“The look on your face says it all, Velle,” Leslie says to me as she rises from the couch. “But I’ve accepted the fact that you’re a busy man under complicated family consequences and I vowed to myself not to add on to any of that grief.” She takes her phone, places it in her Micheal Kors handbag and emerges with the keys to her Mercedes as if she just performed a magical feat. While my wit made note of it, my mouth did not respond. My core thoughts were still locked away due to the phone call I received. She walked over to me in all her elegance, plants her lips against mine firmly. While my mind was still reeling, my body reacted to the sudden jolt of urges and pulses stimulated from her. It wasn’t the kiss alone that was triggering. Her scents of lavender and jasmine, the olive-green fabric of the fitted dress she’s wearing, the only thing between my fingertips and her skin, and the slight hum of satisfaction behind her lips sending a low vibration current to my ears. A current that is quickly transported to my dick. She broke away with moments to spare before the arousal of it all got the best of me.
“Take care of your business and call me later, handsome.” On that note I walk her to my door. She smiles as the door closes to my condo. An image that makes for a perfect souvenir to our fifth date, despite the interruption of the last phone call. I turn off my vintage record player and head down my dimly lit hallway with a wall on my right, and the lights of the skyline behind crystal clear windows to my left. Entering my bedroom, my eyes instantly lock onto my black iPhone, face down on my light gray comforter. The standing lamp in the far corner of the twenty-two by twenty master suite provides the only form of light I need in my chambers for the occasion I had anticipated. The loneliness of the room begins to change into disappointment as the stare down between the phone face down on my king size bed begins all over again as I replay the night over in my head.
1 HOUR AGO
“So instead of Netflix and chill, we’re going to play music and vibe,” I say to her as we enter the condo together. Leslie responded with a slight smile and a head nod. She approves. “Alexa, living room lights on.” All the living room lights turn on. The light in the center of the room lights up dimly with a slight sunset color while the other two lamps turn on a smidge brighter creating a lounge like ambiance. All premeditated of course. I observe her as she surveys the place, taking in the all the subtle abstract paintings on the walls. My oversized sectional taking up the middle of the floor, the offbeat color being the accent the room needs to express my sense of style women usually adore.
“Lovely décor, Lavelle, and I commend you on how you fill in all the space. Not bad at all.” She says walking over to the sectional, rubbing her hand across it to see how the fabric feels. “I’ve always wondered what the layout would look like”
“You like it? Stick around, there are other things I’m sure you’ll like about this place..like how I can fuck you over the skyline against the hallway walls. “You’ll really love the view of the skyline from here, I say as I press a button on the far wall to peel back a curtain that stretches from the dining area to the end of the hallway, sliding perfectly into its hidden pocket in the walls. Leslie eyes light up before making her way around the sectional and over to the dining area where I stand in full confidence.
“Breathtaking view without a doubt, but I bet you do this with all your dates, don’t you, Velle,” she asked.
“Only the cute ones,” I said after a jokingly chuckle. I followed up quickly. “Between work and my kids, I don’t have a lot of time to show this place off as often as you think so I’m real selective with who gets to be here. You must be a special lady, Leslie.”
“Hmm…That I am. Happy to be recognized as such.” She replies locking her eyes with me before turning back towards the view. “Where’s the wine you promised me, smooth operator?”
“My bad. I’ll get you a glass. Have a seat anywhere you’re comfortable with. I take a few steps backwards towards the kitchen as I openly admire her lovely figure. I know she does yoga and I can’t help, but wonder how limber that petite body of hers can be. Stay focus, Lavelle. Stay focused.
The hour went on over 2 glasses of wine and music from Marvin Gaye, Sade, and her pick, Billie Illish. I had purchased her 2nd album on vinyl just to add variety to the selection, but I had yet to listen to that form of it. We migrated all over the condo from the setting area of the kitchen island, dining room table, and lastly, to the sectional where she made herself comfortable finally by getting out of her heels. Her gazes of me got longer and bolder as the wine started to take effect. I had her right where I wanted her. I dimmed the lights with a single voice command before we kissed. That wasn’t our first kiss. That was on the second date, but these kisses pale in comparison to that one. I wasn’t complaining as both of us start to feel the feral parts of us begin to take over. Then it happened. My iPhone began to ring from the island of the kitchen and if it was just a normal ring, I would have just ignored it. Let the voicemail box have it and handle the issue in the morning. Instead, it was a ringtone I haven’t heard in over six years. It can’t be.
She broke away from the kissing to acknowledge my phone ringing. “Looks like your still the man of the hour, Lavelle. You should take that, it could be an emergency only the CEO can deal with,” she says with grace in her tone. She’s been understanding of my situation as a business owner from the start.
“As much as I hate to say it, you’re right,” I said. I get up casually to get the call with all the memories connected to the ringtone, rushing through my head. I reach the phone just as it stops ringing, but just enough time to see the image I should’ve deleted from my iCloud seconds before vanishing to the missed called screen.
“Shit,” I say with a hint of urgency. “Excuse me for just one moment, Leslie.” I make my way down the hallway to my bedroom where I look at the missed call on my phone for what seemed like minutes. The number calls back again and the picture pops up on screen again. Amerie, my ex-girlfriend. I silent the call and toss the phone on the bed as if it’s about to self-destruct.
WRITE OF MIGHT 