Second Time Around (22 page)

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Authors: Darrin Lowery

BOOK: Second Time Around
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By the time Korie left, she knew more about the history of Japan than she did Chicago. When she returned the first thing that she wanted to do was tell Jayna everything. Vaughn gave her a trip with memories that would last a lifetime. There was much more to see, but Korie saw all that she could see in the time that she was there. Vaughn needed to get back to work. He needed to make some things clear to his board of directors. He needed to show everyone that he wasn't losing his edge. His priorities had changed. He wasn't losing his competitive nature, he was simply in love. Before meeting with his board of directors, however, he wanted to meet again with his therapist. He sent a text message to Darren the minute he touched down in Chicago asking to meet with him that following weekend on the golf course. He also thought that his therapist should meet the new lady in his life.
Chapter Nineteen
Darren awoke with Karen beside him. She was nicknamed properly with the moniker Special K. She definitely had skills. Her breasts, though fake, were flawless. Her ass was flawless. Her weave was impeccable. To top all that off, she had amazing skills in bed. She knew how to move her body. She knew how to give herself to a man.
She was almost as good as Stephanie, almost as good as Korie. She had a few major flaws, however, none of them aesthetic. She was uneducated and she needed to step her vocabulary up immensely. She also had a tendency to swear a lot. Darren talked to her about the way she spoke, the ways she presented herself. She tried to curb her language. But just like a person with Tourette's, sometimes things just blurted out.
“That shit was fucking amazing,” she said as she climbed on top of him.
Case in point.
“You know, it was amazing. I don't know if you have to say fucking amazing, but it was good. You were incredible.”
“Oh, that's right, you don't like it when I swear.”
“No, I don't, but do you, sweetheart.”
“Hmm. Maybe I will just do you.”
She went down on him. He let out a sigh of pleasure as she began pleasing him yet again. She had an amazing appetite for sex and she also had amazing skills. As she pleased him, he grabbed a fistful of her hair to assist her. His breathing became rapid and his eyes closed. As his eyes closed he imagined that it was Korie pleasing him. The more he thought about Korie the more aroused he became. The more he thought about her smile, her body, and her personality, the more he missed her, even now. Even with another woman between his legs, he thought about Korie. He thought about the first time that they made love and every single time after that. He thought about the times that he “won” in the bedroom, the times she “won,” and times that they went at it like two porn stars.
He thought about his ex. It angered him, but he thought about her still. Minutes later he was coming. As he came, Karen, aka Special K, continued doing her special thing.
“Wow, I bet you didn't know a sistah had skills like that, huh?”
“Again, you were amazing,” Darren responded.
You didn't do anything. It was my ex. It was all my ex, all these years later, he thought.
“So I guess we're done, huh?” Karen said with a devilish grin.
“Uh . . . no. We're far from done,” Darren said, smiling.
He climbed on top of her and began planting kisses all over her body. He then reached for a condom and made his way inside of her. She let out a gasp as did he, as he slowly began to go in and out of her.
She thought he was amazing. Intelligent, fit, attractive and paid.
He thought she was a beautiful woman with good bedroom skills.
She looked at him with lust and wanting. As they made love, she wondered if he could be a male figure for her son. She wondered how far things could go. She wondered if they would have a long-term relationship, great sex like they were having now, and perhaps one day, babies.
His eyes were closed and he was enjoying the sex, his mind somewhere else. His mind with someone else. With each stroke, he thought of Korie. He occasionally looked at Karen and her beautiful body. That helped him maintain his erection, but as he thought of her, as he thought of Korie, he took his lovemaking to a new level.
He turned Karen over and took her from the back, gently caressing her back while he was inside her and occasionally grabbing a fistful of her 2,000-dollar weave. He slapped her ass from behind. He kissed her neck. He fondled her breasts and he took methodic slow strokes when he felt himself on the brink. They switched positions at least four more times before they both came simultaneously. They laid in the bed in each other's arms. Her back was to him and she smiled to herself as he caressed her side. It had been a long time since a man made her feel as Darren had. It had been a long time since she felt pleased mentally as well as physically.
“What am I going to do with you?” she said, smiling “You make me feel so good.”
Darren said nothing, but continued to caress her. He then looked up at the ceiling and wondered, What am I going to do with you? That is the real question. She was beautiful, but she wasn't Korie. She had a great body, but she wasn't Korie. He thought to himself that he could grow to love her . . . maybe. But he knew Korie still had his heart. He grabbed his cell phone and went to the bathroom as if he were cleaning himself up. He sent a text message.
I REALLY WANT TO SEE YOU
.
-D
 
He cleaned himself up some. He brushed his teeth and ran a quick shower. He locked the bathroom door so Karen couldn't just readily walk in, looking for yet another bout of sex. A few minutes later, he received a text.
I SAID . . . NO.
-K
What the hell is up with her? he thought. He lathered himself up and quickly rinsed off. He then dried off, left the water running, and sat on the toilet seat to think.
He felt rejected yet again. He wanted to see Korie. He needed to see Korie. If nothing else, he needed to get closure or to get her out of his system so he could move forward. Was she married? Was she seeing someone? Had she gotten fat and had a bunch of babies? He needed to know. He thought about simply showing up to the apartment they once shared, but did she still even live there?
A million thoughts ran through his head about her, mistakes he made, and where he might have gone wrong. Korie had him sprung, and they hadn't seen each other in close to five years. Just as Darren thought about calling her directly, there was a knock at the bathroom door.
“I have to piss,” Karen said.
Crass . . . this broad is so crass, he thought.
“You mean you have to pee?” Darren shouted.
“Um, yeah.”
He grabbed his phone and put it on silent. He then turned on the security code and turned his cell off and placed it on the bathroom shelf. He opened the door and stepped back into the shower. Karen came in, looking good. That gave him a moment of pause. She looked so good that he felt his manhood pulse just a bit. She looked down and saw that he was almost ready to go again and smiled.
“Dang, does it ever stop?” She put the toilet seat down, sat down and went to the bathroom.
Crass, he thought. She's already comfortable enough to pee around me.
“You do that to me. He likes you,” Darren said, referring to his penis. He closed the shower and simply let the water rinse him off again. He could hear the trickle of Karen peeing.
“So what was up between you and Gucci, really?”
“You sure you want to talk about that?”
“Uh, yeah. Why not?”
“Because of us.”
Us? What us? We just had sex. That's all. Why must women assume things? he thought.
“I want to know,” he said.
“Well, I knew Gucci when he was still playing basketball. I used to go to the games all the time and one day I saw him while I was with my girls and he asked me out.”
“Okay, and?”
“And we went out a few times. I slept with him a few times, but nothing more ever happened. The only time he called me was when he wanted some ass. Well, I wasn't about to just be his ho and I told him that. Then we went out a few more times and our relationship was nice, really nice. Back then he was caring. He started calling more and he used to send me nice gifts and stuff.”
“So what happened? Why do the two of you argue like Ike and Tina?”
“You mean Bobby and Whitney.” They both laughed. “Well, Gucci never asked me what I did for a living. I never told him, either. We were kicking it this one night, I will never forget; it was a Thursday. Well, he said he was flying back to Philly, so we said our good-byes and I thought he went to the airport. I went to work.”
“And what happened next?”
“He saw me on stage at the club. He saw me getting my paper and I guess his heart was broken after that.”
“He didn't know at all? I mean, he had no clue?”
“None. His boys brought him there before they went back to Philly. His boys knew, I guess. They clowned him because he had real feelings for me. You know how you men get about your pride and shit. He started cursing at me and calling me everything but a child of God. He threw money in my face and walked out. We talked a few times on the phone after that. But each time ended up with him calling me a ho. I don't play that shit.”
“So you all broke up?”
“Yeah, we broke up. A few years after that, he blew out his knee. To support him, I started bringing my son to the shop.”
Darren cut off the water and dried off.
“Can you start the water again for me?”
Darren started the shower again as Karen brushed her teeth.
“Let me ask you something. If he asked you to leave that life, would you?”
“If he made enough to support me. I have a mouth to feed at home.”
“But if he did, you would have left the life?”
“Yeah. I don't do this shit because I want to. I do it because I have to.”
“Okay, then, what's the plan?”
“Plan, what plan?”
“You can't do this forever. You have a nice body and the implants are amazing, but you can't do this forever. What is your plan, long-term?”
“Are you asking me to leave the life?”
Darren laughed. “Uh, no. I'm asking you what are your plans for your future and your son's future.”
“I've saved away a little money.”
“And what was the plan? Real estate? Are you going back to school? Seriously, what do you plan to do with the money? How much do you have saved?”
“I don't know you well enough to tell you all that.”
Are you fucking kidding me? You slept with me on the first date, and you just pissed in front of me! Darren thought.
“I was just asking,” he said.
“I have about fourteen thousand saved.”
“Not bad. So what was the plan?”
“I never really had a plan other than saving money.”
“Really?”
Karen's voice trailed off as she stepped into the shower.
“I always thought some man would take care of me.”
At least she's honest, Darren thought.
“Because you're pretty?”
“Because I'm pretty and I have these implants. Hell, I'm a nice woman, I know I am.”
“I'm not disputing that.”
“Then why do you sound so disappointed?”
“I don't know that I'm disappointed, so much as I'm surprised. I mean, you're pretty. You have a nice body. But that doesn't guarantee anything.”
“Yeah, I'm starting to see that.”
Karen continued to shower. Darren admired her from the shower. He wasn't thrilled that she and Gucci had slept together, but that was a discussion for another day. His thoughts were about Korie and then about Stephanie. To hell with them both, he thought. Stephanie was a ho hands down, and Korie? Korie probably was sitting somewhere fat as hell with a bunch of babies. Karen? Well, Karen was here. She was real. She was a bit rough around the edges, but he began to see her in a different light. He thought to himself that maybe they should try and see where things might go. That didn't mean marriage or that he would be her steady boyfriend or anything. He did think, let's see where this might go.
He turned his cell phone back on and headed to the master bedroom to lay out his clothes. As he turned his cell phone back on, he had a message. It was from Vaughn, inviting him to the black creativity ball. Vaughn was sponsoring it this year and it was being held at the Field Museum of Natural History in six weeks. It was a fund-raiser where a lot of Chicago's African American elite hung out each year. Deals and connections were made, and it was a great place for Darren to expand his practice. He called Vaughn immediately.
“Hello?” Vaughn answered.
“Vaughn, it's Darren, I got your message. I'll be there.”
“Good. Good. I have a lot of people that I think you should meet.”
“Great! Great. How was Tokyo?”
“It was amazing. I closed the deal. I'm heading to a meeting now with my board of directors. Sorry I had to cancel our meeting. I initially wanted to meet with you the minute that I touched down, but I had to bring my chief advisor up to speed on everything. Anyway, I'm headed to the office. I plan to fire a few people on my board of directors and remind the remainder who the boss of the company is.”

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