I stepped into my knee-length chemise and climbed under the covers. Turning my back to him, I chilled on my side and closed my eyes, thinking about how I was going to deal with Monica. I almost didn’t hear him talking to me until he repeated his question for the third time.
“What did you say?” I asked with my back still facing him. I wanted this to be quick and done with.
“I asked how was work?”
“Fine,” and left it at that. He still wanted to talk, and I felt like we were playing
Jeopardy
with all the questions he was throwing at me.
“Is the case coming along okay?”
“Yeah.”
“What’s with the short answers?” he said, a tad agitated. I didn’t even give a damn, and told him just that.
“I’ve been wondering that same thing for the past four months.”
“I told you I was stressed at work.”
“That’s the same excuse I have then.”
“You weren’t at work. I called there six times.”
“And, what? You’re checking up on me now?”
“No, it’s not like that.”
“Then what is it like? You’ve been giving me your ass to kiss for months. Now all of a sudden you care about my well-being? James, please tell that shit to someone who gives a damn.”
“I do care, I’ve just been going through stuff.”
“I tried to help you.”
“I know that, and I apologize. I just don’t want to lose you to someone else.”
“Like who, James?” I started to sweat a little because I thought maybe he found out about me and Monica, but I wasn’t going to be the one to say it first.
“I don’t know who, but I need to know that it’s just me and you.”
I turned to face him and asked with a straight face, “Have I ever cheated on you before?”
“No, but...”
“Then I have no reason to now.”
“Are you sure?”
“Are you? Usually when you start pointing the finger it’s you who’s doing it.”
“I would never do that.”
“Neither would I.”
“Then how come we haven’t been having sex lately?”
“Because you’ve been acting shitty. That five minutes you dishing out I can do myself,” I regretted it as soon as it left my lips.
“So, is that how it is? Is that what you think of me?”
“James, it’s not like that.”
“If it wasn’t like that, you wouldn’t have said it,” he responded while he put on the sweat suit he had on earlier.
“James, why are you leaving?”
“I just need to clear my head. I’ll be back. The kids are still watching the movie, check on them in another half hour.”
I was left speechless with a dumb-ass look on my face as he walked out of the bedroom. I heard him get in the car and pull away, and I resisted the urge to jump in my Blazer and go after him. I wanted to, but I couldn’t leave the kids by themselves, and by the time I would’ve gotten dressed and got them to the neighbor’s, he would be long gone. Besides all that, I didn’t want the neighbors in my business. I just sat on the bed and thought about the last couple of months and what our future held. At this rate it didn’t look too bright, and I was hoping our vows,
for better or worse,
held up.
Playing With Fire
James pulled up in front of Monica’s house after riding around in circles for two hours. Just like Jasmine, he had no intentions of ever seeing Monica again. The creeping they had been doing for the past four months had started to wear him down and his relationship with Jasmine was suffering. Taking all of that into consideration, he walked slowly up the path to Monica’s house. Standing outside the door hesitant to ring the bell, he finally leaned on it until she answered. He had no business being there, this he knew. He felt terrible, but the things his wife said made him feel even worse. He knew that if no one else in the world could make him feel wanted, Monica would.
When she opened the door, a pleasant smile spread across her face. She didn’t expect to see James this evening, especially since she just had his wife earlier. Standing in front of him in crotchless, French cut boy-shorts and three-inch stiletto heels, she waited for him to stop staring at her exposed breasts and make contact with her eyes before she said anything.
“What do I owe the pleasure of seeing your handsome face this evening?” she purred in his ear as she ran her hands up under his shirt and across his nipples. James tried to act like he wasn’t fazed by her actions, but his evident erection spoke volumes.
“I needed to get out of the house. Jazz is trippin’ again,” he said, remembering his reason for being out that time of night. His erection faded to nothing as he stood with his head bowed down, waiting for Monica to invite him in.
“Really?” she responded as if she hadn’t seen Jasmine since the courthouse incident. “Want to come in and talk about it?”
“Yeah,” he said stepping into her living room, brushing against her to get by.
Monica already had her mind set on getting some before he left and made sure that he knew it too. Before he knocked on the door, Monica was upstairs entertaining Sheila, Jasmine’s secretary from the law firm. Neither Jasmine nor Sheila knew about each other, and that made for a perfect playing field for Monica. With Jasmine she got her cake, James gave her the ice cream, and Sheila was the cherry on top. It would make for the perfect sundae if she could get them all together at one time.
They sat down in the living room and she removed his sneakers before placing his feet in her lap and giving him a foot massage. He went into detail about what happened with Jasmine and how their sex life was next to nothing since he had been dealing with Monica. He went into how he didn’t think he could continue the affair with Monica because he needed to make his home life work.
“Honestly, I don’t know what to do,” he said to Monica in a defeated voice.
“You know what your problem is?” she asked him softly. She didn’t want to ruffle any feathers because she wanted to at least sex him one more time before he decided to stay away. She honestly didn’t think they would hook up again after the threesome she talked him into having with Jasmine, but it kind of just worked out that way. He dropped three thousand on that night, and the money just kept coming. When he gave her the money for the threesome, that was supposed to be it, but months later he still found himself paying for her services.
“My problem?” he responded, sounding annoyed. “Why do I have to have a problem?”
“James, relax. I’m not saying a problem like that. I’m just going to point out what you’re doing wrong. Shall I continue?”
“Please do!” he looked like he was ready to leave. After all, he hadn’t come there to hear what he was doing wrong; he knew what he was doing was unacceptable.
“The issue is your sex life has changed at home, right?”
“Yeah, she doesn’t do what you do. Not to say that she’s not good, but with you it’s always something new.”
“Does she have sex with you every time you want it?”
“Yeah, even when she doesn’t,” James said, wondering where this conversation was going.
“Are you still doing the same things for her that you used to? And don’t lie,” Monica warned him. Her massage was now up to his calves, and James was having a hard time concentrating.
“I like to think so.”
“The thing is, James, when a man cheats on wifey, he tends to neglect her because he’s concentrating on his new toy. What you don’t realize is your wife can do the same things I do, probably better if you took your time with her. Don’t change up your sexual habits with her because all you can think about is how good I’ll fuck you. That’s exactly how wives always find out that men are cheating. You change, and that’s not good.”
“So what am I supposed to do?” he asked, wanting desperately to make things right.
Monica was good to him. James couldn’t deny that, but Jasmine was his wife, the mother of his kids, his soul mate. He couldn’t see messing up everything they’d built together over a booty call.
“After you’re done here, go home and make up with your wife. Don’t rush it, but let her see that you’re changing. You can have your cake and eat it too. You just have to know when to do it.”
“I understand that, but are you going to be okay with us not seeing each other for a while? I don’t want to hurt you.”
“I’m cool with it. I have someone else occupying my time right now. Want to go upstairs and unwind before you go home?”
“Do you think I should?”
“I don’t see why not. You won’t be here for a while, so you might as well get one for the road.”
Monica stood up and walked towards the stairs. James followed like a little puppy dog, feeling kind of guilty on the inside. He started seeing Monica months before he brought Jasmine in on the threesome. He told himself that after they got together in the hotel that night he would be leaving Monica alone, and he did try. Monica just had a way of making you feel like you were missing out on something when she wasn’t around.
He looked at the drawings on the wall as they walked by, and stopped when he noticed one of the men in the drawings looked like him. In the drawing he was laying on his back on pink roses, and Monica was riding him with her back facing him. Her head was thrown back and her arm rested on his chest for support. Monica’s hair was long in the drawing and a rose rested at her temple. James didn’t know what to say; he just kind of stood there gazing at it.
Monica made her way to the top of the steps and yelled for James to hurry up. He tore his gaze from the drawing and made his way up the stairs, a little puzzled at how he became a part of her collection. He knew Monica was an artist and that she drew black art and sold it for high dollars. He also knew she was a professional photographer and took pictures for a number of agencies. He never thought he would be in one of them, and was going to question her once they got in the bedroom.
When he walked into the bedroom, all thoughts of him questioning Monica left his mind as he laid eyes on Sheila. He remembered her face, but couldn’t think of where he’d seen it. He was also stunned because he didn’t know Monica had company. He wished he would come home one day and find Jasmine in his bedroom with a beautiful woman. He also knew Jasmine didn’t get down like that, and that she only dealt with Monica that night to make him happy. James didn’t have the nerve to ask her to do it again.
“Hello, so glad you could join us,” Sheila said before she kneeled down on the side of the bed between Monica’s legs. Monica closed her eyes and leaned her head back, enjoying the tongue-lashing Sheila was giving her. James undressed immediately then walked over and joined them on the bed.
He kissed Monica’s lips briefly before finding his way to her chocolate nipples. Sheila’s mouth had already wrapped around his erection, and he almost exploded instantly when her tongue ring made contact with the head of his dick. He remembered thinking she was better than Monica before he laid back on the bed, allowing Monica to sit on his face.
Monica held her lips apart as James flicked and sucked her clit until she came in his mouth. Standing up on the bed she motioned for him to move back so that his entire body was on the bed comfortably. Switching places, Monica straddled his length and Sheila sat on his face. The two women kissed and fondled each other until they all exploded together. James’s seed dripped out of Monica when she stood up off him.
In the shower he was beating himself up on the inside because he never ever had sex with her without protection. He never bothered to ask Monica if she was on any type of birth control and feared it was too late to inquire now because he knew she would be offended. Sheila and Monica scrubbed him clean and helped him dress so he could get home.
“Where are my boxers?” he asked Monica while Sheila was putting his socks on his feet.
“I put them away for safe keeping,” she responded nonchalantly as she pulled his undershirt over his head. Sheila already had his pants halfway up and was waiting for him to stand so that she could finish the job.
“Every time I come here you keep my boxers. What do you have now? About ten or twelve pair?” he asked, a little annoyed. He could not go home without any underclothes on, and hoped his credit card was in the car so he could stop and get some on the way back.
“That’s all I have to keep you close to me,” Monica responded as she pushed him toward the front door.
When they got downstairs, he turned to get one last look at her. He gazed into her eyes and then down at the rest of her body, stopping at the red lace boy-shorts she had on. Kissing her one last time, he looked down at her underwear again, trying to remember if he’d seen them before.
“You know, my wife has a pair of panties just like these,” he said while pulling lightly at the band around her waist.
“She has good taste,” Monica said, smiling up at him.
“Yeah.” James looked at the door and then turned to face Monica again. “About that drawing on the wall...I don’t remember posing for it.”
“You didn’t. I remembered one of the nights you were here, and decided to put it on canvas. Is that okay?” she asked, daring him to say otherwise. If he had said it wasn’t cool, she would have sent it to Jasmine in the mail to let her know he had been there. Lucky for him, he didn’t have a problem with it.
“No, it’s cool. Just don’t let it get out, okay? You know, with my career and all,” he said, his voice slightly quivering.
“It won’t, now go home,” Monica said while opening the door. She wanted James out, and he was starting to get on her nerves. James had already served his purpose. She didn’t need him anymore, so there was no use in wasting her time talking to him about shit she didn’t care about.
“One more question then I’m gone.”
“What, James?” Monica spat at him, her annoyance showing.
“Is that woman Jasmine’s secretary?”
“Yes, why do you ask?” she replied with a slight smile on her face.
“She won’t tell will she? I don’t want any trouble with them on the job.”
“No, your secret is safe. Now go home!”
“Okay, okay. I’m going. I miss you already.” “Yeah, yeah. I miss you too, now go.”
James slowly made his way to the car, trying to make sense of what had just happened. With him exploding inside of Monica and orally pleasing his wife’s secretary, he was sure this wasn’t the end of it. He just prayed he could fix things at home before shit got out of hand.
Sheila listened to everything from the top of the stairs and crept back to the room when she heard Monica closing the front door. She liked Jasmine as a person and didn’t want anything to do with this bullshit Monica had cooking up. This was only her second time at Monica’s house, and she was still surprised at how she ended up there the first time. She was sitting on the edge of the bed contemplating all of this when Monica walked in the room.
“So, Sheila, did you enjoy yourself tonight, sweetie?” Monica asked before she reached behind the mirror and pulled out the camcorder. Sheila didn’t know they were being taped and didn’t know what to do. She’d just gotten herself into some serious shit and was clueless as how to get out of it.
“Yes, it was nice, but I need to be heading out. I need to pick up my son from my mom’s house before she starts calling around looking for me.” Her son was at home with her sister, but she was trying to find any reason to leave. She knew she would never step foot into Monica’s house again, but she had to get out first.
“No problem, sweetie. Call a cab and get yourself dressed. I want to download some of these pictures onto my laptop before I forget. Let me know when you’re leaving,” Monica replied before leaving the room. She never even made eye contact with Sheila as she talked.
Sheila got dressed as quickly as possible after calling a cab from Monica’s phone. She sat in the living room as she was instructed, and didn’t budge until the cab driver honked his horn out front. Monica came into the living room and gave her money to get home in one envelope and money for the evening in another. Sheila was confused as to why she was getting paid for being there, and it showed all over her face.
“Now, this night is our little secret, right?” Monica warned more than asked Sheila as she waited for her to reply.
“Yes, I won’t say anything.”
“Okay, I’ll call you later. Be sure to answer the phone.”
Sheila walked out of the house and Monica watched her from the doorway, not seeming to care that she was still topless. Just as Sheila was opening the cab door, Monica called out to her. Sheila looked at Monica puzzled at what she was calling her for.
“Just a heads up,” Monica began with an evil look on her face. “Don’t fuck with me!”
Sheila got into the cab quickly and instructed the driver to take her home. Her heart didn’t slow down for a couple of blocks, and for once in her life someone other than her mother put fear in her. She never suspected Monica was crazy, just a little obsessive with all the pink and white going on. Now that she knew Monica was crazy, she had to find a way to tell Jasmine without her finding out she’d slept with her husband too. Sheila didn’t know what to do and was in tears by the time she got home.