by Lena Skye
Finally he got to his brother’s apartment. His brother was recovering well but not well enough to go back to work. He was working from home and enjoying every minute of it. Reggie let himself into the apartment and went in search of his brother.
“What’s up?” Paul said. He was sitting in the dining room wearing his NYU sweats.
“Nothing much, what’s up with you?”
“Just chilling, done with work for now. I’m considering watching some TV.”
“When are you taking your ass back to work?” Reggie asked.
“I am back at work, I’m just doing it from home. Why does it bother you so much anyway?”
“It doesn’t bother me. I guess it’s just my way of asking when you’re going to feel good enough to return.”
Paul shrugged, “I’m waiting on the doctor to clear me. I have an appointment next week. I think that he may allow me to go back. I’m not sure, it depends on how my ribs are healing.”
Reggie closed his eyes as the overwhelming sensations of guilt washed over him. It was his fault that his brother was so messed up. He was on crutches because his leg was broken and some of his ribs were broken. He was healing nicely but it wasn’t fast enough for Reggie. His brother was the kind of guy that lived at the basketball court whenever he could and now he would be lucky if he could ever play again.
“Dude, stop staring at me like you want to kiss me. That shit is creepy as fuck,” Paul said.
“Shut up. I swear mom dropped you on your head as a baby. If it wasn’t for me your ass would still be down there.”
Paul laughed, “Believe me I know. Who peed in your Cheerios this morning? You seem like you’re in a bad mood.
“I am in a bad mood. I need to find a place. I’m grateful for you letting me crash here but I need my own space. Besides, that bed that you’ve got in your guest room is horrible.”
“It’s supposed to be horrible,” Paul laughed, “It’s the guest bed. I didn’t want anyone getting too comfortable.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. That mattress is hard as hell.”
“It’s up to you if you want to stay in it or not.”
Reggie shook his head, “Do you want me to leave or something?”
“Why are you talking dumb? Sit your ass down. I swear you’ve been off ever since you got here.”
Reggie did as his brother told him, not because he was scared but because it seemed like a great idea. He needed to sit down. He reached to the left of him and poured himself a drink from the crystal container filled with bourbon.
“Damn, this is good,” he said as he let the smooth flavor spread over his tongue and lubricate his throat. It pooled into his stomach and made him feel warm all over. It was then that he realized that he needed to eat. Drinking on an empty stomach was never a good idea, but screw it, he’d already started.
“Are you going to tell me about what happened between you and Tamika? I mean, you kind of owe me an explanation at this point,” Paul said.
“I don’t know if I’m ready to talk about it.”
“You need to talk about it. You’ve been moping around here since you got here and I need to know why you aren’t with your wife. That woman loves the hell out of you, so what did you do?”
“I fucked up, that’s what I did.”
“In what way? Did you cheat?”
“You already know about Mimi right?” Reggie asked.
“Hell yeah I know about Mimi, how could I not? Please don’t tell me that you’re still messing around with her crazy ass.”
“I had to, I lost my job at the firm a while back and I had to come up with another way to get some damned capital. It all got shot to hell when I thought that the cops were coming. I dropped her stash in the garbage and ran for it. After that she started hitting me up for large amounts of cash and then…”
Reggie wanted to finish the rest but it had a lot to do with Paul. It was the very reason that his brother was in that predicament in the first place. It was his fault that his brother got beat up on the street after work and hospitalized. He took a huge gulp of the bourbon.
“Just spit it out dude, clearly, your ass needs a confessional.”
“I’m the reason that you got jumped Paul, I am so sorry,” Reggie said quickly before he changed his mind.
Reggie waited for his brother to scream and yell at him. He fully expected to be put out of his brother’s house.
“Man I already knew that shit,” Paul said, “I’ve been waiting on you to come clean since it happened.”
“How did you know?”
“The men said that it was because of you before they did it. I didn’t know what you were mixed up in but I wanted you to be the one to tell me about why it happened.”
“I’m so sorry man.”
“I appreciate the apology but I’ve forgiven you already.”
“Damn, I can’t believe that you already knew.”
“Yeah I knew. I was just hoping that it didn’t have shit to do with Mimi. You need to leave her ass alone. I appreciate everything that you’ve done for me and I know that most of the shit that I’ve gotten from you was because of the work that you did for her but you aren’t her slave. You don’t owe her shit. She used you just like you used her. If anything she’s the one at fault because you were too young to be messing with her anyway. That bitch is a predator and she likes to play with her food before she eats it.”
“I know, you don’t have to tell me that.”
“Apparently I do, because I’m the one that got my ass stomped. She’s screwing with your family. So did Tamika find out about her or something?” Paul asked.
“No, she didn’t find out about Mimi, she just knows that I’m a part of something dangerous.”
“Are you still in deep shit?”
“I don’t know,” Reggie said honestly. “But I’m gonna have to do something.”
“You’re damned right you’re going to have to do something. What if they go after Tamika? Do you still need to give her more money? Is she ever going to be happy with what you give her?”
“I don’t know. I’ll talk to her.”
“You better, so that you can close this chapter of your life.”
#Chapter5
“Damn mom.”
Kalena
Crystal sat at the table in the corner of her office. She loved sitting behind her desk but she rarely got the opportunity. Meetings took up most of her day and it always felt so stuck up to sit behind a desk when meeting with counterparts, which is why she placed a table near the window instead.
Her view was pleasant and it wasn’t the one that was outside either. A fine specimen was sitting across from her and he was grade A fine. Between talking about their organizations, she kept stealing glances out of the corner of her eye. His massive body was doing something to her insides. He had to work out at least 6 days a week. Muscle men weren’t usually her thing but damn, his body was filling out his suit in all of the right places.
He looked like he was partially black but there was something else there, he was exotic and it turned her on. Couple that with the fact that he was ridiculously intelligent and had a heart for children. Her panties were starting to get moist. He kept licking his lips and showing off his perfectly straight teeth.
“I think that we can be a great resource to one another,” Kai said, “We will have to pick back up next week. I have a meeting in an hour.”
Crystal looked at her watch, “You’re right, the time flew by. I think we came up with more than enough ideas. We have a very similar mission so there is no reason that we wouldn’t be able to get this grant together.”
“Would you mind if both of our grant writers teamed up? I don’t want to overwhelm the one that I just brought on board.”
“I don’t mind at all, I’m sure that Yusef won’t mind. He loves showing other people the ropes.”
“Then they’ll get along just fine.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” he said as he
stood to his feet.
Crystal stood with him and straightened out her clothes, she was conscious of Kai’s eyes all over her body. He was enjoying the view which was surprising to her because extremely fit men tended to like women that were very much the same. Crystal grinned at him when his eyes met hers.
“Having fun?” she asked.
He had the decency to look embarrassed, “I’m sorry, it’s just that you’re a very attractive woman. If I’ve over stepped boundaries, I sincerely apologize and I hope that this won’t affect our business dealings.”
“Don’t worry about it, the attraction is mutual. I’ve been checking you out but I’m a lady so I am more discreet.”
He laughed, “I thought you were taking a few peeks but I wasn’t sure.”
“You caught me?”
“So then would it be too forward to ask if I could take you out?”
“No, it wouldn’t. You have my number; it’s my personal one so feel free to use it.”
“I definitely will. You don’t have the whole three day rule do you? I won’t come off too thirsty if I call you before then?”
“You wait three days to contact me then I’m going to assume that you’re not interested.”
“That would just be a lie.”
“Then I look forward to hearing from you.”
Their eyes locked and a spark of electricity sizzled between them. He stood at least 4 inches taller than her and she was wearing heels. He was the kind of man that a woman just wanted to hug and be held by forever.
“Alright, let me go now before I never get out of here.”
Crystal thought of all of the nasty sexual things that she wanted to do to him and then decided that he was correct. It was probably best if he left her office.
“Okay, I guess that I’ll speak to you later, I’m looking forward to our date and to our upcoming endeavor.”
“As am I,” he said before they shook hands. His hand enveloped hers and he held on for a little bit too long but she didn’t mind.
Then he was out of the door. She tried to refrain from doing the happy dance. He seemed like a sane and intelligent man. Just for once, she wanted a normal damned date. Maybe he would actually stick around for a bit, they already shared a love for public service. She walked to her desk and sat in her mesh chair.
Her phone rang, it was a number that she didn’t recognize.
“Hello?”
“Hi, it’s Kai. I wanted to make sure that you had my personal number as well.”
“Is that so?”
“It is. Fair and fair. I also wanted to make sure that you knew that I was interested.”
Crystal grinned, “I think I get the message now.”
“Good because I don’t like to send mixed signals. You’re a beautiful and intelligent woman Crystal. If you’re not busy this evening would you mind accompanying me on a phone date?”
“How does 10 o’clock sound?” she said.
“It sounds perfect.”
“Great, I will talk to you later this evening.”
“Don’t be late, I’ll be the guy wearing a silk suit.”
“I hope you’re talking about pajamas,” she laughed.
“You got me.”
“Whew! I was worried. I prayed that you didn’t have any silk suits that you wore outside in your closet.”
“I only wear them out when I’m getting the mail.”
“Just don’t go past the driveway.”
“I wouldn’t dare, besides I would look pretty silly with my Stewie slippers.”
“From The Family Guy?”
“Yeah, don’t hate.”
“Now I have to see those.”
“You don’t believe me?”
“I’m trying not to.”
“One minute,” he said.
A few seconds later she got a photo of someone’s feet in huge Stewie slippers.“Is that you?”
“Yes it is.”
“I think I’m a little jealous, those are really cute.”
“What? Stewie isn’t supposed to be cute, he’s supposed to be bad ass.”
“Oh I’m sorry, those are really bad ass,” she said trying to stifle her giggle.
“That’s more like it.”
“Okay, I think that I could laugh at you forever, but I’ve got to get myself together for this next meeting.”
“Same here, I need to get my head in the game. I’ll see you tonight, do you mind if we Facetime?”
“Dammit, I was planning on putting on my exfoliating mask.”
“You can still wear it; I’ll probably think it’s sexy.”
“So you wouldn’t mind me looking like The Incredible Hulk on video?”
“I guess it’s best that I see it sooner than later right? Also, you’ll look beautiful, no matter what.”
“Okay, now you’re just sucking up.”
He laughed, “Is it working?”
“It is. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Have a great meeting.”
Crystal hung up the phone with a massive grin on her face. He seemed perfect. He didn’t take himself too seriously and he knew all of the right things to say. Their phone date would be another step to their real date and then she would see if he was worth keeping around. Something in her gut told her that he was different from the others. It scared her and excited her at the same time. Finally, a man that she could see herself being with for the long term. However, with her luck, something was bound to go wrong. He was probably a polygamist or something. She shook off the thoughts of him and called her assistant into her office; it was time to get back down to business.
***
Exhausted wasn’t even the word to describe how Kalena felt. Her latest contract at the marketing firm was grueling. All of her creative energy was zapped and she just wanted to sit back and relax. She planned on going home but found herself on her mom’s doorstep instead. Her body was on auto-pilot. It was weird to want to see her mom so much.
“I’m beginning to think that you actually like me,” Kalena's mom said as she stepped through the door.
“You know that I love you.”
“That’s not what I said,” she said. “I know you love me, but you haven’t liked me for a long time.”
Kalena shook her head, “Mom, I show up on your doorstep and this is what you want to talk about?”
Her mom put her hands, “Hey, I’m just saying, it’s weird.”
“Do you want me to take my behind home?”
“Girl get in here.”
Kalena stepped over the threshold of her mom’s apartment, “Oh my goodness. Did you hire an interior designer or something? How did you pull this place together so fast?”
“I did hire someone. I was tired of dealing with it. I found a reputable person and he did all of this in two days. It’s wonderful isn’t it?”
“You’re just showing off.”
“That was the plan,” she winked.
The spunk that she used to see in her mom was slowly coming back. It was great to see. For so long her mother kept to the background and let her dad shine. She was finding her voice again and getting back to being the fun person that she was meant to be. She liked this more independent version of her mother.
They walked inside and sat on her new plush couch, Kalena moaned, “Oh my god, this is amazing. It’s so comfy.”
“I know, right. I told him that I wanted cute but comfy and he gave me exactly what I asked for. I’m grateful.”
“So what’s been going on with you? I see that you’ve been busy.”
Her mom smiled, “I found a divorce lawyer. I met with her today and paid her retainer. She’s an absolute beast in the courtroom. I know that I’m going to get everything that I asked for and more.”
“Oh wow, that’s cool.”
“I’m so sorry baby, I didn’t take into consideration that you may not want to hear this. He’s your dad and I need to express more tact.”
Kalena smiled slightly at her mother,
“You don’t have to tip toe around my feelings, I’m siding with you on this one. I think that you needed to get away from him. You’ve needed to get away from him for a long time. I hope that by the time you’re done with him he has to sleep in the back of the church.”
Her mom laughed, “Well geesh, that’s just evil. He has a baby on the way, I want him to at least be able to afford a studio.”
“That’s too good even for him,” Kalena said.
“You may have a point.”
“So what do you plan on doing now that you’re stepping down as being a pastor’s wife?”
“I’ve been considering going into event planning. Lord knows I’ve done more that my fair share of it for the church, for other churches, weddings, conferences, and etc. I am meeting up with a woman tomorrow who wants a partner in her business. She’s already raking in the dough but she needs a partner with some capital and some skill. I have both, and I can even bring in a different kind of client. Since I’ve been away from the church, my phone has been blowing up with people still wanting me to plan their events and they’re willing to pay some serious cash.”
“Wow, that’s amazing! Look at you, all official and stuff.”
“Well, you know how I do,” her mother laughed, “But seriously, I’m blessed. Not a lot of women could leave their husbands and be in the position that I’m in now. I’m not hurting for money because I had enough sense to put a stash away.”
“How long had you been putting money away?”
“Since you were born,” her mother disclosed.
“Damn, mom.”
“Language.”
Kalena rolled her eyes, “I’m a grown woman, and I think that I can say ‘damn’ now.”
“Yeah you can say it, just not around me.”
#Chapter6
