Page 27 of Mr. On Your Knees
“Bitch!” Lauren yelled the moment she picked up. “You better at least tell me your ass got some dick since I’ve been up on an off praying you weren’t laying dead in some ditch.”
Desi sighed. “I left with Jared why would you assume I would end up dead.” Then she thought about it and followed-up with, “Don’t answer that.”
“Right,” Lauren replied. “I don’t know who he is three years after you walked out on him. Maybe he was holding a grudge or something, luring you out so he could finally get his revenge or some shit.”
“You watch way too much ID channel,” Desi said. “And I’m alive.”
“I can hear that,” Lauren snapped. “Are you well fucked too?”
Another long sigh as she pulled the sheets up over her bare breasts. They smelled good, like blue sparkle Snuggle, the fabric softener he preferred. A smile ghosted her lips at the memory. Jared was very specific about that fragrance and had once given a whole jug of some other Snuggle fragrance that Desi had mistakenly bought to their neighbor before going to the store to buy the one he wanted.
“Oooohhh yes, you certainly are,” Lauren said when Desi still hadn’t answered seconds later. “Tell me everything. And don’t leave out not one detail. Sonny texted me last night to say he picked up another gig so he could make some extra cash for that specialist Em needs to see, so he won’t be home for another four days.”
Desi’s heart momentarily hurt for little Em with the pretty gray eyes and thick black curls. Then Lauren was practically screeching her name again and she frowned at her longtime loud mouth friend. “What? You do know we’re not in high school anymore,” Desi said. “I don’t kiss and tell.”
“That’s a lie and the truth ain’t in you. I was the one you called from Rod’s bathroom three minutes after your very brief foreplay and his very premature ejaculation.”
Desi rolled her eyes at the memory of the guy she’d met at the grocery store last year. “His name was Rick, girl.”
“Whatever,” Lauren said. “Rick or Rod, I had to call you three times to provide the optimal excuse for you to get out of there without telling him his sex was as weak as that beat up Corolla he was driving.”
“Okay. Okay,” Desi said not needing this little trip through her sex life. She’d only called Lauren to let her know that she was, in fact, alive and well, not to have a whole conversation like they would if she were home. In her own bed. “It was…the best sex I’ve had in a very long time.”
“Hmph,” Lauren said. “The best sex you’ve had since three years ago.”
Desi caught the sarcasm and shrugged. “He’sthe best I’ve ever had. There’s no denying that.”
“I mean, we all gotta have a “best I’ve ever had” and you could probably do worse than having fine ass Jared as yours. But, Desi, are you sure about this?”
It was a fair question, one Desi recalled asking herself time and again last night. And yet, regardless of all the negative answers she’d come up with she’d come to his house with him and stayed. “I don’t regret it,” she said. “It wasn’t what I planned to do when I realized I’d be working with him again, but I really didn’t anticipate us getting back together.”
“Wait. What? So you’re back together, together?” Lauren asked.
Desi groaned. “No. I mean, we were together last night, but no. Definitely not back together like that.” Or were they?
Lauren sucked her teeth. “I think she protests too much.”
“Shut up,” Desi said lightly. “Look, I don’t know what we’re doing in the light of day. All I know is that last night he was everything I needed.” He’d touched every spot that had gone cold since he’d been out of her life, had kissed her so deeply she’d sworn they were falling in love again. Or had she ever stopped loving this man? That thought had her sitting up in the bed again. She had to get out of here before she realized the answer to that question was yes and that she was in a world of trouble because of it.
“I’m gonna get dressed and get out of here,” she said before Lauren screamed.
“You’re still at his place?”
Desi huffed. “Yes, I’m still at his…his house. He bought a house, Lauren. And from what I saw of it last night, its beautiful.” She couldn’t hide the wistful tone in her voice. Her heart had been equal parts devastated, confused and enamored when he’d told her last night that he’d bought this house to get away from her memory. When, what he’d really done was purchase the house she’d always wanted.
“Girl, you are gone.”
“I’m not,” Desi insisted. “But I am hanging up. I’ll call you later after I get home.”
“You better because I know there are lots more details you aren’t telling me.”
“Bye, Lauren,” she said and then disconnected the call.
Fifteen minutes later, Desi had gotten out of bed. She was grateful for the forethought Jared had to bring her purse and clothes upstairs either sometime last night or whenever he’d awakened this morning. She found the bathroom they’d used last night to shower together and took the travel toothbrush she always carried in her purse to brush her teeth. The washcloth she’d used last night hung on a rack inside the shower and she used it to wash all her vital parts this morning. She couldn’t bring herself to put her panties from last night on again, so now she only wore her dress and bra. She’d momentarily thought about another shower but really wanted to get home as quickly as possible. Hopefully an Uber from wherever Jared’s house was wouldn’t cost her a small fortune.
She left his bedroom with her phone and purse. Her intention had been to just hustle down the stairs and out the front door. She could call for her ride from outside. But the moment she stepped into the brightly lit hallway she couldn’t help but look around. There were pictures on the wall. Black art that resembled some of the canvases he’d selected for the exhibition.
He’d explained to her that his selections had been carefully made, because he’d wanted them to tell the story of the millions of Africans being ripped from their homes and stolen to be a part of the Atlantic slave trade. A dark moment in time coined as The Middle Passage and through to June 19, 1865 when enslaved people in the westernmost Confederate state of Texas finally got word of their freedom, two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was made effective.
