Pink & Patent Leather (17 page)

I
’d been ravished, but I felt great. There were so many sides to Malik and I loved it. I rolled over to talk to him, to tell him that, but when I heard that snore pass through his lips, I decided to let him be. Malik falling asleep thrilled me. If he felt comfortable to actually sleep in my bed, then we were closer to being a couple than even I thought.

I wasn
’t sleepy, though, so, I leapt from the bed, cleaned myself up in the bathroom, then strolled into the kitchen to get something to eat. While I loved how Malik had just loved me, I still needed to talk to him. I still wanted him to answer my questions.

About ten minutes later, I sauntered back into the bed with a cut grapefruit on my plate. I had planned to eat and flip through magazines until Malik woke up, but I was surprised to find that he was alr
eady awake. He was sitting on the side of the bed, wearing nothing but his briefs.

There were so many things I wanted to do to him and so many things I wanted him to do to me at that moment. But, I had to keep my focus on what had been bothering me since I
entered church this morning.

“
Malik,” I began as I sat the grapefruit on my nightstand, “what happened with X? Is it true what you said this morning?”

He brought his hand down across his face as if he was wiping something away. Then, without looking at me
, he said, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“
But...”

“
Don’t but me!” he exclaimed as he jumped up. Now, he looked at me with squinted eyes. “The checkbook is gone and Minister Xavier was the last person in my office.”

Malik had always been so gentle when h
e spoke to me, but now, his tone was filled with the same anger that I’d heard this morning.

“
Stealing is not even in Xavier’s nature,” I said, determined to not back down, determined to know. “He wouldn’t do anything like this, I know him.”

“
Oh yeah?” Malik sneered. “And how well do you know him?”

I frowned. “
What’s that supposed to mean? What are you saying Malik?”

He shook his head, then walked over to the floor to ceiling window. He stared out at the picture perfect view of the Capitol before he faced
me again. “I’m done talking about Minister Xavier. This is church business and that makes it none of your business.”

The volume of his voice had lowered, but his tone was even angrier and I feared that I had really pissed him off. Walking toward him, I w
atched him soften as his eyes soaked up my body that was barely hidden beneath the satin of my robe. I wrapped my arms around him and laid my head on his chest.

“
I’m sorry,” I purred. “I won’t bring it up again. This is only about you and me really and I’m so glad you came by.»

With a sigh, he embraced me and we held each other that way for a few moments.

Then, I said, “I thought you were mad at me in church.”

“
Why?”

I lifted my head and looked up at him. “
It felt like you were a little standoffish.”

He shook his head as if I didn
’t get it. “This is the way it has to be, Pink.”

I wanted to correct him. I wanted to remind him that I
’d asked him to call me Sasha. But this funk that he was in—I didn’t want to push it or press him. So, I just let it be.

He said, “
There’s no way that we can let anyone know about us.”

Not a beat passed before I said, “
For now, right?”

His comeback wasn
’t as fast as mine. He frowned a little, then, only nodded before he cupped my face with his hands and kissed me. A long, lingering kiss that felt like he loved me.

I was so thankful for this love, I was so thankful for this man. And, I made a vow to myself right then and there
—I would never bring up Xavier’s name again. 

Chapter 16

Malik and I fell in
to a nice routine.

I didn
’t get to see him as often as I wanted, but every Sunday, just a few hours after service, he would come to my condo and we would spend the rest of the afternoon and evening together.

It was always so romantic. Sometimes he would bring dinner, and s
ometimes I would make us something light to eat. But most of the time, we were in bed. 

There was nothing like making love to Malik; I never knew what to expect. Sometimes, he was like that tiger ravishing me, and then other times, he was so gentle, so lo
ving, he made me want to cry. I loved both ways, I loved all sides of Malik.

And, I knew that he loved me, too, because just two months after we began seeing each other, he asked me to stop by his office right after Bible study.

I had no idea what he wanted, though I suspected it had to be church business since he hardly ever spoke to me while we were in Grace Tabernacle. I followed him back into his office and half-expected Sister Stroman to be in there with him.

But once we stepped inside, Malik grabbed m
e, pressed me against the closed door and kissed me like he had never tasted me before. I wanted him right there.

When he finally pulled away, he said, “
What are you doing tonight?”

I shook my head, since his kiss had left me breathless once again.

“Great,” he said. “I’ll be there in an hour.”

“
Okay,” I squeaked.

As I turned to leave, he said, “
And no need to get dressed. Meet me at the door, naked.”

Less than an hour after he said those words, he had me pressed up against the window in my bedroom. It was the best sex of my life!

I was so happy when Malik didn’t rush right home. In my bed, we snacked on popcorn and watched TV.

That was the first Tuesda
y that we were together, but it wasn’t the last. Our routine now became Sunday and Tuesday, and though we mostly stayed inside my condo (which I understood) there were times when we would sneak off to Alexandria and stroll through the cobblestone streets or have a quick meal at one of the quaint restaurants.

It was a wonderful time, except for two things. First, the days were turning into weeks, and the weeks had become months. It was already September, and my hope was that Malik would start talking to me
about when he was going to leave Sister Stroman. Not that I was being impatient; I knew that Malik had to take his time with this delicate situation. But, I wanted him to clue me in on his plans.

And the second thing that disturbed me was just about every
time Malik and I made love, before he left the condo, we had to pray. Now of course, I didn’t have anything against praying, but the prayers he would say—it almost sounded like Malik felt guilty and I didn’t like that.

It was always the same. Malik would
say, “Come on, Sasha, I’m getting ready to leave.”

We would walk into the living room together, and he didn
’t have to say another word before we knelt in front of the settee. Holding hands, Malik would pray, “Lord, forgive us for this trespass, forgive us for this sin. And please deliver us from this temptation the next time.”

It always made me frown. What was Malik trying to say?

But I never asked him. I was in practice to be the good wife. I was just letting him lead.

But though, I never asked him about
the prayer, by October, I began to question him. It was one Sunday after church while he was still on top of me, that I said, “Malik, we’ve been together for awhile now.”

He leaned down and kissed my nose.

I continued, “So, how much longer is it going to be before we’re going to be together?”

He frowned. “
What are you talking about?” he asked, rolling off of me. “You just said it—we’re together now.”

“
I’m not talking about this,” I said, covering myself with the sheet. “I’m talking about us really being together. I’m talking about husband and wife, together.” When his eyes widened a little, I said, “That’s what you want, right?”

“
Yeah, yeah. Of course, of course. I just thought you understood that this would take some time.”

“
I do understand that, but can you give me any idea? I mean, you are going to have to do it eventually.”

“
You’re right,” he said, pulling me into his arms. “Let me plan this out. It may be another month or two, but I’ll get this to work for us, okay?”

“
Okay,” I said, snuggling into his arms. Another month or two. Actually, that was perfect...perfect timing. Another month or two was Christmas. And I couldn’t think of anything more romantic than getting my ring for Christmas!

Oh how wonderful this holiday was going to be!

I woke up with a
wicked grumbling in the pit of my stomach and right away I knew what it was. After Bible study last night, Malik had stopped by this little Korean BBQ place since he hadn’t eaten all day. All he’d bought for me was a salad, but I’d taken a couple of bites of his beef and shrimp dish.

It had tasted kind of funny to me even then, but I just thought that was the way it was made. But now, as I felt the bile rising in me, I knew I was wrong. Even though I was moving as fast as I could, I barely
reached the bathroom in time before the remnants last night’s dinner spilled from me and into the toilet.

I stayed there, leaning over the toilet bowl, until I had enough strength to stand. But even after I rinsed out my mouth, washed my face, then ambled
back into my bedroom, I didn’t feel well enough to do anything except stay in my bed.

“
I should’ve just eaten my salad,” I whispered to myself as I wondered if Malik was feeling the same way.

I thought about texting him, but we kept our texts to a minimu
m since Malik was concerned about someone searching through his phone one day. The communication between us was truly limited to Sundays and Tuesdays, though I had a feeling it wasn’t going to be that way anymore. Even though Malik continued to tell me that he was working on our situation, I just had a feeling that he was further along than he told me.

I really expected to have that ring on my finger for Christmas.

Rolling over, I glanced at the clock. It was just a little after six, but I already knew that I wouldn’t be able to gather up enough strength today to go to work. I waited for just about another hour before I called Amber.

“
What’s up?” That was Amber’s greeting.

“
Girl, I’m so sick, I don’t think I’m coming in today.”

“
Yeah, all right.” Amber laughed.

“
No, really. I really don’t feel well.”

“
Well, you wanna know what I think?” Amber asked.

“
No.”

“
I think,” Amber continued anyway, “you’re just holed up over there with Xavier.” She laughed again.

Xavier. Although I didn
’t mention his name to Malik, I thought about him often. Especially since Amber was always asking what happened to him since he didn’t drop by or call anymore.

She kept on, “
Yeah, that’s what I think. You’ve been hiding X over there and today, you two don’t even want to get out of bed.” Now, she laughed like she had cracked herself up. “Yeah, you better watch out before you find yourself pregnant.” Now, she laughed like she was watching Kevin Hart on Comedy Central.

But, I wasn
’t laughing at all.
Pregnant?
Slowly, I sat up in the bed.

Sh
e said, “Well, girl, I’ll cover for you at the office.”

“
Thanks,” I said, my thoughts already elsewhere and then I hung up. For a couple of minutes, I just sat there, staring at the walls, replaying that one word—Pregnant.

Could I be?

It wasn’t like Malik and I ever tried to be careful. He was the only man I would ever be with, and I knew that I was his only love. Well, of course, there was his wife, but I tried not to think about her too much. There was no way Malik made love to her the way he made love to me.

But right now, my thoughts weren
’t about Malik’s wife. All I could think about was the possibility that I was carrying Malik’s baby. Suddenly, I found the energy that I hadn’t had before. I threw on my Victoria Secret jogging suit, my raincoat, and then made the four block trek to CVS.

Inside the store, I picked up every kind of pregnancy test I could find
—the one that showed pink for pregnant and blue for negative, the one that had one straight line for negative, and then, the one with two straight lines for positive.