Unfaithful Ties (35 page)

“Lena if you’re still sleeping around on Kenneth I’m begging you to stop. Trust me you don’t want to feel the way I’m feeling right now”

“Kenneth and I are going to be fine and so are you and Jason”

“I pray he forgives me” Vanessa said sadly. “I have to go okay but please take it from me cheating to have a little something extra on the side is not worth losing your marriage.”

CHAPTER 25

Stacy...Chicago Illinois

“How was your Thanksgiving?”  Pam asks, standing in the doorway of my office.

“There wasn’t a thing spectacular about it.”

“Girlfriend you’ve been dragging since you got back from New York.” She’s opening up the blinds now.

I blow away the steam lingering around my coffee mug before I sip the hot liquid, and I say. “I’ve just had a lot going on lately. I’m exhausted. You know? Between Vanessa’s accident, worrying about my good friend Brandi, my sister...and work I don’t know how I’m able to keep going. It’s just too much going on in my life right now.”

“You know what you need?” Pam says moving across the room. Now, she’s standing beside me with her hand propped on her hip.
              I look up at her as I sit comfortably behind my desk. “What? I am definitely open to suggestions”

“You need some sex. Not the kind you’ve obviously been getting. Good sex. You need a real man”

I laugh.
Is it that obvious?
“I’m having a hard time finding a man that’s worth dating. Sex is so far stretched it’s ridiculous.”

“Have you ever tried online dating?”

“No...and I don’t want to either. I think people that search for a mate online are creepy”

“That is not true. I’ve met some pretty interesting men online.” She lowered herself so that she could get a better view of the computer screen, and started typing on the keyboard.

WWW.MEETYOURMATE.COM

A photo of a middle-aged couple appears on the screen.
Your chance to find the perfect mate starts here
scrolls across the screen in red BOLD letters.

Click here to start searching

“It’s some fine brothers on this site.” Pam says, strolling to the small search engine box. “I am a woman...check, searching for men...check, between the ages of 35 and 45...check, Near Chicago Illinois.” She says aloud and then taps the enter key.

“Pam I’m not doing this” I inform her.

Several pictures of single men pop up. She clicks on a photo of a cute chocolate man. “Still not going to give it a shot?” She asked, smiling sideways at the photo that appears on the screen. “Look at that chest, I’d love to lick the sweat off of it.”

I feel myself grinning. “He is fine”

“Let’s check out his profile.” She clicks the highlighted letters that spell out the word
PROFILE.

Interests:

Alumni connections, Camping, Coffee and conversation, Cooking, Dining out, Movies/Videos, Music and concerts, Exploring new areas, Nightclubs/Dancing, Performing arts, Playing cards, Playing sports, Shopping/Antiques, Travel/Sightseeing, Volunteering, Watching sports

Sports and exercise:

Baseball, Basketball, Billiards / Pool, Bowling, Football, Golf, Dancing, Martial arts, Running, Skiing, Swimming, Tennis / Racquet sports, Weights / Machines, Hockey, Volleyball

Exercise habits:

Exercise 3-4 times per week

Pets:

Dogs

Religion:

Christian

Sign:

Virgo

College:

University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

For Fun:

Coaching. Traveling. Road Trips. Golf. Playing sports. Happy hour. Going to sporting events. Learning to play musical instruments. The beach.

Favorite Hot Spots:

Some of my last few trips: Jekyll
Island, Austin, Miami, Vegas. Toronto, Greenville, San Francisco, Hawaii, NYC, Chicago, Los Angeles, Shanghai, Seoul. 

Upcoming trips: NYC. Bay Area.

Favorite Things:

Last playlist had:
Outkast, Foo Fighters, Alicia Keys, Prince, Jay Z, lots of 80s jams. 24, Big Bang Theory, The Office, SVU, Seinfeld, Glee, 24, Star Trek (nerdy, I know). Too many movies to list.

“He seems like a pretty good catch” She smiles. “You should send him a flirt message”

“I’m not going to make myself look desperate.”

She laughs. “Be honest with yourself for Christ sake. You want a man...badly! Your attitude lately is screaming...Lord please send me a man. You’re cranky and bitchy. And I know that you’re not going to admit it but you’re lonely too”

“I am not”

“Email the man
”  She’s heading for the door. “If you don’t do it I’m going to email him for you?”

Although I know that Pam has some pretty valid points I avoid her demand and swivel around in my chair. I end up facing the wall of windows in my office. Looking out of the window I force the springs of the executive desk chair as far as I can and gaze at the city. People walking around showcasing their togetherness, their happiness, their joy, fills my seated eye view and I think it’s the reason I’m suddenly starting to feel sad.  My life is so dull. I want what they have. Jovial memories. I’m staring at love, yet I still feel so far from it. Like it’s distance. Like I’ll
Never know it. Never touch it. Never feel it. Never have it. For me, finding true love feels almost impossible.

I swivel back around and stare at the screen.  Words floating in a text box on the webpage stares back at me.

Type here to send a flirt
message.

I am cranky, and bitchy, and lonely
. “Oh, what the hell!” I say and stroll the icon that says upload profile picture here. Online dating is not my cup of tea, but it can’t hurt to give it a shot. Sometimes you have to try new things in order for new opportunities to present themselves
.

There is a cute picture of myself saved to my desktop. The contrast is a little too bright but it’s still cute so I upload it. After the file uploads I type a little information about myself in the profile box.

Hello you, yeah you! After all you are the one reading my profile aren’t you? I bet you’re smiling now. Glad that I could make you smile. Obviously you’re interested in getting to know me a little better because otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this. So here is a little excerpt that’s all about me. The best word that describes me is vibrant.  I enjoy dancing, reading, cooking and just having fun. I absolutely love music, all kinds but my favorite is soul music. I work out a lot not just to look fit but to actually be healthy. I’m an attorney. I don’t have any kids right now but I definitely see kids in my future. I’m looking forward to meeting someone that loves living their life to fullest, is charming, generous, giving and kind hearted and that can be the puzzle piece that’s missing from my life, the perfect man for me. So if this description fits you feel free to send me a flirt. You never know I may be the woman you’ve been looking for.

Once I’m satisfied with what I’ve typed I hit submit

I continue with my normal work routine.

It isn’t long before I hear a noise coming from my computer letting me know that I have a new email. It’s from a guy named Roland X. From what I can see he’s attractive and after I read his profile I concur that he’s interesting and definitely worth responding to. So I respond. We chat for the remainder of my shift and I’m intrigued.

****

Roland is supposedly sitting at a booth in the back of the bar waiting for me. I agreed to meet him here because it’s a public place and a public place is the safe way to go when you’re meeting someone for the first time. We’ve been chatting back and forth for a few days and I think it’s time we meet in person. After all it’s not like I can put my age on pause. The years just keep flying by and I can’t afford to waste any more time.

I spot him sitting alone at a booth at the back of the bar, just like he said he’d be.

I can tell that he’s searching for me by the way his eyes are roaming the room. He looks to be moving his head to the beat of the soft music. After a while he raises his nightcap to his mouth and takes a sip.

Tonight I’m dressed for the weather because it’s freezing outside. I’m wearing a black sweater, a thick gray scarf, denims, and black boots. I gave in a few days
ago and had my hair stylist twist some extensions in my hair. Wearing my natural hair just wasn’t working for me anymore. Weave is more convenient. I decided to let my braids hang tonight. I check my make-up with my pocket-mirror and then I head over.

From the waist up I can tell that he’s dressed to impress. He’s handsome too. I feel relieved now, I was afraid that he wouldn’t look anything li
ke his profile picture. “Roland?” I say.

“Yes” He says getting to his feet “You must be Stacy?” He says like he’s unsure. As if I don’
t look like my profile picture.

He’s towering over me, which is another plus. “I am
” I say offering my hand. “Hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long”

“Actually I haven’t been here that long. Have a seat” He insists and sits back down. It appears that he’s suddenly in a hurry to speed things up.

“Excuse me miss” A waiter says. “What will you be having to drink?”

“
Let me have a coke please”

“I’ll get that right out to you” He informs me and walks away.

“It’s cold outside” I say to Roland.

He glances at his watch. “The weather during the winter is one of the few things that I hate about Chicago.”

“The weather here was definitely a lot to adapt too. I was born and raised in Alabama.”

“I’m sure it was” He says and checks the time again.

“I’m sorry did something come up?.” I ask as the waiter is setting my drink on the table. “Thanks” I say to him and focus my eyes back on Roland. “I’ve noticed that you’ve checked the time twice in the two minutes that I’ve joined you”.

“Look I’m just going to be honest.” He says. “You are much darker than you were in your profile picture.”

“Excuse me, do you have a problem with the color of my skin?”

“I’m just going to be honest. I’m not into dark skinned women.”

“You know what this date is a waste of my damn time.” I say throwing my purse over my shoulder while getting to my feet.

“Good because I realized when I got here that I left my wallet at home.”

“Really” I chuckled sarcastically. “I can’t believe this shit.”

“Can I ask you something?”
He says with a devilish smirk drawn across his face.

I shrug my shoulders. “Why not?”

“On your profile picture you had shoulder length hair. I’m curious, exactly how much of that is yours?”

“
Are you implying that I don’t have any hair? The nerve of you! You know what? It’s black men like you that I’m ashamed of. From the looks of things you came from a dark-skinned woman but yet you sit up here and proudly say that you’re not into dark-skinned women. You live by a stupid ass myth that dark-skinned women aren’t as cute as light-skinned women...that we’re not as smart.... that we’re ghetto that our hair can’t grow. Think what you want to think about me because I’m a blessing to any man, including you. It’s just too bad that assholes like you are too stupid to realize it. And you know what else? It’s too damn bad that even though you claim that you left your wallet at home. This drink is still on you.” I say, before I toss my drink in his face.

****

I do my usual and kick off my shoes as soon as I walk through the front door and I head into the kitchen because I desperately need a glass of wine. Layla is sitting on a barstool at the island.

“Hi” She says. She looks happy. “How was the date?”

I grab a glass out of the cabinet. “Awful, absolutely awful.”

“What awful thing did he do?”

After I pour wine in my glass I head over to the island and sit down right across from Layla. “He didn’t do anything except be the idiot he obviously is.”

“It was that bad huh?”

“The worst! I went on a blind date with a black man that’s into black women as long as they are not dark-skinned.”

“Girl shut the front door! I know that he did not tell you that?”

“Those were his exact words. And can you believe that he had the nerve to ask me how much of this hair in my head is actually mines”

“You should have told him all of it because you bought it. I hope like hell you blessed him out.”

“What I did was even better. Talking about he left his wallet at home”

Layla
laughs. “Do I even want to know what you did?”

“I made sure that my drink was on him, literally”

“You did not”

“Yes I did too”

“Don’t tell me you caused a scene”

“I was so mad that I don’t even know whether I caused a scene or not.”

“So I guess it’s no more online dating for you?”

“Probably not.”

“Guess what” Layla says smiling from ear to ear.

I sip from
my  glass. “I’m not in a mood to guess so just tell me”