Zane's Nervous

  “What could possibly go wrong?” he asked, sitting down beside me on the sofa.

  “I thought you-know-who might have reared her ugly head.”

  Mason ran his fingers through my hair. “No, there’s no one here but you and me.”

  “How can you tell?”

  “Come again?”

  “Realistically, how can you tell that I’m really Jonquinette and not Jude?”

  He shrugged. “When I met Jude, and to my knowledge I’ve only come across her once, it was obvious that something was wrong.”

  “How so? I mean, besides the obvious with her declaring herself a major whore and all of that.”

  “She had a different air about her, a different way of carrying herself.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “She had this attitude like she ruled the world and you’re more, more . . . ”

  I decided to help him out with an appropriate word that wouldn’t sound too demeaning. “I’m shyer.”

  “Yes, that’s one way of putting it. I knew the things she was saying and the way she was acting just wasn’t you.”

  I changed the topic. “So what’s next or is our date over?”

  “No, our date is not over. In fact, we’re headed out.”

  “We are? Do I need to go change?” I asked, looking down at the pair of jeans and simple sweater I had on with a pair of penny loafers. “All I need is about fifteen minutes.”

  “No, you look great and there’s no need to get dressed.” He stood up and twirled around. “Check me out. It’s not like I have on a tuxedo or anything.”

  Mason had on a pair of khakis and a button-down alabaster shirt. He was sexy as hell, too.

  As we left our building and walked to his car, I began to wonder if things would lead to something sexual that night and if I were even ready for it. In my mind, I had never experienced sex, even though my body had obviously engaged in it countless times. Would I be able to “hang” as some people called it? Would I even halfway know what I was doing in order to please him? I was scared to death.

  We ended up at a large office building downtown and I was wondering what in the world we were doing. “Mason, what is this place?” I asked as we pulled into a spot in the empty parking garage.

  “Don’t worry. This is where I work.”

  “You’re taking me to your job?” I asked incredulously. “At this time of night?”

  “Shh,” he whispered, placing his index finger over my lips. “Just relax and go with the flow.”

  We were greeted by the night guard at the desk who gave Mason a high-five and we then took the elevator up to the eleventh floor. Mason directed me into his office and told me to have a seat.

  “So, what are we doing here?”

  “We’ll only be in my office for a second.” He opened a closet and disappeared inside. I glanced around; his office was impressive, to say the least. He had a magnificent picture window that spanned the entire wall and a mahogany desk with a high-back black leather chair. There were two computers on his credenza and a flat plasma television was hanging on one of the walls.

  He came back out holding a duffel bag. “Let’s go.”

  We got back on the elevator and headed to the roof. “I don’t know about this,” I said after I saw which button he pushed. “I’m not a big fan of heights.”

  He gripped my hand. “It’s all good. Don’t worry.”

  I forced a smile. “If you say so.”

  He kissed me on the cheek. “I do say so.”

  When we got to the roof, it was a gorgeous night and I could immediately see why he took me up there. There was a spectacular view of the city skyline.

  “I’ve never seen anything this beautiful,” I told him.

  “That makes two of us.” He slipped his tongue into my mouth and I eagerly accepted it. While we had kissed many times before, this time was different. There was something permanent about it. I could have stayed that way, in his embrace, for an eternity, but he broke the kiss. “Let’s dance.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “We never got to finish dancing at the now infamous wedding so I figured we could finish the dance here.” He paused and studied me. “That was you that I danced with at the wedding, right?”

  “Yes, I remember everything until the point when you walked off with Smitty.”

  “Cool.” Mason opened his duffel bag and pulled out a battery-operated lantern and boombox combination. He turned on the light, directing it toward where I was standing, and then took a CD out of the bag and put it inside the boombox. “Without You” from Charlie Wilson’s Bridging the Gap started playing.

  Mason came to me and put his arms around my waist and started singing to me about how the sun doesn’t shine without me. I was weak in the knees. We were lost in each other and the music for the next two hours. I could not have imagined a more perfect evening. There was no way to top it off. At least, that’s what I thought until we went back to Mason’s place.

  He asked me, “Is it okay if I run you a bath?”

  My nerves were shot. It was time to make a decision and it was an easy one. I just prayed I would measure up.

  “Sure,” I responded.

  “I don’t have to join you. I’ll leave that up to you. I just want to pamper you and make you feel special.”

  “You’ve been doing that all night, Mason.”

  He brushed his lips across mine. “That’s because I’m in love with you, Jonquinette.”

  I closed my eyes and exhaled. “I never thought I would hear anyone say that to me.”

  “Well, now you have.”

  “I don’t know how to respond,” I said.

  “Then don’t.” Mason disappeared in the back and I heard water running. A few minutes later he came back, took me by the hand, and led me to the bathroom where he had prepared a bath with vanilla-scented oil. There were rose petals scattered across the surface of the water. Candles in champagne-shaped glasses were surrounding the tub wall and there was soft music coming from his bedroom.

  “Would you like for me to undress you, Jonquinette?” he asked me seductively.

  “I-I-I’d like that,” I finally managed to get out. “But only if I can undress you too.”

  I wanted Mason to know that I didn’t want to bathe alone. I needed to be held, caressed. I needed him, and only him, to make love to me. I wanted to know what it felt like, especially since I had no idea how much time I had before Jude decided to rid the world of me forever.

  Walter Beasley’s “I Had a Dream” started playing as Mason pulled my sweater over my head. I slipped out of my penny loafers and made eye contact with him as he unfastened and unzipped my jeans. He sat down on the side of the tub so he could maneuver them over my hips and then I stepped out of them.

  He grabbed my waist and kissed my nipples through my white cotton bra. They were as hard as black pearls. He lowered my bra straps and reached behind me to unclasp it. I ran my fingers through his dreadlocks and kissed his forehead as he took one of my now bare breasts into his mouth and suckled on it.

  I heard myself moaning and thought about all the times I had fantasized about such a moment throughout the years of masturbating in my lonely bed at night.

  Mason kept exploring both of my breasts with his tongue while he lowered my panties down around my ankles so I could step out of those as well. So there I was nude, in front of a man, for the very first time by my own choice. Instead of feeling humiliated or uncomfortable, I felt liberated. At that moment, I knew I could go through with it. I wasn’t leaving there until Mason and I had made love.

  I pulled on his dreads so that he would look up at me. “I want to make love to you tonight.”

  He grinned with that incredible smile of his. “Then you shall. I would like nothing more.”

  “Let me undress you now.”

  Mason stood up so I could unbutton his shirt and slide it off his shoulders. It fell into the tub but neither one of us made a move to retrieve it. We
just continued to stare at one another. I fumbled with Mason’s belt to get it loose and then helped him take off his pants. He had on a black sheer thong and I saw a dick for the very first time.

  Walter Beasley’s Rendez-Vous CD continued to play as he took the thong off and climbed into the tub. He grabbed my hand and helped me to step in. He sat down and I straddled him. We began kissing again, this time more intensely. I could feel his dick between my thighs, teasing my pussy lips. I had never known so much pleasure. That was a far cry from a towel or sheet causing friction against my clit, which was all I was used to.

  Mason started sucking my breasts again and turned on the jets in the tub. The water pulsating against my skin only added to the experience. I moved back off him slightly and reached down to caress his dick. It felt wonderful to the touch. Mason also reached down into the water and started fingering me gently. The volume of my moans increased and I had an orgasm just from him touching me with his hand.

  He glanced up at me and asked, “Did you just do what I think you did?”

  I snickered. “Um, yes, I believe I did.” I laid my head on his shoulder and hugged him with both arms, letting go of his dick. “Mason, don’t laugh at me. Remember all of this is new for me.”

  He grabbed my chin and gazed at me lovingly. “I would never laugh at you, Jonquinette.”

  He took a towel and a bar of soap, lathered it up and started bathing me, slowly and tenderly, never breaking eye contact. Before I knew it, I had completely lost control of my senses. I started sucking on his neck and then his chest. He pulled my head back toward his legs by my hair, squeezed the towel so that water cascaded down the center of my chest and then starting sucking my nipples. Again, I had an orgasm.

  We finished bathing and Mason refused to use a bath towel. Instead, he licked me dry. Then he carried me into the bedroom and laid me down on his king-sized bed. It was covered with silk animal-print sheets and a matching down comforter. He lifted my left foot to his mouth and proceeded to suck my toes, one at a time. After he was done with my left foot, he went to work on my right one. I was speechless. I just laid there shivering and enjoying every second of it.

  Mason worked his tongue up my calves and then my thighs. He took a brief hiatus when he got to my pussy. He just blew on the hairs, which tickled. I suppressed a laugh. He said, “I’m going to taste you now,” and that’s exactly what he did.

  The heat of his tongue swirling on my clit and darting in and out of me made me want to scream with delight. I grabbed a pillow and smashed it over my head, muffling my moans. Mason yanked it from me. “No, I want to see you and I definitely want to hear you.”

  He began to eat my pussy again and I grabbed the headboard, trying to handle what he was giving me. I lost count of how many times I climaxed and I was practically hallucinating by the time Mason felt he had accomplished his mission.

  “Are you ready?” he asked me, positioning his dick between my legs.

  “I’ve waited all my life for this,” I whispered in his ear. “But I need to say something to you first.”

  “What’s that?”

  I caressed his cheek. “I’m in love with you also.”

  “Do you really mean that, Jonquinette?”

  “Yes, I do. I really mean it. I never thought I would find love after all these years. I’d given up. You’ve made me believe that anything is possible.”

  He kissed me on the lips. “Anything is possible.”

  Without saying another word to each other, Mason entered me and we made love for the first time. I prayed it wouldn’t be the last.

  35

  jude

  I called in sick. Fuck work! Instead, I went to the Queen Bitch’s apartment to check up on things. She and Henry seemed to be getting a little bit too close for comfort. All the damn work I did to get them to break up, hiring that whore, setting the entire Thanksgiving fiasco up, and after all these years they were speaking again. The world had truly gone to shit! Queen Bitch Meredith needed to take her ass back to whoring and golddigging and forget about Henry.

  After driving over there, I got the shock of my life when Flower opened the Queen Bitch’s door.

  “Jonquinette!” She flung her arms around me like she was Dorothy and she’d finally made it back home from the Emerald City. “I’m so happy to see you!”

  Flower was a cutie. I can’t deny that, but what the hell was she doing in Atlanta? I decided to take the safe route and play nice with her. If I had really said what was on my mind, I would have scared the little chick.

  “Hey, Flower. You’re looking beautiful today and that’s an adorable outfit,” I said, trying to think of what timid-ass Jon would say in a similar situation.

  Flower twirled around like she was a runway model. “Thanks, Miss Meredith bought it for me.”

  “Miss Meredith, huh?” I was getting a really bad feeling. “I should have known. It looks like something she would pick out.” The outfit did have Meredith written all over it. It was much too fancy for a young child and must have cost a grip, which meant Meredith was trying to kiss up to the little one. “Is Miss Meredith home?”

  “Yes, she and Daddy are in the kitchen baking cookies.”

  “Stop the madness!” I exclaimed, rolling my eyes to the ceiling and following Flower into the condo.

  “Huh?” Flower asked. “What does stop the madness mean?”

  “It’s just a saying.” As we got farther into the living room, I noticed several shopping bags from high-end stores strewn about. “Someone went on quite a shopping spree, looks like.”

  “Yeah, Miss Meredith said she wanted me to have some city clothes. She thought my clothes were too old.”

  Humph, no big surprise! That sounded just like the type of bullshit that would come out of Meredith’s mouth.

  I noticed that the Disney Channel was on. “Flower, why don’t you finish watching television while I go into the kitchen and see what Mommy and Daddy are doing?” I cringed when I called them Mommy and Daddy, but I really didn’t have a choice. I was on a fishing expedition and I was just now baiting my hook. After Flower sat down, I said, “Be right back.”

  “Okay, Sis,” she said.

  That stunned me. She was referring to Jon as her sister already, like they’d known each other for years.

  I got to the doorway of the kitchen and almost lost it when I saw the Leave It to Beaver action going on. They both had on aprons. Henry was taking a batch of chocolate chip cookies out of the oven while Meredith was stirring a pitcher of iced tea. Give me a break!

  Part of me wanted to turn around and storm out the door but I had to get the real deal. I cleared my throat to get their attention.

  “Jonquinette, Precious, we didn’t hear you come in!” Meredith exclaimed.

  Precious? She was really tripping.

  “Flower let me in,” I said. “Imagine my surprise when she answered the door.”

  That’s when Henry chimed in, grinning from ear to ear. “We were just about to call you and invite you over. I went to pick up Flower yesterday and drove her right back.”

  “What about school?” I asked.

  “Aw, she can miss a couple of days,” Meredith replied. “Henry thought it was important for her to go ahead and meet me.”

  I shifted from one leg to another. I was getting more pissed off by the second. “And why is that important? For Flower to meet you, I mean.”

  They both eyed each other uneasily. Then Henry said, “Jonquinette, we have so much to tell you.” He held up a cookie. “Have a cookie, straight out the oven. Your momma made them from scratch.”

  I didn’t take the cookie. I looked at Meredith instead. “Since when did you start making cookies from scratch?”

  “Oh, Jonquinette, please! You remember when I used to bake you fresh sweets all the time when you were a child,” she lied without missing a beat. She never baked shit when Jon was a child.

  “Oh yeah,” I said. “And they were delicious.” If she was going to
stand there and tell bold-faced lies, I might as well join the party. “So, what is it that you have to tell me?”

  First Henry sat down at the kitchen table and then Meredith. I thought I was seeing things when they started holding hands.

  “This can’t be!” I said loudly. Then I caught myself. “Okay, I take it that the holding of hands means something momentous.”

  Meredith sighed. “Um, yes, it does. Henry and I have been doing a lot of talking these past several days. Making up for lost time, so to speak. This has been a complicated time for all of us but something good has come out of it.”

  Henry interrupted her. “What your momma is trying to say is that we’ve decided to make another go at it.”

  “You’re kidding!” I exclaimed. “You can’t be serious!”

  Henry said, “We’ve never been more serious in our entire lives.” He leaned over and kissed Meredith on the cheek. “In fact, we’re going to get remarried sometime in the spring, after we make sure that your therapy is going well and things have settled back down some.” He held on tighter to her hand. “Besides, none of this should have ever happened. We want you to know that we don’t blame you. It was that other person, that Jude wench, that caused all of this trouble and we’re going to make sure we put a stop to that.”

  If it was actually physically possible for smoke to come out of someone’s ears, it would have been coming out of mine right that second. No! That motherfucker didn’t call me a wench! I took a few deep breaths before I went off on both of them.

  “Does that mean you’ll be moving here to Atlanta?” I finally asked. The thought of him moving closer to Jon was revolting but I had to pose the question.

  Meredith replied, “No, I’m planning on relocating to North Carolina.”

  I had to refrain from break dancing, I was so damn happy all of a sudden. While I wasn’t thrilled at the prospect of the two of them getting back together, not having to worry about the Queen Bitch stopping by Jon’s place unannounced or worrying the hell out of her did have its appeal. “Really? Cool!”