Page 27 of Not About That Life
“Sounds good,” I reply, “wanna go to Sentiment? I think Ian’s at 3121 tonight.”
“Sure, let’s do that. I’ll take an Uber there since Gerald is watching the kids tonight.” She whispers in my ear. “I plan to getfucked up!” She walks away.
I shake my head as I watch my class stretch and get ready for today’s lesson. I don’t know what I would do without Emma.
~~~~~~
“So, I worked up a business plan,” Emma hands over a thick binder of paperwork, “this is just a rough outline of what you’ve talked about. I also took the liberty of expanding a lot of the points you touched on.”
My eyes widen as I was in the middle of swallowing sweetbread. “I’m sorry?”
Emma shrugs and looks almost embarrassed. “I was a business major at UCLA.”
“Ah,” I wipe my mouth and open the folder, “that explains it.” I briefly glance through the documents and Emma really did her homework. She outlined the SWOT and everything. Damn, girl. Maybe she’s worth the thirteen percent she’s currently getting.
“The goal is to make your line global. I know you’re catering to a black audience but I want you worldwide, Domi. There’s no reason why Becky in Ohio can’t also use the same line as Keisha in Watts.” I shoot her a look regarding the blatant stereotyping of ethnic names. “Oh, come on! How many Beckys do you know in Watts?”
She has a point. “When should we have this line debut? I still have to look over this.”
“It’s November now so I’m hoping sometime next year. It would be perfect and we can sell some at the studio.” She replies after a sip of wine, “we need to do a test run locally before we move onto other markets. I think it’ll be a hit.”
“I hope so. Here’s hoping.” I set aside the folder. “What else do I need to do?”
“Well, there is something I do want to talk to you about. It’s rather personal.” Emma looks around to see if we have the ultimate privacy. I hope she’s not about to spill any more Ferguson tea because I don’t think my body can withstand it. “First things first, Lula Jean’s birthday is approaching.” She takes a small breath. “Just to warn you, Ian might get into a funky mood.”
Somehow, I don’t think she’s referring to Parliament Funkadelic. “Funky as in?”
“Really moody and maybe emotional.” The last word is a surprise to me. Ian isn’t the type to get emotional so I wonder what that really looks like. I’ve seen him angry, annoyed, and even humorous.
I’ve never seen him emotional and for some reason, that scares me.
“He took Lula Jean’s death particularly hard because she was out to shop for his engagement party when she was killed. He has carried a strong burden of guilt for the past several years. I don’t think he’s ever properly mourned his mother.”
I’ve never spent Christmas with Ian so this is news to me. I can recall him becoming maybe a little quiet and withdrawn and I already knew the connection to his mother’s birthday. I didn’t think about his mother’s death date just a few days later would also make the entire month a disaster for him.
“I’ll handle it as well as I can,” I promise absolutely nothing but everything, “any advice on what I should expect?”
“Well,” Emma takes another sip of wine, “He tends to close up during the month of December and only lets everyone back in around January.” She glances over to me.
This is going to be a test in our relationship. I only wonder if Ian’s going to turn into a pumpkin on December first and return back to Prince Charming on January first.
Oh dear.
“What does that mean exactly?”
“That means hey Ian, how are you?” She greets him as he approaches our table.
I turn around in surprise. Impeccably dressed in a dark navy suit with a white open collar, I feel my breath stolen and all he did was approach our table. I get a whiff of his citrusy cologne and suddenly I feel the urge to drop down on my knees and give him the ‘Domi Suck You Long Time’ special.
When am I not horny?
“I’m doing much better now that I’ve seen the most beautiful women in the restaurant here,” he smiles at us. He leans down and kisses me, gently sucking on my bottom lip. His beard brushes against my ear and I inwardly shudder.
“Later, I’m going to tie you up and taste your cunt.” He promises before he stands up and addresses me and Emma like he didn’t just make me aroused to the point of no return and didn’t even blink twice.
I turn to him and feel his relaxed body become slightly tense, his blue eyes turn cobalt, and his nostrils slightly flared. Suddenly, it felt the room had come to a standstill and it was just the two of us in the room, in the restaurant, in the entire universe.
I feel the heat in my belly rise all the way up to my cheeks. Fuck him, fuck him, god yes,I want to fuck him.
