glanced back at Megan. “I don’t know anything about any visitors, but please take your seat.”
I looked back at the door and my mouth fell open. Jackson Berrios was standing with the school principal near the door. Why was he here?
The principal cleared his throat. “Mrs. Smith, we have a special visitor today that would like to spend some time with your students during P.E.” I nodded my head, wondering why I hadn’t known about this. The principal then turned to the class. “Class, we have Jackson Berrios from the Oklahoma City Thunder here today, and he wants to spend some time with all of you. He’s going to play some basketball with you.”
The kids started yelling and screaming with excitement. I glanced over at Jackson and he winked at me, then cleared his throat. “Hey kids, let’s go play some ball.”
The students started getting out of their seats as he made his way to my desk. “Mrs. Smith, I’ll be back to talk to you.”
“O-kaaay,” I answered back. I had no clue if this was a coincidence or if he had looked me up. I didn’t want to get my hopes up, but I couldn’t stop the smile that crept across my face.
He smiled back, then walked out the door with the students and principal. I quickly dug my purse out of my desk drawer to retrieve my cell phone. I had to text Amanda.
Me: OMG! Jackson Berrios just showed up at the school.
Maybe five seconds later my phone dinged with a text message.
Amanda: Holy shit! He came looking for you!?!?!
Me: I don’t think so. He’s here playing with the students.
Amanda: This is fate. Call me later!
I put my phone back in my purse and tried to concentrate on the papers I needed to grade. It was hard when I kept thinking about his smile and wink. His eyes were like a flame and I was the moth. I’m pretty sure he could hypnotize me with his eyes.
I pushed thoughts of him aside as best I could and tried to concentrate on grading papers when the door flew open and the kids marched back in. The last forty-five minutes of the day were spent with the kids talking about how “awesome” and “incredible” Jackson was during their P.E. class. The girls that showed an interest in boys talked about his great looks and, if I could have, I would have agreed with them.
The bell rang and I got busy cleaning up my classroom for the day. I had just started cleaning the students’ desks when someone knocked on my classroom door.
“Come in,” I yelled without looking up.
I heard footsteps come up next to me. “I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”
I looked up to see Jackson standing next to me with a panty-dropping smile. “Me either.”
He took a wipe out of the container and began scrubbing the desk next to me. “You never called,” he said with no amusement in his voice.
I went back to cleaning the desk again. “I didn’t think you really wanted me to call. Figured you were just being nice.”
He stepped over to me and placed his hands on my cheeks. “Did I give you my number?”
I looked into his eyes. “Yes but still...”
“Then I wanted you to call. I’m not into giving girls or anybody else my number just to be nice.”
“I’m still married. At least for another week,” I told him.
“That only bothers you. The way I see it, the marriage was over the moment you decided to divorce.”
“What does that mean? What do you want from me?” I whispered before closing my eyes. I couldn’t look into his eyes any longer. I wanted to give in. I knew what he was saying was right; my marriage had been over for a long time. I needed to get past all of this cheating stuff.
I opened my eyes and he began to speak, still touching my cheeks. “What in the hell do you think I want? I’ve thought about you every day since I met you. I’d like to go on a date with you. I’d like to kiss you. Maybe more. Probably more. Definitely more,” he said with a huge grin.
“Why? You can get any girl you want. Why would you waste your time with an ugly girl like me? Unless you just want to screw me and leave. I’ve heard about guys like you. I believe there are late night monologues dedicated to making fun of the NBA cheating scandals.”
His eyes bore into mine. “First off, you’re gorgeous. Insanely gorgeous. Second, I don’t want to screw you and leave. I’m not going to lie. I’m not into celibacy so, yes, I’d like to have sex with you, eventually. And third, don’t judge me based off of others in my profession. Just because we have the same job doesn’t make me a cheater.”
I grabbed his hands and removed them from my face. “So…”
“So,” he cut me off, “I believe I still owe you a date at the Spanish tapas place.”
I laughed. “I guess you do.”
He laughed back then asked. “Are you busy tonight?”
I began scrubbing the desk again. Did I want to do this? I knew he said he wasn’t a cheater, but I didn’t think I could take it if it happened again. There was only one way to find out though; I’d have to give him a chance.
“No, I’m not busy.”
“Great. We should probably hurry and get these desks clean then,” he said with a smile.
“I guess we should,” I said and we both got to work cleaning.
To my surprise, Jackson stayed with me the entire time. We didn’t speak; instead we turned up my portable radio and cleaned as fast as we could while listening to the music. When it was time to leave, he walked me to my car.
I walked up to my door and he pressed me back until my butt met the car. It was just like the day at the canal.
“I’m very happy you’re going to let me take you out,” he said bringing his lips within an inch of mine.
Looking into his eyes, I answered. “Me too.” I couldn’t help but feel like I was dreaming.
“I remember us being in this position once before. Do I get to kiss you this time?”
Breathless, I replied. “Yes! I mean, sure.”
Very softly, he pressed his lips onto mine. His lips were silky smooth. Slowly, his kisses grew harder and I matched them. I wanted, no I needed, more. I had never felt like that while being kissed before. I felt like I was floating away. I opened my lips and he took advantage, pressing his tongue into my mouth. His tongue melded with mine, massaging it gently. It was the most amazing feeling I had ever had during a kiss. I never wanted it to end.
A door slamming loudly brought us back to reality. The reality that we were in the parking lot of a school. We both pulled back, locking our eyes. I almost didn’t care that I was at my place of employment; I just wanted to continue kissing him.
“We can continue this tonight,” he said, almost reading my thoughts.
I blinked and cleared my throat. “Yes. When should I meet you?”
“I’ll pick you up at seven. Where do you live?”
I gave him my address and he gave me a quick peck on the lips before helping me into my car. I watched him walk over to a black Range Rover and hop in. Before I could stare too long, I put my car in drive and pulled out of the parking lot. I was going to try and give him a chance.
Jackson
I WAS standing at her door feeling excited. I had given her some time and my plan had worked. By looking her up online, I found her Facebook page and it didn’t take long to figure out where she worked. I set it up to volunteer with the students at her school. I’d made a big fuss about the principal not telling anyone because I didn’t want the media around when really I just didn’t want to freak her out.
I knocked once and waited, holding the pink flowers I’d purchased on the way to her apartment. I took in the surroundings of her neighborhood. Graffiti was on the side of the building in a few places, one car had what looked like bullet holes and I was pretty sure I had seen a drug deal go down when I had pulled into the complex. I wondered if it was safe for her to live there but knew there was nothing I could say or do. I had to remember that this was our first date.
She opened the door wearing a little black dress and strappy heels that made her look sexy as hell.
“Come on in,” she said.
“God, you look amazing,” I told her as I handed her the flowers.
“Thank you. You didn’t have to do that.”
I walked into the apartment behind her. “It wasn’t a problem. I wanted to.”
“Just have a seat on the couch while I put these in water.”
I walked over to the couch and sank down. I looked around at her decorations and noticed she displayed a lot of photographs. Most were of her and some blonde girl, a few had her and whom I assumed were her parents, and a few were of her with her parents and some guy. I really hoped that it wasn’t her husband she still had displayed.
She must have noticed me looking at the pictures. “I love photographs. The blonde is my best friend Amanda, and the others are of my parents and my brother Landon.”
Thank God it’s her brother was all I could think. I nodded as I began to relax inside. There were absolutely no pictures of her husband anywhere. I took that as a very good sign.
“So are you ready?” I asked as I stood up, extending my hand to her.
I walked her to my car and noticed the neighbors now outside of their apartments. I wondered if she knew how unsafe her apartment complex was. I gave her a quick peck on the lips before opening her door and helping her inside.
“You have some interesting neighbors,” I told her as I sank down in my seat.
“They just look scary. They’ve never approached me or anything,” she said, looking out the window.
I took her hand in mine. “Do you know any of them?”
“No. I think the guy beside me is a mechanic. I’m going to see if he’ll work on my car sometime next week. It’s been acting up.”
“What’s wrong with it?”
“I don’t know but he’s always got a new car parked out front messing around with it. I know they can’t be his because they’re all too nice.”
I laughed, “Um, Vanessa have you looked around at your neighborhood? I’m pretty sure that guy is stealing those cars for parts.” Immediately, I realized how that sounded, “That was rude, I’m sorry.”
She laughed, “That’s okay. You’re probably right. I just never wanted to think of it like that before. You know, not freak myself out about who my neighbors really are.”
“Just be careful.” I told her squeezing her hand.
We arrived at Bolero, the Spanish tapas bar, about thirty minutes later. I’d made reservations under a fake name so we were able to be seated right away. We both ordered the Cuban sandwich with a couple of tapas.
“So, Vanessa, I feel like you should tell me a little about your situation. I mean, I’ve let you know what my intentions are, so I think I should know.”
She took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. It took her several more seconds before she was able to speak. “What exactly do you want to know?”
I moved closer to her and grabbed her hand before placing a stray piece of hair behind her ear. “I want to know what’s going on between you and your husband.”
She grabbed her sangria and took a big gulp. Inhaling, she said, “Our divorce will be final next week. That’s what is going on.”
The waiter arrived with our food and
placed it on the table. As soon as he left, I asked, “What caused the divorce?”
She closed her eyes, speaking quietly. “He cheated on me. A lot. And he wasn’t always nice.”
I’d suspected the cheating part but the other made me livid. Had he hit her? What did she mean by that comment? What a complete piece of shit. “I’m sorry he did those things. If I ever see that fucker, he’ll be sorry. No man should ever hit a woman.”
She grabbed my arm. “No, he didn’t hit me. He just said some things. Some things that are true and some that aren’t.”
I felt such relief that he hadn’t hit her but I still felt anger at what he might have said to her.
“Can we talk about something else? Let’s talk about you.” she prompted before taking a bite of her sandwich.
“What do you want to talk about? I’m an open book,” I said with a smile.
She got a devilish gleam in her eye. “Hmmm, let’s see. Let’s talk about Cynthia Matthews, the supermodel you dated.”
Not what I expected. At all. “What about her?”
“Why’d you break up? She’s beautiful.”
“Looks are important to me. Trust me, they are. But when the person annoys the hell out of you, there isn’t much left for a relationship,” I told her with all honesty.
“Fair enough,” she said before downing the rest of her sangria. I didn’t want her to get drunk so I hoped she would stick to water the rest of the night. I wanted her to remember all of our date.
“How long were you married?” I asked before taking another bite.
“Four years. We got married really young. We were high school sweethearts and got married while we were in college,” She told me and then asked, “Why haven’t you been in a long term relationship?”
She really knew how to ask the questions. “I guess a lot of it has to do with not finding the right girl and a lot of it has to do with not being ready for that type of relationship.”
We finished our meal with lighter conversation and decided it was time for me to take her home. We pulled up to her place and I was really hoping she would ask me in.
