by N'Tyse
“Thaaank you,” Ty huffed, walking around Sand and quickly in the direction Deja sent her.
Deja then immediately switched her attention back to Sand who was wearing just a wife-beater and jeans. Her small breasts, Deja barely noticed. She faced Sand for the first time in months. Sand’s hair was all gone and she looked different from the images filtered in her memory.
“It’s been a long time,” Deja started out.
Sand stepped closer to Deja, shutting the door behind them.
“I thought you were …”
“Ssshhh.” Sand silenced Deja with her finger. “I just want to look at you for a moment.” Sand felt the vibe. It was so strong she could only shake her head.
“What? What is it,” Deja asked, gazing into Sand’s hazel brown eyes.
“This reminds me of something.” Sand stopped. “Us, right here, right now.”
“What?” Deja asked, her eyes begging for Sand to spit it out.
Sand took in Deja’s body from head to toe. She was so damn tempted to unwrap the towel and set her body free. “You and I.”
Deja wasn’t following.
Sand pulled Deja into her. She kissed her forehead, then her nose.
“Please, don’t do this to me again,” Deja moaned.
Sand whispered in her ear. “This feels like Déjà vu.”
Deja smiled, lifting her head slightly. Water drizzled down her neck and back. “And what if it is, Déjà vu?” Deja asked her. “What are you going to do with it?”
Sand brought her lips to Deja’s. Kept them there for all of sixty seconds. They only stopped because they heard the toilet flushing and then Ty screaming at the top of her lungs as if somebody was killing her. Soon after, Ty emerged from behind the six foot tall grandfather clock.
“Ugh! I’m allergic to cats,” she sneezed. She stomped at Whiskers and watched him scamper to the opposite side of the house, more scared of her than she was him. “Sand, are we chilling here for a minute?” Ty asked frankly. “We’ve been rolling around all morning and I ain’t had nobody’s sleep,” she complained.
Sand looked back at Deja. Deja’s eyes gave her the answer.
“Just for a little bit and then we have to be out,” Sand told Ty.
“I’ll go grab some extra pillows and a blanket. You can stay here for however long you need. You know that,” Deja assured Sand.
Sand smiled because she did know that.
When Deja returned, Ty was already stretched out on the sofa, making herself at home. Sand, on the other hand, was standing, awaiting Deja’s next request. Deja placed the pillows and blanket beside Ty. “There’s more if you need them,” she told her. Ty wrapped herself up and closed her eyes.
Deja turned to face her old lover. “There’s room in the guest room if you’d prefer.”
Sand smirked as she curled her lips. “Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. I mean, unless you’re more comfortable in here, with your friend?” Deja asked cautiously. She didn’t know the situation and didn’t want to assume anything.
Sand chuckled. “I only have one friend.” She smiled, correcting what Deja had implied.
Stepping closer, “Oh really? And who might that be?” Deja asked with a sinister smile plastered on her face.
Sand looked over at Ty who was knocked out. She then glanced over at the clock. There was still a schedule to keep. Deja had backed her into a corner and the longer Sand stood there, the harder it was for her to walk away. “You’re my friend,” she said finally, gazing into Deja’s beautiful coffee brown eyes. “You’re the only friend I have right now. Ain’t nobody else out here for me. Nobody I can trust. I thought I had that a long time ago, but I was wrong. And I’m just not trying to get caught up no more,” Sand vented.
Deja saw the hurt and disappointment in Sand’s face and she wanted to be the one to take it all away.
Sand put her arms around Deja’s body to console her, or maybe to console herself.
Standing between a yesterday and a tomorrow, Deja’s mind rested on the right now. She needed Sand, wanted Sand, and was not afraid to tell her so. “Sand, I love you.”
Sand looked at Deja with a fresh pair of eyes. “You love me?”
Deja’s words came out so sincere. “Yeah, I do.”
They hadn’t even known each other that long, but yet, Deja had developed strong feelings for her. Feelings that she had surely mistaken for love. Sand tried to disguise her shock. “How much? How much do you think you love me?”
Deja could taste Sand’s breath every time she opened her mouth to speak. That sweet cigar smell lingered between them. Insecurity stirred emotions in Deja that caused her to doubt herself. Her bottom lip began to quiver as she questioned if Sand really needed an answer to that. Immediately, flashbacks of Sand and her together reassured those feelings she’d had from day one. There was nothing more to think about because the answer was already there. Sand just didn’t see it. Deja vowed she’d never fall in love again. But this feeling she had right now, this crave—was worth giving love another try.
“I love you a lot,” Deja declared. “I think about you all day and all night. When I go to sleep and when I wake up. I can’t stop thinking about you.” She tried to control her emotions. “It’s like, you and I are supposed to be,” she proclaimed. “Every part of me wants to be in your life. I feel something special when I’m with you.” Deja hesitated as she went on. “And since that night,” even if Sand couldn’t remember that passion-filled night they shared, Deja wanted her to know that it existed, “I have been a wreck around here. You consume my thoughts, my prayers, and when I go to sleep, you’re there, in my dreams.”
Sand dipped her fingers into Deja’s dimples the same way she would often do Rene’s. She felt it too. There was chemistry between them and like Deja, she also thought about her morning, noon, and night. It was scary in some ways because the one woman Sand loved deeply and shared everything with had betrayed her. Now she had reached a point where she believed true love would never exist. But here was Deja, standing before her, spilling out those powerful words, ‘I love you’. Those words changed things. They gave someone another way of examining what was staring them in the face.
Standing toe-to-toe, lip-to-lip, Sand felt that radiating surge of energy trigger her most sensitive spots. “Show me how much you love me then,” she challenged Deja.
Deja waited for that last response to register. She traced Sand’s mouth, then her chin. Her manicured fingernail tip glided so softly over what was destined to be hers. She took the towel that she’d wrapped herself in and untucked it to expose her nakedness. “I can definitely show you better than I can tell you,” she smiled. She led the way to her room with Sand following closely behind. The doors closed, the heat returned, their bodies unified, and once again, everything that Deja so badly wanted to happen, took place again, again, and again.
10
“ Thank God for 24-hour Wal-Marts and corner stores,” Illusion thought as she pulled into the parking lot. She grabbed the Wal
Mart bag that had her new change of clothes in it. A pair of khaki
straight-legged slacks and a toasted beige cropped cardigan
pulled over a white tank. It was the cheapest ensemble she could
throw together for less than thirty bucks. She even found a sexy
pair of chocolate pumps with a four-inch heel, which compared
to what she’s used to wearing, felt like flats underneath her feet. “Haaa chooo …” Illusion sneezed for the fifth time. She just
knew it. Her ass was catching a cold, but she had something for
that too. She popped another Air-Borne just after taking three
less than an hour before.
Illusion turned off the engine and walked inside the nearby
convenience store. Her dress was still somewhat damp and she’d
bet anything that this was one time she actually looked like a
damn hooker. “Where’s your restroom?”
she asked the Arabian
guy standing behind the register wearing a turban. The clerk stared Illusion up and down, prejudging her the
second she entered the store. “The restrooms are in the back,” he
said, glancing down at the plastic bag in her hand.
Illusion swayed her hips as she walked toward the back of the
store.
“Awww sookie, sookie, now.”
Illusion turned around to see who the baritone voice belonged to.
“What that’ll run me?” the man asked, not cutting any corners. He zipped his fly, running his hands over his graying mustache. He gave Illusion a roguish, devil-eyed stare, placing her in a categorical spot in his mind. The man’s work jeans were just as filthy as his black, steel-toe boots, plus he smelled like he’d been hauling garbage.
Illusion read the white embroidered name and logo on his company shirt. She suppressed those remarks she felt getting ready to leap off her tongue and instead tried to sustain the horrid smell blowing in her direction. “I take it you were talking to me?” she smiled, batting her lash a time or two.
“And you’d be right, sweet thang.” The man tugged at the instantaneous erection she’d given him.
Illusion only stared at him and quickly noted the rising lump in his pants.
The clerk behind the register watched Illusion in the store’s surveillance camera. “No soliciting in my store,” he hollered.
Illusion batted her lengthy lashes again. The looks they exchanged said more than what needed to be heard. She glided her tongue across her lips in a slow and sexy manner, then pulled it back in. “Look, let me use the ladies’ room and then we can talk some more. Is that all right with you?”
Watching Illusion in that dress had the man counting down. He wanted her services badly. “All right. That’ll work. You can find me over there,” he pointed to his big rig that was parked across the street. “I got a bed and everything for you,” he told Illusion, rolling the toothpick in his mouth around as he sucked on his tongue.
“I’ll meet you in your office, then,” Illusion whispered seductively as she turned her back and walked into the bathroom. She was already calculating how much she would charge his ass. Before Illusion slipped off her dress, she noticed there weren’t any paper towels. She raised the flap on the tissue dispenser and it too was empty. She snatched open the door and called out to the attendant. “Excuse me. Where do you keep your bathroom supplies?” After not getting a response, she ran over to the aisle and snatched up a roll of tissue and baby wipes. Illusion freshened up, brushed her teeth and then jumped into her change of clothes. She raked her tousled hair with her fingertips, braiding it into a long braid that hung down her back. She powdered her nose, rubbed on some blush, puckered her lips and applied some lipstick. She massaged her lips together, readying them for their next customer.
Illusion opened the restroom door, heading to pay for the wipes she’d taken when a fine gentleman standing in line caught her eye. She headed in his direction and took her place in line right behind him.
“Can I get ten on pump two, my man?” she heard him ask the clerk.
“I’m sorry but that pump isn’t working,” the clerk told him. “I put the money on the other one.”
“Not a problem.” He slid the clerk a fifty dollar bill. The handsome stranger had all Illusion’s attention, especially his midnight skin, broad shoulders, and coal black waves in his hair. And to top it all off, he smelled like money. “Excuse me, baby,” he apologized after backing into Illusion and barely missing her toes.
His gray eyes caught her way off guard. She just stood there, soaking in his fineness. She stepped out of his way and watched him waltz right out the door. Without making eye contact with the clerk, she said, “Here, I took some wipes off your shelf,” and handed him a five dollar bill. She watched the guy climb into his Infiniti and reverse his way to the available gas pump.
The clerk looked over his glasses at Illusion. “And a roll of Charmin,” he chimed in, including an additional $2.99 plus tax to her total.
Illusion looked at the clerk like he had lost his mind. “I’m not paying for that. It should have already been in there. How you expect people to wipe their ass?” She tapped at the counter, motioning for her change.
“Miss, that’s not my problem. There were napkins on the sink.”
“Napkins! I wasn’t gon’ wipe my—” There was movement in her third eye. Illusion glanced back out the door. The man blended in so well with his car that any darker and you’d need a flashlight to find him. The awakening sun bounced off his body like a spotlight, showcasing all of what the rest of the world was missing out on.
The clerk shot Illusion a disapproving look, frowning as though he had a bad taste mingling in his mouth that would not subside. “Look, lady. I charge you for the tissue you took.”
“Here. Take it!” Illusion slapped a dollar on the counter and walked off. She stepped outside and strutted over to the borrowed BMW she was pushing for the time being. The alarm chirped and she hopped right in. She pulled up to the opposite side of the fourth pump that wasn’t being used. She got out, lifted the nozzle, and pretended to pump gas into the tank. She waited for him to speak first. When he didn’t, she said, “Excuse me,” and blushed from ear to ear. “Has anyone ever told you that you have the sexiest eyes they’d ever seen?” She lowered the handle and placed the nozzle back onto its hook. She walked around to where the guy stood, catching a glimpse of his license plate in the process. It was a Florida plate. “Oooh, an out-of-towner,” she presumed.
“No. I don’t think I’ve heard that one before,” he lied, finding humor in her steadfast approach.
“Well, I find that hard to believe because a man as fine as you,” she paused all while smiling, “deserves to be told a lot of things. I think you know where I’m going with this.” She watched his eyes follow her every move. “Let me show you around Dallas sometime.”
Illusion held his attention. She was the most attractive woman he’d ever seen in his life, but he knew he’d be a fool to admit that kind of truth. “Oh yeah? Humph. So what can you show me that I might not already know about the D?” He crossed his arms and leaned against his car while waiting for her to enlighten him.
Illusion took two steps closer, whispered in his ears the way she hoped he’d let her do later. “I can make you forget all about that woman back in Florida,” she assured him, without a doubt. The look on her face was nothing short of a woman with determination that went after what she wanted, when she wanted it.
He lowered his eyes and drew his neck back. “Word?” he chuckled.
Illusion stood with no shame in her game and all confidence. She could fuck his world up and have him worshiping her pussy before night’s end. But right now, she wanted to know exactly what was so damned funny. She slid her hands across her hips, making sure he took full notice of the package. “I didn’t realize I was so funny before,” she said finally.
“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to laugh. It’s just that,” he stopped, held his thoughts for a second. “Damn, y’all Dallas women sure do get straight to the point, don’t cha? Y’all don’t even give a brotha a life jacket. You just throw him in the pool and let him figure out how to swim all on his own, huh?”
Illusion shrugged her shoulders. Maybe that was true for some, but she wasn’t concerned about any other ho except for the ho in her that was dying to get to know him a little better and on a much more personal note. She studied him closely, digesting the idea of what his dick must have tasted like.
“Whoo. I don’t mean to come off ugly or ill-mannered in no kind of way, so do excuse me in advance. But,” he scratched his head. “I really don’t think I’m what you’re looking for,” he admitted. Seeing where the conversation was heading, he pulled out of it prematurely. There wasn’t room for distractions like this one. He came too far. He was on a mission and he predicted this woman before him would make him lose focus of the reason he was
back in a place he vowed to never return. He turned his back to Illusion and walked over to his side of the car. He opened his car door and hopped in.
“How you know what I’m looking for?” Illusion called out to him. “You don’t know anything about me. I could be the best thing that ever happened to you,” she insisted. “You know what I’m worth out here?” She considered throwing some numbers his way, just so he’d know he was in the presence of the real deal, but she decided against it.
“Look, I’m not sure what you’re used to around here, but me, personally, I don’t expect a woman to have sex with me when she doesn’t even know me. You too damn pretty for that and I couldn’t live with myself knowing I cheated you out of what should be more than what you make in a day’s pay. He smiled, allowing himself to stay in the game but ahead in the race. Had it been a few years ago, he knew he would have taken the pussy coupon, hit it, and quit it. But that was then. “Besides, you wouldn’t be interested in a guy of my caliber,” he told her flatly.
Illusion just looked at him. Was she being turned down? “And why wouldn’t I be interested in a guy like you?” Her menacing stare should have bore holes through his grape colored skin. When he dropped then lifted his head back up, his diamond solitaires glistened in her face.
He collected himself. Did she really want the answer to that? “Well, first off, I’m no trick.” He looked around, cranking his engine. They were holding up apparently the only two good pumps since pump two was broken and pump one had a line forming.
“So, you know my type? Or you think you do?” she challenged. A trick to her was just another spot to fill in her little black book and a reliable stream of income. Her regulars never let her down. They’d make permanent room to see her. After all, she was their bonus prize they’d busted overtime for all week. But did that mean those were her type? Hell no. Illusion crossed her arms.
“No, I don’t know your type. I just know me.” He held up his finger, mouthing apologies to the people that waited impatiently in their vehicles.
