DUBIOUS (12 page)

“
That was quick,” Kelvin said as I climbed back into the car.

“
I knew exactly where it was so it wasn’t a big deal.” I felt like a heel for taking credit for something I did not do, but I’d be damned if I’d admit that Felicia had the fortitude to pack my shit for me. “So where are we headed?”

“
Man, I met this chick last week, and she’s hot. She told me she works in this new spot, Seasons, and she’s the assistant manager there. We can get our grub on, and if I’m lucky, I’ll get to see that dime piece again.”

“
Oh, you’re dragging me on a booty call.”

“
Naw, man, she ain’t like that. This one is a class act. You’ll see when you meet her. That is if she is working.”

“
Alright. Where is it?” I waited for directions

“
It’s in Tucker on North Lake Parkway.”

I turned onto 285, pleased that I would not have to go all the way downtown. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until he’d mentioned food. I’d been in the house all day and hadn’t bothered to go outside to get me something to eat. Since neither Kelvin nor I cooked, his refrigerator was bare as hell. The only thing we kept in there was beer, and we would have to get some more of that before this night was over.

* * *

“
Hey, dawg,” I said, getting up from the table. “I gotta go wash my hands. Order me a Corona with lime.”

“
Alright,” he said, not paying me much attention, scanning the room for the hot chick he’d met.

I made my way to the bathroom although that wasn’t really my main objective. I needed to speak with Felicia to tell her how sorry I was for everything. Despite the outcome of our marriage, I still loved her. I thought she needed to know this. I had called her earlier while I was in the storage shed, but she didn’t answer. I left a message but so far, she hadn’t returned that call, either. I hoped everything was okay with her. I didn’t want to call her cell phone in case she was with someone and decided to clown on me.

Chapter 13

I swiveled my chair around to face the window in my office. The view it offered of downtown Atlanta should have been on a postcard.

It had been a long week, and I was looking forward to some downtime. I had my hair done last night, that took one more item off my to-do list for tomorrow. The problem was there was nothing else pressing on that list that gave me a reason to get up from my chair. Boredom and monotony were by products of being single. Unless you had a big black book or brothers knocking on your door, you were stuck in a rut of hanging out with the girls or by herself.

I didn’t have a problem with hanging with the girls, but every now and then a little dick was necessary. I wanted to be around men. That was the bottom line. I wanted to smell them, watch their muscles bulge, and admire a bunch of tight asses. Convinced I needed some excitement, I buzzed Talisa to see what her plans were for the evening.

“
Yes, Felicia,” she said as soon as she picked up the phone.

“
Can you come in here for a minute?”

“
Sure, let me grab my pad.”

“
You won’t need it.”

Hesitantly, she eased into my office. I understood her reluctance since I’d kept our relationship strictly professional and she had done the same. Because I wanted her at ease, I invited her to take a seat.

“
Shall I close the door or leave it open?”

“
You can close it.”

She paused before she pushed it shut. She crossed the room and took a seat in one of the chairs in front of my desk. I chuckled because she hadn’t taken a seat in my office since the day I hired her. I smiled at her; she relaxed somewhat.

“
It’s been a long week, and I think we should cut out of here early.” I prayed that she wouldn’t reject my invitation.

“
Huh?” She acted like she didn’t understand what I was saying.

“
I said we should cut out of this joint. You’ve worked hard this week, and I really appreciate the job that you’ve done.”

“
Uh … thanks.” She had a look on her face like she was being setup for some type of candid camera.

“
No, thank you. Do you have any plans for the weekend?”

“
Not really, just hitting the books.”

“
You work too hard. You need to let your hair down.”

“
If you don’t mind my saying so, you need to do the same.”

“
I know that’s right. That’s part of the reason I called you in here. What do you say that we hit that new spot that opened last week called Seasons? We could get something; to eat and if all goes well, stay for a little dancing afterwards.”

She didn’t answer me right away. For a moment, I began to feel as if I was out of bounds.

She looked down at her suit as a small smile curved her lips. “If you’re talking about shaking ass, I ain’t going like this!” She motioned to her outfit.

“
That’s what I’m talking about. If we leave now, we can go home, change, and be there in time for half off drinks at happy hour at seven.”

She jumped out of her chair, heading for the door.

“
Is that a yes?”

“
See you there at seven.” She closed the door behind her, but I could hear her clapping her hands beyond the door. Turning back to my desk, I gathered the work I intended to take home and placed it in my briefcase. Even though it was the weekend, I still had to prepare for a custody hearing on Monday. But I wasn’t going to think about that tonight. I turned off the computer, grabbed my suit jacket off the hook on the back of my door, and turned off the lights.

Talisa had wasted no time clearing out. Her desk was pristine neat, and her computer screen was black. She must need this night out as much as I do. I was glad that we are taking separate cars because I was feeling lucky. This way, if either of us met someone that we wanted to spend more time with, we wouldn’t feel obligated to leave together.

On the drive home, I pondered over what I was going to wear. Since we were going to happy hour, it wouldn’t look good if I put on my sexiest dress, but I was sure I could find something that wasn’t too flashy but eye catching nonetheless.

* * *

I stood in front of my closet for what had seemed like forever. After throwing numerous outfits aside for their inappropriateness, I settled on an A-line, light green and white dress that was cutoff on one shoulder. Its bodice was V-shaped, dipping low enough to expose my ample cleavage. I had some green shoes the same shade as the dress so that was easy. Finding a pair of stockings that didn’t have a run in them was a little more challenging, but I had forgotten about the ones I’d bought before Randy had moved out. They were in the guest bedroom, so it was easy to over look them. Satisfied with my selection, I ran some bathwater. Since I had sprinkled a liberal amount of salts into the water, I watched the bubbles rise.

While undressing in front of the mirror, I admire my body as I dropped each article of clothing to the floor: my blouse unleashed the rich, bronze skin that I had inherited from my grandmother and a set of breasts that sat upright like a twenty-year olds—those came from my mother—that men paid more attention to during a conversation than they did looking me in the eyes. And my pants—boy oh boy—my pants unlocked a set of strong thighs that had held Randy’s head in the right place many nights. I just don’t know what happened. He suddenly stopped French kissing me there, kissing or touching me anywhere. My bra and panties were the last items that I wore. I pretended they were a bathing suit and I was on the beach in Maui. The sea salts I had used help with my fantasy. I imagined thousand of eyes goggling my body. I slowly slid my hands down my thighs and between my legs. I pushed my longest finger inside and became instantly pissed off with Randy. He was the reason I’d been forced to finger-fuck myself, and I was sick and tired of doing it alone. I pulled my finger out and turned away from the mirror. I dropped my bra and panties onto the heap of clothes and eased into the tub.

“
Umm, this is good.” There was nothing in the world like a nice, hot bath. I turned the Jacuzzi jets on high and relaxed my head against the pillow cushion. It wasn’t as nice as sex, but it did play a close second. The only way it could have been better was if I had someone in that large-ass tub with me.

The phone rang and I almost jumped up to get it but changed my mind. Whomever it was I’d either call them back, or they would call me back. I normally take the phone into the bathroom with me, but I’d forgotten about it. I just needed a half hour to unwind, then I would be good for the rest of the night.

* * *

The phone startled me. Closing my eyes was a big mistake. I rose from the tub, flinging water as I ran to get the phone. “Hello?”

“
This is not a sales call. We are a tele—”

I hung up the phone. Nothing pissed me off more than a machine calling my phone regardless of the reason. Glancing at the tabletop clock, I realized I’d been asleep over forty minutes and I had less than an hour to get dressed and make it to the club. Part of me wanted to cancel and crawl into the bed for evening. Sanity returned when I though of all the other nights I had said I would go out only to wind up in the same place. Furthermore, my hunger helped to make up my mind.

I went into hyperdrive to get into my dress. I sprayed my favorite perfume into the air and walked into it. I applied my makeup then I dumped the contents of my purse on the bed and grabbed the essentials to put in my small clutch. I made my way to the door, turning lights out as I went. I took one last look around my living room then locked the door. I faintly heard the phone ringing, but I didn’t have time to answer it now. I was in the car before I had realized that I never checked the caller ID from the last call I’d received while I was taking a bath.

“
I hope that isn’t Talisa canceling on me,” I said out loud. Then I thought: if she was going to cancel, she would call me on my cell phone. I hated being late with a passion, and I was not about to start doing it now, even if this was just a social gathering. It was a matter of principal with me.

* * *

Talisa was pulling into the parking lot when I drove up.

She rolled her window down. “Girl, I was just looking for your car.”

“I know. I rushed over here like a bat out of hell. I messed around and took a long bath and the next thing I knew, I was asleep. If I hadn’t made arrangements with you, I would have turned back the covers and went to sleep.”

“
I hear ya. My bed was calling my name, too.”

* * *

We were walking to the door of Seasons when I said, “You’re looking mighty fly.”

She was wearing a short, black dress, which showed off her thick legs. Talisa was the only woman that I knew who could give me a run for the money on legs. We both had perfectly shaped calves and generous thighs.

“
Thank you. I would say this old thang, but I just stopped at the mall and bought it.”

“
Shoot, that dress is hot. Where did you get it?” I said motioning toward her dress.

“
Northlake Mall. Did the ghetto thang and changed into the dress in the dressing room and wore this sucker out. I have my things in the car. I just didn’t have time to drop the kids off at my mother’s and still have time to go home and hunt for something to wear.”

“
I know that’s right. When you are looking for that one thing, the shit hides from you until you don’t want it anymore.”

“
Sounds like you’ve been down that road before,” she said.

We walked in the restaurant and were shown to a table in the dinning room. The place was gorgeous. It was cozy enough to be that after-work spot and had the potential to be the romantic spot for lovers. Too bad I didn’t have one of those.

For a minute, I almost got misty eyed because Randy and I loved exploring spots such as this. We loved to be “the couple” in the know of the new spots in Atlanta. Now, however, I would have to rely on word of mouth. I would be damned if I was gonna hit all these spots solo or worse yet, with a coworker beside me. I didn’t care how well we were getting along.

Talisa was deep into the menu; I was steady checking the place out.

“
Girl, we should walk around before this spot gets crowded. My friend told me that, even though it’s a new place, it gets packed pretty quick,” she said looking up.

“
I’m game.” I grabbed the waitress who had seated us and told her we were going to look around before ordering.

She recommended we start with the VIP. She said when the joint started to rocking, we wouldn’t be able to get in there without parting with some hard-earned cash. That info was enough to get us out of our seats.

“
This place has everything. Look, they have a place to play Xbox video games and pool tables,” Talisa said as we began to explore.

“
Yeah and they have televisions everywhere you look. Can you imagine how crazy this place was Super Bowl Sunday?”

“
Sounds like the place we should have been.” She nudged me.

“
Not for me, I hate football.”

She flashed a devilish grin. “Girl, you’ve been married too long. I wasn’t even thinking about the game. I was thinking about the honeys that came out to see the game.”