** Chris - Jerome Boateng **
I grabbed my car keys and purse that lay on my messed up bed before taking one last look in the mirror. A pair of Aqua green shorts and a white chiffon blouse was perfect for my day with Dom, whatever he had planned. I admired my shapely legs in the mirror and whispered to myself, " I got it from my mama"
I took one last look at my poor bed hidden under volumes of clothing and closed the door behind me. Dad was probably in the kitchen, reading those weekly business magazines while aunt Jamila cooked lunch. I had texted Dom to let him know I was just leaving the house.
I decided to play it cool and not arouse any suspicion from my dad. Last thing he needed to do was worry about the new man in my life following my brief affair with Damien. I walked into the kitchen and so casually set my purse down on the table, loud enough to catch his attention. I wanted him to ask not me have to tell him. It made lying to him easier.
"Where are you going on a Sunday afternoon in those shorts?" My dad set down the business magazine and looked right at me. I did not avoid his gaze, instead I said nonchalantly "My fellow executive assistant invited me out for lunch. You know she's the first friend I've made at work"
"You see her from Monday to Friday. You even spent the weekend with her at your retreat" The follow-up question like I anticipated.
"Okay fine, you've caught me. I'm going to see Alexa. Our friendship does not need to suffer because of her brother. She took my side, you know" I say picking up my purse and facing him squarely.
He did not even closely watch me to see if I was lying. He was too distracted by anything or anyone that was merely associated with Damien.
"She is waiting for me, you know. Are you done with the interrogation?" I grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and twisted the cap off.
"That still does not explain the shorts" he still demanded an explanation. He left me no choice. I had to play my cheat card.
"I've got my mother's legs if she gets to flaunt, why shouldn't I?" I watched him give aunt Jamila a quick side glance then look back at me.
"Sumaya got her mum's long legs, you don't see her showing them off" he retorted. Nice comeback, dad. I really did not see that one coming.
"My grandmother did not give me such grief over my dressing. Can I go now, old man?"
He shook his head and waved me off. I almost leapt for joy.
"Bye dad" I said and quickly exited. I could hear aunt Jamila chuckling and my dad cluelessly asking her, "what?"
I was driving into the Blue area, regretting not just letting Dom give me directions. All the houses looked alike! They did vary in colors like some were brick red, others a dull grayish-yellow, others orange and some were chocolatey brown. All I had to remember was, did I sleep in a brick red one or the chocolatey brown one? The people who planned this area sucked! Why didn't they have house numbers on a sign out front like a normal neighborhood? Looking for his car or Chris' was a hopeless cause. I spotted a car that looked exactly like it except for the huge yellow "Baby on Board" sticker on the back.
I gave up and humbled myself to call Dom. "Hey Dom, I am kinda lost-" I started to say.
"Bright red balloon, can't miss it" he laughed.
Sure enough, three houses away from where I was currently there was a bright red balloon bobbing in the wind over a short black iron gate. I drove up to it and parked on the curb. I walked through the gate on the tiled path across the cute little garden out front which I had not noticed before. I knocked on the polished black wooden door of a brick red brownstone and waited as I heard footsteps inside.
The door opened and my excited grin switched quickly to an awkward smile.
"Hi Chris" I said to the Chase I was not expecting to welcome me. His confused look said it all.
"Hello, Kerry. Errr... Come in?" He said not knowing what else to say.
"I'm confused. Did we plan something? Or is this like a surprise visit or you were in the neighborhood" Chris rambled on the minute I crossed the threshold. I was going to blush every shade of red there was.
"Actually she's here to see me" Dom appeared a blue tee shirt with a cheeky message on the front and a pair of dark jeans.
"Right. What could you possibly not wait till tomorrow to see her about?" Chris laughed.
Dom flashed him a knowing smile and then came to stand by me, "well this is awkward"
He shoved his hands in his pocket and gave us both a sheepish grin.
"Dom?...No. Come on. Sumaya is going to kill me. I did this didn't i?" Chris almost cursed as he stared at us both.
"Her dad is going to kill you. Kerry, he's kidding right? Dom, this is to get back at me for not telling you about that new woman your dad's dating in South Africa huh?"
"Chris..." I began slowly, "This may sound crazy but Dom and I actually like each other"
Then Chris slapped his face with his palm and stared right back at us as if we would burst out laughing and tell him it was all a prank.
"That school girl crush on you? Poof! Gone. We've got an adult attraction thing going on" Dom laughed.
"I am going to leave now. This, I can't deal with now" Chris pointed between us then went up the stairs two at a time. I could not hold it in any longer, I laughed really hard.
"Okay so backyard or living room?" Dom asked, putting his arm around me.
"You really have nothing planned?" I asked stunned. The media made him seem like quite the charmer and all those photos of exotic or exciting dates. Where was that side of Dom today?
"I'm sorry. Usually the kind of girls I used to date want to go to the beach, on some party cruise or fly some place with culture totally foreign to us. I cannot for the life of me figure out how to impress you" he said, gripping the back of his neck with his hand.
"You're nervous about impressing me?" I quizzed.
"One minute I think you will do everything in your power to keep me away then you strip down to that orangey-red bikini right before my eyes like it was just us two on the beach. Then there I was afraid to kiss you because you'd run for the hills because maybe you weren't ready then smack! you kissed me"
"Okay since we're going to start slow, you know more friends less... You know, till we're sure maybe a low key thing would be perfect" I decided to help the all powerful Dominic Chase out.
"I can do low key" he smiled and I could see the wheels turning in his head.
"Do you ride?" He asked.
"What? Horses?"
"No. Bikes. As in bicycles" he laughed.
"I think I can remember how to ride one, why?"
My question was answered when Dom pulled two bikes from the backyard and held out Chris' bike to me.
"Okay it's been a while"
"Oh do tell" Dom gave a mischievous grin and I realized how he interpreted my words.
"Get your mind out of the gutter" I swatted at his arm.
"Hey, I'm just teasing" he laughed.
Dom steadied the bike as I got on it. One foot on the pedal, I began to push myself till I got both feet on pedals and began to ride. I rode pretty slow some distance ahead and Dom caught up with me.
"What took you so long? I took forever to get this far" I pointed out the distance which was only one house.
"Blame your shorts and the view I had from back there" he laughed. It thrilled me just hearing how he found me sexy.
We rode for a while and eventually it came back to me. I was riding easily. We were out of the Blue neighborhood now. We were approaching a developing neighborhood. There were few houses completed with people living in it, a couple more uncompleted, some with just the building foundation up and vast lands which were fenced with property owners' names boldly written on signs out front. We stopped at one fenced property of land and there was the sign, 'Property of Dominic Chase"
"You own your own land?" I asked in awe as he let us in by unlocking the gate.
"I actually inherited it. My grandmother. Gave Chris and I parcels of land for our twenty-first birthdays" he took my hand and led me down further and then I saw the man-made lake, right there in his future backyard.
"This will make a beautiful view someday" I gasped as I stared out at the glassy expanse of water.
I turned around to see him sitting cross legged on the grass. I bent to sit next to him but he uncrossed his legs and pulled me to sit against him, between his legs. He hugged me from behind as we silently stared out at the lake. Two small boats, a yellow one and blue one, sat nestled next to each other at the water's edge by a makeshift dock.
"I'm impressed" I said to him.
He laughed, "I knew you would be"
"How many girls have you brought out here?" I blurted out and ruined the moment.
"Do you really want to know that?"
"Yes"
"Two" he answered honestly.
"Including me?" I asked and he nodded.
"Please don't ask me what we both know you're going to ask" he spoke up just as I was about to ask the obvious follow-up question. I knew who else he brought here. After all she used to be his fiancée and he imagined married life with her.
I slowly nodded in agreement and looked back at the lake.
"You still care about him" Dom spoke up and I looked in his eyes not see a pained look but rather a knowing look in his eyes. I should have known he would have questions about Damien after yesterday.
"Yes I do. He was my best friend for so many years. I can't just not care anymore"
"Are you still in love with him?"
"No. Are you still in love with her?"
"No" there was no hesitation. The sick feeling in my stomach disappeared.
"Do you still hate Almara?" He asked on a lighter note. I threw my head back as I laughed.
"My dislike for her stems from more than Chris's love for her. She is Sumaya's best friend and I got to be Sumaya's maid of honor. She treated me like trash even before Sumaya had any plans to marry."
"So when you saw Chris today, no butterflies...no electric currents?"
"Are you seriously asking me if I'm still attracted to Chris? No I'm not. I saw him and all I could think was where is Dom?"
"Honestly, I was a little jealous"
"I see it now. Jealousy doesn't suit you, Dom. By the way, why wear this tee shirt when you knew I was coming over?" I pointed at the tee shirt saying, 'Nice legs. What time do they open?'
"I thought it would make a nice conversation starter"
"Like how? I'd read it and say, hey pervert?"
"You've got a point there but hey, I still got you to talk about it"
"You can be so weird"
"When is your birthday?"
"The worst day of the year to be born"
"Christmas day?" His eyes opened wide in amusement and shock.
"No. Valentine's Day"
"Ohhhh" he dragged out the word and I wanted to change the topic but he spelt it out, "So your dad and your mum had an affair and their love child was born on Valentine's Day?"
"Yes. I suffered too many awkward valentines days growing up especially at my dad's place"
"I can only imagine. So are you a chocolates and flowers valentine or a romantic dinner valentine or the movie and ice cream valentine?"
"Dominic Chase are you already planning our Valentine's Day together? That is four months away" I cocked my head to the side to get a better view of his face.
"I can see us a year from now, Kerry" he whispered to me then lifted me up as he rose from our grassy seat.
"Hungry?" He asked.
"After all that riding, you owe me a meal" I said rubbing my stomach.
He placed his hand gently on my stomach and my mind went into hyperdrive. I suddenly saw us years from now and him touching my stomach just like this when I told him we were expecting. I brought my mind right back to this year. I unconsciously withdrew from his touch and Dom looked right at me with questions on his mind. He didn't ask me and I was half relieved.
We rode back to his house and I noticed Chris' car was gone. We were going to be alone. We entered the house and Dom walked me right into the kitchen.
"Chris ordered us some food for lunch" he gestured at the packs of food on the dining table, still warm.
"How sweet and thoughtful of him" I winked at Dom.
"I'm going to ignore the way your eyes softened when you said that" Dom laughed and grabbed two wine glasses.
He got a bottle of red wine and uncorked it.
"Trying to liquor me up so I tell you all my secrets again?" I raised an eyebrow at him as he poured me a glass.
"Why, are there more secrets to tell?" He wiggled his eyebrows.
"I'm going to nurse this half-glass for the rest of the day, especially since I'm driving"
"You can always sleep over and we would go in to work together again"
"Don't get any funny ideas, Dom" I lifted my wine glass to take a sip as he served plates with lamb, noodles and vegetables.
Once I'd gotten enough forkfuls of food, I struck up conversation once more.
"So, I'm not to believe all I read or see or hear in the media so which of the crazy stuff is actually true?"
"My dad and I dating sisters. That was a weird time in our lives especially since I was dating the older one. Please don't ask me how we found out"
"Now I have to ask, how did you find out they were sisters?"
"One vacation house. Two unplanned trips to the same vacation house at the same time. That's all I'm going to say"
I was laughing hard at every possible scenario there was that could have occurred.
"Okay, miss. What's one memorable embarrassing moment you've had?" He pointed his fork at me animatedly.
I swallowed and scanned my brain for any shameful moment that did not involve my drug use of my high school years.
"Alexa and I went on vacation to another country for the first time by ourselves. We went to a topless beach with some guys we met at our hotel."
"Okayyyy" Dom's eyes widened and I saw them quickly move to my bust area and then sharply return to meet my gaze.
"That's not all. We met one of Alexa's uncles on the beach and we were wearing just... Well you can guess the rest"
Dom almost choked on his wine when I mentioned Alexa's uncle.
"Family meetings were awkward since then for sure" Dom wiped the corner of his mouth with a napkin.
"Not really. I mean we had to promise to mention him being there to his wife that way our little indiscretion would not make it back to our parents"
We continued to eat, trading stories. When we were done eating, we cleaned up after ourselves. I was doing the dishes when Dom stood behind me and put his arms by my sides as he took each plate and rinsed it. It took twice as long to do the dishes this way but I was enjoying having him so close.
Dom walked me out to my car. I was waiting for him to seize this moment to give me a goodbye kiss. I was not going to initiate our second kiss too!
He pressed his lips to my cheeks respectfully and I sat in my car wondering if our date had not gone great.
I was thinking through it over and over again, we rode bikes to where his future home would stand some day, cuddled by the lake, ate lunch while we talked like old friends and I even helped him clean up, a very sensual dish washing process I might add. So why hadn't he kissed me? He was such a good kisser too.
I knew we were taking things slow but did I agree to this stage of friendship with very little benefits? I wanted to bang my head against the steering wheel. I could almost hear Dom's voice say, "patience, little grasshopper' in my head. The bikini and the shorts got the attention I was craving from him but I was still lacking on the action part.