by Xyla Turner
Friday came and for some reason, Rich was looking forward to the dinner. Grace invited herself to the dinner after she apologized for pushing him during a tough time, as she put it. She apologized on her knees, in between strokes on his cock. She knew how to get him to forgive her because she fucked up often. His boss was happy about the progress he was making with Lisa and also informed him that after the article had come out, the judge threw Ricardo’s case out. Rich was glad to hear that, despite the façade he kept up, his heart hurt when he saw what that boy had gone through. He was not a heartless bastard, he just did not know how to take all the heartbreaking stories that came with the job, nor what to do with them because he could not fix them all. He felt like Lisa wanted him to fix a system that he had little control over. He could do more as a Senator, maybe she could help him. He almost laughed at that notion because he could see her laughing at the absurd request. She would probably have tears in her eyes again from laughing so hard. The woman thought he was a racist and prejudice asshole and would not help him if his life depended on it. Why that bothered him, he still was trying to figure out.
Rich and Grace were there twenty minutes early, as they wanted to be the ones who were seen in a position of power. Lisa and her boyfriend came in five minutes later hand-in-hand. As they approached the table, Rich stood up to greet Lisa and shake the boyfriend’s hand. He was a tall brown man with a low haircut. Rich and he were about the same height and similar physique, but Rich first thought was that he could take him. He had a firm grip and not to be ignored as Rich was sure he made a point of squeezing his hand until his turned a shade of white.
“Lisa, this is my girlfriend Grace,” Rich said as he waved his hand towards her.
“This is my boyfriend, Danny.” Rich nodded at the man with the firm grip and sat down.
Danny pulled out a chair for Lisa and then sat down. “What’s good here?” Danny asked.
Grace chimed in, “Oh, the fried chicken here is to die for.”
Lisa and Danny both swiveled their heads towards Grace.
Rich cringed as he knew Grace did not mean anything by it, but she was more sheltered from different types of people than he was.
Lisa smirked at Rich and said, “I’m sure it is.”
Danny shook his head.
Grace turned beet red and whispered to him, “What did I say?”
“I’ll tell you later.” He internally chided himself for not thoroughly going over what would be discussed and not discussed. Especially stereotypes about food and the notion that all black people like fried chicken and watermelon.
Grace excused herself from the table to powder her nose or cry. Rich was embarrassed for her, but she also embarrassed him. After she had left, Lisa looked up with a knowing gaze.
“So, this is the mending fences meeting?” She sarcastically commented.
“I hope so.” Rich raised his eyebrows.
“How do you plan to do that?” She mused.
“Well, by first apologizing again. Even for Grace, she’s not used to this.”
“What, being around the colored folk?” Danny added.
Lisa elbowed Danny and he smirked. Rich glared at Danny while responding, “Something like that?”
Danny grunted and kept looking at the menu.
“What else?” Lisa queried.
“As you suggested, I’ll be at your next board meeting and I’ve already set up meetings with several urban schools and police stations throughout the city.”
“Ah, you don’t procrastinate, do you?”
“I try not to.”
“Good to hear, maybe one day you’ll actually mean it.” Lisa quipped.
“Why are you always busting my balls?” Rich was starting to get angry at her complete dismissal of all attempts he made towards fixing this problem.
Danny must have heard the underlying tone in his voice because he raised his head and eyebrows at him.
“Because you are doing and saying all the right things, and I’m not trying to be mean or bust your balls, but you simply have no investment in any of it. You are doing it because it was told to you or it will benefit you. I just hope one day you mean it. That you do something like this because you give a damn.”
“What makes you think I don’t? How can you sit there and be the judge and jury about what I care about?” he lowered his voice. This was supposed to be a ‘mending fences’ meeting, but she would not let up.
“I’m not trying to judge or put you on trial, you are the only one that can do that. I am, however, speaking a truth that whether you want to admit or not, is just that. Truth.”
He’d had enough. “I’m going to check on Grace.”
She raised her hand, “No, I’ll go.”
She got up and went towards the bathroom, then Danny said, “You know you fucked up right?”
“What?”
“You fucked up man,” Danny said.
“You messed with one of her students, those are like her own kids. She will fight for those kids. If you ever want to get into her good graces, like to the point where she isn’t making it her life’s mission to fuck up your career. You’ll want to give a shit about those kids.” Danny raised an eyebrow and continued, “Just some friendly advice.”
Danny’s face turned serious and he continued, “Here’s some more advice, if you fuck with her career, it won’t be just her trying to end yours.”
Danny called the waiter over, as his threat had been made and he had moved on to another topic. He ordered a scotch on the rocks and a lemon water for Lisa. Grace and Rich already had their drinks. Rich looked towards the bathroom and wondered what was taking them so long. He hoped Lisa was not rearranging Grace’s face, although that would be a little funny. He also hoped Grace was not embarrassing him any more than she already had. He decided to get up and find them, but he saw Grace coming back from the bathroom looking better than when she left. She smiled at him and sat down to take a long sip of her margarita.
Rich decided to go to the restroom anyway. He walked into the women’s bathroom, looked under the stalls and saw Lisa’s feet. He locked the door so he could corner her. He wanted to know why she was always busting his balls. When Lisa emerged from the stall, she jumped when she saw him. “What, you’ve come to finish me off?”
She approached the sink to wash her hands and Rich slowly walked towards her.
“Why are you always busting my balls?” he asked. “Even when I come in peace, apologizing, you are always breaking my balls. I want to know why.”
He kept advancing on her. Lisa stood there with her wet hands and a smirk on her face. “You think I’m busting your balls because I said you don’t care?”
“Fuck yeah, you don’t know shit about me. You just met me last week and you think you have me all figured out?”
He was about a foot away from her and her fragrance surrounded him. She smelled like chocolate, but he did not think there was such a thing - ‘chocolate perfume’.
She muttered something.
“What, speak up darling, I can’t hear you.”
“I met you 15 years ago,” she said with defiance in her voice.
“What, no you didn’t?” He was racking his brain.
“Yes, I did. It was at the community event, put together to bridge the North and South side of Philly. We played basketball against each other.”
Oh shit.
A wave of nausea flushed over him as Rich turned pale. “It couldn’t be,” he muttered.
“Oh yes, it could. You elbowed me, knocked me down and said, ‘You’ll pay for that blackie.’” She reminisced.
She recited that like she would never forget those words and worst of all, like they ran through her head more often than she would like to remember.
“Goddamn.” He felt sick as he touched his nose in remembrance.
“So, you see. I may not know you, but I know enough about you to know what I know.”
Rich looked down at her and saw that little girl wi
th braided hair to the back, looking like a tom-boy. A tom-boy he had vowed to go easy on until she stole the ball from him and showed him up in front of his family and friends. His dad had pulled him aside and told him if that blackie did it again to make her pay. That was what he did. She stole that ball and he ran chased her with a vengeance, knocked her down and told her what was said to him. He paid anyway because after those boys had beaten up on him, his father broke his nose for letting her steal the ball, not once but twice.
He looked at her lips and said, “You don’t know me, darling.”
Lisa was about to say something and before she could, Rich brought his mouth down to hers. At first, he kissed her softly, then when she didn’t resist, he put both hands on the sink, caging her in and deepened the kiss. She opened for him and he invaded her mouth with his tongue. He swore the women tasted like chocolate. The smell was everywhere. His erection was straining against his khaki pants. He felt fingers in his hair and he groaned. She was kissing him back while Grace and Danny were at the table waiting for them. He wanted to pick her up and take her home, where he would get to taste her sweet chocolate pussy all night. Finally, he gave in and rubbed his hard erection against her stomach. This move jolted her back to her senses because, in the next moment, she stopped kissing him and pushed him back.
“Oh my God,” she breathed. “We can’t do this.”
“Why not, we both want it.” He was trying to understand it all himself.
She turned to glare at him. “No, we don’t. Don’t you need to go home and wash your mouth out with bleach? Can’t have black cooties.”
“You know, I’m beginning to think you are the racist between the two of us.”
Lisa’s eyes widened and she slapped him right across the face. Rich stood frozen in place because it didn’t register that he had been hit. By the time he came around, she had unlocked the restroom door and was gone. He finally emerged from the ladies room, after two women came in and saw him standing in their lair looking stunned. Rich came out to see Danny and Lisa leaving the restaurant. He would have run to stop them, but didn’t want to cause a scene. When he came to the table, he saw that Grace was drinking another margarita and looking very full of life. While he was feeling very dead inside.
So much for mending fences, he thought.
Chapter 4: The Accident
LISA:
Lisa tossed and turned all night. Her mind was filled with images of Rich’s lips on hers, his body touching hers and how wet she got when he kissed her. She should not want him, she did not want him. Lisa already had her tall, dark and handsome. Why was she in bed thinking about the enemy? What was he thinking to kiss her like that? It must have been a bet or something, Lisa thought. He could not actually be attracted to her because he was indeed a prejudice bastard. Well, that didn’t stop the slave owners from raping and killing black women, so it could not have been anything special. Pussy is pussy, no matter what color it is. Rich had a beautiful woman on his side, why would he want to jeopardize that, she mused.
After a while, Lisa gave up on sleep and decided to answer her hundreds of emails. This would also take her mind off Danny, who decided to stay at his place because he did not want to have the marriage, baby, or relationship conversation. He avoided it like the plague and this was grating Lisa’s nerves. They had known each other forever, dated for years now, but there was no sign of commitment. Not that she could talk, after she had gripped onto Rich’s hair and allowed him to kiss her like she was his.
She only got through half of the emails before she realized what she needed to do. Lisa decided that she would keep talking about this matter, she would bring it before the legislature, and she would rally the troops about this issue. Hopefully, crazy ass Rich would keep his end of the bargain because they could use an ally who could do something about it. She also decided to pursue her master’s degree in Community Planning and Urban Development.
Her email box chimed and she saw it was from ‘Jr., Wells, Richard.’ She didn’t want to open it, but what was he doing up this time of night and why was he emailing her.
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Date: July 18, 2014, 4:05 AM
Subject: For the record
Lisa,
I am sorry about the bathroom incident. I didn’t mean to come on so strong, but there is just something about you that keeps pulling at me. Is it just me? Do you feel it? Do you find it odd that after that life-altering moment on the basketball court that day, we run into each other again in a courtroom to butt heads? I looked you up, it seems you were a hell of a basketball player. Clearly, I underestimated you then and even last week. I do want to mend fences with you. I’m a little dense at trying to figure out the best way of going about that.
I will do what we discussed, but I also wanted to extend an olive branch because I think you and I could be good friends.
I hope to hear from you.
Your nemesis,
Rich
--
Lisa laughed at his signature, then she typed her own response.
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Date: July 18, 2014, 4:15 AM
Subject: Re: For the record
Hello Mr. Wells, Jr.
For the record, I accept your apology. In regards to that bathroom incident, that can never happen again. You are happy, I’m happy, let’s stay happy with what we have.
You upholding your end of the bargain will appease me.
Thanks for your email.
Honestly, not your nemesis,
Lisa
--
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Date: July 18, 2014, 4:19 AM
Subject: Re: Re: For the record
You are up? Why?
Bet you couldn’t sleep like me? I wonder what clouds your mind. Probably the same event that I keep replaying over and over again. Delicious.
Sweet dreams, darling.
--
Lisa read this and logged off her computer. The man was incorrigible. She tried to figure out what had her blood pumping so hard. Was it his determination to penetrate her icy demeanor, his courage to pursue something that was out of reach or just his arrogance? As a rule, Lisa did not think arrogance was a good quality, but Rich wore confidence like any politician did, she guessed. He was sure, secure, settled and had a plan. It wasn’t necessarily a plan she admired, but it was a plan. The man was determined, she would give him that, but that was it. She refused to admit that there was even an inkling of attraction because there simply wasn’t.
She planned to file it away as hormones or lack of sex.
RICH:
After they had left the restaurant, Grace was asleep in the car and they were only half-way home. Rich drove her to her parent’s home, where she still resided because he did not want to deal with her and she had been off lately. After he had arrived at his apartment, he laid in bed with his hand on his erect cock, wishing a brown-eyed, chocolate smelling woman was there with him. He wanted Lisa badly and the desire seemed to be overtaking him. He did not realize that he had succumbed to the craving and was kissing her until he actually had his lips on hers in the bathroom. He was out of his mind. He rubbed the length of his cock with his fist and groaned. He did not know her but knew she could do a much better job than his hand could. With that pink pouty bottom lip, slowly sliding up and down his cock. She was a wildcat, so he knew she’d show some teeth. He groaned, just thinking about the visual.
This had to end.
Rich pulled out his iPad, went to his favorite porn site and for the first time in life, he clicked on interracial couples. He knew the woman must have cast a spell on him because he had never even thought about or considered watching a woman of color before. They were beautiful, but it just didn’t cross his mind. After watching a woman who had the curves, hair and what he imagined Lisa’s bos
om looked like, he got off twice and fell asleep.
******
He had not been back to Penn State since he had graduated over five years ago. Partly because that was a five-hour drive, but there was nothing to celebrate. They were receiving some bad press lately, so his father told him to steer clear of the place. His friends were having a Poconos get together and invited him and Grace. Surprisingly enough, they were both looking forward to the break away from their normal routine and excited about taking a trip back to school. Grace and Rich had been together for six years. They were introduced by Rich’s father and his associate. It all seemed like a business transaction, which Rich had no doubt that it was. However, he had grown to like Grace, they even had sex when she didn’t have a headache. The relationship consisted of Grace doing things to ‘help his career’ and then using sex to get back into his good graces.
Grace was always floating around talking about what the papers would say when they decided to get married. A match made in heaven, college sweethearts, or the perfect couple. Grace was no romantic, she was an opportunist, which oddly enough was the very same thing that she accused Lisa of being. Lisa might have been passionate, but opportunistic, Rich would not have put her in that category, even though she was trying to end his career. In some way, he almost wanted her to end this madness because he did not know what to do. His father still managed to make decisions for him and every day, he hoped he could break away from his prison.
Grace tried to talk to Rich in the car, but eventually put her headphones when he kept giving her one-word answers or none at all. He swore those podcasts she listened to were about how to take over the world one dinner party at a time. He gladly turned his music up louder, which consisted of Contemporary Pop and old school Hip Hop. Grace absolutely hated anything he liked, so he was thankful she came prepared with alternative entertainment because he planned to play his music, regardless of her preference. They arrived at the resort in six hours because that long bend in the road that lead only to Penn State was still a single lane that took forever to get through. After they had checked into their cabin, Grace scampered off to the bathroom while Rich changed into his gear so he could hit the slopes. He could not wait to ski so it would be just him and the mountain.
