by Tai Barnett
“Leave you alone for five minutes and he is already proposing,” Brody said. Brody was amused as he sat beside me with a beer in his hands.
Anthony stood and looked at me as though my confession had hypnotized him, then he sat across from us.
“Brody, do you know that this gorgeous and sexy young lady just told me that she had not had sex for almost seven years?” Anthony exclaimed.
Anthony leaned back into his chair and started shaking his legs while placing his hands-on top of his head. He was seemingly still amazed by my very lengthy dry spell.
I continued smiling because I was still tipsy, and Anthony was cracking me up with his Lothario-like moves.
Brody looked at me and his eyes narrowed as he also leaned back into his seat.
“Really? It’s been that long?” Brody said gently.
But what I was unaware of was that at this point, Brody’s feelings towards me were changing. He had somehow managed to even understand my behavior and my proclivities and he was more fascinated by how much I cared for my family and was very warm and concerned for his. Also, that my daughter was my world and that I was naturally motherly and very nurturing.
He was thinking about that. But he would never dare say it, especially to me.
And now by that time, and at that very moment, his mind was suddenly flooded with thoughts and images of why I had not had sex for so long. He started thinking that I was a woman who seriously needed to get laid. And maybe that would relax me a lot more.
“How do you do it?” Anthony said.
“And you’re so sexy and that behind of yours, ohh so succulent and—” Anthony said.
“OK Anthony, she gets the point,” Brody interrupted while drinking his beer and smiling.
“Well, six years, goes by very quickly when you are busy really and I manage.”
I rolled my eyes and smiled.
“Ohh, you touch yourself huh? At nights, when you’re all alone right before bed? Or in the shower…or during the day? I bet you do it all the time too?” Anthony asked with a whisper.
Brody didn’t bother to interrupt because, he was very, very interested in my response.
“Well, my cousin did give me one of those…you know…big dild…but I prefer to do it by myself! Anyhow, could we please just change the topic, I feel so naked now.”
I folded my hands and leaned back into the cushiony seat. My eyes were dreamy now and my lips were glistening, and the boys were enjoying this.
Anthony unexpectedly hopped to his feet while looking at me.
“Oh, my sweet darling, it would be my pleasure…my honor, to see you naked right now,” Anthony said.
This man was crazy, but funny too.
As Brody walked over to him and patted him on the shoulder while they both stared at me, Anthony’s phone suddenly rang as he answered briefly and hanged up.
“Hannah just called. Megan fell from the counter-top and sprained her ankle. They are at the hospital so unfortunately I have to go,” Anthony exclaimed.
He walked over to me, took my hand, and kissed it.
“So sorry, my sweet, sweet baby for this! But I must leave. I will definitely see you again, I hope.”
Brody tapped him on the back.
“So much for divorces, huh?” Brody said.
“They get me…all the time huh!” Anthony said while rushing out of the bar.
“Let us know what happens, by the way!” Brody shouted.
“OK!” Anthony yelled as his voice got lower.
Half way through sighing that my relentless admirer had finally departed, Brody walked over, took my hand and said, “Let’s take a walk outside, clear our heads a bit.”
“OK.”
The night was cool and windy as we walked slowly toward the corner street with my malt whiskey in one hand. But I was warm enough because I was wearing a baby pink, off-the-shoulder sweater pull over with skinny jeans.
The walk was enjoyable, but we soon had to stop on a park bench because I was too drunk and was swaying and laughing in the middle of the road in pumps, which I was not used to wearing.
“So, how are you enjoying Scotland?” Brody said. He smiled and looked ahead at the streetlight shining down unto my silky hair as the wind combed it away from my face. One hand was hidden in my pants pocket, although my fingers were already almost fully covered by the sleeves. I continued drinking and talking.
“Ohh…Scotland is wonderful, Lovely singing by the way, I enjoyed it.”
“Ohh you did huh?”
“Yes, and I definitely have to buy me a house here now…far away from Anthony’s, though. He is, so crazy!” I said giggling.
Brody paused as he looked at me for a few seconds
“Well, I can’t blame him though. You are very sweet and sexy,” Brody said. His voice calmer and more winning.
I could not believe that Brody just called me sexy.
“Sexy? You think that I am sexy?”
“Ohh, I think that your more than sexy Natasha, and any man would be lucky to be with a woman like you.”
I looked at him for a brief moment and then redirected my attention toward the bar entrance.
“You know, I have something to confess to you.” I said
“To confess? That has to do with me?” Brody said smiling. He finished off his beer and placed it unto the concrete paved ground awhile we sat on the bench.
“I really have got to hear this,” he said while smiling and leaning back.
“When I was much younger, you were one of the many actors that I had a…little bit of a crush on.”
Brody’s eyes widened while looking at me. He was amused.
“Well, I find that hard to believe. I thought you hated my guts?” he said while laughing.
“I do hate some of your ways—sometimes but not really any more, I mean you’re still kind of brash and I hear a playboy, but that has nothing to do with my very kind of mystical little crush that I had on you.”
“Ohh well, this is certainly a surprise to me because you hid it so well.”
“Well, I got over it. Especially, after meeting you. But I am a dreamer you know.”
“See…told you that you hated my guts.” He said
We both giggled.
“And you’re a bit of a romantic I see,” Brody said.
“Yes, a silly hopeless romantic although I try to remain realistic. But, I used to fantasize all the time about walking down the aisle with this very mysterious older man who loved every inch of me and couldn’t imagine his life without me. Although as I got older and started dating, I found myself wondering is this the mystery man? Or is he or another. It was becoming a bad habit but then I met Rose’s dad and well, that woke me up a bit.”
“So, you don’t believe in love anymore?” Brody inquired.
“Well, I wouldn’t say that it’s just that, the world is not black and white. You never truly know what anyone is thinking in their hearts and especially, their minds. I guess if anything, I believe in possibilities…”
I was still giggling, oversharing and still very drunk.
“I think we should take you home, it’s getting late and you’re really very drunk now,” Brody said.
We started walking back to the bar and still kept on talking.
“Well, I am feeling nice, not drunk at all. And now, I am finally here with you and hating you and liking you all at the same time and not feeling like I am staring into the devil’s eyes anymore when I am looking at you now.” My drunkenness was getting the better of me.
***
That night we got in around 1 am. Everyone was asleep, and Martin decided to hang out with the guys a bit later at the bar.
Brody looked at me from the bottom of the stairs as I tried walking up each step. But I was falling and laughing and trying to be quiet all at the same time.
He rushed toward me, placed his arms around my waist and my arm around his shoulder while taking me inside of my room.
I threw myself on
my back unto the bed then sat up and threw my shoes to the opposite ends of the room. Brody stood by the door looking at me.
“Are you sure you’re OK? Do you need some coffee or aspirin or something?” he said.
I suddenly started removing my jeans right in front of him.
“No, don’t go as yet, I…I really want to talk to you some more.”
I walked to the door and held his hands. I took him and placed him on the couch in the corner of the room and sat beside him.
I pulled out the top half of my hair which was light brown and much longer and curlier then, while I folded my legs, completely unaware that I was exposing the side of my thighs and my black underwear by now.
“Listen I don’t want what I said to you to change anything between us, especially our working relationship. OK?” I said.
Brody looked at me and sighed.
“I…ah, I understand. It won’t, and I respect you for sharing that with me. But, can I go now? You should get some sleep. You’re very drunk, young lady,” he said while he stood and walked towards the door.
“OK! Or…we could talk a bit longer? It’s strange I feel so comfortably talking to you now. I guess because every day for me has been pretty much the same and I really wanted someone else to talk to other than my adorable younger cousin Lauren and my other very gay, very supportive cousin Michael. And how could I forget Vernon?” I was blabbering on and on about my life while going in awkward positions on the couch.
Brody sighed and looked back at me with a smirk on his face and I still continued talking.
“I mean, who on earth would have known Brody Banister would make for a good listener? Certainly not me. My cousins, and I, we always said that you looked like you were well endowed and very good in bed but other than that, you were arrogant and a womanizer. But now, you’re like this caring and friendly kinda person. It’s just so, weird!” I was giggling and acting silly.
“Natasha, you need to just relax and go to bed, OK? We will talk in the morning.”
“Five more minutes, I promise.”
Brody suddenly turned around and walked over to me. He leaned his body over me while looking into my eyes.
“Natasha, if you say one more word and you don’t let me walk out of this room right now, I am going to rip your clothes off and give you what you’re really hungry for.”
I gasped.
“OK.” I started moving from beneath him his overpowering shoulders and as I wiggled my way out, he grabbed my hands and pushed me down unto the chair. He quickly pulled my sweater shirt from over my head and moaned when he saw my very Rubenesque bosoms.
He lifted me from the chair while walking with my legs wrapped around him over towards the bed. As I held him, he placed me on the floor, turned me around, and unbuttoned my bra. He held my head with one hand and teased me with a kiss while looking into my eyes. He finally pressed his lips against mines, while gently lifting me unto the bed.
He suddenly jumped from on top of me and closed the door. He returned to the bed, removed his pants and took my underwear off.
And this was the night that my darling little boy Charles was conceived. I fell asleep soon after but four hours later, I suddenly woke up and realized what had happened.
I sneaked into the bathroom, quickly called a cab and Lauren to book the next flight home.
The next day, Brody woke up to find me not lying next to him and a text on his phone.
I had an emergency back home. Sorry, I left without saying goodbye. Please explain to your family. So happy that I got to know you. I will never forget this trip.
The Runner
To continue with the story of how Brody and I ended up where we are now, the only thing that I can say is that what I was feeling for him at that time was very frightening.
I ran from this feeling and I must admit, he did try to reach out to me more than once.
I have been trying to reach you Natasha…for two weeks now? Why aren’t you taking any of my calls or responding to any of my texts? Brody wrote in a text.
Why did I run away and why was I not taking his calls or responding to his texts? I wasn’t sure myself. The only thing that I knew was the passion that I was feeling for Brody and that I never wanted to get hurt again.
A few days later, Brody was sitting in his parents’ kitchen looking at his cell phone while drinking some tea.
“Ohh. Hey…off today huh?” Martin said while taking a bottle of grape juice from the refrigerator.
“Ahh…yes, my flight leaves in five hours,” Brody said.
Martin walked over to counter and sat across from him. He took a sip of his drink and placed it unto the table. He suddenly sat up and looked at his brother’s face.
“Ohh no, you and Natasha slept together didn’t you?” Martin said while smiling.
Brody kept his head down staring at his phone.
“You have that same ‘puppy dog face’ when you found out that that harlot cheated on you in high school,” Martin said.
Brody sighed and walked over to the fridge and opened it. He stood there looking in.
“Martin, what difference does it make now?”
“Well, I can only imagine how hot it was being with a woman like that. I am a tad bit jealous but besides that, you seem to have a thing for her, and this was more than just sex. I know you, Brody. Why…you have been meddling with your phone ever since the day she left Scotland?” Martin said.
Brody slammed the fridge door and looked at his brother and smiled.
“You know me, Martin. I am back in the game, even before I reach L.A.”
“Yeah…I know you, alright, and I do know that for the very first time, it seems that maw was right about this one and you’re finally starting to fall for her.”
***
Six weeks passed, and I was getting what seemed like an intervention and a good scolding from Vernon.
“I dun told this girl to gird her loins…” Vernon exclaimed while clapping his hands together. He was positioned right over a carrot cake batter that he was preparing for dinner.
“I told you and Miss Lauren all the time, over and over again I said, you young girls best be girding your loins and dodging them men because all those men be thinking about is spreading dere seed and getting all up into your panties!” Vernon yelled. He rigorously started stirring the cake that he was preparing for dessert.
Michael sat with his hands folded staring at me and Lauren.
“Well, I think that this is just wonderful. Having another baby is just a blessing, Tasha,” Lauren said.
“Well, of course, a child is a blessing but not all of them. Some of them act like they just escaped from the bowels of hell but…” Michael said with his hands still folded.
“But anyway cuz, I am happy. It’s just for him? Brody?” Michael said.
“I mean, you know what a dick he is, right? You called us over and over again from England screaming how much you hated him, so excuse me for wondering how you got from hating Brody Banister to sleeping with him. And soon to be the mother of his child?” Michael said.
I curled up my legs into the couch in the corner of the kitchen drinking coffee.
“Michael, he is actually so sweet and charming once you get to know him and his family are just the loveliest people.”
Michael sighed and Vernon stirred his batter even faster with one hand at his side and his face twisted. Lauren shook her head while looking at me. She didn’t see what the big deal was because this was a child. Her only concern was how this would affect my career. Michael continued.
“Ohh, really? Really now, Tasha? Give me a few drinks and I will get all crazy and start taking off my clothes as well—especially for that sweet ass Brody Banister. But honey, you’re a woman, and this is what happens when you’re not more careful.”
We heard a car pull up outside at the front of the house.
“Well, we ain’t expectin’ no one today, so who could that be?” Vernon said.
�
�It’s Brody, he called and said he was in Atlanta and just wanted to say hi.”
“So…you are going to tell him right, Tasha?” Lauren said.
“I am not sure just yet.”
I placed the coffee on the side table and went outside.
As my cousins and Vernon peeped through the window at intervals, ten minutes went by very quickly.
I went back inside and sat back in the same chair.
“So, what did he say? He is even finer in person, might I declare. Tasha, please do tell. How was he in bed again?” Michael said smiling.
“I dun told you over and over again to stop asking people about the goings-on in their bedrooms. It’s bad enough that you describe all the stinky and torrid little details of your screwing every otha day,” Vernon said while he poured the batter into the pans.
Michael looked at Vernon and ‘cut his eyes’ then looked back at me.
“Don’t you be cutting those big ole bulging eyes at me either Mr. Michael,” Vernon mumbled.
“Anyway, honey, what happened?” Michael asked.
“Well, he said that he was in Atlanta for a few days and that he wanted to talk to me.”
“So, did you tell him that you’re pregnant?” Lauren exclaimed.
“I promise that I will tell him the next time that we see each other.”
And that is exactly what I did.
Because the next time that I saw Brody was on the Red Carpet almost three years later. Brody never showed up that week. Instead, the years went by with pictures, coverages about sightings of him and his many girlfriends and a memorable image of him that same week making out with an unidentified woman in a nightclub in Atlanta.
And that’s how the story had ended with us being estranged from each other, and me having his child and not telling him about it. We simply forgot about the past and moved on with our own lives. I was too afraid to get hurt again, and I had found someone to love and to distract me from remembering how much I wanted to be with Brody.
Look the Other Away, Tubby!
“Oscar, can you imagine how embarrassing it was when that Tubby old bastard, revealed those pictures of him and that…bitch! I swear to you, if Brody does not put an end to it now, I am going to print those pictures myself—exposing all of her little dirty secrets,” Mariska exclaimed.
