The One That Slipped Away

by LaShawn Vasser

  She never felt him move only when his fingertips touched turning her face towards his. “Mia, I’ve been texting back and forth all night with Josiah. He’s been encouraging me, to be honest about something.”

  Her breath was caught in her throat. She whispered as she gazed into his eyes. “I thought you were talking to maybe a girlfriend.”

  He smiled. “No. I haven’t had one of those in a really long time. We were talking about you.”

  “W-what about?”

  “I told him that I wanted to let everything that happened in the past go. That I wanted to build a new friendship with you.”

  She took a deep breath. “I’d like that.”

  “The problem is that was a lie.”

  Her face fell. “You don’t want to at least be friends?”

  “The truth is . . .” He paused, and Mia felt suspended in air. “I want more.”

  She chewed her bottom lip as her eyes became glassy. “How can you forgive me?”

  “We’ve both made some big mistakes, but for me, I want to forgive you because I love you.”

  “How can you still love me?”

  “Mia, even angry, I’ve never stopped. It’s like you were pumping through my veins even when I didn’t want you to. Do you think you could ever forgive me too?”

  Mia nodded. “I already have.”

  Gently, Harrison moved his head close to hers and placed a gentle kiss on her lips teasing and testing at first. However, the kiss took on a life of its own. He laid her body down on the couch.

  Mia was breathless when she spoke. “I want you.”

  He pulled back slightly to study her face. He wanted her too but didn’t want to move too fast. “Are you sure?”

  Passion filled eyes looked back at him. “Yes.”

  Strong, hands roamed her body as he continued to kiss Mia senseless. They were in a hurry to be together again after so many years apart.

  Harrison had to break the kiss only to take his shirt off. He pushed her maxi-dress up until it gathered at her waist. Mia raised her arms, and Harrison pulled the dress up and over her head. It went flying across the room, falling somewhere close to his shirt. She wasn’t wearing anything underneath.

  “You’re beautiful.” He looked at her nakedness. Her nipples pebbled from the chill in the air. “I’ve always loved to kiss you here.” Harrison nipped at her breasts before positioning himself between the softness of her thighs then bent to take her fully in his mouth.

  Mia moaned.

  He missed that sound. It made his chest swell knowing he was the one who could make her feel like this. Harrison took his time while he licked and sucked making sure he gave each one his full attention.

  Mia closed her eyes as she tangled her fingers in his hair and pressed him closer if that was even possible. She squirmed underneath him and couldn’t keep still. All she could think about was how badly she wanted to make love with him.

  Harrison had a hard time going slow. Especially when he saw the ecstasy etched on Mia’s face. All he wanted to do was drive hard inside of her and make her cum. It wouldn’t take much.

  He dragged his lips from her breast and kissed a trail up her neck and ran his tongue along the sensitive flesh behind her ears.

  Mia shivered. Her hands were eager as she unbuttoned his jeans. Harrison lifted just enough to pull them down over his hips. Once they gathered at his ankles, Mia used her feet to kick them all the way off. She wrapped her legs around his waist urging him to take her. He followed her cues.

  He whispered into her ear. “You’re dripping wet.” Harrison lined himself up at her entrance and surged inside.

  She released a low moan as his cock thrust deep inside her. Mia was so tight, and it had been so long, Harrison didn’t know how long he’d hold out this first round. He pounded into her body drilling into her as deep as he could get.

  He wanted to go deeper so he pulled her legs up over his shoulders. Mia gripped his arms as he thrust into her body harder and deeper. It was the sweetest pain.

  The sound of him slamming into her heightened her pleasure. Mia was barely able to open her eyes because the pleasure was so intense but somehow managed to see Harrison hovering over here with his mouth opened slightly.

  He was sexy as hell, giving her all he had. Her muscles tighten around him. She could feel her orgasm building. Harrison could feel it too. Mia didn’t know how it was possible, but he set a furious pace pumping harder into her than he was before. She dug her nails into his arms, and squeezed her inside as tight as she could, but it was when his hand reached in between them, tantalizing her clit, that pushed her over the edge. Mia exploded into a million pieces.

  Harrison continued to thrust in and out of her. “God, your pussy feels so good.” Once, twice, three times more before he spilled his seed deep within the cavern of her body.

  He collapsed on top of her and Mia slowly removed her legs from his shoulders. Their hearts were racing trying to catch their breath. “I didn’t mean for our first time to be like this.”

  She giggled happily. “What, so intense?”

  He kissed her on the lips. “There were quite a few things I wanted to do to you before we actually made love.”

  Mia leaned into his neck and breathed him in. Smiling, she whispered, “I think you might want to call your Oober driver and cancel. I’m hoping you can show me, and that might take a bit of time.”

  Still in a semi-state of hardness, Harrison got up off the couch, bent low and swept Mia up in his arms.

  Mia laughed and pointed. “My bedroom is that way.”

  He returned her laughter. His voice husky. “I promise you, I already know where your bedroom is. I’ve known for quite some time.”

  Epilogue

  One year later

  Mia sat outside in her Aunt Renee’s backyard. The music was blaring, the barbecue grill was going, and everyone was having a good time. Later on, they would light fireworks for the Fourth of July.

  Sheena sat next to her at the picnic table exhausted after doing the electric slide. “I can’t believe my mom and your mom had me out there on the floor doing the slide.” She laughed. “It was funny watching Aunt Avery. She’s about as rhythmless as you.”

  These days that honest assessment would make Avery laugh. Mia smirked. “I guess we all know where I get it from.”

  “I’m just glad Autumn got her skills from me. Did you see her out there? She was cutting up with all the other kids.”

  “I know, I saw her.” Mia was so proud. “She came over here to get me, but I’m not moving from this spot.” Autumn didn’t seem to have the same issues Mia had growing up. She was running around, laughing, dancing, talking, and having a good old time.

  Sheena laughed. “Well, you are big as a house . . . aren’t you ready to have that baby any day? You guys didn’t waste any time getting married and having another one.”

  “I can’t say we did, but I’m happy. It wasn’t even a question when he asked, but I can tell you one thing. Whether this baby is a boy or a girl, I’m done. It’s hot, and I’m completely uncomfortable.”

  Sheena rubbed Mia’s belly. “This one here is going to be a firecracker. I can already tell.”

  “Harrison’s been incredible. I’m still a little sad that he missed Autumn’s pregnancy, but he’s focused on being present for every moment of this one.”

  “I can tell. He made the big move from Chicago to Phoenix last weekend right?”

  “Yep. It’ll be good to have him here all the time now instead of just on the weekends.”

  “How’d his mother take that?”

  “Let’s just say, Catherine Haughton is a work in progress. Although, she is fantastic with Autumn.”

  “He’s been hovering over you like a mother hen making sure you’re comfortable and feeling loved. Roderick . . . had to force him to come out and play a game of football with the rest of the guys.”

  “I can’t believe you two reconnected and are getting married. Is ev
erything all set for your wedding?”

  “He got tired of the skanks and came after me. This time, I didn’t say how high when he said jump. I was over his ass. But, he wore me down being all sweet. Anyway, our wedding is planned. We’re good to go. I set the date to give you the next three months to have this baby and get your body together.”

  “So, how is it being the wife of an NFL player?”

  “THOTs still coming out of the woodworks, but Roderick knows I’ll kill him if he does two things—one, cheats on me and two—films it. That’s death by a thousand cuts.”

  Mia laughed.

  *****

  Later in the evening, after the sun had set Harrison held Mia in one arm and Autumn in another. They watched the sky light up in red, white, and blue. She leaned her head against his. “I love you.”

  “I love you too.” He kissed her temple. “I can’t believe I almost missed all of this.”

  Mia looked at him questioningly. “What do you mean?”

  “I’ve always known you were the one, but it almost killed me when I thought you were the one that slipped away.”

  He couldn’t get the words out before Mia’s face scrunched up in pain. Moments after, her water broke.

  Several hours later, at eleven fifty-nine in the evening, Thomas Harrison Haughton was born.

  (Untitled)

  COMING DECEMBER 2016

  Chapter 1

  Imani Hadley was furious. She stood in front of her soon to be ex-husband with her hands on her hips and steam coming from her ears. She was fit to be tied. “Why do you keep doing this? You are prolonging the inevitable! Sign the papers.”

  Garret had no intention of signing anything. He was determined to drag this process out for as long as it took for Imani to change her mind. He leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers together as if in deep thought, then tapped them against the bottom of his chin.

  His words were deliberate when he responded. “Did you have an appointment? I didn’t see you on my schedule.”

  “You sonofabitch!”

  He dropped his hands and sat up a bit straighter. “Lower your voice. My employees don’t need to know about our personal problems.”

  The sarcasm dripped from her lips. “Really? Do you honestly think I care who hears me? Like they don’t already know.”

  Garret ignored her little temper tantrum. “Your anger is misdirected. If your lawyer was worth anything, we’d already be divorced.”

  Rage radiated from every pore of her body. “No! We’d already be divorced if you weren’t purposely dragging this out.” Imani ticked off every point on her fingers. “I don’t want the homes, the cars, your money, not even the gifts you bought trying to buy me. I’m happy to leave with exactly what I came into this marriage with.” Imani’s voice was getting more elevated with every word spoken. “I. DON’T. WANT. ANYTHING. Not one red cent! Every time . . . ” She slammed her fist down on his desk. “Every time, I speak with my attorney he tells me you have some new demand which is laughable considering . . .”

  A lock of her dark hair fell over into her eyes. Frustrated, Imani swiped it away. “Yes . . . you – whatever.” She waved her hands as if swatting his words away. “It doesn’t matter. The bottom line is this process should be easy since I don’t want anything, not even your sorry last name. I’ll proudly claim Imani Jones again.”

  Garret had to reach deep within himself to exercise a level of control he’d never known he had. “You have a lot of nerve barging into my office ranting and raving like a lunatic. Your righteous indignation never ceases to amaze me. You should thank God I’m a patient and forgiving man. I’ve asked you to lower your voice. Lower it and calm down, Imani.”

  “Don’t tell me to calm down, Garret! You're unreasonable. Just sign the papers?” She threw a fresh copy at him, and they flew across his desk.

  He caught them just before they smacked him in the face. Garret’s self-control was now razor thin as he battled down his frustrations.

  Over the last several months he’d gone through a variety of emotions. Shock and anger had been at the top of the list when Imani had him served with divorce papers. To say he was surprised was an understatement.

  They had problems – significant problems in their marriage and for a brief period Garret was so blinded by anger it was hard to look at her. Initially, he’d thought her offenses were unforgivable and contemplated getting a divorce but ultimately decided against it.

  Marriage was supposed to be for better or for worse. Things couldn’t be much worse than they had been between them, but still, Garret never imagined it would have dissolved into the mess they found themselves in either. He meant his vows and thought with time they would be able to forgive each other and move on.

  Garret needed to switch gears. Imani was too angry for anything he might say to break through. “All your anger is not okay for you or the baby.”

  Imani was doing everything not to completely snap. “Now, now you care about my baby and me.” She took a couple of calming breaths. “You're ridiculous.” Aggravated, she rubbed her forehead. At the end of the day, Imani just wanted a divorce. The marriage was over, and she needed the pain of the last year to go away. All she wanted was a fresh start.

  Exhausted from her anger, she whispered. “What do you want Garret? What do I have to do to end this?”

  He hated to hear the desperation in her voice and that she actually wanted out. He wasn’t a man to give up easily and he for sure wasn’t ready to give up on his marriage. Time to put his plan in motion. “Do you want to know?”

  She could no longer hide her hopelessness. “Yes.”

  He pierced her with his hazel green eyes and placed both his hands on his desk one over the other. “Wait until after the baby is born, move back home, and give me one month.”

  The absurdity of that statement almost knocked her off her feet. It took a minute for her brain to register what he’d said to answer in any coherent way. She shook her head from side to side. “Oh no. No, no, no . . . NO, Garrett! Are you serious?”

  “Dead serious.”

  They stood staring at each other both waiting for the other to blink. He didn’t. She did.

  Imani pressed her lips together as if to keep some form of control. “I can't go on like this with you. You’ve got to let me go. Marriage is not supposed to be like . . . this . . . this thing we’re doing.”

  Garrett rounded his desk and stood directly in front of her. He was too close. For a moment, she thought he would touch her. He wore her favorite cologne, and it floated through the air tickling her senses. Imani had to remind herself that Garret wasn’t the man she’d fallen in love with. After everything that happened between them how he could have this kind of effect on her should be reason enough to have her committed.

  She cleared her throat and took a step backward then focused her attention on the paperweight on his desk.

  “If after one month of living with the baby and me, if you still want a divorce, I’ll give it to you without any hassles. I’ll only demand one thing, - joint custody.”

  “Why? Why would you want custody?”

  “I don’t want to be a part-time father.”

  Imani didn’t know what to say.

  “Garrett this makes no sense.”

  He folded his arms across his chest. “Are you afraid that you might still have feelings for me? Is that why you won’t agree?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous! I just want to get on with my life. You and I have wasted enough time.”

  Hurt, his voice came out harder than he intended. “Those are my terms. Take them or leave them. Otherwise, I’ll have you in court for the next couple of years.” Garrett turned his back on her and went to sit back down in his chair. “I have the resources. You know I can do it.”

  “Why? Why are you doing this?”

  He wasn’t about to tell her the full truth, but he would share part of it. “I know what it’s like to grow up without a father. I don’t want
that for this child. I would think you wouldn’t want it either.”

  Imani thought she imagined it when the floor trembled underneath her feet, then stopped. She chalked it up to hormones especially since she and Garrett were on the seventeenth floor.

  He frowned. “Did you feel that?”

  She looked around the room and whispered. “I guess I didn’t imagine it.” They stared at the bobble head on his desk as it began to move up and down.

  The floor vibrated again, and a weird noise like the sound of metal bending occurred just before everything started to shake uncontrollably.

  Imani could barely stand up on her feet. Somehow, Garrett managed to get to her before she fell on the floor but even he was having trouble keeping them upright.

  CRACK! A loud noise almost scared Imani out of her skin. It sounded like an explosion. The lights flickered on and off until finally the room was cloaked in semi-darkness; only the evening light from the outside windows showed through.

  Glass shattered. Everything rattled and shook from off of the walls and onto the floor. Imani held on to Garrett for dear life. “What’s happening?”

  Loud screams from outside his office found its way inside with them. They meandered their way out into the hallway only to find panic and chaos. People were running every which way.

  Garrett managed to get ahold of one of his frantic managers as they were running past him. “What’s going on?”