My English Muffin (Interracial Romance BWWM Black Woman White Man) (4 page)

#Chapter6

“The perfect time for a no strings attached fling.
”

Ada

When I crawled out of the bed, breakfast was waiting.  I devoured an egg white omelet filled with spinach, mushroom, and tomato, and coated with a light layer of white cheese. I had never had such a good omelet. I feasted that morning on bread and eggs while my muffin feasted on fresh fruit and breakfast sausage. He had ordered a buffet for us to eat. There was so much food that it seemed like we could never get it finished. He made sure that they had brought boxes for anything we couldn’t finish. I assumed he would eat them later.

“I have to get some work done.” I was sad to have to leave.

He actually looked disappointed. “Are you sure?”

“I don’t even have my laptop here.” I said. “I need it to work. If I had it I could try to work here, but I don’t think that I would get much done being distracted by you.”

“
Perhaps you’re right.” He thought for a moment. “Meet me for dinner?” He asked me.

“
I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” I was grinning and completely happy in that moment.

“
I’ll call you a car. Let me know where you want to meet tonight. Anywhere you want to go.”

“
I’ll think about it.”

“
Think about meeting me, or about where you want to go.” He didn’t seem to know.

I decided not to keep him suspense. “I’m going to meet you; I’ve already decided that.  I just don’t know where I want to go. Is there any place that you really want to go?” I asked him. I didn’t want him to miss the places that he wanted to go when he came here.

“Yes, I think so. I’ll pick you up at eight tonight. Is that OK?” He smiled mysteriously.

“
Where are we going?” I asked him.

“
It’s a surprise, plus I have to see if I can get us in.” He was thinking to himself while he talked.

“
It can’t come soon enough.” I was so excited about the possibility that I was actually dancing down the stairs to the car. I felt like humming and singing I got down to the lobby and had to wait a few minutes for my cab to arrive.

I was surprise when my ride arrived. It wasn’t a cab, it was a limo. I screeched in delight when the driver opened my door. He smiled at me, “Your first time?”

“Yeah.” I was really excited about my first limo ride. To some people it would seem really silly, but I was really looking forward to meeting him again. He had some real class. He also treated me like a lady. I was enjoying the spoiling and the respect that he gave me. I didn’t know how long it would last, how long it would be until he turned into every other guy in the world, but I would take advantage of this until the very end.

“
Enjoy the ride then.” He told me.

In the car on the way home all I could do was call my friends and let them know about my night. The girls were in awe of my amazing evening. I told them every detail and we giggled over the more intimate parts. It wasn’t meant to insult him; instead it was just something that girlfriends do.

I started to work as soon as I got home. The work was kind of boring and dull, but it had to get done, or I wouldn’t have a paycheck. If I didn’t have a paycheck, I wouldn’t be able to pay my rent or buy food. I also wouldn’t be able to feed my shoe addiction. I rushed through my work for the day as much as I could. I still needed to keep the quality up. My customers expected a certain standard of my work. I had worked very hard to maintain my reputation. My reputation is important to me. It is actually everything in my business.

I noticed that I had a new email in my work email inbox. Someone was wanting me to design a travel blog. I didn’t know why, but it reminded me of William. The company had some strange name, “Two Blokes Travel.” I remembered our conversation about blokes and it made me smile. I’m sure there were a lot of similar companies in the U.K., but still it made me curious. I spent too much time staring at the email, wondering if this had any connection to my lover.

After spending way to long staring at a business name on my screen I really had to get to work. It wouldn’t be too much longer until it was time to start getting ready, and I had a lot of work to do today. I had to get things done. Unfortunately my brain didn’t want to cooperate with me. I was still stuck on William, and I couldn’t get him out of my brain.

I knew that the girls would be at my apartment as soon as they finished work. They had traditional nine to five jobs, and got off of work at five. The three of them should be here about six o’clock depending on traffic and the subway. Cathy said that she could leave her shop a little early and be here sooner to help me get my hair done and my make-up chosen. I loved having a friend that was so awesome.

The three of them burst through the door at almost the same moment. I couldn’t make out their happy chatter as they demanded every detail of the date and night that followed. The twins always seemed to talk together. They were either finishing each others sentences or talking in unison. When they got really excited they could talk over each other and if that happens they are impossible to understand.

“
I just keep screwing up.” I hung my head in my hands, almost in tears.

“
What do you mean?” Cathy was concerned.

“
I don’t understand what he’s talking about sometimes.”  I explained to my closest friends in confidence.

“
What do you mean?” They asked me. The twins couldn’t make sense of the problem. Their confusion was bringing out their twin-ness.

“
Well he got a little confused when I asked him about a rubber.” I continued to explain the entire confusion. I told them how he thought I was asking for an eraser.

The twins started to giggle about the situation. “That would have been embarrassing. We’re glad it wasn’t us.” They were speaking in unison again.

Cathy rolled her eyes. “It can’t have been too bad, you’re going out with him again.” She was completely serious with me.

“
I know, I know. I just don’t know much about England or English people. He probably thinks I am a fool.”  I sighed.

“
Maybe he thinks it’s cute, “ Ada said hopefully.

“
That’s what he said.”

“
Then it all works out. How long is he in town for?” Andrea asked.

“
He’s in town for a week.”

“
The perfect time for a no strings attached fling.” Ada announced to me with a wink.

“
I know, but it seems like we might have really gotten along…” I let my statement trail off.

“
If you had more time?” Cathy asked. “I know how that is. The problem is that you guys are still in the honeymoon stage of things. Most of what he tells you is probably a lie.” She was always so pragmatic and serious about situations of the heart. I believed her, I didn’t really know a lot about this guy, I just didn’t feel like I should be in this deep yet. It was probably a good thing that he was leaving in a week.

“
Oh don’t be a bummer Cathy!” Andrea demanded.

“
It’s the truth.” Cathy was frowning.

“
I know, I know,” I told them. “I just can’t help but think that he might be the one that gets away.

“
It is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all.” Cathy quoted that phrase at every breakup. It always had a way of making us feel better.

I got dressed and ready for the evening. Cathy did my hair and Ada and Andrea chatted with me trying to pull more details about my new man.

“Does he have a sister?” Cathy asked me.

“
I don’t know.” I told her honestly.

“
Ask for me will you?” She was completely serious. She didn’t have much time for games. “I just hope that if he does have a sister, she’s like what you describe.” She was starting to get excited about it, just like Ada and Andrea. The only problem was that Cathy didn’t show it as much as the other girls. It was hard to spot, but I could see a smile on her face. She was happy for me.

**

At exactly eight o’clock that night, my intercom buzzed. I jumped up to get it and my heel snapped. Kicking off my shoes I answered the buzz. “Give me a minute.”

“
Is everything alright up there?” He asked me.

“
I just broke a shoe. I’ve got to find a new pair.”

“
Do you need some help?”

“
I think I’ll be OK” I was pretty sure that I could find a new pair of shoes fairly quickly. I rushed to my closet and quickly found a new pair of shoes to wear.

When I rushed down stairs I could see a limo waiting for me. “How do you get so much money for limos?” I asked.

“I’ve got a few quid saved up. So I thought that I would use it to impress you.”

I smiled at him as we drove through the late night New York streets, not sure what a “few quid” was but I assumed he meant dollars and was definitely not going to ask him anyway. Traffic was heavy. “Do you have a reservation?” I asked him.

“Of course, dear.”  He was so confident, and so sure, it started to ease my fears immediately.

I still had a few concerns though. “Are we going to be late?” I felt compelled to ask. I was worrying about missing the reservation and having to eat at some crappy fast food joint.

“I don’t think so, it’s not far and it isn’t until nine.”

“
I didn’t know you realized how bad the traffic could be here.”

“
It’s no worse than London.”

“
Is English traffic bad?” I asked.

“
London traffic is bad. Through England there are a lot of different traffic patterns.”

“
Lots of traffic jams then?”

“
Yep, especially on the roundabouts.”

“
What the heck is a roundabout?” I asked him. I kept thinking about possibilities while I waited for him to find the words to respond.

“
I believe that you call it a traffic circle.” He explained patiently. “They can be quite confusing. If you don’t know where you’re going, you can just keep going in a circle for hours.”

“
Oh.” I could have kicked myself for the amount of times I responded with that dumb sound.  I stayed quiet until we arrived at the restaurant. I recognized the place immediately. It was one of the most exclusive places in the city. “How could we get into here?”

“
I have my ways.” He was being purposely mysterious.

I shuddered with the sexiness of that statement. “I like it when you talk like that.”

“Oh really now.” He commented slyly.

We entered into the lobby and the young host immediately started stumbling over her words. “Mr. Clarke, come in. Your table is ready, sir.”

Another customer stood up. “We have been waiting for our table for an hour. We made a reservation weeks ago.” He was starting to get upset.

The hostess told the man to calm down or he would be asked to leave and not come back. We were shown to our table while security was handling the problem as quickly and quietly as possible. “I feel kind of bad.”

“About what?”

“
That guy got shoved behind us in line.” I told him. “We should have let him have our table and we should have waited.” I didn’t like the thought of us put ahead of someone who had been waiting. It just didn’t seem right.

“
The restaurant would never have let that happen.” He told me, a smile on his face.

“
Why?”

“
Don’t you remember what I do for a living? They think that I’m working this week.” He winked at me.

“
Why don’t you tell them you’re not working and let that man have this table?”

“
OK look, I know that you’re worried, but he’ll get his table and I’ll pay for his meal. Will that make you feel better?” He asked me.

“
Much better.” I thought he was joking but he called the waiter over to the table and told him that we would pay for his meal.  I felt like I forced him into the situation, but he didn’t seem to mind doing the right thing, at least for me. I was very impressed by that.

He smiled at me again. “What would you like to drink? Champagne or wine?”

“I don’t know.” I told him. “Order for me. I have no idea what’s good here.” I was beginning to think that he was a lot more of an influential blogger than he let himself appear to be. Other than a few trappings of wealth that others showed he was very down to earth. I was really impressed by him.

We ordered and chatted over our meal. It was a nice conversation, filled with anecdotes and stories about our exes. I found out that like John his girlfriend had been quite a player. She had apparently found herself falling into bed with anyone who showed some interest in her.