Authors: Electa Rome Parks

Loose Ends (23 page)

BOOK: Loose Ends

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“Bye, I’ll talk with you later.”

“Bye.”

As soon as I hung up the phone, it rang again. I thought it might be Christian calling, so I grabbed it on the second ring.

“Hello, sweetie. I have a surprise for you tonight.”

“Well, hello to you beautiful,” I heard Brice say, laughing. “Mia, I think you have me confused; this is Brice.”

“Yeah, I think I do too. I thought you were Christian,” I said, visibly embarrassed.

“Other than your plans for later tonight, what’s up, lady? What’s going on?” Brice asked, teasing me.

“Nothing much.”

“I take it Christian’s not home yet.”

“No, he’s not. Christian is working, as usual. He’s at his second home.”

“Why do you sound so down, Mia? Oh, I remember—you could never stand being alone, could you?”

“Is it that obvious?”

“Yes, it is. Do you always answer a question with a question?”

“Yes, the ones I don’t want to answer.”

“Touché.”

“Where’s Kree?”

“She’d better have her ass at home.” He laughed.

“So where are you?”

“Oh, I’m not home yet. I’m calling from my office, getting ready to leave in about another ten minutes.”

“I see Christian isn’t the only one who’s a workaholic,” I said with dismay.

“You caught me, Mia,” he replied with mock indignation. “Can’t hide anything from you. Yes, I have a great love for shelter and food and clothing. It’s true. Can’t fool you.”

“You are so wrong for that.” I started to laugh. I heard Brice laughing too, which made me laugh all over again like he had said the funniest thing in the world.

“Mia, it’s good to hear you laugh,” Brice said with total sincerity in his voice.

I didn’t say anything. Brice took that as his cue to continue on. I listened.

“I’m serious. I’m not sure what happened recently, but I’m thankful that you don’t hate me anymore.”

“Hate you? I never hated you, Brice. Even after everything you put me through, I never hated you. Far from it.”

“Well, that’s good to know. All these years, I thought the opposite. I am curious, though. What changed things over at Moms’s?”

“I don’t know. I really don’t. I’ve asked myself the same question. Vivica’s talk, being in that house again, Kree’s acknowledging me, my love for Christian. It all came together to make me forgive you, I guess.”

“You don’t know how long I’ve waited to hear you say those words to me . . . that you forgive me. Because believe it or not, just because I didn’t love you the way you wanted me to doesn’t mean that I didn’t love you with everything I had, Mia. Know that.”

“I know. I know, Brice,” I whispered into the phone.

There was a silence that lasted for a few seconds, a release and letting go of past wrongs. I heard Brice sigh. I exhaled.

“Well, my beautiful Mrs. Pope, I’m going to let you go. It’s been a real pleasure talking to you this evening. I mean that. Tell that husband of yours that I called and that we need to talk about my proposal. He’ll know what I’m talking about.”

“Okay, I will. For the rest of the week, he should be here in the evenings. However, I’m keeping my fingers crossed. I’ll believe that when I see it.”

“You do that. And Mia, thanks again. By the way, I’ve been practicing my Pac-Man skills and I’m ready to take you on again.” There was much laughter in his voice. “When are you coming down to check out my computer software?”

“When do you need me?”

“Yesterday.”

“Yesterday. You sound like you’re in dire need of my skills.”

“You know it. You couldn’t begin to know how much.”

“Okay, let’s do this. I can drop by tomorrow around eleven thirty or so, and then afterward Kree and I can go out for a late lunch and go shopping or something.”

“Cool.”

“Tomorrow it is then. Let Kree know.”

“Yeah, tomorrow it is. Good night, Mia. Sleep tight.”

“Good night, Brice.” I gently hung up the phone with a genuine smile on my face. It was still early, so I poured myself a glass of wine, put on some soft jazz, curled up on the sofa and chilled by myself. Sharon would be proud.

Much later I was awakened by a soft caress against my right cheek and light butterfly kisses. I moaned and opened my eyes slightly to find Christian smiling down at me with his eyes full of lust, desire and love. Christian gently lifted me up, carried me to our bedroom and tenderly placed me on our bed. He undressed me down to my lacy red bra and panties and made a trail of kisses from my face down to my toes.

When he came back up, he stopped at my thighs, massaging them, and opened my legs wider. The last thing I remember was how sexy he looked, his shirt wide-open, revealing his toned stomach. He whispered that he wanted to make me feel good, make me happy. I felt his warm breath down there. He blew a few times. I closed my eyes and tilted my head back. Christian kissed my stomach and he told me to relax. I felt his fingers inside me. “Relax, baby, and let me take you there.” After that, I had a taste of heaven as I sang a melodic, seductive love song and he drove me to ecstasy.

The next morning, I got up, whistling a tune, and fixed breakfast for Lyric and myself. We ate waffles, Lyric’s favorite, with bacon and eggs. After we were both bathed and dressed, I called Mama to see if she could keep Lyric for a few hours. I had promised to check out the computer software for Brice to see what the problem was.

“Mama, hey. I’m glad I caught you in.”

“Hey, baby. I decided not to go down to the senior-citizens’ center today. I wanna can these beans that Sister Laura brought by yesterday. There’re fresh from her garden. Should give me about six jars or more.”

“She always looks out for you. Listen, Mama, I need a favor. Can you keep Lyric for a few hours?”

“Child, that’s not a favor. You know I love spending time with my favorite grandchild.”

I laughed. “She’s your only grandchild.”

“Bring her on by. Where are you running off to this early? You’re usually still sleeping your life away at this time of the morning.”

“I promised Brice that I’d take a look at his computer.”

“Since when are you going out of your way to accommodate that man, to use the term ‘man’ loosely?”

“Mama, I’m not going out of my way. I’m off for the summer and I have nothing better to do with my time today. I’m just helping him out.”

“Where’s your husband?”

“Working.”

“Does he know you’re going down there?”

“Yes, he does. In fact, he suggested that I take a look at it.” I thought back to last night. His oral skills turned me out. Christian wouldn’t let me move or do anything. He told me to just lie there and enjoy. He got pleasure out of seeing me come—several times. Needless to say, I was feeling too good this morning.

“Okay, you’re going to let that man seduce you right back into his open arms.”

“Mama, be for real. First, you tell me to see Brice to put closure on that time in my life, and now you’re telling me to run before he snares me. Make up your mind.”

“I didn’t tell you to become his best friend. I’ve seen firsthand the effect that man has on you. Makes you act irrational. Foolish.”

“Let’s drop this. Okay? Before we both say something we shouldn’t. I love you, Mama, and I know you’re only looking out for my best interests, but I’m not that person from a few years ago. Brice is not going to make me do anything I don’t want to do.”

“I hope not,” I heard her whisper more to herself than to me.

“It’s ten thirty now; we’ll be there shortly.”

“Okay, sweet pea. Drive carefully. See ya soon.”

I smiled because that was my childhood nickname. When I was growing up, my daddy and Uncle Larry used to call me that. Said I was sweet as a pea. They were both deceased now. Not a day went by that I didn’t think of them. I missed them so.

After dropping Lyric off at Mama’s house, I headed over to Brice’s company, Security Unlimited, Inc. I had a vague idea where it was located. I had driven by with Christian before and he had pointed it out. After turning around for the second time and going back near West Peachtree Street, I soon found it a block over. I parked on the street, locked the car door, walked a block up and went into his dream.

I was impressed! I don’t know what I was expecting, but it was tight. I mean, they had done a lot with the place in a very short time. There were potted and hanging plants everywhere and framed prints on the brightly painted walls. There was a warm, vibrant, inviting, homey feel to his place; like I said, I was impressed.

When I walked in, Kree looked up from the receptionist/waiting area and actually smiled at me. She was filling out some type of paperwork.

“Hi.”

“Hi, Mia. I hope you didn’t have too much trouble finding us.”

“No, no problem at all. I was only turned around for a few minutes. I hope your husband told you I was dropping by to take a look at his PC and to take you out to lunch and shopping if you’re free.”

“Yeah, he did, about thirty minutes ago.”

“Men,” I said as I shook my head.

“Yeah, men. Anyway, he’s back there; go right in, second office on the left.” Kree pointed behind her. With her thick hair pinned up and a nice pantsuit on, Kree looked very professional and efficient.

I walked past a storage closet, a restroom and two other doors and found Brice in the larger office, with his crisp white shirtsleeves rolled up, talking on the phone. I knocked on the partially open door, and he motioned to me with his free hand.

“Your woman just walked in. Yeah, she found us okay. You wanna speak with her? Okay. Hold on.”

Brice handed me the phone, reclined in his rolling chair and scrutinized me closely while I talked to my husband. I could feel him taking in my body inch by inch, but this time it didn’t make me nervous. This time it made me feel sensual and sexy as I ran my fingers through my short hair. In my jeans, midriff T-shirt and tennis shoes, I felt sexy-cool.

“Hey, Boo.”

“Hey to you. I see you made it okay. How’re you feeling today?” Christian asked with a hint of devilment in his voice.

“I feel great,” I exclaimed, glancing over at Brice, who wasn’t even pretending to ignore my conversation.

BOOK: Loose Ends

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