When I Knew

by Jayrin Park

  “It is when you’re the leader of your team in career mode,” Austin shrugged.

  “What? Man, you’re dumb. Anyway, I’m out of here, losers. I have a date, and I don’t want your bad luck to rub off on me,” I said, leaving my brothers in the living room.

  “I liked you better when you were sad and alone,” Shawn yelled, making me laugh. I was glad that I was done with being sad and wallowing in self-pity.

  * * *

  Our date for tonight was at one of the clubs Lela was going to be reviewing. It wasn’t really my scene, but Lela didn’t want to go alone. I left my house and entered my car, eager to see Lela. I hadn’t seen her in a while because she’d stopped coming to the gym for a week. She’d had some jobs to attend to during the usual hours of our training session.

  I whipped out my phone and dialed her number.

  “I’m downstairs. Should I come up or wait in the car?” I asked her. I really wanted her to tell me to come up to her apartment. I wanted to ditch the club and spend the night watching movies and cuddling with her.

  “Could you come up please? I can’t zip up my dress,” she groaned into the phone. It sounded like she was struggling with her outfit.

  “I’ll be there in a minute,” I said, slipping my phone back into my pocket. I got out of my car and walked to her apartment as fast as I could. I knocked on her door and waited till I got a reply. Her door flew open.

  “Thank God, you’re a lifesaver,” she said, standing beside the door. My eyes moved up and down her body. She had on a red lacy dress that stopped mid-thigh and hugged her body. A little cleavage was on display. I sucked in my breath and counted to ten. She looked gorgeous. Her long curls cascaded down her back just the way I liked.

  “You’re not just going to stand there, are you?” she chuckled, making me regain my sense of reasoning.

  “You look gorgeous,” I told her, walking into her apartment.

  “Thank you. I don’t want to keep you waiting, so help me zip this dress so I can grab my purse and we can leave,” she said, walking in front of me immediately she shut the door. She pushed her hair to the side and waited for me to zip her dress.

  “Zipping that dress means going out. Throwing a fit and walking away from the dress means cuddling,” I thought to myself.

  “We could stay indoors, you know,” I sighed as I zipped up her dress.

  “We can’t. I pushed this club review so much that I might not get paid,” she turned around and faced me. She smiled weakly and walked away to search for her purse.

  “I’m ready, let’s go,” she stood in front of me and motioned for me to follow her.

  “Wait,” I stopped her in her tracks. She turned around and raised her eyebrow at me.

  “Why? Is there something wrong?” she asked with confusion on her face.

  “I just wanted to do this,” I said, walking closer to her. I pulled her closer by her waist and placed my lips on hers. I had been waiting all week to kiss her again. The hairs at my back stood the moment our lips touched. Her lips were so soft and little. My heart fluttered when she wrapped her hands around my neck. Our lips moved rhythmically over each other. My head spun as I inhaled her vanilla scent. I pulled away from her before the kiss got any deeper. Her eyes were still closed. She sighed and opened them.

  “You should have done that before I turned down the offer to stay. Is the offer still on the table?” Her hands were still around my neck.

  “How about we go get that dough?” I chuckled and removed her hands from my neck. I intertwined my hand with hers and led her out of the apartment to my car.

  Chapter 11 - Cloud Nine

  Mike Pearson

  Lela and I squeezed through and tried to make our way to the VVIP section of the club. Sweaty bodies were packed on the dance floor. Lela had told me the club was new, but I wasn’t so sure about that. There were too many people in the club for it to be new.

  “Are you Lela?” a voice made us turn as we arrived at the VVIP section.

  “Yes, I am,” Lela replied.

  “Oh good, I’ve been wanting to me meet you for so long. I’m Wilson, the owner of this club. Please come this way, I’ve reserved an area just for you,” he said motioning for us to follow him. He led us to cozy booth that was nice and secluded.

  “I’ll be right back with our finest bottle of liquor and a little special something from the bartender,” Wilson said. We nodded and watched him leave.

  “So, what is your first impression of this place?” Lela asked me. “You have to be honest. I want to sell, but I also don’t want to deceive my readers.”

  “Well, for starters, it’s really packed for a new club. I like that the VVIP section is soundproof, and the glasses are transparent so you can see what the people in the regular section are up to,” I told her.

  “True, it’s a month-old club, but they’re trying to get people to come every day. People only show up on Friday because other clubs are always too full on Fridays,” she said to me. I nodded and looked around the booth. We were the only ones in it.

  Wilson showed up with two ladies by his side. One was holding a bucket of ice, and the other was holding what he had called the bartenders special in a tray. The girls were wearing short shorts and tube tops. They dropped what they were carrying on the table, but I didn’t miss the wink the one with the tray shot me. I think Lela saw it, too, because she scooted closer to me. They left the room, and only Lela, the guy, and I were left in the VVIP section.

  “I’ll be back. I need to check on somethings,” he said.

  “Okay, Wilson,” Lela smiled at him. He returned the smile and left.

  “Coming to the club was a bad idea,” Lela said immediately after he left.

  “Why?” I raised my eyebrow in confusion.

  “I forgot you were a gorgeous man. Now all the women will try to get their hands on you.”

  “Don’t be jealous. Plus, I only have eyes for one person in this club.”

  “It’d better be me or I’m throwing hands,” she chuckled and leaned in closer to me. I placed a chaste kiss on her lips and smiled.

  “Let’s see why the bartender calls this his special,” Lela said, taking a sip from the drink in the tray, “Ooooh, that’s strong and sweet.” She nodded her head and took another sip.

  “Here, try it.” She offered me a sip from her cup. I took a little sip and moved away from the cup.

  “Dang, that’s good.”

  “Take a little more.”

  “No, can do. I’m the driver, remember?” I reminded her in case she forgot.

  “Well, I’ll drink for both of us,” Lela smiled and took another sip. Wilson returned to the booth and sat down beside us.

  “Is there like no music in the VVIP section?” Lela asked him.

  “There is. I can put it on now. The DJ previously prepared some mixes for the booth so you can select what to groove to. Here, I’ll show you.”

  Wilson got up from the couch and let out his hand for Lela to take it. She looked down at his hand and took it. I knew it was just innocent handholding, but I didn’t like it one bit. When they got to where Wilson was supposed to start the music, Lela pulled her hand away from his slowly. I let out a breath that I had no idea I was holding.

  “So, these are the buttons for dancehall, house, R&B, and other genres,” Wilson said.

  “This is nice. I want this,” Lela stated, pointing at a button.

  “Alright.” Wilson pushed the button and R&B music began to fill the room.

  “What makes this room different from the VIP rooms is the privacy and the fact that there’s a spotlight. May I show you?” Wilson asked her. Lela nodded and followed him to where the spotlight was.

  “Here,” Wilson stopped her in a large circle in the booth.

  “It’s motion-sensitive. The light dims and sets the mood when you start moving on it,” Wilson said. He carefully wrapped his hands around her waist, and they moved slowly in the large circle. The lights went dim li
ke he had said.

  I knew she was here to do her job, but I couldn’t help but think that she was enjoying this just a little too much. My hand was curled up in a fist. I couldn’t watch this anymore. I felt the heat rise in my stomach. My cheeks were warm because I was angry. Wilson’s hands were all over Lela. I couldn’t hold myself anymore.

  “That’s enough gentlemanliness for today,” I said to myself and got up from where I was sitting.

  “That’s enough. My girlfriend and I would like to observe the booth alone now,” I said, shoving Wilson off her and emphasizing the word girlfriend. I pulled Lela closer to my body gently. This was the first time I was using that word to call Lela. The reason I had put off asking her out in the first place was because I was scared that what happened with Camilla would happen again. But now after watching Wilson dance with her, I was certain that the word ‘girlfriend’ was meant for her.

  “My bad. I’ll leave now. Please do have fun, Lela,” Wilson said, leaving us alone in the booth.

  “Girlfriend?” Lela looked up at me and smiled.

  “Umm,” I scratched the back of my neck nervously. I didn’t know what to say. I hadn’t thought about the aftermath of my action.

  “Well, I like it. Sounds good to me,” Lela chuckled.

  “I’ve been meaning to ask you to be my girlfriend, but I just kept panicking.”

  “Now that I know how to get things out of you. I might just have to keep making you jealous every time.” Lela winked and laughed.

  “I might eventually go to prison for beating the men you use to get me jealous. You wouldn’t want that now, would you?” I asked her, wrapping my hands around her waist and swaying to the music.

  “No, I wouldn’t.” Lela placed her hands around my neck. We swayed in silence for a while, staring into each other’s eyes. Her blue eyes were the only ocean I wanted to drown in. She smiled innocently at me. My heart did that little flutter that it was fond of doing around her.

  “I like you a lot Lela,” I told her.

  “I like you too, Mike.” She kept smiling. I leaned in closer until our lips were touching.

  “Cloud nine,” I thought as our lips moved in sync. If anyone had told me that I would feel this way about a woman after Camilla, I wouldn’t have believed it. I liked Lela a lot. My heart raced each time I saw her. I always wanted to be around her. I got nervous and sweaty around her. She always made me laugh and forget about the rest of the world.

  I smiled against her lips and finally broke away from her.

  “Maybe you should give this club five stars because this was where we became official,” I joked.

  “Why are we thinking the same thing?” she chuckled.

  Lela laid her head on my chest with her hand still around my neck. My hands wrapped around her waist and we swayed the night away.

  Chapter 12 - Family

  Lela Olsen

  “So, are you going to give me the details?”

  My mum and I sat on the floor of the gym watching Mike give my dad a pep talk. We had become closer and stopped our bickering, finally talking everything through. It turns out I was right about her reason for fighting me. She was upset that I had dropped out of law school, but she was more upset that I told her sister before I told her. She also hated the fact that I had moved out of the house unannounced. We just misunderstood each other, and I was glad we’d finally resolved things.

  “Mom! Do you know how this looks right now?” I asked her. I continued the stretches Mike had told us to do so that it didn’t look like we were talking about them.

  “If you don’t tell me, I could always go and ask him myself.” She made a motion to stand up, but I pulled her back down gently.

  “You wouldn’t.”

  “Not if you tell me first.”

  “Well, he’s my boyfriend now, but you can’t tell Dad because you know how he gets around the men I date.”

  “I won’t tell him a single word. But yes, you go girl. He’s such a hottie, and he’s nice,” my mother cooed. I smiled sheepishly at her. I felt so shy talking about things like this.

  “Yeah, he is,” I noticed him looking at us. He smiled at me, causing me to return the smile.

  “Look at you guys acting so cute. You have to let everyone know he’s your man, though. These girls at the gym look ferocious. They have their claws out.” She squinted her eyes and looked around the gym.

  “Mum!” I groaned.

  “What? Look around you.”

  I did as I was told, and saw a few women watching Mike cautiously.

  “They can try, but he’s taken,” I said confidently.

  “You tell them!”

  “Are you ladies done with your chit chat? It’s time for our usual treadmill race,” my dad announced.

  We nodded and got up from where we were seated and walked over to where the men stood. It felt like we had been working out nonstop. I was tired already. It was like Mike had heard me somehow because he called for a break immediately.

  “Let’s take a break. We’ve been at it since eight. You can rest now, but I’ll be back in twenty minutes,” Mike told us and walked away. I watched him leave and saw him gesture for me to come with him.

  “Finally.” My dad was still panting heavily. “He wants to kill me, doesn’t he?”

  “You’re so lazy, Tom. It’s unreal.” Lisa shook her head.

  “Umm, I need to use the toilet,” I said, leaving my parents alone to bicker.

  I followed Mike to the office where we had our first kiss. I smiled when I saw him sitting on the table looking all macho.

  “Why did you bring me here?” I walked towards him.

  “To do this.” He grabbed me by the waist, pulled me in, and placed his lips on mine. My toes curled in my shoes as he deepened the kiss. He pulled away and smiled at me.

  “Is that all?” I asked him with our foreheads touching.

  “Maybe,” Mike teased and began to kiss me again.

  “What in the h…,” a voice said, making us pull apart from each other.

  Mike set me on the floor gently. I wanted the floor to open up and swallow me magically. Three muscular guys walked into the office. They all kind of looked alike. They almost had the same build, except one was slightly bigger than the remaining two. I had just been caught making out with Mike. They all looked at Mike with surprised looks on their faces. I covered my face with embarrassment.

  “We were just leaving,” Mike said, holding me close to him.

  “No, you weren’t. It looked like you were just about to turn the office into a make outstation,” Shawn stated. Out of the three men that walked in, he was the only one I was familiar with because he had tried hitting on me once. My face turned red immediately.

  “Should I remind you this is an office, people?” he continued. My face became even redder.

  “I don’t think we’ve met before, but I’m Steve,” the most muscular out of the three walked forward and put his hand out for me to shake it. I smiled and shook his hand.

  “I’m Lela.”

  “Austin,” the last one said. I nodded and shuffled from foot to foot.

  “So, you’re the girl that’s been making Mike turn all weird and annoying with that goofy grin of his,” Austin said and took a seat.

  “I hope so. Mike?” I tilted my head to the side and asked him.

  “I have no one else, Babe,” Mike smiled at me.

  “Oh my gosh this is so embarrassing,” I said covering my face again.

  The boys all laughed.

  “It’s okay, we don’t bite,” Shawn reassured me. “So, Mikey, how much did you pay her to make out with you?”

  “Shut up, Shawn,” Mike shot back and rolled his eyes. Laughter filled the room once again.

  I grinned and looked at Mike’s brothers. They seemed like a funny bunch. I buried my shyness and began to get to know them.

  Chapter 13 - Passing By

  Lela Olsen

  I smiled as I got ready for my date w
ith Mike. We had agreed to meet in front of the gym. He had new clients now that worked out in the evening, so he had to stay at the gym till late. I applied my red lipstick and touched up my mascara.

  “Hair down or hair up?” I stared at myself in the mirror, confused on what to do with my untamed curls. Mike liked it when I let my hair down, so I decided to go with that option.

  I had been with Mike for nearly two months now, and I never stopped getting nervous. My heart hadn’t stopped fluttering or racing around him. My legs still found it difficult to hold still when he whispered beautiful things in my ears. My toes still curled each time we kissed. It was safe to say I liked Mike a lot – to the point that I couldn’t explain.