Miss Independent

by Kiki Leach

  “Nik,” Vanessa hollered after.

  “I just want to keep walking by myself,” she said as Vanessa caught up to her.

  “I don’t think so.” She nervously exhaled and looked to the ground. “It was just a stupid joke. Maybe you were getting your check, I don’t know. I don’t really care. As long as you’re happy, it’s whatever with me, you know that.” They walked in silence for a few seconds as she feigned checking her purse. “Are you two happy? Is this a thing with the two of you or is it just sex?”

  She groaned. “Vanessa!”

  “Look, I am drowning for information here and talking about you keeps my mind off of my own problems. Besides, I haven’t actively seen you with a guy since high school. You’ve always been more focused on your ‘craft’ than relationships. You could have casual sex every now and then with some guy you found attractive in the moment and be totally fine afterwards because you weren’t expecting anything more than he was. Meanwhile, I was trying to tie down every guy who looked decent in a tuxedo and had a worthy pedigree.”

  “That’s the difference between us,” she said. “I’m not like you. I never dreamed of a townhouse on the Upper East Side with a husband and four kids. The idea of all of that, and not being successful scares me.”

  “You can be successful as a wife and mother. You’d just have to make a few adjustments. But we’re women, we can do anything.”

  They smiled at one another.

  “I know that, but it’s not the same. I don’t want children. I don’t even know if I ever want to get married.”

  “Not even to Oscar?” Vanessa chimed in.

  Nikki stopped and frowned. She thought about it earlier, what her life could be like married to him, but would it ever happen if he remained married to his current wife?

  She shook the thoughts from her head and continued on.

  “We’re still getting to know each other, V.”

  “It’s been a year, Nik. I’d have booked the church by now.”

  “I like my life as it is,” she told her. “I really do. Granted, I could use more money and maybe a place of my own one day, but I’m such a free spirit, I always have been. I like the idea of going out there on my own, traveling to Bora Bora or sitting near a volcano and watching the lava spew from the top.”

  “Now you just sound completely crazy.”

  She laughed. “I’m serious.”

  “So am I.”

  “V, I’m just… I’m different from you, that’s all.”

  “I know that. When we first met in Mrs. Pritchett’s first grade class, you stole my pencil. I said that if you didn’t give it back, I’d send you flying over a moon and do you remember what you said to me?”

  She nodded. “That flying over the moon would be a dream come true because I wanted to live on it someday.”

  “Right. I knew then and there that you were an adventurous soul, and I accepted it.” She paused. “You and Oscar may not be getting married tomorrow, but… I still want to know how much sex you two have been having.”

  “V.” She playfully shoved her away and began walking faster.

  “I’m going through a dry spell. The love of my life is marrying a she-devil. Let me live vicariously through you!”

  Part Three

  When they arrived to their townhome on the Upper West Side, Nikki reached into her pocket for her keys. Vanessa stood behind on the steps and stared down at the doorknob. She noticed it had been tampered with.

  “Hold on,” she said, gently moving Nikki aside.

  She stepped forward and extended her hand, pushing the door back. When they realized it was already open, they looked at one another and slightly panicked.

  “Son of a bitch,” Vanessa muttered.

  As they stormed through the foyer and turned a corner toward the kitchen, Vanessa jumped back in a fright, latching onto the framing of the wall and covering her eyes at what she had just witnessed: it was their roommate Maurice. He was completely naked and had just bent over to look for something in the fridge.

  “What?” Nikki asked, storming up behind. When she peeked over Vanessa’s shoulder and got a glimpse of Maurice’s butt cheeks, she gagged. “Ay Dios Mio, Papi! Put that thing away! It’s too early in the day for all of this.”

  “Never too early to express my freedom,” he said, still rummaging inside the fridge. Then he stopped and stood up, smiling. “You called me ‘Papi’.”

  “I misspoke.”

  “Maurice,” Vanessa snapped in a harsh tone. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  “I live here.”

  “At home in the middle of the day, and naked as a jaybird in my kitchen,” she replied.

  “Our kitchen,” he emphasized. “I pay for half of this place too.”

  “Keep this up and you won’t be paying for much of anything any longer. Except for maybe a hospital bill.”

  After grabbing a bottle of water, he stood up straight and closed the door to the fridge.

  As his dick waved back and forth and bounced against his balls, Nikki made a face as if she were going to puke and turned away, closing her eyes.

  “Nothing you’ve never seen before,” he said to her. “Maybe not in a very long time, though, for both of you.” He took a sip of water and stared at them.

  Vanessa glared into his eyes as he smiled sheepishly.

  “This is making me sick,” said Nikki. “No one warned me about this.”

  “Just like no one warned me about that.” He picked up an envelope from the counter behind him and walked over to them.

  “I’m going upstairs before I lose my lunch all over this floor.” She turned away as quickly as she could and raced from the room.

  Vanessa watched her go, then turned back to Maurice and snatched the envelope from between his thumb and forefinger.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “But you know it’s in my nature to walk around naked in my own home.”

  She dropped her purse on the table and stared up at him. “That’s just it, Maurice. It’s not just your home. In fact, it was never your home because I was the one who first bought this place in college. And then I let you move in after your house flooded and you just got too damn lazy to move out. It’s been that way ever since.”

  “And what about Nikki?”

  “Nikki had no place to go after her parents fled to Connecticut, you know that. Besides, she didn’t have the money and I like her better than you, I always have.”

  “That’s bullshit,” he began, “but I accept it because she’s poor.”

  “She’s not poor! Asshole.”

  “Alright, so she’s financially challenged because she doesn’t have a real job and her parents are the ones with the money. What’s the difference?”

  “I could say the same about you.”

  “I could say the same about you too, Editor-In-Chief of Mommy’s international magazine.”

  “Eat shit,” she shot back.

  He gulped more water and gazed down at her as she opened the envelope.

  She sighed, becoming lost in thought as she noticed the familiar lettering.

  “It’s the invitation.”

  “No kidding.” Maurice waited a moment and squinted. “I take it you got one too.”

  “Of course! She wouldn’t be Sheila if she didn’t try to rub my face in something monumental for her at the worst possible moment for me, which is why I received it at work. Whatever, it doesn’t matter, I tossed it into the trash. Which is exactly where you’re going to be if you don’t go upstairs and put some clothes on.”

  “Come on, V.” He arched the corners of his lips, his deep voice entrancing.

  Her frustration increased. “I’m not kidding, Mo--”

  “I never said you were. But you don’t have to pretend.”

  He caressed her chin to calm her; her heart skipped a little at his touch but she remained at ease in his presence.

  “We share that joint bathroom upstairs and over the years, I’ve seen yo
u peeking at me from time to time when you’re in there. I never said anything directly because I thought it might make you feel embarrassed, but it’s out now. You know you like to look when I come out of the shower. I think it’s time you finally admit it.”

  Vanessa couldn’t deny that her friend of over fifteen years was devastatingly handsome. Maurice was probably one of the best looking men she had ever known. A man every woman wanted on her arm and in her bed, but was so hard to tie down for more than a few good nights. If he weren’t so beautiful to look at and enthralling with his words, no woman would ever try. At six-foot-three he, like Oscar, was a part time model balancing life in both London and Paris while maintaining strong ties to New York, before landing a secure job at Willman’s Ad Agency two years ago, thanks in part to Vanessa’s influence on the manager. His life as a model was fitting, because his physique was as sick as they come. His smooth olive skin that enveloped every muscle on his body and eyes the color of root beer with a smile that would make any girl come in her panties the moment he flashed his pearly whites, was almost no match for his chiseled face.

  And those long fingers. They looked and felt as if they were made from silk.

  He and Vanessa dated for a few months after high school but mutually parted ways when they each realized she was still in love with Nathan. They tried again during her sophomore year at NYU, but never seemed to get things quite right given his constant leaving for various modeling gigs in London, and her unwillingness to travel with him at his request. He often insisted on trying again once he finally settled back in place, remaining permanently in New York and giving up modeling for good; but they had developed a deep bond over the years, much deeper than they had as children, and she was afraid to lose it in a relationship that was sure to include sex, which always seemed to make things more complicated. But his feelings for her never dissipated, not as much as he had always claimed over the years.

  “I will admit to nothing,” she answered in a soft voice, steadily pulling back from him.

  “Because it’s true.”

  “No, what’s true is that you’re only doing this because you can. Just like a dog licking himself. And you’re naked because you more than likely have a girl hidden around here someplace.”

  “She’s not hidden if she’s tied up in my bedroom with an apple in her mouth.”

  Vanessa soured. “She’s had an apple in her mouth the entire time you’ve been down here?”

  He nodded.

  “Oh! I get it! Nikki’s not the actor, you are. This whole thing is just a big audition for the role of a Sexist Pig in the play, ‘I’m an Asshole! Get Me Out of Here!’ Is that on Broadway, or off? I’m going to need tickets either way.”

  “I’ll be sure to let you know.”

  “Great. In the meantime, could you please do the world a favor and release that girl back into the wild and put on some damn clothes?”

  Nikki came back down and leaned over the railing, placing her hand over her face. “There are some strange noises coming from your bedroom,” she said to Maurice. “I’d check it out, but I’ve already seen too much as it is. And I’m in the process of bleaching my corneas while simultaneously using Q-tips to keep the wax in my ear so that I don’t have to hear any more of that.”

  She whipped her head around fast and raced back upstairs.

  Maurice whistled. “Whoo-eee! That means she’s in heat!” He bypassed Vanessa and headed for the stairs with the bottle of water in his hand. “Another quick round of ring around the cock, and --”

  Vanessa wrapped a hand around his arm and pulled him back. “Just a second, I don’t think so,” she said. “You get her ass out of here, now, or it’ll be wring around the neck.”

  He stood back and glanced at her with a satisfied smirk. “You’re gettin’ kinky, V.”

  “Shut up.”

  “Why do you want this girl gone so badly? Are you jealous?”

  Her eyes widened and she scoffed. “Are you kidding?”

  “You’re too anxious for me to get her out of here. You’re angry, you’re saying things you wouldn’t normally say.”

  “That’s because most of the girls that you bring over here don’t know how to muzzle themselves even with your dick in their mouths, and I’m not in the mood to listen to any of that right now. I just want a little peace and quiet.”

  “Peace and quiet.” He nodded, slightly disbelieving. “You never said what you were doing at home in the middle of the day, Miss Brown.”

  “Well, it’s certainly not you, Mr. Livingston, because that position is currently occupied.”

  “I’m always open for business, Vanessa. Especially for you.”

  He playfully winked.

  It had been a long time. She hadn’t had sex in about six months and definitely not with anyone who made her remember it the next morning. Or at least made her legs shake and toes curl all within the same night. And Maurice was sexy, and available to her whenever she wanted. She knew she could have him at any time, just as he said. All he needed was the ticket for admission to remain for the entire ride. But she wasn’t that desperate. At least not this time, when he had another girl upstairs still waiting on his imminent return.

  She swallowed hard and breathed out, looking away.

  “No thanks,” she stated. “But next time I’m in need of a good belly laugh, you can tell me that again. Same clown suit.”

  She removed her coat and returned to the foyer, placing her coat inside the walk-in closet near the front door.

  He followed after. “Hey, wait a minute,” he said, his tone turning sympathetic and concerned. “What really brought you home at this time of the day, V? All joking aside, you’re never home early unless you’re all caught up in work, and that’s rare.”

  She rested a hand on the closet door and noticed his suddenly engorged penis. She never knew that’s what he had to work with, but she couldn’t say much about it, considering.

  “I can’t take you seriously until you cover up the tree trunk that’s grown between your legs with something wider than a fig leaf.”

  He looked around and grabbed Nikki’s jacket as it was close by, tying it around his waist to cover the front, though his ass was still out for all the world to see.

  “Now,” he began, “talk to me.”

  She sighed. “I got the invitation first thing this morning. I hadn’t even sat down at my desk before it was in my hands. I didn’t know anything before then, and I was frankly too damn stunned to call you or Nikki to tell you about it. She came home during lunch and saw hers.”

  “I thought I heard someone walking around down here earlier, but I was too preoccupied upstairs to come and check it out.”

  “I’m so very sure. Anyway, I had somewhat of a fit at work over it and took the rest of the day off. Now, what’s your excuse? And don’t tell me it was because of that girl.”

  “Our office lost power so they sent everyone home. Can’t create ads in the dark.”

  “Hmm.” She waited a moment and then turned her head. “Did you meet this girl on the way home?”

  He grinned and took a gulp of water. “Indeed I did. Between the office and the subway.”

  “You are sick.”

  “Two perfectly healthy adults doing exactly what God intended with our bodies is far from sick, V. It’s the healthiest thing two people can do with and for one another.”

  “Whatever you need to justify this behavior. This is exactly why I never slept with you when we were together.”

  “You never slept with me because you knew I’d rock your world.” He stepped in closer. His breath hit her face and she stiffened as his dick brushed between her thighs. “I love you in this dress.” He looked her over as a small smile came across his lips. “It accentuates every curve on your body.”

  “Maurice --”

  She looked up at him and he placed his finger at the edge of her throat, sliding it down until he hit her breasts.

  “I’d have taken you for
a ride, Vanessa Brown,” he whispered, “and sent you home with a sore back.”

  He dropped his hand from her, the back of his fingers brushing against her nipple, down to her stomach.

  She gulped and stepped back, nibbling her lips as she glanced at his abs.

  She fiercely rattled her head.

  “No. No! I’m not going to let this get to me. You always do this,” she mumbled. “As if I’m suddenly going to--”

  “You’ve thought about it at least once or twice since then.”

  She cleared her throat, nervous. “Here is what I think in this very moment, that you don’t even know that girl’s name.”

  “What girl?”

  “The one you have upstairs roasting on your bed like a potbellied pig being served for Thanksgiving dinner.”

  He laughed to himself. “Right. Um.” He waited a moment. “Her name’s Virginia.” And then he thought. “Or maybe it’s Shaleesha and Virginia was the friend she kept telling me about that could join us later.”

  Vanessa lifted a brow and cocked her head.

  “You can’t remember if it was her or the friend you’ve never even met? That’s convenient. Because I’m sure she knows not only your name and address, but your birthdate and social security number by now as well.”

  She headed back for the kitchen.

  “She’s tied up,” he replied in a smug tone.

  Vanessa turned back to him and wrinkled her nose. “Is she? Really?”

  He looked toward the stairs and appeared hesitant. Then he ran up, hopping over every other one before reaching his bedroom.

  Later in the evening, Vanessa found herself alone in their large townhome, which is what she enjoyed most. After taking one of the longest showers of her life in hopes of scrubbing away her anger, she had emerged from her bedroom only to find a few well-placed sticky notes on her door. One was from Maurice, informing her that he had gone to a late dinner with some friends he knew from his modeling days. The other was from Nicole, telling her that she had opted to attend another acting workshop before her latest audition.