Chapter 11: Post Sex Morning
I woke up with arms wrapped around me and light snoring filling my ear. My body was sore in ways I had never experienced before, which is what happens when you spend an entire night trying acrobatic moves you previously only read about. I was no longer a virgin. That Chapter of my life had closed quietly somewhere between the strawberries and the ocean breeze and I was stepping into something new whether I was ready or not.
Robert had made me feel worthy last night. The pleasure, the romance and the connection had all been there in ways I had not expected. But then there was Evan, sitting quietly at the back of my mind like he had never left. Ms. Lilly had done a very good job on her setups. I would give her that.
I looked at Robert sleeping beside me. His eyebrows were furrowed even in sleep, like he was fighting something in his dreams. I traced them gently with my finger trying to smooth them out. He moved to brush my hand away and I pulled it back and closed my eyes quickly, pretending to be asleep.
"I know you are up," he said. "I felt you rubbing this sexy face."
"Sexy face? You were just snoring."
"I am a light sleeper. Are you hungry?" He kissed me softly on the lips.
"Starving."
He showered and had his chef bring breakfast up while I finished mine. I walked out in a thick beige robe to find a whole table set up with two chairs and food piled high enough to feed a small village.
"Why all the food?"
"Because we both worked up an appetite and we both need to keep up our strength," he said. "Come sit with me."
I wrapped the robe tie tightly because I had left my underwear in my purse the night before, which is a sentence I never imagined saying about myself, and walked toward the empty chair. He reached for me before I got there and I sat on his lap instead. He was wearing just jogging pants and I could feel his morning situation immediately. He fed me fresh strawberries and melon and we laughed until juice ran from the corner of my mouth. Before I could wipe it away he licked it clean. I returned the kiss and somewhere in the middle of it I had unzipped his pants and lowered myself onto him without fully planning to.
"You do this to me Robert," I said, easing all the way down until I was convinced he was somewhere near my stomach. He moaned and grabbed my hips and moved me up and down. It still hurt some from the night before but I forged through because some things are worth a little discomfort and this was one of them.
He kissed me and said, "sweet like sugar. You are going to be the death of me. So sweet you are."
"I will always be your Suga," I said. And I meant it. "You feel so good Robert. Just like that." He rocked into me and I leaned back and my orgasm crested hard, moving us both faster until I felt warmth fill me completely. His face found my chest and he kissed my breast.
"I just cannot get enough of you," he said. "I wish you could stay. Football pre-season has started so I will be travelling with the team. Between games and dealership conferences I will not be in town for a couple of weeks. But know I will be thinking about you Suga."
I smiled. Only Ben had ever called me that. To hear it from Robert felt like something I had not been prepared for.
"I better get going," I said, trying to hold back what I could feel building behind my eyes. "The plane leaves in an hour."
"I have a surprise for you first."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black box. Inside was a bracelet with a single pearl on it.
"Each time we are together I will add a pearl," he said. "And I decided to catch a ride back to New Orleans with you. I figured we could get to know each other a little better on the way back. I suppose you could say I am attached."
He was a charmer. The jewelry and the words and the way he said them all confirmed what I already knew. I could not have made a better choice.
Five hours later Ben was driving me home and the ride was quiet in a way that had nothing to do with Ben and everything to do with me. I missed Robert already and it would be weeks before I saw him again.
"I am assuming everything went well?" Ben asked.
I smiled at his reflection in the rearview mirror. "It did. Thank you for asking."
"Then why are you so down?"
"I honestly do not know Ben."
"Remember this is a job," he said. "Not a career. They come and go. Do not catch feelings. It could harm your very being and I do not want to see you heartbroken."
I looked out the window and let that settle. It was a job. Was Robert selling himself to me the way he would sell a car to a customer at one of his dealerships? Ben was right. I could never be more than the woman he slept with. I needed to remember that before I turned something temporary into something I was not prepared to lose.
I kept looking out the window and said nothing else.
It was midday on a Sunday and the girls had gone to a friend’s house. I put on my Nike sports bra and tights and decided to go for a run at City Park. I filled my water bottle, charged my phone and drove the thirty minutes over. There were plenty of people out, joggers and walkers moving through the park in the warm afternoon light. I figured the fresh air and the movement would help me clear my head before the week ahead. School was starting in a few days and I needed to shift my focus back to something I actually understood.
I stretched for a few minutes and then started running. I had done cross country in high school but that was a different lifetime and a different body and after about twenty minutes I was already negotiating with myself about slowing down.
That was when I saw the little girl.
She was standing alone crying, looking around in every direction with the particular panic of a child who has wandered somewhere they were not supposed to be.
I slowed to a walk and went over to her. "Hello. Are you lost?"
She nodded. "I cannot find my uncle. He told me not to go to the slide but I did not listen. He is going to be so mad at me."
"Oh honey," I said, crouching down. "I will help you find him. What is your name?"
"Tara," she said, sniffling.
"I am Cadence. We will look together okay?"
"Okay."
"What is your uncle’s name?" I started to ask, and then I heard a voice behind me.
"Tara. There you are. Thank God, I have been looking everywhere for you. You scared me half to death."
I stood up and turned around.
And came face to face with a pair of very familiar eyes.
Comments