Some Things Never Change: An African American BWBM Urban Fiction Romance (5 page)

Then she asked that
dreaded question. “So, what do you do for a living?”

He gave her the
evasive response he gave most women. He couldn’t exactly find
the words to tell her that he sold party drugs for a living. So he
said the next best thing. Technically it wasn’t a lie.

“I’m the
ultimate party promoter, with me around you won’t have to worry
about anything on your special occasion. If you need
radio/internet/television advertising, sponsorship, consignment for
liquor I’m also the man for the job. I have friends in all the
right places and guarantee decent crowd support. You were at my
hookah party, you saw the type of crowd we draw, we are a part of a
network of promoters that tell their friends to join in the fun so
that news of your party always gets around.” He handed her a
business card while he talked.

“Parties are
work, don’t just look at the outcome and think it’s an
easy road. The path to a successful party, if not handled right can
lead to debt, headaches and stress if not handled correctly. I can
provide a safe environment for you to fulfill all your desires and
have a grand time. Don’t keep this to yourself, tell all your
friends and let them partake in what I have to offer as well.”

She couldn’t
help but be impressed by his business acumen. He had gone over into
full sales pitch mode. As if he was always this aggressive about the
business. It would explain his expensive taste in clothes, jewelry
and the car, it all made sense. Maybe she should look into this
promoting business if it paid so well. She was impressed and
smothered her suspicions about his apparent wealth.

“What about
you, where do you work?” he asked.

“Up until today
I worked at Big Benny’s Burgers, that fast food joint just
around the corner from here. I would also go to school at night.”

“That’s
really cool, what are you studying?”

“I’m a
major art buff, I love anything to do with speech, drama, dance,
literature and so on. I’m still undecided as to what I want to
specialize in, so I just been kind of just taking classes that
interest me and letting the credits accumulate. I feel like I’ve
spent so many months at this humanities college that I should have at
least three degrees.” She joked.

“I love all
forms of art but acting is my passion, it is what I love. It has kept
me grounded whenever I fretted about the rent I barely made, and the
fact that I didn’t have enough to send to help my folks at home
when I can barely feed myself. This is a dream come true and I feel
like all my efforts have finally paid off. Someone has recognized my
talent for what it’s worth and the feeling is awesome. I’m
really glad about this opportunity and I can’t afford to let it
slip through my fingers” She gushed.

They had managed to
eat through two platters of Buffalo wings and the beer bottles
stacked up as the night progressed. Between them no topic was sacred
they discussed everything from music to movies and the debates got
heated between them. She was old school hip hop, he liked to keep
things current, and she argued that current music could not compete
with back in the day. He disagreed, and they both had good arguments
and respected each other’s opinions and agreed to disagree. He
was into trap music and she thought it was garbage. At the movies he
loved action/suspense. She would have dragged him to watch mostly
romance/comedies. He knew with her by his side he wouldn’t mind
that much. Wayne doubted he would be able to focus on the movie
anyways.

“Thanks for a
great evening, got to get up early for my final day of work, can’t
afford to leave in bad form in case this doesn’t pan out and I
need a reference.”

“Not a problem.
Just let me settle this bill here and I’ll take you home.”

Even though it had
been a long day, and they had spent a few hours at the bar, he still
didn’t want the night to end. Reluctantly, he paid the bill and
then escorted her to his car. He searched his brain but couldn’t
come up with a time he found a woman’s company so pleasurable
and they hadn’t even had sex. He had even taught her how to
play darts. The night had flowed smoothly as they took turns and
threw darts, shared jokes and real life stories.

He knew she caught
the other women that stared at him. She even laughed and drew his
attention to some of them that moved like vultures that circled their
prey in behavior. When she went to the bathroom at least three of
them swooped down on him. She hadn’t seen the other women as
competition and it didn’t seem to annoy her one bit.

To him he had to be
the nice guy because these women could turn out to be his next
client. His dates always had troubled grasping that concept and their
jealousy shone through but Lou here was unperturbed and it bothered
him. Here he was already getting in over his head, thinking of this
as a date. She looked like she wanted him to keep things strictly
professional, could it be that she wasn’t interested in a
relationship outside of work.

She felt something he
was sure of it. He could have sworn that the mutual attraction they
shared wasn’t one sided, he refused to believe or accept
anything less than that fact. He’d seen how her eyes lingered
over his body when she thought he wasn’t looking. He was no
saint, but his mother, whenever she was sober, had impressed upon him
to not be like his worthless dad and always treat women well. Treat
them like how you would want a man to treat your own daughter when
the time comes. He could never fathom how a man could molest a child
and feel that he should get away with it. Prison and the fires of
hell was far too good for those monsters as far as he was concerned.

He never played women
against each other and was always firm and did straight talk with
them. He let them know from the get go how he got down. He informed
them that he wasn’t into long term relationships. He never
tricked a woman into sex, nor did he drug them or cheat on them. He
figured it all out on his own from having watched the mischief his
friends got themselves into from the outset.

Figured that if he
was precise and direct from the beginning of the relationship he
could avoid the unnecessary drama that accompanied mistreated women.
He saw the pitfalls men set for themselves when they set out to
deceive and he considered himself smarter than that. He exchanged
numbers with Lou before he stopped by her apartment. They would make
arrangements to meet later on so that she could help with his acting
and perfect their chemistry both on and off stage.

Things were unstable
with Hookah Promotions, fights were becoming common place at their
parties, not unpredictable. He didn’t want to worry about Lou’s
safety so he never invited her to those events.

In such a short space
of time she had started to mean the world to him. He loved going out
with her and having her show him off like a trophy to her friends. It
did wonders for his ego. It gave him a respite from the fiasco’s
the Dutty Bloodz got themselves into on a daily basis. He was tired
of being the mediator when fights broke out. With Lou by his side, he
found it easier to drift away from them. They noticed his rapidly
frequent disappearing acts and questioned his allegiance more than he
liked.

Sizzla vouched for
him repeatedly after much reassurance. It irked him that he and his
best friend were no longer close. He couldn’t even talk to him
about Lou and his growing feelings for her. He often wondered if
Crazy T was on coke. He never caught him doing it except that one
time at a party when he went into the bathroom for an exceptionally
long period of time to pee. When he came out he had a handkerchief to
his nose and was sniffing. Crazy T was paranoid and extremely
secretive around people. It seemed as if Sizzla was becoming as
irrational as Crazy T often seeing enemies when there were none. When
Sizzla asked him where he was spending his days he told him the truth
because they had set a tail on him.

Clearly his word no
longer had value and he wasn’t trusted like in the early days
of their venture. Sizzla knew that there was no one else he trusted
to get new business or handle the accounting side of things other
than Wayne. Wayne needed to get his head out of his dick and come up
with more ways to earn them more money.

Sizzla never had to
question his loyalty before today and thought Lou was behind this
drastic change. He told Wayne to fuck Lou and get her out of his
system and get his head back in the game. It was at that point he
began to fear for Lou’s life. When she told him that she had
group projects and exams to study for and it would cut into their
quality time together, he was relieved.

He finally got back
on track with Hookah Promotions and Sizzla turned his attention from
him to the ongoing rivalry with the Bainbridge Boys. They hadn’t
done anything yet except coming on their territory unannounced
scouting their locations. Crazy T monitored them for he felt it in
his bones that they were going to be a menace in the future.

Ten weeks had passed
since Lou and he had first met but they had grown close over time.
Lou gave him pointers to relax in front of the cameras and production
crew and he soon came to enjoy acting just as much as she did. By now
all and sundry would have filled her in on his bad reputation. He
just hoped that the little time they had shared would have cemented
their friendship so that she would dismiss the rumors altogether. She
would know that he wasn’t a thug and his personality wasn’t
as violent or criminal as they claimed.

It was all about what
Lou wanted; she didn’t want them to rush into things. She
regularly sprang whatever dating tips her cosmopolitan magazines said
to try on him. They had been dating like teenagers going out in
groups, shared double dates with her friends. Nothing more than heavy
petting and light kisses exchanged. They really liked each other and
connected but Lou felt that they should keep their relationship a
secret as their director was unpredictable. They didn’t know
how he would react to the news, this job was the best thing that ever
happened to them both and they couldn’t afford to lose it.

“Guys get ready
to do the kiss scene.” Yelled the director.

Sweat dampened
Wayne’s T-shirt and trickled down his wide forehead. The day
had been overcast and relatively cool but his nerves was rattled. He
could barely contain his excitement at the thought of the kissing
scene that he was about to do with Lou.

It’s like he
sensed when she came on set, he turned to face her and he stood in a
trance waiting on her to approach him. All voices faded to the
background, as he remembered his lines and took on the persona of
Lance. She was in full Kiki mode, she had a short yellow bandage
dress that left nothing to the imagination. It hugged her like a
second skin and showed off her ample curves. His eyes alighted with a
wicked gleam as his eyes looked her over from head to toe. He just
couldn’t get enough of her. Her face became flushed and he knew
she was aware of him checking her out.

“Maybe you
could try not staring at me so hard.” Kiki peered at him from
beneath her long eye lashes.

“Sure.”
He’d agree to almost anything when she looked at him like that.

“Babes, you’re
standing too far, why not come a bit closer.” She crooked her
finger at him.

“Like this?”
Lance drew her into his arms, he felt her stiffen as a reflex then
melt away in his arms. He had this, he reminded himself yet his palms
seemed unaware as they sweated profusely.

“Yes, I’m
satisfied now.” Her voice took on that husky note whenever she
got turned on.

If she felt his sweat
soaked shirt she didn’t say anything. She smelled good, her
scent had a signature scent of vanilla, musk and her own unique odor
it was a killer combo that messed with his brain. He couldn’t
help himself, his pants had run out of space and made him feel
uncomfortable as he sported a massive erection. Devilment danced in
her bejeweled green eyes that eyed his condition, his tight pants
that was anything but discrete.

“Nice pants.”
She moved even closer the light feathery brush of her arms against
his. The heat from her body dwarfed him. Had she perfumed her entire
body with that expensive scent she knew he liked just to torture him,
it made his nostrils flare in reaction.

“Kiki, you’re
playing with fire.”

“Let me worry
about getting burnt.” Her fingers danced around the waistband
of his navy trousers. He snatched her hands to prevent them from
creeping any lower and she gave him that ridiculous smirk. His heart
raced and he had trouble breathing, she made him feel dizzy with
need.

“We shouldn’t
be doing this.”

Lance deep voice
rasped and he let go of her hands. She ignored him and splayed her
hands across his chest, caressed him from his hard pecs to his abs.
He felt electrified as she brandished her signature scent through his
shirt so that he now smelled like her.

“Don’t
stop now.”

On her drawn breath
he flicked his tongue against hers. His hands gripped her by the
waist and her neck tilted upwards to meet his. She backed him up
against the couch laughing as he took her with him. What started as
light playful kissing grew more aggressive with each passing moment
as it took on a whole new meaning. This was more than just acting,
they wanted each other with every fiber in their being. They both
forgot they were in the public eye. She was on top of him cowgirl
style grinding on his erection while they kissed, her bandage dress
rose up under her butt.

“Oh George!”
She cried out in alarm as her eyes widened at the seriousness of the
situation. They weren’t that far from having sex on the couch
in front of strangers. He gently eased her off him.