by Rain, Renee
They returned after about a half hour with bags that Sabrina could hear being rustled in the kitchen. Henry came in with a bottle of lemonade and asked how things were going. “It’s going pretty good so far. What did you get to eat?” She turned her nose up when he told her that they got cheeseburgers and fries. “So how often do they get a home cooked meal?” She had to know. He stuttered as he tried to explain that he isn’t a good cook. He shares that their grandmother cooks all the time. “So fast food every night they are here?” He drew his lips tight and didn’t answer. “What kind of foods do they like?” She tapped a pen on the desk as he said that they like Italian and Soul Food.“Hmm.” She began writing on a separate piece of paper. “Tomorrow, you go to the grocers and get this stuff. I don’t have any meetings Wednesday, so I’ll take the day off. I’ll come over and cook a few things and you can freeze some for later in the week instead of going to a drive thru window every night.” She blew him off when he told her that it wasn’t necessary. “Look, I’ve seen mothers lose custody for less so just let me help you. Don’t worry- I’ll bill you for it.”
The next day, Henry went to the store with the list that Sabrina wrote out. When she got there that evening to work, she was impressed that he didn’t miss anything. She worked until 10pm and told him that she would be back around 11am. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay and have a drink with me? You can stay the night if you don’t feel like driving home.” She thought about it and then told him that it wouldn’t be polite with his girls being home.
Wednesday morning came and Sabrina had to think about what day it was for several minutes before she got out of bed. She did her morning routine of coffee, showering and getting dressed. She put on some jeans, a pressed t-shirt and flip-flops to wear to Henry’s house. When she got there, he was standing at the front door waiting for her.
“Good morning.” He held the door open for her as she walked in. She asked him if he was ready for some real food and he laughed.
“Oh, I talked to my mother this morning and told her you were coming over to cook.” Sabrina gestured with her hand for him to continue. “Well, she told me to make sure it wasn’t that time of the month for you and if it was, she said not to let you cook.” Sabrina laughed loudly. “Damn I forget you’re from that neck of the woods that believes in roots and stuff.”
“Remember what I told you, I’m not into the trap-a-man game.” She put her arms around his waist. “And I’m not on my cycle either.” He pulled her in closer and asked for a kiss. “You can have one. Then I’m going to get this food cooked and get back into that mess in the office.” She pushed him away cutting his kiss short as a weird feeling came over her. She shook it off after thinking about how much she had been working and headed to the kitchen.
Just before his daughters came home from school, Sabrina finished cooking. Henry was impressed with the chicken parmesan dinner and the separate meatloaf dinner. He tried to not compare her to Rachel , but he couldn’t help but to think about how his late wife rarely used one oven. Sabrina had food cooking in both ovens and on the stovetop at the same time. “Damn lady. I didn’t know you could work the kitchen like this.” She reminded him that she loves to cook, but always cooked too much for just herself. She sat the meatloaf aside and told him to cut it, let it cool and freeze it in freezer bags so they could eat it later in the week and the chicken parmesan should last the first two nights.
He backed her to the counter and put his hands on the back of her head. As he looked in her eyes, he thought about his Aunt Germaine. She told him years ago that he would meet his wife after he was married. He passed it off as one of her off beat sayings back then, but now he understood. “Thank you again.” Before he could move in to kiss her and before she could reply, Skyy and Dawn came in. Smelling the food when they walked in the front door, one yelled down the hall asking if their grandmother was there. Henry backed away from Sabrina as the girls footsteps got closer to the kitchen. They were surprised to see Sabrina and not their grandmother, but spoke to her and their dad with the same enthusiasm. “Good afternoon.” Henry smiled at them. “You two go and get freshened up for dinner.” They both hurried when they saw the chicken parmesan meal on the counter.
Sabrina tried to retreat to the office, but Henry insisted that she sit with them and eat. They all enjoyed the food and there was little talking while they ate. Sabrina drank water and the girls drank juice. As Henry refilled his glass with liquor he kept in a decanter, Dawn made a comment that he has been drinking a lot lately. Sabrina remained silent as she waited to see if Henry would respond. He looked at Dawn, took a deep breath, and then sipped his drink. He never said anything about her comment, but he did think about what she said. They finished eating, cleared the table and the girls went up to their rooms.
As Henry filled the dishwasher, Sabrina asked him what he was thinking about. “Everything,” he stated. “I might be thinking about too much.” He closed the dishwasher, walked over to her and kissed her forehead. As he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and held her head against his chest, she could feel him taking deep breaths. “I still love her. But I am so pissed that she did this.” He continued to hold her head against him. Sabrina could feel his tears falling on her. She tried holding back her tears, but her guilt wouldn’t let her and she felt her eyes filling with water. “Look, I’m going to go take a shower and try to get my head together and I’ll come see how everything is going with those books later.” As she nodded her head, he kissed her lips then headed to his room.
She sat in the office looking through the papers and spreadsheets trying to see where she left off. After about 20 minutes, there was a light tapping on the door. When she looked up, she saw it was Dawn. Sabrina smile as she told her that her dad was in his room.
“I know. I heard the shower come on.” Dawn slowly walked in. She stood silently in front of Sabrina for a moment, which caused her to worry about what this child’s intention was. “I remember you from my mom’s funeral. You came with Uncle Rome.” Sabrina slowly nodded her head and looked around worried about what was going to come out of her mouth next. “So do you like my dad?” She asked with a straight face as she pulled a chair to sit in front of Sabrina. Sabrina nervously answered “Yes”. “No, not like he’s a nice guy kind of like. I mean do you really like my dad like you would like a boyfriend or a husband?” Sabrina couldn’t believe she was being put on the spot by her and wasn’t sure what to say. Dawn continued talking. “He’s nice to people, but people use him. I mean he doesn’t know I know. But I hear my grandparents talking about him all the time and even though he’s not really our dad- he is our dad. And since my mom killed herself, I want him to have a girlfriend that will be nice to him and not use him. You know what I mean?”
“Wow.” Sabrina took a deep breath as she ran her fingers though the top of her head. “I do like your dad. And I love him as a friend. But right now I am just trying to help him get his stuff in order with his properties”.
“Well, it’s okay with me and Skyy if you like our dad. We like you.” Dawn looked at the computer screen even though she didn’t understand what the spread sheets were all about. “He’s been drinking a lot since my mom died. But today he seems happier. He hasn’t been drinking as much either. So I think you make him feel better when you’re around. And thanks for cooking for us. It was really good.” She gathered Sabrina’s hair in her hand and slowly let it fall back on her shoulders before shrugging her own shoulders and leaving the room.
Sabrina sat and gathered her thoughts. She thought that maybe Henry sent Dawn to say those things to her, but she couldn’t be sure. Besides, what father uses his kids to try to sway another woman after they’ve lost their mother? She resumed her work and kept at it until after 9pm. She was surprised that Henry hadn’t come in to check on her the whole time. As she walked past the family room, she saw him in a recliner asleep. “You must be exhausted.” She spoke in a whispered tone as she walked over to him. He sat up and apolo
gized for falling asleep, but Sabrina just laughed. “Everything’s shut down and I will see you tomorrow.” She pulled her hair up in a ponytail. “Can’t you just stay the night and keep me company?” He tried to get her to sit down, but she insisted on going home. He got up and walked with her to her car.
“Thank you again,” he leaned in to her. A peck on the lips was delivered. This was followed by a longer, tongue engaged kiss that caused her to put her arms around him. He took a step back. A curtain moving in an upstairs window caught his eye. “Spies on the second floor.” He laughed as he tilted his head towards the house. Sabrina laughed as she got in the car. She wished him a good night and headed home.
The next couple of weeks went by fast for Tearny. She continued sightseeing and did see some apartments that she was interested in. She felt more confident as men complimented her on her natural beauty. A few asked her for her number at the mall but she kindly declined letting them know she wasn’t ready to start dating anyone. She felt a little guilty for her random act with Justice and promised herself that she wouldn’t have sex with a stranger again. By the end of the month, she found herself in love with the city that was to be her new home. She had her moments when she felt lonely, but was finding herself more at peace being in a new environment.
To both Sabrina and Henry’s surprise, seeing each other without being secretive was working for them. Henry never mentioned her to Rome, but they didn’t speak to each other daily anyways. Sabrina and Scott’s wife Heather started keeping in touch as the couples would meet to have non-sexual dinner parties. They realized they had a lot of similar interests including cooking. Sabrina had everything back on track for him after one month. On the last Friday she worked, she told him that everything was caught up. Henry took a deep breath and exhaled. “You don’t know how much I appreciate you.” He hugged her and kissed her on the cheek.
“Ha. You have a need- I have a need. And tomorrow I will need to see Pina for my massage.” She logged off the computer and put one flash drive in his top drawer. She handed him a second one.“Keep this in a safe place just in case the main one gets messed up. He put the flash drive in a file cabinet drawer and walked to the far side of his office to open the closet door. As he pulled out and unfolded a massage table. “So what is this,” she laughed. “I know you’re not expecting a massage now.”
Henry nodded his head. “Of course not, this was one of the business ventures I tried years ago.” He pulled a couple of large towels off the shelf and spread them on the table. “Do you want a robe to cover up?” She slowly shook her head telling him no.
“It’s been some years since I’ve done this. But I think I still have it.” He tugged on the bottom of her shirt and pulled her in closer to him. He kissed her cheek and then down her neck as he unbuttoned her shirt and slowly removed all of her clothes. “I just don’t want you going out paying for a massage this weekend. But if you still feel like you need to see Pina after I finish- I’ll foot the bill.” As she stood naked, he turned her back to him and studied her body from behind until he realized he was breathing hard. He told her to lie on the table- face down.
He dripped eucalyptus oil over her shoulders and down the small of her back. As he began kneading her shoulders- she closed her eyes and began to relax. She had never had a massage from anyone other than Pina and was amazed that Henry’s technique was so defined. She let out a faint moan occasionally but stayed quiet for the most part as she enjoyed feeling his hands moving across her oiled skin.
He looked at how pretty her skin was. It was always smooth and he thought about how good it would feel against his own with the oil he was using. Her moans were arousing, but he refused to give in to his manhood. He didn’t want her to feel like he only wanted sex from her. He continued rubbing every tense muscle her could find. After nearly an hour, he asked her how she felt. “Um hmm,” was her only response. She wanted him to take her and was expecting him to turn her over to engage in intercourse, but he didn’t. He placed a towel over her and rubbed off as much of the oil as he could.
“Are you free for dinner tomorrow?” He was surprised when she told him yes. “Oh, Tearny is going to be moving in tomorrow, but I’ll just make sure she can navigate and let her do what she needs to do. You know. She’s a big girl.” She finished getting dress and he walked her to the car. As they stood at her car, she asked where they would be going for dinner and what the dress code would be. “I was hoping I could get you to go to my dinner club. Chef Monty prepares a filet mignon that melts in your mouth. And I think you’ll enjoy the show. I might need to bring you home, oil you up and take advantage of you afterwards.” He smiled as he pulled her close to him. “So what stopped you tonight?” She playfully asked as she batted her eye lashes.
“Sometimes I just feel a need to hold out. You know- let it build up.” He initiated a tongue filled kiss that made both of them want to go back into the house, but they didn’t. He pressed up against her and found himself grinding on her for just a moment as they continued kissing.
“Damn I forgot.” Henry took a step back as a car pulled up in the driveway. “I forgot that I have this liquor in the back of my truck that Rome was supposed to have picked up earlier.” Even though he and Henry were friends, for some reason she seemed to have forgotten and was surprised to see Rome.
When he got out of the car, Rome spoke to them both. She nodded her head and looked at her car door. He and Henry did their usual hand shake that was more like hand grabbing. “Well, I’m going to get out of here.” Sabrina had an intimidated crack in her voice. She was surprised when Henry gave her a kiss in front of Rome. “Call or text me when you get home- okay.” He stated as she sat in the driver’s seat. She told him that she would and started the car, slowly backed down the driveway and headed home.
“Talk about awkward,” Rome stated as he followed Henry to his truck. Henry didn’t respond as they unloaded two cases of liquor Rome’s trunk. “So are you two messing around again or something?” Rome couldn’t resist asking. “It’s something like that.” Henry closed the trunk. Rome could tell that he didn’t want to discuss it. But he couldn’t leave it alone. “So what’s that mean- something like that? She’s up a good 40 pounds. Hell that really ain’t even your type.” He waited for Henry to respond, but he didn’t. He already knew that Rome would have something negative to say about her weight gain and Henry really didn’t want to hear what he had to say. “I guess fat girls need love too.” Rome laughed as he pulled the key for his car out. Henry was getting irritated and needed him to stop talking. “Look, her weight ain’t an issue for me. I know it’s awkward for you, but it is what it is.”
“Okay man, I’ll leave it alone. It just caught me by surprise to see her over here. All hugged up and kisses good-night.” Rome put on his baseball cap that was on the dashboard. “Are you still going to come over tomorrow?” He asked in reference to the party he was having. “You can ah…see if Sabrina wants to come with you too.” He knew that there was more than just something between them but Rome lived by the motto that a female will never separate him from him brothers. Even though he had no plans on attending, Henry told him that he wasn’t sure and that he would let him know. Rome left and Henry headed back into the house.
Just before she turned onto her street, Sabrina received a call from Tearny. “Hey girl, I am super bored. Are you going to be up for a while? I was thinking that maybe I could come over if it’s not too late.” Sabrina shook her head.“Girl it’s not even ten o’clock. You come on and we can sit up and have a couple glasses of wine and talk.” Tearny got there within 30 minutes of her call. Once she arrived, Sabrina opened a bottle of wine, a bag of chips and dip and the two sat up and talked like a couple of teenage girls at a slumber party.
For a moment, Tearny was reminded of her freshmen year in the dorms with Stephanie. It had been that long since she was able to sit up all night with a girlfriend and just laugh and talk. She told her about the guy at the yogurt stand-Will and couldn
’t believe that he bought Sabrina a cup of frozen yogurt about a year ago. She kept Justice to herself for worries that her friend might think less of her.
“So tell me. How have you really been doing since Keith’s death? I mean you seem okay. But are you okay?” Sabrina had a genuine and sincere tone. “Sometimes I feel sad that he’s gone. Sometimes I feel relieved.” She answered with a flat affect as if she really didn’t care. Sabrina sat quietly for a moment as if it were sinking in. She never thought that someone could be treated so bad that death could bring a feeling of relief. “Do you think you’ll ever fall in love again?” Tearny looked at her with a questioning expression, but didn’t answer. “Maybe it’s too soon to ask, but I can’t help but wonder if someone who has been through as much as you – would you be able to love again.” Sabrina felt that she was stepping into a territory that Tearny didn’t want anyone to enter. “Maybe.” Tearny shrugged her shoulders as she answered and poured more wine into her glass.
Sabrina changed the subject to recent happenings in their hometown. Then she talked about the office that Tearny would be working at compared to the office she just transferred to. It was after 2 A.M. when they found themselves winding down in silence. Sabrina showed Tearny her room. “I’m sure you’ll bring your blankets tomorrow, but this will hold you for the night.” The extra linen was soft and smelled like it had just been washed. The two called it a night and slept soundly until after 10 am.
After they had a couple cups of coffee, the ladies showered and got their day started. Tearny went to her hotel and loaded her car with suitcases and totes. She packed as many of her personal items that she could when she left Atlanta, but placed a few things in a storage unit. By 2 pm, she was unpacked at Sabrina’s and adding personal touches to the guest room to make it more comfortable for her stay.
Sabrina had just finished cleaning when her phone buzzed. It was a text message from Henry asking if he could pick her up at 6:30pm. She replied that she would be ready. She didn’t know the name of the song on the radio, but began dancing in a circle after she replied to him. “You are mighty happy.” Tearny danced with her as they both laughed. She had no idea why Sabrina was so happy, but seeing her in such an upbeat mood lifted her spirit.
