“So, you’ve got a date tonight, huh?” Velle asked as Robin entered the living room. He was there to pick up Monique for their night out and apparently stick his nose into more of Robin’s business. Robin wrinkled her brow as she picked up some wayward magazines and put them away. She had forgotten to tell Ryan not to mention his coming to see her to Velle.
Her first response was to play dumb so she said, “What are you talking about? I’m not going on any date.” She continued straightening the room for the date she wasn’t supposed to have.
“I know,” Velle replied with a all-knowing grin on his face, “your date’s coming to you.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she continued moving things from one place to another in an effort not to look Velle in the face.
“Really?” He said as he stretched his arms out over the back of the sofa he was sitting in. “Well, that’s good because Monique and I were planning on staying in and watching a movie tonight. Since you’re not having company it won’t be a problem.”
“Touché” Robin thought as he had finally pulled her card but she still felt like he was bluffing so she replied, “Yeah right. You ain’t gonna pass up a chance to spend the night with Mo just so you can sit around here and wait for a date that isn’t even going to happen.”
Velle then one-upped her by yelling loud enough for Monique to hear him in her bedroom “MONIQUE, DO YOU STILL WANT TO STAY HERE TONIGHT?”
“Okay, okay,” Robin said as she practically leapt onto the sofa to cover Velle’s mouth, “I hate you so much!”
Then came the sound of Monique’s voice from the end of the hall, “What?”
“NOTHING! HE THOUGHT I SAID YOU WANTED A BEER TONIGHT!” Robin yelled back unable to think of any other words that would match his. She still had her hand clasped over Velle’s mouth while he was giving her a raised eyebrow that said he wanted details.
“Ewwwww! I don’t drink beer. I do want something to eat though. I’m hungry! I’ll be there in a minute. I gotta get my jacket.” Monique said seemingly unaware of anything that was going on.
After Robin was sure Monique was back in her room she removed her hand from Velle’s face and took a seat on the other end of the sofa. She folded her arms and exhaled deeply and said, “Okaaaaaay, so Ryan’s coming over here later on…but it’s not a date. It’s…we’re just gonna watch a movie and that’s it.”
“Uh-huh,” Velle replied, “Y’all gonna watch a movie alright.” He laughed as though it was the silliest notion he’d ever heard. As if the two of them couldn’t just watch a movie together with nothing else happening.
“What’s so damn funny? What did he say we were gonna be doing?” Robin replied to his laughter. Had Ryan told him something different? Was he expecting something to happen? As far as Robin was concerned they weren’t going to have any kind of physical interaction.
“He didn’t say nothing. He was just all juiced up when I saw him earlier. I asked him what he was so happy about and he said he was going to see a lady friend of his. He didn’t tell me it was you but I put two and two together. Plus, you cleaning up at 8:30 at night on a Friday and you got your little cutesy lounge clothes on, hair all nice and neat. You usually look like a dish mop so I could tell what was really up. So what’s on the agenda?” Velle said as he looked at his watch.
“None of your business!” Robin snapped, “You know, I am at my wick’s end with you all in my business.”
“Don’t you mean wit’s end,” Velle replied with a smug grin on his face.
“Ah, no,” Robin rolled her eyes. Velle could be a real smart ass at times, this being one of them. She continued, “First of all both sayings are acceptable. Second to say that one is at one’s “wit’s end” is to say that he or she is out of options, doesn’t know what to do next, as in the end of one’s wits. As I always keep my wits about me, I am never at my “wit’s end”. I am, though, at my “wick’s end” as in the end of the candle’s wick, the end of my rope, the end of my damn patience with your smart ass.”
Velle smiled, he was impressed but not enough to concede so he replied, “whatever Rob Base. Just because you can explain your reasoning for being wrong doesn’t make it right.”
“Yes, but the fact that you can’t disprove my logic does,” she replied. She knew that she was smarter than Velle on any given day and refused to let him have the last word.
“Blah, blah, blah,” he said as he used his hand to gesture the sign of a moving lips, “it’s still wit’s end. I don’t care what you say and don’t try to change the subject! Trying not to tell me what you and my boy gonna be doing in here while we’re gone. You need to give him some since you been holding out on him for the past month.” He looked around the room as he awaited a response from Robin but when none came he again said, “so what y’all gon’ do tonight?”
“Nothing! We’re going to watch a movie…talk that’s it,” Robin said pissed that Velle knew way more of her business than she thought he should. She thought for a moment then said, “Don’t say anything to Mo, okay? She’d have a fit if she knew he was coming over here.”
“Definitely,” he said as the sound of Monique closing her door caused him to stand up, “As long as you watch the kids again tomorrow night.”
“What?” Robin snapped and she could hear Monique’s heels clicking down the hallway, meaning that she didn’t have time to tell Velle what he could do with his last little comment.
“I’m ready!” Monique said as she entered the room. “Sorry I took so long. You know I like to make sure Brie is sleep before we leave.”
“No problem babe. Robin was just telling me that she’d watch the kids for us tomorrow so I can take you somewhere special. Ain’t that right Robin?” Velle said then gave Monique a gentle peck on the cheek.
“Really?” Monique asked as she spun around to face her cousin, who was standing behind her. Robin forced a smile as she caught a glimpse of Velle over Monique’s shoulder, mouthing the words “better say yes” over and over.
“Sure,” Robin said, “why not?”
“Thanks girl!” Monique said before she kissed her cousin on the cheek, “I’ll have to bring you some cheesecake back.”
“Have fun tonight!” Velle said as he and Monique made their way out the door. Robin had never wanted to punch someone in the face more than Velle at that moment. How dare he con her into taking the girls for two days in a row? He was like some kind of baby-sitting extortionist. She didn’t mind watching the girls because they weren’t much trouble other than the constant questions but she did want to have an adult to talk sometimes. There were only so many times she could explain how Sponge Bob and Patrick were able to make a campfire under water. Besides she wanted to talk to Monique about these thoughts and feelings she’d been developing for Ryan lately. She was also ready to tell someone that she had slept with him already and about how awesome it had been. Maybe she’d wait to tell Mo that little fact, as Monique had some choice words for women who gave it up on the first date…like slut and ho. No, she definitely wasn’t ready to tell Monique about her roll in the hay with the good dentist just yet.
Robin continued to ponder her situation and her feelings about said situation until a gentle tapping on the front door interrupted her thoughts. She hopped up from the sofa, sliding across the floor in her spa socks to answer the door. She stood on her tiptoes so that she could see who was on the other side of the door. Her heart knew who her visitor was and it did flip flops when she saw him standing there looking as anxious as she felt right then. A smile ran from one side of her face to the other as she tried to pull herself together. She had never had a guy she wasn’t already dating come visit her at her home, so she wasn’t sure how to act. She had always gone over to the guy’s residence, so this was a big change for her.
She opened the door, trying to look as nonchalant as possible but it was almost impossible for her to hold in just how truly excited she was to see him. “Hi, I brought you flowers,” he said as he pulled a bouquet of flowers from behind his back.
“Roses. There beautiful,” she said as she took her bouquet. She was flattered. She had been with Jay for five years and he had never given her more than one red rose and here this guy was giving her a dozen on their second date. The flowers were pretty but Robin didn’t like flowers. The truth was she thought that all flowers stank and that they were just a waste of money as they would be dead in a couple of days but now that she had actually gotten some she might have to change her mind. As she stepped aside to let her guest in she said, “Come in. Thanks for the flowers. I don’t really do flowers but it’s nice that you brought me some.”
“Are you allergic?” he asked as she closed and locked the door behind him.
“No, I just don’t like them,” she said as she led him to the living room.
“Nonsense! All girls like flowers,” he smiled as he took a seat.
“Whatever. They are just a little too girly for me but it’s a sweet gesture. Let me go put these in water. Make yourself at home” she said as she handed him the television remote and left to go do just as she said. She found the vase that Monique usually used to display her flowers and rinsed it out before she filled it halfway with water then sat the fresh bouquet inside. The baby’s breath added just the right amount a contrast to her long stemmed roses and she couldn’t help but smile at the thought that she had gotten flowers and it wasn’t even a special occasion.
“Girl, stop trippin’” she said to herself, “they’re just colorful weeds.” Still, she couldn’t help but steal one more glance at the bouquet before she left the kitchen with her tray full of goodies. Robin had arranged an assortment of sliced fresh fruit that the had prepared before Monique had ever gotten home from work and hid them in the cold cuts drawer of the fridge. She originally had planned to just pop some popcorn but she knew that would definitely wake up Monique’s daughter Brie and she was not about to have that happen. Besides, as a dentist he should appreciate fresh fruit versus popcorn and either way it was all that he was going to get.
“I cut up some fruit for us because I didn’t want to wake the girls with the smell or sound of popcorn. My niece would be out here in a minute if she smelt popcorn cooking.” Robin said as she sat the tray on the coffee table.
“Fruit, huh? See this is the part of being a dentist that I hate,” Ryan said as he picked up one of the sliced strawberries, “Robin, you do know they sell popcorn in bags at the grocery store now don’t you? And it’s already popped and you can get it in different flavors.”
“I wish I had some popcorn right now,” Robin said smirking as she took a seat next to him, “I’d hit you right in the head with it.” They shared the laugh at Robin’s expense and began what Robin wasn’t officially calling a date.
Robin was surprised to see that, Ryan looked as if he were ready to actually go to see a movie in a theater. He was neatly dressed in nice jeans with a crisp short sleeve polo shirt complete with a white tee under it. He was wearing a really expensive looking watch that Robin just couldn’t see the make of. If Monique were there, she would have been able to tell her the make on sight alone. His shoes appeared to be brand new which made her wonder if he had purchased them solely for their date. His hair was freshly cut with his face freshly shaven and his cologne was just Heavenly. Robin thought he looked nice…too nice, as if a woman had dressed him.
Ryan’s appearance made Robin wish that she had gotten dressed in something more date appropriate. She had decided that since they were staying in to just watch a movie that her lounge clothes would be more than suitable for the occasion. She was wearing a pair of black spandex tights with a pink pinstripe down the side with a matching pink and black fitted t-shirt. She had fashioned her hair in a neat cheerleader ponytail. She was walking around in a pair of spa socks that she had gotten the previous Christmas and other than a pair of small hoop earrings, she hadn’t put too much more thought into her look for the evening. She had remembered to spray on a dash of perfume, so at least she smelt like she was happy to see him.
“You look cute,” Ryan said as Robin pulled a box of DVDs from under the coffee table. She smiled. His compliment was sweet even if it were a lie.
“Thanks,” she said as she started placing videos on the table. His compliment made her feel as if she should explain why she hadn’t gotten properly dressed for their date. Unfortunately, she didn’t have a real excuse so she just lied, “I wasn’t sure if you’d actually show up and I didn’t want to be all dressed up and have you not show. This way, if you didn’t show I’d be already ready for bed.”
“Damn, you’ve got nice bed clothes,” he said rubbing his hands together, “what do you have for us to watch? I left my movie at home.”
“That’s okay,” Robin said, as she spread her movies out onto the table, “Let’s see we got Menace II Society, Goodfellas, Casino, Scarface, King of New York…hey look, I even got Colors…I haven’t seen that one in years….I am a nightmare walking….hey what about The Godfather?”
Ryan sifted through the movie cases that Robin had laid out. He picked up the Menace II Society case as he said, “Robin, what’s with all of the gangster movies?”
“Huh?” Robin said as she continued to rummage through her box of movies. She looked up to see the disturbed expression on his face. “What? I love these movies. I grew up watching these with my brothers. That’s my favorite one right there.” She said as she pointed to the case he was holding.
“This?” he said, looking at the case art before he continued, “Menace II Society is your favorite movie? What kind of girl are you? Don’t like flowers, likes gangster flicks...” he stopped for a second and squinted before he asked, “who’s your favorite football team?”
“College or professional?” Robin asked, the sarcasm in his voice going right over her head. She was seriously thinking about which teams were her favorite until he started laughing. A little confused she asked, “What’s so funny?”
He shook his head and kept his thoughts to himself, saying instead, “You know we’re getting married, right?”
“No, I didn’t know that,” Robin said shocked by his boldness.
“Yeah,” he said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, “you may as well get on the phone and tell your parents to start planning the wedding right now!”
Robin smirked trying to cover her smile before she said, “A little cocky tonight aren’t we?”
“Confident not cocky,” he said giving her shoulder a little shake, “my friends said that I should be more confident in pursuing you and I’m confident that you are going to be my wife.” His smile looked like that of a naughty child. Robin finally just gave in and started laughing. She couldn’t help but be flattered by his silly proclamation, which she was sure was just a line but a cute one never the less. She found herself a little embarrassed, but in a good way, when he said, “there it is…there’s that smile. You have a beautiful smile…you should smile all of the time.”
“For as much as I paid for it, you’re right!” She said.
“See, if we were married then it would’ve been free,” he said before he sat back. Robin laughed before she put all of her DVDs back inside her box and went to Monique’s room to find something less intense. He seemed to be in a lighthearted cheerful mood, so she decided to look for something that would fit his mood and she didn’t posses anything like that in her collection of films. She wanted to keep the playful banter that they had between them going and that would be hard to do watching gunplay and drug sells.
Robin smiled as she thought about how he said that they were going to be married. Silly. Still she secretly wished that he were serious. He seemed to be perfect. He was attractive, smart, funny, employed and single; he was perfect. If only she could say the same for herself. She had so much baggage that she could be mistaken for baggage claim at the airport. She pushed that out of her mind as she grabbed the first comedy she saw, not wanting to stay away from her company too long.
She was trippin’. She didn’t really know anything about this guy other than he was great in bed and a dentist and a widow…okay so she did know something about him but not enough to be wanting him to be serious about marrying her. She was such a sucker for that kind of bullshit. Her husband, Jay, had gotten her attention by kissing her on the back of her neck before asking her what she was doing for the next hundred years. When she had said nothing, he told her that she was wrong and that she would be spending it with him; she had been stimulated by his words alone. Now, here she was again falling for another corny line but not this time, or so she told herself. Mr. Perfect wasn’t getting in that easy…but he was still pursuing her long after they’d slept together so maybe he was worth giving a chance. Foolishness! She was thinking like a fool. This man was just trying to set up an on call cutty buddy and she was not about to be it…but the sex had been amazing so maybe she would keep that open as an option. That was it. She would consider having him as her sex partner with no kind of strings attached but nothing more. Yeah, that’s what she’d do.
Almost three hours had past and it was somewhere in the middle of their heated debate on whether the Washington Redskins or Philadelphia Eagles were the better football team, when Ryan leaned over and kissed her. Just a little peck gently on the lips at first, almost as if he were testing the boundaries before he slid his tongue quickly inside her mouth. Even though her mind was telling her she should, Robin just could not resist him. He was like the drug she needed to soothe her throbbing ache for passion. His kiss was seductively inviting as it seem to tell her to just lie back and relax so she could enjoy the trip she was about to be taken on. She felt starved, as she couldn’t kiss him enough to feed her desire and even though she wanted to, no needed to stop…she couldn’t. She couldn’t tear her lips away from the sloppy goodness his kiss provided.
She pushed him back into the sofa, so that she could climb on top of him, her legs straddling his as she placed herself squarely on his business without ever breaking their tongues’ dance. She needed to feel him inside her just one more time. Just once more and she’d be able to walk away from him without ever looking back. Forget about the sex buddy thing; besides one more night with him would tell if he were really a good lover or if she had just embellished her memories of being with him. His firm hands on her tight ass made her moan as she tightened her embrace around his neck. “Please, let this happen” she prayed as Ryan finally broke their lip matching to nibble on her neck. Ecstasy. Plain and simple. His every touch made a different part of her tingle and she couldn’t deny needing the full out pleasure of his ultimate desire just once more.
She was enjoying the feeling of his tongue on her neck when she caught a glimpse of the girls in a picture on the wall behind the couch. The image was like ice water on the fire of her lust. What was she doing even thinking about having sex with this man with the children only a few feet away? No sex in the house was she and Monique’s number one rule, which was followed by, no men in the house after eleven and she was breaking both rules. She rolled her eyes as, in her head, she could hear the lecture Monique would give her if she were to come home and catch she and Ryan fooling around well after midnight.
That was the antidote to his seductive poison. “Stop! Stop, stop, stop,” she said as quickly as she could before climbing off of an erection that she could feel through his jeans. She took her place on the far end of the couch before saying, “I’m sorry. I…I can’t do this. My baby and my niece are sleeping in the next room and we’re in here doing…this. I can’t do this. I’m sorry. I’m not trying to lead you on or anything but I can’t.”
“It’s okay,” Ryan said. He was still breathless and somewhat dazed. He looked as though he had just realized that they weren’t the only two in the residence. He cleared his throat before he continued, “I’m sorry. I forgot that the kids were here. I just really wanted to kiss you. I’m sorry.”
“No, you’re fine,” Robin said straightening her top before smoothing the flyaway into her ponytail, “I should have known better.”
“What known better? I kissed you first. Besides, I don’t want you to think that’s what I came over here for because it’s not. I really wanted to see you again.”
“No, I mean I know,” Robin said before she moved a little closer to him, “I know that you didn’t.” She paused as she gave him a quick up and down with her eyes as she thought about how good he looked without his clothes on. They both sat there for a moment. Both a little embarrass. Both still hungry for one another. The silence made them both ill at ease, as they each waited for the other to say something. Robin finally said, “we did have a lot of fun the last time we were together…I mean, the date not just the physical thing.”
“Yes we did,” Ryan said slowly, as he nodded while he seemed to be thinking about the last time the two of them were together. He thought for a moment or so longer before he said, “yeah, I think I better go because…” He then rose from his seat.
“Why? What’s wrong?” Robin said as she took his queue and rose to show him out. She started to feel uncomfortable now that he was ready to leave because they couldn’t have sex.
“Nothing’s wrong,” he said before he grabbed her forearm and used it to pull her tightly into his chest. He lifted her chin and again found his way inside her mouth with his tongue. His embrace was tight yet enticing as he again supplied her with the drug of seduction. He cut their lip lock short holding her tight as he said, “but if I don’t leave right now, I don’t think I’ll be able to stop myself.”
Breathless, Robin panted, “Okay.” She could feel his manhood hard against thigh. She felt the same way and agreed that it was definitely time for him to go. She walked him to the front door and even walked him out onto the porch. The desire to just be near him was making it hard for her to just stop long enough to allow him leave. As he made his way down the first two steps of the staircase, she grabbed his arm and said, “Be careful. These are the steps that I fell down.”
He turned around just as Robin thought he was going to make his way down the rest of the staircase. They were finally standing face to face, as he was much taller than she. He looked as if he wanted to say something but he didn’t. He just stared at her as if she were the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. They stood there divided only by their longing for one another and before long they found themselves kissing again.
Robin couldn’t believe it. She could not stop kissing this man. She devoured him with all five of her senses; tasted his yearning, smelt his longing, felt tingles from his touch, heard the lust in his moans and could see his genuine desire for her. Everything about what was happening was downright spiritual and something Robin had never experienced with any man she’d ever been involved with.
“Let me get ready to go,” Ryan said with hunger for her dancing in his eyes.
“Okay,” Robin said before she wrapped her arms around his neck and continued to kiss him. Had any of the neighbors been awake at that hour they would have been witness to quite a show. Here were two professionals kissing under the light of the front porch like two teenage high schoolers making out in the backseat of a car. But Robin could care less who was looking or what they may have thought, because she was taken by carnal lust.
She and Ryan took turns saying they should stop without ever doing so. They repeated the pattern a total of four times before they were interrupted by Monique’s voice snapping, “Robin! What are you doing
