Terri

“Agh!” I shrieked into the mirror of my medicine cabinet in pure agony. Noticeable wrinkles had started to appear on my usually flawless face.

My best friend Laila ran into the bathroom probably thinking something serious happened. “What happened?” she breathed out, seeming genuinely worried.

“Do you see this shit?!” I exclaimed pointing to the crow’s feet that were forming on the corner of my eye. “I can’t believe these things decided to show up on today of all days. Why God?! Why!”

Laila peered closer to my face and squinted her eyes. “Oh please. You’re just being dramatic. They’re so small they could virtually be nonexistent. Stop being such a drama queen” she chuckled and waved off. “You’re pushing forty, Terri. You should be glad you still look like you’re barely thirty.”

“Black isn’t supposed to crack, honey. And at this rate, I’m on my way to looking like Jasmine Guy in two years!” I pouted as I threw my hands up. “You’re young. You don’t have to worry about these stupid things until…I give you maybe three years?”

She looked at me with a lifted brow. “Why three years? I’m only twenty-nine.”

“Because you’re white. We’ve already had this conversation before…” I trailed off before searching through the cabinets for my emergency skin cream. “Now where is that cream at?”

Laila Wesley and I met through my job at one of the most prolific modeling agencies in Los Angeles. Starting at the young age of twenty one as just another insignificant intern, I worked my way up to being damn near the CEO of the company. Laila is the very spoiled granddaughter of Richard Wesley, the owner. The only explanation I could come up with to why we remain friends is because I’m the only person she can trust and she’s the only person who isn’t jealous of my success.

Ever since I landed the job as an agent, I began getting all kinds of dirty looks. Nasty rumors quickly started to spread around the office like a roaring wildfire. It was if they couldn’t understand how a woman of color could make it to the top. Although I learned to pay no attention to them, it still hurt. When I came in as a beginner, I was such a softie. I had no backbone whatsoever. But that quickly changed over the years. As my experience grew, I gladly took the crown as the head bitch in charge. Some of my colleagues had the nerve to compare me to Wilhelmina’s crazy ass from that TV show Ugly Betty.

Laila came in while I was having an extremely tough day and comforted me. We started hanging out every day after that. I was so surprised to know that she wanted to be around me and it surprised me even more that she could withstand my sometimes cruel behavior.

After applying the expensive facial cream, I put on my emerald green wrap dress and black sharp toed stilettos.

“What do you think they’re calling you in for?” Laila asked, watching me slip my black trench coat over my long arms.

“You know just as much as I know. Today was supposed to be my day off. I had plans, ya know? This better be important or someone’s definitely getting cussed out.”

Laila shrugged and combed her hands through her long, thick, bright red hair. “I’m sure it is. They wouldn’t call you in for no reason. I think my dad mentioned something about finding a new type of model.”

“Seriously? We go through this every month. I hope he’s not doing this shit because of the new year.”

“Probably…”

“Come with me. We can grab lunch after it’s over. It shouldn’t last that long.”

“Yeah. Sure.”

Two hours later and I was stuck in one of the most boring meetings I’ve ever had to sit through. The CEO got to his “point” approximately five minutes ago when he explained exactly what Laila had mentioned. He wanted us agents to go out and find models instead of waiting for the models to come to us. I didn’t see how this could do any good to the company at all. What do I look like going on the street and finding some random man or woman and begging them to submit their portfolio?

Terri Lawson doesn’t do that. And there’s no way in hell that I will start doing that. What kind of drugs was George The CEO on?

Daniel

“Please? Anything helps, ma’m” I continued to shamefully beg for money to buy myself a meal. I felt so pitiful having to ask strangers for means to keep me alive.

The older brown skinned lady frowned down at me with her eyebrows crinkled together. For a split second, she looked as if she were going to give me something, but then she shrugged and kept on strolling down the busy street.

At this point, I was ready to give up on life altogether. Dropping out of college to pursue a career in acting proved to be the worst mistake of my life. I thought I had the perfect plan: drop out of college, move to Hollywood from a small town in Louisiana, and land a gig (didn’t matter where, just somewhere). I would have been perfectly fine with any type of job until I could make it big.

I’ve been here for about a year and I’ve had no sort of luck. Some days I couldn’t just “be a man about it and suck it up”. I would cry for what seemed an endless amount of time because I was alone and hungry. At one point, I had a few secure housing options available for me at well-known shelters, but they weren’t willing to help me out after my few weeks were up. They didn’t want to help a man who couldn’t sustain a job.

There were plenty of times when I would get angry and stick my middle finger up to the sky, throwing immense amounts of profane words to God. I grew up in an passionate Christian home, but I never could understand how a man claiming to love all of his “children” could sit back and watch one of them suffer like this.

My parents, Nathaniel and Anna Jones, along with my younger sister Julianne wanted nothing to do with me. Judging from the times I called them and having to listen to their horrible reaction to my homelessness, I came to that conclusion. I remember my dad distinctively saying “We gave you two choices, son: college or college. We don’t accept dropouts here.” And after that, he hung up. That was the last time I spoke to him, a year and a half ago. My mother and sister weren’t even allowed to get on the phone to speak.

None of my cousins, extended family, or so-called friends wanted to lend a helping hand. If I knew that was going to be the case, I wouldn’t have made such a shitty decision to actually start believing in myself.

That’s exactly what happens while you’re in college. You start realizing who the real you is and once you do, you either change your major from something that’ll “make you money” to something that you could only hope will make you money…or you dropout and pursue something college could never prepare you for. No one ever tells you that when you apply.

Each day, I ended up with just enough money to buy a meal; just enough to keep me living. When am I going to get a breakthrough? When will my angel save me?

Terri

“I can't believe George the CEO’s making us do this” I whined as Laila and I sauntered down Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood.

She looped her arm into mines and walked closer to me. “Eh, I don’t think it’s that bad. It’ll be something new for you. You’re used to seeing the same ole dry models. Also, if you don’t do this, George the CEO will have a bitch fit and he’ll probably fire you.”

“I don’t like change. You know that, Lay.”

“Change is good.”

“Yeah…so how do you suggest tracking down this potential model?”

She looked at me incredulously. “Easiest thing ever. We’re in West Hollywood for Christ’s sake! We’ll probably find someone before the end of the day-OOMF!”

Before I knew it, the girl had tripped and fell flat faced on the ground. I’m guessing the homeless guy she was sprawled all over had something to do with it.

I immediately bent down to help her up, but something caught my attention. A pair of ice blue eyes and raven black hair. No the hell I wasn’t checking out one of the less fortunate!

Laila snapped me out of my thoughts by scrambling up and adjusting her clothes. For a rich chick, she never acted like it. If she were like any of the stuck up heiresses around here-or hell, even me!-the guy would have been cussed out as soon as I regained my stature. “I’m so sorry sir. It’s totally my fault. I wasn’t looking where I was going” she rambled on, adjusting her handbag.

“Um. No” I butted in. “He needs to apologize. Why the hell were your feet sticking out like that in the first place? Have some fucking manners. For a homeless man, you sure don’t do anything to deserve a single dime-“

“Terri, stop!” Laila yelled. “It’s okay. Like I said, it was my fault. Jesus, you don’t know when to stop sometimes…”

I pressed my lips together and began to silently hum. It calmed me down in times like this. The young man seemed to be really hurt by my words and if I had a special place in my heart for these kinds of people, I would have felt bad. It didn’t help that I could tell he was very handsome under that beard and those atrocious clothes.

Laila’s eyes suddenly widened and she quickly escorted me a few feet away from the guy who tripped her. “I think I just found your guy” she grinned.

“Excuse me?”

“You know. For the assignment you got today. He’s perfect.”

“Hell to the no!” I nearly shouted. “Never in a million years. First of all, he’s not a legit model. Second of all, I don’t think this is what George the CEO was talking about when he went over the details!”

“Oh come on, Ter. He’s adorable. And he’d be perfect model material. All we have to do is clean him up a little bit and-“

“Hold the fuck up. You actually think I’m going to consider this? There are hundreds, maybe even thousands, of better choices right here in Los Angeles. Why would I pick up some John Doe from the street and bring him into the agency?”

“What did I tell you about trying something different? This is your big chance. You’d be helping a homeless guy out and saving your ass all in one day. Sounds like a deal to me.”

“No” I firmly stated as I shook my head in an exaggerating fashion.

Laila poked her bottom lip out like a little girl and gave me a defeated look. “Fine. But can we at least take him out to lunch with us? He looks like he’s starving. I feel bad for the poor guy.”

“Lay-“

“I’m gonna do it whether you say yes or no…” she playfully scowled.

I chuckled and lightly pushed her away from me. “Okay, stubborn bitch.”

“Yay! Love you.”

Before I could say it back, the rambunctious red-head jolted back over to the mysterious looking homeless man and started up a conversation.

************

“So what’s your name? How old are you? What kinds of things are you into?” Laila asked, a little too excitedly.

“Lay…” I warned, sipping on my iced cranberry juice.

She continued to stare into his eyes while her elbows were pressed on the table. Her hands were cupping the both of her cheeks. “What? All he keeps saying is “thank you”. I wanna see if I can get something else out of him.”

Seconds passed before the guy answered her questions. “I-I’m twenty-two.” I figured he was somewhere around that age.

“Uh huh” she pressed on. “And…?”

“My name’s Daniel.”

“My name’s Laila and this is my best friend Terri. It’s very nice to meet you.”

Right after she said that, I tuned out of the rest of the conversation. Aside from all of the longing stares we kept receiving, I felt a little uncomfortable. It didn’t come from him being homeless, I had long let that go.

It was from the potential I kept seeing in him. I could feel myself changing my mind and wanting to go with Laila’s idea from earlier. Under that beard, all I could see was good looks. He had a perfectly structured jaw bone, making me a bit envious. He would look amazing in just about any picture snapped of him. Those blue eyes of his could make any woman cream their pants from just one look.

His body type looked to be naturally thin. Granted, he was probably starving, but nonetheless…he had high potential. With his boyish features, he would last a long time in the field.

Damn.

I just wanted to slap myself for thinking this far into it. What would I do with a homeless man??

“Terri? You okay?”

“What?” I blinked. “Yeah. Just thinking.”

Laila smiled at me and then went back to yapping. I almost laughed at the poor boy’s facial expression. Talking to her could be a bit overwhelming at times. It was definitely something one had to get used to.

Daniel

I tried paying attention to the ginger, but I couldn’t keep my eyes off of the black woman. Although she basically cussed me out not even thirty minutes ago, I felt drawn to her. She wasn’t like the other African-American women I’ve came across in my lifetime. She was elegant. Classy. Womanly.

With her flawlessly smooth mocha colored skin, high cheekbones, thin almond shaped brown eyes, and perfectly arched eyebrows, I found it hard to not lick my lips. Don’t get me wrong, her friend was absolutely beautiful as well…but this woman. All I can say about her is wow.

Staring at her made me speechless so I had to focus all of my attention on Laila.

I knew these women were of high importance…but I couldn’t quite put my finger on where I had seen them from. At this point, I didn’t really care. I was just happy that I had something to eat. Right before Laila had tripped over me, my stomach started to have severe pains from the lack of food.

All the way over to the restaurant, I silently thanked the man above for the appearance of these two beautiful women. I could see them changing my lives.

Terri Lawson

Daniel

Laila Wesley

Terri

FLASHBACK TIME, 16 YEARS AGO.  June 1997.

“This is our tenth date and the tenth time we’ve come to my apartment. What’s up with that?”

I took my black leather pumps off and veered my eyes towards my date, Jerome Brown. He looked back at me like he was trying to conjure up another lameass excuse.

With his baldhead, 6-foot stature, and dark brown skin, I found it hard to not be attracted to him. The two of us met during one of my many runs to Starbucks. I got stuck with having to get the usual morning coffees for my boss and her annoying minions. Whatever she said, I had to do. That usually meant fetching frappuccinos and iced lattes. 

The Starbucks they wanted me to go to was always always always unnecessarily packed; no matter what time it was. On one particular day of me having to order the most (fifteen) drinks, a man sitting down in a corner caught my attention. I stole a couple of glances while I waited in the long line.

The way he was so engrossed in the Los Angeles Times was rather intriguing to me. Slowly cocking my head to the side, I continued to observe him. The man was so caught up in his own little world that all of the chaos radiating out of the busy coffee shop seemed to be blocked out.

I wanted that sense of peace.

“The line’s moving lady. I suggest you go with it before I skip you” some rude blonde haired guy behind me barked with a grumpy tone.

I moved up and looked back over at the lone stranger. But this time was different. He was staring right at me with a shiny flawless smile. By instinct, I quickly turned my head back towards the front of the line and blushed.

After ordering all of the drinks (which just had to be made a particular way), I moved over to the waiting line and tried my hardest not to lock eyes with the beautiful bald man. He looked way too old for me.

Being twenty-two and juggling this internship, a waitressing job, and trying to get the hell out college, I had no business checking anyone out for that matter.

I smoothed down my pixie cut and prepared myself to carry those four stacks of drinks. Once my name was called, I stepped up and started to strategically place the cartons in my arms.

“Need help?”

 I jumped at the sound of a deep manly voice coming from over my left shoulder. Dark brown eyes met mine after I swirled around to see who it was.

Such a handsome face.

Haven’t seen a man this gorgeous in years…

I must have been staring at him for a long minute because he cleared his throat and flashed a bright smile.

“I…um…no. I’m fine. I do this everyday, so it’s no big deal.”

“There’s absolutely no way I can let an angelic looking woman such as yourself leave carry this many drinks without helping her.”

“Thanks…but like I said, I’m fine sir” I smiled reassuringly.

“Call me Jerome.”

I rolled my eyes and started to collect more of the cup holders. Jerome stepped in front of me and took ahold of one.

I looked up at him with a cocked up eyebrow. “Very persistent huh?”

“You can say that” he shrugged while taking two more stacks out of my arms.

Without saying a word, I cautiously turned around and walked towards the exit into the overbearing heat of Los Angeles.  Jerome was on my feet in no time.

“I didn’t catch your name” he said, probably making an attempt to break the silence.

“That’s because I didn’t give it to you…”

He continued to gaze at me as we strolled down the congested sidewalk. I pretended to put on an annoyed façade, but all I could think about was the way he smelled. If I hadn’t just met him, I would keep inching towards him just to be able to catch a few more whiffs.

“Oh c’mon. Don’t act like that. I see you come in Starbucks almost every day and I saw the way you were checking me out earlier.”

“Excuse me? It’s not attractive for a man to be so full of himself.”

Jerome stopped and touched my arm. “Sorry, I didn’t mean for it to come off like that.”

I gave him a small smile and remained silent all throughout the rest of the ten-minute walk to my job. I refused to get yelled at for being late with these coffees.

The clicking sound of my cheetah print flats echoed all throughout as soon as we got inside of the air-conditioned building. All of my coworkers turned their heads at the sight of Jerome and I entering the premises.

Ever since I was in middle school, it had always been my dream to obtain a job at Wesley’s Models. I did everything I could to make sure I took the right steps to get there.

My parents have been behind me since the beginning of time. As I faced every obstacle of “slight” racism, my mom was always there to knock the hell out of anyone who ignored my talents and tried to stop me right as they took notice of the color of my skin.

Hollywood…hell, Los Angeles in general didn’t exactly jump at the thought of hiring blacks. Wesley’s Models was different though. At first they thought I was trying to be a model. My 5’2 height wouldn’t allow for that. But it was okay. I never wanted to be a model anyway; mainly because I’m naturally curvy and I love food way too much to be put on a never-ending diet.

So anyways, when I got up to my boss, Priscilla Miller’s, office, I knocked on the door and patiently waited for her to answer.

Before I could knock again, she swung the door open and looked up and down at my attire. She then turned her attention towards Jerome. A snarl crossed her face.

“Terri, you’re late…and who the hell is this?”

I gulped and began gathering up some sort of valid excuse. “He-“

“I’m her boyfriend, ma’m. I just wanted to make sure that she got to work safe” He smiled down at my squinted eyes and winked.

Priscilla grabbed her sugar-free iced latte and tasted it to see if it was made to her liking. “Hm. She’s safe, but late. Next time, you should make sure her punctuality comes before morning sex.”

She slammed her door in our faces, making me stumble back a few steps. It took everything in me not to shed a tear. She knew I needed this job and she also knew that I was a softie. Being sensitive was my main weakness and I absolutely hated it. I couldn’t go one day without getting yelled at by her, so I started getting used to.

The thing about this time was that I had someone there watching me be ridiculed. At least Jerome didn’t have to see me getting the coffee thrown back in my face or me getting sent home early or even seeing me getting cussed out. She was playing “nice” this time. Maybe because he was there?? I don’t know. What I did know was that I was going to get chewed out as soon as he was gone.

“Are you okay? Your boss seems to be a bitch” Jerome loudly stated.

I pushed him further away from her office and started handing the beverages out to their designated consumer. “Could you be any louder with that? I don’t want to get fired.”

“She’s not going to fire you, trust me.”

“Says the guy I just met not even twenty minutes ago who happens to know so much about this company.”

He toyed with one of the rolled up sleeves from his striped dress shirt. “I may not know much about this place, but I can tell she really likes you. She’s one of those stereotypical bosses who fucks around with you until you break. She knows you’re strong. Eh, I say you have about three months before you get promoted.”

“I’m an intern. I can’t really get promoted.”

“You’ll get a real job…”

I looked up at him after giving the last person their drink and smirked. “Whatever. You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I suppose you’re right…but I can see it. You’ll make it big here one day.”

“Yeah….right. Do you need me to walk you to the door?”

“Anything that prolongs the amount of time we have together.”

I placed my hands on the both of my hips and smiled. “What a line.”

“I try.”

“Obviously.”

We chuckled in unison as we got closer to the exit. “Thanks for covering for me. It was much appreciated.”

“Anytime…Terri.”

Covering the lower region of my face, I tried not to blush from the way my name rolled off of his tongue. Being that I had the same boyfriend all throughout high school, I was horrible at flirting and compliments didn’t fly my way on a usual occasion so whenever I got them my face would always heat up.

“What are you…what are you…uh, doing this weekend?”

Jerome’s face twitched up into a half-smile. “Are you asking me out on a date?”

“I don’t see how you got that out of me asking you your plans for the weekend…but okay I guess you can call it that.”

“I have no plans….although I was looking quite forward to seeing you at Starbucks everyday and eventually building up the courage to ask you out.”

“Aha. Well, there’s a Fugees concert this Saturday and I have an extra ticket…so…”

“Yeah. Sounds perfect. I’d love to go with you.”

I held back my overly excited smile and quickly jotted down my phone number on the notepad I always carried around. “Call me.”

His eyes were clearly planted on my ass as I walked deeper into the office area. All I could really do was smile from my successfulness.

Things haven’t been going all that great for me lately. Every day felt like a battle. It was hard working with people who acted as if they didn’t like you. Having to live in Los Angeles was already tough without having any friends. All of my so-called high school friends live in Sacramento, five hours away from here. None of them wanted to take the time out to visit and I could never get the funds to go up to see them, so I realized that I might have to make friends on my own.

My parents came down once a month to make sure I was living/doing okay, but they were my only company. Don’t get me wrong though, I attempted to make friends at Wesley Models. But no one would take me up on it.

I felt lonely and it almost drove me into wanting to quit altogether.

*********

Two hours before the concert, I stared into the mirror; satisfied with my appearance. With my favorite pair of light blue cuffed shorts, my black and white Fugees t-shirt, and black Keds on, I thought I looked pretty fly. And comfortable.

After slipping on my cardigan and swinging my little purse across my shoulder, I heard a knock on the door.

Jerome and I called each other every day since I asked him out. Sometimes, I didn’t want to get off of the phone because I started to become addicted to the sound of his smooth rich voice. It was something I could definitely get used to.

“Coming!” I yelled, making a sprint towards the door.

Jerome smiled down at me as I greeted him with a flirtatious grin. “You look amazing.”

“Thanks so do you…ready?”

Instead of extending an invitation to come inside my tiny apartment, I closed the door behind me and laced my arm into the opening of his.

The noise emitting from the venue could be heard from a block away. All we could hear were faint screams and whoever was opening for the infamous trio.

My excitement grew with each step we took getting closer to the concert. The Fugees were my favorite group and these tickets were mad cheap. I figured if I bought two, I could invite someone from Wesley’s and make a friend that way. No one at LA Café  (my other job) wanted to go with me….so I don’t know why the hell I had hope in the first place.

Thank God Jerome showed up at the time he did. Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t have gone or it would have been extremely awkward on my behalf.

***********

Halfway through the concert and I didn’t want the moment to end. Lauryn was singing/rapping her ass off and everyone in the crowd was extra hype. Anyone that loved the Fugees was cool with me and seeing Jerome have the time of his life made me feel all giddy inside. I loved it.

I always said to myself that I would marry any guy who had a passion for this type of music. In the small amount of time that I’ve known him, I decided that I would like to get to know him better. He seemed way too good to be true.

After it was all over and when everyone started to evacuate the grounds, I held on to his hand so we wouldn’t get too far apart from each other. All of the concert-goers were on a euphoric high because it was most likely the best thing they’ve ever attended.

“That was…wow. I wish it never ended!!” I screamed into Jerome’s ear.

He pulled me closer to him and nodded his head. “ I know right. Thanks for inviting me. Wanna go for ice cream?”

“I’d love to!”

At that point of the night, I was so happy that I didn’t even notice anything out of the ordinary. After ordering our ice creams, I waited to see if he was going to pay. I for damn sure wasn’t going to because hello? The free concert tickets didn’t just fall from the sky. 

Jerome looked at me for a moment and caught my expression. He knew what was up. I smiled as he dug into his pocket.

My smile turned into a frown as soon as he started panicking and patting the outsides of his jean pockets. “What the fuck…?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Someone must’ve stolen my wallet! The hell? I can’t believe this shit!”

I unconsciously dug into my purse and fished out a few loose bills, feeling really bad for him. “That sucks. I’m so sorry. Here, I’ll pay.”

I didn’t catch his sigh and expressions of relief until I paid the owner of the truck what we owed him. “Wanna go back and look for it?”

“There would be no point. It’s long gone by now.”

“Are you sure? I don’t mind.”

“Yeahhh…”

Jerome whispered another “shit” under his breath. In order to let him know that I felt bad for him, I pouted out my bottom lip and rubbed his arm.

************

The rest of the night went exceptionally well. Jerome didn’t get a kiss from me until the end of our second date. We decided on going on a window-shopping spree in West Hollywood. The both of us knew damn well we couldn’t afford any of the stuff we saw.

But it felt good being around him.

“So what do you do for a living? You never told me” I said, sitting down on a bench in Plummer Park. We sat down in order to catch our breaths and to also do a little bit of people watching.

He focused his eyes straight forward at a group of toddlers playing in a large sandbox. “I work from home.”

“Doing?”

“I manage a few people.”

“And what do these people do?

“They…uh-whoa. Take a look at that kid” I suspiciously squinted my eyes and turned my head to see what he was talking about. Some little boy was stuffing a handful of sand into his mouth. His mom came rushing over and immediately started patting his back.

“Makes you not want kids, huh?”

I smirked and shook my head. “Oh no. I refuse to have that talk on a second date.”

“My bad.”

Later on that night, he walked me up to my place and we uncomfortably stared at each other for a moment. I was the first to speak. “Thanks for spending time with me. It’s a little hard making friends around here.”

“I’m with you on that. You’re the first person I’ve hung out with since I’ve been here.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. This may come off as quick…or weird…but Terri, I really like you. Being around you makes it easier for me to forget my situation and just be me.”

“Situation?”

“That’s the only thing you heard?” Jerome whispered in a smooth flirtatious voice.

“Yeah…but becau-“

Like so many romance movies out there, he cut me off with a short peck on the lips. Since I hadn’t had any male interaction in four years, I took this as an opportunity to go all in. I tilted my head to the side and allowed his full lips to have their way with mines.

He was a great kisser, but I wasn’t feeling it. I didn’t feel the chemistry between us…but what the hell? He listens to me and he’s a great man. What other choices did I have?

Maybe the feelings could eventually develop.

*********

Months and months passed along with dates leading up to the infamous tenth one. During those dates, I found out that Jerome was thirty-four years old…and that’s about it. He never went into detail about his personal life. I never knew about who he dated in the past or what his family was like. We only really talked about me and I wasn’t used to that kind of treatment. My ex-boyfriend was so self-absorbed that I barely even got time in to tell him I wanted to break up with him. This was a whole new thing for me.

I couldn’t tell if this was a good thing-because I was finally being treated like I deserved to be treated- or bad-because there was a small chance that this man had a huge secret that he didn’t feel comfortable enough with me to let me know about it.

But like I was saying…

You know?

Before when I was talking about our tenth date?

That night took a turn for the worst.

***

“This is our tenth date and the tenth time we’ve come back to my apartment. What’s up with that?”

I took my black leather pumps off and veered my eyes towards my date, Jerome Brown. He looked back at me like he was trying to conjure up another lameass excuse.

“I already told you before Ter…my joint got flooded out and I had to temporarily move all of my shit into my boy’s place.”

“You never told me that!”

“Yes I did. You probably weren’t listening!”

“Oh please. It’s just one of your stupid excuses that you constantly make up to keep me from seeing how you truly live!”

“How I truly live? Really? Like I live in some dump!”

I bumped past him and marched into my room. He followed after me and sat on the end of my bed. “I don’t know how you live, Jerome. You’ve had plenty of opportunities to show me…but then shit like this happens and we never go.”

“Why do you want to see my place so bad?!”

“Because I want to at least get a picture of who you are as a person!”

“You already know who I am!”

“Okay. So riddle me this. How come I don’t know if you have a family? Kids? A car?? Any crazy ex-girlfriends? Or even your favorite fucking color?!”

“Because-“

“Shut up. I don’t want to hear anymore of that! Just let me in” I pleaded, with my hands in the air. “I’m not a conceited bitch who only cares about herself. I’d love to know more about you.”

Jerome took ahold of my legs, pulled my whole body between his, and looked up at me with starry eyes. “I’m not ready to tell you.”

“What are you so scared of? You’re the best friend I’ve got. I’d never judge you.”

“You say that now…” he murmured.

I placed my hands on both sides of his head and rubbed the baldness. He loved when I did that. “Tell me what’s going on.”

“I love you baby.”

My heart stopped beating in my chest and a large lump started to build up in my throat. “Huh?”

Next thing you know, I was on my back staring up at the vaulted ceiling. I didn’t imagine our first time being so sudden and…

Quick.

Seriously. It only lasted a good five minutes. He was trying his hardest though. He had his orgasm but suddenly had amnesia when it came time to take care of me.

I didn’t know much about sex, but for one, I knew it was supposed to end so quickly. Secondly, I thought girls were always supposed to go first. Common courtesy, right? And lastly, I must’ve have been wrong for assuming an older gentlemen was supposed to be more experienced?

He wasn’t the worst though. I felt a little something and he was getting me worked up, but right when it was getting good…

He was done.

No foreplay was involved. Nothing to get me off, ya know?

Tsk tsk. What a waste of an exceptionally long dick.

“Hey?’ Jerome rolled over and kissed the back of my shoulder.

“Hm?”

“I have to get going. Something came up.”

I nodded my head and avoided eye contact. “Sure. Go ahead.”

“Ah, I know I wasn’t that bad, was I?” he chuckled in a humorous tone.

Yes the hell you were, I wanted to say…but refrained from starting up an argument. “I didn’t say that, hun. I’m just tired.”

“Cool. Well…” He lifted himself out of the bed and began slipping his clothes back on. “I’ll come by the diner tomorrow to see you.”

“Alright.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah.”

Jerome bent down and pressed his lips to my forehead. “I love you, you know that? And I know you haven’t said it back yet…but I’ll wait.”

I gave him a half-smile before he exited my bedroom. As soon as he was out, I sighed deeply and threw the pillow over my head.

He always raided my fridge before he left my apartment as if I weren’t a struggling college student living paycheck to paycheck. Not to mention his little “visits” to the diner were just to get free food. I found that out when I realized that he only came to see me when I worked the late shift to close the place up.

That’s when a light bulb came to life inside my head.

I decided to follow him to see what he was really up to. Right after my front door closed, I threw on a pair of running shorts and a black t-shirt along with the first pair of sandals I could find.

When I got outside, I could see the silhouette of his body from a distance walking down the street. In order to catch up with him, I broke out in a light jog and kept to the opposite side of the street he was on.

After nearly thirty minutes of following him, I took in my surrounds and began getting a little frightened. We were in an extremely sketchy, run down part of LA that I had never been to. After Biggy died a few months ago around here, a lot of people made the smart decision to stay away from these parts.

I almost gave up and was about to call for a cab until Jerome turned down a dark alley. I contemplated on whether not I should continue, but went ahead and continued on because I would have came all the way out here for nothing if I didn’t see what I wanted to see.

Anyways, the next thing that happened completely blew my mind.

Jerome started digging through the garbage and pulled out two huge black trash bags; as if this shit was a routine for him.

He then placed the bags on the ground and started pulling items out. I couldn’t really tell what it was from the palm tree I standing behind, but it looked to be a few covers and a stack of pillows.

What in the hell…?

Terri

I looked at Jerome through the peephole of my front door and rolled my eyes. He had been ringing the bell for the past minute or two. My thoughts were all discombobulated and I was full of confusion. Was I ready to hear is explanation or should I keep playing along with this “act” before he decides to confess on his own?

“Hey” I greeted as I slowly opened the door and allowed him to enter.

Jerome grabbed me into a tight hug after the door clicked shut. “Why haven’t you been answering my calls? I’ve been so worried about you, girl.”

I pried his hands from around me and guided him towards the couch in the living room. “Come. Take a seat. We have a lot to talk about.”

“Yeah. We do. It’s been about two weeks.” He walked over and sunk down into the suede coffee colored couch.

I sat directly across from him and brought my legs up into an Indian style seating position. “I’m giving you one last chance to tell me everything I want to know about you. I can’t deal with this secretive shit. Tell me now…or….or we’re done.”

“Really? Is my life that important and serious to you that you’d consider dumping me because you’re not getting your way?”

I looked at him with a noticeable scowl on my face. “I can’t believe you just said that.”

“What do you want to know?” Jerome sighed. “If it makes you drop this whole thing, I’ll tell you whatever you need to know.”

“Okay. I want to know why you were pulling black trash bags from out of a dumpster on La Cienega Boulevard at three in the morning the other night.”

Just like I had expected, his facial expression dropped and beads of sweat began forming on his face…almost immediately. “W-What are you talking about?”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about. I took it upon myself to follow you home the last time you were over here. You didn’t want to share, I wanted to know, so here we are.”

“You followed me?” He sounded more embarrassed than angry.

“Yeah. I need answers Jerome. I’ve already come to the worst possible conclusion and I’m really hoping I’m wrong.”

“I don’t have to explain anything to you, to be honest.”

For a second, I couldn’t believe he was acting like this, but I quickly let that go and uncrossed my legs. “Welp. I think we’re done here. Please leave. And don’t ever come back.”

“Chill…” Jerome drew out. He took a few seconds to voice his next sentence. “I’ll explain.”

“Why don’t I start you out with the question I’ve been burning to ask?”

“What?”

“Are you homeless?”

“How the hell did you gather that from seeing me taking bags out a dumpster?”

“It wasn’t just that. I noticed that you never order anything when you’re at Starbucks, I always have to pick up the tab whenever we go out because your wallet seems to always be lost or stolen, and you raid my fridge every time you come to my fucking apartment. Not to mention you only come to visit me at my other job when I’m closing up.”

“Ter-“

“I’m broke too, Jerome! I don’t need some man feeding off of me because he can’t support himself. What makes you think I can afford to do that? And honestly, I don’t know if I’m more upset about you not telling me you’re homeless or you basically acting like someone you’re not.”

“Why do you keep saying I’m homeless?”

“Because you are!”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Take me where you live then. C’mon, let’s go” I demanded, practically leaping out of my seat.

Jerome looked up at me like I had lost my damn mind. “I just got here.”

“No excuse. Let’s go. Since you’re not homeless, you shouldn’t care, huh?”

“It temporary, alright?!”

“What’s temporary?”

“My situation. I’ve been looking for a job for the past year. No one wants to fucking hire me. Times are hard for a brotha trying to get a job out-“

“Oh please. Cut the bullshit. I’m not an idiot. Someone’s giving you just enough money to pay your phone bill and make you look halfway decent enough to trick people. Tell me the truth. We’re breaking up anyways. Might have well hold nothing back!”

Seconds, maybe minutes, passed before Jerome spoke. The next thing to come out of his mouth better be the truth.

He sighed prior to speaking. “I have a younger brother who wires money to me from time to time.”

“Why does he have to wire it?”

“Because he’s the only one in my family willing to help me out. My mom thinks I’m a lowlife and my older sister has her head too far up her ass to see that I’m obviously struggling.”

“Why can’t he just bring it to you?”

“From Florida?” He gave me a look as if I was supposed to know where his family lived.

“How the hell was I supposed to know that? You never talked to me about your family. Don’t give me that look.”

“Okay…well, I’ll lay everything out on the table now. I was born and raised in Panama Beach. Didn’t have a father in my life; he walked out on us. My brother is your age and my sister is a couple of years older than me. I moved here because I got a job offer for a telemarketing company. The company went bankrupt and here I am.”

“How long have you been homeless?”

“Do you not care about anything else I said? Or…”

Once again, I rolled my eyes. “Answer the question.”

“For about five years.”

“Five years?!” I exclaimed, with a wide set of eyes.

“Yes.”

“I know damn well you could have found a job within that period.”

“I’ve tried. Trust me.”

“Ha. Trust you? Are you really using that phrase?”

“Baby-“

“Don’t call me that. I-It’s like I don’t even know who you are! Is Jerome your real name? Why are you feeding off of your little brother who I actually feel pretty bad for! He’s probably just as broke as I am.”

“Listen to me…I’m still the same person, but…my name-“

He is NOT about to say what I think he’s about to say…“Oh hell no.”

“Shaquille. My name is Shaquille Day.”

“What the fuck?!” I shouted, ready to punch him between the eyes. Why do I have to be the one this happens to? This is the kind of bullshit you see on TV. “You’re not serious…”

“I am. Terri, listen. I was going to tell you eventually.”

“When?! After we moved in together?!”

“Uh-“

“Be honest with me Jer-Shaquille….” I paused for a quick second, attempting to adjust to the situation. “Do you like living like this? You must do because you’ve been doing this for five years. Five fucking years! Your brother clearly doesn’t have a problem with giving you money instead of ceasing it as an incentive for you to get a damn job!”

There was another silence that fell upon us before he spoke.

“I was hoping that we could reach a point in our relationship where you trust me enough to move in with you but-“

A loud burst of laughter blurted from out of my mouth. I literally had to clutch my stomach because it was beginning to cramp in pain.

“I don’t see what so funny” he mumbled, feeling defeated. “I think you should give me a chance. We can start over. It shouldn’t end like this because you’re being superficial and refuse to date a man on limited means.”

“Limited means?! Motherfucker, you don’t have any means whatsoever! And, you know…I would help you if you actually fucking tried! You don’t want to do better. You’ve probably been trying to find stupid bitches that will fall for this act and support your ass. I am not willing to help a man that cannot help himself.”

“And that’s understandable, but we’re in love…love withstands a lot of things, Ter.”

“Jerome or whatever the hell your real name is…honey, I never told you I was in love with you. And to be quite honest, we never had any real chemistry. You are a shitty lover and I feel like I wasted months of my life away by dealing with your broke ass.”

Now of course it hurt me to say some of those things but I was pissed the hell off. What gave him the right to walk up into my place and brew this plan up to feed off of me? Not uh! What if I actually fell in love with him and we went as far as moving in with each other? What if I never found out about him being a moocher?

Jaquille (that’s what I’m going to call him from now on, a mix between the two of his supposed names) looked at me like he had lost all hope. He knew he was defeated. Before he was completely out of the door, he turned around and said the thing that made me want to kill him and forever have a hatred towards homeless people. “By the way, you might want to hurry to your doctor. I may have passed on Gonorrhea to you.”

“What?!!!!!” I shrieked, making a jolt towards the door to wrap my hands around his throat. He was long down the street before I had the chance to catch up with him.

Fuck me sideways.

***************

Present Day.

“Everything okay?” Laila asked with a worried expression.

I looked over at her and crossed my left leg over the right. “Yeah…this is really not sitting well with me. I’m sorry Lay, I don’t think I’m fine with you letting this man stay with you.”
“I’m not asking for your approval. He needs help and I’m going to give him the help he needs. I know you see the potential in him.”

“See, that’s the problem with you. You can’t act like a saint to everyone you meet. You can’t always be someone’s savior.”

“Maybe that’s the problem with you” she quietly stated.

“What was that?”

“I-I don’t see how you can be so harsh towards people, Terri. There are some good people in this world and you just have this pessimistic outlook on life…”

“Well it’s only necessary that I do. I refuse to believe that everyone I meet has some sort of good in them.”

“And are you basing this off of your past?”

“You know nothing about my past…so let’s not go there, Miss Wannabe Psychologist.”

“That’s only because you won’t tell me. Believe me, I’ve tried breaking through that brick wall of yours.”

The two of us were lounging around in my condo during one of our weekly ladies night. I licked my lips after taking a quick sip of my blended strawberry margarita. I put extra tequila in it so I could get my buzz on.

“Anyways…I think you would be better off buying the kid an apartment and leaving it at that. Since you want to play the good Samaritan and all…”

“Where’s he going to stay until I can get that set up? I feel kind of bad for treating him to lunch and then putting him right back on the street like that.”

“Why is he so special to you? You’ve seen plenty of homeless guys. He shouldn’t be any different.”

“You know he’s different and you’re trying to mask your interest. I saw the way you were looking at him” she giggled.

“What? How was I looking at him?” I gulped and tried to put a smirk on my face but Laila could see right past that.

She took a sip of her drink and kept her eyes glued on me as she did so. “He’s cute under that beard. We have to give him a makeover!!”

“I don’t have to do a damn thing. You know I am not in full support over this crazy ass decision of yours…”

“Terri!”

“What girl?”

“Pleeeeeaaaaase?” Laila pushed her bottom lip out and formed a pout. “I promise I’ll take care of everything. He’ll be like my own little project. I have nothing else to do and-“

I cut her off before she started a full-blown rant. “Okay! Geez. What is it that you want me to do?”

“All you have to do is recruit and train him. I’ll fix him up and give him a place to stay.”

“This is a huge favor you’re asking for…you know that, right?”

“But you love me and I love you and that’s what friends do.”

I couldn’t help but to smile at her adorableness. I’d be lying if I said that Laila wasn’t one of the sweetest people in the world. Shit, her whole family (besides her bitchy mom) was sweet and kind. They have a strong philanthropic past and they’re known for being one of the few wealthy families out there that would give a less fortunate person the shirt off of their very own back.

Daniel

After being dropped off in my usual spot on Melrose Avenue, I sat the takeout tray down (which was filled with enough food to last me a few days) and slowly sat beside it. A cold breeze caught me off guard, making me have to tuck my arms into the thin black shirt I had on.

Although I was back in the same situation I was in earlier, I had a good feeling about things. My hopes were skyrocketing. It was if God was telling me that he was taking care of everything and things wouldn’t be like this for much longer. 

Before the two beautiful women left me, the redhead nearly knocked me down by taking me into a warm embrace. She whispered to me that everything was going to be okay and released the tight grip she had on me. I looked back at the other one and for a second I caught her staring at me. Just for a second though.

The mere thought of her lavender scent made me smile. If only I could see her again…

*******************

Only two days passed before I got to see Laila again. She seemed to have come out of nowhere on that sweltering evening. With her green worn-out Converses and ripped denim shorts on, I hardly recognized her. It was her luscious red locks that gave her away.

“Hey! Daniel, correct?” she grinned.

I looked up at her and made the awkward motion of smoothing my shoulder length hair back. “Uh…y-yes. Laila?”

“Yep. We have lots to talk about. Care for some lunch?”

Trying not to sound too excited about this, I calmly nodded my head and stood up. “I’d be happy to join you.”

“Great! Anything you have in mind? I was thinking Chinese…or anything Asian, really…” Laila rambled on. I followed behind her as she started walking onto the sidewalk. I blocked her out and focused on concealing my obvious excitement. It was hard to tell if this was a dream or not because she was acting as if I weren’t a poor homeless boy who looked like absolute shit. Walking beside her caused nearly everyone who walked past us to give us demeaning stares. Laila didn’t seem to care. All she did was talk about food the whole time.

When we got into the quaint little Chinese restaurant, I sat across from her in a wooden booth.

“I swear the food here is delicious. It may look a little sketch, but it’s not.”

I nodded my head and took in my surroundings. The place did look a little sketchy and it looked like it had a history of food poisoning incidents, but I trusted her. I also had no room to be picky. I was grateful for everything she was doing so far.

Shortly after ordering our food, I silently reminded myself to give a long prayer up to God later on.

Laila put her hand on top of mines and gave it a gentle squeeze. “So I have a surprise for you…”

“A surprise?”

“Yep. Consider yourself lucky because Terri almost killed me after I proposed the idea to her…”

My heart suddenly began to pound at an unusual pace. Oh God…

“Well first of all, I guess I should ask this first” She slid her hand away from mines and stopped to giggle. “Have you ever considered being a model?”

“I’ll do whatever you want me to do if that means I get to work. Honestly, I’ve never considered modeling as a job, but I’m definitely considering it now.”

“Ah, you say more than three words at a time. That’s nice to know” she joked.

“I’m serious, Laila. I am so grateful to have come across you. If there is anything I can do to prove to you that I am worthy of your time, I will do it.”

“I know you’re trustworthy. It’s Terri you have to get through to. She’s a tough lad. But she’s let me get this far and I don’t want to ruin it. What’s going to happen is that I’m putting you up in a one-bedroom apartment.”

My breath caught in my throat and I immediately felt flustered. Is this really happening? God so help me if this is a fucking dream…

“Hey, everything okay? You’re turning all red. I apologize for not showing up sooner, I was talking to my assistant about getting this apartment ready. You having to wait in the heat didn’t even cross my mind-“

“Laila!”

She stopped midsentence and gave me her undivided attention. “Yes?”

“You’re like an angel sent from heaven. Of course I’ll take you up on your offer.”

The server approached our table seconds after I accepted Laila’s generous proposition. She sat the piping plate of Lo Mein noodles in front of me and a bowl of house rice in front of the gorgeous redhead.

She instantly stuffed a spoonful of rice into her mouth and spoke after swallowing her food. “Mm. That is so delicious. But anywho…I’m so happy that you’re accepting this. I have such huge plans for you, okay? I can see it now. You’ll probably be one of the top models in my granddad’s company in just a few short years.”

I almost choked on a piece of shrimp at the sound of that last sentence. Her grandfather owns a modeling agency?! So that’s where I know her from…

Damn.

“The thing is…you’ll have to stay with me for a few weeks before your new apartment gets fully situated. Is that fine with you?”

It took me approximately five to ten seconds to speak. Overwhelmed wasn’t even the word I would use to describe how I felt in that moment. “I’m sorry. It’s taking me a while to process all of this.”

“No need to apologize. I’ve been told that I can be a bit much sometimes. Take as long as you need to think about this.”

“I don’t need to think about it. Everything is okay with me. I also apologize for not giving you full lengthy sentences. I genuinely cannot tell if this is a dream or not.”

“It’s not a dream, silly. Terri thinks it’s a curse that I give people second chances.”

“This Terri sounds like a piece of work. I’m not entirely sure if she likes me or not.”

“Daniel, trust me. She sees potential in you. But she’s stubborn. She won’t let you know that. Do everything I tell you to do and you’ll win her over.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“I promise.”

Terri

Laila’s a grown women and she’s allowed to make her own decisions but this had to be the worst thing she’s ever asked me to help her out with. Over the years, we’ve done some pretty crazy things for each other and by now I feel like I should be used to her outlandish ways. I could have said no to this whole thing but it’s clearly something that brings her great joy. And I also had this weird voice in the back of my head telling me to let her go ahead with her plan.

The kid doesn’t look harmless, but neither did Jerome.

 I swear on my life if he does anything to hurt my best friend, I will chop him up into itty-bitty pieces and feed him to a pack of wolves. I don’t know where I’m going to find these wolves, but I’m sure the adrenaline I’ll have will guide me to them.

This project of hers kept her busy for a couple of weeks. She only called me to tell me how everything was going and how he was behaving. I never got to see him due to my conflicting schedule and utter lack of interest.

One day, though, Lay called and wanted me to drop by. She said she had a surprise for me and I basically needed to hurry over to her place to see what she had in store. I wasn’t exactly thrilled to go anywhere at that moment because I was comfy in my bed. It was all rainy and nasty outside. Plus, I had just gotten off of from working a ten-hour shift. Definitely not in the mood for any type of social interaction.

“I’ll come over tomorrow, Lay. I’m tired as hell.”

“No, you have to come now. It’s a surprise.”

“What is it?”

“Surprise: an unexpected event, fact, or thing…” This bitch had the nerve to quote the definition.

“I know what a surprise is, child. And I’m sure this surprise can hold off for another day.”

“Nope. It can’t. Remember that time I came to your place when I was essentially dying from the flu-“

“You weren’t dying” I sighed from her dramatization of the past situation.

“Ugh. Whatever. I was crazy sick and I came over to help you do some work.”

“Yeah…and?”

“I need you to come over to see something for me. I swear it’ll all be worth it.”

I swung my legs out of the bed and slipped on my cotton booties. “I’m going to kill you.”

“Is that your way of saying yes?”

“I’ll be over in ten. Bye.”

I ended the call before I obtained a headache from her loud squeal of joy.

**************************

Laila answered the door with her notorious wide grin. She was dressed in a pair of dark blue skinny jeans and an ordinary cotton blue t-shirt. “I’m so glad you came!”

I groaned as she reached out and gave me a tight hug. “Can’t. Breathe.”

“Shit. My bad…” I deeply exhaled right as she let me go. “Come in. I can’t wait to show you what I’ve done.”

“Judging by the many times you’ve said that…I’m a little frightened.”

Laila closed the door behind me and practically pranced towards the kitchen. For a few seconds, I took the time to admire her cute little apartment. Another thing I love about her is her simplicity. You could tell she had money by the neighborhood she lived in, but not by the inside of her apartment. It’s a two bedroom flat with a minimum amount of decorations; just enough to make you feel at home. Her style was geared more towards the bohemian aspect of décor.

“What is it that you have to show me?” I yelled from the living room, about to plop down on her ridiculously comfortable couch.

“Come into the kitchen and you’ll see.”

When I reached the kitchen and rounded the corner to see what the hell she was she talking about, I stood speechless.

I literally couldn’t move. There’s a strong possibility that my jaw was on the floor and at that point, I didn’t care.

The little homeless man she rescued was a total god under all of that matted hair and those ridiculous clothes.

“Holy…holy shit” was all I could croak out. “This can’t be the same person.”

“It is. Isn’t he insanely gorgeous?”

“More than that” I wanted to say. He looked up at me, showcasing a clearer view of his ice blue greyish colored eyes. The fucking eyes alone made me want to jump into his arms and give him a kiss he’d have to pray about. They made him looked so mysterious. Almost daring.

The thick, ugly beard he had going on was completely shaved off, giving me a better look at his sharp, angular facial features. His cheekbones were so defined…and…well, perfect.

I felt my feet making their way towards him and stopping between his legs. He continued to look up at me as I reached out my right hand and traced my pointer finger from the top of his raven black hair to the end of his jaw. I could feel his breaths becoming shorter as each second passed.

“I’m impressed.”

Laila smirked from the side with a proud look on her face. I was too busy checking out the kid-no, man’s-body. He was shirtless and hairless. I didn’t usually go for that, but he made it work. The man was simply gorgeous.

I never thought I’d be sexually attracted to another fucking homeless person.

“Turn to the right” I all but demanded to my new client, Daniel Jones. We were in the midst of taking starter photos to send to one of the photographers of Wesley Models. There was absolutely no way I could say no to Laila after seeing his new and improved look. The young man definitely had it going on.

As he slowly turned to the other side of his lean handsome figure, I began to have yet another hard time keeping my inappropriate attraction to myself. It was clear that he hadn’t taken notice of my lingering stares and that was perfect. I needed it to stay like that. He was too damn young and was far from the type of guy I would even approach.

I cleared my throat and snapped the last photo. Daniel was sporting one of those bad-boy-just-out-of-bed kind of hairstyles and it fit him perfectly. His raven black hair was straight and he had these soft bangs that swept across his forehead, giving him a youthful appearance. Laila went ahead of herself and took him shopping for a whole new wardrobe. He seemed to have a liking for the darker shades of clothing. The only items he really purchased were grey, black, and white cotton t-shirts and v-necks, dark fitted jeans, and one black leather jacket.

In front of me, he was only dressed in a pair of dark wash jeans and nothing else. I kept having to remind myself to breathe because he was so breathtaking. Out of all the models I’ve taken in and molded into high profile celebrities, he was on the list of most interesting. I’d never seen someone with such piercing blue eyes. Every time he looked at me, I felt like he was looking straight through me and into my soul. It was hard for me to not think about my past when it came to Daniel.

Hell, it was hard for me to put the past behind me in general. Ever since the situation with Jerome, I have not been back into the dating scene. Of course Laila’s been trying her fucking hardest to set me up with men, but those dates never went far. It would always end in some sort of fight because either my inner feminist busted out or I found something (even if it was just something small) about them and decided that the date needed to end.

It’s been nearly seventeen years since I’ve..

You know…

Done the do. Had sex. Shit, my pussy practically has cobwebs hanging around somewhere in there. I know you’re wondering what happened with the Gonorrhea thing. I took the recommended antibiotics to rid myself of it, but I still felt unsafe. I was scared that I could possibly pass the infection on to another person. The “cure” was only recommended, not guaranteed. Once I started to climb my way to the top of Wesley Models, I stopped thinking about finding a man to settle down with. Most men were scared to date me by that point anyway.

Of course I have times where I get lonely and I feel like a piece of my heart is missing, but I’ve given up on finding my soul mate a long time ago. My expiration date has passed. I’m not saying I’ve been hit with hot flashes and infertility, but I have no need to look anymore. No one wants me and I don’t blame them. I’m a bitch and I have honorably accepted that title. Getting what needs to be done will never be finished unless I have my strong, independent personality. I do not need some man to come along and mess everything up.

Fucking around with Jerome’s good-for-nothing ass seriously screwed me up; so much that I have yet to tell my one and only best friend about it. I only told Laila about certain aspects of my life because there was just some things people didn’t need to know.

“Am I done for the day?” Daniel asked. He looked at me with curious eyes; almost like a lost puppy.

I carefully placed the overly expensive Nikon camera on the nearest table and walked towards him. “Not entirely. I have a lot of paperwork for you to read and sign. After that, you will be sent to Edith so she can get your measurements. How tall did you say you were again?”

“Six foot even.”

“Good. Put your shirt back on and I’ll give you a tour of the building.” I paused for a second as he picked his charcoal grey shirt up and quickly pulled it over his head. “It is essential that you become familiar with the head of each department.”

All he did was nod. It was very unusual for me to have to deal with an aspiring model who barely spoke a word. I was so used to chatty, not to mention..bratty newcomers who thought they knew a little something about the fashion/modeling world.

“You don’t talk much, do you?” I couldn’t help but to ask.

Daniel smiled, actually showing his teeth this time around. They were nothing short of flawless. Unless I was trippin, every single one of his teeth were perfectly aligned and pearly white. Now how in the hell could a homeless man have such immaculate teeth?  His canines were a little longer than normal, but it added a sort of sex appeal to his smile.

“I’m gonna take that as a no” I murmured. “Follow me.”

Daniel

I nodded my head and trailed behind her like a naïve little schoolboy. It didn’t help that I was being punished with having to inhale the lovely smell of heated vanilla and cinnamon. The sight of her curvaceous backside was a plus. Terri was simply elegant from head to toe.

Her dark brown shoulder-length hair was parted in the middle with loose curls flowing freely past her ears. Because of her unblemished face, I couldn’t get a clear read to what her actual age was. If I had to give a blind guess without considering her career position, I’d say she’s got to be no older than thirty-three. She had a cute little button nose with a broad tip and a pair of beautiful brown eyes. They were thin and almond shaped. Her high cheekbones added to her natural beauty. I glanced down at her choice of shoes and grinned. A women in a pair of stilettos was one of my many weaknesses.

They were the Louboutin brand. I could tell by the color of deep red on the bottom of the shoes. My eyes traveled up past her long, smooth legs and landed on her toned figure. Terri was slim, but not too slim. She was just fine. It was clear that she worked out on the regular. Her knee-length black and white polka dot pencil skirt caught me off guard; being that it didn’t match her cold personality. A solid black blouse was tucked into it.

All I know is that I want to know more about her. Laila always tells me little details about how secretive and mysterious Terri is, but I didn’t buy that. She has more depth to her and I am going to make it my mission to break through to her.

Speaking of Laila, staying with her has been the experience of a lifetime. She has so much personality that I find it hard not to connect with her. She accepts the fact that I am a man of few words and it makes it easier to talk to her. Whenever she has the chance, she will get me to sit down in the living room and we’d exchange something about our lives.  I soon found out about her wealth and stardom. It warmed my heart to see her so humble.

Every day I will wake up with a heap of gratefulness and endless gratitude. She playfully yells at me every time I thank her for taking me in. Apparently I’ve said it one time too many. Since her apartment is a one bedroom, my designated sleeping area is the comfy futon in the living room. At first, she offered to let me sleep in her bed while she sleeps on the futon, but I couldn’t take her up on that offer. She was already being an angel to me.

Terri would call her up at least once a day to see if I haven’t murdered her yet…and I guess that’s understandable----

“Hey, are you listening?”

I blinked back into reality at the sound of Terri’s voice. “Y-yes. Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize” she squinted. “This is our main foyer. Through here, you are able to get to everyone’s office. You don’t spend much time in here, only in the beginning, but it’s nice to know your way around.”

I stepped beside her and continued to listen to her talk. Her voice was more on the higher-pitched side but it was in no way annoying. I liked how smooth and articulate she voiced her thoughts. When we first met, I took time to admire her smile. It was obvious that she was a hygiene freak when it came to her teeth. Her full lips looked so soft and welcoming…

Dude, slow your roll.

“Any questions so far?”

I stopped walking and looked down at her. “Yes. Um, wh-what exactly is your job?”

“Laila didn’t go over this with you?” She sighed and continued to hastily walk towards our destination when I shook my head. “What the hell do the two of you talk about then?”

“Uh-“ I started to follow her again.

“Never mind. I don’t want to know. I’m a modeling agent. Aside from you, I have three more models. They’re currently out of the country doing a few shows so I have a little bit of extra time on my hands. In fewer words, I essentially manage every single part of your life. Until we can hook you up with the dietitian, I will even manage what you eat from now on. You will not do anything until you get my consent, go that?”

“Yes ma’am”

“Don’t call me that” Terri snapped. “Please. Just don’t. I’m not your mother.”

“S-sorry.”

She looked up at me and shook her head. “We have a lot to work on. Listen, Edith’s office is right there. Go in and tell her that you need your measurements. After that, bring them to me and we can get through the paperwork.”

“Okay.”

Terri

While I waited for him to finish up with getting his measurements, I sat in my office and typed away on my laptop. Before signing models, us agents had to go through the same amount of shit parents have to go through before adopting a kid. I prided myself on being so organized and systematical. Starting models off is something I can do with a blindfold on. It came so easy to me. George the CEO promised me a management position if I followed his orders on getting this so-called “new type of model”.

Daniel is definitely out of the ordinary…

A knock on the door made me shoot my head up and look towards it. “Come in!” I shouted.

The door opened and in walked my most worrisome co-worker, Alonzo Lopez. He is fairly new to the company, only being here for a year. His job is just like mines, but he’s not that great. I think they only hired the man so that they wouldn’t get in trouble for primarily hiring female agents.

Alonzo, a middle-aged, Puerto Rican man, never wanted to admit that he had it bad for me…but everyone knew it. If I were attracted to him, maybe I’d give him a chance but the attraction has not blossomed on my behalf. I mean, he’s fairly good-looking, with his light brown eyes, golden skin, and baldhead. He’s right along the lines of my “type”. But his personality needs work. Alonzo is way too talkative, needy, and so damn arrogant. He thinks the world revolves around him and he relishes in the fact that these models are begging for him to sign them.

“Hey baby” he smiled and closed the door behind him.

I scowled and got back to what I was previously doing. “Go away.”

“Ah, why are you always such a Debbie Downer? You know I’m never going to stop bugging you until you loosen up.”

“Please go away?”

“Go out with me tonight.”

“No.”

“Terri…”

“Alonzo…” I matched his babyish tone.

“What have I ever done to you?” He walked closer to my desk and leaned in closer to my face. I caught a whiff of his overbearing Calvin Klein cologne and almost started to cough. “Huh?”

“If you don’t get out of my face, I will slap the shit out of you.”

“I love it when you get bitchy like that” Alonzo winked. “Turns me on.”

He does this shit to irk the hell out of me…

“Oh my god…” I sighed. “I don’t have time to deal with you today. What do you want?”

He chuckled, backed away, and sat down in one of the leather chairs. “Have you found your model yet?”

“Why?”

“Because you’re always ahead of the game and everyone’s talking about who you’ve chosen.”

“Who I choose to work with is nobody’s damn business.”

“I saw him, Terri. He’s got a lot of potential. Let me have him.”

“What? No!”

“Why? I’m sure you won’t miss him. I have a very promising young lady waiting to be signed. Actually, I have two. Two for the price of one.”

“Get out of my office with this foolishness, Alonzo! I’m not playing with you.”

“I’m not playing either. I’m so serious right now.”

“Why do you want my model so bad all of a sudden? He’s a normal kid.”

“Far from normal…and you know exactly what I mean. The word going around is that he’s not even a model. Why would you risk something like this, Terri? The girls I have are well trained and they hardly need any coaching. You definitely can’t beat this deal. “

I groaned and threw my head back in frustration. Why did he have to come to me with this? He had me actually thinking about giving my client up. I thought about all of the training and coaching Daniel has to go through…which means there will be a delay in getting him to shows and in advertisements.

“So what do you say?”

It took me a moment to gather my thoughts. “I’ll think about it.”

“That’s good enough for me.”

“Yeah whatever. Get out…and this is the last time I’m going to ask you.”

Alonzo grinned and gave me one last wink before exiting my office. Asshole.

Daniel

“So how was your day?” Laila beamed. We were sitting across from each other at the kitchen table, eating dinner. It comprised of seasoned baked chicken, broccoli, and red potatoes.

I looked down at the green ceramic plate and frowned. The food smelled and looked so delicious. Mouthwatering.

“It went okay” I grumbled.

“What’s wrong? Not hungry?”

“I don’t know if I’m supposed to be eating this”

“What? Why not? You’ve been eating everything else I’ve cooked so far. Not to mention the In-n-Out you completely devoured last night.”

I looked up at her and gave her a half-smile. “Terri said that I shouldn’t be eating anything she doesn’t approve of.”

“Is Terri your mother?”

“No...but-“

“Okay then. Eat.”

I looked back down at my plate and sighed. “I…I don’t know.”

“Oh for God’s sake…” she groaned. I watched her jump up from the table and dash over to her iPhone. Laila picked it up from the marble countertop and commanded Siri to call Terri. Her long red hair was pulled up into a messy bun on the top of her head and she wore a hot pink camisole with a pair of low riding sweatpants on, revealing a small bit of her tanned skin. Laila happened to be more voluptuous than Terri, but she was also in shape. She had an hourglass figure.

“Are you seriously controlling what he eats?” She pressed a button to put her on speaker.

“Huh? What are you talking about?” Terri asked.

Laila looked at me and shook her head. “Daniel is scared to eat because you have some weird rule about him eating whatever you tell him to eat.”

“Oh yeah. Shit, I forgot to create a meal plan. What’s he trying to eat?”

“Nothing unhealthy. Just some chicken, broccoli, and potatoes.”

“He can eat it. Make sure you tell him to start doing the workouts I gave him.”

I nodded my head and started to eat the food. Laila hung the phone up after talking to Terri for a little while longer and wishing her a good night.

She sat back down in her chair and began to sip on a glass of iced tea. “Are you two getting along well?”

“I guess you can say that.” I shrugged after swallowing a mouthful of potatoes. “She still doesn’t like me.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Her gestures and looks of disgust pretty much gives it away.”

“Oh stop it. Terri has a hard time expressing her feelings so she always gives people that face. Trust me on this. If she signed you, she obviously thinks you’re a cool person.”

A minute or two of silence passed before I said something else. “May I ask you something?”

“Anything. What’s up?”

“How…uh, how have her past relationships been?”

“Meaning with people in general…or with significant others…?”

“Both” I avoided eye contact as I cut into the chicken and stuffed it into my mouth.

She was looking at me with her eyebrow cocked up. I could feel it.  “Well…if you must know…” she started. “She gets along with her models fairly well. They all love her and thank her for their success. In terms of co-workers, she’s had some trouble. Everyone at Wesley’s Models is nosey. They all know so much about each other’s lives and then you have Terri. She’s a closed book who won’t even let us know her favorite color. When it comes to previous boyfriends, I have absolutely no idea. She will not tell me anything about her past.”

“Do you know why she’s like that?”

“Nope. And I try not to ask because she gets really irritated and fussy whenever it comes up.”

“Damn.”

“Yeah.”

“So she’s never opened up to anyone, you say?”

“I’m her best friend and that’s all I know about her. I tried talking to her parents, but she won’t tell me where they live. It’s always a dead end when I talk to her. Why do you ask though?”

“Just wondering. I mean, she seems so sad.”

“Sad? More like angry.”

“No…seriously. When I look into her eyes, it’s almost like she’s begging for someone to hear her out.”

“Daniel, listen to me. I try talking to her but it gets nowhere. She doesn’t trust anyone. Not even me.”

“That must hurt because you’re the closest thing she’s got and she’s the closet thing you’ve got. Friendships should be based on trust.”

She grinned at me with a wide smile. “Listen to you being all therapist-like.”

“There’s got to be more to her…” I blushed. “And I intend on finding out what’s behind that tough exterior she puts on.”

Daniel

Halfway into my fourth catwalk lesson and I was nearly fed up. I would have never thought that it would be this damn difficult. You’d think all I had to learn was how to put one leg in front of the other, turn around, and repeat. But, no. I had to learn how to have the perfect posture, how far apart my legs need to be from each other, how to ooze with confidence, and most importantly how to adjust my eyes. Jocelyn, my coach and a beautiful dark-skinned woman, is considered the best of the best and Terri constantly reminds me how lucky Wesley Models is to have her. The first day was spent getting my posture on point. From the many days of being a beggar, my back was on the verge of giving up on me. I was so used to having a slumped spinal cord and a curved neck. It was torture having to get everything aligned.

Jocelyn sounded like my mother yelling at me all over again with the whole posture thing. For long periods of time, I’d have to stand in the middle of her studio with my legs shoulder-width apart, continuously rolling my shoulders up and around. She said we were practicing on opening my chest. I would have to imagine a string through the top of my skull, pulling my spine into a straight line. By the end of the day, the top half of my body was sore. She liked my perseverance though. She liked the fact that, not matter how much she got on me, I followed all of her directions without giving her any lip. Jocelyn could be quite the bitch, but I liked her. Her huge dark curly mane added to her sort of hippie-like personality. Tattoos stretched all the way down her right arm to her left leg and she had a gold hoop coming out her of her right nostril. She liked to wear a lot of mismatched outfits that somehow looked perfectly combined. Being in the fashion industry was definitely her calling.

Once I fully accomplished the art of having the “correct” posture, we finally moved on to the walking portion of the lessons. Her venue of choice was an old building in West Hollywood that used to be the center of most fashion shows a long while ago. It was in pretty good condition due to a large amount of activity from the coaches around the area. Jocelyn motioned for me to take a step onto the runway as soon as we got in. She was in the process of turning all of the lights on. I looked at the long strip and gulped. Did she seriously want me to hop up there and walk as if I know what the hell I’m doing?

“Why are you looking at it like that?” she asked with her raspy voice. “I assure you, Daniel. It is not toxic or poisonous.”

‘I-I don’t know anything.” I responded, still glaring at runway. 

“Yes. I know that. But give me what you got so I know what we need to work on.”

We stared at each other for a few seconds. “Go on” she encouraged. “It’s just me and you here. Nothing to be afraid of, sweetheart.”

I nodded and pulled myself up onto it. Jocelyn walked to sit down in one of the chairs and crossed one of her thin legs over the other. “I’m ready when you are.”

With heaps of hesitation, I began walking down the catwalk as if I were one of the male models I’ve seen on the TV. Before coming here, she asked me to take a look at a few videos of some of the previous models she coached. The women definitely had it worse with their heels and ridiculous outfits, but my main concern is mashing all of this stuff together and pulling the experience part off. When I reached the end of the runway, I slowly turned around and quickly walked back to the beginning. Jocelyn yelled the word “stop”.

“Not to shabby, pretty boy. But you know what’s honestly pissing me off about you?”

I crinkled my eyebrows together and looked down at the floor. “What?”

“Your lack of confidence. Dude, how in the hell are you trying to be a model when you can barely make eye contact?”

“I-“

“Look at me when you talk to me!” she interrupted.

I lifted my head up and looked into her brown eyes. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. You’re extremely handsome and you have the potential to radiate sex appeal. If you would just be confident, women will throw themselves at you!”

“Okay…”

“Start back over. This time, I want you to take it slow. Take longer strides. You’re a man, meaning you cannot piddle about with little baby steps. I want you to take the longest strides you can, okay? Lung into the distance!”

For the next thirty minutes or so, I walked back in forth along the runway, adding in her constructive criticism along the way. Every now and then she would shout for me to fix my posture or talk lengthier steps. Towards the end of the session, she helped to teach me how to look more natural by swinging my arms.

“You’re doing really great” she complimented. I was sitting on the edge of the runway, gulping down a bottle of Aquafina.

“You think?”

“Yeah. Look, I know I’m tough on you but you’re doing really well. You catch on quickly and you’re always ready to learn more. I love your work ethic. “

“Thanks” I all but whispered.

Jocelyn stood up from her seat and positioned herself in between my legs. I took a huge gulp and leaned back a little. She grabbed ahold of my thighs and smiled a devious grin. “Why are you so shy and quiet?”

“I-I have no…I don’t know.”

Up close, she looked like an exotic Barbie doll to me. Her eyelids were coated with a gold colored eyeshadow and black eyeliner. Jocelyn’s presumably fake eyelashes hung long and thick. The smell of her peach scent brought me back to reality and to the question burning in my mind. Why the hell is she so close to me…?

“You’re acting as if you’ve never been with a woman before, Danny” she flirtatiously purred.

I let out a short chuckle and immediately began to reminisce on my last relationship. Her name was Laura and we were high school sweethearts. It was one of those typical “We Were Each Other’s First” kind of relationships. Nothing to scrapbook about. We broke up and went our separate ways not too long after we got accepted into two different universities. As far as I know, unless I’ve been drugged, she’s the only one I’ve been with. During my little time in college, I was too caught up in my own world to be involved in any relationships.

“I’ve been with women before, Jocelyn” I proudly lied.

Her eyes traveled to my crotch and then up to my face while she bit her bottom lip. “Why are you acting so nervous then?”

“Because…well, I uh..”

Her smile widened as she placed her fingers on my cheek and traced her index finger along my jawline. “Fuck. You’re so adorable.”

I winced and braced myself for the kiss we were about to share. It wasn’t that I had no attraction towards her, but it was hard to see her coming on to me like this. Before this day, she never initiated any sort of attraction towards me. Plus, I had another woman stuck on my mind..

Right as our lips touched, that someone cleared their throat. My eyes shot up and I gasped at the sight of Terri standing there with her arms crossed over her chest. She didn’t look too pleased.

Jocelyn slowly turned around with a smirk on her face. “Hey Ter”

“Don’t ‘hey Ter’ me…” Terri rolled her eyes. “What the hell are you doing?”

“I think it’s pretty obvious” Jocelyn countered.

“I asked you to coach him. Not to make out with him!”

“Can you blame me? The man is gorgeous.”

“And so are all of the other models you’ve coached! Get your hands off of him and do your damn job!”

I looked back and forth between the two women and blinked. What was I supposed to do in a situation like this? It was already bad enough that I barely spoke. It made me seem weak and vulnerable. So weak and vulnerable that the two of them felt as if they could treat me like a teenage boy or something.

“Daniel, come on. We’re leaving” Terri commanded.

Jocelyn threw her arms out and blocked me behind her. “He’s not going anywhere. We’re taking a break. Aside from the scene you just witnessed, he’s doing really well. We only have two more sessions and he’ll be just what you need him to be.”

Terri squinted her eyes and scowled. “Keep your hands off of him, Jocelyn, or this will be the last day as your career as a runway coach. Got that?”

“Yes” she swallowed. “Daniel, please show Terri what you have so far.”

Once again, without a word, I nodded and scurried to the top of the strip. I looked out into the empty chairs and saw the two women sitting far apart from each other. Jocelyn pressed down on her boom box and the music we’ve been practicing to blared through the speakers.

I began to walk with everything I’ve learned so far implanted in my mind. With each step I took, I made sure to focus my eyes on the back of the room and walk like I’ve been taught. At the end of the runway, I caught a glimpse of Terri. Her beautiful face glared up at me and the world seemed to be moving in slow motion for a second. I gave her a half-smile and slowly whirled around to make my way back to the beginning.

Jocelyn jumped out of her chair, clasped her hands together, and brought them up to her face. Her eyes beamed with joy and her smile was at it’s widest. “Yes!!” she squealed.

I lifted my eyebrows and looked at Terri in confusion. Her face carried the same expression.

“What?” I asked.

Jocelyn moved her hands away from her face. “That smirk you did. I loved it. It brought so much out of you. It was sexy. I saw mystery, danger, and adventure. Do it again!”

“I…don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t smirk.”

“I know what I saw, Daniel. Jesus Christ, it could be your signature move. Just do it and I’ll let you go home” she pressured.

Assuming that she meant the little half-smile I gave to Terri, I repeated it.

“Yes! That!” Jocelyn shouted as she pointed at me. “Do that when you pose and you’ll be the man of the show each time. I guarantee you.”

*****************

The ride back to my new apartment was in silence for the most part until Terri finally initiated conversation. She continued to stare straight ahead as she spoke.

“Let me know if she continues to come onto you.”

“I don’t mind it” I shrugged. “She’s pretty cool.”

“I don’t care if you think she’s cool. It’s not a part of her job description to fondle her clients.”

“I know that…but, I honestly don’t think it’s any of your business what she does.”

Luckily, we approached a stoplight as she hit the brakes and shot me a patronizing look. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me.”

“And what gives you the right to talk to me like that?” Terri looked offended as if no one’s ever spoken to her in such a manner.

I challenged her with sarcasm. “I believe it’s in the first amendment.”

“You…” she paused, clearly at a loss for words. “You hardly ever speak and at the point in which you finally decided to say something, you hit me with sarcasm.”

I laughed and bowed my head. “Correct.”

“It’s nice to know that there’s more to you than I thought.” She pressed her foot on the gas when the light turned green and smiled.

“Same here” I murmured.

Terri shot me another look and quickly focused back on the road. “What was that?”

“I just think there’s more to you than the fake front you put on to make people scared of you.”

I turned my head to see what her reaction would be like. She didn’t really have one. All she really did was grin.

“Terri” I continued. “You’re a special individual, but you live a sad life.”

“Say another offensive phrase and I will kick you out of my car” she joked. It was nice to see her joking because if she said that during out first acquaintance, I would have thought differently.  “My life is none of your business.”

“You’re right. It’s not…but I don’t like seeing you so unhappy all of the time.”

“I’m not unhappy, kid. I love my job and I have everything I’ll ever need.”

“Well, first of all, I’m not a kid. I’m a grown man. Secondly, I can see that you obviously live comfortably, but even the wealthiest people are lonely.”

“Who said I was lonely?”

“No one. I-“

“How about we not discuss my life, alright? You’ve already crossed the line.” She said with a serious expression.

Seconds later, we pulled up at my apartment complex and I instantly grabbed the handle to open the door. “You have to let people in, ya know.”

I closed the door behind me after thanking her for the ride. My eyes followed her silver Lexus crossover as it exited the parking lot.

The studio apartment Laila picked out for me was everything I needed and more. She made sure to furnish it and stock the refrigerator. As soon as I walked in, I grabbed the daily newspaper and plopped down on the comfy king sized bed. I wanted to surprise her by getting a second job so that I could eventually start paying my own rent. Of course, being the precious doll she was, she wanted to pay for everything and bless me with all sorts of things, but I couldn’t allow it. As a man, I knew that it was my duty to take care of myself.

Terri

Over the next three months, I tried to keep my distance away from Daniel so that I could remain professional. I jumped down Jocelyn’s throat for coming on to him when, like Daniel said, it was none of my damn business. To be completely honest, I did that out of jealousy. Yes, jealousy. Lord only knows when the last time I possessed that emotion was. He brought so many unusual things out of me. Like laugher, for instance.

One rainy day, I was dropping him off from his first official photoshoot and he made me laugh so hard that I couldn’t tell if it was actually me who was laughing like that. Daniel was running inside his apartment with a few grocery bags. I was right behind him with a folder full of his photos, making sure that they didn’t get wet. Right as we got under the shelter, he took the biggest fall ever. My eyes widened as his feet lost all control and flew up in the air with his body tumbling down shortly after. The bags he carried came up in the air as well. Out of pure reaction, I busted out laughing while bending down to help him up. He looked up at me and frowned. That made me laugh even more. I completely lost it!

Daniel grabbed me by my waist and pulled me down to him, forcing me to lose my balance and topple over. He started to chuckle when he noticed how angry I instantly got. People were walking by staring at the two of us as if we had lost our damn minds.

We went up to his apartment drenched. As my clothes were being washed, I dressed in one of his baggy t-shirts and sweatpants and sat stiffly on the couch in his living room. The TV was playing a rerun of Family Guy. I needed to focus my attention on that rather than on the way Daniel looked in his black tank top and boxer shorts. He looked so damn good. The diet and exercise plan I assigned to him was really paying off. His biceps were noticeably more defined and I could see his abs pressed against the thin piece of material.

A hard knock on the door knocked me clear out of my thoughts. Daniel rushed over to open it and the sight of the pizza man made me widen my eyes. How ironic…

I jumped out off of the couch and walked over to him right as the door closed. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Eating…want some?” Daniel brushed me off and walked into the kitchen.

He opened the brown cardboard box and showcased the greasy meat infested pizza. “You’re not eating that.”

“Says who?” he challenged.

I slammed the box down and blocked him from getting back inside of it. “Me! Daniel, you have a magazine photoshoot a week from today and you’re sitting here indulging yourself with this piece of junk!”

“Terri, please move or I will move you myself. I’m starving.”

“You’re not eating that” I repeated, standing my ground.

As promised, Daniel grabbed me by the waist and pulled me into his body. My eyes rolled to the back of my head at the scent of his fresh-out-of-the-shower scent. He reached behind me and pulled a slice of pizza out of the box.

As soon as he released me to search for a plate, I grabbed him by the back of his shirt and jumped on his back. Now, I don’t know why the hell I did that but I did. He began laughing as I reached for his pizza like a little child.

“Give me that!” I shouted like a mad woman.

Daniel stuffed it in his mouth and began to moan in an overly exaggerated manner.  “So delicious…”

I gave up and hopped off of him. He turned around and gave me that sexy smirk. Fuck, I hated when he did that shit. “You should treat yourself to a slice or two. This is the best pizza I’ve had since I’ve been here.”

“It’s garbage. What you’re eating is garbage…” I breathed out.

He pointed over to the trashcan and continued to chew. “No, that’s garbage. What I’m eating is heaven in the form of food.”

“I can’t believe you’re eating that shit right in front of me! What happened to the meal plan I had you following??”

“I still follow it. Calm down, woman. Today is my break day.”

“I don’t remember giving you this so-called break day…”

“Because you didn’t. Look-“ he paused and leaned against the counter. I awkwardly stood in the middle of the kitchen as he talked. “Your diet is really strict and the only way I can stay true to it is by giving myself a weekly rest day.”

I looked at him with pursed lips. He made a valid point. The diet I had him following consisted of mostly protein and hardly any carbs. Of course, he had to drink water and stay away from anything deep-fried, sugary, or carbonated. I didn’t take it into consideration that he was a college-aged young man who wouldn’t gain a single pound from eating pizza all day, everyday.

The last time I had pizza was years ago. Since I was getting older, I made sure to keep a healthy, clean diet so I wouldn’t gain the pounds that came with age and never be able to shed them.

“Eat some” he insisted, holding out a slice to me. I could practically see the grease dripping off of the damn thing. He didn’t need to know that I was starving just like him due to the fact that I’ve been too busy to eat. “I know you’re hungry, Terri and it’s not like you’re going to gain any weight from indulging every once in a while.”

Fuck it…

A proud grin was plastered on his face as he watched me take a huge slice out of the box and take a bite out of it. “That’s my girl…” he whispered.

The rest of the night was spent joking around and watching a few TV shows. The weather had gotten worse and I refused to drive in it. He let me sleep on his bed while he slept on the couch. Although I didn’t tell him much about my personal life, I felt like he was beginning to know the other side of me. The side that I kept hidden from everybody I know and that scared the living shit out of me. Throughout that stormy night, the thought of him previously being homeless never occurred to me. All I could think about was how he made me smile and how much of a great personality he has. I liked that he didn’t seem afraid of me anymore and that he accepted me for me. He made an effort to break though my brick wall instead of telling me to soften up or change altogether.

Damn.

Daniel

“Hey you”

I smiled and turned around at the sound of Terri’s smooth voice. She sent me a text earlier asking to meet her at her office.

“Hey” I responded. She walked past me and unlocked her office with a frown on her face. “What’s wrong, Terri?”

“We need to have a talk.”

“About?”

“Close the door, please.”

Her business-like tone had me worried. What did she have up her sleeve? It was very unusual hearing her speak to me like this. Over the past few months, we’ve developed a unique friendship and right now it feels like we’re back at step one.

“You’re scaring me. What’s wrong?”

“I don’t like to fuck around, so I’ll tell you straight up. I’m ending our contract together and you’re going to be signing with Alonzo Lopez.”  

Daniel

“No” I quickly spat out in disgust. Where the hell was all of this coming from? She sat behind her desk with a conflicted expression on her face. It almost looked as if she didn’t really want to do this; as if she was forcing herself to do it. Terri stared at the chestnut door behind me with her entrancing brown eyes and blinked rapidly. Her gaze seemed to set on anything but me. “Where is this even coming from? I’m not going anywhere.”

“Don’t question my motives” she gulped.

I took a step closer to her desk and crossed my arms over my chest. “Can you at least look at me and give me a good reason to you’re making such an idiotic decision?”

Terri’s forehead wrinkled as she finally looked me in the eyes. “Excuse me?!”

“You heard me” I paused. “God, you’re being such a coward right now.  I can’t believe this. Oh, you know what? Give me a honest-to-God reason to why you no longer want me to be your client. That’s all I need. “

Seconds passed before she said something. “I don’t have to give you any kind of justification for my actions, boy. Okay? I damn near own this fucking company and an entry-level model such as yourself is not going to come up in my office and act like he deserves some kind of reasoning.”

“Your words no longer hurt me, Terri. You’re not as hard as you want everyone to believe you are and you’re afraid that your little wall is being softened so what you do is ‘fire me’. You want me to disappear so that you can remain cold and heartless. That’s exactly why I refuse to go anywhere. I may be new to this whole world of yours, but sweetheart, I’m no fucking idiot. I can tell when people are afraid of something, and it’s written all over that beautiful face of yours.”

Terri began shaking her head, emotion beginning to well up in her eyes. “Look Daniel, just because I’ve become somewhat ‘nice’ to you doesn’t mean anything. You still don’t know a thing about me and I would greatly appreciate it if you stopped acting like you know who I am-“

“Please, just stop. Stop right there. I didn’t say I knew anything about you. Hell, I don’t even know how old you are. What I do know is that you’ve got a dark past. You’ve got something locked up inside of you begging to come out. No one could have this…this…” I began waving my hands around, trying to figure out a word that I could use to describe her personality, or lack thereof.  “unsympathetic, heartless, cruel persona you have going on. Unless something happened to them in the past.”

Right as she opened her mouth in response, there was a knock on the door. Since it was unlocked, a baldhead guy strutted in and shut the door behind him. Noticing the intense atmosphere, he looked between Terri and I, and finally reached his hand out for me to shake. “Alonzo Lopez” he said. “Daniel Jones, correct?”

“Yes…” I trailed off, not bothering to shake his manicured hand.

Alonzo went behind Terri and squeezed her shoulders, making her immediately tense up and let out a low groan. “I can’t believe you’re giving him up” he smirked. “Ah, let me shut up before you change your mind. My two girls are outside of your office waiting, as promised.”

“Get your hands off of me before I-“

The baldheaded man silenced her with a quick kiss on her right cheek. Terri grimaced and slapped him away. “Daniel” she sighed. “You have to sign this. Please.”

“Let me think about it.”

“You have a day” Terri quickly retorted. “You can assume whatever you want to assume about why I’m passing over your contract, but just know that I’m only doing what’s for the best of you.”

I flared my nostrils, shook my head, and exited the room as quickly as my body would allow. When I reached the lobby area, I noticed two skinny blondes chatting with each other on an ivory colored vintage-type sofa. They both simultaneously shot their heads up at me and flashed flirtatious smiles. My cheeks involuntarily burned at the attention I was getting.

“Hey!” one of them shouted. I turned around and lifted my eyebrows.

She began speaking with a strong French accent. “You’re the new guy, right?”

“Yes”

“My name’s Laetitia and this is Audrie” she pointed to her friend.

Right as I extended my hand out to shake their hands, the both of them got up and gave me kisses on the both of my cheeks. Must be some European thing. The two women were extremely attractive and they were definitely something I would have been drooling over a few years ago, but after taking a good look at them, I felt no attraction whatsoever. Laetitia had long wavy dirty blonde hair, striking greenish-grey eyes, and a slight gap between her front two teeth. Her body type was thin for the most part with a definite exception to her breasts. Those things had to be at least a double C or something. Audrie on the other hand was skinnier. The thing that stood out the most to me about her was her somewhat exotic look. Her hair, just like Latitia’s, was long blonde and wavy. Her eyes were big and blue. Her facial structure was strong and very angular, almost like mines; very high cheekbones. The fullness of her lips added to her interesting features. The two ladies had to be around 6’3” in the heels that they wore.

I nodded with a quaint smile and said “Nice to meet you”.

“Why are you so antsy?” Audrie asked in a British accent as she pulled me back towards them. “You should hang out with us tonight. There’s this club-“

“No thanks ladies. Thanks for the invitation.”

They gave me suspicious looks as I departed from them. I could feel their eyes burning into my back. Hanging out with them would be an adventure in the making, but all I could think about was getting answers to Terri’s sudden change in mind. I also felt jealousy towards the two women because their new boss would eventually be Terri if I didn’t figure out a way to get her to change her mind.

~*~*~*~

Instead of taking the bus back to my apartment, I decided to get dropped off at Laila’s and hoped to God that she’d be there. The doormen and receptionist were very familiar with me so it was no problem getting up to her place.

She answered the door with her usual bright smile. This time, red lipstick that complemented her hair coated her full lips and a tight red V-neck dress covered her body in all of the right places. “Are you gonna just stand out there and stare or come in?” she interrupted.

I nervously gulped and followed her into the apartment. Attempting to distract myself from provocatively ogling at her perfectly round ass, I asked her the question I’ve been dying to ask as soon as I saw her in that getup. “Date?”

“If you want to call a charity ball a date, then yes. Me and my money will be having a night full of romance and passion” Laila flashed me a smile and got back to getting herself ready.

I made myself comfortable by plopping down in her sofa. The thing felt like it was made out of memory foam and cushion made from the gods themselves. I rolled my eyes back into my head and tried to focus on relaxation.

“So what’s up? Everything alright? You look a bit stressed.”

“No…” I let out a low grunt. “Everything’s not okay. Terri wants me to sign with some dude named Alonzo.”

“What?!!!” Laila shrieked, forcing me to cover my ears and wince.

She ran over to where I was sitting and continued to scream. “You’re kidding right?!”

My hand combed through my shaggy hair out of frustration. “Nope. Apparently, I’m not good enough for her anymore. I don’t know what happened. First we’re cool with each other. I might even go as far as saying we became friends. Then this morning, she pulls this shit.”

“Oh no…” she began to panic. “No no no…”

“Please tell me you have some sort of plan that’ll keep me from signing that damn contract. Beggars can’t be choosers, but I don’t think I trust that Alonzo guy. He looks like he’s up to something.”

Laila ignored me as she lifted one of the sofa cushions up in search of her phone. She spotted it and dialed Terri’s number. It went straight to voicemail. Out of frustration, Laila dropped the phone on the floor. She began to nervously pace around the small living room. “Agh! I don’t know why she’s doing this. She knows all that’s at risk. Why Terri…”

My head shot back in forth, keeping up with her random movements. As if she had a sudden epiphany, Laila stopped in her tracks, smacked her palm against her forehead, and let her hand fall down her face. “Oh my God…really…?”

“Laila, what is it?” I anxiously asked.  

She looked at me with wide eyes. “I think she has feelings for you”

Terri

I sat in the darkness of my apartment with all kinds of bitterness shooting through my veins. All I kept thinking was “Did I just make the worst decision of my career?” I continuously thought this over and over again until I put myself in a funky mood. The look on Alonzo’s face was full of victory and arrogance. He knew that signing Daniel would be the highlight of his career and he didn’t even have to do much to get him. The sheer thought of Daniel being under him made me want to vomit. Clearly, I’m not in my right mind. I can see potential ten miles away and having Daniel as a client could do all kinds of things for me.

And that’s just it.

When I say all kinds of things…I mean all kinds of things. I guess that’s what scares the hell out of me. I haven’t felt so out of control of with my emotions since…well, since Jerome. Knowing that I was on the verge of being an emotional, weak mess, I felt the need to save myself and the only way to accomplish this would be to get that kid away from me as far as possible.  He brought shit out of me that I didn’t think anyone could. He confronted me without being full of fear or condescension. He started to force me to face my past without knowing a single thing about it.

I brought the glass of wine to my lips and smirked. With his young cute ass…

What business do I have thinking inappropriate thoughts about a college-aged young man? Barely into adulthood was what he was…

The attraction I had for him was something I could no longer deny. With his stupid tantalizing cologne, his stupid beautiful face, and his stupid humble personality, I found it harder each day not to be like Jocelyn’s straightforward ass and make a move on him.

An unexpected knock on the door tore me from my thoughts. Now who could that be? Laila? It wouldn’t be too much of a surprise, assuming that Daniel spilled the beans on the happenings of earlier today. I felt a wave of dizziness as I lifted myself out of the chair. It probably had something to do with the three glasses of wine I just gulped down.

Without looking through the peephole, I unlocked my front door and swung it open. It wasn’t Laila.

~*~*~*

The way the moonlight and soft breeze affected Daniel made me almost whimper. How dare he show up at my doorstep looking this sexy? I stumbled back, nearly dropping the glass of wine to the floor, and took in his appearance. He wasn’t dressed in his usual neutral way of dressing. Daniel had on an olive green Los Angeles Angels baseball shirt and a pair of dark form-fitting denim jeans. Black shoes peeped from under them.

“Are you gonna just stand there and stare or are you gonna let me in?” he half-smiled.

I looked at him for a few more seconds before shaking my head and giving the door a weak push, attempting to close it. Daniel blocked it and invited himself in. I was too tipsy for this shit. He walked past me and turned on a lamp that sat on the nearest coffee table. “Why are you sitting in the dark? We need to talk.”

“I don’t believe I formally invited you in…” I mumbled after closing the door behind him.

“Oh, so you’re not a happy drunk I take it?”

“I’m not drunk and you need to get the hell out of my apartment.”

“You don’t want me to leave. I mean, you literally just closed the door behind me.”

I clenched my teeth and furrowed my brows. “Get. Out.” Somewhere deep inside, I was telling myself that I didn’t really want him to leave. His presence made everything in my body go haywire.

“Terri, I’m not leaving until we settle things.”

“That’s what my office is for, you-“

“I didn’t come here to argue. I just want to have a civil conversation where we both lay things out on the table.”

I watched him as he lightly grasped my arm and motioned for me to take a seat on a barstool. He took the glass out of my hand and placed in on top of the countertop. “I think it’s safe to say that you’re done for the night” he softly chuckled.

“Please leave, Daniel” I practically whined. In that moment, I felt miserable and I looked a hot fucking mess. He was probably used to seeing me with my head up, radiating with confidence instead of having a bowed head and being damn near drunk. “You don’t need to see my like this.”

“Like what?” he asked in a whisper. “Yourself? You’re human…we all get caught up in our emotions.”

I ignored him and tried not to focus on the effect the aroma of his cologne and masculinity had on me. He moved closer. In between my legs this time. It was hard trying to stop his subtle movements because I wanted him to keep going. I felt like a damn high schooler.

“Terri” he bent down and inched closer to the side of my neck. I could feel the heat of his breath on my collarbone.

“Daniel, please…” This time I whimpered. By instinct, I grabbed ahold of the back of his shirt so my half-drunk ass wouldn’t fall back and embarrass myself.

Daniel turned his head so that his lips were barely touching my neck. When did we reach this point of intimacy?? “You continue to call me a kid…that’s all you do, Terri. Why?”

“Because that’s what you are!”

“Would a kid do this?”

“Wh-“ Before the rest of the word could come out of my mouth, I felt the warmness of his tongue on my collarbone make its way all the way up to the bottom of my left earlobe. He caught the lobe in between his lips and gave it a quick and gently tug. The grip I had on his shirt tightened as a suppressed moan escaped my mouth. Shit…

Right then, I didn’t care about a damn thing. I didn’t care about the agent/client thing. I didn’t care about the consequences. I just didn’t care. All I wanted was him. On top of me. Naked. I could feel myself getting wet and full of desire.  If he gave me that one look, it would all be over.

“I should go” Daniel groaned into my ear. “I didn’t come over here to do this.”

“Finish what you started!”

“No” he pushed himself away and avoided eye contact. I looked down and saw his very large “partner” standing at full attention, pressing against his jeans and begging to be set free. If only I could get some sort of sneak peak… “You have feelings for me, Terri. And that’s why you are trying to get me away from you.”

I grabbed his chin and forced him to look at me. “You sound too sure of yourself. What makes you think I would waste my time on something as juvenile as you?”

He clutched the hand I grabbed his chin with and forcefully moved it away. With his other hand, he lifted my chin up and began to place harder, tender kisses on my neck. My pussy immediately began to tremble as I moaned into the air again. Shit shit shit…

“You’re an open book, ya know?” I could feel him smiling into my neck. “You need affection but you get frightened when someone you share a mutual attraction to starts to give it to you. Why is that?”

“I don’t tell my business to strangers” I could hardly get out.

Daniel moved his sweet kisses up to my chin and stopped before they rested on my lips, which were ready and waiting. “You don’t tell your business to anybody. All of your thoughts, bad and good, are stored up in that brain of yours because you’re too chicken to let them out.”

I pushed him away from me and started to get frustrated.

“What? The truth is hard to hear, huh?”

“I wish you’d stop trying to get a read on me like you’re some psychic!” I yelled in a messy fit.  “You don’t know me and you’ll never know me…” I said in hopes to knock him down a few notches. “Whatever this is needs to stop. It’s inappropriate and I am way too old for you to even begin to handle.”

Within seconds, Daniel snatched me up and sat me on top of the counter. He moved the glass of wine over and pushed me down so that he remained standing between my legs. They were hanging off the countertop as my breath caught in my throat. He pushed the flimsy material of my silk nightshirt aside and began to place more hot kisses along the flatness of my toned stomach. The sound of him suckling and licking turned me on in ways I didn’t know existed. “You underestimate every aspect of me and I think it’s about time you learn your lesson” he huskily whispered against my bare skin.

He took my left hand into his and individually placed each of my fingers into his mouth. As he sucked on them, he looked me deep in the eyes. I could only imagine what else he could do with his mouth. All of this kissing that didn’t involve mouth-to-mouth was torture.

Kiss me already! I wanted to scream.

“I want you to know that I will not stop until I know all there is to know about you, Terri Lawson.”

Right as he bent down to join our lips together, I grabbed him by his shirt and kissed him as hard as my body would allow. The sensation of his soft, welcoming lips made my eyes roll to the back of their sockets. Daniel snatched my body up again and wrapped my legs around his muscular back. He had me pinned up against the nearest wall in no time. I hit it with a loud thud, almost thinking I put a dent or hole in it. A smug grin crossed his face as he took my mouth into his and began to passionately make love to my it. Daniel tasted of mints, like he prepared for this exact moment to happen. Either that, or he had award worthy dental health.

I could hardly keep up with him as he was completely devouring me. My arms were crossed around the back of his neck. If this kiss got any more intense, we’d end up in the bedroom for sure. The whole thing was messy. It was like we couldn’t control ourselves. Like we craved each other. He groaned. I sighed. Without thinking, I began lifting his shirt off. One by one, each of his set of abs became visible, making me bite my bottom lip in anticipation.

Daniel tightly wrapped one of his arms around my back, holding me closer to him while the hand of his other arm came up and cupped my face. “You have the face of an angel…” he murmured. “I want you so bad. You just don’t know…”

Before I could answer, the front door swung open and in walked Laila.

Daniel

The appearance of Laila made both Terri and I sober up. What we just did was something I only dreamt about. I for sure did not expect that to happen. I didn’t even know she fucking wanted me until Laila mentioned it.

Terri’s face immediately became flushed as she squirmed like a baby out of my arms. She pushed me aside and walked towards her best friend who had dropped a brown paper bag on the floor. Laila’s face was stuck in a surprised “O” formation. She tried to speak but nothing came out. I assumed, due to her casual entrance, that she was coming over to speak to Terri about what happened.

“Lay…girl, I can explain. It’s not what it looks like” Terri breathed out. She continued to walk over to Laila with her arms up, palms facing forward. Like she was about to get arrested or something.

Leaning against the wall, I sighed and watched the two ladies. “What do you mean it’s not what it looks like?” she smirked. “Damn. I’d thought you’d never get some. You have been a little on edge lately.”

I widened my eyes and tried not to snicker at her ridiculous reaction. Even if it was just a snippet of something, I made all sorts of assumptions about the little piece of information Laila shared about Terri’s love life. Had it truly been a that long since her last sexual encounter? When was the last time she’s been touched by a man? Could this be the reason to her permanent grouchiness? Mentally shrugging, I thought about how believable that would be. The women acted like a prude. Judging by the way she responded to my touches, it became obvious that she hasn’t been with a man in a long while. Maybe years…

“Oh please” Terri rolled her eyes. “Forget what you just saw okay? Will you do that for me?”

As if I weren’t standing in the room, Terri continued to go on about how insignificant this little rendezvous was to her and how she would never do it again. I watched her closely and noticed her quick breaths. She was panicking. Maybe she was scared.

Laila ignored her requests and walked over to me. “You alright?”

“Yeah” I awkwardly answered. The tension in the room was thicker than a cemented wall. “I think I’ll be leaving now.”

“That would be perfect!” Terri exclaimed. As I passed her, I affectionately rubbed my thumb across her cheek, gave her one last look, and scurried out of the apartment.

Terri

Laila squealed as loud as she could right as the door clicked closed. I looked at her and rolled my eyes once again. She needed to leave before I became even more emotionally vulnerable and told her everything that was on my mind.

Trying to change the subject and ease the tension, I looked her up and down and cocked my right brow up. “Where’d you go dressed like that?” I have always been a bit envious of the little curves she had going on.

Laila took a seat on the sofa and started to play with a brown leather pillow. “Charity Ball. I told you about it, remember?”

“No, I don’t. How did it go?”

“Don’t try to change the subject, Terri” she smirked. “Tell me everything that happened. From start to finish.”

“It’s not of your business” I sighed.

She pushed her bright red bottom lip out and pouted. “Oh c’mon. I’m your best friend and Daniel’s like our little protégé. I need to know what happened!”

“Laila…you know I don’t do this. You know I’m not into sharing my life. And I’m trying to be polite right now because my mind’s all fucked up…so-“

“Please?” she half whined, half begged. “Don’t shut me out, Ter. It’s obvious that you need to talk to someone about this. By now you should trust me. I love you too much to go out and talk shit about you. Girl, you know so much about me because I trust you. I trust you with knowing the fact that I’m not as innocent and angelic as my parents have been led into believing. You know all of my deepest and darkest secrets. From my first crush to when I walked in on my stepmother cheating on my dad.”

I looked into her pleading doe eyes and frowned. She was right; I couldn’t stay like this forever. It wasn’t healthy and after all of these years of trying to protect myself from getting hurt, I realized that I was only hurting myself. Everyone, including my friends and family from Sacramento, has given up on me. Everyone but Laila and I should appreciate her more than I have been. Expressing my feelings was something that didn’t come natural. I had a hard time trying to go into description about my thoughts. Over the years I’ve been contemplating getting a therapist but what could they tell me that I already didn’t know?  It wasn’t like I wasn’t aware of my behavior and how I’ve treated people. It was the burning fact that I couldn’t stop. Damaging people’s egos was something that brought a sick comfort to me.

Deep deep down, I knew that all I wanted was to be listened to and understood. I wanted to be nurtured. It’d be nice if someone could take care of me for once in a while. For someone to bring appreciation and the knowledge of my worth into a relationship with unconditional love would be my ideal affair.

My past wasn’t so dark that I should have justifiable reasons to why I treat everyone like shit, but apparently that didn’t matter to me. I was too far in; too deep. I needed someone to save me.

“Terri? Hellooo?” Laila waved her hand in front of face, carrying a confused expression. “Are you drunk?”

“No, Lay, I’m not drunk.”

She scooted over allowing me to take a seat beside her on the couch. I slid my arm around hers and cuddled closer to her. “Okay, now I know you’re drunk. You only do this when you-“

“Laila…I’m not drunk” I frustratingly groaned. “Maybe a little tipsy…but I’m sure as hell not drunk. I’m definitely going to remember everything in the morning. Unfortunately.”

She pulled me closer to her and smiled. “Aww, is this emotion that I’m seeing?”

“Shut up” I laughed. “I need to get some things off of my chest. Everything’s eating me up inside and if I don’t get it out I just might end up a mental hospital.”

Terri

“Well…?” Laila pressed.

I looked up at her and sighed. Why was it so hard for me to put my thoughts into words all of a sudden? When did I reach this point in my life where I find it extremely uncomfortable and hard to tell my supposed best friend stuff that best friends should already know?

“Well what?” I sarcastically replied.

“We’ve been sitting here for at least thirty minutes. I’m not trying to pressure you into saying something, but c’mon Ter…you’re the one who initiated this conversation.”

“True.”

“So go on?”

“I don’t know where to begin, to be honest, Lay. There’s so much shit bottled up inside me that I have nowhere to start. It’s all a mess.”

“Start off with telling me how things were when you were little? Even if it’s just your parents’ names. I’d love to hear about that stuff.”

“Their names are Katherine and Jeffery and I haven’t spoken to them in about ten years…”

“Why??”

“I don’t know. I’ve been so caught up with work and traveling that I sort of lost contact with them.”

“They’re your parents. How could you possibly forget about them? If you really wanted to talk to them, you would have made an effort.”

“You’re right. I guess I didn’t really care enough to keep them updated with my life. I changed my number, my address, and stopped talking to everyone from home altogether.”

“Seems to me like you made more of an effort to remove them from your life than to keep them in it. Why is that?”

“Because they were too nosy. They always wanted to know what I was up to. It was like I was living through them since they never got the chance to go to college or make something of themselves. I was so tired of having to call them up everyday and describe, in detail, every action I made during that particular day.”

“Did you ever consider the thought that maybe they cared about you and were worried about you being so far away from them? What I do know about you is that you’re their only child. That’s how my dad is with me. Especially since we’ve got this whole wealth thing going for us. I may not be aware of all the reasons to why you decided not to talk to them anymore, but judging by what you just said…I say you call them up one day. You need to know how they’re doing.”

“I can’t, Laila. My mom is so annoying!”

“All moms are annoying, but that’s just how they are. It’s because they love us so much and they’d hate to see us make a bad turn in life.”

“She hung the phone up on me when I told her I stopped going to church. Of all the things I’ve done right with my life, I chose to not be around the world’s biggest hypocrites and she gets pissed off. And that’s just one example. The woman was definitely not right in her head.”

“Right…so now that you’re looking back on that, do you regret it? You know, not talking to her because of that?”

“In some ways, yes; because I get so lonely…but I feel like that was something that needed to be done.”

“Since you’re trying to turn your life around and all that good stuff…I think the first step would be to reconcile with your parents. A lot of people feel super empty when they’re not in a good place with their parents. Another step you can take, which is completely irrelevant to your family…is to fuck the living hell out of Daniel Jones” she smirked.

I shot my head up and gave her a shocked expression. “Where the hell did that come from?”

“You knew it was inevitable. I just caught you two in a very compromising position. Did you think I was going to really forget that? Seriously?”

“Yeah, well. I’m not ready to talk about that right now because I’m still trying to wrap my own head around it.”

“I knew there was a spark between ya’ll! Tell the truth. How long has this been going on? Is he any good in bed?”

“Laila! No! I don’t know! Stop asking questions!” I shouted out. She began laughing in a teasing kind of way. The whole situation was too awkward for me to have to deal with but she deserved an explanation and I knew Daniel and I had to talk eventually. He deserved answers.

Laila rubbed my arm in an attempt to comfort me. “I’m excited because you could have a real chance at happiness. Daniel is bringing something out in you that I have never seen and he’s only known you for a short time. Give him a chance.”

“I’m not giving him anything. This isn’t some sort of fantasy. My job and life is on the line! He needs to go find someone his own age. I’m too complicated. Too damaged for him.”

“You can keep trying to make up excuses all you want, but trust me on this. There’s something there and if you fuck it up, you’ll be missing out on a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

Rolling my eyes, I unwrapped my arm from around her and scooted over to the other side of the couch.

“No pressure” Laila added with a short giggle.

Various thoughts began to pop up inside my head. A large majority of them had to do with my future. Where do I go from here?

Daniel

Sleep for that night did not come easy for me. What the hell was I thinking when I kissed Terri? The fact that she was my boss didn’t cross my mind once as I caressed every inch of her slim body. If Laila hadn’t made an entrance, only God knows what would have happened between us. The woman was like a piping hot stove burner and I was the curious little boy who wanted to find out what it was like to touch it. I could only dream about having a future with her. She didn’t seem like the future “type”. My determination to discover more about her was higher than ever.

The next couple of days were unusually miserable for me because it was obvious that Terri was hiding from me. It was good that I didn’t have to sign the contract, but I missed her. I wanted to see her. Laila avoided giving me any information each time I bought her up so I was frustrated. Alonzo Lopez would stop me every time he saw me and would say something to “convince” me that signing with him was the right choice.

Being that Terri was always on top of her game, I was scheduled for multiple photo shoots and group sessions. She kept me busy so that I had no real reason to bother her. After my last photo shoot for the week, I picked up some coffee and caught the bus over to Terri’s apartment. Not speaking to me was not going to cut it.

She answered the door with a pair of tight black shorts on and a loose fitting tank top. She was holding a red coffee cup and her hair was pulled back into a low bun. Sexy wasn’t even the word…

“What are you doing here?” She asked with a straight emotionless face.

I walked past her and into the apartment. “I bought coffee.”

Terri slowly swirled around to meet my gaze. “That definitely was not the answer to my question…”

“We need to talk. Again…and I promise it won’t end up like last time. I swear.”

She looked down and blushed. “I’m not ready to talk about that, Daniel.”

“I can do most of the talking or whatever you want me to do but we can’t pretend like that didn’t happen. There’s no way we can avoid this.”

I watched her as she closed the door and grabbed the coffees out of my hand. “Have a seat.”

She put the cups down on the table and sat down in the couch directly across from me. I sat down and took notice of her nervousness. Terri must have crossed and uncrossed her legs at least five or six times. It was cute.

“Say what you have to say and leave.”

“Harsh much?” I joked.

“Nothing’s changed.”

“Right. Okay…so, what do we do from here?”

“If I had the overriding choice in the matter, I’d say we ignore it and go about our daily lives…but-“ She paused and shook her head.

“But?”

“I’m trying to change.”

“Because?”

“I don’t think I’m a good person” she shrugged. “And you know what’s funny about this whole thing? I’ve never openly admitted it. I’ve never opened up to anyone.”

“Why are you choosing to do it now?”

“I blame you.”

“Me?” I pointed to myself.

Terri smirked and brought her legs up to her chest, resting her chin on her knees. “It’s something about you that makes me so…vulnerable. It’s like I feel helplessly emotional around you and I hate it.”

“Of course you hate it. No one, especially someone as independent and strong as you, likes to feel weak and powerless. Like I said before, you’ve got to let people in. You can’t be strong forever.”

“True. Look, what happened between us last night was inappropriate and I wish I could say that I hope it never happens again, but I enjoyed myself way too much” she smiled. The sight of her flashing a genuine smile made my heart dropped. I had to clench my chest and pick up my breathing pattern in order to alleviate the uncomfortable feeling. “I don’t know if that spurred from me being a little…rusty…in my love life” Terri cleared her throat, signaling slight embarrassment. “Or…”

I lifted myself out of my spot on the sofa and made my way over to her. She looked up at me with innocent eyes and did a semi-pout. Before she could protest, I bent down and pulled her up out of the tan colored antique looking chair. “How long has it been?”

“How long as what been?” she quietly asked.

I gently tugged her closer to me and placed my left arm around her waist as my right arm was wrapped around her upper back. We were standing in a hug in the middle of her living room. “Since you’ve been with a man, Terri…” I whispered.

Terri shuddered between my arms and began to avoid contact. “I don’t believe that’s any of your business.”

“Do you ever get tired of telling people that? Don’t you think they know it’s none of their business since they’re asking you a personal question in the first place? Has it ever occurred to you that they want to know more about you? Everyone isn’t out there to hurt you.”

I could feel her pushing away from me. Like it came natural for her to push away anyone who wanted to get emotionally close to her.  I pulled her closer. “Tell me. I’m not going anywhere until you tell me.”

She whimpered as I tenderly grabbed her chin and forced her to make eye contact with me.  “Why do you need to know this?”

“I care about you. I want to see you happy because you deserve it. Everyone deserves to have something or someone that makes them look forward to getting up in the morning.”

“What makes you think I don’t have that?” she stared into my eyes as her lips quivered.

Caressing her soft cheek, I bent down closer to her face. “You walk around with great power, but you look sad. You look like you’re mentally crying out for help. You want someone to come along and show you that life is worth living. You need excitement. Someone who completes you and understands you.”

“Fuck you. You don’t know anything about me” Terri spat out.

“Ah, yet another overused statement from you” I pulled her closer. So close that our lips were practically touching. “I don’t run away easily so you’ll really have to try in order for me to even budge.”

Tears were threatening to stream from her eyes but something was holding them back. That’s when I began to wonder about how long it’s been since the woman cried.

“You’re right. I know nothing about you. Absolutely nothing! But you know what? I’m making an effort to know you. I want to know everything about you because like I’ve stated before…I care about you! Is it so hard for you to believe that someone gives a fuck about you? For God’s sake! You have Laila, you’ve got me…you’ve got your family-“

“I don’t have anybody!!” she cried out. “Which is fine. I don’t deserve to be close to anyone. The only person that can save me is myself.”

“Save you from what?”

“Myself, Daniel. I’m the one who causes all of the isolation and coldness in my heart. It’s all on me! You…or Laila can’t help me. Okay? Now leave me alone.” This time she was strong enough to shrug herself out of my arms. Terri stormed into the kitchen and proceeded to pour herself a glass of wine.

The next ten minutes passed in silence. I sat on one of the four barstools and observed her. She was nervously tapping her fingers on the countertop as she downed her third glass of merlot. “Are you trying to get yourself drunk?” I murmured.

“If that makes you leave, then yes. I am trying to get drunk. Drunk enough so I won’t have to remember any of this” Terri harshly responded.

I got up, walked around the counter, and over to her. She quietly looked up at me as I removed the glass from her hand and placed it on the countertop. “You do know I’m not leaving until we talk, right? I don’t have anything planned for tomorrow so I suggest you start talking unless you’d enjoy having a sleepover.”

Terri continued to stare at me until she was defeated. “It’s been seventeen years.”

“Seventeen years?!” I exclaimed with wide eyes. What the hell? How?! What? Damn! How could a woman this beautiful go this many years without having sex? `

“Yeah” she bowed, clearly ashamed of herself. “I have my reasons. And you better not tell this to anybody. Laila doesn’t even know…”

“I won’t.”

More seconds passed.

“What are your reasons?”

“Why were you homeless?”

“Not the response I was looking for…but if you must know, it’s because the career path I was looking to launch didn’t turn out in my favor.”

“How so?” she cocked her head to the side and crossed her arms over her chest.

“I came to Hollywood like any other gullible hopeful college student and got my hopes up. I quit my studies to run after my dream.”

“How did you get homeless from that? Couldn’t you simply have gotten a regular job and worked to afford a place to live?”

“I looked into all of that, trust me. No one wanted to hire me due to my lack of previous work experience. My parents decided to not support me so there I was. All alone in this huge city without a pot to piss in.”

“How long were you on the streets?”

“Almost a year. And then you and Laila came along. I considered the two of you to be my angels. You saved me.”

“You considered me to be an angel after I treated you like the scum of the earth?”

“Yes. I knew you meant well.”

“Right.”

“How old are you?”

Terri sighed and took a step closer to me. “Might’ve well tell you since I’ve been telling you everything else about myself, huh?”

I nodded my head and pulled her closer to me.

“I’m thirty-nine. Fortieth birthday’s in a month. I love anything that has strawberries in it. I’m a spiritual person but far from religious…and I secretly listen to rock music.”

“See? Now was that so hard?” I chuckled. “Also, you don’t look a day over thirty.”

“Thanks.”

When she was finally in my arms, I began placing small kisses along the line of her collarbone and neck. Terri let out a low moan and automatically pulled me closer to her. Once I reached her soft and inviting lips, I closed my mouth over hers and gave her a sensual kiss. She sighed against my lips and wrapped her arms around the back of my neck. My fingers crawled from the bottom of her back and up into her tank top, coming in contact with the smoothness of her brown skin. As I felt the tip of her tongue seductively make its way into my mouth, I growled. The kiss deepened into one of those hungry, starved ones. Terri’s hands framed both sides of my face and I could feel her tongue gently massaging mines. She grinded her pelvis up against mines giving me an immediate hard-on. I blushed at the sensation. 

Unable to control myself, my hands found themselves grabbing her tight little ass and giving it a semi-hard slap. Terri reacted instantly by giggling against my lips and tugging my hair as she nibbled on my bottom lip. My hands eventually slid themselves up past her slim waist and to her perky breasts. She let out a loud whimper as I cupped them in my hands and gave them a slight squeeze.

The kiss ended with Terri forcefully pushing herself away from me. She licked her lips and began to breathe heavily. “What are we doing?” she asked breathlessly.

“Making out…”

“No. We can’t. I need for you to sign that contract.”

I pulled her back towards me by grabbing her shirt and looking deep into her brown eyes. “I’m not signing that damn contract. I want you to manage my career. Not some jackass that only sees me as his meal ticket.”

“Daniel…”

“Terri. Baby.”

She sighed and closed her eyes out of frustration. “Don’t be difficult.”

“I’m not trying to be difficult. I want you in so many more ways than one. Just because we’re getting to know each other on another level does not mean you have to force me away. “

“You signing with Alonzo is the best thing for the both of us. I like to think about the consequences of every action I make and I like to think about how the future will be if I make a certain decision. If we continue whatever the hell this is…it’ll only end badly. You know how I can get. I’m very professional and I want you to have a great career. Doing this will only get in the way…no matter how much we want each other.”

“You’re right” I continued to hold her close to me.

“I am?”

“Yes…but I’m still not signing that contract. You like to play safe and it’s hard for you to take a chance at something unless you know for sure that you have control over the whole situation.”

“Please?” she whispered almost desperately.

“No and that’s my final answer.”

Terri

“I’ve been asking him for the last two weeks, Alonzo. He doesn’t want to sign with you so stop bothering me about it.”

Alonzo and I were sitting beside each other at a fashion show in New York City waiting for Daniel to make his debut appearance as a runway model. I was sandwiched between him and the overly ecstatic Laila. Jocelyn, the runway coach, sat behind me nervously tapping her foot against the ground while biting her fingernails. I had scored this gig at the last minute. One of the photographers from our many photo shoots recommended Daniel to a designer and the designer begged me to let him use my model. I have a strong belief that this will put him somewhere on the map and tomorrow I shall be expecting a ton of phone calls.

The runway was set up in a luxurious hotel in the middle of Manhattan. Hundreds were in attendance and there was a good vibe circulating within the building. Since both genders were participating in the fashion show, we got a good look at a few of the up and coming models of 2013. Each model had to showcase four different outfits from the designer’s new collection. Before the show started, Jocelyn coached Daniel as hard as she could on what not to do out there and how to save himself from embarrassment.

It all became surreal as Daniel stepped his first foot on the platform and began walking to the beat of the music. Jocelyn grabbed me and dug her short fingernails into my shoulder as she looked onward at the stage. “Here he is!” she shouted. “Oh God, I think I’m gonna throw up…”

Completely ignoring her, I focused my eyes on Daniel. Damn it if he didn’t look fine as hell in that outfit. He was dressed in a pair of fitted khakis, a black V-neck shirt, and an olive green military style jacket. He had on a pair of untied black combat boots as well. And he was working the shit out of that runway. Spectators were staring at him in awe and wanting to know who he was.

In that moment, I felt like a proud mother. Laila wrapped her arm around me and let out a low signature squeal. “He’s doing so great, Terri. If you let Alonzo sign him I will kill the both of you with my bare hands!”

“I’m not letting him do anything” I whispered to her. “He’s mine.”  After taking another look at Daniel as he began walking back to the beginning of the catwalk, I leaned over and whispered to her again. “All mines…”

3 months later…

Within the past three months, I’ve managed to reconstruct Daniel Jones from a shy, fragile scrawny little homeless boy to a confident, sex god of a man. The way he began to carry himself was something I’d never thought I’d see when I first met him. He came a long way, I’ll tell you that. The thing that made him sexy was the amount of humility he kept all throughout the process of becoming one of the top male models in America. After his first official fashion show in New York a few months back, I received more calls than expected. It seemed to be that everyone wanted this new raven-haired, blue-eyed young model to showcase his or her new line of clothing. Nearly each day of the week, Daniel was scheduled to make an appearance somewhere, making me somewhat overwhelmed.

For the first time in ten years, I was actually overwhelmed with my job.

The two models I managed (Tricia and Merissa) came back from touring Europe. Having to deal with them and Daniel at the same time while attempting to provide equal attention was beginning to take its toll on me. When the girls first met him, they were not only in awe by his attractiveness, but from his outstanding personality. They were so used to being treated like objects by other men in our field that they didn’t really know how to react to such an intriguing person. Even after all of the magazine photo shoots, TV advertisements, and catwalks, Daniel remained the same person. Although he was beginning to become a little flirtatious, especially with other women, I loved the new him. I loved what I created.

The both of us tried to push whatever feelings we had for each other aside and attempted to focus more on work and getting him to the top, but of course it didn’t exactly work out like that. He wanted more from me and so did Laila. Her nosy ass was all up in our business playing Miss Matchmaker. During each of his shows, I’d be right in the crowd cheering him on like a proud mother. His signature smirk is what set him off the charts. Women ate that shit up. All he had to do was twitch the corner of his mouth up and I could practically hear hundreds of panties simultaneously dropping. It was a good thing that he didn’t live for the attention like so many of the models I’ve previously managed.

I must admit though. It’s extremely hard not to fall for a guy like him. The way he looked at me with those sexy sapphire eyes made my stomach churn every time I stared into them. They reminded me of the bottom of the ocean: mysterious and wildly captivating. So piercing that I felt the need to hide my soul from them. Daniel also had a way of challenging my intense persona. He never just took my bullshit and ran with it. He questioned me and yelled right back at me when I raised my voice at him. At first, it took me by surprise, but I’ve grown to adapt to it. I’ve grown to adapt to a lot of things he’s been doing. I was beginning to get used to his presence.

That became a problem.

I found myself missing him while he was either attending conferences in different states or simply going to sleep at night. His company was becoming essential to my everyday life. All I would like to know is how in the hell did I go from being immensely annoyed by him to wanting to be with him romantically? When did I began to fall for him would be the better question I suppose?

The first thought that came to mind was the event that took place about a month ago.

~******~

I had just walked into my apartment after a long day at the office filling out large amounts of paperwork and setting up appointments. As soon as I strolled through the door, I went straight into relaxation mode by kicking off my black pumps and taking an article of clothing off with each couple of steps I took towards my bedroom. By the time I reached the king sized canopy bed, I was only dressed in black laced panties and the matching bra.

A loud, consecutive set of knocks on the front door startled the hell out of me. I definitely was not expecting company, but I had an idea to who it was. He always showed up at the most inconvenient times. He began to knock again, leaving me no choice but to wrap myself up in a silk robe and sprint over to let him in.

Daniel stood on the other side of the door with a huge grin on his face as usual. I gave up on asking him what he was doing here, so I just widened the crease in the door and allowed him to walk passed me. For a few seconds after closing the door, I admired the way he looked. Dressed in a pair of loose fitting olive green sweatpants, a black v-neck t-shirt, and black Sanuks, I had to refrain from eliciting a slight moan. He looked so damn good even when he wasn’t trying.

“What brings you by, Daniel?” I asked with a clear to my throat.

He fearlessly pulled me into him, flashing a coy smirk before my face was completely buried in the confinements of his broad chest. I would have immediately protested this action if it weren’t for the delightful scent from the combination of his cologne and aftershave. While hugging me, he planted his face into the crook of my neck and began to speak. The feeling of his breath on my neck caused the small hairs to stand at attention.

“I have a surprise for you.”

“A hug?” I sarcastically replied.

He let me loose and gently grasped me by the shoulders, making me look at him with a raised eyebrow. “More than that. I’ll show you tomorrow.”

“Okay. Well, if it’s for tomorrow, why are you here now?”

“Because…” he started to say, moving his hands up to each side of my face and caressing my cheeks. “I’ve invited myself to stay the night with you.”

“Excuse you? I don’t think so.”

“I think so.” Daniel grabbed my right hand and began to pull me towards the side of the apartment where my bedroom is located. “Did you already eat? Or should we order out?”

“Daniel!” I shouted, snatching my hand away and adjusting my robe. “No! You’re not staying the night. You can’t just show up and start running things. That’s not how it works, especially since you’re in my house.”

All he did was shake his head and smile like he was about to get me to change my mind or something. Not saying that this hasn’t happened before, but tonight was a night just like any other night for me. I didn’t want to be bothered.

He took a step towards me, carrying a dangerous expression. His eyes darkened and his smirk deepened. “I pride myself in having quite amazing tactics of persuasion.”

“You’re not going to persuade me to do anything. Now I’d like for you to leave” I lifted my hand and half-heartedly pointed my index finger towards the door.

“You don’t really mean that…” he whispered with a boyish expression.

I sighed and pretended to act annoyed. “If I didn’t mean it, I wouldn’t have said it. What part of this client-manager relationship do you not understand?”

“The part where we shamefully hide our affection and attraction for one another and continue to live our daily lives as if we’re not itching to see each other. Or…I don’t know, the part where every time I see you, I want to slam you on top of the nearest flat surface and do unimaginable things to you.”

My heart began to race at a rapid pace. No he didn’t just go there…

“Daniel…”

“Terri...” he whispered in reply.

“This isn’t college. I don’t do sleepovers.”

Daniel shrugged and, once again, tugged me closer to him. He tilted my chin up with his left hand and brought his head down. So close, that his lips were hovering over mines. “I guess I’m gonna have to kiss you until you have a change of heart.”

“Enough with the childish-“

He kissed me before I could finish. It started out with a peck, but of course ended up being much more than that. The sensation of the way his tongue slipped into my mouth felt oddly familiar; almost as it was supposed to be damn near down my throat. I groaned and wrapped my arms around the circumference of his neck, combing my fingers through the thickness of his hair. It took everything in me not to jump up, wrap my legs around his waist, tear his clothes off, and ride him into oblivion. Amazed that he could bring such a fiery emotion out of me, I broke the kiss and caught my breath.

“No…” I whimpered, wiping the corner of my mouth and avoiding eye contact.

Daniel forced me to make eye contact with him and then placed a line of kisses along my collarbone. My moans were no longer controlled at this point. He knew I wanted him. So bad. 

“Okay” I was defeated. He won. And that’s all it took. “Only for a night. And no funny business.”

“Of course not” Daniel smiled. “I knew you couldn’t resist me, Terri…”

I sucked my teeth and playfully smacked him upside the head. “Oh shut up. You’re the one begging me to let you stay here tonight. That means someone is yearning for their daily dose of Terri Lawson.”

“What can I say? Once you’ve had one taste, you can’t help but to come back for more.”

I bit down on my bottom lip, suppressing a laugh full of embarrassment. Where does he come up with these ridiculous lines?

~*****~

 The night ended with Daniel lying across my lap and staring up at me. We were sitting on my bed talking about a bunch of nothing, waiting to see who’d fall asleep first. My legs were crossed at the ankles and I had finally gotten around to putting on some real pajamas, a pair of purple shorts and a yellow t-shirt. Daniel found it strangely amusing when I tied my hair up in a silk scarf.

“Terri?” he whispered, still gazing up at me.

I wasn’t aware of how I was gently massaging his scalp until he spoke. “Hm?” A fit of yawns was begging to escape my lips.

“When I first saw you-“

“You thought I was the biggest bitch to ever live?”

“Not exactly” he softly chuckled. “Let me finish.”

“Okay.”

“I thought you were the most eloquent, exquisite, beautiful creature to ever live. The way you carry yourself speaks power without you even having to give a hint to how much power you actually possess.”

“Go on…” I smiled and looked down into his eyes.

“That’s all I have to say, baby.”

My heart fucking leaped out of my chest with that last word and the huskiness of his voice as he said it. Before he closed his eyes, he placed a quick peck on the lips and rolled over to the other side of the bed.

~******~

The next morning, not only was I awaken by the bright sun beaming through my windows, but by the smell of bacon. Such a lovely smell to wake up to. I was confused at first because I normally have the shades as well as the blinds down.

Suddenly remembering that Daniel had slept over, I leaped out of the bed and walked like a zombie into the kitchen. Seeing him leaned over the stove tossing the bacon around the pan was a blissful sight to see. He looked right at home with a dishtowel thrown over his right shoulder. Before he could realize that I was standing there ogling the hell out of him, I crossed my arms over my chest and cleared my throat.

“Making yourself at home, I see.”

Daniel slowly turned around with a smile planted on his face. “I said the same thing when you came to my apartment and decided to play Miss Interior Decorator.”

“Okay, you definitely needed that. Everything was black and grey.”

“I’m a man, Ter. What did you expect?”

“More than that!”

“Are you going to eat this bacon or what, woman?”

I walked closer to the stove and squinted my eyes. “Who said I wanted bacon?”

“What? You don’t like bacon? Everyone loves bacon…” he replied with a face full of faux disgust.

“It’s nothing but fat. Why would anyone want to put that junk into their body?” I challenged.

“Obviously you if you’ve got it in your fridge” he quickly replied. “Don’t give me that whole spill about this not being a cheat day. Eat up.”

I smirked and playfully punched him in the bicep. “Make me.”

“Okay” he replied with haste. I let out a yelp as he grabbed me by the waist, turned around, and lifted me up onto the counter behind the stove. Right as I was about to say something, he crushed his lips onto mines and gave me one of the soul-searching make-your-panties-wet kind of kisses. Trying to keep up with his movements, I wrapped my legs around his waist and brought him closer to me. Daniel grunted and gave my bottom lip a quick tug.

“Is this your version of making me do something?” I moaned into his mouth. “Because you taste like bacon.”

“Delicious, right?”

More than that, I wanted to say. But instead, I grabbed him by the collar and continued to kiss him. “As much as I’d enjoy staying here and making out with you all day, I promised you a surprise and you need to fill your stomach up before I can give it to you.”

“What does a full stomach have to do with your surprise?”

“So we won’t have to stop for food on the way to our destination…” Another soundly peck was placed on my lips. What the hell is he talking about “destination”?

“Come again? What destination?” I weakly pushed him away from me and raised my right brow.

“It wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you, now would it? Take a shower and get dressed.”

“Not until you tell me what the hell is going on!”

Daniel bashfully looked down and smiled at the ground. “I’m giving you a late birthday present.”

“Daniel, my birthday was a month ago. You really don’t have to do this. Especially since you’re the one who organized that whole party.”

“Well I want to. Please don’t give me a hard time. We’re going whether you like it or not.”

“I don’t have to do anything!” I all but shouted.

“Is that so…” he tested, getting dangerously close to my face. “You know what happened last time when you were being difficult.”

“Wasn’t much of a punishment, to be honest.”

“Right…”

A loud yelp echoed throughout the tiny apartment as Daniel threw me over his shoulder like some type of caveman and gave me a firm slap on the ass.

“I am going to kill you! Put me down!!”

He chuckled at the sight of me pounding my fists into his back, clearly not hurting him. Two more slaps from his large hand stung through the thin shorts I wore. I simultaneously wanted to strangle and fuck him. This playful side to him turned me on in more ways than one. Like a true cougar would say, he made me feel young in that moment.

An hour later and the both of us were ready to go wherever he was taking me. Daniel was dressed in a pair of black fitted jeans and a grey v-neck shirt with the infamous leather jacket wrapped around him. I, however, threw on a pair of grey dress shorts, a teal colored camisole, and the matching cotton blazer. Because I had absolutely no clue to where we were going, I put on a pair of ordinary sandals.

Daniel wanted to ride in his car, so I agreed. No need to argue about that. He finally saved up enough money to purchase one on his own: a sleek black 2011 Camaro. Those fashion shows and photo shoots were really beginning to pay off.

Daniel

I couldn’t help but to smile every time I looked at Terri, that’s how infatuated I was with her. She somehow enhances who I am as a person and inspires me to do better every time we interact. As I was lying across her lap the previous night, I saw the real her. Granted, it was the middle of the night and everyone’s vulnerable at that time, but I wish that moment could have lasted forever. Seeing her in that light, mindlessly letting me in by giving me details about her life warmed my heart. It was like she was consciously aware of her words, but unable to stop them from flowing out.

Sometime during the middle of the night, I was awaken by her straddling me. My eyes suddenly became aware of the situation and full of desire. She moaned and bent down to snuggle up against my chest. I tried to wake her, but she never came to. Seeing her like this, this exposed and defenseless, made me instantaneously hard. So hard that I had to move her ass away from my cock, hoping she didn’t wake up to that. To save myself from embarrassment, I tried to lift her body up and place her back beside me, but she refused to move. All she did was moan and hold on to me tighter.

“Stay” she murmured. “Please…stay”

I cradled her head and placed my chin on the crown of it. “Baby, I’m not going anywhere. Like I said before, it’s going to take a hell of a lot more than your crazy talk to push me away.”

When she walked into the kitchen, I was anticipating an apology about her late night words, but I never got one. Either she didn’t know what the hell she said or she was acting like it never happened. Halfway through the ride to our destination, I glanced over at her to see how she was doing.

“Daniel, I don’t see the point in wearing this stupid thing” Terri complained. I made her put on a blindfold. “We’ve been on the road for two hours now. Please tell me where the hell we’re going!”

“We’re halfway there. Be patient” I teased.

“I’ve been patient for two hours!”

“It’ll all be worth it. I promise.”

I could feel the rolling of her eyes already. “It better be.”

Just as promised, we arrived to the city two hours later. Terri’s been knocked out cold since we made a gas stop a while back and I was ready to get a good stretch in. When I pulled up to the large two-story brick house, I took a deep breath and turned the engine off.

“Terri” I gently shook her in order wake her up. “We’re here.”

“About time” she yawned a few seconds later, snatching the blindfold away from her eyes.

It took her a while to realize where we were but when she finally did, all hell broke loose.

“Daniel…what the fuck are we doing at my parent’s house? What the hell?!?!”  she began to flip out. “Take me home! Take me home right now! I can’t believe you!!”

“Terri-“

“No! How the hell did you even know where they live?!!”

“I-“

“Laila…that bitch-“

“Terri, please. Shut up for a second!”

“Don’t tell me to shut up, little boy!”

We both paused for a minute, taking in her insult. Her eyes said sorry, but the rest of her face was seething. “I don’t know who the hell you think you are” Terri continued, with a much softer tone to her voice. “but you don’t know a damn thing about my life! How would you deem this as a surprise? What kind of sick mind do you possess?!”

“It is a surprise, judging by your reaction. No one mentioned anything about you initially enjoying this surprise, but you will be getting your ass out of this car and saying something to your parents! You can yell at me all you want, but that will not make me turn this car around any faster. I’m here for you, Terri, whether you fucking like it or not, okay? We’re both here to make each other better people. That’s who I am!”

She continued to glare at me through squinted eyes, her chest still rising and falling due to her heavy breathing pattern. “You can’t make me go up there.”

“But I can make them come out. If you try to make a run for it, I will run after you. Either way, you are going to face your parents today, Terri Lawson.”

Seconds passed before she said something. “I hate you” she spat out.

“Wow. I must have passed the childish stick down to you.”

Her reaction was to open the door to the car, lift herself out of the seat, and slam the door behind her. I followed behind her and absentmindedly smirked at the sight of her stomping her feet towards the staircase of her parents’ home. Knowing that she wouldn’t take the initiative to do it, I went ahead and pressed the doorbell. By this time, tears were rolling down Terry’s cheeks.

“I can’t believe you did this…” she whispered over and over again until someone answered the door. An older dark-skinned gentleman who carried the same eyes and cheekbones as Terri opened the door, leading me to assume it was her father. It took him a moment to realize that his one and only little girl was standing right in front of him.

The old man clenched his chest and took a step back to get a better look. “Katherine!” he yelled behind himself into the house. “Katherine! Come quick! I can’t tell if I’m seeing things again!!”

“Daddy” Terri sniffed. “It’s me.”

His wife came rushing from behind him and moved him out of the way. “What is-Oh Jesus.”

“Hey Momma.”

The three of them stood there for the next minute or so staring at each other in shock. Katherine was the first to knock out of it. “Terri?!! Jefferey! She’s home!!” she screamed, grabbing Terri into her arms and hugging the life out of her. Terri began to cough and attempted to pull away from her mother’s deathly grasp.

“Kath, let the child go. Let her breathe.” Jefferey said.

Katherine, who strongly resembled her daughter, held Terri by her shoulders and began to cry. “I can’t believe you’re here. After all of these years, your father and I thought we’d never see you again.”

“Yeah. Well, this visit is going to be short. I was practically forced to be here…all thanks to this guy” she waved me off.

“Are you her boyfriend?” Her mother looked between the two of us, probably taking notice of the huge age gap and of course the differences in our skin color.

“Uh-“ I began to say, but was immediately cut off by Terri.

“No. He’s a client.”

“Okay…you all should come inside. A storm is supposed to start any time now. I’d hate for you to be caught up in it.”

We nodded our heads and followed her parents inside the comfortable looking home. They guided us into the living room and suggested that we sit down and make ourselves at home. Mr. Lawson propped his feet on top of the ottoman and laid back in the recliner as his wife breezed into the kitchen to prepare something for us to eat.

“Sweetheart, you have no idea how pleased we are to see you. Your mother worries about you everyday. We think about you all of the time.”

Terri

So many emotions coursed through my veins all at once. Too many to deal with. I was angry for the most part. What gave him the right to do this?! All I wanted to do was slap and punch him, but the small part in me that actually wanted to see my parents slowly came to surface and was somehow calming me down. Seeing them alive and well made me want to cry because what if they had died? What if I came home to my father answering the door and breaking the news to me that my mom had died three years ago? That’s all I could think about…

What if…

Thank God that none of that was true. By the looks of it, they were their same old selves, just a few years older. My dad still sat in that deteriorating recliner of his and my mom still wore the charm bracelet I made her when I was in the third grade. The house was also the exact same. The smell of it brought back so many memories for me. I could remember running up and down the stairs coming to and from school. My parents were always so supportive of me and my dreams as I was growing up and to think about how I treated them made me sick to the stomach. It was sad and ridiculous that Daniel had to force me to come out here just for these thoughts to arise.

All because they were overprotective and caring. I kept asking myself if it was worth it and now that I’m actually thinking about it? I know it wasn’t. It hurt my soul to see them scared to say what they really wanted to say due to the fear of me getting up and leaving.

“I’m sorry” was all I could choke up before bursting out in tears. Daniel immediately wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer to him. My mother, who now had dreadlocks, ran out of the kitchen with a plate of cookies and placed them on top of the coffee table. She noticed my distress and came over to comfort me, along with my father. Daniel, feeling like the third wheel excused himself and stepped out of the room.

“I love you guys so much and I don’t think I can ever fully apologize and make up for all of those lost years between us. It’s all because of me and I hate myself because of it. To be honest, I’ve done a lot of things that I’m not proud of. One of them being the situation I put the two of you in. I’m not proud of that. And I’m just now coming to the realization that I haven’t done anything to deserve a happy life.”

“Sweetheart, you will always be our daughter. We’ll always be here for you. What you did was wrong and selfish, but we forgive you” Mom said while hugging me and running her fingers through my hair. “Consider this a new beginning.”

I nodded my head and wiped away a few of my endless tears.

“Over the years, your mother and I have been trying to figure out what the hell it was that made you push us away and we couldn’t possibly figure out what we were doing wrong. Terri, you could have been stuck with a mother on drugs, a father who constantly molested you, or an extremely unstable home, but all you had was two loving parents.”

“I know, dad. And I’m so sorry. I overreacted. Please, daddy, I want to start over. I know I’m forty now and I shouldn’t be calling you daddy but I can’t help it. I missed you guys so much.”

“Baby girl…” he touched the side of my face. “Next time things get out of whack, let us know. Talk to us. We don’t read minds, you know. Ten years is way too long for us to not have any kind of contact with our one and only daughter. Consider our feelings next time you do something like this.”

“There will be no next time. I assure you.”

“Good” was all my mother said before she placed a tender kiss on my cheek and rose up into a standing position. “Now call your friend back in here so we can grill him.”

“Grill him about what? He’s just a friend.”

“Lying gets you nowhere but hell, my beautiful daughter” my father joked as he walked back over to his recliner. After wiping my eyes and sniffling my nose, I shook my head and made my way out of the living room. Daniel was stationed on the bottom of the staircase rummaging through his phone.

“Hey” I said.

He looked up from his iPhone with a serious expression on his face. I guess he was still feeling some kind of way about what I called him earlier. “Look, I’m sorry about earlier.”

“No apology needed. You were all up in your feelings.”

“Seriously. I feel so bad. You were trying to do something good for me and I treated you like that. I feel like such a bitch.”

“It’s fine Terri, really.”

“You were right, ya know” I stepped between his legs and placed his angular jawbones between my hands. “It was worth it. And I really appreciate you.”

Daniel put his phone down on the carpeted stair and looked up at me with those piercing eyes of his. “Promise not to degrade me next time I’m doing you a favor?” he said in a slightly humorous way.

“I promise.”

He gave me a quick kiss on the lips and quickly moved me aside. “Let’s go back in there before your parents think I’m more than a friend…” he sarcastically said.

I stared at his back as he walked into the living room and sighed. If only.

“Do you like it, Lay? Be honest” I self-consciously smoothed down the back of my new hairdo and looked at my best friend for approval. She dramatically grinned and put her heart over her chest.

“That tells me absolutely nothing. Does it look bad or not?”

“Terri…wow. And to think you couldn’t look any younger…” Laila finally said. We were sitting down in one of the many celebrity hairstylists’ salons in downtown Los Angeles. The idea of recreating my look sprang into my mind right after I visited my parents a couple of months back. When my mother hugged me and said that it was a new beginning, I took it to the heart. I decided that I’ve spent way too long waking up feeling empty and like complete and utter shit. Daniel had a little something to do with it as well. He saw something in me that not even my best friend could see. He saw hope. He knew that I was capable of change and it melted a portion of my heart to see how damn persistent he could be.

“Are you ready to see yourself, Terri?” the stylist asked. I sighed in preparation and nodded my head. She twirled my chair around so that I was facing the large mirror. A brief sensation of nostalgia swept through my soul. Somehow, perhaps by the grace of God and outstanding genetics, I looked very similar to my twenty-two year old self. With an exception of the incoming crow’s feet. Thank the lord those things were fading due to that miracle cream I began implementing into my daily beauty regimen. My hair was cut perfectly into a Halle Berry-style pixie cut. Instead of having all of the hair laid flat this time, I requested for the front ends to be spiked up a bit.

A certain glow radiated off of my smooth brown skin. Something I haven’t seen in years. And in that moment, I found myself to be quite beautiful. Beautiful in the sense of my soul feeling clean and free from all of the harmful debris I hoarded into it. I felt like a brand new person. “Well, how do you like it?”

“I love it. Thank you so much, Crystal.”

The coffee colored stylist gave me a dimpled smile, happy that yet another customer enjoyed what she did for them. I dug into my fashionably spiked clutch bag, fished out my debit card and handed it over to her. Seconds after she walked away, I got back to checking myself out in the mirror.

“Next time you visit your parents, make sure you thank them for the gift of eternal youth. I’m so jealous!” Laila shouted, still flabbergasted at my new appearance. “You should also thank your new boy toy for getting you on the right track. It’s obvious that he’s smitten with you.”

“I find that hard to believe…also, please never say that again. The phrase ‘boy toy’ makes me want to vomit.”

Laila giggled and wrapped her arms around my shoulders from behind, gazing at me through the mirror. “I’m totally going to use this ‘new you’ to my advantage. Maybe you’ll become even more open with me. I have so many questions to ask you.”

“I’m still the same person, Laila. I just have a different outlook on life.”

“Sounds new to me” she teased.

I swatted at her with a playfully annoyed face and missed. She laughed so loud everyone in the shop turned to look at her. Her laugh, the kind that she couldn’t help but to burst out loud with, was a cross between a dying seagull and a donkey. She knew it was outrageous, but Laila gave no fucks.

On the way back into town after the haircut, we decided to go shopping. Since the both of us were shopaholics and no one was there to stop us, we spent well over what we planned on spending. As usual, we felt deep regret. But that only lasted for a few seconds.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion as I walked past Victoria’s Secret. An unusual sensation took over me. It was like the damn store was calling my name. Images of Daniel began popping up in my head. Continuous flashes of his sexy little face welcomingly swam through it. Laila slang her right arm around my shoulders and gave me an endearing look.

“I’m so proud of you, Ter”

“Oh shut the hell up. I’m not going in that place.”

“So why are we mindlessly staring inside then?”

“Because…well, because-“ I began stumbling over my words, basically giving it away that I was at a lost for words and had no real explanation.

“Exactly. C’mon. Let’s find you something!” Laila grabbed me by the arm and practically yanked me inside the lingerie store. The good thing about Victoria’s Secret is that since it’s such a popular store, it’s not too embarrassing to look for something sexy. Laila started on one side of the store and I started on the other, working our way in. We finally met thirty minutes later, I had a black teddy grasped in my left hand and Laila had every other type of lingerie in hers. I scoffed at her and disapprovingly shook my head.

“Yeah…this makes everything so much easier-“ I began to say in a sarcastic tone but was soon cut off by the last voice I thought I’d ever hear again.

“Terri?” a deep familiar voice called out. I crinkled my brows together, silently praying that the voice did not match to who I thought it was. There were few people who acknowledged me outside of work and even they called me “Miss Lawson”.

“Terri?” the man repeated. Brooding brown eyes met mines when I turned around and lifted my head. Laila gasped as the thin-laced material fell out of my hands and unto the floor. She immediately bent down to pick it up for me. I took that as a chance to react.

“Oh my god…” I finally whispered out. He took a step closer to me and I stepped back, pressing my spine into the fragrance counter. For a second, I thought I was going to knock everything down but of course Laila came to my rescue. My eyes remained shocked as he glared down at me.

“You guys know each other?” she asked while looking between the two of us. Almost immediately, I shook my head.

Jerome smirked and frowned. “Of course we do, Terri! C’mon don’t lie to the sweet girl.”

My body began to activate into panic mode. I started to sweat, tears sprang into my eyes, my legs began trembling, and I felt the need to throw up. All because I thought I let go of that past. Jerome stood there with confidence. With his beige trench coat and khakis on, I made an assumption that he finally found a sucker to settle down with. Either that or he got himself a decent job. He sure did look the exact same as when I left him a few years back. The only notable difference was that he grew his hair out and kept it cut short and lined up. He also has a goatee going on. I felt so overwhelmed with his presence because although I didn’t want to make a scene, all I wanted to do was slap the hell out of his ass. I never got my chance to do it back in the day.

Before I could act out of anger, I grunted and grabbed Laila by the arm, making her drop the fancy items into the closest bin. “We have to get out of here before I lose my mind,”

“What-“ she started to ask but I cut her off and started dragging her towards the exit. “What’s going on? Who’s that man??”

“You really haven’t changed. Have you?!” Jerome bellowed out as he followed us out of the store. I continued to ignore him and hastily walked towards the escalator.

“Let bygones be bygones, girl. How long ago was that, huh? Nearly twenty years! Are you really going to ignore me?!” His voice grew louder with each sentence.

I stopped in my tracks and turned around to face him. In the calmest voice I could muster up, I clenched my teeth and said, “If you do not leave me alone, I will destroy you. I will find out everything I can about you and destroy you. Do you hear me?”

He gulped and chased his sudden fear with an arrogant smirk. “When did you get it in your head that this ‘new you’ frightens me?”

“Lay, can you excuse us for a second? Please?” I asked almost desperately.

She nodded her head with a look full of skeptic splashed across her face and sat down on the nearest bench. I looked up at Jerome, lips quivering. It pained me inside to feel such horrid emotions towards him. Before I could croak my first sentence of hatred out, he put his large index finger across my lips, silencing me. Not being here for his bullshit, I reached up to slap his hand away but he caught it with his free hand. I stood there in awe. Eyes wide.

“Act like you’re engaging in a friendly conversation with me or your cute little friend will be in for a surprise” he said with a sick smile.

My eyes at the moment felt like they couldn’t possibly get any wider but they did. What was he saying? Was he threating me? This was the first time in a long time that I was actually scared of someone. Out of all the threats I’ve received from people, this one definitely felt like something genuine. I glanced over at Laila’s naïve looking ass and she looked at me like she was thoroughly confused. If Jerome ever did anything to hurt my one and only friend, I would go through hell and high waters to destroy him. Physically and emotionally. 

“Are you threatening me?” I exclaimed through his finger.

Jerome slowly slid his finger away from my lips, grabbed me by the waist, and snatched me into a tight hug. He pulled me closer as I struggled away from him. “Yes. That was a threat. I’ll make this quick. You go out on a date with me tonight and no one has to suffer. Especially that little shit you call a boyfriend. Ha. And to be quite frank, I thought you went for the older guys, such as myself” he huskily whispered into my ear.

I struggled more, deeply confused by his brash actions. Was he serious? How the hell did he know about Daniel? Shit, how did he know anything about my life? Did he somehow become a stalker over all those years?

Attempting to be discreet, I cautiously pulled my phone out of my pocket and started to text Daniel to warn him. Jerome reached behind him and quickly stole the phone from out of my grasp. “Don’t try it. I have people watching you and your friends. Say one word about this and you, as well as them, will face the consequences. Got that? Be ready at exactly 8:30 tonight? Is that clear?”

“What is this all about, Jerome? What did I do to deserve this? If anything, I should be beating your crazy ass up!” I grumbled.

He began laughing as if I had just shared the funniest joke ever. “You can’t be serious. You know what you did.” And with that, Jerome loosened his grip and forced me to look up at him. “You will pay for everything you’ve done to me, bitch.”

I stared up at him with an agape mouth. I honestly had no idea what the hell this fool was talking about. And I couldn’t help but to wonder if the man had escaped from some type of mental institution with all of this crazy talk. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Keep saying that. The more you repeat it, the more pissed off I’ll get. Now go back over to your friend and act like we just did a little bit of catching up. Go home to your boy and break it off for your own good. That is if you give a fuck about his life. And I want you to look sexy tonight. Put on your best clothes because I’m taking you somewhere special. ”

After he finished up with his sentence, he nodded his head and walked away. It took everything in me to withhold the sob that was threatening to come out. Laila got up and ran towards me with a smile on her face. “Everything okay? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.”

“Yeah….um” I swallowed saliva that wasn’t even there to mask the emotion. “Everything’s fine. I haven’t seen him in years and I…I…um. I missed him.”

“You two used to date?” she asked, looping her arm around mines.

I stared off into the distance trying to calm myself down and to make sense of what just happened. Thinking about it made me feel sick to the stomach. “Something like that.”

~***********~

The ride back home was quiet. Laila knew something was wrong but was obviously holding back on questioning me. She knew I hated feeling like I was being interviewed. I felt so alone, confused, and depressed. There was no one I could discuss this with. I definitely didn’t want to test the theory of him hurting anyone I associated with if I screwed up and told them anything. All I had to do was survive the rest of the day and everything should go back to normal. God, the thought of him messing with Daniel and knowing all about him made me livid. Daniel is the most innocent thing to happen to me and if something ever happened to him because of my own mistakes, I could never live with such guilt.

I sat in my apartment contemplating ways to get the hell out of this ridiculous arrangement he had set me up in. I thought about calling the police but my phone lines were blocked. I thought about writing a note and telling my next-door neighbor about my predicament but I had noticed a few sketchy looking cars in the parking lot keeping an eye out for me. I literally felt like I was on house arrest. At around 7:30, I finally got off of the couch and made my way into the bathroom to take a bath. As I lazily ran the loofah across my leg in the soapy water, I sighed and blinked through my half-closed eyes. When was this terrifying nightmare going to end? Why did it have to happen on this day, of all days?

All I wanted to do was cuddle up with Daniel and revel in the warmth of his beautifully soft skin. He always knew how to make things better for me even if he did it in the weirdest way possible. By this time, he would have called to make sure I was doing okay. And if I didn’t answer, he’d continuously call until I picked up. Since I was so used to his daily phone calls, I felt a small twitch of sadness from the lack of hearing his voice. Damn him. What is it about him that turns me into such an emotional mess? And why did Mr. Crazy have to steal my phone?!

The sound of the doorbell ringing followed by a few consecutive knocks tore me out of my thoughts. Hoping they’d go away, I continued to wash myself and slid further down into the tub. The knocks grew from soft to aggressive in a matter of seconds. Groaning, I lifted myself out of the lukewarm water and slipped on my grey terry cloth robe.

“Coming!” I hollered.

Daniel practically bomb rushed me after I opened the door. He began fussing me out and rambling on about how worried he’s been since I’ve been neglecting his calls. He stopped full on when he noticed my new pixie cut. “Whoa” was all he could muster up. My lips involuntarily formed into a genuine smile at the sight of him. He had no idea how much I wanted and needed him right then. Before I could catch myself, I threw myself into him for a hug. I almost started to cry, but held it in. Daniel wrapped his strong arms around me and pulled me closer to him. We stood there for the next minute simply enjoying each other’s presence.

“You look so beautiful” Daniel passionately whispered into my ear. “I don’t know if my input counts, but this new hairdo you’ve got going on arouses me in more ways than one, babe.”

Oh God. Did he really have to say that? Why couldn’t he come in like an asshole and make things easier for me? 

“Thank you” I responded with a quaint smile. Daniel grabbed me by the shoulders and broke our hug so that I was staring into his eyes. They looked wonderfully emphasized under the brightness of the moon. It was illuminating through the sheer curtains. I took notice of the much longer locks of his raven black hair. His hair seemed to have more volume and length to it. He also had this sexy five o’clock shadow going on. Dammit Terri, get yourself together and kick his ass out.

He gazed into my eyes so hard that I felt like he was trying to decipher what I was feeling. “Terri, is everything okay? Anything you want to tell me?”

“No. Everything’s fine” I unpersuasively replied. The clock read 8:00 the last time I checked. I had less than thirty minutes to somehow get rid of Daniel and get dressed.

“I don’t believe you” he quickly said, crinkling his eyebrows together. “I’ve never seen you like this before. You look scared. Paranoid. Antsy.”

“I’m fine!” My voice may have raised a slight decibel. “Now, I need you to leave so I can get dressed. I have somewhere to go” I quickly made a move to grab his arm, but he jerked away.

“Daniel, don’t give me a hard time. I said I was okay and you need to believe me.”

“I wish I could.”

“Nothing’s holding you back.”

“Except that ‘scared shitless’ look you’ve got going on. It’s killing me, Ter. I need to know what’s going on and I refuse to leave this apartment until you tell me.”

The way he looked in his usual dark washed jeans and black v-necked shirt and the fresh-out-of-the-shower smell he carried made me want to forget about the situation and cry in his arms. That’s when I suddenly realized. It hit me like a baseball flying straight out of a ballpark. I was falling in love with Daniel Jones and I would do anything to protect him. Even if it meant being involved in a gruesome blackmail scandal to save his life.

“I have a date.”

The expression on his face made me feel like I just committed the most awful crime to ever be committed. “Uh…” he combed his fingers through his hair and adjusted his stance. “W-was I wrong for assuming that we had something going on here?”

“No…I’m doing this to protect you and that’s all you need to know.”

“What does that even mean? To protect me from what? You? Terri, I’ve fallen in love with you. Please enlighten me on how the hell this is protecting me?”

“It just is-“ I barely murmured, still trying to take in the part where he confessed his love for me.

“I’m not a child. The whole “it just is” argument is not going to fly with me” he replied.

“He’s supposed to be here in twenty minutes. You need to leave.”

“You’re not going to respond to anything I just said?”

I wanted to submit to him and confess how I felt for him, but he chose the absolute worst time to come clean. “Please leave. We can talk about that tomorrow.”

“Why not now? Baby-“

“I have a date. For God’s sake! Will you leave me alone?!” I yelled in an exasperated fit.

Daniel’s face was unchanged. Surprisingly, he was fazed the least by my statement. I guess he knew that I was already his and that he had a certain hold on me. Before he walked out of the door, he swiftly pulled me into his arms and lifted my chin with the side of his index finger. “I don’t know or care about who this strange man is that’s taking you out…but I want you to leave here with some knowledge of who your heart belongs to.”

I gasped as he crushed his lips onto mines and took full control of them. Trying to suppress a sultry moan, I tightly squeezed his shirt between my hands and succumbed to his sweet kisses. Daniel cunningly nudged my mouth open and began massaging my tongue with the likes of his. Boy does this feel like heaven…He furiously kissed me more passionately by the second. Almost as if he’d never see me again.

C’mon Terri, don’t let him do something that’ll blow your cover.

I ended the kiss by feverishly prying myself away from him. The look of desire and hunger that lurked in his eyes nearly sent me over the edge. Why is this happening to me??

Daniel gave me one last peck on my now swollen lips and confidently walked out of the door. I had to take hold of the closest coffee table because that literally left me weak in the knees.

~*******~

Thankfully, I got dressed and was ready to go by 8:29. Since I was running on a small amount of time to prepare myself and since I didn’t care what I really looked like, I settled on an outfit that took only a few minutes to put on. The tight black knee-length long-sleeved dress not only accentuated what little curves I had, but it also showed that I wasn’t trying too hard. I matched the outfit with a pair of my favorite nude colored pumps and a few pieces of gold jewelry. I wore heavy mascara and eyeliner and rubbed a small dollop of clear lipgloss onto my lips.

The doorbell rang at exactly 8:30. I don’t know what’s creepier. The fact this dude knew where I lived or his impeccable punctuality.

I grabbed my black velvet clutch and leather jacket and nervously walked towards the front door. Gulping, I opened it up and quickly stepped out onto the porch. Jerome, who was dressed in an all black attire smiled hard. “What makes you think I didn’t want to come in?”

Closing the door, I sighed and shook my head. “Can we just go ahead and get this over with?”

Daniel

Something about the latest encounter I had with Terri was strange. Granted, every encounter with her is quite unusual, but what just happened seemed way out of the norm for her. She seemed weak and helpless. Those two observations alone sent me over the edge. Instead of being hurt and confused about why she chose such a horrible time to go out on a date, I stayed around to see what this date was all about. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think the woman was in trouble. The way she put so much emphasis on how she was protecting me made me think about our relationship at first; but now that I think about it, there could have been a more obvious in-your-face situation that I needed protection from.

Punctuality is an important thing for Terri, but the shakiness in her voice as she expressed what time she was expected to be ready led me to believe that she was frightened. Someone--could be anybody, was out there threatening my woman, and she wanted me to simply sit back and be left in the dark about it. Of course it didn’t surprise me because she couldn’t help but to treat me like a child when in reality she’s the one who needs to be nurtured and looked out for. Terri is a strong independent woman, I’ll give her that, but she definitely has her childish moments. And for a woman of forty years, it shouldn’t have to be like that. The more I got to be around her made me realize that the large gap between her early twenties and now was full of emptiness and the repetition of the same old dry routine. Sure, Laila was there for her for a little while, but that was it. She had no one there to push her to become a better version of herself. Laila is obviously too scared to really say what’s on her mind sometimes, just like all of the other people who work around Terri and that’s the exact opposite of what she needs in her life.

I sighed as I stood perched behind one of the thick brick walls of her four-story apartment complex. Hiding what I really felt inside was not one of my strong points…as well as leaving things as they were--especially if I don’t feel comfortable doing so.  For a split second, I felt like one of those weird stalker boyfriends but according to her I wasn’t her boyfriend and since this is the first time I’ve ever done something like this I wouldn’t label myself with such a treacherous word.

The sound of hard footsteps began climbing the stairs in the direction of her tiny balcony at precisely 8:28. The man who owned the steps came into sight as the light on the porch hit him. He was tall—taller than me. He had on an all black outfit so it was a little difficult trying to decipher exactly what the hell he had on. I watched as the mysterious man literally counted down the seconds until he could bang on her door.

Terri opened the door looking stunning as usual with a black skintight dress on. What caught me off guard was the look of discomfort and anxiety in her eyes. Her mouth carried an obviously fake smile but her mannerisms were full of hatred. Was it hatred for the man she was about to go out with or hatred for something that previously happened in her life? Like when I just confessed my undying love for her.

I backed my body up against the wall and inched my ear as close to them as possible in order to get a better understanding of what they were saying.

The man had a rich deep voice. So rich that I could barely make out what he was saying. All I could hear was a throaty chuckle.

What Terri said was loud and clear, even if it was in a desperate whisper. “Can we go ahead and get this over with?”

And with that, I stealthily followed them to their destination.

Terri

“Are you not enjoying your soup? I think it’s absolutely delectable!” Jerome exclaimed, showcasing the smile I once fell in love with. Ever since we got in the car and traveled into Beverly Hills to this annoyingly fancy restaurant, I had a permanent scowl etched on my face.
“It’s hard trying to enjoy something when you practically have a gun pointed at my crotch” I said a little to loudly, planting my eyes on the extravagant sweet corn soup. The small black nine-millimeter gun made an appearance as soon as I made an attempt to scream for help. Jerome took the long crème colored tablecloth as an opportunity to mask his true intentions. To anyone else, we probably looked like an average middle-aged couple out on our monthly date night. Deep inside, I knew Jerome wasn’t going to shoot me if I got up, but I really didn’t want to test him.

“I wouldn’t have it there if you were being cooperative” he said through clenched teeth.

“This whole thing you’re doing is so outrageous. I don’t want to be here and you forcing me against my will is only making me more pissed off. Once you’re done with this little tirade, I will make sure to have you locked up for many years to come.”

“I’d love to see you try. Matter of fact, go right ahead. I’ll just let you know beforehand that I’ve got a few police officers on my side. A few of my buddies helped to throw this shindig together. Isn’t that great?”

You’ve got to be kidding me..

Out of pure desperation and despair, I sighed and wiped away my forthcoming tears. “Jerome, please” I choked out a sob. “Just let me go. I finally have my life at a good point. Why can’t you let me be happy? Why are you making me relive my past, huh?”

“Why is it that you think you can move on and act like nothing happened? I already told you, Ter. You are going to pay me back what I lost.”

“What the hell are you talking about? Stop being so fucking vague and get to the point! This whole act is getting tiring. I just wanna go home.”

“The way those motherfuckers beat me into human pulp was something that I’ll never forget.” His whole demeanor suddenly transformed into something softer. He then focused his eyes onto his appetizer, some type of basil-based tomato salad.

My heart sank into my chest. What on earth…?

“Who, Jerome? Who are you talking about?”

I was abruptly interrupted by a set of waiters who showed up to place our next courses of food onto the table. As they placed the Squid-Ink Farfalle Pasta with Maine Lobster in front of my place setting and the Grilled Tandoori Quail in front of Jerome’s my eyes never left his. He looked so distraught after what he finally confessed. I was baffled. I wanted to know what in the hell he was talking about. Who beat him up? And why was I being punished for another person’s actions?

Daniel

After I handed my keys over to the valet, I strode into the fancy establishment and walked straight up to the hostesses. Three teenage girls, all of different races, were engaged in a discussion about a guest they had just seated. Upon my arrival, the tallest one stopped talking and greeted me. The others followed shortly behind her.

“Welcome to Tago. What’s the name under your reservation?”

I looked between the three of them and gulped. Shit, I didn’t think this far into it.

“Uh…well, uh-“

“Are you Daniel Jones?!” the petite Asian asked in an outburst. Her dark brown eyes instantly widened at the sight of me.

Unsure what to say and being completely surprised that someone recognized me so early in my career, I began fumbling over my words again. “Y-yes. But um-“

“Oh my god. I’m such a huge fan! Can you please sign this paper for me? I-“

“Sarah!” the olive-toned one finally spoke up. “Not on the job. You know we’ll get in trouble!”

As the three of them began to argue about something irrelevant, I cleared my throat and made a movement that showed I didn’t have much time on my hands. “Ladies. Is there any way I can get in this place without a reservation? My…uh, my friend is in there and I need to talk to her. It’s really urgent.”

“Well…we do have a table near the kitchen. No one ever wants it unless it’s a full house” the Asian one said with hope in her eyes.

I smiled at her willingness to help. “I don’t care if I have to sit on the floor. I need to get in that dining room.”

“You’re lucky, Daniel” she said with a spark in her eyes. “Although I’d voluntarily lose my job if that meant helping you out, there’s only two more names on the reservation list and their tables are still open.”

“Sweet.” I flashed a smile, making all three of them blush. “I really appreciate this!”

Before one of them could guide me to the table, I signed a piece of paper from the guestbook and gave them one last appreciative smile.

Terri

Right as the waiters walked away, I unconsciously adjusted my seating position, making Jerome’s gun dig between my knees. My eyes widened. That was way too close for comfort. My heart began to race all over again. “Can you please move that thing? It’s making me nervous.”

“Not until I trust you.”

“You can trust me. I won’t go anywhere. You grabbed my attention when you mentioned something about someone hurting you.”

“Mmhmm…” he skeptically drew out. I blew out a breath of relaxation as he lowered the gun and brought it back towards him.

“Please finish. I would like to know what I’m being accidentally blamed for.”

“Accidentally? Hardly! You made them do that to me!” I could tell that he was beginning to get frustrated with me and I didn’t know why. He was the one throwing around all of these obscene accusations.

“Do what?” I calmly asked, although I wanted to scream. This was getting nowhere..

What I saw from the corner of my eye made me nearly fall out of the black wooden chair. Daniel was excusing himself trying to get to a place at the back of the room. What the hell was he doing here? Did he follow me?!

Jerome noticed that something behind him caught my attention so of course he turned around and began searching for whatever I was looking at. “What is it?” he asked.

“The guy you have watching me.” I instantly began to form a lie. “He’s creepy. Did you have to drag him along?”

“Yes” he simply stated. His eyes darkened.

“Sorry” I cleared my throat and dabbed the napkin across my mouth. “I didn’t mean to stop the conversation like that. Now can we get back to what we were discussing?”

The moment Jerome turned around to be nosey a few seconds ago gave me time to catch Daniel’s eyes. He looked at me sympathetically. As if he knew all about the situation I was currently in..

“Do you remember the guy you lived beside in 1997? The guy who always wore those ripped up jeans and colorful baseball caps?”

“Demetrius? Of course I remember him.” I smiled at the thought of my sweet old neighbor. After I kicked Jerome out that dreadful day, he came over to console me—even though we barely talked before the incident. I had always found him cute with his short chubby self. Every month, he would hold a house party in celebration of another semester of college being completed. He’d always invite me to them, partially because he felt obligated to since I was his neighbor and all. Of course I’d have to turn him down due to my exhaustion from having to work two jobs and dealing with school at the same time.

That’s when it hit me.

Jerome was insinuating that Demetrius, my sweet Demetrius, was the one who supposedly beat him up.

“No…Demetrius?” Oh c’mon…he couldn’t hurt a fly, I told myself. “No…”

“Yes. I came to your place the next day to apologize and make up for what I did to you but you weren’t home. I guess the little brute heard my knocks and decided to come out and make your business into his business. I couldn’t even get a word out before he knocked me out. He must have had a few friends over at the time because they joined in on the action.”

“Oh my god”

“I woke up on the side of a ghost road somewhere in Oregon.”

Once again, my heart sank in my chest. My eyes just couldn’t help but to alternate between Jerome and Daniel, who was casually sipping on a glass of champagne while observing us. I felt like I was living in some sort of dramatic romance movie, with half of the romance of course.

“Wow, Jerome. I am so sorry that happened to you.”

“Don’t feel sorry for me now, bitch-“

“Don’t call me that.”

“That’s what you are. No normal person gets her thug—a guy she’s been leading on for God know how long—to handle her dirty laundry for her.”

“Well actually..” I stopped myself from being a smartass and got back to what he was suggesting. “Look, first of all…no normal person does what you did to me all of those years ago and comes back to threaten my life in such a manner like this. And second of all, I had no fucking idea Demetrius was going to go off on you like that. I had nothing to do with it!”

“I don’t believe you. It makes perfect sense.”

“It does, you’re right…but I didn’t do it. You’ve got to believe me. I wanted to initially strangle you until your last breath when you told me you gave me gonorrhea, but I never told anyone to beat you up. I swear.”

“I-I…I don’t believe you, Terri.”

“Let’s be hypothetical here. What if I did do it? Why would you come find me so many years later? How do you know so much about my life?”

“I’ve been watching you for the past five years. It took me a while to make something of myself-“

“You’ve been watching me? Like…stalking me?”

“In a way.”

“But why?”

“To see how I was going to destroy you, of course…but you’ve already been destroying yourself.”

“What?” I whispered.

He looked at me with a smirk on his face. “I’ll just put it like this…if your life was capable of being put up for auction, no one would want it.”

“I seriously doubt that, Jerome. I’d like to think I’m doing pretty good for myself.”

“I’m speaking in terms of your personal life. Everything that includes romance, socialization, and the mental aspects of it. Think about it…the more successful you’ve become, the more lonely you’ve gotten.”

“That’s not entirely true.”

“Right. You have that red-headed girl as a friend, but it’s so obvious that you’ve been missing a huge chunk out of your life. A companion. That is until that little pasty thing you call a boyfriend showed up.”

“Stop right there” I nearly growled as I squinted my eyes. “He has nothing to do with this. I’ve already told you and this is the last time I am going to repeat it. I had nothing to do with you getting beat up! But honestly, I would have loved to have a front row seat.”

Daniel

It was hard trying to understand exactly what was going on at that table but I knew for sure that Terri was in trouble. Every time we made eye contact, it looked like she was silently crying out for help. I noticed that she was clenching her teeth and struggling quite a bit as she conversed with the man. As I continued to pay more attention, I also noticed that he was only using one arm to eat while the other was tucked under the table.

What was that all about?

Minutes and minutes passed before Terri began getting riled up. I saw her attempt to get up from the table but he leaned over and whispered what I can only assume was a threat into her ear because she sat down immediately. Getting up to check on her was an idea I threw out the window because I had a feeling things were about to get real nasty. There’s a reason why I decided to come in stealth. Even if she had noticed me, he didn’t.

I waited for their desserts to come before I called the police.

“911. What is your emergency?”

“Yes. My friend is on a date and I think she’s being held hostage.”

I paused to reflect on how ridiculous that just sounded but then I caught another glance at Terri. Lord help me if what I’m doing is wrong and random . This thing could turn out into two possible ways: I’m right and I’m her hero for the night or I’m wrong and I end up looking like the stalker I previously mentioned.

“Sir?” The operator tore me from my thoughts. “Why do you think she is being held hostage?”

“I know this is going to sound crazy, but please hear me out” I began biting the nail off from my thumb. How the hell do I put this into words without sounding like I’ve gone mad? “I followed her to a restaurant because her behavior was really suspicious earlier. Now she’s out with this guy who I’ve never seen her with or heard her talk about-“

“I’m gonna cut you off right there, sir. You’re calling 911 because you’re stalking your friend?” The lady almost sounded like she wanted to laugh. I’d probably find it hilarious too if I were in her shoes because trying to describe this was a pain in the ass.

“It’s not like that. The man is throwing threats at her left and right and I have reason to believe that he’s got a gun hidden somewhere under that table.”

“A gun?”

“Yes. I can’t see it, but I know it’s there. Whether you believe me or not, it’s about to get really ugly in here. I refuse to just sit back and watch the woman I’m in love with be tortured by some sick son of a bitch.”

“Look” her tone instantly became serious. “I can send an officer on patrol to check this situation out, but I urge you to stay put. You don’t know the full situation. And if she really is being threatened, you do not know what this man is capable of. Do you hear me?”

“Yeah…alright. But if your men aren’t here in thirty minutes-“ The appearance of a police officer grabbed my attention. He was sitting at a table all by himself. He wasn’t in uniform but he was equipped with a badge and a gun holster. “Wait. I see an officer who’s already here. He’s staring at their table. Don’t you think that’s weird?”

“Are you close enough to get a name for me?”

“Um…not exactly. He’s not in uniform.”

“Okay. Sir, the only thing I can do for you at this point is sent an officer to console you-“

“But-“

“If something happens between the time the officer gets there and now, don’t hesitate to dial 911 again. Okay?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

“No problem. He should be there in no less than fifteen minutes. You have a good night.”

“Same goes to you” I replied before hanging up.

What if I was really in over my head about this? My gut instinct was telling me that I needed to act quickly, but my brain kept making me second-think. Terri would never speak to me again if I messed her night up, but then again she would have been gotten up and cussed me out for being here in the first place.

Fifteen minutes passed and there was no sign of a cop appearing. I gave him a few grace minutes but it was a still a no show. You’d think the cop that was already here would at least check the situation out.

Terri and her mysterious date were still firmly seated with no indication of being ready to get up. So taking the initiative, I stood up and walked over to the table where the undercover police officer was seated. The middle-aged officer who was pretty bulk and had a greying beard, looked up at me in confusion.

“May I help you?” he asked, flicking his eyes between mines and their table. I looked back at them. Terri was facing us and her date’s back was to us. Her expression was full of shock but not enough to get him riled up.

I boldly slid the extra chair out and sat in front of him. “Are you a cop?”

“Yes” he said before nervously clearing his throat.

I cocked my head to the side and smirked. “Don’t you think it’s odd that I called the cops about twenty minutes ago and I still have yet to see anyone show up?”

“Son, that’s none of my business. I’m off duty.”

“Says the guy who has a holster and a badge. And don’t let me forget that oh so very obvious radio you’ve got going off every two minutes”

“What do you want?” he asked coolly, but was clearly annoyed.

I leaned in closer to his face and crinkled my eyebrows together. “I want to know why you’re telling your police buddies to back off. I called in an emergency and I find it very disrespectful that I am blatantly being ignored.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. All I do know is that you need to back up or we’ll be having an issue, son.”

“I’m not your son. And if you don’t do something about this, I will take matters into my own hands and the peaceful atmosphere of this restaurant will be ruined.”

“I don’t want to have to escort you out of here, but I will.”

“For what? I’m simply talking to you in the calmest voice I can muster up, considering the fact that my friend over there is being held hostage.”

He let out a hearty chuckle. ”What the hell makes you think that?”

“Look at her. Pay attention to her mannerisms. I know her better than anyone and she’s not acting herself. Matter of fact, do you think that’s the face of a happy woman on a date?”

“What are you? Some type of jealous boyfriend? I’m sure the woman can handle herself” he chuckled out, once again. Of course I’d be mocked..

“I’m helping her. Fuck this…”I mumbled as I raised myself out of the chair and began walking over to their table. Terri’s eyes grew wider with each step I took, forcing her mysterious date to see what the hell she was looking at. He caught eye of me and smirked, as if he were expecting me. The officer, who I suspected to be crooked, was right on my heels.

I was the first to speak. Her date, a darker-skinned black man looked up at me; challenging me with an eye duel. “Terri, you’re coming with me.”

“I don’t know what you’re doing here, but you need to leave” she nervously replied with pleading eyes.

“I am not leaving this place until I have you by my side!” That brought a few curious stares our way. To the innocent bystanders, I’m sure I looked quite odd with such a casual outfit on. “You need to come with me. Now.”

“She obviously doesn’t want to come with you so I suggest you back the hell up or there will be consequences” said her date.

“Terri, c’mon” I pressed, staring deep into her eyes. Without thinking, I grabbed her by the arm and began pulling her up. That’s when I heard it.

The gun.

It clicked.

I don’t know how I heard it amongst all of the guests in the building, but I did. I heard him chamber the round, putting it into position to fire.

Right as I was about to do something about it, the crooked officer touched my shoulder and forced me to face him, making me let loose of Terri’s arm. “I think you need to leave with me before you cause a scene.”

“I’m not leaving anywhere!” I roared. This whole act was beginning to piss me off. Nearly everyone, including the guests out on the patio, jerked their heads towards me. In order to get my job done, I had to first prove that he had a gun so I wouldn’t look like an idiot and I had to get Terri to safety.

Swiftly, I pushed the officer away from me and raised the tablecloth. Right in front of my eyes, I saw Terri’s beautiful brown legs trembling and the silver semi-automatic gun pressed firmly against her knees.

“Gun!” I screamed as loud as I could. “He’s got a gun!”

As soon as that came out of my mouth, it didn’t take long for everyone to react. Within seconds, dozens of people shot out their chairs screaming and rushing out of the restaurant’s designated exits not caring about their bills or who was in their way.

Reacting quickly, I grabbed Terri and pulled her up. Tears fell from her eyes as I ran out of the restaurant with her by my side.

Terri

I couldn’t believe Daniel did that. I remained in a state of shock as we pulled up to his apartment complex. He insisted we go to his in the case that Jerome was on the lookout for me.

“What a night” he exhaled with a half-smile, attempting to lighten the mood.

Instead of responding, I wiped away the rest of the mascara that was running down my right cheek.

“Terri, I honestly don’t know what to say to you. And I know you don’t want to talk about it, but-“

“I don’t. I just want you to hold me, Daniel. I need you” I inhaled deeply and choked out a throaty sob.

“Oh baby…” he mumbled before opening his door and walking over to my side of the car. “C’mon, let’s get you inside.”

Inside of his cozy apartment, I changed into one of his shirts and kicked my nude pumps the curb. Daniel was being all fidgety by trying to get me comfortable but all I wanted him to do was hold me like I said before.

“Daniel…” He looked up from the kitchen.

“We can worry about what happened tomorrow, okay?”

He quickly nodded his head and made his way over to where I was sitting on the couch. He then sat down and looked at me. “I don’t know what I would have done if I lost you tonight and it’s killing me. That’s all I can think about.”

“You did great” I smiled. He really did though. I never would have thought of such a brilliant plan. “I’m safe here with you”

Daniel let out a low groan as I cunningly positioned myself onto his lap. Each of my naked legs were wrapped around his waist. Staring into the comfort of his lovely blue eyes, I placed my hands on the both of his angular cheeks. “Thank you so much” I whispered before placing a soft kiss on his lips.

He of course returned the kiss and put his hands on the lower regions of my back. “I-I don’t know if we should be doing this, babe. You just suffered through a very traumatizing experience.”

“Yeah, whatever. Just make me feel good..” I hotly whispered into his ear. Maybe I didn’t have the lingerie to set the mood or the best timing but dammit, that was not going to stop me from having sex with Daniel Jones.

He aggressively held me closer to him as he flipped me onto my back on the couch and relaxed on top of me. “Terri…did you hear anything I said earlier? About…you know, loving you. I was serious.”

I continued to lay kisses along the side of his neck while rummaging my fingers through his hair. “You’re so sweet, Daniel”

There was a pause.

Maybe he was trying to figure out if I felt the same for him.

I did, I really did.

But I wasn’t ready to say it. Not just yet.

“I want you to make love to me.”

“A-are you sure?” Daniel stuttered. His eyes shot wide open when I made the  “make love to me” declaration. Although there was still a bit of tension floating around from me never reciprocating with an “I love you”, I could feel him growing aroused underneath my thighs. He wanted this just as much as I wanted him.

“Yes baby” I breathed out and slowly pressed my heated body into his.

Daniel nervously chuckled a throaty laugh. It pulsated through my neck as he kissed the sensitive spot just under my right ear. “I know it’s been a while for you and I just want to make sure you-“

My eyes were overcome with desire at this point. Everything in me began to quiver so much that I questioned my ability to speak clearly. “Daniel…seriously. I want you inside of me.”

“Terri…this is special for me” he hesitantly began to say “and I’d rather set the mood than to fuck you right here and now.”

With that being said, he ignored my shocked expression, gently lifted me up, and placed me beside him on the couch. He then got up and walked into the kitchen. What is he up to??

Daniel returned a minute later with a bottle of champagne and a bowl full of ripe pineapple cutlets. “Time for some fun.”

“Fun? What’s this all about?” I asked in an innocent tone.

He stood over the couch and looked down at me darkly. “Lay down on the couch for me, Ter”

“Why?”

“Just do it”

“You know I don’t like when people tell me what to do”

Blatantly ignoring my sassy remark, Daniel stepped closer to me and practically forced me to lay down with my back pressed against the cushions and my legs spread apart.  He then slowly began rolling the edges of my skirt up past my knees.

His eyes suddenly grew dark.

I bit down on my bottom lip as I watched him carefully peel my laced panties down towards my ankles. “Time for a little bit of fun” he whispered.

“Meaning-?”

He latched his warm tongue onto the slit of my pulsating pussy, causing me to jerk upwards before I had to the chance to fully understand what was going on. As if he couldn’t get enough, Daniel groaned and latched his fingers onto my right thigh, digging his tongue in deeper; deeper than I could even began to fathom. This caused me to let out an involuntary squeal. SHIT. Where did he learn this??!

“Doesn’t matter, baby-“ Daniel answered in a whisper. I must have said what I was thinking out loud. He reached back and fished out a chunk of juicy pineapple. “I always love my food with a hint of pineapple. Pizza…ice cream…pussy…”

I smirked and continued to tug on my bottom lip with my teeth. Watching him was somehow enjoyable and amusing; dare I say exotic. He kept his blue eyes on me as he put the chilled fruit at my entrance. I could feel the cold radiating off of it, but it was no match for the heat between the two of us. Right as the pineapple made contact with my skin, I moaned and unconsciously grabbed a lock of his hair, pushing his face deeper into my crotch. Daniel began nibbling on the fruit. His licks and groans were so full of passion, that I stood no chance at holding an orgasm in.

“You’re so delicious, Terri. So fucking good. And sweet” Daniel sighed. I felt him swallow the fruit and immediately flick his tongue against my throbbing clit. “I just want all of you..”

“Mmm..Shit” I could barely speak it was so good! My body began convulsing. The world began to spin and everything seemed right. Perfect. I felt like I was on drugs! “Daniel…baby. Please. Just shut up and keep going!”

He dove his thick tongue in deeper and deeper by the second, making my hips wrap tightly around his neck. With each continuous set of throaty moans, I threw my head back. It honestly felt like the damn thing was going to snap at one point because each time Daniel made a move, my body didn’t know how to react.

He unhooked himself from my pussy for a few seconds, only to grab the bottle of Moet and unscrewed the gold cap.  In the meantime, I licked my lips and caught my breath.

“Your couch is getting so messed up” Daniel said in a semi raspy voice.

“Fuck the couch. C’mere.”

He smiled a boyish grin and crawled back on top of me, placing the bottle of champagne on top of the coffee table. I rubbed the side of his face with the back of my hand and stared deep into his eyes. “Daniel, sweetheart, I want you to fuck me so hard that all of the feelings you’ve come across since knowing me…they just disappear.-“

“What?” he squinted his eyes, still panting.

I gave him a closed-lip smile and continued to caress his face. “Listen to me. All of the frustration I’ve caused you. All of the mean shit I’ve said to you. All of the times I’ve belittled you. I want you to channel all of that emotion and let it all out on me. Don’t hold back, ya hear me?”

“Terri…I don’t know-“

“Do it” I almost wanted to scream.

Daniel submissively nodded his head and reached into his pocket, pulling out a shiny square packet. Before putting the condom on, he hurriedly unzipped his pants and tossed them onto the hardwood floor. He continued to glare at me as he slipped the condom on between our legs. For a few seconds, his warm throbbing partner rested against my left inner thigh.

I wrapped my hand around the back of his neck and slightly lifted myself up to meet his lips. “I do love you, Daniel” I began to say in a soft whisper. “Maybe I always have. I don’t know. But I’m so in love with you, okay? And I care about you more than I’ve ever cared about anyone.”

Daniel bashfully bowed his head and planted a massive smile on his face. It was the cutest thing I’d ever seen.

“Hey” I continued to speak. “Kiss me. With everything you’ve got, baby.”

In one swift movement, Daniel somehow managed to thrust his cock inside of my sopping wet pussy and his tongue inside of my awaiting mouth. For a split second, I was in major discomfort, causing me to widen my eyes and dig my nails into his neck; but that feeling was brief and short-lived. A wonderful waterfall of pleasure cascaded over me just as quickly.

“Oh fuck. Oh my God..” I began moaning uncontrollably through his lips. It amazed me how he was kissing and fucking the life out of me simultaneously. Like…how?!

“All of the shit we’ve been through was for a reason, Terri. All of the frustration we’ve had to deal with was for a reason. And all of the times you think you’ve belittled me…well, it was for a reason” Daniel grunted after ending the kiss. He complimented each sentence with a hard thrust. “Fuck. I can’t even speak clearly right now. You feel so amazing. Your pussy molds to me like a glove. And that makes me believe that we were meant to be…mmm…together”

Minutes passed and I felt like I was overwhelmed with an intense amount of emotion, pleasure, and an oncoming orgasm. This man was making me lose it. He was giving it to me so good that domestic thoughts began circulating in my mind. Like marriage. And babies.

“Oh shit, Daniel. I’m gonna cum!” I screamed into his neck, holding him close to me.

Daniel gently kissed my collarbone and devilishly smiled. “Ladies first.”

And with that, I released the impending flood. My body shook with great power. It was like I had no control whatsoever as I rode the pleasure out. Before I was finished, Daniel cursed under his breath and gripped me closer to him as he released himself into the condom.

***********************

Daniel made sure to carefully follow my instructions about letting all of his emotions out and channeling it into our lovemaking. Each time I came, he’d only let me rest for a few seconds. Just enough so I wouldn’t pass out. And then he’d take me on another trip into Pleasureland. Shit, by the time we were truly done, it was two in the morning, and I literally felt detached from my body.

“You okay?” he whispered into the back of my neck. I was lying on my stomach with my head facing the window in his bedroom. We had eventually moved there to finish up on our third round. Daniel carried me due to the weakness of my body.

I gave him a fragile smile. “My body’s seen better days..”

He started to place small pecks from the top of my spinal cord all the way down to the crack of my ass. Seeing him with his hair tousled and naked as the day he was born caused butterflies to flutter in the pit of my stomach. He looked so happy and at peace with me in the middle of the night.

The past few hours helped me to forget about the disaster of a day I had. Putting up with Jerome’s shit almost brought me to my knees, but it didn’t. It did, of course, make me wonder what he had coming for me next. That couldn’t have possibly been the end of it. The psycho just didn’t want to stay out of my life.

“What are you thinking about?” Daniel asked.

I sighed and turned around onto my back to face him. “Jerome.”

His face immediately turned into a deep frown as he clenched his jaw. “What about him?”

“I don’t think he’s done with me. It scares the shit out of me because he could come after you and-“

“Shh…we’ll worry about that in the morning. Get some sleep for now.” Daniel took my face between his hands and gave me one last French kiss before I drifted off into a deep slumber.

Daniel

Waking up to Terri’s face was something I wouldn’t trade the world for. She looked so beautiful and peaceful lying there with a small smile on her face; my jersey cotton sheets wrapped loosely around her nude body. To know that it was I who did that—brought great pleasure to me. I loved her with all of my heart to say the least. She had no idea what I’d do to keep her in my life.

Her gorgeous brown skin glowed in the light of a new day. I continued to watch as cute little snores would randomly be heard and as her body would sometimes twitch.

While she was sound asleep, I took the liberty of drawing her a hot bubble bath and calling the authorities on Jerome’s sneaky ass. The only issue was that they didn’t have enough information about him to lock him up, or find him for that matter. The best thing I could do was give them the name of the restaurant we were at last night and the best description of his face that I could remember. Luckily, I was talking to a detective that genuinely cared about the issue and had heard about what happened the previous night. The owner of the restaurant was so shaken up about it that he demanded Jerome to be locked up ASAP.

It felt good to hang up with assurance that Terri was going to be somewhat safe. She was obviously scared shitless and I felt like shit for not being able to fully protect her. I knew nothing about the guy or where the idiot came from and that infuriated the hell out of me.

“Hey”

I turned my head around to meet the owner of the hoarse voice. She must have temporarily lost it from all of the screaming and hollering she did. Terri had on a the t-shirt I wore, her newly short hair [which I absolutely adored] was somehow perfect although she didn’t have time to put on that silk rag she always wears, and her face carried the loveliest smile.

“Hey” I replied, returning the smile.

Terri walked over to me, sat down on my lap, and wrapped her arms around my neck. I was sitting in the bathroom on the lid of the toilet. “Good morning” was all she said before covering my lips with her. As the kiss deepened, I helped her to wrap her legs around my hips so that she was facing me completely. I carefully pinched the lower corner of the t-shirt she was wearing and began tugging it over her shoulders, looking deeply into her stunning brown eyes as I did so. Terri helped by shrugging the rest off of herself.

By taking complete control, she placed her hands on my erected cock and guided it straight into her warmth. We moaned in unison.

“Mm…it’s like I can’t get enough of you, Daniel” she said, biting her lip. Her eyes were glazed over in passion and that made me the happiest man on earth to see her like this. It turned me on even more.

I lifted up out of the chair with her still on top of me, allowing the shirt to fall into a pool on the floor. “I made a hot bath for you, babe.”

Before she could protest, I raised her off of my dick and lowered her into the soapy water. She looked up at me as she settled in. “Come.” Terri reached out her arms, which were covered in bubbles at this point. “Join me. We have a lot to talk about.”

For the next thirty minutes, my back was against the ceramic walls of the huge bathtub, and Terri laid against me. We had already made passionate love once, but things suddenly turned serious. She wanted to talk about what we were going to do.

“No one has to know about this..” I started out by saying.

She smiled and closed her eyes. “You’re right, but you need to find a manager soon.”

“That’s ridiculous and I refuse to do it.”

“Sweetheart, you can refuse all you want, but it won’t be effective. My job is to scout potentials and start their careers. You, my darling, have already gone over and beyond that. You’re making so much money now and everyone wants you.” Terri lifted her arm up and caressed my face. “I’m so proud of you.”

“Why can’t you be my manager?” I asked as I kissed her shoulder over and over again. “I don’t trust anyone else.”

“Because that’s not my job and since I’m so close to becoming CEO of Wesley Models, I don’t have time to be anyone’s manager.”

“Well I guess that’s understandable…but-“

She fell asleep before I could finish my statement.

********************************

An hour later, Terri was still sleep and I was busy answering and returning phone calls. Once I had turned my phone back on, I had a dozen voicemails from different designers asking me to be on their runway. All of which I responded with “You’ll have to speak with my agent about that.” Terri always knew which ones were best for me. Some of their assistants would give me lip about not having an official manager, but they had no idea how difficult it was for me to do that. I mean, I knew it had to be done soon…but I just couldn’t bring myself to go off on my own like this. I needed her and she needed me even if she hasn’t quite figured that out yet. God placed her in my life for a reason.

As I sat down thinking about what was in store for the two of us, my phone rang once again. This whole thing was getting on my nerves. It’d be nice to have one day without thinking about modeling and talking to self-absorbed clothes designers.

“Hello. Daniel Jones speaking.”

“Danny?” a young girl’s voice answered. It sounded so familiar...who calls me Danny?

I scratched my head and lifted my right brow. “Yes? This is Daniel.”

“It’s your sister, Danny. Julianne.”

My heart stopped. Julianne? Really? My little sister who—if I remember correctly—wanted nothing to do with me.

“J?”

“Yep. It’s me! How are-“

I cut her off before she could finish her question. “How did you get this number? How…what? After nearly two years…”

“I know” she sighed. “Look, my friends saw you on this TV commercial, right? And I had to see it for myself. So I did and I saw that you were signed to this agency. I called them up, told them that we’re family, and they gave me your number. I couldn’t believe it was that easy but God makes a way for everything I guess. So how are you??”

“Wait.” I tried to take all of that in. it was hard enough coming to terms that I was currently speaking to my sister. “Do you seriously think we are about to hold a normal conversation as if nothing happened?”

“Well yeah. It’s not my fault that Dad made the decisions he made. He saw the commercials you’re in. So did mom. They’re really proud of you, Danny. I think you should at least talk to them.”

“No. Not gonna happen. I can barely muster up the strength to talk to you right now without hanging up.”

“Oh come on. Don’t act like that. The past is the past.”

“You should have told that to Dad when you were fucking around with a man who’s ten years older than you, got pregnant, and then had an abortion with his money. What kind of Christian family does that shit, J? Huh? Dad’s a hypocrite and a selfish ass motherfucker. I want nothing to do with him. End of story!”

I could hear her crying on the other side of the line, but it barely fazed me. My little sister used to be my weakness but not after what she had done. Sure we all make mistakes, but I’d like to think that mines deserved less of a punishment than hers.

“And you know what the sad part about all of this is?”

“What?” she sniffed.

“You wait until you have proof that I’m alive and doing well to call up with this whole “Family Is All You Have” bullshit-“

“Daniel?” Another woman’s voice, which was easily distinguishable, came onto the line. My mother. “Hey baby. It’s Mom.”

I wanted to hang up but I couldn’t. Hearing my mother’s voice brought back so many memories of my childhood. Although the person I really needed to cuss out had yet to come to the phone, it felt good to let all of this out. Mom and Julianne didn’t have much to do with this as they were simply doing what my dad told them to do, but I still resented them for not putting their foot down and standing up to his tyrannical ways.

“Before you hang up…I know how upset you are. I just think you should know that your father and I are separated.”

“What? I don’t understand.”

“Yeah…it happened last week. He hit me.” she paused. “You father’s been hitting me for five years and I have grown tired of it.”

My jaw nearly dropped to the floor at her eye-opening confession. “You didn’t grow tired of it the first time he laid hands on you?”

“Sweetie, that’s not the point. The point is that I’m so sorry for not being there for you when you needed me the most. I am no longer scared of your dad and I am no longer under his control anymore so I took the opportunity to contact you. Your dad and I still talk sometimes that why Julie mentioned that he’s proud of you. He really is, son.  And I know it may seem like the absolute worse timing, seeing that you’re becoming famous and all, but I assure you that this is genuine. You don’t have to reply or even talk to me, but I thought you should know. Here’s your sister back.”

I ended the call before Julianne was able to get back on. How was I supposed to react? What the hell was I supposed to say? Was I supposed to forgive and forget and then play house with these people I’m supposed to call family?

But that’s when it came to me. I basically dragged Terri to see her parents although she was totally against it so why should my situation be treated any differently than hers?

Terri

I woke up at three in the afternoon to the sound of the doorbell ringing. For a second, I thought I was at home and instantly got irritated because I didn’t want to get out of the comfortable bed, but Daniel answered it. He was an angel for letting me go to sleep again. My body hasn’t felt this exhausted in years. The way he put it down on me throughout the night and this morning left me all up in my emotions. I felt regretful at first and then at peace with it seconds later.

I’m not saying that I’m going to fully let my guard down and succumb to him completely, but my brick wall has definitely taken such a huge hit that I don’t even think it’s a wall anymore…more like one single brick. Just one. And that one brick is helping to preserve whatever is left of the bitch in me. I needed it to finally get rid of Jerome-or whatever he liked to be called.

Daniel walked into the bedroom with bags of food; Chinese hopefully. I was starving.

“Hungry?”

“Gimme!” I clasped my hands together and smiled in anticipation for the delicious food I was about to taste. “I’m so hungry. You don’t even know!”

“Yeah..” he sat on the bed and began opening the plates. “You’ve been sleep just about all day.”

“I know. I was just thinking earlier that I haven’t been this exhausted in years. I think it’s the bed” I joked as I began digging my fingers into the bags to see what he ordered.

Daniel looked at me for a quick second before saying “Or maybe…just maybe it’s the owner of the bed that’s got you this exhausted.”

“Meh. I don’t think so.”

He playfully moved the bags of food aside and crawled on top of me. “Really, huh? Let’s look at it this way. I have days and days worth of energy stored up within me. You clearly have none, as we speak. So if I took you for another round, you’d definitely be in a coma.”

“Is that a dare?” I asked, amused.

Daniel smirked his infamous smirk and shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe.”

“Okay. I got your ‘maybe’…after I eat. Now move.”

He chuckled and rolled off of me so that I had access to the food. “I got your favorite: sesame chicken with white rice and veggie lo mein.”

“Mmm…look at you. Paying attention to detail. I love you for this. Thanks.”

He grew quiet and wrapped an arm around my neck from behind, kissing a random spot behind my ear. “Do you really love me Terri?”

He just had to ask that as soon as I stuffed a piece of chicken into my mouth. I gave myself time to swallow before answering. “Yes. I do.”

“I won’t believe it until I hear you say ‘I’m in love with you‘ directly to my face.”

“I said it last night.”

“People say crazy things when they’re about to cum..”

“Okay not me. I meant everything I said.”

“I honestly don’t think they mean the same thing..” I felt him shrug against me.

“What? Okay. I’ll say it…just to make you happy.”

“Say it because you mean it.”

I sighed and turned around to face him, putting the plastic fork back into the container. He looked down at me with this ridiculously intense expression. His breath hitched in his throat as I brought my hands up to the sides of his face.

“Daniel…Isaiah…Jones. I am in love with you” I paused, trying to get myself together. A single tear trickled out of my right eyelid. “Clearly, this love that I have for you is something I’ve never experienced before because I don’t know how to control myself around you. I don’t know if I ever will.”

He looked at me with a proud grin on his face.  “Now was that so hard?”

“Actually, yes. It was” I said before dropping my hands from his face and turning back around to finish eating.

There was a brief pause before Daniel spoke. “There are two things I have to tell you and I don’t know how you’re going to react to either so I’ll just say it: I need to know everything about your relationship with this Jerome guy so we can get him prosecuted…and secondly, I think I am going to Louisiana to see my mom and sister. I want you to come with me.”