Foolish by Butterfly
Summary:

He has been in love with her ever since he first saw her one summer at the community pool in the slickest bikini ever. However, she was always just out of reach...and 9 years older than he was. Then Fate steps in and brings the two together during troubling times. Age aint nothing but a number but when does it start to count? When does it start to separate two people who seem so perfect for each other? Can it last? Or were they just foolish to even let it start? Inspired by songs from the 90's.

 

Genre: Romance, Comedy, Interracial

Rating: R (strong language/situations, sexual content)


Categories: Primetime Television, Movies, Music, Original Fiction Characters: None
Classification: Alternate Universe, General
Genre: Comedy , Drama, Romance
Story Status: None
Pairings: None
Warnings: Drugs/Drug Use, Original Characters, Strong Sexual Content , Work in Progress
Challenges: None
Series: None
Chapters: 9 Completed: No Word count: 35203 Read: 31394 Published: 15/05/10 Updated: 28/07/10

1. Red, Red Wine by Butterfly

2. Unbreak My Heart by Butterfly

3. You Oughta Know by Butterfly

4. I Wanna Be Down by Butterfly

5. All By Myself by Butterfly

6. Hey Lover by Butterfly

7. I've Been Thinking About You by Butterfly

8. If by Butterfly

9. Come And Talk To Me by Butterfly

Red, Red Wine by Butterfly
Author's Notes:

Cast Of Characters:

Aiyana Patterson

stories/537/images/aiyana.jpg

Nicholas Patterson

stories/537/images/nicholas.jpg

Christopher Lee

stories/537/images/chrislee.jpg

Raven

stories/537/images/raven.jpg

Dee Dee Holt

stories/537/images/deedee.jpg

Brenda Yates

stories/537/images/brenda.jpg

Cherry Stewart

stories/537/images/cherry.jpg

http://fictionalfantasies.webs.com

Red, red wine
Goes to my head
Makes me forget that I
Still need you so

1995

The first time he saw her, he couldn’t take his eyes off of her. Feelings aroused in him that he couldn’t explain. He was too young to know what was physically happening to his body. He was only 7 years old for God sakes. Would he get in trouble for this? He was too young but he knew something was wrong with feeling this way. He watched from across the pool as she laid on her big chair with her dark glasses on. She was wearing what all girls wore to the pool. It looked like underwear that you could swim in. Her long dark hair was wet and so was the rest of her. She then got up and in slow motion she seemed to walk toward him. Her wet hair sending drips down her back. She adjusted her swimsuit and smiled at people as she walked by. Was she coming to him? But no, she stopped and got on the diving board instead. She got ready and jumped off and dived into the pool like she was the mermaid in that “Little Mermaid” movie the girls loved so much. He smiled. She swam good too. He looked around and noticed that everyone saw this. The older guys were looking at her like he was. Some even jumped in as well and made their way towards her. He noticed a man and a woman kissing and he turned away. Ew. But then he smiled. That’s what he wanted to do. He wanted to do that with her. He decided he wanted to get in the water too. He approached the pool and walked down the steps instead, he wasn’t allowed to jump off the diving board like the big kids.

“Christopher!”a voice called. His face turned red when he saw his guardian standing in a robe with curlers in her hair, cigarette hanging from her mouth. “Christopher! Fun time’s over! Come on now!”she said to him

He nodded and she was satisfied with that and walked back to their apartment. He hoped that she didn’t notice but when he turned to look at her, he realized she didn’t even notice him at all. She was too busy giggling with her girlfriends and then a boy picked her up and she sat on his shoulders. He sighed. She didn’t see him at all. He had no reason to be embarrassed. What was embarrassing was that she didn’t know that he was alive.

*

2009

“Now please don’t embarrass me”Nicholas Patterson said to her as they approached the front door and he rang the doorbell.

Aiyana, his wife, sighed. “Why would you say that?”she asked him

“Do I need to remind you about what happened last time?”he said to her as he cocked an eyebrow at her

“No you don’t, I was there”she said. “I apologized but I was offended when he-“

“You don’t have to explain or justify yourself just…let's just be normal guests at a normal dinner party”

“Alright, that’s what I was doing in the first place”she said as the door opened.

“Nicholas! So glad you could make it!”the woman said at the door,”And this is your wife I presume?”

“Yes, Claire. This is my wife, Aiyana. Aiyana, this is Claire”Nicholas said as he introduced the women. Aiyana, like with anyone else, hugged Claire which took her off guard for a second. “Did I also mention that she’s a hugger?”he said with a laugh, noticing Claire’s slight surprise and awkwardness.

“Oh it's alright. Come in. Let me take your coats. Down the hall to your left is where all the magic’s happening”

“Oooh that’s where we need to be, thank you”Aiyana said as she handed Claire her pea-coat. She smiled widely at Nicholas and he smiled back as he put his hand on the small of her back. “Claire is Kenneth’s wife?”

Nicholas laughed,”Technically but no, she is David’s”

“What do you mean technically?”she said but he ignored her when a chorus of people said his name at the same time while raising their wine glasses. There were hugs, high fives, daps on the knuckles and secret handshakes. It was hard for her to keep up and she forgot everyone’s names right after they were introduced. “Nice to meet you, Heidi”she said to her and instantly forgot her name afterwards.

“Red or white?”someone asked her

“Red please”Aiyana said

“Ok we have Cabernet-“

“Cabernet is fine”Aiyana said nervously as she glanced at Nicholas talking to his friends. She wanted to impress him. She didn’t want to be an embarrassment. Last time can't happen again. “Thank you, Clarissa”she said

“Claire”

“Oh that’s what I meant! Sorry, I'm horrible with names”Aiyana apologized

“Me too don’t worry. I'm sorry. Arianna?...”

“Aiyana. I know its unusual-“

“Its exotic. Its beautiful. It must be African right?”

“Oh no. Its Native American, it means ‘eternal blossom’” Just because she was black, her name had to be from some African tribe? She would have made a joke about it but she couldn't, not tonight.

“Native American?”Claire said, impressed. “That’s beautiful, simply beautiful. So I'm guessing you are….”

“Yes Native American and Black”Aiyana said with a nod. It was funny that everyone always wanted to know “what” she was.

“Huney, I heard some bell go off in the kitchen”David or Kenneth or Brian said to Claire.

“Thank you huney”Claire said. “I’ll be right back. Dinner’s almost ready but we have finger foods and cheese to spoil your appetite until then”she said as she rushed into the kitchen.

Aiyana nodded and stood in the corner as she watched the hustle and bustle of Nicholas’ co-workers chat around her. Nicholas worked at the State Department in Washington, D.C. so he worked with a lot of important government workers and politicians. He even met President Obama once. Nicholas waved her over and she sighed with relief. She didn’t know anyone here and she was kind of shy now, she felt like she was walking on eggshells. She did not want to say the wrong thing.

“Aiyana is quite the trendsetter and fashionista”Nicholas said proudly. “She is on the staff at Metro Fashion Magazine”

All the men nodded. “The Vogue of DC is what my wife says about it”Todd or Tad or whatever said. “Do you write fashion columns?”

“No I-“

“Oh God no, she does something even better”Nicholas interrupted. “The magazine picks one student per semester and grants them a $10,000 scholarship to the fashion school of their choice. Aiyana is in charge of all of that, the application process, the selection process, everything. She may be giving the next Armani his start”

Aiyana smiled as the men nodded in approval. Nicholas was playing her up way too much but whatever, she’ll play along. Soon other wives were brought over and they gushed about her “high fashion” job. Which really wasn’t. She’s done high fashion before and this is anything but. However, she was glad that they were interested in what she did for a living, because she knew she had nothing in common with these people. What else could they talk about? Then another couple walked in and Aiyana smiled. She actually knew them! “Dee Dee, how are you? Its been way too long”

“Oh that’s because I try to stay away from functions like this”Dee Dee said. She was married to one of Nicholas’ co workers. They got divorced and married again. She worked a couple of blocks away from the Metro Fashion building, she is an aspiring painter and tattoo artist. Dee Dee was anything but blue collar, like Aiyana, but at least Aiyana tried to fit in. Like now, she was wearing a nice simple black dress and pearls a la Michelle Obama. Dee Dee however was wearing a revealing red dress that showed off all her tattoos. Once Dee Dee came over to her, the other wives moved away just in time. It’s funny how bright red and tattoos can scare people off. “How you been? How’s the magazine?”

“Ive been good. Same old, same old with the magazine. The application process is starting for the fall semester so I'm kinda swamped”Aiyana said. “How’s the parlor?”

“You are the only person who still calls it a parlor. But its awesome. Love it, nothing changes unless its for the better. More customers, more money”she said,”How’s Nicholas? You two working shit out?”

“Yeah we are taking it day by day”

“So you seeing that counselor I told you about? I'm usually against shit like that but they helped me and Rob”

“Nicholas didn’t want to. He said whatever problems we have, we can work out”

“See that’s the thing, he has the problem. Not you”

“We both do. I'm not perfect”

“Exactly. He thinks you are, he forces you to be. He’s the one with the problem”

“I'm not going to ask about it again. It will only upset him and things are going good right now”Aiyana said as Claire announced that the table was set. Dee Dee and Aiyana had to separate and unfortunately, they were nowhere near each other at the dinner table.

“I wonder what he sees in her”Nicholas whispered to Aiyana as he sat next to her. He was obviously talking about Dee Dee. “They have nothing in common”

“They must have something in common. He must love her, he asked her to marry him again and they are making it work”Aiyana said. “Just because Dee Dee’s arms look like a coloring book doesn’t mean-“

“Lets not talk about that”he interrupted. Dinner went smoothly. The food was good and Aiyana was able to keep up with most of the conversation. She perfected the nod, the “Oh really’s” and “That’s very interesting, tell me more’s”. Every now and then, she would see Dee Dee making faces down the table. She would cross her eyes or pretend to slit her throat with her butter knife. Aiyana almost burst out laughing and Nicholas gave her his “do not embarrass me” look.

“Sorry. Wrong tube”she said as she covered up her laugh with a cough.

More wine was poured and by the time dessert came around, conversations got very interesting. Nicholas and Rob encouraged Aiyana and Dee Dee to chat with the wives while the men smoked cigars in the library. The two begrudgingly did so and they walked in on the weirdest conversation. “And there he was, just lying in a bush, naked. His little pecker was standing up. So I say, “Sir do you need help?” and he said,’Oh I hope you’re the locksmith. I locked myself out the house’”a wife said as the others laughed. “The locksmith didn’t come for another hour so I wrapped him up in my robe….the only clean one was bright pink with a yellow flower. Oh he looked so cute…”she said and laughed and downed her wine. Aiyana noticed there was an empty bottle. The wives have been drinking heavily now.

“Oh this is Aiyana, she is Nicholas’ wife. She works with Metro Fashion and this is Dee Dee, Rob’s wife….”Claire said, she wanted to say more but didn’t even know how to describe Dee Dee. “We are telling embarrassing moments about our hubbies since they aren’t in the room-“

“Secrets are safe with us, nothing leaves the room!”another wife piped up.

“Oh alright, well someone else go first…I cant think of a thing”Aiyana said as she sipped on her wine. This was what Nicholas was afraid of, but if none of this was leaving the room…

“Oh I have one!”a wife said. “Ok so this was before we were married but we love to travel. It was one of our first trips together before we even moved in together. I needed an extra bag for something and he said go look in his closet. Well he has two walk in closets and I don’t see any bags and I see this little door, I open it and it’s a little attic….filled with sex toys and porn!”she said. The wives burst out laughing.

“Brian? Into sex toys? Oh I wouldn’t have guessed!”someone said

“Lets just say I was surprised to say the least but he was more caught off guard than I was!”

Aiyana laughed, that was pretty funny. The women went around the room and told their stories, all very funny. Dee Dee laughed,”Oh hell I might as well”she said. “So I was out of town for a conference and I was gone for a whole week. Rob was really missing me…physically…so he gets this bright idea to shave his pubic hair the night before. Now don’t ask me what he did but when I got home he was laying in bed in pain. His dick and pelvis were as red as my dress! He ended up getting an infection and we couldn’t have sex for another week!”she said and the women laughed. Dee Dee turned to Aiyana,”Your turn go ahead”

“Ok….um….God I cant think”Aiyana said as she downed her wine and Dee Dee poured her more. “Oh Nicholas and I were discussing sexual fetishes. I like to dress up in costumes and I told him so and he was like,’what kind of costumes?’. I said ‘any kind’. Then he says,’like diapers? I would love to see you in one’. I laughed thinking he was joking but he totally wasn’t!”Aiyana said. Dee Dee burst out laughing but the other wives weren’t as receptive. “Oh and he cries when he cums!”Aiyana continued. The few wives that did laugh, uncomfortably, stopped abruptly. “What?”she asked. Dee Dee cleared her throat and pointed behind her. Aiyana turned in her seat and saw Nicholas, Rob, David and Todd or Brian or whomever. Nicholas looked very pissed and stomped away. He heard everything,”Fuck”

*

Christopher sighed as he sat on the bed watching his girlfriend as she packed for yet another trip. “How long will you be gone this time?”he asked her.

Raven, his girlfriend, shrugged. “Almost a week. The shoot is going to take 3 days but you never know, shoots never end on time”

That’s what she always said. Christopher wasn’t a model or anything but he didn’t believe her when she gave him those explanations. “What hotel are you staying in?”

Raven shrugged again. “Probably one of those Extended Stays if anything changes I’ll call you”she said as she zipped up her bag. Christopher noticed something and stopped her,”What?”she asked as he pulled out a light pink negligee. One of his favorites. “Hey!”

“Why are you taking this?”he asked her.

“I love sleeping in it”she said as she snatched it from him. “Whats your deal? Ever since I got this gig you have been acting like your on your period”

“Its because I'm your boyfriend of 3 years and I don’t like it when you leave for a week for a photo shoot that only lasts 3 days. Sounds fishy”

“Your just thinking too much. Stop being so dramatic”she said as she put the negligee back in her bag. “I’ll call you ok? I promise”she said to him as she quickly kissed him on the nose. “Gotta run, I'm late”she said and dashed out the door.

“Love you too”Christopher said as he scratched his head. He sighed as he walked out onto the balcony and smoked a cigarette. The reason why he was in such a rut was because he just got laid off. He could find another job but he hated the job that he had anyway and didn’t know what to really do with himself. He felt guilty living off of Raven and her bartending and modeling gigs. He filled out numerous applications but nothing came of it. He wished he could be a model, how hard could it be? You just stand there and take pictures. He picked up Raven’s Metro Fashion magazine and looked through it. He noticed an ad for hiring interns and entry level positions as well as scholarship applications. He shrugged. In a perfect world, he would get this job and maybe understand what Raven went through on a daily basis. He opened his laptop and applied online and attached his resume and emailed it. He probably wasn’t going to get it but it took up 45 minutes of his life that he wouldn’t get back and he didn’t mind. Now what was he going to do with himself?

*

“Nick! Wait!”Aiyana shouted as she ran after him. He was already in the car and starting it up. He wasn’t going to leave her was he? They were all the way out in West Bumblefuck, Virginia. The metro didn’t even come this far. How would she get home? “Nick! Wait!”she said as she opened the door and practically jumped in the car as he pulled off. “What the hell-?”

“What the fuck?”Nicholas said as he shook his head and sped out of the ritzy neighborhood that Claire lived in. “What the fuck did you think you were doing in there?”

“All the wives were drunk, they were all telling stories-“

“None of them were as bad as yours I bet! You told that to my boss’s wife! My boss was standing right there!”

“I didn’t know you all were there! I swear the doors were closed-“

“What possessed you to say something like that?”

“They all were drunk, they were all-“

“How do you know that they wouldn’t tell their husbands later? Why would you say something that would totally embarrass me!”he said as the car sped up.

“Nick, your going too fast!”

“Shut up!”he said,”I told you not to embarrass me. Not like last time! How can I get a promotion after what you said back there!”

“That’s not fair. What I said wont cost you a promotion!”

“Your so fucking childish! Your 30 fucking years old, Aiyana, grow the fuck up! You were drunk and giggly like a fucking sorority girl telling secrets that will cost me my job!!!!! My co workers will NEVER look at me the same again, all because of you!”

“Nick-“

“Shut the fuck up, Aiyana. I don’t want to hear another word from you”he said. She sat there in shock, the look in his eyes scared her and she just noticed he had been crying.

He sped all the way home and she was surprised that he didn’t get pulled over. He didn’t say one word to her and when they got home, he went straight upstairs and slammed the door to their bedroom and locked it. She stood there defeated,”Nick-“

“I don’t want to sleep with you or next to you. Its your turn to sleep in the guest room, you deserve it”he said through the door.

Aiyana sadly accepted defeat and went to the guest room. She took off her dress and fell asleep in her panties and bra. She laid down and her self confidence was shot, she began to sob.

*

Red, red wine
Stay close to me
Don't let me be alone
Its tearin' up
My blue, blue heart
Unbreak My Heart by Butterfly
Author's Notes:

stories/537/images/brenda.jpgstories/537/images/cherry.jpg

stories/537/images/aiyana.jpgstories/537/images/nicholas.jpg

stories/537/images/chrislee.jpgstories/537/images/raven.jpgstories/537/images/deedee.jpg

http://fictionalfantasies.webs.com

Unbreak my heart
Say you'll love me again
Undo this hurt that you caused
When you walked out the door
And walked out of my life
Uncry these tears
I cried so many nights
Unbreak my heart
My heart

1995

Aiyana smiled as she and her friends got out of the pool. They all dried off and got dressed and they all decided to go to their favorite hangout spot, Ben's Chili Bowl. They all rode the metro to U St. and waited in line as they all decided on what they were getting. Aiyana loved coming here. The restaurant was a historic landmark and many celebrities came to eat here. She looked at the pictures of Bill Cosby, Bill Clinton, Denzel Washington and other superstars. She hoped her picture would be up there and she hoped someone like her would stare and say,"THE Aiyana Patterson ate here too? Awesome!"

"What can I get you, ma'am"the cashier asked her.

"Chilli cheeseburger and fries and a Coke"Aiyana said.

"I totally hate you"Brenda, her longtime friend, said to her. "You want to be the next Tyra Banks and you are eating chilli cheeseburgers and they don't make you fat"she said as they carried their food to a nearby booth. She looked at her plate which was just a foot long hot dog.

"Good genes, I guess"Aiyana said with a shrug and a smile.

"I hope you mean good jeans"Brenda said as she looked at Aiyana's jean shorts

"You know what I mean"Aiyana said as she threw a fry at her as the others laughed.

"You just jealous, Brenda"one of them said

"I'm not jealous. I just hate her. I have baby fat, she doesn't"Brenda said with a laugh

"Nope, that's just fat, baby"they said and they all burst into laughter and threw food at each other. They soon stopped teasing Brenda and they all chatted about gossip and Michael and Janet Jackson's new video called "Scream". It premiered the night before and they all thought it was the best video ever made. They all sat and talked for about an hour and then a couple of them started to leave.

"Its still early, where's everyone going?"Aiyana said as Brenda looked at her watch."You wanna see a movie, Bren?"

"I cant, I gotta get home too"Brenda said to her

Aiyana begrudgingly said goodbye to Brenda and she was left alone. She didn't want to go home. It was too early. So she went to see a movie by herself and when that was over, she went across the street to the mall. She went to Shoe City and browsed since she knew she couldn't afford anything. She already spent enough on food and movie tickets today. "Hey Aiyana"someone said to her. It was Cherry Stewart, a girl who went to school with her and Brenda. They didn't talk to her much because she had a certain type of....reputation. And if you are seen with someone with that...reputation, that always means you have it too.

"Oh hey, Cherry"Aiyana said and she saw the few articles of clothing she had with her,"Nice skirt"

"Thanks, I love payday"Cherry said as she looked at a pair of jeans and added them to her "list".

Aiyana smiled but then she thought about it. It was a Wednesday, don't people get paid on Fridays? And where did she work? "Where do you work?"

Cherry smiled,"I cant tell you. I'd have to show you"

"Oh come on, if you work at McDonald's, I ain't mad at you. Been there, done that too"

"I would not be able to afford any of this working at McDonald's"Cherry said as she looked her over. "What are you doing tonight? You can see what I do"

Aiyana was about to turn her down, but it was only 7 and she did not want to go home. What was she going to do at 9 when the mall closed? "Nothing...sure I'm down. But I cant wear this"she said as she pointed to her tank and shorts.

"Come to my house. I got you covered"Cherry said. Cherry ended up giving her a tube top, mini skirt and heels and she ended up taking her to a burlesque club where girls wore masks and barely anything else. Aiyana was shocked. How could Cherry do this? But then she saw the money and Cherry talked about how she stayed here until 3am and she talked about moving to New York, which was her dream.

"That's mine too. I wanna model in New York. I hate being at home...."

"I'm moving to New York so I can be the next Gwen Stefani, you know that chick from No Doubt? Or the next Janet. And I know how you feel, I hate my house. I don't call it home"

Aiyana wanted what Cherry had. Aiyana wanted her dreams to come true. She ended up talking to the manager and he wanted to meet with her after school. Aiyana ended up sleeping over Cherry's house but like an idiot, her backpack was at home. She snuck back home and tiptoed quietly past her sleeping "uncle". He "adopted" her last year after she spent her whole life in foster homes. He wasn't what you would call a "guardian". He was always drunk and made her do all the work. He was sleeping on the recliner by the front door and she tried to sneak past him but then a floorboard creaked. He stirred....then came the tornado. He yelled asking her where she had been, the kitchen needed to be cleaned, laundry to do. She yelled back telling him she was sick of being treated this way and she was going to leave and that she hated him. He then slapped her so hard that she fell back into the wall. "Get up. You're an embarrassment"he slurred

2009

Aiyana raced into the house and carried her green Giant reusable shopping bags into the kitchen and set them on the kitchen counter. She looked at her watch and sighed. It was already 6:30 and Nicholas would be home soon. She wanted to cook his favorite meal and have it ready for him when he got home. She kicked off her heels and pulled her long hair up into a messy bun on the top of her head and then washed her hands. She then washed the various chicken breasts and then seasoned them to Nicholas's liking. She then started to boil water into a pot and put pasta, butter and other seasonings in it and stirred. 10 minutes later, the pasta was done and she covered it to keep it warm. She checked on the chicken and then began to prepare the salad. She washed and cut the lettuce. She chopped the cucumbers, ham, turkey and carrots into little neat slices and tossed them in. She grated the cheese and then put in the zesty Italian dressing he liked and stirred it up. She then added bread crumbs on top. She flipped the chicken over and then set the table. 7:00. Maybe Nicholas was working late tonight or maybe he was stuck in traffic somewhere. She had heard thunder rumbling when she came home. A storm was brewing. At 7:15, everything was done and she made his plate and poured him and herself a glass of Pinot Grigio. She sent him a "where you @ sweetie?" text and then sat down. She didn't want to eat if he was on his way so she waited.....and waited....and waited. Her stomach growled and she put his plate in the microwave. 8:00. Where was he!? She ate her food and finished off her second glass. She was getting worried. It sounded like it was hailing outside. Was he in an accident? Was he hurt? She called him but it went straight to voicemail. That was odd. He always had his phone on. He was addicted to his Blackberry. "Babe. Call me when you get this. I have dinner ready...I just wanna know if your ok. Its raining pretty hard out....love you"she said and sat back. She hoped that she was the first person on his emergency contact list. He was for her.

At 8:30, she was nodding off. She had 3 glasses of wine and after a hectic day of work and cooking and worrying, she was tired. He walked in the door a few minutes later and she shot up out of her chair. "Oh thank God. I thought you were in an accident"she said as she approached him at the front door. He didn't say a word as he took off his blazer and set his briefcase next to the door and headed into the kitchen. "I made your favorite but its in the microwave. Its cold"she said. He opened the door and looked at it and then closed it and turned the microwave on. He opened the fridge and took out a Corona. "Oh I have a glass of Pinot...."she said as she ran into the dining room and showed it. "This is all ready....all yours"she said. The microwave beeped and he opened the door and inspected the food. He took the plate out and turned around and got a fork out of the silverware drawer. "Babe, the table is all set....just sit down"she said. He didn't say a word. She didn't know if he was even listening to her. He leaned against the counter and ate standing up. "You don't want to sit?"she asked, her patience very thin. He didn't say anything. He didn't look at her. "Nicholas....this is ridiculous. Its been two weeks since that fucking dinner party and you still haven't said a word to me! Ive been punished enough! Stop punishing me-"

"I didn't get that promotion"he said, still not looking at her. "Its funny that they made the decision a week after that disastrous party where you embarrassed me-"

"I apologized for that! A million times! And why didn't you tell me that you didn't get it!? Nick, I'm so sorry"she said as she tried to hug him but he backed away.

"I didn't feel like telling you. Its your fault, you know. Why else would they have picked Ted over me!?"

"Ted!? The one with the attic filled with porn and sex toys?"

"What!?"

"All the wives were telling embarrassing stories that night. I wasn't the only one...and that was his.."

"You 'wives' are sick! Keep your mouth shut about that goddamn party. I don't want to hear all the dirty talk and I sure as hell don't want to remember it-"

"Well you sure as hell are making sure that I don't forget it! Its my fault! Its my fault that you didn't get the promotion!? How dare you even say that!?"

"Because it is your fault! Why would they promote a man...."he said and then stopped, not wanting to repeat what she said that night. "You feel like I'm punishing you? Fine, then you should be punished. I would never tell your co-workers about your past. Never"he said as he walked into the dining room and she followed him. "I would never do that to you"

"I'm sorry. How many times do I have to say it!?"

"Til I believe it-"

"Its not my fault that you don't believe me!"she said. "I have been sleeping in the guest room for the past 2 weeks, I have been making every favorite dish of yours every night, I have been catering to you to try to right my wrongs and its not enough! What else do I have to do!? Get on my knees and beg!?"

"Don't try, it wouldn't help-"

"Fuck you, Nicholas! Now your just being rude. How are we ever going to move forward if you keep throwing in my face that I'm not that perfect, blue collared wife! Which, let me remind you, is one of the reasons why you married me!"she said. He didn't say anything as he sat down and ate. "See? This is why we need counseling. I cant even fucking talk to you!"

He dropped his fork on the plate and the room was silent and tense. "I'm eating. None of that counseling bullshit. We aren't doing it and that's final"

"Nicholas, we have a problem! A huge problem, we need-"

"We don't need it. One more word about it and I'm out of here"he said sternly and he looked her in the eye for the first time all night, letting her know that he was serious. Dead serious.

But Aiyana had to say it. She had to get it through his head. "We are supposed to be a happily married couple! We are supposed to make love, trust and talk to each other and I haven't been getting any of that in the last 2 weeks! Trust and communication are the priority in any relationship but your priority is staying out of my way! You aren't acting like a husband! Why are you even married to me if you are going to treat me like this!? I am your wife! Do you want your wife to think and feel this way!? This is my cry for help!"

Nicholas stood up and walked out of the room. "I am not going to pay a stranger to analyze a relationship that they know nothing about!"he said as he went to the door

"Where are you going!? You haven't finished your food! I haven't finished talking to you and I don't want to sleep in that guest room again!"she cried out to him

"Sleep in the master, I don't care, just don't wait up"he said as he got his blazer and walked out and slammed the door behind him.

*

Christopher smiled as he listened to his voicemail message. Someone finally noticed his application...well kinda. A temp agency that he sent his resume to called him back and asked him to come in the following day for an interview and testing. It was a temp agencies job to call everyone back who applies right? But hey, maybe they could find him something. He replayed the message as he logged onto his Gmail account and typed the email address that they specified and then wrote a short email that he was confirming his interview time. Finally, he could feel like a man again. Finally, he can have some money rolling in. He then ordered some alcohol. He loved how the liquor store around the corner delivered and he ordered some celebratory pizza. He then called Raven. But of course it went straight to voicemail. She was at another modeling gig in New York and of course she didn't know when she'll be back. "Hey babe. Just calling to say that I'm thinking about you and that I love you. Hope the shoot went alright but I know it did. You are the most beautiful woman and any photographer would kill to photograph you. Anyways...I have an interview tomorrow so....I have a good feeling that I will be back on my feet soon. Um...call me back...I haven't heard from you since you checked in....and that was 2 days ago...."he said awkwardly,"Hope you aren't drowning in rice cakes and bottled water"he said with a laugh remembering how she hated that she had to force herself to diet before a shoot. "Love you....call me back"he said again and then hung up. He then texted some of his friends...well they were more Raven's friends then his. He didn't have his own friends here, all of them were through Raven. He asked them if they wanted to come over but they all either had plans or didn't answer. He sighed and turned the tv on as the bell rang. He opened the door and the drinks were here. "Awesome thanks"he said as he tipped the man and put the two 6 packs and the bottle of tequila on the counter. A few minutes later his pizza was here and he was all set. He was halfway through a horror flick when his phone rang. It was Raven. He smiled. "Hey baby, you got my message?"he asked her. She didn't answer. "Hello? Baby? Can you hear me? Rave?" He then heard her laugh. "Stop playing around, why are you laughing?"he asked

"We shouldn't be doing this. I mean...again?"Raven asked and he had a feeling that she wasn't talking to him

"Rave? I think your ass misses me more than you do because it calls me more than you do!"he said a little louder and laughed a little. But who was she talking to?

"You know you want to. When have you ever said no to me?"a guy asked her and Christopher started to get heated

"I say no to you plenty times"Raven said

"Yeah you seem to say no to the important stuff"the guy said

"Yo! Who the fuck is that!? Rave! RAVE!"Christopher shouted as he stood up and started to pace the room angrily. Was she at a bar? A nightclub? Was she still working? Was this slimeball hitting on her!?

"No I say no to the crazy stuff"Raven replied, she still couldn't hear him

"Oh really? So me asking you to dump your depressing, mooching boyfriend is crazy?"

"WHAT THE FUCK! WHO THE FUCK IS THAT!?"Christopher yelled. He wanted to kill someone. This dude wanted her to leave him!? Who was this stupid fuck!?

"......don't call him that"Raven said

"That's how you described him to me! I don't even know his fucking name!"

"Well only I can call him that, don't you call him that!"

"Isn't that crazy to you? That you would rather stay with this dude who has no job, doesn't do shit for you than be with me?"the guy asked

"WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK!?"Christopher screamed. He wanted to throw his phone. Raven has been talking shit about him to some dude who wants to take her from him!???

"We have history...and he cant know about us.....not yet"Raven pleaded

"There's an us!? There's a fucking us?"he said to himself as he sat back down on the couch, dumbfounded, he had to listen now. He had to hear the truth.

"One of us has to be the honest adult here and if you wont, I will"the guy said,"I don't want to share and he needs to know that his girl has been on my dick for the past few months...."

Christopher punched the wall behind him.

"Stop, stop touching me like that"Raven pleaded but he could hear in her voice that she didn't really want him to. "Threatening to tell my boyfriend anything about us aint going to get you any ass that's for sure"

"You are fucking backwards, Rave"the guy said. Christopher stomped to the kitchen and downed a shot of tequila. This fucktard called her Rave? His fucking pet name!? "Didn't you say that you wanted a man to care for you, to do things for you for once, to cater to you? I can take care of this dude for you. I can tell him everything and you don't need that stress, especially if you want that gig in Brazil"

"Brazil!? How do you know about that!?"

"I'm one of the main photographers for that shoot and I heard you talking to the other models about how much you wanna go. Brazil is beautiful, exotic and stress free. Just like you need to be and you cant get there or get shit done there when he's calling you every 5 minutes"

"I'M TECHNICALLY CALLING HER NOW ASSHOLE! SAY YOUR FUCKING NAME ONCE SO I CAN LOOK YOU UP AND GO MAFIA ON YOUR BITCH ASS!"Christopher yelled as he took another shot. "YOU ARE A FUCKING COWARD. GO GET YOUR OWN GIRL! RAVEN IS MINE AND SHE IS ALREADY SPOKEN FOR!"

".....and baby I can get you there. All I gotta do is make one phone call and you will be out there for the shoot next week. A swimsuit shoot. In Brazil. This could launch your career. All you gotta do is say it"the asshole continued

Raven sighed,"Fine, but I will tell him myself. You make the call"

"Make love to me. Tell me you love me and I will believe you"

"DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE-"

"I love you"Raven said and Christopher broke the shot glass

"Say my name baby"the asshole said

"YEAH SAY HIS FUCKING NAME SO I CAN LOOK HIM UP AND KILL HIM!"

Raven moaned and then she said,"I love you, Javier"

"JAVIER! THIS FUCK'S NAME IS JAVIER! HOW CLICHE CAN YOU FUCKING GET!"Christopher yelled as he hung up. He didn't have to hear anymore, he had enough, he couldn't take it. He threw his phone across the room and then started to cry. He just realized that his hand was bleeding from the broken shot glass. But he didn't care. He couldn't feel it. All the pain he felt was his heart breaking and his trust in the girl that he loved being shit on.

*

Aiyana didn't know what was worse. Sleeping in the guest room all night knowing your husband was in the next room because he didn't even want to touch you or not being able to sleep in the bed you shared because your husband didn't bother coming home. She woke up every hour on the hour to find that Nicholas wasn't home. She couldn't sleep without knowing where he was. The next morning, she walked like a zombie as she walked into her office. She was so out of it that she didn't notice her assistant run toward her like the building was on fire. "Aiyana, we have a problem"

"What is it now?"Aiyana asked

"All the batches bounced back and we basically have to start all over"

"What do you mean? From yesterday? Well don't freak out about that because yesterday was a slow day as far as payments-"

"No, from the past 3 days!"her assistant said as she put a stack of papers on her desk,"Someone fucked up and I'm glad it wasn't us but its going to look like its our fault"she whispered to her

Aiyana sighed as she dropped into her chair and her eyes widened as far as they could, which wasn't much, when she saw how big a fuck-up this was. "Shit, this is not the morning to be going through all this"

"I know. Did you sleep last night? It looks like you didn't..."

"Ding ding.....no, no sleep for me"Aiyana said as she yawned. "Tell you what....I'll make the situation worse right now without my coffee....so you handle these and I'll take care of the phone calls and emails"

"You sure?"her assistant asked as she nodded her head to her desk where the phone was ringing off the hook. This was their busiest time of year. It was to the point where she even thought of getting an assistant for her assistant.

"No but I know for sure that I will fuck up those numbers even more if you let me have them"Aiyana said. Her assistant nodded. "Let me just get my coffee"she said and sighed when she saw how many emails and voicemails were already piled up. It was a long night and it was going to be an even longer day. "Ugh, is it 5pm yet?"she asked herself as she poured herself some coffee and poured extra sugar in it.

*

Christopher's head was pounding when he opened his eyes the next morning, he was laying face down in bed, fully clothed. His head was killing him and he realized that the construction workers must have started earlier than usual. "Fucking great....what time is it?"he asked as he looked at the clock. 10:35. Didn't he have to do something.....then he sat up quickly....."SHIT!"he said. He had an 11 o'clock interview! He ran to the bathroom and the sudden movement made him vomit. "Oh too much tequila......oh fuck"he said as he tears came to his eyes. This meant last night was real. He didn't get shit faced much, he just turned 21 a couple months ago and he wasn't a heavy drinker like that. A couple of beers at most. Hard liquor always got him. He flushed the toilet and looked at his pasty and dehydrated face in the mirror. "Get your shit together man.... you need this"he said

He found his cell phone under the tv and saw that there were two voicemails from Raven. Oh now she wanted to call him? Of course she did, she was calling to break up with him. He couldn't listen to them right now. He called the temp agency and lied and said that he got lost and he would get there as soon as he could. He showered and dressed his best and hoped the smell of tequila wasn't seeping out of his every pore.

He learned quickly that he shouldn't have gotten shit faced last night, but who wouldn't when you witness the man your girlfriend is fucking behind your back end your relationship for you. He was honest in the interview and tried to act normal. But the placement tests were too hard since he was in a hungover state. He took a typing test and he didn't do as good as usual. He barely got 45 wpm's. He then took a data entry test where he typed sampled data in a sample database. Meh. He then organized sample files in every imaginable order that anyone can think of. He was exhausted when he was done. "We will look over your test scores and get back to you"the interviewer said. Christopher got home and collapsed in bed again. He just wanted to sleep. That was the longest hour of his life. He kicked off his shoes and took everything out of his pocket so he could sleep fully clothed again. He then rolled over on his side and pulled the covers over him and got a faint smell of Heavenly. Heavenly was the perfume that Raven used. The bed smelled of her because of course he used to make love to her here. 3 months? Is that what that asshole said? She had been sleeping with that asshole, Javier, for 3 months? He groaned out loud. He couldn't even think about it now. He then noticed his phone blinking. It was because of those two damn voicemail messages. He had to erase them. He logged into his phone and was about to erase them but the sound of her voice made him stop.

"Hey...babe....I'm guessing my butt dialed you again because my phone claims that we had like a 10 minute conversation that we never had"Raven said.

"No its a conversation we are going to have"he said bitterly. Why was he listening to this?

"....anyways, I'm back at the hotel now. I'm really tired and I'm guessing you are too. Oh you left me a voicemail...lemme check that. I'll talk to you later"

"I bet you are tired"he said as he erased the message

"Oh hey its me again! I listened to your voicemail and congrats on the interview! What a relief-"

"Yea because I'm just some mooching asshole that you have been babysitting while you are fucking some photographer!"he yelled at the phone

"....but I'm sure you'll do just fine. This is just the first step of better things to come-"

"Oh don't try to give me advice! LIAR!!!!!!!"

"Well I cant wait to see you.....um.....I'll call you tomorrow night when I get on the plane. Good luck"

"LIAR!!!!!!!!!"he yelled and then erased the message, he then threw the phone and then laid there and stared at the ceiling as tears rolled down his face. Thankfully everything went black and he finally could get some peace and go to sleep.

*

"He is still giving you shit over that!?"Dee Dee asked

"You gotta admit, it was stupid of all of us to do"Aiyana said as she cried. Work got to be too much and she had to have a real break. She went to Dee Dee's parlor just so she could vent. She was the only one she could vent to.

"Yeah but you wouldn't regret it as much if you didn't get caught"Dee Dee said. "He's being such a hypocrite, he ain't no saint either. He has put you through a lot of shit, too"

"Yeah but he hasn't told my co-workers about my past. He would never do that"she said as she remembered him telling her that last night. And it was true.

"You know why he wouldn't? Because it would embarrass him. God forbid that anyone knows that Nicholas Patterson is married to an ex-coke addict"

"Shhhhhh!"Aiyana said to her. The two were sitting in Dee Dee's office, the door was closed and they were whispering but walls were thin. Just hearing the word 'coke' made her want to vomit.

"But you went to rehab and now you are fine and you are still doing fashion. You were happy with your life until recently. You were young. You were in the spotlight too young and you got mixed in with the wrong crowd but that was 15 years ago. He needs to let that go. He needs to accept you as you are, that's what he agreed to do when he married you"

"I brought up counseling again"

"Good and....?"

"He left....I haven't seen him since last night"

"What!? What the fuck are you doing here!? You should be filing a police report or-"

"He's at work. He texted me this morning"she said as she showed her his text which said '@ work'. No, I'm sorry for worrying you. No, I stayed with my parents, I needed space. No apology. No explanation.

"Do you have any idea where he was?"

"No and he wont tell me....I don't know what to do! I love him so much!"

"He loves you. This is another rough patch that you two are going through"

"I'm not sure. He hasn't said it in so long-"

"Hes still upset and he is punishing you-"

"No, he hasn't said he loved me in months. He just says, 'You too'. That's the closest"

Dee Dee gasped. "Do you think he's cheating on you?"

"I hope not. I thought I was going to die after the first fiasco. I don't know what to think. Maybe he is. He doesn't love me, we haven't made love in weeks"she said and then she started to cry. Dee Dee held her.

"You don't have to make a decision now. Just do what you think is right. You apologized and tried to right your wrongs. If he doesn't trust you......you deserve better. You deserve someone that trusts you"

*

"Christopher!? I'm home"Raven said cheerfully as she walked in the door. She wheeled her luggage into the bedroom and gasped when she saw Christopher sitting on the bed with several bags at his feet. He didn't look too good either. "What the fuck is going on?"she asked him

*

Aiyana sighed as she sat in the living room and lit another cigarette. "This motherfucker's got me smoking when I don't even smoke"she said to herself. Not getting any sleep and chain smoking probably wasn't going to help her but she had to know what was going on. She was going to stay up until he came home. He had 24 hours or she was going to take matters into her own hands. She sat there and waited and looked at the several photos that she could see from where she was sitting. Their wedding picture. The happiest day of her life, she thought she finally found a man who loved her and would stay around and never hurt her. Her first cover spread for French Vogue was framed next to it. Her career took off after that. She was only 17. Next to that was a photo of Nicholas and President Obama. Now she believes that was the happiest day of Nicholas' life. She never noticed it before but now that she saw the two photos together she realized that he was smiling more with Obama then he did on their wedding day. "Fuck me"she said to herself begrudgingly as she brought the cigarette to her mouth and inhaled. Then the door opened and there he was. He was actually home. He looked at her with a stoic look on his face it then turned to surprise when he saw that she was smoking. "What the fuck is going on?"she demanded.

*

Don't leave me in all this pain
Don't leave me out in the rain
Come back and bring back my smile
Come and take these tears away
I need your arms to hold me now
The nights are so unkind
Bring back those nights when I held you beside me

*
You Oughta Know by Butterfly
Author's Notes:

stories/537/images/aiyana.jpgstories/537/images/nicholas.jpgstories/537/images/brenda.jpg

stories/537/images/raven.jpg stories/537/images/chrislee.jpg

stories/537/images/deedee.jpgstories/537/images/cherry.jpg

http://fictionalfantasies.webs.com

And I'm here to remind you
Of the mess you left when you went away
It's not fair to deny me
Of the cross I bear that you gave to me
You, you, you oughta know

1997

Aiyana ran as fast as she could. It was as if every tear that fell down her cheeks gave her an energy boost to just run, run far away from here. She had to get away. She had to. She couldn’t live like this anymore. If she had to be stuck in this hell on earth than she would rather be dead. She knocked on the window repeatedly and a pissed off Cherry opened it. “Are you crazy!? Its almost 5 in the morning!”she said. Then they heard someone shouting down the hall. “Come on climb in”she said and Aiyana did so, like so many times. “You don’t look so good”

“Parents fighting again?”Aiyana asked as she wiped her face

“Yea and guess who’s gonna have to clean up the mess”Cherry said with a roll of her eyes as they both heard glass shatter. Cherry’s parents fought a lot and it got so dramatic that it seemed like it was World War 3. “What’s wrong?”she asked her again

Aiyana shook her head just so she can shake away the memories and thoughts that reminded her of what just happened. “Lets just go. We might as well. We both have a lot of money saved up. Lets just go to New York”

“When?”

“Now”

“Now!?”

“Cherry, you always talk about the bullshit with your parents. I'm always complaining about the bullshit with my uncle. We have been dreaming about this for 2 years, lets just go, no one will miss us here”she pleaded. Cherry just stood there in shock. “Come on, I cant do this without you”

“Will you tell me whats wrong?”

“Maybe one day. But I don’t want to bring that bullshit with us. Lets start anew”

Cherry hesitated and then she heard her mother scream and she closed her eyes and winced and then took a deep breath. She then looked at Aiyana, she was pale and nervous. Something happened. “Ok, just….just let me pack”

2009

Aiyana stared at Nicholas as he stood next to the front door. He was eying her suspiciously. He didn’t know what was going through her mind. She looked serious and she was smoking, which was something he hasn’t seen her do ever. “What the fuck is going on?”she demanded

Nicholas sighed. He had to tell her. The truth will set him free and he wanted to be free. He wanted to be free from everything that was holding him back. “I need a divorce”he said simply

Aiyana stared at him in shock. “You need or want a divorce?”

“Both”he said. “I…..I cant-“

“Fine”she said as she put out the cigarette out and grabbed her purse

“Wait-“

“You need a divorce so badly. Lets not waste any time. Sleep in the master….and don’t wait up”she said sternly and walked out the house leaving a stunned Nicholas behind.

*

“Say what!?”Dee Dee asked in shock as she sat up in bed, her husband, Rob, looked at her and then returned back to his book.

“He wants a divorce. No…he needs a divorce because being married to me for the past 5 years makes him want to slit his wrists”

“IS THAT WHAT THE FUCKER SAID!?”Dee Dee shouted and Rob put his book down

“What’s wrong?”Rob asked her but she held up her pointer finger telling him to wait

“No….I….that's just how I feel, that’s what I think he’s thinking….”Aiyana said with a huge sigh, her voice shaking as she tried her best not to breakdown

“Where are you?”

“Just walking, on 14th St, I just needed air, I needed to get away. He needs a divorce so why not start today?”

“Well if he wants a fucking divorce then he should fucking leave. Did he say why?”Dee Dee asked and Rob sat next to her shocked. This seemed more dramatic than those damn reality shows that she recorded.

“No I didn’t give him a chance….I don’t wanna know….”

“Well its getting dark and I don’t want you on the streets just wandering around….hold on”Dee Dee said and put her on mute. “Can Aiyana come over?”

“That’s Aiyana?”Rob asked in shock. “They are getting a divorce!?”

“Yes, she’s just wandering around 14th St. in shock. She wants to be away from him, she’s upset. She needs to stay here”

He sighed, bewildered that his co-worker wanted a divorce. He liked Aiyana and he never knew that they had marital problems, well besides the dinner party fiasco. “For how long? Our couch isn’t that comfortable”

“Just for tonight, I promise. She’s my friend”she said. He nodded reluctantly. Guess that meant he wasn’t getting any tonight. She took her phone off mute. “Ok get on the metro, no better yet, get a cab. I’ll pay for it, just bring your ass over here”

“No I don’t wanna impose-“

“Your not, if you don’t bring your ass here, I will find you myself”Dee Dee said

Aiyana sighed. “Ok….you have wine right?”

“Girl please you know I got a fully stocked bar here”she said,”When me and Rob over here got divorced, I drank that 1800 tequila all by myself”she said. Rob gave her a look and she smiled at him and mouthed,’I still love you’.

Aiyana sighed,”Ok…..thanks Dee”

“Your welcome. You’ll get through this. This is for the better. Hurry up and get over here. I’ll be worried until you do”

*

“What the fuck is going on?”Raven asked Christopher as she stared at him in shock. “You going somewhere?”

“Or you can go. Me or you but I’d rather not waste any-“

“What do you mean!?”Raven yelled at him

“You can go or me. Its over, Raven”

“What do you mean!?”she yelled again

“You’re smart, Rave. You got a B.A. and everything, figure it out”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?!”

“Am I speaking in a different fucking language!? Fine, I’ll go. I cant stand to look at you-“

“Christopher, I love you, we can talk about-“

“You love me….or Javier!?”he yelled at her and she stood there shocked and quickly shut up. “Yeah, you didn’t think I knew about him, did you? And I didn’t for a long time until the other night when your ass called me and I heard a conversation you were having about me and Brazil and how much you love him!”

“Christopher-“

“LEARN TO LOCK YOUR PHONE! SO WHEN YOU CHEAT ON JAVIER HE WONT FEEL AS STUPID AS I!”

“That’s not fair Christopher-“

“No, what isn’t fair is that you think I am a mooching boyfriend when you know how I’ve been searching endlessly for a job! What isn’t fair is the fact that you weren’t honest! LIAR!”

“I’m not going to listen to this! If you aren’t going to listen to me then I’m not going to listen to you”she said as she walked out the door

“Fine just know that I broke up with you! Ok! You have just been dumped! Have fun in Brazil!”he yelled sarcastically after her and then he slammed the door. He threw his duffel bag filled with clothes across the room and paced….and paced. He then ran to the balcony that overlooked the front parking lot of the apartment complex. He saw Raven approach a guy. That had to be him, that had to be that stupid fuck Javier. He ran to the dresser and got the rest of her lingerie, bras and panties out and threw them over the balcony. “YOU FORGOT SOMETHING YOU FUCKING WHORE!”he yelled down at them. He saw Raven look up and then scramble to pick up her stuff

“STOP ACTING LIKE A CHILD, CHRISTOPHER!”she yelled

“OH YOU WANNA SEE ME ACT LIKE A FUCKING CHILD!?”he yelled and then ran into the kitchen and got out some eggs. “NICE CAR JAVIER! IVE ALWAYS WANTED A FERRARI!”he said. He threw the eggs at his car.

“WHAT THE FUCK!”Raven and Javier yelled

“NICE SEEING YOU BUT YOU OVERSTAYED YOUR WELCOME!”he yelled, thankful that he played baseball in high school and had a strong arm and pitch. He quickly walked inside and a few minutes later he heard a car speed off. He took a couple of deep breaths. “Ok time for some spring cleaning”he said. He threw out everything that belonged to her, pictures of them, any odds and ends that she liked that he didn’t or anything that reminded him of her. The phone started to ring and he ignored it and it went to voicemail.

“Hey this is Raven….and Christopher!....you’ve called the right people at the wrong time so leave a message!”their cheerful voices said and then it beeped. He had to change that ASAP.

“Hello, this message is for Christopher Lee. This is Jamie from Temp Placements, Inc. We reviewed your tests and applications and we find it promising, even though some of the tests are on the low side, which is fine. I have forwarded some of our training programs to your email so your skills in typing and Excel, which seemed to be your weaknesses, can be worked on. We will be looking for jobs for you right away and welcome to the family! If you have any questions, feel free to call or email or stop by the office. If you want to decline us representing you due to another full time offer or another agency, also please let us know. 1-800-TMP-DMV1. Thank you”

If Christopher were in another mood, he would be happy and excited but he was anything but. His life was all about waiting now. He had to wait to get over Raven. He had to wait for a job. He had to wait for another woman to come into his life. He felt like he was stuck in limbo…and he was scared.

*

Aiyana opened her eyes and then sat up. Rob smiled,”Oh sorry to wake you up-“

“What time is it?”she asked

“A few minutes after 7”he said and she got up.

“Hey, where you going?”Dee Dee asked her as she walked out of the kitchen and gave Rob his plate of food, which surprised Aiyana. Dee Dee didn’t seem like the housewife who woke up just after dawn to cook breakfast for her hubby. “You want some Eggo’s?”she asked her. Or maybe she was right…

Aiyana smiled weakly,”I gotta go to work”

“You should take the day off-“

“We are busy. My assistant will quit if I don’t show up-“

“You don’t need anymore added stress”Dee Dee said

“I need something to take my mind off this”

“What if he’s there?”

“He leaves at around 7:15. I should miss him”

“Where are you going to stay?”Dee Dee asked

“Hun, let her alone”Rob said to her. “Look, I’ll talk to him-“

“No please don’t. Don’t do me any favors. He wants a divorce and he’s gonna get it. Im done”Aiyana said as she got her purse and shoes on. “Thank you both for being so generous but I gotta work on being a single working woman now”

A few minutes after some more of Dee Dee trying to convince her to stay, she finally left. She hailed a cab and headed home. She wanted to take a nice bath but she had just enough time to take a good hot shower. They arrived and she paid the driver and got out of the car and didn’t notice a non familiar car parked in front of their house. She walked up and then saw Nicholas walk out of the house with luggage…..and a woman behind him. She stood there in shock. Really? Seriously?! Then she took a good look at the woman’s face and she gasped,”Brenda?!”

*

1995

Aiyana yawned as she put her things in her locker. She so didn’t want to be at school today. She had to get used to her new late night work schedule but she was grateful for it. She closed her locker and turned to her left and there was Brenda. “Whoa…hey”

“We need to talk”Brenda said with her arms folded across her chest

“You look pissed. Who pooped in your Cheerios?”Aiyana asked with a laugh to keep things light

“You did”Brenda said. “There are rumors going around about you”

“When did you start listening to rumors, Bren?”

“When they started being true”Brenda said. “People are talking about how you and Cherry were at some college freshman’s house last weekend. You were hired to dance with barely anything on like you two were Madonna! You all were drunk and high!” Aiyana just scoffed. “Also it seems that you and Cherry do this all the time. Are you….”Brenda paused and looked around and then whispered,”…a prostitute?!”

“Ohmygod, Bren, you make straight A’s. Use some common sense”

“I am. I'm getting it from the horse's mouth because everyone knows you were my best friend. They think I know what you have been up to. Is this why you don’t hang out with me anymore!?”

“No, we haven’t hung out because you are busy with your FBLA meetings and homework and PSAT’s and you have a bedtime. I'm not doing any of that stuff”

“Yeah, you are stripping with the school whore!”Brenda said, referring to Cherry

“Look, you don’t know Cherry like that, so shut up. If your just jealous, just say so”

“I'm not jealous”

“Fine, then come out and hang out with me and Cherry after school. We are going to see that new Keanu Reeves movie-“

“I don’t want to hang out with her because I know how she is. And you did too and now your acting just like her….and dressing just like her”Brenda said as she looked Aiyana up and down. She had on a brown and yellow striped mid-riffed shirt that showed too much belly, a brown mini skirt that showed too much leg and brown Doc Martens. She was dressed too grown compared to her Tweety t-shirt, jean shorts and Jelly sandals.

“I like how I dress. At least I don’t look like a 5 year old”

“You know what? Forget it. I was trying to warn you. Everyone thinks that you are just like Cherry because you hang out with her so much. I'm done trying to protect you. You are on your own”

“I don’t need to be protected, Bren, I can take care of myself. I need support and real friends. Fine, I don’t want to be friends with a stuck up bitch like you”Aiyana said to her

“Well, I don’t want to be friends with the school slut”Brenda hissed and walked off

2009

Aiyana and Brenda stared at each other in shock, they both were remembering their last conversation they had. The one where Brenda basically called her a slut and written her off. And now she was helping her husband move out!? “What the fuck, Brenda!?”

Nicholas eyes widened. “Wait, you know her?”

“We used to be best friends in high school, Nicholas, remember I told you about the bitch who called me a slut? That’s her!”she said as she pointed at Brenda

“It’s a coincidence. I didn’t know this was THAT Brenda”Nicholas pleaded

“What the fuck you mean THAT Brenda?!”Brenda asked him

“Yeah who’s the slut now!?”Aiyana said

“Aiyana, please don’t make a scene. I was trying to get out of here before you came back-“

“Yeah like a coward. Own up to your shit, Nicholas. Your leaving with her? You been cheating on me again with this one now!?”

“He doesn’t have to explain anything to you-“

“Shut the fuck up Brenda. Nicholas is still my husband, in case you didn’t know. Hold your fucking horses, you can fuck him later when I'm done with him”Aiyana said to Brenda. “Tell me the truth for once, Nicholas. You want a divorce because you fucking her now and all of a sudden your guilty about it?!”

“I want a divorce because we are different people now. We have been through a lot with my infidelity, the miscarriage, your relapse. We are different now and its too late to repair all the damage. I need someone with no drama. I need someone with the same goals as mine-“

“HA!”Aiyana said. “You two are perfect for each other! Two stuck up perfectionists that only care about promotions and dinner parties! Fine, have a nice life”Aiyana said as she walked toward the front door. If she stood there any longer she was going to set them both on fire. She needed to walk away before she did something that she would regret.

“Aiyana, we both aren’t happy. You know that”Nicholas said to her. “I'm letting you go so you can be happy again”

“No, your giving up on us so you can”Aiyana said and then slammed the door behind her

*

I want you to know, that I'm happy for you
I wish nothing but the best for you both
An older version of me
Is she perverted like me
Would she go down on you in a theatre
Does she speak eloquently
And would she have your baby
I'm sure she'd make a really excellent mother
Cause the love that you gave that we made wasn't able
To make it enough for you to be open wide, no
And every time you speak her name
Does she know how you told me you'd hold me
Until you died, till you died
But you're still alive

*
End Notes:
Featured Song: "You Oughta Know" by Alanis Morrisette
I Wanna Be Down by Butterfly
Author's Notes:

stories/537/images/foolishsmall.jpg

http://fictionalfantasies.webs.com

I wanna be down with what you're going through
I wanna be down I wanna be down with you
No matter the time of day or night it's true
I wanna be down

*

1997

Aiyana and Cherry struck gold the minute they got to New York City and they both knew that they would never regret this decision that they made together. They both felt that they have been on their own for most of their lives anyway so it was time to leave their nests. They both got jobs at a small strip club in Harlem with their fake ID's. They moved into a cheap apartment with another stripper who desperately needed roommates and shared a room together. Cherry went to Open Mic Nights and free concerts to meet other musicians. She was very serious about being the next Gwen Stefani and Aiyana was there cheering her on. A guitar player from an underground rock band called the Psychotic Scrumpies (none of the band members know where the name came from but it stuck with them) approached Cherry and she was soon their lead singer.

It took longer for Aiyana to get her dreams to come true because she didn't know what she wanted to do. She used to want to be a businesswoman like Brenda, prove to everyone that even a poor foster child like her could be a CEO. However, that was more Brenda's dream than hers. She didn't know what she was good at besides dancing seductively. When she had enough money saved up, she took a few dance classes and enjoyed the new friends she made. She even went out to nightclubs with them. One particular night, a man approached her and gave her his card. "Elite Modeling Agency?"she read to him

"Has anyone told you that you could be a model?"he asked her as they moved to a spot where they could actually hear each other speak. "You have beautiful and exotic features and you have a very strong face and a seductive aura"he said to her. At first she thought that he was hitting on her but now that she heard his high voice she relaxed realizing that he was gayer than Christmas.

"Well thank you but modeling was never an option for me-"

"Call this number so we can schedule a test photo shoot. If you take good photos, we can make you a star! You'll be in magazines, billboards, runways. I believe in you huney"he said. "Your hair is divine. Paul Mitchell?"he asked her as he ran his fingers through it

"Oh I use this boring brand called 'Shampoo' from the Dollar Store"Aiyana said with a laugh

"Oh you have good hair! Usually someone's hair would fall out after using such a cheap product!"he said in shock. They talked a little bit more and then they went their separate ways.

"He was cute! You gonna fuck him?"Cherry asked

"He's gay! And he wants me to model!"Aiyana said as she showed her his business card.

"Ohmygod! That is perfect! You are so pretty!"Cherry said as she hugged her close. "I'll be the hot rock star and you'll be the hot supermodel! We will take over this city and then the world!"she said excitedly and gave her a pill with a happy face on it. "Oh and try this! Its AWESOME!"

*

2009

Christopher got off the metro and walked down the street to his destination. He had various temp jobs since he started working with Temp Placements, Inc. a month ago. Even though none were permanent and it was a lot of sorting mail and answering phones, it helped to pay his bills and it kept him busy. He even made a couple friends from the previous jobs and has been out with them to various happy hours. He lost a lot of his mutual friends through Raven since they were her friends first...they chose her over him but that was his life. He welcomed these new friends and cherished their times together. He hoped this new assignment would be long term and enjoyable. He found the building and went up to the Suite that he needed to go to. Metro Fashion. Why did that sound familiar? Then he frowned. Anything dealing with fashion interested Raven and he realized too late that was all she cared about. He sighed, "Don't think about her. That is over"he said to himself and walked up to the receptionist with a smile. "Hello, my name is Christopher Lee. I am the new temp that will be working with you"

The receptionist smiled at him. "Great"she said as she typed on her computer. "Oh you'll be reporting to George Baxter in our Mail Room"she said to him. "Have a seat and I'll call him down for you"she said as she gestured to the waiting area. "Would you like some water while you wait?"

"No I'm fine, thanks"he said to her and saw the company's official magazines spread out neatly on the table. Beautiful women graced each cover. He had to stay away from models. They were nothing but trouble. George soon walked into the room and they shook hands. He then gave him a tour and told him about the company and then led him to the Mail Room. "This is Louis and Carlos, you will be working with them here. I have a meeting to get to so they can explain to you what needs to be done"

"Thanks Mr. Baxter"

"Call me George"he said with a smile and left.

Carlos then proceeded to show him how to help him on his current project. "The Membership and Scholarship Department send and receive a lot of mail this time of year so we need a lot of help"he said to him as he showed him how to enter the mail into the system, weigh it, label it and preparation to send out. Then more letters came through when a courier came in to drop them off. "Ooooh these are for Aiyana"he said,"I will deliver these myself"

Christopher smiled,"Office crush?"

"More like office obsession"Louis said with a laugh,"He always makes sure to deliver her mail himself instead of doing it the easy way"he said as he gestured to all the mailboxes.

"She's a fucking supermodel"Carlos said excitedly. "She's beautiful"

"And she's married"Louis said

"Wait, she's a supermodel?"Christopher asked

"She used to be"Carlos said and then went to his desk and pulled out something

"Oh God, here we go"Louis said with a laugh, knowing what was coming. "The Holy SI Cover"

Christopher almost laughed when Carlos showed him a laminated cover from an old Sports Illustrated magazine. He then gasped realizing who it was. "Wait....Aiyana Patterson? THE Aiyana Patterson?"

"Oh God, you too?"Louis asked

"Isn't she the best piece of ass you have ever seen?"he asked him. "And this was what? 10 years ago? She still looks bangin'"

"She....she works here?"

"Yeah, she married some rich fuck and now she works here in the Scholarships Department. I don't know why she doesn't model again. She still looks like shes 21"Carlos said. "I saw her first Chris"

"Not really....I.....used to live in the same neighborhood as her"Christopher said. He could see her in her polka dotted bikini right now like it was yesterday.

"I thought you said that you were from Baltimore?"

"Yea, I am. Then moved to DC. I've been back and forth"

Carlos frowned and shook his head,"Aiyana is from New York City. It says so in her biography-"

"Which is unofficial"Louis pointed out

"Um, no she grew up here for a minute"Christopher said adamantly. "I would remember a face like that...she always had that body. She was around 15 the last time I saw her and she was beautiful then"

"I think your thinking about someone else"Carlos said. He was the one who knew all about her. He was her #1 fan. No one else. And not this new guy.

"Go take the mail to her, man. We got shit to do"Louis said. Carlos left. "Yo, he is her #1 fan-"

"I can tell. But I know what I'm talking about"Christopher said. He went back to work and then another courier came in. Louis signed for it.

"Another one for the supermodel"he said with a laugh.

Then a random idea popped into Christopher's head. "I'll take it"

"Not you too!"Louis said

"I gotta see her in the flesh. I'll work my ass off for the rest of the day. I promise"Christopher said

"Oh it ain't that serious. Go on up there, just don't let Carlos see you"Louis said. Christopher then ran out of the room and Louis laughed at him. He was thankful for the tour that George gave him so he knew where he was going. He approached the office and the door was open and he walked in. There was a girl on the phone and then there was an office next to her....and there she was. It was her. His childhood crush. He couldn't believe it. Right here in the flesh. They never had any real encounters. He used to stare at her a lot at the pool. But one encounter never left his memory.....

1995

Christopher sighed as he watched her play with her friends in the pool. They played a lot of games and he wanted to join in on the fun. Unfortunately, he didn't know how to swim and the only reason why he came to the pool was so that he could play with his Super Soaker and not get yelled at....and to see her.

He watched them for awhile and then he said, "I'm getting in" to himself. She made swimming look easy. It couldn't be that hard. He walked to the side of the pool and looked down. It was just water. What was there to be afraid of? He took baths all the time. He sat down on the edge and put his feet in the water. He mentally calmed himself down and told himself that he could do it. He then held his breath and then scooted off the ledge and let himself fall in. Unfortunately, he instantly sank and he was running out of air. He panicked. He was going to die! He couldn't scream and he was scared to open his eyes. He flailed his arms and legs around but it seemed that he sunk lower and lower. Deeper and deeper. He was going to die! He was going to die!

Then all of a sudden, he felt something or someone pick him up and before he knew it. Someone was pounding on his stomach and kissing him!!!! He opened his eyes and spit up water all over.......her. It was her!

"You ok?"she asked him. A worried look on her face. "Can you breathe?"she asked him

He noticed a huge crowd form around her, including her friends and other people. He didn't like the attention and started to cry.

"That's what he gets. He shouldn't get in the pool if he cant swim no ways"one of her friends said. "He aight, come on Aiyana"

"Leave him alone. He's scared"Aiyana said. That was her name. "You all go ahead"she said to them. She turned back to him and said,"Where's your mom and dad?she asked him. He just shook his head and continued to cry. He was embarrassed and he wasn't going to say anything else around this big group of people. "Your ok, come on"she said as she helped him stand up and he clung to her leg. "I'm going to take him home, does anyone know where he lives?"she asked the crowd. They started to disperse since they didn't know. "Wow thanks"she said to herself sarcastically. She took his hand and led him to her lawn chair. She picked up her beach bag and Michael Jackson beach towel and dried him off with it and then wrapped it around her waist. "K, I need to take you home now. Can you show me?"she asked

He nodded and led her away from the pool as she waved goodbye to her friends. He instantly felt better now, maybe she could play with him all day and be his friend. He led her to the apartment building that was across the street and led her to his door. However, there was a note on it. She took it off and read it. "Christopher, Went to get cigarettes. Don't talk to strangers". She sighed. "Your mom wrote this?"

"She's not my mom, she's my mom's friend"he said adamantly.

"Well I don't want to leave you here but she doesn't want you talking to strangers-"

"Your not a stranger, your nice"he pleaded. He didn't want her to leave.

"Ok"she said as she went over to the steps and sat down. "We'll wait for her"she said. He sat down next to her and stared at her as she put her long wet hair into a ponytail. "What?"she asked him

"My name is Christopher"

"I know"she said with a laugh. "The note said so"she said. "I know a lot about you already"she said and winked at him.

"Really?"he asked. Did she know that he was in love with her?

"Yea. Your name is Christopher. Your mom's friend takes care of you...and she loves cigarettes....and you cant swim....which is a problem. You need to learn"

"Can you teach me?"

"I would....but you should learn from someone who is certified. That's how I learned. I'm not much of a teacher"

"I bet you could be a good teacher"he said with a smile.

She smiled at him. He was a little cutie with his curly dark blond hair and blue eyes. She ruffled his hair. "Thanks kid"she said. They sat there for a long time. "How long does it take to get cigarettes?" He shrugged as his stomach growled. "You hungry?" He brightened up and nodded adamantly. "Come on"she said. They walked around the corner and went into a small corner store. "Not much of a selection but I only have a couple bucks on me-"she said and he got out two Nutty Buddies out of the freezer. "Two? Ain't that a little overboard?"

"No the other one is for you. You saved my life"

She smiled. "Thanks, don't mention it. I couldn't let you...you know"

"Your a superhero"he said with a smile

"Oh word?"she asked with a laugh. "Like Catwoman?"

"Yea but your name would be Super....Mermaid!"he said. She laughed.

"That's actually a pretty cool name"she said. "Now if I buy this for you....you gotta promise to eat your dinner later"

"I promise"he said. She smiled and bought the ice cream for them and walked back to his apartment.

"Let's see if she's home"she said and he noticed his smile quickly fade. She knew the feeling, she hated being at home too. She knocked and no one answered. "Um well I guess we-"

Then the door opened. "Yes?" a woman asked as she smoked the cigarette that took her about an hour to get.

"Christopher was out by the pool today and-"

"WHAT DID I SAY CHRISTOPHER!? I TOLD YOU TO NOT TALK TO STRANGERS!!!"she said as she pulled his little behind inside.

"She's not! She's a superhero!"

"GO TO YOUR ROOM!"she said as she spanked him on the butt and he cried as he sank to the floor. She turned back to her and was about to slam the door in Aiyana's face.

"I don't get a thank you!? While you were out buying cigarettes I saved him from drowning and brought him home"she said. This bitch was rude!

"Thanks"she said and slammed the door in her face. She stood there, shocked that the bitch was so ungrateful. "GO TO YOUR ROOM! AND YOU ARE NEVER GOING TO THAT POOL AGAIN!!!"she heard her yell at him. She sighed and walked off. Christopher ran to his room and cried. He looked out the window and saw Aiyana walk away and that would be the last time he saw her for a long time...

2009

"Yes? Did you need something?"Aiyana asked as a guy stood outside her door

Christopher shook himself out of his reverie. "Oh um....my name is Christopher Lee. I'm the new temp in the mail room"he said as he shook her hand

She smiled,"Nice to meet you"she said. "I'm Aiyana Patterson. I'm jealous, we need a temp more than they do"

"Oh, do you need help with something?"he asked, jumping at the chance to be close to her

"I'll spare you. You'll hate me if I asked you to work for me. My assistant is ready to kill me any day now"she said as she nodded toward the next room where her assistant sat and then winked at him.

"I bet I could handle it"he said with a smile

She smiled. There was something familiar about him. "You say that now"she said. "What can I do for you?"she asked him

"Huh?"he asked her, he forgot why he came here. She laughed. "Oh! Mail"he said as he handed her an envelope.

"Thanks"she said. "Carlos was just in here"she said as she took the envelope and looked at it and then her expression totally changed.

"Something wrong?"he asked her. Great, maybe he should have let Carlos deliver such bad news to her

"Its just.....life.....sucks"she said as she put the envelope down and faked a smile. "Thanks"she said as her phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and sighed as she put the bluetooth in her ear. "I gotta take this. It was nice meeting you Christopher"she said as she turned to her computer.

He couldn't help it but he glanced at the envelope and saw a Law Office address and a small slogan that said "The Best Divorce Lawyer in DC since 1979" He sighed. Whoa. "Um it was wonderful meeting you too"he said. She was already talking to the customer and just smiled and waved at him and then he walked out of the room.

"I'll transfer you"she said to the customer. "Oh and Christopher? Tell Louis and Carlos to take good care of you"she said

He smiled. "Oh I will" He then went back to work. As he worked he thought about her. Why would she be getting a divorce? Who in their right mind would want to divorce her?

"So...I saw you in Aiyana's office. You had to see the fineness in person huh?"Carlos asked him with a smile.

"Yea, she's still fine....very nice too. Oh and she said that she may steal me to help her with her work and told you two to take good care of me until she does"he said smugly

"Oh she did huh?"Carlos asked. This guy was trying to challenge him? Bring it on!

They continued to work and lunch came around in no time. He brought his own because he was trying to save all the money he had. He went to the vending machine to get candy and the machine gave him two candy bars. "Sweet"

"I have been working here for 3 years and that has never happened to me"he heard Aiyana say as she stood there watching him with a smile.

"And it happens to me on my first day, lucky I guess"

"I guess so"

"Here"he said as he handed it to her

"No, you should relish in your luck-"

"Go on and take it. You women love your chocolate...and lets say I owe you"he said with a smile. She had saved his life a long time ago. She was going through a divorce which was 10 times worse than some break up. He wanted to make her smile, to take her mind off of it.

She took it from him. "Thanks"

"Your welcome, have a good rest of your day"he said to her and forced himself to leave the room

"You too"she said softly. But what did he mean when he said that he owed her?

*

I know anybody's gonna be lonely
Without the reason they got someone to care for
Maybe all you need's a shoulder to cry on
If that's a fact than I'll be more than you ever could dream of (Oh)
If all you need is my time that I got plenty of
I'll dedicate all my love until you call baby yeah
I wanna stay by your side
Be there to cool you out
And let you know everything will be all right

*
End Notes:
Featured Song: "I Wanna Be Down" by Brandy
All By Myself by Butterfly
Author's Notes:
stories/537/images/foolishsmall.jpg
All by myself
Don't wanna be
All by myself
Anymore

*

1997

Aiyana sat there excitedly as the talent scouts looked at her sample photo shoot prints. They were smiling and nodding their head in approval and she hoped that they were just as excited as she was. “You take great photos”one of them said,”With a little more work you can really go places”

“Really? Seriously!?”

“I even have a gig that she would be perfect for”the other said. That day, Aiyana was signed to the Elite Modeling Agency and the months that followed she was busy going to go sees all over New York. Every designer that she modeled for loved her and her talent scouts at Elite loved how she caught on quickly to walking the runway and acting in a professional manner. No one knew that she gave lap dances at Seduction Nightclub.

Cherry was still rehearsing with her band, the Psychotic Scrumpies, and she had her first performance. They did No Doubt cover music as well as their own original works. Their audience loved their No Doubt covers but they didn’t like their original music as much. Aiyana was there for every performance and supported her best friend.

Things eventually got better for them both. Aiyana was featured in Seventeen magazine and her career took off after that. The Psychotic Scrumpies were invited to go on a small east coast club tour with a few other underground bands. Cherry and Aiyana were separated for a couple months doing their own thing and when they came back they saw what distance could do.

“Whoa you look totally different”they both said at the same time. Cherry dyed parts of her hair red, wore a lot of makeup and got a couple of facial piercings. Aiyana looked like she stepped out of a fashion magazine, everything was professionally done. Hair, makeup, nails, toes and even her clothes were new and very expensive looking. “You look good”Cherry said to her,”Lets go out to eat before we have to go the nightclub”

“Oh um about that…..I quit”Aiyana said

Cherry stared at her blankly,”Why?”

“I'm making good money with modeling and….I don’t want to do it anymore. Its beneath me now”

“Oh so your better than me?”Cherry asked her

“No…you are better than that too. You should quit. Focus on your band more”

“I would but…we aren’t making money like that yet. I'm splitting my money 5 ways with the other guys. You get everything. That’s the difference”Cherry whined. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You were in a different city every night! I couldn’t keep up with you”

“Its not going to be the same without you. I don’t wanna work there alone”

“Then quit. I can help you find something…maybe an easy office job or a waitress?”

“Office girls don’t look like me and I certainly don’t look like a waitress. I can sing and shake my ass that’s what I look like”Cherry said. They stood there in an awkward silence. “I should go to the nightclub and make sure Gary put me back on the schedule”

“Lets eat first-“

“I'm not hungry. You go ahead”Cherry said and left

*

2009

“….that means stocks, bonds, etc will just be split down the middle equally and Nicholas here is going to let you keep the house. Do you agree Aiyana?”their divorce lawyer asked her. Aiyana stared at the wall opposite her. There was a portrait of a beautiful woman wearing a gown. Why this painting was in a divorce law office was beyond her but it was beautiful. She missed the days in front of the camera. “Aiyana? Aiyana?”

“Yana? You ain't even listening”Nicholas said to her and she snapped back to reality

“Yes I am”she shot back

“I asked if you agree to the terms….including the fact that Nicholas here is letting you keep the house”their divorce lawyer repeated.

“Oh how generous”Aiyana said sarcastically. “You might as well, you moved all your shit out with that slut only 8 hours after YOU told ME that YOU wanted a divorce”

“Do you fucking accept it or not?”Nicholas said

“Oh! Well when you put it that way”Aiyana said pretending she was flattered. “He’s such a gentleman”she said sarcastically to their lawyer.

“A simple yes or no would be nice, Aiyana”he asked her calmly.

“Yes, that’s fine but only because you asked nicely”she said to him and turned to Nicholas. “See what happens when you ask nicely?”

“Look, what I did was wrong. I know. I’m just trying to make up for it”Nicholas said

“Humph”Aiyana said. He wasn’t trying to do shit but run away, which made him the hypocrite because he was the one who always told her to stop running from things.

“You can't win”Nicholas said to himself as he scoffed, getting frustrated.

“I just need you two to sign where highlighted in yellow and initial where its highlighted in blue”their lawyer said as he gave them their own copies of the paperwork. Aiyana signed and initialed quickly

“Anything else?”she asked as she stood up and gathered her things

“No, that’s everything-“but she was out the door before he could say anything else. Nicholas left shortly after shaking the lawyer’s hand. He walked into the lobby and saw Aiyana getting out of the other elevator.

“Yana-“

“Don’t talk to me”she said as she walked quickly toward the front doors.

“Are you really going to give me the silent treatment?”he asked her as he followed her outside

“Look, I don’t need to hear shit from you. You made yourself perfectly clear. I don’t want to see your face or hear your voice unless we are in that office, got me!?”she said sternly

Nicholas glared at her,”Fine, have it your way”he said and then walked off

“I will. For once”she shot back at him as he walked away from her. She then got caught off guard when she noticed Christopher walking with some of his friends toward them. Did he hear? She put on a fake smile just in case.

Christopher told his friends to go ahead without him. He went to a happy hour with them and he was returning home. When he saw Aiyana arguing with some man outside of a divorce law office, he put two and two together. “You ok?”he asked her as he walked up to her

“You heard?”she asked him uncertainly

“I think all of K Street heard you”he chuckled trying to keep the conversation light. She smiled a little and just shook her head.

“Well I don’t wanna keep you from your party-“

“Oh they all headed home. I'm good”he said with a big smile

“Are you drunk?”she asked him with a laugh

“Tipsy is the correct term. Had a few beers”he said with a shrug

“Are you tipsy enough that you wont remember my little outburst?”

“Probably not…..but I wont go off and tell your business if that’s what you are afraid of”

“That is what I am afraid of. I know Carlos can be gossipy, he comes to my office everyday and tells me everyone’s business”she said with a chuckle

“Well….I'm not Carlos”he said

She stared at him for a second, like that statement was a double entendre. “Your right. Your not”

“I don’t know any gossip….but…..”he said nervously as he shoved his hands into his pockets,”….well maybe we can talk about other things….over drinks?”he asked her

“Sounds tempting but I'm not in the drinking mood….and I'm on my way to meet a friend so…”

“Oh ok that’s cool, maybe another time”Christopher said quickly. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Aiyana nodded. “See you tomorrow”she said as she waved to him and walked down the street.

Christopher waved back and kicked himself….mentally. Maybe he was drunk. Who in their right mind would ask a woman out for drinks right outside of her divorce lawyer’s office after she got into a public fight with her ex? Now that he thought about it, it didn’t make any sense and she probably thought of him as a tipsy asshole. “Great”he said to himself. Now he really wanted a drink…..

*

“Well that’s a good thing. He’s letting you keep the house. Kicking you out would have been a dick move”Dee Dee said as she sat in the chair and got herself tattooed.

“I don’t really think that he did it for me. I think he just didn’t want to deal with kicking me out. He took the easy route as always”Aiyana said. “What is that?”she asked as the guy made a small mark line. There were 4 lines next to each other.

“Ive known Rob for 4 years now. Our anniversary is coming up. 4 years ago tomorrow, his drunk ass came in here and got a tattoo and fell in love with me”

“How sweet. Is he getting one?”

“Yeah”she said as she got up out of the chair. She had so many tattoos that it didn’t bother her to get more. It made her more relaxed actually. “Tomorrow”

“Well I'm glad I didn’t mark myself up”Aiyana said with a sigh

“I'm glad too…whats wrong though? The divorce is almost final right?”

“Yeah…it’s the house thing. I mean I don’t really want to be there either. The whole house reminds me of him”she said. “I cant pay for it on my own either”

“Get a loan”

Aiyana sighed. “My credit score is really bad. The house is in Nicholas’s name. No one will give me a loan…not after my relapse last year. I did a lot of stupid things with my money”

“Well…sell it and get a chic loft or something”

“Have you seen these new chic lofts? They are like 3 grand a month. I might as well keep the house”

“Well….keep the house….”

Aiyana groaned and paced for a couple of minutes. Dee Dee decided to stay quiet. She knew Aiyana well. Don’t talk to her while she paces. It means she’s so deep in thought that the world would end if shes interrupted. “Nicholas gets to start over! New place! New girlfriend! What do I fucking get!? I get a house that I cant afford and a divorce that’s sucking more money out of my bank account! I didn’t want any of this! I only want that fucking house unless he is there with me! But I cant. I don’t even want him anywhere near me! He has everything figured out even though he fucked up and now I'm out in the cold because of shock!”she said. Dee Dee just stared at her. It sounded like she was going to continue. “Well? Say something!”

“Oh um…I”

“I need you to tell me what to do”Aiyana said helplessly, her eyes tearing up

“I cant tell you what to do. Your basically saying this was not what you wanted. This is all because of Nicholas. What do you want to do?”

“I don’t want to do this. Any of this”

“What is this?”

“Life! I don’t….I don’t want this life…I don’t know how to say it. I don’t know how to explain it”

“Maybe you need a vacation”

“I cant. I have to deliberate over these fucking applications. Nicholas knows more than anyone that this is my busiest time of year. Asshole. Why couldn't he ask for a divorce later in the year? I cant take a vacation now. My department will fall apart”

“You look like you are going to fall apart”Dee Dee said. “Go to Ocean City for a weekend. You don’t work weekends”she said as her cell rang. Aiyana just shrugged at the idea. She wouldn’t turn down a trip to the beach but she wasn’t herself right now. “Hey babe…..Oh…..alright…..really?....ok well I will see you later then”she said. “Love you…bye”

“The hubby?”Aiyana asked unenthusiastic

“Yeah, working late”Dee Dee said as she locked up. Wednesday nights were usually slow. She went to the register and counted up money and glanced at Aiyana every now and then. She wanted to cheer her up but even Aiyana didn’t know how to make herself happy. The desk phone rang and she wasn’t going to answer it when a familiar number showed up on the ID. “Yo Kicks”

“Hey, Dee, who else is there with you?”

“Just me for now. D-Smooth just left”Dee Dee said. Aiyana shook her head. Kicks? D-Smooth? What kind of names were those?

“Oh shit. I’ll have to hit him up. But uh Mack just found out his wifey is pregnant and they are celebrating at Fast Eddie’s tonight. We are all going out there”

“Oh that’s great! They have been trying for so long”Dee Dee said. “Sure I’ll come through. See you there”she said and looked at Aiyana. “You are going out with me tonight”she said to her

“Oh I don’t-“

“You are. We both don’t really have anyone to go home to so…come on out with me. We haven’t in so long”

“I don’t feel like drinking or getting hit on”Aiyana said simply.

*

Aiyana sighed as they walked into Fast Eddie’s. It was a billiard sports bar/strip club. Why anyone celebrating a pregnancy would do it here was beyond her. “I should call the police. I feel like a hostage”

“Just have one fucking drink, Aiyana. It wont kill you”Dee Dee said as she spotted her tattooed co-workers and went over to them. She hugged and high fived all of them and introduced Aiyana. All the guys had an equally tattoo’ed girl on their arm so she didn’t have to worry about that. She looked plain compared to them.

“Congrats on the baby”Aiyana said to Mack and his wife

“Thanks we have been trying for 5 years”she said as she patted her now flat stomach

“I'm happy for you”Aiyana said genuinely. She then ordered a Long Island Iced Tea and greasy fries as she watched them play pool. She would usually hop in but again, she was in a funky mood. She watched as Dee Dee talked and played with her friends. She hated being socially awkward. She never usually was. All the drugs she did caused her to embarrass herself in public. The people who witnessed will never let it go. Like Nicholas, he never let it go when she embarrassed him, sober or not. She couldn’t just hop into a conversation. What could they talk about? She always offended someone without knowing it and she didn’t want to follow Dee Dee around and just nod her head and smile. She did that with Nicholas and she wasn’t that trophy wife material anymore.

She heard shouts from across the bar and there was a crowd of people standing around one pool table. She smiled when she saw Christopher playing against someone. The 8 ball was left on the table. She smiled and picked up her drink and walked over. “A tie huh?”she asked

“Yea, this young cat over here bet this guy he can beat him. Must be drunk. But he’s really good. No one beats Big Mike”a guy said as he nodded his head to the older guy. Aiyana smiled as she watched. It was Christopher’s turn.

“8 ball, side pocket”Christopher called. He took a minute and surveyed the table and then he hit the cue ball. It bounced off the wall and hit the 8 ball softly into the side pocket. The crowd screamed in surprise. Big Mike was a regular and this new guy beat him and it never happened before. “YYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAH!”Christopher shouted.

“Here’s your money”Big Mike said. “Consider this your lucky day”he said and walked off with his crew

“Thanks guy. That sounds like another bet”Christopher said as he counted the money. Big Mike just rolled his eyes and left. Other patrons congratulated him and walked off as well. She smiled as she watched him count. Dang, how much did he win? Christopher could feel someone staring at him and looked up and saw Aiyana smiling and sipping a drink. She looked so beautiful…but what was she doing here? “Hey”he said with surprise as he walked over to her

“Hey yourself. Heard you beat the regular that no one could beat”

“Did you see it!? My last shot?”he asked her excitedly. She laughed and nodded. “Holy shit. I didn’t even know you saw it but I was fucking nervous. Whole time….and then it just went in”

“Its your lucky day”she said to him with a smile

“I guess it is”he said. “So, um, what are you doing here? Thought you weren’t in the mood to drink?”

“I'm not. My friend Dee Dee dragged me here”

“Oh so I just have to tie you up to do things for me?”he asked and winked

Aiyana laughed,”Are you flirting with me?”

“What? That’s not an innocent question?”

“No! It has an innuendo. A sexual one”

“Or maybe you are just thinking about sex. That’s not my fault that your mind is in the gutter”he said

“Are you drunk?”she asked with a laugh

“Yea. I was tipsy before but I'm feeling good now. I'm $200 richer too”he said with a laugh as the lights dimmed. A stage was lit up and a stripper started dancing to “Rude Boy” by Rihanna. Every time Aiyana saw a stripper it reminded her of the two years that she was one. She loved the song however and nodded her head. “Wait, this is a strip club?”he asked with a laugh as he stared at the girl

“Yep. You didn’t notice the strip poles around here?”she asked him. She knew a strip club when she walked into one. Dark lighting, mirrors, dark curtains…and a stage usually gave that away.

“I thought it was just decoration….or maybe it used to be an old fire station and they kept it”

“Your silly”Aiyana said with a laugh. They talked for awhile and he kept making her laugh. She has never laughed so much in awhile. He then looked dizzy. “You ok?”

“Yea….I think I had too much”Christopher said

“You should get home”she said and looked at her watch. It was almost midnight! She needed to head out too. “Let me get a cab for you”she said and he nodded. She went to the bar and called a cab and in minutes one was there.

“You called a cab ma’am?”the bartender asked her,”Its here. You need help?”

“No. Its for him”she said as she patted Christopher on his back

“Oh ok”the bartender said. “You need help dude?”

“Yea. Just to stand”he said as the two of them helped him up. “Lean on me, when your not strong. I’ll be your friend. I’ll help you carry on!”he sang

“Ok….”Aiyana said with a laugh

“Nothing more sexy than a girl that can hold her own liquor”Christopher said to her

“I only had 1 drink. So that doesn’t count”

“Well your still sexy then”he said to her as they helped him in. “Um…where do I live?”he asked himself. “Oh…Quincy and Georgia Ave”he said. “You need a ride?”he asked her as the bartender shook his head and walked back in

“Nah, I got one already”Aiyana said

“K….good choice cuz I wouldn’t let you out of my house. I would keep you hostage too”she said as a car honked.

She closed the door. “Good night, Chris”she said to him and then the cab drove off. She smiled as she watched the cab drive off. If she was a younger, she would go for a guy like him.

*

When I was young
I never needed anyone
And making love was just for fun
Those days are gone
Livin' alone
I think of all the friends I've known
When I dial the telephone
Nobody's home

*
End Notes:
Lyrics Featured: "All By Myself" by Celine Dion
Hey Lover by Butterfly
Author's Notes:
stories/537/images/foolishsmall.jpg
I've been watchin' you from afar,
for as long as I can remember
You are all a real man can need
and ever ask for
this is love
this is more than a crush

*

1997

Cherry gave Aiyana the silent treatment for awhile and then started being nonchalant when talking to her. She was still upset that she had to work at the nightclub and that Aiyana was living her dream. It was hard living with her when she acted like that. Aiyana decided to confront her about it and just nip it in the bud. "What's your damage, Cherry?"she asked her when Cherry walked into the bedroom they used to share and got her pillows so she could sleep on the couch.

"What do you mean?"Cherry asked innocently

"You know what I mean. Ever since I left the club you have been treating me differently"

"I'm not. I was upset. I'm over it now"

"So why are you still sleeping in the living room?"

"Your a big girl, you can sleep by yourself"Cherry said. The room was too small to fit another bed and neither of them could really afford one.

"Cherry, we are in this together. We came here together....we cant fall apart, not here....you're all I have...."Aiyana said honestly as she started to cry. Cherry softened and walked over to her and hugged her close. "I....need.....you...."

"I do too"Cherry said. "Maybe in more ways than one. I need you to always be around and when your not, I'm not happy. I don't know...I wish I could be a model too"

"Maybe I can-"

"Don't even think about it. I wish, but I don't want to be. That's your dream"

"What can I do to make it up to you? To make things right again?"Aiyana asked

"Nothing, you didn't do anything wrong"Cherry said with a sigh. "I just need more money so I can get out of there. It was fun back in DC but it's different here..."

"Cuz we didn't have to pay rent, all our money went to moving here...and clothes..."

"Oh and this"Cherry said as she ran out of the room. She came back in with her hand held mirror, a small baggie and a purse. "Powder"

"Is that coke!? Cherry!"Aiyana said with a gasp. She has tried weed and pills with her but not the really hard stuff.

"Its not that bad"Cherry said,"Try. I'm right here, don't worry"

"This is why your broke, Cher"

"I get mine for free so hush"Cherry said as she separated the pile into two lines on her mirror using a card

"Is that a library card? You have a library card!?"Aiyana asked with a laugh

"Man, this is my library card from Tubman...so you know I don't use it"Cherry said with a laugh. "Man, if we stayed, we would be graduating next year...do you think about it sometimes?"

"No"Aiyana said simply. "I'm happier being here"she said as she watched Cherry roll up a dollar bill and then did half a line,"How does it feel?"

"Amazing"Cherry said,"At least it will...your not gonna try?"she asked her.

Aiyana stared at the powder and then picked up the dollar bill and rolled it up like Cherry did. She snorted quickly and there was a rush that she never felt before. "Whoa"she said

The next morning, she struggled to get up but her alarm blared loudly. Cherry sighed and turned it off. "Do you have a shoot today?"she asked her

"Oh shit, I'm gonna be late"Aiyana said. "I'm so high....why wont it stop!?"she asked, starting to get paranoid

"Calm down"Cherry said as she helped her get ready and even went to the shoot with her. "I'm her assistant"she lied as she walked in with her. "Now don't think about it, just do your thing and don't be all stiff, you look like something's up your ass"she coached her

Luckily, Aiyana worked with this photographer before. "Wow, Aiyana, I like this new side of you! Keep it up!"he said excitedly as she tried another pose. "Oh! Don't move! Keep that! Yes! Yes!"he said as he snapped away. By the end of the shoot, the photographer was so excited that he had to force himself to stop. "Get changed huney, these prints will make you a star!"he said

Cherry smiled as she munched on the free food and watched all this happen. She was glad she came, she got a couple numbers from some of the cute models and crew members. It was a cute sausage fest here! A man approached her,"I heard that you are that model's assistant?"he asked her

"Yes I am. Cherry Stewart"she said as she shook his hand

"She is very promising. We are on the look out for models just like her. She has IT"he said as he gave her his card. "Have her agency call me ASAP"he said

"Oh we will"she said with a smile. She passed the news on to Aiyana and a few days later she landed a big deal with Maybelline Cosmetics. "Can you believe it!? I'm so proud of you! You gotta have that same it factor you had at the shoot!"

"I didn't have an it factor. I had coke!"Aiyana said. "What if I totally blow this? What am I gonna do?"

Cherry held up a baggie. "Stick with what you know. Just do it the night before. You'll be golden"she said and smiled

*

2009

Aiyana put her head in her hands and then looked at her ringing phone. It didn't stop and that was because her assistant was late today. "Oh thank god"she said as she picked it up. "Hey sweetie. Are you feeling any better?"she asked her assistant

"Um kinda, I'm at the doctor's now...."her assistant said. "The news isn't good..."

"Oh no, what did they say?"

"I'm pregnant"she said with a sigh. "I can not afford a baby right now and....the father and I don't get along right now. I am so nauseous"

Aiyana sighed. "Congratulations"she said, trying to be cheerful for her but wasn't sure if that's what she wanted

"Thanks I guess"she said with a sigh. "I would be in a better mood if I wasn't hurling every 5 minutes. I'm sorry. I know its busy-"

"I can handle it. I'm going to have to. Text me tonight and update me ok? Get better first"she advised, then hung up. "Fuck"she said as she looked at her phone. She had 3 calls that were on hold. She wanted to run from those green blinking lights. Her assistant was pregnant and she wasn't happy about it. She remembered when that's all she wanted, all she dreamed about...and it never happened....

2008

Aiyana gasped as she sat on the edge of their bathtub and stared at the stick. She continued to stare at it in disbelief and didn't even hear Nicholas walk in. "I'm home! Yana? Yana?"he called and then walked into the bathroom. "Hey, Ive been calling you. What-"he said and stopped. "Oh...babe.....what does it say?"he asked her as he noticed her staring at another pregnancy test.

"It....it says.....pregnant"she said as she showed it to him. She has taken many over the last year and nothing happened. She saw a plethora of negative signs, one line, two lines, blue spots, a sad face....the symbols go on. She never saw the actual word "pregnant" before. "Like.....it actually says.....pregnant"

Nicholas smiled and kissed her hard on the mouth. He really wanted a son. He wanted them to be a family. "We did it babe. We finally did it" It scared her just as much as him. Was there something wrong with him? Or was it her? Or was it not meant to be? Were they going to be that old couple in their 50's who get pregnant by accident?

Aiyana kissed him back as tears rolled down her cheeks. "Finally, we can redecorate the guest room. I'm having your baby, baby"she said with a laugh. "I'm going to set up a doctor's appointment-"

Nicholas picked her up and carried her into the bedroom,"Let's celebrate first"he said

2009

"Earth to Aiyana? Come back to us, Aiyana!?"a voice pulled her out of her flashback. She jumped and looked up and saw that it was Christopher. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you"he said. "Wow, your busy. Should I come back?"he asked her and then saw the look on her face. "Are you ok?"he asked her

Aiyana attempted to smile at him but could only purse her lips. "I....I totally paused"she said and then let out a little laugh

Christopher laughed. "Paused? I haven't heard that since '95"

"You mean you were alive back then?"Aiyana asked with a smirk. Christopher laughed. Aiyana always teased him about his age....his ability to hold his liquor...and any other random thing he said that deserved a comeback...and she always won.

"Ha ha"he said. "Well I was just checking on you...where is she?"he asked as he nodded to his assistant's empty desk

'She gets to have a baby and I don't', Aiyana wanted to say. "She's not feeling well"

"Damn, you're all alone?"he asked her

"Yeah"she said and glanced at her phone. "Oh lemme get these"she said to him and picked up her phone. He stood there for about a minute and then left. She worked hard for the rest of the day and 5 o'clock couldn't come fast enough. But it didn't matter. She still had a lot to do and she had to get this done by herself in case her assistant didn't come back tomorrow. She sighed,"Guess I'm going to pull an all nighter"she said to herself

At around 5:30 she saw someone move past her door and then laughed when Christopher walked in. "What are you still doing here?"she asked him with a laugh

"Overtime is my best friend"Christopher said. "I'm guessing it is in your case too?"

"Not today. Overtime sucks when your forced to do it"she said as she put her head in her hands

"You ok?"he asked her again. Something was wrong earlier but she didn't answer him then. He felt that he needed to ask again

"No, no I'm not to be honest but I gotta get this done"she said as she gestured to the piles of papers on her desk

"What's all this?"he asked her

"Applications. Its that time of year. In a month we will select a winner for a scholarship to a fashion school of their choice. Long process...."she said

"Wow, how do you pick these people?"he asked her

"Well this pile is the no pile"she said. It was higher than the others. "Most of these are no's because of grammatical errors or just weird essay question answers"she said

"Which leaves all of that"he said as he indicated the rest of the applications

"Yeah but its hard to pick just one"

"You gotta do that tonight?"

"No, we have a system where we pick our top 10 and then go down from there"she said as he picked up an application and read it over

"This one should be a no"he said as he sat down across from her and read it

"Why?"she asked him

"Its a huge sob story. Have you read it?"he asked her as he handed it to her.

She glanced at it. "Oh God. I haven't gotten to this one yet"she said as her stomach growled

"Uh oh"he said

She laughed,"All I had was a salad today"

"You want something? I can go out to that deli across the street for you"

"No, you don't have to. Maybe my growling belly will be inspiration for me to work faster"she said

"No, it will just make you look more tired than you already are"

"Damn, I look tired?"

"No, not like that. But you look tired, like you haven't slept..."he said and then shook his head. "Never mind, you look pretty ok?"he said to her

She blushed,"Thanks..."

"So what do you want from the deli?"he asked her again. She wrote down what she wanted and gave him money. "Naw-"

"Take it, if you have to get my food for me let me at least pay for it"

"Fine, but only because I owe you"he said and then left

Aiyana sat there in deep thought. Why did he keep saying that he owed her? What was he talking about? He has said it to her at least 3 times since she met him a few weeks ago. She looked through her emails and then stopped. She couldn't concentrate. Ever since her assistant's pregnancy news, she couldn't concentrate on anything else...

2008

"You are getting so big! And I mean that in the nicest way possible"her supervisor said to her as she looked at Aiyana's growing belly. "And you know what I realized? The week you come back from maternity leave is the week the application fees open up"

Aiyana laughed. "Damn it, if only I got pregnant sooner"she said with a laugh. "I wouldn't leave you hanging though. I'll have an extra set of hands too. I'll bring the baby as my little temp"

"You are absolutely glowing too, huney. Ive never seen you smile so much"

"Ive....Ive never been this happy"Aiyana said honestly

"Since your modeling days I'm sure"her supervisor said as her cell vibrated. "Oh"she said as she picked up,"Johnathan! You better have good news for me"she said as she walked back to her office

Aiyana sat down and rubbed her belly. It wasn't true at all. She was never this happy during her modeling days. She was too high or drunk or overworked to feel any kind of emotion at all. Yes, this was what made her feel like she had an actual purpose on this planet now. Wow, it only took her 28 years...

2009

"Yoo hoo"Christopher said with a laugh as he watched Aiyana rub her belly. "Wait no more, food is here"he said to her as he set the food down on a smaller table away from her applications and work. "Yo, Aiyana? Food!"he said to her, realizing she wasn't listening

"Oh ok"Aiyana said

"Did you totally pause again?"he asked, mocking her

"Yes"she said and stuck her tongue out at him. "Whoa, that's a lot of food"

"I got something for myself-"

"With my money?-"

"With my own money, chill, cheap skate"he said and winked. "I was gonna chill here and eat and help you out"

"You don't-"

"I know I don't have to. But I want to. I have nothing else to do"

"Thanks that makes me feel much better"she said sarcastically as they separated their food, then she gasped. "Is that Alize?"she asked as she saw a miniature bottle in one of the bags

"Yeah, figured it would help you work faster. It does for me"

"You drink on the job?"

"No! Well not at this one"he said with a wink

"Your an alcoholic"she said with a laugh,"You always drink when I see you"

"You saw me at a bar once!"

"I helped you out of a bar once!"she said with a laugh. He poured some Alize in his fruit punch. "Your crazy"

"Its really good. Try it"he said to her. She said no at first and then accepted it and took a sip,"Well?"

"Wow, tastes like Kool Aid"she said and they both laughed. "What the hell, pour me some"she said since she got a fruit punch as well. They talked and drank and ate and then she let him help her read some of the maybe's and yes's and some eventually went to the no pile. She started laughing as she read one application. "This one is funny. This person should be a comedian instead of a designer"she said as she read Christopher their essay answers. She laughed so hard that she almost spit out her drink.

"Whoa there, had enough there slugger?"

"I should ask you the same thing. Your eyes are all red"she glanced at the clock and gasped. "Its 7 o'clock"

"I know"

"You don't have to be somewhere?"

"No, why, do you?"

"No but I wasn't trying to stay here this late"she said as she threw her food away. "Thank you so much for staying Christopher. I wouldn't have gotten this much done without you here"

"My pleasure, hopefully Alexie will be here tomorrow"

"She wont"Aiyana said,"She's pregnant and she hasn't been feeling so good"

Christopher stared at her wide eyed. "Oh, you don't sound so happy about that"

"Shit, I wasn't even supposed to tell you. Pretend like you don't know when she does tell people ok? And I am happy for her...its just...."then she stopped

"What?"

"Its a long story. Ive said too much already"she said as she continued to clean. "Its a very long story"she said. They gathered their things and left the office. "Ugh. I think I'm tipsy and I don't want to walk to the metro"she said with a laugh. "This is all your fault"

"Taxi!"he said and one pulled over.

"Wait-"

"Get in or I'm leaving you"he said with a laugh. She laughed and got in next to him. "Your place first. Where do you live?"

"Connecticut and California St please"she said

"Oh Connecticut Ave huh?"he asked her,"That's where the rich folks stay"he said to her

"I guess, there's still a thing called rich hood rats"she said and they laughed. "Where do you live?"

"Georgia Ave...."he said with a laugh

"Oh I'm sorry"she said and laughed,"I'm kidding"

"No your right. Its the ghetto over there. Luckily, I live in a new apartment that's all gentrified and shit"

"Nice"she said and soon they arrived at her town house.

"Hey, your selling it?"he asked her as he saw a For Sale sign out front

"I cant afford it on my own"she said as she got her wallet out of her purse

"No go ahead, I got it"he said to her. "Don't even try to fight me, I owe you"

"Why do you keep saying that? You don't owe me a thing?"she asked with a laugh

He smiled at her. It was cute that she didn't remember. He wanted to tell her but didn't know how. "That's for me to know and you to figure out"

"Oh yeah? So your gonna play hard to get?"she asked.

"Ok here's a clue. You saved my life once. That's how I owe you"

She frowned as she got out of the cab,"I saved your life?"she asked as she stood outside of the car. "That's it? You mean at the bar?"

He closed the door and rolled the window down. "Oh no that was the second time, you saved my life twice"

Aiyana laughed and shook her head,"I don't....what do you mean?"

"Figure it out"he said and winked at her. "See you tomorrow beautiful"he said and the cab drove off.

Aiyana stood there stunned. What incident was he talking about? She met him a couple of weeks ago and nothing else stood out. However, ever since she met him she felt like that she had met him before. Obviously he remembered. But why couldn't he just tell her? She walked inside and relaxed for the rest of the night. She watched some tv and on a randomly tipsy whim, she decided to take a bath. She filled the tub with hot water and her favorite Sexy Little Things bubble bath from Victoria's Secret. She got in and turned on the shower radio and hummed along to Rihanna's newest song. She sat there and closed her eyes.

Then her doorbell rang. She was going to ignore it but it kept ringing. She got out and wrapped a towel around herself. She looked out of the peephole and laughed. She opened the door a crack. "I'm only in a towel. I was taking a bath"she said with a laugh

"You want me to wait out here?"Christopher asked her

"No, come in"she said as she opened the door a little wider. "Let me just slip something on real quick.."she said. He nodded. She closed the door and ran upstairs, wondering why he was here. She put on her terry cloth robe and put her curly hair in a knot on top of her head. She walked downstairs. "You need something?"

"Sorry, I couldn't leave you hanging"he said to her,"I had to come back"

"What are you talking about?"

"We met before.....at a party.....we danced together....."

"Oh really? What party?"she asked him

"I don't remember but we were dancing real close...."

"That must have been a long time ago because...Ive been married for the past 5 years..."

"You sure didn't act like you were married"he said with a smirk

"Are you fucking with me?"she asked with a laugh

"Oh! Someone is still tipsy"

"Are you high?"

"No but I'm drunk. I put a lot more Alize in my drink than yours...maybe we met at an art gallery...."

"I think you are making all this shit up"she said with a laugh

"Nice place"he said as he looked around. "Shame you gotta sell it"

"Yeah it is. I'm trying to find an apartment"

"Why don't you rent out one of the rooms?"

"I don't wanna live with a stranger"

"I'll move in"he said with a laugh

"You wish"she said with a laugh,"The extra bedroom is kinda small.....wanna see?"she asked him

"Sure"he said and he followed her upstairs and she turned on the light to the guest bedroom. "No this looks perfect"he said as he sat on the bed

"It's a twin bed"

"Yeah but its like any other bed. You can still get the job done"he said with a laugh

"You are silly"she said with a laugh. "Are you trying to drop a hint?"

"Oh your catching on"

"What? You don't like to be alone when your drunk? You didn't have enough cab money to get home so you came back here?"

"No"he said as he stood up and walked up to her. "You smell nice"he said

"Yeah I was taking a bath until you interrupted me...."

"Well you smell clean enough"he said as he leaned forward and inhaled,"Real clean"

Aiyana didn't know why, but the room suddenly got hot and her heart was beating really fast. She inhaled deeply as she felt his breath on her neck. Goosebumps traveled quickly up her arms and legs. "Um..."

Then he pulled her closer to him,"We didn't meet before...but I felt like we did. And I find you very attractive.....and unfortunately, I can only say this because none of this feels real right now"

"Your that drunk huh?"she asked nervously. His hands were on her waist. She couldn't help but look into his blue eyes, watched intently as he licked his lips.

"That's what I wanted to tell you. That's why I'm here. That's what I wanted to say"he said. "I didn't mean to interrupt your bath"he said as he backed away from her

"No....you can stay if you want...."she said, not really knowing why

"Can I stay here?"he asked her. She nodded. "You wanna stay with me?"he asked as he took her little hand in his. She nodded. But she wanted to shout,"WHAT ARE WE DOING!?" He pulled her close to him again. "You smell really good. I cant get over it"

"Its called Sexy Little Thing"

"Perfect"he said as he inhaled and held her close in a hug....then he kissed up her neck. She instantly got wet. She instantly realized that it has been a long time since she has been this close to a man. Nicholas refused to touch her for so long.....

"Your drunk...."she said as he kissed her neck hungrily

"I want to..."he said as his hands found the tie on her robe and untied it. "You have a beautiful body"he said as he stared at her. "You sure you want me to stay"

She nodded,"I'm scared though"

"I'll be gentle. Tell me when to stop and I will, I promise"he said as he took off his jacket and laid her down on the bed. He got on his knees and then she felt his tongue lick her inner thigh and then closer.....and then closer. She moaned in anticipation as she spread her legs wider and massaged the top of his head as she arched her back. He started fingering her and then his wet tongue went in and out of her vagina and she instantly came in his mouth. "Ohmygod"she moaned. "I want you. Take me Christopher. Please"she said as she sat up. Fuck foreplay, she wanted to fuck! She hastily helped him take off his clothes and then he turned her around.

"Can we do doggie?"

"I don't care. I just want you. I need you to..."she said and then he inserted himself inside her. They soon found a rhythm and she moaned as he fingered her as he fucked her from behind. His other hand rubbed her back and pulled on her long curly hair

"Oh god, your so tight.....holy shit...."he said as he fucked her

"Harder......faster......oh please Chris......"she said and then let out a shout as she felt herself come again. She opened her eyes and almost jumped out of the tub.

Christopher wasn't there. He never was there. It was all a dream.....a very wet one....

*

Hey lover, hey lover
This is more than a crush
Hey lover, hey lover
This is more than a crush

*
End Notes:
Lyrics Featured: "Hey Lover" by LL Cool J and Boyz II Men
I've Been Thinking About You by Butterfly
Author's Notes:

stories/537/images/foolishsmall.jpg

http://fictionalfantasies.webs.com

I've been thinking about you
In the most peculiar way
I've been thinking about you
It's unbelievable to me
But suddenly I think
I'm falling in love with you

*

1998

The contract with Maybelline was Aiyana’s breakthrough to be a star. The photographer loved her and thought she was very professional. No one knew she was high as a kite and so nervous that she would have vomited right in front of them. Again, Cherry was with her and was very positive when Aiyana was not. The ads were put all over New York and were soon all over every major city in the US. Everyone wanted a piece of this new girl. Who was she? Maybelline caught onto this quickly and extended Aiyana’s contract so that she would appear in commercials and attend industry parties. The parties were like the bar on Cheers, everyone knew her name, or knew that she was the new Maybelline girl.

Cherry saw this and kicked herself. She wasn’t jealous of her best friend, she just wanted her damn band to have the same success. She started writing every chance she got, which was pretty hard. When she wasn’t rehearsing with her band or stripping at Seduction, she would venture out to the industry parties and photo shoots so she could be Aiyana’s backbone. “The coke helps but, its really you that keeps me sane”Aiyana had said. And it touched her. She had a lot of material to write about. She thought musicians were crazy but the models were just as crazy.

Then just like that, another big break came, for the both of them. Aiyana and Cherry met Tommy Hilfiger, the new and hot designer, and the hot R&B singer, Aaliyah, at a party and he wanted to feature her along with Aaliyah in a runway show during Fashion Week in New York City. Aiyana, of course, was happy but also freaked out like she usually did. She had her own hookup now and got some coke to help with her nerves. “I really need the ‘it factor’. Everyone will see me!”she confided in Cherry. She accidentally saw the seating chart and celebrities like Tyra Banks, Alexander McQueen and editors from Vogue, Vanity Fair and Victoria’s Secret were in the front rows. Cherry was practicing with her band the night before the runway show when Aiyana ran in the rehearsal space, excited and spastic as usual (when she was on coke). “I did it!”she said to them

“Yana, we are practicing”Cherry said

“I got you a gig! By accident really, I didn’t think that they would take me seriously but they listen to me! People listen to me and think my word is golden and say yes to me. Isn't that unreal!?”

“Wait slow down, you got us a gig?”the Psychotic Scrumpie’s lead guitarist said

“The DJ for Hilfiger’s show just went into the hospital for a heroin overdose. This is why I wont try heroin….and everyone is freaking out because like every hot DJ is booked for something this week and I was like…my “assistant” is in a band. She is better than Gwen Stefani…..so the music coordinator is going to come here tomorrow to check you guys out!!!!”

“Seriously!?”Cherry asked as she hugged her best friend close to her

“Don’t let me down!”Aiyana said. “They are really desperate”

And they didn’t…or the coordinator was desperate… “No one uses live bands at their fashion shows and we just have to be different from all the hundreds of shows going on. Now, your original material needs work but we love the No Doubt and Hole covers”he said. “Practice only those. The show starts at 8, sound check is at 6. Don’t disappoint me”he said as he headed for the door. “Oh and a grand each will be good for you yes?”he asked and without waiting for an answer, he left the space and got into his chauffeured car and drove off.

The show went off without a cinch. Everyone couldn’t stop talking about the “new Maybelline girl” as well as the “new No Doubt band”, which Cherry didn’t like to be called. “Hey everyone calls you something else until you truly have a breakthrough. They call me 'Maybelline' and 'the new Tyra' so much that I don’t correct them. I still have a lot to prove”

And they did. Aiyana signed a contract with Tommy Hilfiger and the Psychotic Scrumpies got a record deal.

*

2009

Aiyana’s nerves were shot. The phones were ringing off the hook as usual and since her assistant was out, she had to deal with all of them….as well as trying to avoid Christopher. She couldn’t look him in the eye or be in the same room as him after her wet dream the night before. She blamed it on the alcohol, and unfortunately Jamie Foxx’s song played several times on her Pandora playlist, as well as the fact that she has been celibate for months now. She still couldn’t be near him. He attempted to talk to her but thank goodness she was always on a phone call when he stopped by. Luckily, today, she couldn’t stay late and rushed out of her office at exactly 5 pm. She closed her office door and ran right into…Christopher.

“Hey, you hanging in there? You have been busy all day”

“Yeah….and I gotta go, I’ll see you tomorrow”she said in a hurry, barely looking at him as she rushed down the hall. She felt her face get hot. She half walked, half ran to the metro and made it to her lawyer’s office right on time. She sat in her seat across from Nicholas and barely looked at him. The meeting started and everything they said went in one ear and out the other. She wished that someone would burst into the room and just give her an excuse to get out of here. She sighed as she stared at yet another contract in front of her, the words spinning in circles the longer she stared…then the door opened. She turned to the door and gasped,”What the hell?”

Christopher stood there triumphantly, his face red. “Found you. There is an emergency…and they need you at the office”

“What do you mean?”

“Something dealing with the nomination process and mailing. Carlos made me …. So I ran down the street and followed you…I'm not a stalker”he said as he looked at Nicholas and their lawyer.

“We are in the middle of a very important meeting so if you don’t mind”Nicholas said as he raised his hand and made a shooing motion. Christopher raised an eyebrow, obviously offended. He was about to open his mouth….

“That means I have to go. Its an emergency”Aiyana said, relieved that Christopher was there but she was nervous all the same. She needed something to calm her nerves…. She quickly got her things and walked out the door. Christopher following her.

“You aren’t going to thank me?”

“Oh thanks”she said not looking at him as she walked to the elevator and pressed the down button and waited

“Oh thanks?”he repeated. “That’s it? You looked like you were dying in there. I saw your face….and all I get is an ‘oh thanks’?”

“Thank you, I really appreciate it”she said calmly as the elevator reached their floor and the door opened. She walked in and she immediately pressed the lobby button.

“Why wont you look at me?”he asked her.

She glanced at him quickly. “I'm looking at you…”

“Only because I asked you to”he said as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

She just shrugged and drew in a big yet shaky deep breath. “So what’s the emergency exactly?”she asked as she looked up at a lit up number 3 as the elevator descended. Then she heard Christopher sigh and he stepped forward and pressed the emergency stop button. The elevator stopped with a jolt and she jumped back. “What are you doing?”she asked him

“I lied. Its not an office emergency”he said to her. She looked at the floor. He lifted her chin up. “Look at me”he said to her. “I….I couldn’t stop thinking about you….”

“Are you drunk?”she asked

“Why do I have to be drunk? Why can't I just be honest and sober?”

“You just pulled me out of a very important meeting with my divorce lawyer and soon to be ex husband because you have been thinking about me? That’s it?!”she asked.“That’s not normal”

“Well you thanked me”he said to her. “And you thanked me last night…”

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh well are you drunk? Because I remember you calling my name, saying you needed me, that you wanted me to-“

“What are you talking about? How….? How do you…”

“I was there sweetie”he said with a laugh as he pulled her close to him. “Oh I was there, I was everywhere”he said as he kissed her neck. She felt her knees getting weak

“How…..it's….that's insane. It was a dream”

“Your pussy certainly was”he said to her as he put his hands up her skirt. “Have you ever done it in an elevator before?”

“Yes I have”she said defiantly

“Well me too”he said to her with a smirk. “I like my women experienced….and sexy….and tight”he said to her as he started to finger her

“You….should turn the elevator back on….”she said even though she felt herself getting wet instantly.

“You want me to stop? You want to go back to your meeting?”he asked her seriously as he stopped touching her.

She bit down on her lip and then kissed him hungrily. “No I want you to fuck me”she said as she started taking off his belt. He started to finger as she did so and kissed on her neck, she moaned in ecstasy…

“Aiyana?”she heard Nicholas say. She jumped out of her seat and she was back in the small conference room. Christopher wasn’t there. Goddammit! Why did this keep happening?! “Were you asleep?”

“No”she said as she straightened her skirt, blouse and crossed her legs and ran a couple of fingers through her hair

“Your eyes were closed and you….moaned a little, which means you were having a pretty good dream. I know you”he said

“You don’t know shit”Aiyana said defensively, she couldn’t believe that she had a wet dream about her younger co-worker in the same room as her ex husband….then she smiled. Actually, it felt kinda good. It felt great. She had to get out of here. Then her phone beeped and she looked at her Iphone. “Oh I gotta go. I have an appointment”she said as she read the alarm reminder

“Are you serious? Whats more important than this?”Nicholas said

“Moving on with my life. I'm apartment hunting. I'm selling the house”Aiyana said as she gathered her things

“Your selling the house!? Why on earth for?”he asked her

“Look on page 5, section 4”Aiyana said. “I’ll sign this and scan it to you first thing in the morning”she said to their lawyer as she walked out of the conference room. She ran to the same elevator and pressed the down button and smiled when the doors opened and she walked in. The doors closed and she sighed. “You gotta get your shit together”she said to herself.

But it felt so real….and so very good….

*

Aiyana liked what she saw and it wasn’t too expensive. However, she only had one objection. “So be honest, how safe is the neighborhood? I mean this is Georgia Ave we are talking about here”she said and winked at the woman

The woman smiled. “Its still a red zone but its safer than it was…lets say, 10 years ago. I’ve lived on Georgia Ave all my life and I have never been mugged, robbed at gunpoint, none of that. However, I have several friends who live on the “good side” of town who have endured those things. The police are regulating this area more frequently”she said as she opened her laptop and set it on the counter. “And look at this. If you go to the DC Police Department’s website, they will show you when, what crime was committed and where. It’s a crime tracker and as you can see, even though its still a red zone, the rate has improved”she said as she indicated a few markers, which were a significant distance from the apartment building they were standing in now. “Also….the metro is technically in our basement and metro police are also around the area and you would have to be stupid to commit a crime with all that around”

Aiyana nodded. “You sold me. I’ll take it”she said as she took her hand and shook it.

*

Aiyana was grateful to have her assistant return to work when she did. She had to do a lot of the grunt work alone. Alexie wasn’t happy about being pregnant and wasn’t announcing it to anyone. She got in touch with the baby’s father and she admitted that she was surprised when he “stepped up”. “Now I have to learn how to get along with him again”she said with a shrug just as Christopher walk in. “Hey Christopher”she said to him as she walked back to her desk. Aiyana sat there nervously and crossed her legs tightly. Every time she saw him she was reminded of the two wet dreams she had and just being reminded turned her on.

“Hey Alexie. How you feeling?”he asked her

“Meh. That’s life you know?”she said to him

“Yes it is”he said and looked at Aiyana. She froze. She wished the phone would ring or something but of course, no stupid customer wanted to bother her at this very moment.

“Metro Fashion Scholarships. How can I help you?”Alexie said as she picked up her line. Great.

“I bet your grateful to have your little helper back”he said as he leaned against the door frame and then walked in.

Aiyana stared at her papers. “Yea, I'm drowning in work you know”

She heard Christopher chuckle and she usually would ask what was so funny but that probably would involve her actually looking at him and if he stayed in her office any longer she may not be able to control herself and that definitely was a problem. It was a huge problem. She didn’t know anything about him. She knew that he was 9 years younger than her and that was an issue. It wouldn’t work. He was mature, but he was just as mature as any other 21 year old. He was still a baby. He was barely legal. She felt like she was robbing the cradle. They wouldn’t be able to relate to each other about random things that happened that a 30 something would remember. And introducing him to her friends? She would never hear the end of it. This was just a rebound and she wasn’t going to go any further with this. She had to make these little sex dreams stop. Maybe this meant that she was ready to date. She had to find a MAN her own age.

“Why wont you look at me?”he whispered to her and her eyes widened as her eyes moved from the paperwork on her desk to his baby blues. She almost got lost in them and she caught herself and turned to her computer screen.

“What do you mean?”she asked as innocently as she could

“You know what I mean…..did I do something wrong?”he asked her. “You haven’t been acting like yourself for a couple of days now”

“Stress. Ive been doing everything myself..”

“And….you were stressed about that last week and you would look at me…did I offend you-“

“Everything is not about you, so….get over yourself”she said. However, she snapped at him and she didn’t mean to do that. She winced. She then looked at him and saw the expression on his face. He wasn’t pleased. “Look I’m-“

She was about to apologize when Carlos walked in. He looked at Christopher and he looked at him. They exchanged a look and she didn’t know what that was about. “Louis has been looking for you”

“Oh really? About what?”Christopher asked him, kinda like it was a challenge, like he thought he was lying.

“Just go and ask him yourself”Carlos asked with a shrug and laughed it off. He looked at Aiyana. “Aiyana, I see that Alexie is back. You must be grateful”he said as he handed her the mail

“Very”she said with a smile as she looked at the various envelopes. She looked back up at Carlos,”Thanks”she said and then glanced at the door where Christopher stood. But he was gone.

*

Shit, Christopher thought as he walked back to the mailroom. He must have freaked her out with the whole “You saved my life once” bullshit. Why didn’t he just tell her? Now she probably thinks that he was some psycho stalker. She probably wouldn’t remember even if he told her. What did he expect? Her to jump into bed with him when he told her the truth? Just because it happened in a dream didn’t mean it would really happen in reality. And even if that did happen, they would be doomed from the start right? She was going through a divorce. He would be considered a rebound. And she was just so out of his league that it was totally insane. He had to find someone on his own level and he said so himself, he had to stay away from models. “Hey, what did you need help with?”he asked Louis as he walked in the mailroom.

“Huh?”Louis asked as he separated some mail

“Carlos said….”then he stopped and laughed. He should have known.

“You were talking to Aiyana weren’t you?”Louis asked.“You got some competition and Carlos is pissed”

“What? That I ask her how her day is?”

“No, he heard that you two left together the other night….very late. You two stayed late in her office and left together in a cab or something”

“Where did he hear that from?”

“One of the cleaning chicks? Lets say he's got friends in ‘high places’. He’s on to you”

“Well, he has nothing to worry about”Christopher said sadly. He had to let it go anyway. He fucked it up before it could even start.

*

“So….Christopher comes in here a lot. You got a crush on him or something?”Carlos joked after he told her some office gossip.

Aiyana froze. “Um what?”

“Kidding. He has a crush on you. I'm sure. You are all he talks about. I swear its sad”he said with a laugh

“Really?”Aiyana asked, hoping Carlos didn’t catch on to the fact that may be good news to her

“Yeah, his first day here, he spent the whole day trying to convince us that he grew up with you. But you said you were from New York right?”

“No”she said with a laugh. “A lot of people think that though”she said. “But if I grew up with him…I would remember”she said as she contemplated

“Right? So he's obviously a little coo coo”Carlos said with a laugh. “See you later”he said and walked out. Aiyana waved to him and then sat there and thought about it. They grew up together? Was that the reason why she had that familiar feeling whenever he would come around? And why couldn’t she remember?

*

“I have to admit it's nice, but…Georgia Ave?”Dee Dee asked as she and Aiyana walked out of her soon to be future apartment. “Why didn’t you just come to me? I could have asked Rob or someone to get you a hook up”

“I'm getting a hook up here. That’s why. You cant talk me out of it, I already paid the security deposit and I have a couple of good offers for the house. Everything is moving quickly and smoothly”Aiyana said proudly as she locked the door behind her. “Apartment 10H is gonna be mine next month”

“You better plan a banging apartmentwarming”Dee Dee said with a smile

“Well, well, well……hello neighbor?”a familiar voice said to her. Dee Dee raised her pierced eyebrow as she looked at someone. Aiyana turned around and gasped.

There was Christopher carrying a couple of trash bags and only wearing some sweatpants and some Adidas flip flops….no shirt. He had a nice chest and when you say nice chest, that meant that he had abs. 6 of them. “Guess I’ll be seeing you more often. Welcome to the neighborhood”he said as he walked to the elevator.

“How do you know him? He looks like a college student”Dee Dee said

Aiyana couldn’t answer her. And she couldn’t answer how she was going to handle having Christopher living next door.

*

Don't you know
That you're blowing my mind
What you do to me
I can't describe
Baby I can't hold back anymore
I just can't conceal it
You're the one I really adore
I've been thinking about you
In the most peculiar way
I've been thinking about you
In the most peculiar way
I've been thinking about you
In the most peculiar way
I've been thinking about you
It's unbelievable to me
But suddenly I think
I'm falling in love with you

*

End Notes:
Lyrics Featured: "I've Been Thinking About You" by Mariah Carey
If by Butterfly
Author's Notes:

Aiyana

stories/537/images/aiyana.jpg

Christopher

stories/537/images/chrislee.jpg

Cherry

stories/537/images/cherry.jpg

And introducing...Alexie

stories/537/images/alexie.jpg

http://fictionalfantasies.webs.com

If I was your girl...
Oh the things I'll do to you
I'd make you call out my name
I'd ask who it belongs to
If I was your woman,
The things I'd do to you
But I'm not, so I can't,
Then I won't
But, if I was your girl

*

1999

The last day of 1998 should have been memorable but Aiyana couldn't remember a thing that happened the night before but when she woke up in a hotel room that seemed to be filled with naked bodies, she could guess how it ended. She looked down at herself and she was naked too. "Shit"she said to herself, she had to get out of here. Luckily she found her dress from the night before but couldn't find her heels. She took another pair because she didn't want to risk waking someone up. No awkward moments, this was awkward enough. She went to the bathroom and walked in on Cherry and Fred Durst fucking on the sink.

"Wait! We aren't done!"Cherry said between every beat that Fred gave her

Aiyana just replied with wide eyes and closed the door. She had to get out of here. But she didn't want to leave Cherry.... She decided to wait in the lobby. When she saw that the hotel was giving a free continental breakfast, her stomach instantly growled. She piled her plate high and ate, ignoring the fact that some people were staring at her. They knew just by looking at her that she got into some crazy shit last night...but what?

"There you are!"Cherry said as she plopped down next to her. "You left so fast that Fred didn't have time to ask you if you wanted to join"

"Join? Uh no thanks"Aiyana said. Fred Durst? Definitely not her type.

"Oh I forgot, hot models are your type. Your such a snob"Cherry said as she ate one of Aiyana's muffins. "Last night was crazy wasn't it?"

"I guess. I could only tell because I woke up in a room with 6 other naked people"Aiyana groaned

"You were in that orgy!? Was Marilyn Manson in that one?"

"Ew! Hell no!"Aiyana said in shock as she mentally tried to remember if she saw anyone that looked like him in the room

"Oh must have been the next room, there were so many of those going on I don't know why I wasn't in any of them. So who was with you? Oh yeah you don't remember.."Cherry said. "I'm so glad you had fun though. See? And you were all nervous hanging out with the MTV crowd when they obviously liked you"

"I don't remember a fucking thing"Aiyana said. "I remember Limp Bizkit performing.....then the ball dropped.....we did shots with Courtney Love.....then we went to that hotel room......then I wake up...."

"Courtney is fucking awesome! I don't know why people call her a bitch"Cherry said. "So you forgot that you were the reason why we were even invited up to that room huh?"

"Huh?"

"One of Christina Aguilera's back up dancers really liked you and since Fred was all up Christina's ass, he invited all of us up"

"Wait....he likes Christina...but he was with you?"

"Oh cuz she turned him down. I didn't. She's cool but she is a goody two shoes"Cherry said. "Ohmygod. Look at us! We are having a conversation about being at a party with Courtney Love and Christina Aguilera. Can you believe it?"

"No...can we go home?"

"Yeah....you ok? Did something happen?"Cherry asked, her mood immediately changing

"No...at least....I don't think so....I don't remember"

A few weeks later, Cherry and her band received a call from Limp Bizkit's management team. They wanted them to open up for Limp Bizkit during the first week of their new tour. Cherry was ecstatic and Aiyana was happy for her but she was also scared. She had a lot of big photo 'shoots and gigs coming up and she needed her to be there.

However, Cherry was having the time of her life and she was in love with Fred. The Psychotic Scrumpies played to bigger crowds in bigger arenas in bigger cities. Aiyana hoped she was being careful since she saw several interviews about him talking about having sex with Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears. Was he a liar or did he get around?

The same day that Cherry was in Miami was when Aiyana touched down in London for a fashion show. She was used to the planes and traveling overseas. She walked more runways overseas than in the US. It was there that she met Kate Moss, Antonio Sabato Jr., Cindy Crawford and the Spice Girls. She and Antonio hit it off great and she ended up staying an extra couple of days in London because she didn't have the strength to get out of bed....or stop sniffing coke.

She ended up leaving when she received a frenzied phone call from Cherry. "Whats wrong?"Aiyana asked, she started to freak out because she was so high and because she has never heard Cherry so upset.

"Fred is an asshole! I never want to see him again! He ruined everything! When are you coming back home?"she cried. Fred was sleeping around, not with the women he was talking about on TV, but with groupies. She broke up with him and in turn, Limp Bizkit's management didn't renew the Psychotic Scrumpies as an opening act for the rest of the tour and signed a punk band called Papa Roach instead. The rest of the band was furious that she got involved with Fred and the fact that it ruined their tour. They weren't speaking to her. "Please come home?"she pleaded

"I'll get on the first plane"Aiyana promised. She kissed Antonio goodbye, not knowing it would be the last time she would see him, and flew home...

*

2009

Weeks past and Christopher was proud that he was able to compose himself around Aiyana. He decided to back off. He obviously made her uncomfortable and if she wasn't secure enough to say so, he would take matters into his own hands. If she didn't like it, she could always say so. But she never did. This made Carlos happy and there wasn't as much tension between the two of them anymore. He was still cordial and he would always peek his head in and say hi to both her and Alexie but that was the extent of their conversation. He just wished that she would walk into the mail room, lock the door behind her and make love to him on his desk apologizing for acting so weird and begging him to forgive her, which she didn't have to, he could never be mad at her. But that was a dream. A dream that he woke up with huge morning wood about. It was never going to happen. He did meet a girl at the bar and he brought her back to his place a couple of times but the relationship soon fizzled when he called her up and she explained that she was going back to her crazy ex boyfriend that she used to bore him about. Good riddance. Maybe he just needed to stay single...

Aiyana noticed Christopher backing off. She didn't like it but she had no clue on how to express it. She still didn't know what everything meant. It was just a crush or hormones probably. She soon was back to normal and she wasn't weak in the knees when he would peek his head in the door and say hey. But she always longed for him to stay around. Nicholas gave her shit about selling the house but she just ignored him. The house finally sold and Aiyana made plans on moving out. She visited her apartment at least twice a week to move things in early, hoping to run into Christopher, but never did. Bad thing about it was, planning to move during their busiest time of year was stressful and she kicked herself. What was she thinking? She was very stressed out and glasses of wine were the only way for her to stay calm. The big day finally came and she, Dee Dee and Rob spent a weekend helping her move the last items into the apartment. When they were done, they popped open a glass of champagne as they sat on the new leather couch that Aiyana bought. She sold most of the furniture in the house because she was too keen on really starting anew. How could she if she brought that love seat that she and Nicholas tried to make a baby on? After Dee Dee and Rob left, the excitement died down quickly. She just realized that she has never lived alone before. Most of her years were spent with roommates or Nicholas....but mostly Cherry. Damn. Cherry. Everyday she wondered where she was. What she was doing and if she was ok. Sometimes she was scared that she might accidentally run into a mutual friend of theirs and be told that her best friend had died. They went through so much together. Too much. Which was the reason why she wasn't here anymore as her backbone...

"Whoa....ok.....time for a distraction"Aiyana said to herself as she blinked her eyes quickly so the tears she felt trying to well up would subside. She poured herself another glass and then went to the fridge and realized that there was nothing there. "And the grocery store it is then"she said to herself with a laugh. She finished the glass and then got her purse and keys. Luckily the grocery store was only 2 doors down. She loved how everything she needed was walking distance.

*

Christopher sighed heavily as he changed his shirt again. "Seriously? Maybe this wasn't such a good idea"

"No trust me, wear that green shirt you got there"his friend named Mikaila said to him as she pointed to his closet. "Her favorite color is green"

Christopher put the shirt on. "Now am I ok?"he asked her. He wasn't a girl. Girls usually tried on every outfit in their closet and then ended up usually just settling on the first thing they tried on anyway. Guys throw something on and go. That simple. Mikaila made him try on different outfits because supposedly his date was a neat freak who loved guys who wore green.

"Yeah your perfect"

"I should kill you. I don't do blind dates"he said to her

"Its not like you were doing anything. You aren't seeing that whore you met at that bar anymore and she just got out of a relationship with her crazy ex-"

"Nope. No crazy ex's for me. That's how the last one got away because she went back to him. Why do chicks stay with the crazy guys? Then they get married and reproduce. That's why there are so many crazies running around"

"You done?"Mikaila asked with a smirk. "You can't back out. You promised"

"I don't think I did-"

"Besides we are all going to see the movie together and I don't want her to be a third wheel"

"But-"

"And your so sweet, Christopher. She's lucky that you are single. You guys are going to be so cute. Just you wait"she said excitedly

"Fine...but only because I really wanna see this Avatar flick"he grumbled

"Wow. Ok please don't use that as a pick up line"she said with a laugh. "Lets go. We are gonna meet her at Chinatown"she said as they walked to the door

"Hey can I stop by the store really quick?"he said to her. "Wanna pick up something"he said. He walked to the grocery store and walked in and went to the Florist section. He got a single rose and some chocolates. He was a romantic and if he was a girl, he would totally go for him. He walked to the cashier and was almost run over by a full shopping cart. "Oh!"he said as he jumped back. The person's cart was piled so high that he couldn't see who was pushing it

"Sorry" a familiar voice said and sure enough... a head peeked around the box of Charmin toilet paper and it was Aiyana. "Oh...hey Christopher"she said. "How are you?"

"Good. You?"he asked her

"Very good. Tonight is my first night in my new place"she said. 'Which is right next door to you....wanna see?', she thought

"Really? Congratulations. You should have told me, I would have helped you out"he said

"Oh its fine. I had some friends help me out"she said and noticed the single rose and candy. "Hot date?"she asked, trying not to sound too disappointed. She couldn't be surprised. She was too young for him but he was still fine as hell. Any girl his age would be stupid to pass him up.

"Ugh....yeah"he said. He wanted to explain to her that the chick was probably going to be a mud duck (meaning ugly) and he hated that his friend set him up on a blind date and he would rather help her move furniture then be with this chick. But he didn't wanna scare her so he just stood there awkwardly. "Ugh, you got enough there though? You need help getting that back up to your place?"

"I'll be fine"Aiyana said as she shook her head. "Can't be late for your date"she said,"I'll see you around. Have a good time k?"

"Thanks, you too"he said as he watched her push her cart to a cashier and started unloading her items on the conveyor belt. He wanted to help her. Go back to her place, make a nice home cooked meal and watch a movie. Maybe get a tour and she will show him her bedroom....yeah right. He walked to the 15 items or less aisle and checked out. He walked to the door and turned around and caught Aiyana's eye. She smiled and then continued to put her many bags back in the cart. It took everything in him to walk out of those automatic doors...

*

They arrived at Chinatown and Christopher was nervous. He hoped she wasn't a mud duck. He wasn't ready for an awkward blind date. They walked into Bar Louie and he followed them to the bar. Then he saw Mikaila walk up to a girl and give her a hug. He then laughed when he saw who it was. "Alexie?"he asked her

"Your my date!?"she asked and laughed. "Ohmygod. This city is too fucking small"she said as she shook her head

"You two know each other?"Mikaila asked in shock

"He temps where I work"Alexie said

"I thought you worked in a mail room"Mikaila asked him

"Yes, more specifically at Metro Fashion Magazine"he said

"Ohmygod! Well this is perfect then. No awkwardness"Mikaila said, feeling very proud of herself

"Too late"Alexie said. Christopher laughed. "Are those for me?"she asked as she saw him holding a rose and chocolates

"Oh yeah"he said and laughed and gave them to her.

"Thanks. I didn't know you were one of those old fashioned romantics"Alexie said to him. He shrugged. "You got me my favorite chocolates though"she said as she opened the box and ate some. "Oh God, how did you know I have been craving these all day?"

"I'm good like that"he said with a smile. "Those chocolate cravings come with the whole pregnancy thing huh?"he asked her

Mikaila gasped. "YOUR PREGNANT!?"she asked in shock, a shock so loud that the whole bar heard

Alexie turned red and looked at Christopher as if she wanted to strangle him. So much for not being awkward....

*

"Again I'm really sorry. I thought she knew"Christopher said as he and Alexie walked out of the movie theater.

"Its fine. You didn't know that I'm a pathological liar. I didn't tell anyone. My mom doesn't even know. The only people who know are Aiyana and Grant"she said. "Grant probably told. You know how the gays are, they cant keep their mouth shut"she said.

Christopher didn't say anything. Aiyana told him by accident and he wasn't going to snitch on her. "Your mom doesn't know?"

"She hates my ex. I hate him too and we tried to work it out but....some people are meant to be together and some people are meant to kill each other"she said. "I didn't say anything because it was a blind date too....those never go anywhere and I needed a laugh tonight"

"A laugh? I was nearly gonna shit myself because I was so nervous. I was so afraid that you would be a mud duck that smelled like onions"

Alexie laughed out loud. "I thought you were going to be one of those computer geeks who carries around a key chain full of flash drives and jerks off to the Sci Fi Channel"she said. Christopher laughed out loud. He learned quickly that Alexie had one of those vulgar sense of humors but he liked it. It made the whole awkwardness easier to deal with. "I was also afraid that you were going to be one of those meat heads who stay in the gym and the tanning bed all day"

"Well we should get you home. You need your rest obviously"Mikaila said as she and her boyfriend walked past them to the escalator.

"Wow, she's still pissed"Alexie said but they just laughed

*

On Monday morning, Aiyana woke up feeling oddly refreshed. The new Sleep Number mattress she bought did wonders on her back and she slept like a baby because of it...and the champagne. Seeing Christopher buying roses and chocolates for his date made her very depressed and she actually hoped that his date was ugly or decided to break it off with him or something. Which was kinda mean but...she couldn't help how she felt....which was even worse.

However, she was met with quite a surprise when she walked into the office and saw Christopher sitting on Alexie's desk and they were laughing about something. "That movie was great, what are you talking about?"

"I'm not saying it wasn't great but some things weirded me out about it. I mean having sex with your ponytails attached!? What kind of shit was James Cameron smoking?"she said as Christopher laughed out loud

"Come on, you were turned on. I could feel you squirming in your seat next to me"he said

"Good morning"Aiyana said as she walked in. "What can be so funny on a Monday morning?"she asked with a smile

Christopher got up from where he was sitting and his eyes instantly lit up when he saw her. "Morning Aiyana. How was your weekend?"

"Good, moved into my apartment"she said. "Seems like you two had a funny weekend or at least one of you did"

"No we both did. My friend set me up on a blind date with Christopher. It was funny. This city is too fucking small. I knew I should have moved to Baltimore"Alexie said

"And I had no idea it was her either. Mikaila played you up saying you were an extreme neat freak and that your favorite color is green"Christopher said

"Yeah that's true. My desk doesn't show it but you should see my apartment. Neat as a display in Ikea"she said

"Wow small world"Aiyana said. "What did you do?"

"We saw Avatar. It was ok"Alexie said in a monotone voice

"I loved it"Christopher said

"Oh I really wanna see that"Aiyana said. But she knew from the previews that it was kind of a supernatural Titanic type of film. A movie where you would take a date...which she didn't have.

"You should totally see it. Don't listen to her"Christopher said. Aiyana nodded and decided to walk into her office and put her things down and get ready for the day. She heard Alexie say something and Christopher laughed out loud. "Ok lemme get out of this damn office before I get in trouble. You are crazy Lex. You need to be checked in somewhere"he said to her with a big smile. "See you around Aiyana"he said and left

"Bye"Aiyana said but he was already gone. She heard Alexie laugh to herself. Did they like each other? It sounded like they had a great time. Did they already have plans to do it again? Were they an item? Were they sleeping together already? They seemed so comfortable with each other and it seemed to happen overnight. What the hell? Why did things always end up this way? Weird. She had a crush on her assistant's boyfriend. She had dreams about sleeping with him and he lived next door to her. And she was pregnant. She needed a boyfriend more than her probably and they were around the same age. They got along. He was cute. She was cute. Why not? Alexie would be stupid to let him go now that she went out on a date with him. She then gasped. He gave her flowers and chocolates. She probably swooned. She would if she were her. She loved old fashioned romantics because she never had many encounters with any. He probably won her over in an instant. Oh God, this had to stop. She couldn't feel this way about him but it was hard. It was going to be so hard avoiding him now that she lived next door to him and the fact that he was dating her assistant who had an office next door to her. How the fuck did she get in the middle of this? And the worse thing was that she was the only one freaking out. Christopher didn't know. He backed off a long time ago so he wasn't interested. He probably never was. Alexie had nothing to worry about. She knew that because she didn't know what she was thinking now. No one knew except her. She let him back off and he somehow landed in the arms of her assistant because God thinks he has a great sense of humor. Fuck. Why didn't she say something to him as soon as she had those dreams? Or when he reached out to her and asked what was troubling her. That was the perfect moment. But now the perfect moment was gone...

She sighed as she sat back in her seat and looked at the clock. She wanted to cry. 9:09 am. She has only been at work for 9 minutes and it felt like her heart was breaking and her head was spinning because she was so confused...

*

Christopher walked to the elevator and whistled to himself. It was a few minutes after 5. He had no plans tonight and he intended on keeping them that way. He would rather play Street Fighter, drink beer and scratch his balls...you know....guy stuff. The doors closed and then they opened and Aiyana walked in. She smiled and stood facing the doors next to him. They waited for them to close and then the elevator started to go down slowly. They stood there in silence and he immediately felt the tension that has been building for weeks since he had to force himself to "back off". Why did he have to fuck everything up? Why did he get into a drunken stupor and say things that made her uncomfortable. She wasn't Lexie. Lexie probably would have laughed in his face and said something vulgar. Aiyana was different.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he jumped out of his skin when the elevator came to an abrupt start. He snapped out of his daze and saw that Aiyana pressed the emergency stop button. "What are you doing?"he asked her

She dropped her small briefcase and her purse to the ground. She walked up to him and pulled him toward her and kissed him softly on the mouth. For a few seconds he couldn't move. He was so in shock and he was trying to figure out if he was dreaming. He then gave in and pulled her closer to him and kissed her with a little more passion. She soon matched it and slid her tongue in his mouth. He moaned. OH MY GOD!, was all he could think of as her tongue traced his bottom lip and then slipped back into his mouth and massaged his tongue. His hands cupped her face as her arms wrapped around his waist. He then kissed her chin, her cheek and then he started to kiss her neck. He licked small little circles and she finally let out a moan. That made him even more turned on. Her moans were the sexiest thing he has ever heard. He kissed and licked her neck more passionately and he felt her hands travel down to his belt. They were going to do it? Right here!? Awesome!

Then a voice on the intercom interrupted them. "Is anyone in there? Are you all alright?"

They both jumped away from each other. "Is anyone there? Are you alright?"the voice repeated

Aiyana stood there in shock and he pressed the intercom button. "Um yeah. We are fine. I don't know what happened there"he said, which was the whole truth and nothing but

"Ok before we call the Fire Department we are going to troubleshoot ok?"the person said

Christopher looked at Aiyana and she knelt on the floor and picked up her briefcase and purse and fixed her blouse. Yeah the moment was over. He pressed the stop button and the elevator turned back on. "Oh what do you know! It works now! Thanks!"he said. He then turned to look at Aiyana again.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. We could have gotten in trouble"

"Well we didn't. We are fine-"

"I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me. Ive been stressed with work and my divorce and selling the house and the move....I don't know what came over me. I don't usually do this....don't tell Alexie ok? You two have something going and I don't want some weird dramatic office triangle. You two are cute together. She's more your age anyway. Just forget this even happened. I'm gonna go straight home and take a bath um...and try not to embarrass myself anymore. Just forget this happened. I'm just an old crazy person who jumps on little 20 somethings-"

The doors opened to the lobby and it interrupted her rambling. She was ready to run out of the elevator but then he grabbed her arm. She stopped short and turned to him.....

*

Sittin' over here
Starin' in your face
With lust in my eyes
Sure don't give a damn and
Ya don't know
That I've been dreamin' of ya in my fantasy
Never once you looked at me,
Don't even realize that I'm wantin' you
To fulfill my needs
Think what you want
Let your mind free
Run free to a place that no one dares to

*
End Notes:
Lyrics Featured: "If" by Janet Jackson
Come And Talk To Me by Butterfly
Author's Notes:

Aiyana

stories/537/images/aiyana.jpg

Christopher

stories/537/images/chrislee.jpg

Alexie

stories/537/images/alexie.jpg

Cherry

stories/537/images/cherry.jpg

http://fictionalfantasies.webs.com

Come and talk to me
I really want to meet you
Can i talk to you
I really want to know you
Come and talk to me
I really want to meet you
Can i talk to you
I really want to know you

*
 
1999
 
Cherry hated the world. Her band just kicked her out. She was the reason why they got all the new exposure anyway! No one knew who the Psychotic Scrumpies were until she came along and they were just going to dump her aside? So she made a bad choice in a guy, a very bad choice, now that she sees pictures of Fred Durst she wondered what she saw in him anyway. He was a turtle looking asshole. And now he cost her her dream. She always wanted to be in a band and now she was no longer a part of one. She ran all the way back to the apartment she and Aiyana shared. "WHAT THE FUCK IS A PSYCHOTIC SCRUMPIE ANYWAY!?"she screamed as she slammed the door when she walked in.
 
Aiyana and a few people looked at her as if she was crazy. Aiyana was doing a quick fitting for a fashion show tonight in Manhattan and Calvin Klein's people brought over the outfits that they wanted her to wear on the runway. "Can you all excuse me for just one second?"she said calmly as she pulled Cherry into her bedroom. She turned to her,"Are you out of your mind?"
 
"I didnt know they were here"Cherry apologized sadly
 
"What's wrong?"Aiyana asked
 
"They kicked me out! Thats whats wrong!"Cherry said as she lit a cigarette. "I cant believe I walked around and called myself a Scrumpie. What the fuck is a scrumpie anyway?"
 
"Well you said that was the beauty of it...not knowing"Aiyana recalled Cherry's explanation
 
"Bullshit. I made that up so that I didnt feel like a retard. They arent going anywhere without me. I hope they all rot in hell!"
 
"Well what did you say? I mean, its not really all your fault. You and Fred broke up and his people panicked-"
 
"Thats what I tried to say! But Joey got all high and mighty, he says that I am a jump off, whatever the fuck that is. He feels I'll just get them all into trouble-"
 
"Didnt you and Joey used to date?"
 
"Hell yeah! Well we just fucked on several occasions. He's just jealous"Cherry said as she puffed on her cigarette and breathed the smoke out of her flared nostrils
 
Aiyana sighed and sat next to her and wrapped her arm around her shoulders. "Look. This is a sign. It wasnt meant to be. You are going to be the next Gwen Stefani with another band-"
 
"Fuck Gwen Stefani. When we met her, she didnt even know who I was. Like, hello? Does she not pay attention or is she too busy fucking Gavin Rossdale to give a damn?! I dont wanna be the next anything"she said and sighed,"What am I going to do? I quit stripping for this band...and now the band quit on me..."
 
"We'll find something. Your coming with me to the Calvin Klein show right? Its all about who you know around here. A lot of people do know you and if they dont, we will let them know. We will find you a new band"Aiyana promised
 
Later that night, Cherry sat in front row at the Calvin Klein show and watched as Aiyana walked down the runway. She was glad for her best friend but she needed something! The after party was a blast. They always were, the party was filled with the rich, famous and beautiful. Aiyana introduced Cherry to everyone she could. Thankfully, some have heard of the Psychotic Scrumpies. However, Cherry soon gave up on selling herself to people and went to the bathroom. She walked to the stall at the other end of the bathroom and saw four girls shooting up heroin. "Oh my bad"she said to them but she didnt move as she watched as the drug was inserted into the girl's veins. "Whoa"
 
"Whoa is right, wanna try?"one of the girls asked
 
"Nah"Cherry said as she shook her head,"Im not sharing needles, thats how you get sick"
 
"She works in a hospital, she always has extra ones"one of the girls said as she laid on the floor, one eye open. Cherry looked at her and back to the "nurse" and sure enough, she had a empty needle
 
"Last chance"she said to her
 
"Are you ok?"Aiyana asked her as Cherry woke up. They were back home.
 
"Whoa what happened?"
 
"You got really high. Did you smoke the coke or something? You were acting really different"
 
"Nah...it was heroin....I dont remember a thing"Cherry said and smiled
 
"Why are you smiling?"
 
"I honestly dont remember a thing, and there are some things I wanna forget-"
 
"Its only temporary-"
 
"Hey when are you leaving?"Cherry interrupted her. Aiyana had no right to lecture her. She snorted coke before each gig, that was at least once a day.
 
"Flight was cancelled. You dont remember the snow storm that hit last night?"she asked as she parted the blinds so Cherry could see the piles of snow. "Why?"
 
"I wanna come with you. I wanna be your..I dont know...your assistant or something...til I figure something out"
 
"Ok cool"Aiyana said with a smile,"You picked the perfect time to be my personal assistant cuz guess where we are going?"she asked her. Cherry smiled widely. "BRAZIL! Swimsuit issue baby!"she said. The girls squealed and jumped on the bed as they celebrated.
 
*
 
2009
 
"Im sorry. I dont know what came over me. Ive been stressed with work and my divorce and selling the house and the move....I dont know what came over me. I dont usually do this....dont tell Alexie ok? You two have something going and I dont want some weird dramatic office triangle. You two are cute together. She's more your age anyway. Just forget this even happened. Im gonna go straight home and take a bath um...and try not to embarrass myself anymore. Just forget this happened. Im just an old crazy person who jumps on little 20 somethings-"

The doors opened to the lobby and it interrupted Aiyana's rambling. She was ready to run out of the elevator but then he grabbed her arm. She stopped short and turned to him..... He stared at her wide eyed,"You saved me from drowning"he blurted out
 
Aiyana looked at him with a confused look on her face,"Um....figuratively?"she asked him. Wow was this turning into a romance novel now?
 
"No"he said with a laugh as they walked out of the elevator. He stood close to her. "You saved me from drowning when I was 6 years old. At PG Community Pool"
 
Aiyana continued to stare at him with a confused look then it hit her. He was the little blond boy...with the cruel mother.... "Ohmygod-"
 
"Look, can we go somewhere and talk? Anywhere but here"he said to her. Aiyana nodded and put her hand in his. She was much older than he was but his strong hand was much larger than her small and delicate one. She liked it. They left their office building and they walked into a bar and grill that was a few stores down.
 
"A bar? Im not surprised"she said with a smile as they sat at the far end of the bar.
 
Christopher laughed,"I come here sometimes. Its a great place to clear your head"he said as the bartender walked over to them. "Uh...I'll just have a Corona"he said. He looked at Aiyana,"Did you want anything?"
 
"Just a water is fine for now"she said to the bartender and he nodded and walked off. "I wanna be sober for this conversation"she said. They sat at the bar in an awkward silence. "I....I dont know what to say....so thats what you were talking about?....when you were saying that I saved your life all those other times?"she asked him. He nodded as the bartender handed him his Corona. He squeezed the lime into the bottle and watched it fall to the bottom and sizzle. He took a few sips. "I remember your mother being really rude when I brought you back-"
 
"She isnt my mother"he said with venom in his voice. "Never was, never will be"
 
Aiyana smiled,"Oh yeah you kept saying that...I remember. I bought you ice cream....who was she then, if she wasnt your mother?"
 
"She was my mother's older sister....not by blood since my mom was adopted....my mom ran off.....drugs and the like....Joyce was the only one who took me in. She had an anger management problem....and a smoking problem....and a drinking problem....I actually wanted to be put in foster care...."
 
"That bad huh?"Aiyana asked. She frowned and took his hand in hers. "Im sorry. I know how foster homes are....I wouldnt wish that on anyone...."
 
Christopher looked at her with wide eyes,"You were in foster care?"he asked her. She nodded. "But why? I....god...I would always see you at the pool, with really nice bikini's on by the way, you were always happy and with all of these friends....I thought that you had a mom and a dad...and maybe a few brothers and sisters...a dog...it seemed like your life was perfect..."
 
"It wasnt"Aiyana said sadly,"I wished I did have that"she said and waved to the bartender. "Cranberry and vodka please"
 
"Sorry, we dont have to talk about it"
 
"No....its fine. Everyone I knew back then....I dont hear from them anymore...damn its been so long...and it feels longer because I forced myself to forget that life...."
 
"But you seemed so happy..."
 
"I wasnt. Never knew my father. My mom basically left me for dead, she was 15 when she had me and she left me in her school's bathroom. I survived and they figured out I belonged to her. It was World War III with my moms family but they put me in foster care. I dont remember the first family much, the second one....they were my favorite. I was brought to them when I was 4. They loved me. I believe. They raised me well. We had a puppy too...and a picket fence....they couldnt have kids. They were very close to adopting me but when I turned 10....she got pregnant. It was a big surprise for everyone....but then he got laid off.....they had a baby on the way....a bastard child....and no money....so guess who had to go..."she said sadly
 
Christopher stroked her hand as she told her this. He couldnt help but feel uncomfortable because he could relate. He was just like her. When he couldnt live with his aunt anymore, he erased her from his mind. He wasnt ready to relive these memories but knew he wanted to share them with her because he trusted her. But it was too soon. He looked her in her eyes and leaned forward and kissed her softly on the lips. "Im sorry. Im sure they regretted it"
 
"They had to do what they had to do"Aiyana said with a shrug as she gulped down her cranberry and vodka. "I'll have another"she signaled the bartender
 
"Lets not talk about this"he said to her."Lets just....lets just sit here and enjoy each other's company"he said to her. So they did, they had small talk as they drank and held hands as they tried to calm their nerves from the fear and pain that the past brought them.
 
*
 
Alexie stared at the single red rose that Christopher gave her the night before. She smiled. Who knew that he could be such a romantic? Who knew that he was that nice and sweet type of guy? She never paid attention before, she was too swamped and stressed to. She was glad that Mikaila had set them up or she would have kept ignoring him. She rubbed her belly. What was she going to do? She felt all alone with this decision. Why did Tron have to be such an asshole? Just like the rest. Her mother barged in and Alexie jumped out of her skin. "Ma! Shit, you scared me"she said as she pulled her shirt down over her slightly growing belly.
 
"I was just checking on you. How was your date last night? Was he cute? A gentleman?"she asked her as she sat next to her
 
Despite the fact that Alexie keeps a lot of things from her, she and her mother were very close. "He was. Cute, a perfect gentleman, the whole package. He brought me that rose and some Dove chocolates"
 
Her mother gasped at the cuteness,"When can I meet him? Are you seeing him again?"
 
"Well thats the funny thing. I actually know him, he works in the mailroom and he knows Mikaila too"
 
"Oh thats really something? You need to kiss Mikaila's feet. Tall? Short? Blond?"
 
"Hes 6 feet tall, average build but you can tell he isnt puny, he lifts weights every now and then...., blond, blue eyes, funny...."Alexie said and smiled
 
"So....you two work together, he's funny, he's a gentleman....when are you going out again? When can I meet him?"
 
"No Mom. Its too soon for you to meet him....and I mean....its nothing serious, we are still getting over the fact that we went out on a date together"
 
"What did you talk about?"her mom asked
 
Alexie paused. She thought about the pregnancy bomb that Christopher dropped and how she kinda confided in him about it. He knew but her own mother didnt. She couldnt keep this from her. And she was getting fat, she didnt know what to do at all. The rush of emotion caught her off guard and she started to cry. Her mother was shocked and she hugged her close to her,"Oh Alexie, what is it? He's married isnt he? Is he gay? Whats wrong?"she asked as she shushed her and stroked her hair
 
"Im pregnant"Alexie admitted
 
*
 
"It's going to be interesting that your living next door to me"Christopher chuckled as he walked to her door, which was less than 100 feet from his.

Aiyana smiled. "Did you want to come in?"she asked him innocently. "Your visit has been long overdue hasn't it?"
 
"Not really. You just moved in yesterday"Christopher joked. Aiyana blushed. "But yeah. I wanted to see this apartment the first day I knew you were looking at it...so yeah...long overdue..."he said as she opened the door and let him in. He smiled. The apartment was so...Aiyana. It smelled of vanilla, it was neat and color coordinated with funky knick knacks and modern furniture. There were paintings on the wall as well as portraits of other supermodels such as Tyra and Iman and herself. "Wow....how old were you then?"he asked as he looked at a framed cover of a Spanish swimsuit magazine.
 
Aiyana laughed,"Wow...I was 19...so long ago. I remember that trip...well most of it....my best friend and I went to Brazil to shoot that. We had a blast. I loved swimsuit photoshoots. I love the beach"
 
"19 huh?"he said,"That was just a couple of years ago for me and I was getting my associate's degree in Baltimore"
 
Aiyana nodded and blushed. For awhile there, she forgot how young he was. She was 19 in the 90's. Almost more than a decade ago and he was talking about it like it was yesterday. And it was. "I got my associate's a couple of years ago too"she said to him
 
"Oh? From where?"he asked her
 
"University of Phoenix"she said, naming the online school. "Too busy to go to a real school"she said. And she didnt want to.
 
"Hey nothing wrong with that"he said. "Paying for housing and meal plans are so overrated"he said as he looked around,"Your place is nice. Much nicer than mine"he said. Then he turned to her,"Did you wanna see? You know so we can compare?"
 
Aiyana smiled. "Sure, but I'll probably win"she said. She followed him out the door and followed him to his apartment. He opened the door and she smiled. Just as she thought. The walls were white and bare, a few house plants here and there, used furniture, video games, DVD's and empty beer bottles in various places. It looked like a nicer dorm room. "You are such a guy"she said to him
 
"I know"he said with a laugh as he picked up the beer bottles. "Didnt get a chance to clean"
 
"Its fine"she said to him and then saw a picture of him in a red cap and gown with a black man. "Graduation?"
 
"Yeah"he said,"High school"
 
"Really?"she asked,"You look the same"
 
"Thanks"he said sarcastically. "You should have seen the hair under that cap"he said. She smiled and looked at him, waiting for him to continue. "Corn rows"
 
"CORN ROWS!"she laughed,"I always laughed when white guys had braids! Why oh why did you do that?!"
 
"I was the token white kid. Had to fit in. Met one of my first girlfriends through them, she would always braid my hair"
 
"Aw how sweet"Aiyana said sarcastically. "Who's the guy?"
 
"That was my favorite teacher, Mr. Collins. He could do anything in my eyes. He was my mentor"
 
"What did he teach?"
 
"Music, dance, choir, life lessons, "females 101", sex education"he said with a laugh,"Well thats what he taught me. Legally, he taught me music. I was in the drumline"
 
Aiyana laughed,"Were you trying to be 'black'?"she asked and he laughed,"Lemme guess, you played basketball and break danced too huh?"
 
Christopher turned red. "Yeah and I knew how to beat box"he said with a laugh. "Inside out oreo, thats what I am"
 
She shook her head,"Well Mr. Collins would be proud of you. Do you speak to him often?"
 
Christopher frowned. "No. That same night that picture was taken....he got shot....he was killed"
 
"Im so sorry"Aiyana said as she carefully placed the picture back on the stand. She took his hands in hers.
 
"Its alright. He was the only 'father' I ever had"he said. "It was a tragedy. I was depressed for a long time. But he's in a better place now. Man, I cant even go back to Baltimore without thinking about him" She nodded. "Um....so do you want a beer or something?"he asked her as he quickly changed the subject, let go of her hand and walked into the kitchen.
 
"Oh God, the last time I had beer....was......1996"she said with a laugh.
 
He looked at her with wide eyes. He was only 7 or 8.... "I have some bitch beer"he said,"Courtesy of Mikaila"he said as he held up a little bottle of Green Apple Smirnoff.
 
"Oh I love those, thank you"she said as she took it from him and opened it. "Who is Mikaila? If you dont mind me asking..."
 
"She's a friend"he said,"A friend who set me up on a blind date with Lexie"
 
"Oh really?"Aiyana asked. "So...how was the date? You went to see that Avatar flick right?"she asked as they sat down on his futon, which was surprisingly comfortable
 
"It was great, after all the awkwardness was out of the way. I....made a boo boo too"
 
"Huh?"
 
"I gave her chocolates and she was all like,'Ive been craving these all day!'"he said mocking her voice,"And I was like oh it comes with the pregnancy right? And then Mikaila blew up and said YOUR PREGNANT!? It was classic and fucking awkward"
 
Aiyana laughed and shook her head,"She's gotta talk to someone. Her mother doesnt know....I think she isnt going to keep it"
 
"You think so?"
 
"She keeps saying she isnt ready. That she doesnt want it, doesnt know what to do...."Aiyana said. They sat there and nodded. "So how would you rate it? The date I mean?"
 
"Like on a scale?"he asked her. She nodded. "A good solid....8"
 
Aiyana nodded. Pretty high number. Did he like her? Was he attracted to her? "How would you rate her?"
 
Christopher looked at her. "Like looks?"
 
"The whole package..."
 
Christopher shrugged. "8"he said as he put the bottle up to his mouth.
 
Aiyana nodded and finished off her Smirnoff. "How would you rate me?"
 
Christopher laughed,"I cant...rate you..."
 
"Why not?"she insisted
 
He looked at her. "I cant rate you. Your better than a 10. Your better than a dime....your one in a million..."
 
"So I get a 1?"she asked with a laugh
 
"No, you get a 'I dont wanna be seen with anyone else....numbers cant define you'"he said to her as he kissed on her neck. She moaned as he did so. Soon they were making out and he was laying on top of her on the futon. His hands traveled up her shirt and then she pulled away. "You ok?"
 
"Yes....we....can we take this slow? I wanna get to know you better and....Im still going through my divorce-"
 
"Ok, its fine, we can go slow"he said with a smile. "I just cant stop touching you"he said to her. They laid there and watched TV until they both accidentally fell asleep. Aiyana woke up at around midnight and decided to go back to her apartment. She kissed him on the head and quietly tiptoed out.
 
*
 
Aiyana walked in the next morning, humming a random song she heard on the radio. "Good morning Lexie"she said to her
 
"Morning"Alexie said in a monotone voice. "What's gotten you in such a good mood?"
 
"Just woke up that way"Aiyana said with a shrug. Yesterday was fantastic. It was almost emotionally exhausting but Christopher made her feel so safe and secure. She trusted him. She learned so much about him and he her.
 
"Lucky you"Alexie said
 
"Morning ladies"Christopher said as he walked in
 
"Morning Christopher"they both said
 
"I was gonna run across the street and get a bagel, did you two want anything?"he asked them
 
"Oooh a cinnamon raisin bagel with extra cream cheese please"Aiyana said as she looked through her purse
 
"Its on me, dont worry about it"he said with a huge smile
 
"Oh....you dont have to-"
 
"Oh....your in a good mood too"Alexie said in a montone voice
 
"Why not?"he asked her with a smile. "Did you need anything? Chocolate?"he asked her
 
She half smiled. "No thanks"she said.
 
"Ooooh Christopher? Can you get me one of those strawberry banana juices? Im in that kind of mood for one"Aiyana added
 
"Sure, do you want fries with that?"he asked her and winked
 
"Actually I do"she said and winked back
 
"Damn all this food talk. Its like you two are pregnant too"Alexie said. Aiyana and Christopher laughed.
 
"Ok last call. Any other requests?"he asked them. Aiyana shook her head and logged into her computer.
 
"Um....can I talk to you?"Alexie asked him
 
"Right now?"Christopher asked her
 
"I just wanted to thank you..."Alexie said
 
"For what?"he asked her
 
"I finally told my mom that I was pregnant. She was very upset about it but....Im glad I dont have that to carry around with me anymore. Im gonna have enough to carry around in a couple of months..."
 
"Your welcome...but you shouldnt be thanking me"
 
"Well she was grilling me about our date and we were talking about you when I dropped the bomb on her. I just remembered how Mikaila felt...shes still a little pissed at me....you were my motivation I guess...."
 
"Well dont mention it. Im glad you were honest with her. She can help you, shes been through it before"he said. Alexie nodded and smiled at him. "You sure you dont want anything?"
 
"If they have chocolate...I wont turn it down"Alexie said
 
"That a girl"Christopher said. "I'll be back"he said to them and left.
 
Aiyana heard Alexie sigh, as if she was relieved that she told him and then laughed to herself. Wow, he was her motivation? Were they closer than she thought? Aiyana shook her head. She didnt wanna think like that. Christopher made himself clear last night that he couldnt even compare the both of them. She had nothing to worry about.... though she told Alexie numerous times to tell her mother and she never listened....well whatever...Alexie's mother knew now and thats all that mattered.
 
When Christopher came back, he gave her the bagel and the juice she ordered. "Thank you"she said to him and then smiled when she saw a little heart shaped candy on top of the bagel, it said KISS ME. She stared at him with wide eyes,"Not here"she mouthed.
 
He smiled and then took a post it note and a pen and wrote,"Follow me" and handed it to her. She smiled and nodded and grabbed some papers so it would look like she was doing something. He led the way and she took her time so it didnt look like she was following him
 
"I'll be back, Lex"she said to her and Alexie nodded.
 
Aiyana looked down the hallway and saw Christopher make a right. She followed him and saw him waiting for an elevator. "Again?"she asked him. He looked at her and smiled. The door opened and luckily the people in the elevator got off on their floor. They hurried in and when the door closed, he pressed the emergency button. She dropped her papers on the ground and pulled him toward her, they only had a couple of minutes until security would interrupt again and they wanted to make use of that time.
 
*
 
There you are again with the same smile on each day
I wanna know what it is
That makes me feel this way
I wish I could grab you
Tell you what it means to me
To see you walking my way
It really makes my day
Before I go to sleep and dream about you
I’m a single man
I hope that you are single too
Why do I seek
Something to set my mind free
Cause curiosity is bugging the hell out of me
Talk to me, talk to me
Talk to me baby
 
*

End Notes:
Lyrics Featured: "Come And Talk To Me" by Jodeci
This story archived at http://https://www.valentchamber.com/vault/viewstory.php?sid=1076